https://www.sec.gov/enforcement-litigation/litigation-releases/lr-26391

Have any of you been appointed for a title before ? I just got one because of the service I used to give a few years ago, and it was announced via talika when I was sitting at home during Salegrah

Really complex feelings having your name in a talika from the Imam while you aren't sure whether you actually believe in the faith anymore.

It made me really anxious and I crashed out a bit ... hard to discuss it with a weird sense of guilt

Can anyone relate?

Man, I’m 23. And I can’t stand my father’s Ismaili practice bullshit. I don’t tell him anything about his Ismaili practices, he forces them on me. Yet, I quietly do it. I go to Jamat Khana, even though I’ve no will to. He gets triggered if I wear clothes I find comfortable in Jamat Khana. For him, it’s about his respect as he is a mukhi of some fidai. This week, he wants me to take up a Farman and recite it in JK. The fact that in the Farman, Rahim dude said “Faith should be practiced willingly and should not be forced upon you”. I find the irony crazy of me reciting it. But yet I do it. Today was my Farman and before the Farman he said, did you even practise? I was like it’s basic English reading and the same shit the imam says, he took offense to it. Screamed at me before my Farman wara. Told me, you’ll destroy my respect in Jamat Khana, you Fatso. he himself is over 100kg and chews on tobacco, drinks. even though the Farman he wants me to recite says to live a healthy life.

During the didar my dad had spent over $10k+ in Fada alone. Yet, refuses to start a venture with me or help me start my freelance career

I don’t understand why are Ismailis such hypocrites. I find it hard to comprehend. I don’t seem to fit well. Why is everything about respect.

I heard from my mum that she just attended her last Life mijalis (They are cancelling it from now on) and all the other mijalis that required money for entry. Apparently Rahim has instructed that he doesn't want discrimination between jamati members on the basis of money and there shouldn't be an entry barrier (at least that was what she was informed). Is this actually true? If yes... I think it's a big win. What are your opinions?

Should sell their expensive horses and donate to poor families. It’s is insane that they even own them.

Is it just me or is my JK so toxic..?? Especially towards those younger than them. Me and my younger sister have been criticised for our waros we’ve been pressured to do😭 so much for welcoming and loving community dude.

Anybody know what this means in Nina Dyer's wikipedia page?

Prince [Sadruddin] Aga Khan gave up his place in the succession in order to marry Dyer, as she had previously been married.

It's obvious why Aly Khan didn't succeed Aga Con III as the next Imam, but I never understood why Sadru didn't ... allegedly Aga Con III's will said he said he wanted somebody young to succeed him but Sadru was only 24 years old when Aga Con III passed away.

hi, i am deeply struggling with religion, and I feel conflicted about being ismaili. on the one hand, i like some of the community and culture, but i still despise the fact that its attached to islam because there are still misogynistic aspects that pop up. on top of that i deeply appreciate our imam and what he's doing but i fricking hate going to khane and i'm not sure if it's because i'm done with religion as a whole or my whole relationship with god has changed. just wanted to reach out and see if anyone else related, as i just found this subreddit. also if anyone wants to rant i fucking HATE dasond, it's constantly forced down my throat.

To Be or Not to Be... Bewildered, That Was the Question.

It has been a couple of weeks since Didar. I wanted to review it immediately, but then decided to give myself a few days to process everything.

I have stopped practising the faith over the past couple of years. It was a wild swing from being a staunch Ismaili to hanging up my boots completely. I still have to attend Chandraats (an understanding between me and my family since I came out to them; I will leave the faith entirely after their last rites).

They asked me whether I would be going to the Didar, and I said yes because, firstly, I didn't want to debate or have an argument about it with them, and secondly, I wanted to go and test my anti-faith again.

I am glad I went because it validated my decision to leave the faith. It also allowed me to witness, once again, the cusp of human helplessness leading to attachment and, at times, outright stupidity.

Again, at the individual level, I don't think people are bad. But once they start gathering in groups, I think they tend to throw rationality out the window.

The Pre-Celebrations

For over a month, there was constantly some celebration or another, with loud music that was utterly disturbing and created nuisances for the neighbourhood. I feel there are more civilised ways of celebrating.

Music would play late into the night, disturbing almost everyone who had early-morning shifts, college, or other work. The music ranged from Beedi Jalaile to old Bollywood bangers mentioning sharab. Ufff, the irony. The hypocrisy.

The food was mostly sponsored by one family or another, and it became a competition over who could serve the most expensive, over-the-top, or different food. The uncles from the family that sponsored the food would stand beside the serving counter as if they wanted to announce, "See, I did this."

Another factor was that, whether it was the Ghadi ceremony or the other practices preceding Didar, they clearly highlighted the Hindu practices that once were and are part of our culture.

You can change the Dua from Gujarati to Arabic. You can remove references to Hindu gods from the Ginans. You can do everything possible to try to Arabize the faith, but some cultural practices will still remain, reminding you of the history and circumstances of our conversion.

You can take the man out of the culture, but you cannot take the culture out of the man.

During Didar

(The Positives)

Credit where credit is due: it was organised exceptionally well.

Rahim was very punctual, unlike his father. The man is also exceptionally humble. The humility shows.

The Didar package had decent food packets, with minimal use of plastic throughout the venue. The refreshment area was organised much better than during the previous Didar. The facilities for the elderly were also well thought out.

The best part, which actually got me a tad bit emotional, was seeing everyone under one roof trying their best to help each other. There is obviously equality of the sexes, unlike in other faiths 🙄. Families coming together, everyone celebrating. There was this invisible wave of happiness and calmness.

Rahim tried to meet everyone respectfully instead of strolling around like his father. He collected letters, picked up and played with small children, shook hands with the elderly and younger kids, and generally seemed genuinely engaged with the Jamat.

(The Negatives)

He is human.

Definitely. Just a middle-aged white dude.

There is no noor.

It is the same thing I felt with his father. And I say this knowing that I met his father when I was a staunch believer, and I still felt uneasy because, even then, all I saw was an old white dude. I had gaslighted myself into thinking, "Oh, maybe I am at fault. Maybe I need to do more bandagi and believe harder."

He is as human as any of us.

Someone also needs to give him some sunscreen because my guy got tanned very badly.

The Delhi Jamat, including the Tajiks and Iranians who were also present for the Mumbai Didar, were escorted in and seated at the front right, presumably for some extra brownie points. I don't think that is equality. They are as much believers as anyone else in your Jamat.

One member of the Iranian Jamat actually went up on stage right before his second Farman, disrupting the flow and asking for special Dua aashish for the Iranian Jamat. It was funny and sad at the same time, especially given how silent he has been about global conflicts, be it Gaza or Iran.

The Farmans were very obviously basic: educate yourself, learn English, make a will. Any educated 12-year-old could give those same insights to the Jamat. Anyone with even a basic understanding of how the world works already knows this.

He is also not as charming as his father. He has this weird habit of taking awkward pauses while speaking. He was also just reading a speech out of the paper and hardly made any eye contact. His thick accent makes some of the words harder to hear, and his speeches lack humour, something Karim was at least decent at.

And another thing... ughhh.

Please hire a freaking dialect coach.

It's not "alaHH"; it's "Allah."

It's not "Haeijrat"; it's "Hazrat."

I was so annoyed throughout the Farman by the pronunciation of non-English words, whether they were from Persian or Indian languages.

My guy, your livelihood comes from these people. At least have the decency to learn their language properly, or at least learn the common words that you regularly use while addressing them.

My culture is not yours to appropriate.

See, I think he is more modern than Karim, just as Karim was more modern than the Sultan (who was a big bloody hypocrite). He is way more humble, but he still has a long way to go.

Now, Finally, the Stupid Jamat and Their Leaders

The front section of the Didar hall was reserved.

For whom, you may ask?

The children and families of the Mukhi Sahebs, Kamadias, and other Jamati leaders and their families, along with the big shots of the Jamat, the Salim-Sulemans (yeah, they were there too).

I went early because I wanted to occupy a spot somewhere near the front. They were like, "Nope."

Which brings me to another complaint.

The volunteers were ensuring that people from their own Jamat or their families got to sit in the best spots. They literally put handkerchiefs down, indicating that a particular spot was reserved. (Typical Mumbai local train treatment.)

Where is the equality in the Jamat if who gets to sit where is dictated by power and influence?

Now, to highlight just how judgemental and pathetic our Jamat can be, I want to share some of the comments that were made around me and the context behind them.

Rahim was obviously collecting all the letters people were handing him. He was shaking hands with people, initiating those handshakes. He was stopping and giving blessings to as many people as he could, picking up and playing with children, and generally treating people with humility.

What did the Jamati members sitting around me say?

"Kya ch\t\ya hai sab, letters kyun de rahe hai?"

(All of these people are dum*f**ks for handing out the letters to him.)

An old lady asked for blessings when he shook hands with her.

"Aunty ko bol, 2 mahine mein wapas milna hi hai unse directly tapakne ke baad."

(Tell the old lady she's going to meet him directly in two months anyway after she is dead.)

When a girl came forward to shake his hand, and Rahim had initiated the handshake:

"Kya bha**we hai, jaan bujh ke bachon ko aage rakhte hai."

(Such pi*ps, they deliberately send their kids forward to meet him.)

A middle-aged uncle was constantly swearing whenever people put their hands forward.

One has to understand: if Rahim was initiating the handshakes, obviously everyone would want to shake his hand too and would raise their hands forward.

The constant swearing got to me. I turned around and told him that he just had a Didar, was still sitting inside the Didar hall, and this was the way he was treating and abusing his fellow Jamati members.

I, as a non-believer, had to put some freaking sense into the guy while everyone else just let it happen. Believe or don't believe, there is a certain decorum to a place. I was so freaking furious.

One Final Insight

I have been part of this sub for a long time. Every few weeks, there is a post claiming that the curtain is about to drop, that there are cracks in the wall, and that in a few decades the whole cult/sect/group will go down.

I am sorry to break the illusion, but I don't think the religion/sect/cult is going anywhere anytime soon.

If you were present during the Didar, you would understand this.

I saw way more people than at Karim's last Didar. People across age groups: children, teenagers, adults. The Jamat is growing.

Maybe this is not the case in the West, but in South Asia, it is growing. People might not come to Jamatkhanas regularly, which I feel is a result of the commitments and pressures of our materialistic world, but I would refrain from saying that this will all be gone soon.

I was happy that I went. It reiterated for me that he is just human, like any of us.

He was born into that family and is going to continue the shenanigans because he might genuinely believe that this is the truth.

How am I feeling?

Bittersweet, to be honest.

I am happy that I was part of a sect that was less evil and a bit more liberal than its other monotheistic counterparts. I am happy that I left.

However, I am also a bit sad that I can no longer fully enjoy the communal aspects of it. I don't attend deliberately cause I don't feel good, and even when I do go, I can't attend with the same enthusiasm that I once had.

With love,
A fellow ex-Ismaili :)

Sharing this in case there are victims from the ex Ismaili community - Ottawa, Canada focused

We thought something was weird here ... now we know. According to the doctoral thesis of Dr. Van Grondelle (PhD's in Arabic, Islam, and Middle Eastern Affairs from the highly respected Utrecht University), this was the beginning of a letter from Aga Con III to British officials informing them of his decision to skip Aly Khan:

The problem of Succession to the Imamate has already been solved as far as humanly can be done, but it is in the hands of God in this way what happened to my father and my brother and myself could happen again. A year before his death my father appointed my eldest brother as his successor, but my eldest brother died a few months afterwards and he had no sons but only daughters and I succeeded my father automatically under Moslem Law as his sole male heir (with my mother) and no question ever arose afterwards.

I kinda need a mood pick me up, does anyone want to share any weird or kind of funny memories as an ismaili. Just like something trivial and dumb thats a fun story to tell people

I'll go first! I have a bunch of weird memories but for me its probably the time that my baytul-ilm teacher rewrote the lyrics of an ed sheeran song (...shape of you, god i hate that song) to be about how much we love the imam instead and then made my class sing it in assembly to everyone. Which is very thematic in light of recent events. The strangest part though is probably how well-written her new lyrics were, matching the instrumental perfectly, it was honestly very impressive

Recently, someone in my family, a distant relative, passed away, and it brought up something I’ve always found upsetting: the food offering/mehmani money doesn’t directly go to the grieving family in their time of sorrow and need; it goes to the Imam.

I can’t be the only one who gets frustrated by that. After the dilsoji line, all that money is collected, yet none of it is given to the family who just lost someone. I genuinely think it’s wrong that the money goes to the Imam instead.
Someone’s relative, mother, father, or loved one has just died, and shouldn’t the family at least receive some kind of support? Of course, money is not the most important thing when someone dies, but financial help can still make a difference during a difficult time.

I’ve literally seen mosques where they set up donation desks for the family of someone who has passed away, and similar things happen in churches as well. People come together and financially support the grieving family.
That’s why, in a religion where money and financial contributions are already so heavily involved, this has always been one of the things I disliked about Ismailism. I would much rather see that money directly helping the family that has just suffered a loss.

Who else believes in the same thing
I rather give to the family directly

I wish to be a kid once again, naive, ignorant of the realities of the world, of our religion. I had love for it once, but I found the more i furthered my education, the further I drifted. I think of myself free from the chains of this illusion. I find myself judging others who are still blindly brainwashed, praying they find the same solace I found. I wish I was religious, I wish I could believe, but sadly I can’t. It’s ruined every man made religion for me. I’ve been left with this spirituality I can’t explain in words.

Or is Rahim the Ed Sheeran of "Muslim" "philanthropists"?

ABC News reports ...

A purely hypothetical finance model:
Formula:
Population × % income earners × average monthly income × 12.5% = Monthly Dasond
2026 estimate

Assuming 16 million Ismailis, 35% income earners, and an average income of $500/month:
16M × 35% × $500 × 12.5% = ~$350M/month
That gives approximately:
$4.2 BILLION per year

Since 1885
Using the same modelling approach, with changing population, income and inflation over 1885–2026, the illustrative estimate would be approximately:
≈ $64B nominal cumulative contributions
or approximately
≈ $143B in 2026 purchasing power

These are hypothetical financial estimates, NOT disclosed or audited Dasond figures.

💡💡What would the actual figure look like if historical Dasond, population, income and participation data were publicly available?

Community, dancing, music, further education is encouraged. Hell no to the shirk aspect . So the guys a corrupt billionaire, what rich guy in this world isn’t corrupt??

One parallel to the pseudo-Islamization of the Khoja community is that of the Syrian Alawites. Alawites were historically called Nusayris, who were largely considered to be non-Muslims by historical Muslim scholars, both Sunni and Shia alike. Ibn Taymiya considered them non-Muslim. They were considered highland bandits with no direct connection to Syrian society, which was highly sophisticated and interconnected with other equivalent Muslim societies.

The Nusairis then rebranded themselves as the Alawites. “Alawite” emphasizes the community's devotion to ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib rather than tying its identity to sect founder  Ibn Nuṣayr. During the French mandate over Syria, the French prioritized the Alawites (العلويون) in the Syrian military in an attempt to subdue the rebellious Sunni majority. Naturally, when French rule ended, the Alawi-dominated Syrian military took control of the country and heavily oppressed the Sunni majority. Syrian president Hafiz al-Assad then brought the Alawites down from the highlands to the cities and gave them important jobs in the military, civil service and judiciary. He also accelerated the process of bringing the Nusayris closer into the fold of Shia Islam. They disbanded/de-emphasized their esoteric practices and introduced others.

Like Ismailis, much of the literature on Nusayris beliefs has now disappeared from the public sphere. All that remains is whatever Hafez allowed the state to propagate. In 1973, the Lebanese Shia scholar Musa al-Sadr, in a break from historical Shia scholarship on Nusayris,  endorsed the Alawites as Jaʿfari Shias to double down on Shia influence in Syria. Eventually, this resulted in the Syrian Civil War, when the Twelver Iranian regime partnered with Assad, and we all know what happened. 

Parallels with the Aga Khan and Ismailis
The Aga Khan phenomenon can not be discussed without seeing it as patronage from the colonial British project, from AK1 helping the British in the conquest of Sindh to AK3 continuing to maintain a shallow His Royal Highness title. (Why do you even need a shallow HRH title from a colonial master?) This article also elaborates on the AK’s relationship with the British Empire. AK would not be possible without the British. 

Similarly, we also can not isolate the prosperity of the Ismailis and other Gujarati communities in East Africa from the special privileges the colonial masters, the British (who preferred to have the Indians as the middlemen over the largely black African population), granted them and which have only continued to compound over time. Ismaili communities only spread out where the British Empire existed as abettors of colonization. (I would not say the same for indentured labourers, who ended up in places like Guyana, Fiji and Mauritius and were more victims of colonization.) The events under Idi Amin were only inevitable. 

Aga Khan signing the Amman Message was an attempt to bring a pseudo-Muslim community closer to the fold of orthodox Islam while avoiding the scrutiny of both former and current beliefs. Historical evidence shows that Khojas did not have any particular understanding of either Sunni or Shia Islam, and their range of practices was considered outside the fold of Islam. The Ismailis are to South Asia what the Nusayris are to Syria. 

My wife showed me a recent Farman where essentially Rahim is stating that having faith in Ismailism is of conviction only and not compulsion. He stated something like if you don’t have faith that’s okay, and that you’re still part of the Ismaili community if you want to be. He mentioned that some people think faith and the community are the same thing, but that to him they are different, you can still be part of the community and not have the faith. He basically encouraged folks to just stay in touch with the community if nothing else.

It feels like a way to let practicing Ismailis know it’s okay for us ex-Ismailis to keep our cultural identity and sense of community if we want to, without a need to justify the lack of faith. Not sure why, but honestly felt like I had sigh of relief after reading it. What would he gain from stating something like this? Curious to hear your thoughts.