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 am thoroughly dissappointed with the entire dawoodi bohra helpline. i have gone thru 60 of ur q&a. the impression it gives me is that one guy who is majorly disillusioned with the dawoodi bohra faith is out to spread his dis-belief to a lot of other people. I have not seen a more imbalanced discussion. there are no merits discussed. only demerits highlighted time & again. I joined the help line 2 meet likeminded people within / outside the community to discuss other things. This is more like a platform for settling personal scores against the Syedna. Just bcoz a medium has been placed at ur disposal, doesnt mean u go and spread ur own personal vendatta to others.

I am sorry to say that i am mightily disillusioned by the entire discussions. if the discussions r going to be one sided then its not a discussion, its a sermon & we r not here to listen to sermons from a person whose credentials i dont know. Ok so what if u quote from the Quran. Even the Laskar-e-toibas' official website quotes from the Quran. Doesnt mean that all the things the Laskar does are necessarily correct. Applying the same logic, it doesn't give u any validity or credentials. So stop validifying ur statements with ayaahs from the quran.

As is evident to any literate person, that the quran is a very difficult text to understand. the text contains a lot of information which needs to interpolated & understood based on the context & situation. So basically, i believe, it is subject to interpretation. as a mere mortal, my knowledge of the Quran may be less. So i need a guide, a mentor, a guru who runs me thru the initial paces. beyond a particular point of understanding, it is one to himself. If a student doesn't want to leave the apron of the guru, the fault lies with the guru.

I have said my piece. I would be highly obliged if the tonality of the answers are changed to a more discussion oriented rather than being more finalistic. Also the line of being constantly attacking the syedna doesnt much scope for discussion of other issues. I hope this piece is put up for discussion. If i dont get a reply, I will assume that there is no difference between DBH & any other beaureacratic setup which doesnt like criticism. I think this needs a reply. Otherwise i will deem that i wasted some cyberspace & time on something which was not worth my time or effort.

A regular reader

(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:

Articles are attacking 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 is our witness, we have nothing personal against the Syedna and it is neither our mission nor our objective to demerit the Syedna personally. All the brothers who volunteer their time and effort on this forum were born into Dawoodi Bohra families, and at various times of their lives, Allah guided them to read and understand the Holy Quran. From the clear teachings and guidance of the Holy Quran it became evident that the ‘deen’ that our fathers and our forefathers were following had very little to do with the guidance of the Book of Allah. And we made it our mission to invite our Bohra brethren and anyone else who wants to listen to good caution, to read and understand the Holy Quran so that they would be guided to the Straight Path of Islam.

Instead of propagating Islam, the Bohra leadership propagates the concept of ‘shirk’ or associating others with Allah Subhanah. All we intend to do is invite our Bohra brethren to read and understand the Holy Quran so that they can recognize this most heinous of sins in the eyes of Allah, and take measures to avoid it. Our objective is to remove the mis-conceptions that have been implanted in their lives by the leadership, and invite them to understand the Truth of Islam from the Book of guidance that has been revealed by our Lord and Creator, Allah Subhanah.

We do sincerely apologize if you have found our articles strong and offensive, because that was never our intention. Our one and only intention is to invite our Bohra brethren to understand the clear guidance of the Quran, the understanding of which has been purposely and deliberately side-lined by the leadership. And once the guidance of the Glorious Quran is removed, then they can lead their followers anywhere they like; and that is exactly what has happened.

Your Comment: As is evident to any literate person, that the quran is a very difficult text to understand. the text contains a lot of information which needs to interpolated & understood based on the context & situation. So basically, i believe, it is subject to interpretation. as a mere mortal, my knowledge of the Quran may be less. So i need a guide, a mentor, a guru who runs me thru the initial paces. beyond a particular point of understanding, it is one to himself. If a student doesn't want to leave the apron of the guru, the fault lies with the guru.

I would humbly disagree with your concept that the Holy Quran is very difficult to understand! Brother, this is the Book that Allah, the All Knowing, All Wise has sent for our guidance so that the ones who follow its commandments can be guided aright. The Quran is probably the most easiest of texts to understand, provided one wants to understand its clear guidance. Our Merciful Lord has revealed this Glorious Book Himself for our guidance. Can you even imagine that this All Knowing, All Wise Lord would send us a Book of Guidance, which no one can understand? And on top of that, He would hold us accountable on the Day of Qiyaamah whether we followed its commandments or not!

What has happened is that some unscrupulous leaders, who are more interested in elevating themselves and their families, and in pursuit of paltry worldly gains, have tried to create confusion with their esoteric and fantastic interpretations of the clear aayahs of the Book of Allah. They propagate that the Quran is impossible to understand by the common man! They propagate that the Quran has ‘zaahir’, ‘baatin’, and ‘taweel’ meanings which are known only to them; and if you want to understand the Quran you must obey and follow them unconditionally! They have promised their followers time and time again, that only the ones who obey and follow them unconditionally, are the ones who are promised Paradise! The common people found this system a very convenient arrangement to enter Paradise, and they left the understanding of the Quran to their priests and holy men. Thus they obey and follow them unconditionally, instead of obeying and following the commandments of Allah and His Messenger (saws).

Just take a look at these clear aayahs from the Holy Quran:

Allah says in Chapter 2, Surah Baqarah aayat 185:"Ramadan is the month in which the Quran was sent down: this Book is a perfect guidance for mankind and consists of CLEAR teachings which show the right way and are a Criterion of the Truth and falsehood."

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah Baqarah verse 159:Those who conceal the clear (Revelations) and Guidance We have sent down, after We have made it clear for the people in the Book, on them shall be Allah’s ‘laanah’ and the ‘laanah’ of those who are entitled to curse!

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 44 Surah Dukhan verse 58:We have made this Book easy in your own tongue so that they may ponder and take good counsel.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 43 Surah Zukhruf verses 1-3:Haa Meem. By this lucid (clear or open) Book. We have made it an Arabic Quran, so that you may understand it.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 12 Surah Yusuf verse 1-2:These are the verses of the Book that makes its object perfectly clear. We have sent it down as a Quran in Arabic, so that you may understand it well.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 16 Surah Nahl verse 89:We have sent down to you this Book, which makes everything plain, and is a guidance, blessing and good news to those who have surrendered themselves entirely.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 19 Surah Maryam verse 97:O Mohamed, We have made this Quran easy, and sent it down in your tongue so that you should give good news to the pious and warn the stubborn people.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 41 Surah Ha Mim As Sajdaah verse 2-4:This is a Revelation from the All-Compassionate, the All-Merciful Allah. A Book whose verses are well-expounded, an Arabic Quran for the people who want to understand, and a giver of good news and a warner.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 18 Surah Kahf verse 1-3:All praise is for Allah Alone, Who has sent down this Book to His Servant (Mohamed (saws), and assigned nothing crooked to it. This Book says everything directly, so that he may warn the people of the severe chastisement of Allah and give good news to the believers, who do righteous deeds, that they will have an excellent reward.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah Baqarah verse 99:We have sent down to you Revelations that clearly expound the Truth, and none but the disobedient reject them.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 43 Surah Zukhruf verses 43-44:So, hold fast to the Book that has been revealed to you, you are surely on the Siraat al Mustaqeem. The fact is that this book is a great honor for you and your people, and soon you shall be CALLED TO ACCOUNT for it.

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 Himself declares that the Quran is easy, plain, direct, open, lucid, clear, and a perfect guidance for mankind! And some people say that this Book is difficult to understand! You tell me, who deserves to be believed: Allah or the people who say the Quran is impossible to understand?

Brother, we must obey only Allah and His Messenger (saws) unconditionally. And if Allah says this Book is easy and plain and direct and open and lucid and clear and a perfect guidance, then that is the Absolute Truth! We have to learn to obey and follow the commandments of the Holy Quran, rather than make the Quran follow and authenticate our beliefs.

We are always open for discussion on any subject on Islam, and our views will always mirror the guidance of Allah and His Messenger (saws). There is neither a third source of guidance in Islam, and the truth is, there is none needed. We do sincerely apologize if the answers written to the questions have not been satisfying to you; but I assure you that whatever we have written is from the above two most truthful of sources: The Quran and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (saws).

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