The arts of the Fatimids, Mawlana Hazar Imam’s ancestors, continue to inspire

The official logo for Hazar Imam’s visits comprises the word nur, Arabic for light, repeated five times with gold calligraphy patterns, as per the video.

Throughout the ages, and in most faiths and traditions, light is a universal symbol of the spiritual and divine, of illumination and knowledge. In the context of Muslim spirituality, this symbol takes highest significance because of its association with Mi’raj, the heavenly journey of the Prophet. Esoteric traditions consider light as a special gift Allah bestowed upon the Prophet during his journey into divine presence (Mir Baiz Khan, Chiragh-i Roshan: Prophetic Light in the Isma’ili Tradition).

According to Shi’i Ismaili interpretation, this nur continued after the Prophet in accordance with divine command in the Prophet’s legatee (wasi) who was ‘Ali b. Abi Talib. Hazrat Ali.

The central theological doctrine of the Ismailis, in common with all Shi’i communities, is based on the belief in the permanent need for humankind for a divinely inspired Imam who, after the Prophet, would be the authoritative guide of the community in their spiritual and secular matters. This doctrine further taught that the Prophet had designated his cousin and son-in-law Ali b. Abi Talib as his successor by an explicit designation (nass) under divine command. After Hazrat Ali, who was the Imam of the time, the Imamate would be transmitted to his son by the rule of nass, among the descendants of Hazrat Ali and his spouse Hazrat Fatima, the Prophet’s daughter. And after their son Husayn b. Ali, it would continue in the Husaynid line until the end of Time. Presently, the Nizari Ismailis are the only Shi’i community led by a living Imam, Shah Rahim al-Husayni Aga Khan V, recognised at the 50^th descendant of the Prophet and bearer of the nur.

The design of the official logo is inspired by the art of the Fatimids, Mawlana Hazar Imam’s ancestors who ruled a vast empire for over two centuries (The.Ismaili).

Fatimids
Named after the Prophet’s daughter, the Fatimids were a major Ismaili dynasty that ruled a vast empire stretching across North Africa (including Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Morocco), Sicily, Egypt, and many parts of the Arabian peninsula. In 909, Imam al-Mahdi established their rule in Qayrawan (Kairouan, in modern-day Tunisia). In 972, Imam al-Mu’izz transferred the seat of the dynasty to Cairo, a city he had founded. Originally named al-Mansuriyya after its namesake in Tunisia (founded by and named after Imam al-Mansur), the city was re-named al-Qahira al-Mu’izziya (‘the Victorious One of al-Mu’izz’), al-Qahira for short, today known as Cairo. The Fatimids placed a high value on intellectual activities and their capital became a flourishing centre of scholarship, learning, and the arts, as well as a vibrant commercial centre of the trade network that extended as far as Spain in the west and India in the east.

In their public texts such as coins and mosques, the Fatimid Caliph-Imams developed a distinctive visual language, prominently displaying their theology centred around Imamat.

Coins
Coins minted during the early Fatimid reign followed the style used by their predecessor, the Aghlabids. The Fatimid mint employed the same craftsmen to produce the coins, adding only Qur’anic verses and names of Imams. Furthermore, subjects of new rulers “do not readily accept unfamiliar coins. Thus the value of the Fatimid coins was initially assured by their fineness and their weight” (Bloom, Arts of the City Victorious, p 36).

Walker states that Imam al-Mansur began a distinctive Fatimid style “that featured concentric circles of writing around a central field with a horizontal inscription” (Exploring an Islamic Empire p 96). Imam Al-Mu’izz further changed the design and included Shi’i content in the inscription. He dropped the horizontal field in favour of three concentric circular bands of writing centred around a dot, illustrating that all things originate from the dot, the centre, although no specific information was provided for the changes. (Walker, Exploring an Islamic Empire p 97).

Historians suggest that this motif symbolised the centrality of Imamat, drawing on the frequent use of circles as metaphors in Ismaili doctrine. While their number varied, and the dot was sometimes removed in favour of a central, horizontally inscribed field, the three concentric circles on obverse and reverse remained as the standard pattern for subsequent Fatimid dinars until the end of the dynasty. Walker adds “from 996 to the end of the dynasty, all coins … carried the quintessential Shi’i [doctrine] attesting to the wilaya of Ali b. Abi Talib” (Walker, Exploring an Islamic Empire p 96).

Mosques
The Fatimid Caliph-Imams also incorporated Shi’i Ismaili doctrines into their mosque decorative art comprising circular forms with designs focusing on the centres.

Mawlana Hazar Imam’s official logo is, in my opinion, a contemporary adaptation of Fatimid art centred around the doctrine of Imamat, with the word nur repeating five times, representing the ahl al-bayt. The unending circular form, similar to the public visuals of the Fatimids, is reminiscent of the unending nur of Imamat that will continue until the end of Time through the Prophet’s family.

“The Nur of Imamat (“the Light of Imamat”) or the Nur of ‘Ali (“the Light of ‘Ali”) is a term used … to refer to the inner, spiritual, or metaphysical reality of the Imam. This “Light” is a singular, eternal, and spiritual reality that transcends the individual personalities of the historical Imams and has existed from eternity. The single “Light of Imamat” illuminates, inspires, and manifests in each Imam of the Time” (Ismailignosis).

The lineage of Nizari Ismaili Imams has continued historically without interruption from Hazrat Ali to the present Imam Shah Rahim al-Husayni as the 50^th Imam.

Allahumma salli ala Muhammadin wa-aali Muhammad.
 O Allah, send Your blessings on Muhammad and his family.

Contributed by Nimira Dewji, who also has her own blog – Nimirasblog – where she writes short articles on Ismaili history and Muslim civilisations.

Sources:
Jonathan M. Bloom, “The Legacies of Fatimid Art”, Arts of the City Victorious, Yale University Press, 2007
Jonathan M. Bloom, The Origins of Fatimid Art, Archnet
Paul Walker, Exploring an Islamic Empire: Fatimid History and its Sources, I.B. Tauris, London, 2002
Suzan Yalman, The Art of the Fatimid Period (909-1171), Heilbrun Timeline of Art History, The Met Museum
The World of the Fatimids, Edited by Assadullah Souren Melikian-Chirvani, Hirmer Publishers, 2018
Towards a Shi’i Mediterranean Empire, Fatimid Egypt and the Founding of Cairo Translated by Shainool Jiwa, I.B. Tauris, London, 2009