Ginan Central

Ginan Central: Commons

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Ginans continue to play a vital role in communal and congregational services of the Ismaili Muslim community around the world. Over the years, local community institutions and individuals have produced a variety of "communal editions" of romanized or English texts of ginans to help teach and transmit ginans to younger generations, particularly those living in North America and Europe. Due to the lack of production of critical editions of ginans by the academy, these romanized communal editions of ginans have not only served the liturgical needs of the community, but have also helped in making ginans more accessible and comprehensible to younger and diaspora generations of the community not familiar with Gujarati and Khojki scripts.

The purpose of Ginan Commons is to digitally preserve and showcase samples of communal editions of romanized texts of ginans from around the world as well as to acknowledge the essential and crucial role these resources play in transmitting, and thereby safeguarding, the tradition of ginans within the community today. Due to the independent nature of these publications, the texts are not scholarly, or peer reviewed nor do they necessarily adhere to the editorial processes of the publishing industry.

This website is maintained by Karim Tharani, tenured librarian and faculty at the University of Saskatchewan. Visit Ginan Central for more resources on ginans. For more information or questions, please contact
 


The gināns texts themsleves reflect an awareness of their transformative effect on an individual. A verse from a commonly recited Gujarati ginān attributed to Pir Sadr ad-Dīn (c. 1350-1400) instructs the faithful: ginān bolore nīt nure bhareā; evo haiḍe tamāre harak na māejī (recite gināns which are filled with light; boundless will be the happiness in your heart). The use of symbol of light appropriately points to the role of the gināns in bringing about an inner transformation through enlightenment and banishing of the darkness of ignorance.
Professor Ali Asani
Harvard University

Source: The Ismaili Ginans as Devotional Literature, Devotional Literature in South Asia: Current Research, 1985 – 1988, Cambridge University Press, 1992.

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