Chehlum: Spiritual Meaning of 40 Days after the Imam's Passing

Observing 40 Days of Prayer after Imam Shah Karim⁽ᶜ⁾'s Passing is for the Jamat's Benefit

Mar 16, 2025

Today, March 16, 2025, marks forty (40) days since the physical passing of our 49th Imam, Mawlana Shah Karim al-Husayni⁽ᶜ⁾, who left this world physically on Feb 4, 2025.

The 40 days since the Imam Shah Karim’s⁽ᶜ⁾ passing have been a time of deep reflection, spiritual search, and prayer for the murids of the late Imam. To mark the completion of these 40 days, special prayers will be recited today in Jamatkhana.

It is part of Ismaili practice and tradition for families of departed murids to observe a 40 day period of prayer and reflection after the death of a loved one. In the case where an Ismaili murid has passed away, family members and others will pray for the salvation, peace, and spiritual enlightenment of the departed soul through various rituals in Jamatkhana. However, in the case of the passing of the Ismaili Imam, we do not offer prayers for the salvation, enlightenment, or peace of the Imam’s departed soul, as it would be absolutely unnecessary and inappropriate to do so.

What Happened to the Departed Soul of Imam Shah Karim⁽ᶜ⁾?

The soul of Mawlana Shah Karim al-Husayni⁽ᶜ⁾ is and remains the bearer of the eternal Nur of Imamat, even after his physical departure from this world. The Imam’s soul is always pure, always perfect, and always at peace, no matter the worldly circumstances and physical difficulties the Imam has endured. The physical death of an Imam simply means that the Imam’s perfect soul disassociates from his physical earthly body. The funeral and 40th Day (Chihilum) recitations associated with Imam Shah Karim⁽ᶜ⁾’s passing are not for his soul’s benefit but rather for the spiritual benefit of the Jamat.

Our twenty-third Imam, Mawlana Hasan ‘ala dhikrihi al-salaam has taught: “An Imam is always an Imam and always perfect” (Tusi, Rawda-yi Taslim transl. S.J. Badakhchani, Paradise of Submission, 125). The Imam being perfect means that he is sinless, his soul possesses the perfect virtues, and his knowledge of God’s guidance and spiritual mysteries is always complete.

The pure soul of Mawlana Shah Karim al-Husayni⁽ᶜ⁾ — upon leaving this physical world — does not undergo the questioning of the Day of Judgment. All of the Imams belong to the eschatological category of souls known as “the Foremost” (al-sabiqun) who immediately enter Paradise and are exempt from being questioned about their deeds.

“First are the foremost (sabiqan) and the people of the greatest Height (aʿraf), that is, those who are above reckoning and accountability. It is reported in a tradition (dar khabar ast): ‘When Dervishes are brought to the place of Reckoning (hisabgah), the angels will demand their accounts. In reply they say ‘What have you given us that makes us accountable to you?’ Then the commandment of the Exalted Lord will be heard: ‘they are right, their account is not any concern of yours.’”
Nasir al-Din Tusi, (“Origin and Destination,” in Shi‘i Interpretations of Islam, 69-70)

Upon death, there is no spiritual “journey” for the Imam’s soul to complete since the Imam’s soul is always at the summit of spiritual perfection. This means that the Imam’s soul is already in Paradise and united with the Nur of Imamat even while the Imam’s soul is manifest in his physical body during his earthly life. Mawlana ‘Ali⁽ᶜ⁾ has said: “Our hearts are in Paradise, while our bodies are occupied here with doing good” (Nahj al-Balagha, tr. Tahira Qutbuddin, 461).

According to Mawlana Sultan Muhammad Shah⁽ᶜ⁾: “Where there is Didar, there is Paradise” (Kalam-i Imam-i Mubin, Vol. 1, 45). To be in Paradise is to be in the huzur pur-nur (luminous presence) of the Imam. Therefore, Mawlana Shah Karim al-Husayni⁽ᶜ⁾’s perfect soul, as the mirror and bearer of the Nur of Imamat, is a living and actual Paradise in himself.

Although he has left this world physically, Mawlana Imam Shah Karim⁽ᶜ⁾ continues to inhabit his imaginal (astral) body and his higher bodies - such as his celestial, luminous, or paradisical body - through which the Imam remains ever-present to the inhabitants of the spiritual world and the physical world. Therefore, the murids of Mawlana Shah Karim⁽ᶜ⁾ continue to have a spiritual bond with him as he remains ever-present and ever-living. This is the case for all of the departed Imams; they remain present with all of us through their souls and continue to glow with the Nur of Imamat even after their physical deaths. Shortly after the passing of Mawlana Sultan Muhammad Shah⁽ᶜ⁾, Mawlana Shah Karim⁽ᶜ⁾ said:

“You have lost the finest Imam we have had and I have lost a grandfather who was more devoted than any grandfather a man has ever had. I hope you do not think that because he is not physically with us, that he won't watch over you.”
Mawlana Shah Karim al-Husayni⁽ᶜ⁾,
London, July 26, 1957

The Esoteric Symbolism of the Number 40

“The passage of a millennium has not diminished Nasir Khusraw’s relevance nor dulled the lustre of his poetry. It continues to uplift and inspire, reminding us that we are the authors of our own destiny.”

Imam Shah Karim al-Husayni Aga Khan IV,
Foundation Stone Ceremony of the Ismaili Centre,
Dushanbe, August 30, 2003

The number 40 is found throughout religious narratives in the Abrahamic religions and the biblical scriptures.

According to a famous hadith qudsi narrated by Sunni Sufi Muslims and Ismaili thinkers, God said: “I kneaded the Clay of Adam with My two hands for forty mornings.”
The Ark of Noah⁽ᶜ⁾ floated during the Flood for 40 days and nights (Genesis 7:4).
Prophet Moses⁽ᶜ⁾ spent 40 nights meditating on Mount Sinai during which he had the spiritual didar of God through the Universal Intellect and Universal Soul (Qur’an 7:142-143).
Prophet Jesus⁽ᶜ⁾ fasted for 40 days and nights in the desert and resisted the temptations of Satan (Matthew 4:2; Luke 4:2, Mark 1:13).
Prophet Muhammad⁽ˢ⁾ began his Prophetic Mission at the age of 40.

The number 40 has a special symbolism in Ismaili Muslim philosophy. Sayyidna Nasir-i Khusraw, the hujja (proof) of Imam al-Mustansir⁽ᶜ⁾, explains the ta’wil (revelatory exegesis) of the number 40 in his Wajh-i Din (“The Face of Religion”):

“That (number) 40 signifies the 5 Spiritual Ranks (hudud-i ruhani), the Speaker Prophet (natiq), the Founder (asas), the 7 Imams, the 24 Proofs (hujjatan) of the day and the night, the Da‘i and the Ma’dhun (‘authorized teacher’).”
“The (number] 40 signifies the rank (hadd) of the Imamat and 30 signifies the rank of the Hujjatship….The 40 signifies the 5 Spiritual Ranks - meaning the [Universal] Intellect, [Universal] Soul, Jadd, Fath, and Khayal - and the Speaker Prophet (natiq), the Founder (asas), the 7 Imams, the 24 Proofs (hujjatan) of the day and the night, the Da‘i, and the Ma’dhun.”
Sayyidna Nasir-i Khusraw, (Wajh-i Din, ed. Aavani, Tehran 1977, Discourse 30: 225, 229)

According to teachings of Sayyidna Nasir-i Khusraw, the esoteric symbolism of ta’wil of forty (40) is that this number indicates the totality of the spiritual and earthly ranks of God’s Summons or da‘wah in every cycle:

5 Spiritual Ranks:
Universal Intellect
Universal Soul
Jadd (Archangel Seraphiel)
Fath (Archangel Michael)
Khayal (Archangel Gabriel)

1 Speaker Prophet (natiq) who promulgates the religious law (shari‘ah) and revelatory discourse (tanzil).
1 Founder (asas) who teaches the ta’wil of the Speaker Prophet’s law and revelatory discourse.
7 Imams of the minor cycles who succeed one another until the end of the Speaker Prophet’s cycle.
24 Proofs (hujjas) who receive divine support (ta’yid) from the Imam of the Time and convey the Imam’s ta’wil to lower ranks.
1 Rank of Da‘i who instructs the lower ranks in the Imam’s ta‘lim and ta’wil
1 Rank of Ma’dhun who is authorized by the Da‘i to instruct the believers

40 Ranks (hudud) = 5+1+1+7+24+1+1

Thus, the number 40 symbolizes the entirety of the spiritual and earthly hierarchy in every prophetic cycle. The Imam as the locus of manifestation (mazhar) of the highest spiritual rank - the Universal Intellect or Nur of Imamat - reflects and encompasses all of these 40 ranks (hudud) within his perfect soul. Thus, the number 40 esoterically symbolizes the Imam of the Time and the unitive manifestation of this entire hierarchy (hudud) within the Imam’s personal world.

The Departing Imam: The Temple of Light of the Imamat

There is a permanent spiritual bond between every Imam of the Time and their murids. This spiritual bond with the Imam is itself a spiritual light which forms when the murid submits bay‘ah to the Imam and develops over one’s life: “When the new initiate (mustajib) expresses his assent between the hands of one of the dignitaries (hudud), at the moment when he repeats the formula which commits him, and if his intentions are true and pure, behold, a point of light is joined to his soul and remains beside it without forming part of it” (Henry Corbin, History of Islamic Philosophy, 91).

The souls of all murids through their spiritual link to the Imam of their Time together constitute a spiritual assembly (jama‘ah) of souls known as the Temple of Light of the Imamat, which subsists within the Imam’s perfect soul. Henry Corbin observes that “the Ismailian Adam and after him all the Imams sustain a Temple of Light built out of all the souls of their adepts” (Henry Corbin, Cyclical Times and Ismaili Gnosis, 67). In another passage, Corbin explains further:

“The Imamate is the coalescence (majma‘) of all the souls of Light, who have been dyed with the precious spiritual Dye, substantialized by the teachings of Gnosis, and carried to the degree of subtlety of the spiritual world, and who have migrated from the material body and been drawn to join the Pillar of Light (‘amud al-Nur, al-‘amud al-nurani), the summit of which reaches into the pleroma of the Archangels… Perfect, divine humanity, that of the Imam, corresponds to the archangelical archetype in the sense that it is the earthly support, the receptacle of a coalescence of souls of light, which is his lahut, his divinity, his Temple of Light (haykal nurani).”
Henry Corbin, Cyclical Times and Ismaili Gnosis, 112-113

Every Imam of the Time contains his own Temple of Light, which gathers together the souls of all of the Imam’s murids in a spiritual communion in which all murids are joined together spiritually, rank by rank, and the Imam’s blessings continuously flow through them.

The Imam’s Temple of Light is the majma‘ (place of gathering) for the souls of all the murids. This term is directly related to the word jama‘ah (Jamat). In South Asian Ismaili texts and prayers, the equivalent term is Gat-Jama‘at. In other words, the Imam’s Temple of Light, supported by his perfect soul, contains of all of his murids’ souls gathered together as the Gat-Jamat.

“The Satgur says: Everything exists fully in the Gat Jamat (Gat) and that lord who is kind to the destitute is present too. Whoever lied intentionally in the Jamat (Gat) he will not obtain the Shah Pir (Gur-Nar).”
Pir Shams al-Din, Saloko Moto, Verse 36
tr. Kamaluddin Ali and Zarina Kamaluddin

This is why the Imam of the Time regularly reminds the Jamat that they are always in his heart, his thoughts, and his prayers. This blessing refers to the souls of the Jamat being ever-present in Imam’s Temple of Light, which exists within the Imam’s soul.

As seen earlier, number 40 symbolizes all of the spiritual and physical hudud (ranks) and these ranks are manifested within every Imam’s Temple of Light. When the Imam of the Time departs the physical world, his soul disassociates from his physical body and remains in permanent union with the Nur of Imamat. However, the Imam’s physical departure also causes his Temple of Light containing the souls of all his murids to rise and ascend towards the ranks of the spiritual world.

“The Sublime Temple of Light (haykal nurani sharif) of the last Imam gathers together, integrates, all the Prophets, Wasi, Imams, all the hudud and true Gnostics who have preceded him in the course of the Cycles. He contains each of the Temples of Light of each Imam (haykal imami sharif), progressively erected by the Angel demiurge to constitute the resurrective Form (surat qa’ima), the Temple of the Resurrector (haykal al-Qa’im). Without fusion or confusion of persons, in the image of the Heavens encased one in the other, each Form subsists as a member in the Whole, just as each hadd subsists in the Temple of Light of its Imam, and each Form is preserved in its perfect living individuality that is all life, all power, all knowledge… When the Imam departs from this world, he draws with him this entire Pillar of Light.”
Henry Corbin, Cyclical Times and Ismaili Gnosis, 114-115

The 40 period of prayer and reflection following the Imam’s physical death symbolizes the spiritual journey towards perfection and union with the Nur of Imamat. The Nur of Imamat is the Universal Intellect, which encompasses all of the 40 ranks symbolized by 40 days and this Nur is reflected within the soul of every Imam of the Time. Thus, the spiritual journey symbolized by 40 days does not occur for the late Imam; as his soul is already perfect and united with the Nur of Imamat. Rather, the 40 day period represents the spiritual journey of the Imam’s murids from spiritual rank to spiritual rank.

The passing of an Imam is actually a minor qiyamah (resurrection), in which there is an opening or window for his murids to attain spiritual awakening, transformation, and elevation in an unprecedented manner. This is because the Imam’s Temple of Light, which gathers together the souls of his murids, ascends the spiritual hierarchy with the physical passing of the Imam: “The esoteric sense (ta’wil) of death is this transfer from degree to degree, from metamorphosis to metamorphosis, each time amplifying the dimension of vision” (Henry Corbin, Cyclical Times and Ismaili Gnosis, 139).

The 40 days that symbolize the spiritual journey are for the Imam’s murids - the members of the late Imam’s Temple of Light, which ascends through the late Imam when he departs the physical world. The 40 day period represents every Ismaili murid’s spiritual ascent through the 40 spiritual ranks (hudud) that are manifest within the Imam.

We conclude this reflection by reminding the Jamat that although our 49th Imam Mawlana Shah Karim al-Husayni⁽ᶜ⁾ has left this world physically, he remains ever-present and ever-living through his perfect soul illuminated by the Nur of Imamat. In the words of Mawlana Shah Karim⁽ᶜ⁾, “there is no final mulaqat.”

“The Mukhi just asked a question. He asked me whether this was the final mulaqat!
There is no such thing as a final mulaqat! He should know that.
I am always with my Jamat, always, all the time!”

Mawlana Shah Karim al-Husayni
Toronto, November 18, 2017