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:

Dawoodi Bohra Help Line.

I have received Your reply dated 25-6-2001. With regret I have to state that my questions have not been answered.Once again I draw your attention that your site is called DAWOODI BOHRA HELPLINE - If it is not so, ie if you are not a Dawoodi, then there is no cause of our communication. Once again I draw your attention to my question that what is the meaning of the word Dawoodi Bohra ? According to you - what is your faith? Are you a Dowoodi Muslim? Muslims are not Dawoodi. There are various sects of Muslims. If your site was named Muslim Bohra Help Line, then there was no cause of my communicating with you. You must be aware that neither you are the only believer of Quran nor English translation of the Quran is available only with you. There are number of believers of Quran and there are various  English translations available.You may be a believer of Allah, but are you a believer in accordance to the Ayats of the Quran ?My main question - Dawoodi ? Are you a Dawoodi ? A muslim? or not ? If not then it is a different issue. The believers of Quran are described as Muslims in various Ayats. The Ayats quoted by you, I as a believer of Quran, feel, is in exaggeration of your knowledge. Once again I put it to you that are you a Dawoodi Vohra ? If you are one - kindly clarify.After you clarification on the above  we can discuss on the subject of Sajda. You must be aware that other than Muslims, even Jinnats were believers of the Ayats of Quran (Ch. 72 Ayat 1,2)  In Ayat 50 of Chapter 18 Jin has been described as Eblis.

I hope you will reply to my specific Questions.

(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:

Are you a Dawoodibohra?

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.

We sincerely apologize if in your opinion, we did not answer your specific questions. We shall try our best to address each of your questions, Insha Allah, for the pleasure of Allah.

Your comment: Once again I draw your attention that your site is called DAWOODI BOHRA HELPLINE - If it is not so, ie if you are not a Dawoodi, then there is no cause of our communication.

The truth of the matter is that all the brothers who moderate this forum were born into the Dawoodi Bohra sect of Islam, and lived a major part of their lives practicing the Bohra beliefs and rituals. At various times of their lives, Allah guided the brothers to read and understand the clear Message and Guidance of the Holy Quran. Thus after understanding the clear Message of the Quran, we aligned our beliefs, our aqeedah, our loyalty, our deen, our religion, our rites of worship, and our way of life to the guidance of the Holy Quran.

Allah has given the name ‘muslims’ to the believers in the Holy Quran; and we should not substitute the given name of Allah with man-made names like Bohras, or Shias, or Sunnis, or Ismailis or anything else for that matter. We are muslims as commanded by Allah in the Holy Quran.

Allah commands the ones who have believed, to invite mankind to the Truth, in the Holy Quran. Thus, the brothers started this forum to invite anyone who wants to listen to good caution from the Quran, and specifically our Dawoodi Bohra brethren, to the Way of Allah. The leadership of the Bohra community have taken the guidance of the Quran away from their followers, and have guided them to invoke, worship, and bow down in sajdah to man and graves; which is absolutely against the guidance of Allah and His Messenger (saws). And the only reason the common Bohras obey the leadership is that they think these leaders are guiding from the Holy Quran, and nothing could be further from the Truth! The site was created to help our Bohra brethren come to the guidance of the Holy Quran, and that is why it is named Dawoodibohrahelpline.

Your comment: Once again I draw your attention to my question that what is the meaning of the word Dawoodi Bohra ?

Dawoodi Bohra is a sect of the Fatimid Shiite school of thought. The word ‘Dawoodi’ is derived from the name of the 27^th Dai of the Bohras, Dawood ibn Qutubshah Burhanuddin. The word ‘Bohra’ comes from the Gujrati word for ‘trader’, as the believers in the sect were a predominantly trading community from Gujarat, India. In the 11^th century Hijri, there was a dispute between the appointed Dai, and the ones who believed in the leadership of Dawood ibn Qutubshah Burhanuddin came to be known as the Dawoodi Bohras.

Your comment: According to you - what is your faith?

If you are referring to my faith, my faith is in Allah and His Messenger (saws). I believe that there is no one worthy of worship and invocation except Allah Alone, and He has absolutely no partners. I believe that Mohamed (saws) is the Last and Final Messenger of Allah. I believe in every word of the Holy Quran and in every word of the Messenger of Allah (saws). I believe in Allah, all His appointed Messengers, all His revealed Books, the Angels, Allah’s Divine Qadr, and in the life of the Hereafter. That is my faith, and it is called Islam.

Your comment: Are you a Dowoodi Muslim?

I would have to say NO! Allah has called the believers ‘muslims’ in the Holy Quran, and I am proud to be recognized by the name our Lord and Creator has given us. Thus I am a ‘muslim’, without the man-made1 pre-fix and word ‘Dawoodi’.

Your comment: Muslims are not Dawoodi.

That is true, Muslims are not Dawoodi. Muslim is one who surrenders himself to the Will of Allah Subhanah. Dawoodi is the name derived from a human being, whom the Bohras believed as their leader in the 11^th century Hijrah.

Your comment: There are various sects of Muslims.

Unfortunately, that is true. A true muslim does not belong to any sect, because all the sects were created by man himself without any authority from Allah. Allah has called the believers ‘muslims’, and has commanded us to be one united Ummah. We have nothing to do with those who create sects of Islam. Just look at the Anger and Wrath of Allah described on those who break up the deen of Islam into sects:

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 23 Surah Mu’minoon verse 52-54: And you all belong to one and the same ummah, and I(Allah) am your Lord; so fear Me Alone! Yet afterwards the people divided themselves into different sects, and each sect rejoicing in what it has. Well, leave them deeply involved in their heedlessness up to an appointed time

Allah says in Chapter 30 Surah Rum aayat 31-32: "This (Islam) is the right and true faith, but most people do not know. (Be steadfast on this) turning wholly and sincerely towards Allah Alone, and fear Him, and establish the Salat, and do not be like the mushriks, who have set up their separate creeds and divided themselves into sects, each sect rejoicing in what it has."

Your comment: If your site was named Muslim Bohra Help Line, then there was no cause of my communicating with you.

The site is not named ‘Muslim Bohra help line’, and the choice of whether you want to communicate with us or not, is entirely yours. Our duty is only to invite all who want to listen to the guidance of Truth from the Quran and Sunnah.

Your comment: You must be aware that neither you are the only believer of Quran nor English translation of the Quran is available

only with you.

There are number of believers of Quran and there are various  English translations available.

I am very well aware that I am not the only believer of the Quran, and that the English translation is not available only with me! All Praise is due to Allah Alone, who has guided a multitude of people to Islam, and has made the guidance available to the whole world. Whoever accepts, obeys, and follows the guidance of the Holy Quran is blessed, and whoever rejects and denies this guidance is ruined in this world and in the hereafter!

It is indeed the Mercy and Favor of Allah, who has guided a number of His creation to believe in the Quran; and with the Help and Support from Allah, this number is constantly growing.

Many eminent and worthy scholars have translated the Holy Quran into English, to help the brothers whose first language is not Arabic, to understand the clear guidance of the Holy Quran. Although there are various translations of the Holy Quran, Alhamdolillah, the meaning of the Quran and its guidance does not change at all.

Your comment: You may be a believer of Allah, but are you a believer in accordance to the Ayats of the Quran ?

It is a condition for every muslim who believes in Allah and the Last Day, to believe in every word of the Holy Quran, and I bear witness that I am a muslim, and my belief is in accordance to the aayahs of the Glorious Quran. The Holy Quran is indeed a mercy and favor upon the believers from their Lord and Creator.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 6 Surah Anaam verse 157-158:Now that a clear proof, a Guidance and Blessing, has come to you from your Lord, who can be more unjust than the one who treats Our Revelations as false and turns away from them? We will inflict the severest torment on those who turn away from Our Revelations because of their aversion. Do the people now await that the angels should come down before them? Or that your Lord may Himself come down? Or that the manifest Signs of your Lord should appear?

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 28 Surah Qasas verse 86-88:You never hoped that the Book would be sent down to you. Only through your Lord’s Mercy (has it been sent down to you), therefore, do not be a helper of those whose who do not believe! And let it never happen that the unbelievers should divert you from Allah’s ‘aayahs’ (Revelations) after they have been sent to you. Invite towards your Lord and do not join those who invoke others with Allah, nor invoke any deity other than Allah. There is no deity but He. Everything is perishable except Him! Sovereignty is His, and to Him will all of you be returned.

Your comment: My main question - Dawoodi ? Are you a Dawoodi ? A muslim? or not ? If not then it is a different issue. The believers of Quran are described as Muslims in various Ayats. The Ayats quoted by you, I as a believer of Quran, feel, is in exaggeration of your knowledge.

Your ‘main’ questions have been addressed in the above answers.

Regarding your accusation that you feel the aayahs quoted by us are an ‘exaggeration of our knowledge’, brother, I humbly request you to prove your accusation. Tell us if one aayah we have quoted in any of our answers, is not from the Quran! Tell us if one aayah quoted means anything else other than what it is supposed to mean! Tell us if one aayah quoted is mis-represented or out of context! Tell us if one aayah quoted, has been exaggerated by us! We seek refuge in Allah from exaggerating, adding or subtracting anything from the guidance of our Lord and Creator.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 7 Surah Aaraf verse 37:Then, who can be more wicked than the one who invents falsehood and attributes these to Allah, or treats the True Revelations as false?

Your comment: After you clarification on the above  we can discuss on the subject of Sajda. You must be aware that other than Muslims, even Jinnats were believers of the Ayats of Quran (Ch. 72 Ayat 1,2) 

You are welcome to discuss any subject of guidance on this forum; be it the act of ‘sajdah’ or anything else in Islam. We will try our best to give you our answers based on, and with evidence from, the Holy Quran and the Sunnah of the Messenger (saws).

Of all the creations of our Lord Allah Subhanah, He has given a free will to only humans and jinns, as is evident from many aayahs of the Holy Quran. Thus, whoever amongst the humans and the jinns, with his free will, accepts the guidance of Allah, will be considered muslims.

Your comment: In Ayat 50 of Chapter 18 Jin has been described as Eblis.

Brother, it is not that the Jinn have been described as Iblis; but rather that Iblis is the name of one jinn, amongst the jinns. Its like saying, human beings are described as George Bush!, which would be incorrect.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 18 Surah Kahf verse 50:When We said to the angels, “Bow down before Adam”, they bowed down, but Iblis did not. He was of the jinns, so he chose the way of disobedience to his Lord’s Command. Would you then discard Me (Allah), and make him(Iblis) and his offspring your ‘awliya’, though they are your enemies? What a bad substitute it is that these workers of iniquity are taking!

Your comment: I hope you will reply to my specific Questions.

I hope I have addressed each and every one of your questions. If you are still not satisfied with any of our answers, please do not hesitate to ask for any clarifications.

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