Aboul Ḥasan Isphani (ابو الحسن اصفھانی) was one of the closest aides of Muḥammad Ali Jinnah. He was a fellow lawyer and at the 29th session of Muslim League held in Allahabad in 1942, Isphani moved the resolution which was passed, giving full powers to Muhammad Ali Jinnah for leading the Muslim League.
After independence, he became Member Pakistan Constituent Assembly in 1947, and toured the United States as personal representative of Jinnah.
In his well-known biography-memoir which Abul Ḥassan Isphani wrote about Muhammad Ali Jinnah, titled “Qaid-e-Azam: Jinnah As I Knew Him”, he writes that after leaving Ismailism himself, Jinnah spoke with Aga Khan III and tried convincing him to leave leadership of his Ismaili cult.
Here is the excerpt from the book:
In the course of one of many intimate conversations, the Qaid-e-Azam told me that he was an Ismaili Khoja by birth and when he was twenty-one, decide to quit the ranks of the Ismailis and join the Isna Ashari fold. This he did and before long, he converted his family, too. He was convinced that the faith built up by the first and second Aga Khans and thereafter by the third Aga Khan, Sir Sultan Mohamed Shāh, the greatest of them all and the grandfather of the present Aga Khan, was so unnecessary that he tried to persuade the Aga Khan himself to abandon his headship of Ismāʿīlīs and to join the ranks of the Isna Asharis, to which sect most of the members of the Aga Khan’s own family belonged.
Isphani, Qaid-e-Azam Jinnah As I Knew Him
Here is the original scanned page:
Jinnah knew Aga Khan very closely and was neither convinced like millions of Ismāʿīlīs are today, that Aga Khan was the mushkil-kusha, forgiver of sins and the ‘Living Imām’ of the Ismāʿīlīs, nor was Aga Khan himself able to convince Jinnah of his position as “the walking and talking” Qurʼān.
Inside Ismailism 
In The Name of ALLAH TA’ALA,
THE ONLY ONE WHO IS TRULY REAL.
With the Permission of ALLAH TA’ALA,
THE BEYOND-BEING,
It is really sad to see the Nizariyyah Ismailis behave like they do today!!
Until Sultan Muhammad Shah, the third Agha Khan, the Nizariyyah were as muslims as a Sunni or Ithna Asheri. They firmly believed in THE ONENESS of ALLAH (SWT), prayed the 5 Daily Salah, used to fast during Ramadhan and fulfilled all Islamic Duties just like any normal Muslim.
When Shah Hassan Ali was expelled from Iran and settled in India, he and his son Shah Ali Shah, maintained the Islamic Sharia.
It was Mr Sultan Muhammad, the third Agha Khan, the one who stripped all Islamic Aspects of the Nizariyyah, replacing them with Politheism, Hindu and Catholic Christian doctrines (tobo tobo is one example of a Catholic ritual).
It is sad to see this as I said before, because Ancient Ismaili Philosophy is very rich, has a Concept of TAWHID that surpasses the Sunni Concepts (though these are very good) and ruled almost the entire Muslim World for about 200 years under the Fatimid Khalifs.
There are no registrations whatsoever that the Fatimiad Khalifs ever did Xirk!!
On the contrary!! They were very pious muslims, to the point that when the Proto-Druziyyah started to claim that Al Hakim bi Amrillah was god, Al Hakim himself expelled this Community from the Empire and they settled in present day Lebanon, Syria and Israel!!
Every Fatimid Khalif from the first, Al Mahdi, to Al Mustansir Billah, were Men of GOD who enforced the Holy Quran and never claimed infalibility!!
There is another branch of the Ismailiyyah, the Mustalis or Bohra, who are trully the heirs of the Fatimids. They are True Muslims, still having the above mentioned concept of TAWHID, and they abide by the Holy Quran and follow all It’s commands like a Sunni or a Ithna Asheri.
In 2013, in one of my trips to London, I had the priviledge to pray Namaz-e-Maghrib and Namaz-e-Isha behind a Bohra Ismailiyyah Imam.
The Bohra Ismailiyyah Muslims still have the Ancient Ismailiyyah Philosophy.
While many Ithna Asheris of Pakistan exagerate a lot about Imam Ali (as), as I have seen, when in 2007 I was in that country, The Bohra Ismailiyyah Muslims are moderate regarding their Imams (they believe their current Imam is in Concealment) and their Dai-al-Mutlaq.
And in the Saudi region of Najran, the overwhelming majority of the population are Bohra Ismailiyyah, though they have a different Dai-al-Mutlaq.
They have their own Mosques and observe all Islamic Commandments like any other Muslim, to the point that one member of Wahabi Establishment of Saudi Arabia uttered a speech praising the Ismailiyyah Muslims of Najran!!
As I said in my previous commentary, I am a Muslim Only. But as an Islamic Theologian, I, by the Grace of ALLAH TABÁRAK WA TA’ALA, know pretty well all Islamic Schools of Thought.
So for me, whenever I use the name “Ismailiyyah”, I am refering to my Bohra brothers and sisters.
The Khoja followers of Agha Khan, are mentioned by me as Agha Khanis only!! This group constitute a separate religion, as they so proudly affirm, both the lay people and Mukhis and Kamadia who have no Knowledge of Islamic Theology at all!!
I was told that Agha Khan has 2 or 3 million non-khoja followers. I do not know if these pratice the rituals of the Khoja or if they abide by Islam.
This is something that the brother responsible for this website can kindly inform me.
Wa Akhirud Da’wana Anil Hamdu lil LLAAHI RABB il Alameen.
Allama Riaz Carmali
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