{"id":2975,"date":"2016-12-15T09:44:15","date_gmt":"2016-12-15T17:44:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/?p=2975"},"modified":"2016-12-15T10:08:13","modified_gmt":"2016-12-15T18:08:13","slug":"the-prophet-and-the-dai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2016\/12\/the-prophet-and-the-dai.html","title":{"rendered":"The Prophet and the Dai"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote><p>\u0644\u064e\u0642\u064e\u062f\u0652 \u0645\u064e\u0646\u0651\u064e \u0627\u0644\u0644\u0651\u064e\u0647\u064f \u0639\u064e\u0644\u064e\u0649 \u0627\u0644\u0652\u0645\u064f\u0624\u0652\u0645\u0650\u0646\u0650\u064a\u0646\u064e \u0625\u0650\u0630\u0652 \u0628\u064e\u0639\u064e\u062b\u064e \u0641\u0650\u064a\u0647\u0650\u0645\u0652 \u0631\u064e\u0633\u064f\u0648\u0644\u064b\u0627 \u0645\u0651\u0650\u0646\u0652 \u0623\u064e\u0646\u0641\u064f\u0633\u0650\u0647\u0650\u0645\u0652 \u064a\u064e\u062a\u0652\u0644\u064f\u0648 \u0639\u064e\u0644\u064e\u064a\u0652\u0647\u0650\u0645\u0652 \u0622\u064a\u064e\u0627\u062a\u0650\u0647\u0650 \u0648\u064e\u064a\u064f\u0632\u064e\u0643\u0651\u0650\u064a\u0647\u0650\u0645\u0652 \u0648\u064e\u064a\u064f\u0639\u064e\u0644\u0651\u0650\u0645\u064f\u0647\u064f\u0645\u064f \u0627\u0644\u0652\u0643\u0650\u062a\u064e\u0627\u0628\u064e \u0648\u064e\u0627\u0644\u0652\u062d\u0650\u0643\u0652\u0645\u064e\u0629\u064e \u0648\u064e\u0625\u0650\u0646 \u0643\u064e\u0627\u0646\u064f\u0648\u0627 \u0645\u0650\u0646 \u0642\u064e\u0628\u0652\u0644\u064f \u0644\u064e\u0641\u0650\u064a \u0636\u064e\u0644\u064e\u0627\u0644\u064d \u0645\u0651\u064f\u0628\u0650\u064a\u0646\u064d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>Allah showed great kindness to the believers when He sent a messenger to them from among themselves &#8212; <a href=\"https:\/\/quran.com\/3\/164\" target=\"_blank\">Surah al-Imran, 164<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>This week sees two major events &#8211; this past weekend was <a href=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2013\/01\/merry-mawlid-al-nabi.html\" target=\"_blank\">Milad un Nabi<\/a> (also known as Mawlid), the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad SAW, and today is the third anniversary of the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2014\/01\/farewell-to-syedna-mohammed-burhanuddin-ra.html\" target=\"_blank\">passing of Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin RA<\/a>, the 52nd Dai ul Mutlaq of the <a href=\"http:\/\/thedawoodibohras.com\" target=\"_blank\">Dawoodi Bohra<\/a> community. For a believer of my stripes, it&#8217;s a kind of emotional whiplash. But in another sense the proximity of these two events serves as a spiritual bulwark, reminding me that there is a discrete and continuous chain of divine authority in which I fully entrust my spiritual well-being. That infinite, divine, indestructible chain continues in the person of the 53rd Dai, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2015\/03\/proud-to-an-american-proud-to-be-a-muslim.html\" target=\"_blank\">Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin<\/a>. For an Ismaili Shi&#8217;a like myself, continuity is the key &#8211; certainly, other groups like the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/azizpoonawalla\/2014\/03\/no-schism-just-sadness-a-dawoodi-bohra-responds\/\" target=\"_blank\">Qutbi Bohras<\/a> are free to choose whatever continuity suits them, but ultimately all Ismailis entrust themselves to someone. Religion should not be a democracy; there is a specific authority, and then it is up to the believer to decide, to choose &#8211; who do I believe? Faith is a single leap of trust, and then everything that follows is purely rational. That leap of faith is driven by something Reason can never understand, however: Love. <em>Hal al-din illal Hub?<\/em> (What is Deen, but Love?)<\/p>\n<p>Related: my discussion of the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2010\/03\/reflection-on-milad-al-nabi.html\" target=\"_blank\">controversy over observance of Milad un Nabi<\/a>, where I argued, &#8220;(e)ven accounting for all that is expressly forbidden in Shari\u2019a, there is infinite space for cultural practice within Islam.&#8221; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u0644\u064e\u0642\u064e\u062f\u0652 \u0645\u064e\u0646\u0651\u064e \u0627\u0644\u0644\u0651\u064e\u0647\u064f \u0639\u064e\u0644\u064e\u0649 \u0627\u0644\u0652\u0645\u064f\u0624\u0652\u0645\u0650\u0646\u0650\u064a\u0646\u064e \u0625\u0650\u0630\u0652 \u0628\u064e\u0639\u064e\u062b\u064e \u0641\u0650\u064a\u0647\u0650\u0645\u0652 \u0631\u064e\u0633\u064f\u0648\u0644\u064b\u0627 \u0645\u0651\u0650\u0646\u0652 \u0623\u064e\u0646\u0641\u064f\u0633\u0650\u0647\u0650\u0645\u0652 \u064a\u064e\u062a\u0652\u0644\u064f\u0648 \u0639\u064e\u0644\u064e\u064a\u0652\u0647\u0650\u0645\u0652 \u0622\u064a\u064e\u0627\u062a\u0650\u0647\u0650 \u0648\u064e\u064a\u064f\u0632\u064e\u0643\u0651\u0650\u064a\u0647\u0650\u0645\u0652 \u0648\u064e\u064a\u064f\u0639\u064e\u0644\u0651\u0650\u0645\u064f\u0647\u064f\u0645\u064f \u0627\u0644\u0652\u0643\u0650\u062a\u064e\u0627\u0628\u064e \u0648\u064e\u0627\u0644\u0652\u062d\u0650\u0643\u0652\u0645\u064e\u0629\u064e \u0648\u064e\u0625\u0650\u0646 \u0643\u064e\u0627\u0646\u064f\u0648\u0627 \u0645\u0650\u0646 \u0642\u064e\u0628\u0652\u0644\u064f \u0644\u064e\u0641\u0650\u064a \u0636\u064e\u0644\u064e\u0627\u0644\u064d \u0645\u0651\u064f\u0628\u0650\u064a\u0646\u064d Allah showed great kindness to the believers when He sent a messenger to them from among themselves &#8212; Surah al-Imran, 164 This week sees two major events &#8211; this past&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":165,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[24,386,436,28,452,453],"class_list":["post-2975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-gates-of-ijtihad","tag-islam","tag-milad","tag-mohammed-saw","tag-muslims","tag-syedna-mohammed-burhanuddin-ra","tag-syedna-mufaddal-saifuddin-tus"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Prophet and the Dai - City of Brass<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Prophet and the Dai - City of Brass\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u0644\u064e\u0642\u064e\u062f\u0652 \u0645\u064e\u0646\u0651\u064e \u0627\u0644\u0644\u0651\u064e\u0647\u064f \u0639\u064e\u0644\u064e\u0649 \u0627\u0644\u0652\u0645\u064f\u0624\u0652\u0645\u0650\u0646\u0650\u064a\u0646\u064e \u0625\u0650\u0630\u0652 \u0628\u064e\u0639\u064e\u062b\u064e \u0641\u0650\u064a\u0647\u0650\u0645\u0652 \u0631\u064e\u0633\u064f\u0648\u0644\u064b\u0627 \u0645\u0651\u0650\u0646\u0652 \u0623\u064e\u0646\u0641\u064f\u0633\u0650\u0647\u0650\u0645\u0652 \u064a\u064e\u062a\u0652\u0644\u064f\u0648 \u0639\u064e\u0644\u064e\u064a\u0652\u0647\u0650\u0645\u0652 \u0622\u064a\u064e\u0627\u062a\u0650\u0647\u0650 \u0648\u064e\u064a\u064f\u0632\u064e\u0643\u0651\u0650\u064a\u0647\u0650\u0645\u0652 \u0648\u064e\u064a\u064f\u0639\u064e\u0644\u0651\u0650\u0645\u064f\u0647\u064f\u0645\u064f \u0627\u0644\u0652\u0643\u0650\u062a\u064e\u0627\u0628\u064e \u0648\u064e\u0627\u0644\u0652\u062d\u0650\u0643\u0652\u0645\u064e\u0629\u064e \u0648\u064e\u0625\u0650\u0646 \u0643\u064e\u0627\u0646\u064f\u0648\u0627 \u0645\u0650\u0646 \u0642\u064e\u0628\u0652\u0644\u064f \u0644\u064e\u0641\u0650\u064a \u0636\u064e\u0644\u064e\u0627\u0644\u064d \u0645\u0651\u064f\u0628\u0650\u064a\u0646\u064d Allah showed great kindness to the believers when He sent a messenger to them from among themselves &#8212; Surah al-Imran, 164 This week sees two major events &#8211; this past&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2016\/12\/the-prophet-and-the-dai.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"City of Brass\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-12-15T17:44:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-12-15T18:08:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Aziz Poonawalla\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Prophet and the Dai - City of Brass","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Prophet and the Dai - City of Brass","og_description":"\u0644\u064e\u0642\u064e\u062f\u0652 \u0645\u064e\u0646\u0651\u064e \u0627\u0644\u0644\u0651\u064e\u0647\u064f \u0639\u064e\u0644\u064e\u0649 \u0627\u0644\u0652\u0645\u064f\u0624\u0652\u0645\u0650\u0646\u0650\u064a\u0646\u064e \u0625\u0650\u0630\u0652 \u0628\u064e\u0639\u064e\u062b\u064e \u0641\u0650\u064a\u0647\u0650\u0645\u0652 \u0631\u064e\u0633\u064f\u0648\u0644\u064b\u0627 \u0645\u0651\u0650\u0646\u0652 \u0623\u064e\u0646\u0641\u064f\u0633\u0650\u0647\u0650\u0645\u0652 \u064a\u064e\u062a\u0652\u0644\u064f\u0648 \u0639\u064e\u0644\u064e\u064a\u0652\u0647\u0650\u0645\u0652 \u0622\u064a\u064e\u0627\u062a\u0650\u0647\u0650 \u0648\u064e\u064a\u064f\u0632\u064e\u0643\u0651\u0650\u064a\u0647\u0650\u0645\u0652 \u0648\u064e\u064a\u064f\u0639\u064e\u0644\u0651\u0650\u0645\u064f\u0647\u064f\u0645\u064f \u0627\u0644\u0652\u0643\u0650\u062a\u064e\u0627\u0628\u064e \u0648\u064e\u0627\u0644\u0652\u062d\u0650\u0643\u0652\u0645\u064e\u0629\u064e \u0648\u064e\u0625\u0650\u0646 \u0643\u064e\u0627\u0646\u064f\u0648\u0627 \u0645\u0650\u0646 \u0642\u064e\u0628\u0652\u0644\u064f \u0644\u064e\u0641\u0650\u064a \u0636\u064e\u0644\u064e\u0627\u0644\u064d \u0645\u0651\u064f\u0628\u0650\u064a\u0646\u064d Allah showed great kindness to the believers when He sent a messenger to them from among themselves &#8212; Surah al-Imran, 164 This week sees two major events &#8211; this past&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2016\/12\/the-prophet-and-the-dai.html","og_site_name":"City of Brass","article_published_time":"2016-12-15T17:44:15+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-12-15T18:08:13+00:00","author":"Aziz Poonawalla","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2016\/12\/the-prophet-and-the-dai.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2016\/12\/the-prophet-and-the-dai.html","name":"The Prophet and the Dai - City of Brass","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-12-15T17:44:15+00:00","dateModified":"2016-12-15T18:08:13+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/#\/schema\/person\/87dfd5533a0222456bb5ad6eaf152fbb"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2016\/12\/the-prophet-and-the-dai.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2016\/12\/the-prophet-and-the-dai.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/2016\/12\/the-prophet-and-the-dai.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Prophet and the Dai"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/","name":"City of Brass","description":"Beliefnet Voices - Aziz Poonawalla","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/#\/schema\/person\/87dfd5533a0222456bb5ad6eaf152fbb","name":"Aziz Poonawalla","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/a95\/a95f814e7f2984c887f3b03aed357433x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/a95\/a95f814e7f2984c887f3b03aed357433x96.jpg","caption":"Aziz Poonawalla"},"description":"Aziz Poonawalla is a member of the Dawoodi Bohra Muslim community, and currently lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two children. City of Brass is his weblog, which was founded in 2002 under the name UNMEDIA. He is a co-founder of the annual Brass Crescent Awards. The name City of Brass refers to the Story of the City of Brass in the Thousand and One Nights, and the poem by Rudyard Kipling of the same name: Here was a people whom, after their works, thou shalt see wept over for their lost dominion; And in this palace is the last information respecting lords collected in the dust. -- Thousand and One Nights, Story of the City of Brass IN A land that the sand overlays, the ways to her gates are untrod, A multitude ended their days whose fates were made splendid by God, Till they grew drunk and were smitten with madness and went to their fall, And of these is a story written: but Allah Alone knoweth all! -- Rudyard Kipling, The City of Brass (1909)"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2975","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/165"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2975"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2975\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2980,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2975\/revisions\/2980"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/cityofbrass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}