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:

I have a question for you:

I went to the Dawoodi Bohra Mosque not long ago and found myself praying Isha namaaz with the Imam who performed 2 rakaat namaaz instead of 4 rakaat explaining to us that he is going to travel the next day.  Can you elaborate on why this practice is customary in only Dawoodi Bohra surroundings. Is this acceptable in Imamaat Namaaz? Thank you.

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Answer:

Imam prayed Qasr namaaz

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.

The imam or anyone else for that matter, cannot pray ‘qasr’ or shortened prayers, simply because he is traveling the next day! This is not within the Shariah of Islam.

I cannot and should not even try to elaborate and try to give a logical explanation to what happened. The only thing that comes to my mind is that probably the imam made a mistake, and instead of owning up to his mistake as a human being is prone to error, he covered it by saying that he did so because he is traveling the next day! I cannot think of anything else to explain what happened.

This practice of praying ‘qasr’ because one is traveling the next day is not acceptable in Islam, and I am sure not even in the Bohra community.

And even if any imam is actually in the state of travel, and thus leads the prayer and prays ‘qasr’ prayers, the ones who are resident of that place, must stand and complete the rest of the prayer on their own after the imam has said his salaams at the end of the prayer.

I really am at a loss to explain what happened, as only the imam, who did this act can explain this. All I can say is that this practice is alien to Islam and its teachings, including Dawoodi Bohras. Allah Alone knows best if that prayer is accepted or not. The best thing for you to do is pray that 4 rakahs of Isha again as ‘qadah’ and ask Allah to forgive you and accept your prayer.

Brother, the reason these types of things happen and the imam got away with it, is because the common Bohras are ignorant of Islam and its practices. The way they are brought up is never to challenge or re-think that the ‘raza na sahebs’ can do anything wrong in any Islamic matter! Brother, every person other than the Prophet of Allah (saws) is human and thus prone to error. The only way to gain knowledge about Islam is read and understand the Quran… even if only once! Once a person has the knowledge of the Quran as his base, no one can ever misguide him in the name of Islam. Take the Quran away from the equation, and the only thing that is left is misguidance! There are so many things that the Bohra leadership do that is directly against the commandments of Allah and His Messenger (saws); but no one says a word and willingly follows them… simply because they have no way to determine what is right and what is wrong!

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