Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

On what basis do you say the bohra committee way of following Islam is not the correct one. If Allah is the one to decide what is wrong and what is correct, then who are you to decide if the bohra committee of following Islam is the correct path or the wrong path.

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

ANSWER:

On what basis do you calim that Bohra Community is wrong?

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and who-ever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Your comment: Who are we do decide?

Yes, brother, we are nobody to decide. But Allah states in the Quran, that the believers are the brothers of one another. Thus we are your brothers in Islam, because Allah has made us so.

The only reason we invite you to read the Holy Quran with understanding, is because our Lord and Creator has commanded us as true muslims to do so.

Allah says in the Holy Quran: Chapter 16, Surah An-Nahl Ayat 125: Invite to the way of your Lord with wisdom and excellent admonition and argue with people in the best manner. Your Lord knows best who has gone astray from His Way and who is Rightly guided.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 33 Surah Ahzaab verse 72-73: We (Allah) offered this trust to the heavens and the earth and the mountains, but they all refused to bear it, and were afraid it. But man undertook to bear this trust. Indeed, he is unjust and ignorant! The inevitable result of bearing the burden of the trust is that Allah should punish the hypocrite men and women, and the mushrik (one who invokes others with Allah) men and women, and accept the repentance of the believing men and women. Allah is indeed Forgiving and Merciful.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 3 Surah Ale Imran verse 110: You (muslims) are the best community which has been raised for the guidance of mankind. You enjoin what is right, and forbid what is evil and you all believe in Allah Alone.

Your comment: On what basis do you say that bohra way of following Islam is not the correct one?

Our basis for forming this judgment is the clear guidance and teachings of the Holy Quran. From the clear understanding of the Holy Quran, it is very evident for anybody who understands the Holy Quran, that the Bohras are manifestly involved in the single biggest sin of ‘shirk’ (or associating and invoking others with Allah), and they do not even realize it. And the only reason they are involved in this sin is because they are away from the clear and easy understanding of the Holy Quran. They claim that they believe in the Holy Quran, but in fact, they never understand one sentence of it. In truth, not understanding the Quran on purpose, is denying the Quran itself! The Bohras are Bohras because they were born into their sect and they just follow the deen of their forefathers blindly. They found their fathers and their forefathers invoking men, dead in their graves and alive, and they did the same! They follow blindly some self-proclaimed holy men, and hope that the promises these people make about Paradise will materialize, without ever understanding what Allah and His Messenger (saws) are guiding towards. They invoke some personalities from the historical figures, and assume that by wailing and beating themselves on an appointed day, they will deserve their intercession on the Day of Judgment!

My beloved brother, all these are just that: assumptions and whims and conjecture and hopes! All these assumptions have absolutely no basis in the Holy Quran. Allah will not decide on the Day of Judgement on the promises made by these self-proclaimed holy men, but Allah has given us the syllabus and the criteria in the form of the Holy Quran. This is a Message for our guidance from our Lord and our Creator, and we have never bothered to open and read it with understanding. Only the promises that Allah has made Himself in the Glorious

Quran will definitely come true. All the others who made fancy promises neither have the power to fulfill them, nor the means to make them come true!

Allah says in the Quran: Chapter 4 Surah An-Nisa Verse 48: Shirk (associating other deities with Allah) is the only sin that Allah does not forgive, and He forgives, whomsoever He pleases, sins other than this, for whosoever associates any other partner with Allah, does indeed forge a big lie and commits the most heinous sin.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 5 Surah Maidah verse 72: Whoever commits ‘shirk’ (invoking anything with Allah), Allah shall forbid for him Paradise, and Hell shall be his abode. And for such wrong doers there will be no one to help.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 41 Surah Fusselat verse 37: Do not do ‘sajdah’ to the sun and the moon, but do ‘sajdah’ to that Allah, Who Created them, if you really are indeed His worshippers.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 22 Surah Hajj verse 77: you who believe, do ‘rukoo’ and ‘sajdah’ to Allah Alone, worship Allah Alone, and do righteous deeds. It may be that you attain true success.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 39 Surah Zumur verse 2-3: So worship Allah Alone, making your religion His exclusively. Beware! Religion is the exclusive Right of Allah. As for those who have taken other ‘auliyas’ (guardians) with Allah (and justify their this conduct by saying): “We serve them only that they may bring us closer to Allah.” Allah will surely judge between them concerning all that in which they differ. Allah does not show guidance to any liar and denier of the Truth.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 7 Surah Aaraf verse 191-196: They associate with Allah partners who do not create anything, but are themselves created! Who cannot help them nor have the power to help themselves! If you invite them to follow the Right Way, they will not follow you! It will be all the same for you whether you call them or keep silent. Those whom you invoke with Allah are MERE SERVANTS OF ALLAH LIKE YOU! Just invoke them, and if what you say of them be true, they will answer your prayers! Have they feet that they should walk with them? Or have they hands that they should hold with them? Or have they eyes that they should see with them? Or have they ears that they should hear with them? Tell them, O Mohammed, “Call up the partners you have set up, and then all of you sit down together and plot against me, and give me no respite. My Protector and Helper is Allah, Who has sent down this Book (Al Quran), and, it is He who protects the righteous people.”

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 16 Surah Nahl verse 20-21: All the other beings, whom the people invoke with Allah, create nothing! Nay, they are themselves created. They are DEAD, not living, and they do not at all know themselves when they shall again be raised to life!

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 22 Surah Hajj verse 71-72: They worship besides Allah those for whom Allah has sent down NO AUTHORITY! Nor they themselves have any knowledge about them. Such transgressors have no helper! And when our CLEAR REVELATIONS are recited to them, you perceive signs of disdain on the faces of the disbelievers, as though they were going to ASSUALT those who recite our Revelations to them!

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 33 Surah Ahzab verse 66-68: On the Day their faces are rolled about on the Fire, they will say, “Would that we had obeyed Allah and His Messenger!” And they will say, “O our Lord, we obeyed our CHIEFS and our GREAT MEN, and they led us astray from the Right Path. O our Lord, give them a double chastisment and curse them severely”.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 6 Surah Anam verse 94: (And Allah will say), “So, you have come before Us all alone, as We created you at first. Now, you have left behind all that We gave you in the world. Now We do not see with you those ‘shufa’a’(intercessors), who, you believed, had a share in moulding your destinies! All the relations between you and them have been cut off, and all those, in whom you trusted, have left you in the lurch.”

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah Baqarah verse 170-171: When it is said to them, “Follow the Commands that Allah has sent down”, they reply, “We will follow only what we found our forefathers practising.” Well, will they go on following their forefathers even though they did not use common sense and did not find the Right Way! The mental condition of those who rejected the way of Allah may be likened to that of the cattle whom the shepherd calls but they nothing except the sound of shouts and cries. They are deaf, they are dumb, they are blind; therefore they do not understand anything.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 31 Surah Luqman verse 21: And when it is said to them, “Follow what Allah has sent down”, they say, “We shall only follow that upon which we found our forefathers.” What! Will they still be following them even if Shaitaan had been calling them to the raging Fire?

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 34 Surah Saba verse 43: When Our clear Revelations are recited to these people, they say, “This person only wants to turn you away from those deities whom your forefathers have been worshipping.”

True, Allah Himself will decide who was guided aright and who was astray on the Day of Judgment. But Allah has commanded the believers to propagate this deen of Islam to mankind or anybody who wants to listen to good caution. But the Day Allah will decide will be on the Day of Resurrection and on that Day, the person will have no space for recourse, and will have nothing but regrets. The time to turn to Allah and seek his forgiveness is now! The time to read and understand the Glorious Quran is now! The time to submit your will to Allah is now! The time to live your life in submission to Allah is now! The time to do good deeds is now! The time to stop committing this henious crime of shirk is now! The time to work in Allah’s Cause is now! As tomorrow, might be too late! It is too late when the angel of death comes knocking on our door! It is too late when we are face to face with the appointment of death!

May Allah guide you and us all to read and understand the clear and plain message of the Holy Quran so that we can align our lives to the will of our Creator. May Allah guide you and us all to the Straight Path of Islam.

May Allah guide you and us to read and understand the simple and plain words of the Glorious Quran. May Allah increase our knowledge from the Holy Quran. May Allah guide you and us all to the Siraat al-Mustaqeem

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan