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:

Is this helping or misleading site?????  I am so sorry about improper use of knowledge and misinterpretation.  Please, if you are lost Don't mislead somebody else with it.

First of all I don't believe you are a Muslim!!!!  If you are? you won't be breaking the Kal-E-Ma. "La ilaaha illalllah”,  Which mean their is no god, except Allah! 

And, if Bhora's offer Sajadatus-Shukr  that does not mean Bhora's except Syedna as God or anything like that.... He definitely is a guide and he does Claims to be Bawa of our soul!  If you misinterpret and say anything you don't know OF-COURSE I would say you are guilty as charged!

I am so sure with virtue of your e-mail that you are learned, but lost individual.  One can interpret one thing in so many ways, as one believes and as one see it.

(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:

Bohras do sajdah of Shukr to the Syedna

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever 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.

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 13 Surah Raad verse 15: For it is Allah Alone before whom everything in the heavens and the earth do ‘sajdah’ willingly or un-willingly. Even the shadows of all things do ‘sajdah’ to Allah in the morning and evening!

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 16 Surah Nahl verse 48-50: And don’t they observe anything created by Allah: how it casts its shadow right and left, doing its ‘sajdah’ to Allah Alone? Thus do all things express their humility to Allah. All the animate creation in the heavens and the earth and all the angels do ‘sajdah’ in adoration to Allah Alone. They do not show any arrogance at all, and fear their Lord, Who is above them, and do whatever they are bidden by Allah.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 22 Surah Hajj verse 77: O 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.

Sajdah, whether done in ‘shukr’, or ‘tahdeem’ (respect), or worship is an act of worship; and all our rites and acts of worship are due to none but our Creator, Allah Subhanah Alone! Everything in the universe is doing ‘sajdah’ willingly or unwilling to Allah Alone!

Allah Subhanah, Who Created us, and everything in the heavens and the earth, Alone deserves that we do ‘sajdah’ to Him! If anyone does sajdah to any human being or any grave or anything other than Allah, then he/she shares this rite of worship, which is due to Allah Alone, with another… and that is a manifest act of ‘shirk’! And thus against the kalima, which is the foundation of Islam: La ilaaha illallaah! That there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone.

It is an error to think that one is allowed to do sajdah to another being …be it in ‘tahdeem’ (respect) or ‘shukr’ (gratefulness)! Everything that we are, everything that we have, everything that we own, and everything that is available to us … is because of the Mercy and Bounty of our All Merciful Lord! If that is the Truth, then honestly ask yourself, who deserves your sajdah’s of shukr! The Creator or some human being who is himself created by the Creator?

Did this person create you, that you are so willing to share Allah’s rite of worship to him?

Does he provide for you, that you are so willing to do sajdah to him in Shukr?

Did he give you life when you were lifeless?

Did you come into this world with his ‘raza’?

Did he give you your health? Your eyes? Your ears? Your hands? Your feet?

Does he cure you when you are ill?

Does he give you the air you breathe?

Does he give you the water that you drink?

Does he give you the food that you eat?

Did he give you your parents? Your brothers? Your sisters? Your family? Your friends?

Does he give you honor in this world? Can he give you honor in the Hereafter?

Did he give you everything that you ever wanted?

Does he answer your prayers?

Will he ordain your death?

Will he give you life again on the Day of Judgement?

Will he be the Judge on the Day of Judgement?

Will he grant you Paradise on that Day?

Does the person whom you feel compelled to do ‘sajdatus-shukr’ do any of the above things for you? What is it that he has done, that you are so willing to share the rite of worship that is due to Allah Alone with this person? Compare the ‘ehsaan’ and favors done on you by your Lord and Creator, and then compare what this person has done for you … and if you ask yourself honestly, you will get a clear answer! The ‘sajdatus-shukr’ is the Right of Allah Subhanah Alone, Who has bestowed unlimited favors on His slaves. Man has been indeed unjust in sharing what is due to Allah with somebody else!

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 39 Surah Zumar verse 8: When an affliction befalls man, he calls upon his Lord, turning to Him in penitence. Then, when Allah blesses him with His favor, the person forgets the affliction for which he was calling on Allah before, and sets up others as equals with Allah, thus misleading others from Allah’s Way. (O Prophet, tell him): “Enjoy your disbelief for a while. You shall certainly go to Hell!”

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 26 Surah Shuaraa verse 69-82: And tell them the story of Ibrahim, when he asked his father and his people: “What are these things that you worship?” They answered, “These are idols which we worship and we serve them devotedly.” Ibrahim asked, “Do they hear you when you call on them? Or do they bring any good or harm to you?” They replied, “No, but we have found our elders doing the same.” At this, Ibrahim said, “Have you ever seen with open eyes the things which you and your elders have been worshipping? They are all enemies to me, except the One Lord of the Worlds, Who created me, then He it is Who guides me, Who gives me food and drink, and Who gives me health when I am ill, Who will cause me to die and then will give me life again, and of Whom I expect that He will forgive me my errors on the Day of Judgment.”

My brothers and sisters in Islam… beware of sharing any of Allah’s Noble Attributes with any of His created slaves! Beware of sharing any rite of worship that is due to Allah with any of His created slaves! This is open and manifest ‘shirk’! Shaitaan is an avowed enemy of man and he has made these deeds fair seeming to you! I urge you to read and understand the clear aayahs of the Holy Quran; that is the only way you will realize what this heinous crime of ‘shirk’ is in the sight of Allah. And Allah has promised Himself in the Holy Quran, that He will never forgive anyone who dies in a state of shirk, and shall make the fire of Hell his abode forever!

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 29 Surah Ankaboot verse 38: Shaitaan made their deeds fair seeming to them and misled them from the right path, although they were sensible people.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 18 Surah Kahf verses 103-106: Tell them (O Mohamed), “Should We tell you who are the most unsuccessful people and miserable failures in regard to their deeds? They are those, all whose endeavors in the worldly life, had gone astray from the Right Way, but all along they were under the delusion that everything they were doing, was rightly directed! Those are the people who rejected the Revelations of their Lord and did not believe that they would ever go before Him. Therefore all their deeds were lost, for We shall assign no weight to them on the Day of Resurrection. Their recompense is Hell for the disbelief they showed, and for the mockery they adopted in regard to My Aayahs and My Messengers!”

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.

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 us 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