How can one isolate oneself from the family and community and remain a real Muslim?

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.

What you say is absolutely true!!  The faith of the Bohras in the TUS is unshakeable…  but that is nothing new… even the faith of the Hindus who stand devoted to their idols is unshakeable!  Even the faith of the Christians in their love of Jesus (a.s.) is unshakeable!  The faith of every pagan and idol-worshipper and grave-worshipper in their self-made deities seems unshakable!!!  The faith of the Abu Jahls and the Abu Lahbs in their idols placed in the Holy Kaabah was also unshakeable!   But that does not make their faith right!!!  

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’ 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 10 Surah Yunus verse 18: These people serve beside Allah those which can neither harm nor benefit them, and say, “These are our ‘shofa’a’ (intercessors) with Allah!”  (O Mohammed), tell them, “Do you wish to inform Allah of that thing which He knows not in the heavens, or in the earth?”  He is absolutely free from, and exalted above the shirk that they commit.

Truth is only with Allah’s words in the Quran and the Messenger of Allah (saws)!  That is the Truth!  And the faith of those who sincerely believe in Allah and fear the advent of an Inevitable Day, is absolutely, completely, thoroughly, entirely and unconditionally based on nothing but Allah and His Messenger (saws), however much the rejecters of the Quran may hate it!

Allah commands us to only convey the Message of Truth from the Holy Quran in a clear and precise way, with wisdom and in a beautiful manner.  If they accept, believe and follow the commands of Allah in the Quran as Supreme, fine!   If they don’t, your duty was only to convey the Message to them.  Allah has not made the believers responsible for the actions of the ones who don’t really believe and follow Allah’s Commands!  We shall be rewarded for our deeds, and they shall get a full recompense for their deeds.

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 22 Surah Hajj verses 67-69: For every ‘ummah’ We have prescribed a way of worship, which it follows.  Therefore, let them not dispute with you concerning this matter.   And invite the people to the Way of your Lord, for you are on the Straight Path.  And if they dispute with you, say to them, “Allah knows full well what you are doing.   On the Day of Resurrection, Allah will judge between you concerning all that in which you differ!”

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 12 Surah Yusuf verse 108: (O Mohamed) tell them plainly, “This is my Way!  I invite you to Allah.  I myself see my Way in full light, and my followers see it too.  And Allah is absolutely free from defect, and I have nothing to do with those who invoke others with Allah.”

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 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.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 41 Surah Ha Meem As Sajdah verses 4-5: Yet most of these people have turned away from it (The Quran), and they pay no heed.  They say, “Our hearts are covered with veils from that to which you are calling us; our ears have become deaf; and between us and you there is a curtain, so do as you please, and we shall do as we will!”

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 16 Surah Nahl verse 82: But if they turn away, your only responsibility is to convey the plain Message of Truth!  They recognize the blessing of Allah, yet they deny it, for the majority of them are not inclined to accept the Truth!

Thus, it is evident in light of the above clear and direct aayahs of the Holy Quran, that our only responsibility is to convey the Message.   To guide them to Islam is in the Power and Domain of Allah Subhanah Alone!

My beloved brother, we understand and comprehend your pain and anguish at your family and your brethren, who just do not want to accept guidance in the clear light of the Glorious Quran, but rather want to follow, revere, obey and do sajdahs to some ‘personality’!   They are bent on invoking and calling on their self-made names and self-appointed holy men, and blindly follow them, without any authority or reference from the Glorious Quran.   Allah has sealed their fate if they do not come back to the Siraat al Mustaqeem as shown clearly in the Holy Quran.   But your duty remains to invite them with wisdom and excellent admonition from the Glorious Quran as long as you are alive; perhaps they might be guided to the clear teachings of the Holy Quran, and are thus able to save themselves from that everlasting and eternal punishment and torture of the blazing fire of Hell!

Your Comment: How can one isolate oneself from family & majority and remain true muslim. Please guide.

This is indeed a big test and trial for a believer, that he believes and follows the words and commands of Allah and His Messenger (saws), and his family and friends are bent on invoking humans, dead in their graves, and alive; although they have absolutely no authority nor evidence from the Holy Quran!   

My beloved brother, this is the trial which you will have to bear for the Pleasure of Allah!   Even the Prophets of Allah, their companions, and the true believers have had to bear these similar trials in the life of this world, but never ever, after having declared faith in Allah, did they invoke other beings with Allah.   Their family and society at large turned against them and severely hurt them and threatened them, but those who sincerely believed in Allah and feared the standing in His Court for an inevitable accounting, never swerved from the Path of Allah.  My beloved brother, this is the test and trial you will have to bear in consequence of your love for Allah and His Messenger (saws).   Be rest assured, that this trial is only for the life of this transitory world, and for such believers who pass this trial, Allah has promised and prepared eternal Gardens of Bliss, with high palaces, and where canals of milk and honey will be flowing underneath it.  No sorrow and no grief will they ever experience, and they will live eternally in bliss and happiness in the Mercy and Grace of Allah.   

This is the Sunnah (Way) of Allah; he always tests those who proclaim that they believe, so that He, in His Generosity, Bounty, and Mercy may reward them handsomely and without measure in this World, and in the Hereafter!  This is the Mercy of Allah, our Only Lord and Creator!   We beg Allah, to put us not in a trial we cannot bear!   We beg Allah to have Mercy on us, Forgive us our sins, and help us against the people who do not believe.   We beg Allah to grant us the patience to bear the atrocities thrown at us by the disbelievers, and we beg Allah to make our feet firm and steadfast on His Path.   He Alone is our Helper and our Protector, in this world, and in the Hereafter!

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 29 Surah Ankabut verse 2-3: Do the people think that they will be left alone after they have once said, ‘We have believed’, and they will not be tested?   The fact is that We have put to the test all those who have gone before them.  Surely, Allah has to see who are indeed the Truthful and who are the liars.

We have great examples in front of us from the Holy Quran to follow.   Prophet Ibrahim (a.s.) declared faith, and was severely tested by Allah, but he passed every test set by Allah.  His father disowned him, and so did his tribe and society.  But he never abondoned his faith in Allah.   Prophet Mohamed (saws) was shunned by some of his family and most of his tribe, so much so, that the disbelievers of Makkah ostracized the whole family of Mohamed (saws).  The noble companions of the Prophet (saws) were also put to trial by the disbelievers and their families who did not believe, and ultimately they were forced to migrate from the land they were born in to a place of refuge in Medina!   But never did they move away from their faith in Allah and the Messenger (saws).

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 9 Surah Taubah verse 23-24: O believers, do not take your fathers and your brothers as allies, if they choose disbelief in preference to Faith.   For whoever of you will take them as allies shall surely be the workers of iniquity. O Prophet, tell them plainly, “If your fathers and your sons, and your brothers and your wives, and your near and dear ones, and the wealth which you have acquired, and the trade you fear may decline and the homes which delight you: if all these things are dearer to you than Allah and His Messenger and the struggle in His Way, then wait till Allah passes His Judgement on you.  For Allah does not guide the wicked people.”

Allah is indeed the Merciful, the Forgiving.   Today, brother, Allah Subhanah has blessed his deen of Islam to be in the majority in this world.   If the society shuns your beliefs of the Glorious Quran, there are millions of true muslims everywhere and they will welcome you with open arms as their brother in faith!   Yes, there is always the emotional pressure from the family and close relatives, after you affirm your faith in Allah and His Messenger (saws), and move away from anything that is against the commandments of Allah in the Holy Quran.   Even though they may want to break their relations and ostracize you, your duty is to keep on admonishing them from the clear aayahs of guidance from the Glorious Quran; perhaps they might be guided aright and be able to save themselves from the fire of Hell… for if they persist and die in the state of following and invoking and prostrating in sajdah to human beings and graves, they have confirmed for themselves the Wrath and Anger of Allah, as stated in the Holy Quran. 

Thus if you indeed love them, and want them to be amongst those on whom Allah will have Mercy on the Day of Judgment, you must invite them and admonish them to come to the guidance and teachings of the Holy Quran.  To guide someone is in the Domain and Power of Allah Alone; sometimes it might take a few minutes, sometimes many years!  And some people might never be guided to the Siraat al Mustaqeem, no matter how hard you try and convince them from the clear aayahs and evidence from the Glorious Quran.   But you be patient and steadfast in your deen of Islam.  That is the lesson and example taught by Allah and His Messenger (saws).

And never despair of Allah’s Mercy!  I have personally seen children as young as 14-15 accept Islam, and I have seen grandparents as old as 65 accept Islam,  after having lived all their lives against the commandments of the Quran!  

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 28 Surah Qasas verse 56: You cannot guide whom you love, but Allah guides whomever He Pleases.  And He best knows those who would accept guidance.

Your first and foremost duty is to read and understand the Message of the Glorious Quran, and follow every commandment of Allah and His Messenger (saws).   And also invite your family to come to the invocation and worship of that One Lord, Who Alone Created everything in existence.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 66 Surah Tahreem verse 6: O you who have believed, save yourselves and your families from a Fire whose fuel shall be men and stones; over which shall be appointed fierce and stern angels, who never disobey Allah’s Command, and they only do as they are commanded!

Your duty is never to challenge and/or abuse or ridicule the establishment of the TUS.   Leave them alone, in their greed for more power and more wealth, until they meet with their Creator.  But yes, if they ever want to listen to good caution, recite to them the aayahs of the Glorious Quran; perchance, they might be guided aright.  And never fear them or anybody else, except Allah Subhanah Alone.   Allah is indeed the All Powerful, All Mighty, and whoever puts his trust in Allah, has indeed taken a firm support.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 6 Surah Anam verse 81-82: And there is no reason why I should fear those whom you have made partners with Allah, when you are not afraid of setting up those things as partners with Allah, for which He has sent down No Authority to you!   Then tell me, if you have any knowledge:  Which of the two parties merits peace and freedom from fear?  As a matter of fact, only those who have believed and not polluted their Faith with ‘shirk’, have peace and are Rightly Guided.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 3 Surah Ale Imran verse 175: It is Shaitaan who is frightening the people with the fear of his ‘awliyaa’.  Therefore, in future, do not fear them, but fear Me (Allah), if you are indeed true Believers!

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 9 Surah Taubah verses 34-35: O you who believe!  There are indeed many among the priests and the holy men who devour the wealth of others by evil means, and debar the people from the Way of Allah.  Give them the good news of a painful torment, who hoard up gold and silver and do not expend these in the Way of Allah.  The Day shall surely come when the same gold and silver shall be heated in the fire of Hell, and with it will be branded their foreheads, their bodies and their backs.  (And it will be said): “Here is that treasure you had hoarded up for yourselves!  Taste now the evil of your hoarded treasure!”

Alah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 9 Surah Taubah verse 85: And let not the abundance of their wealth and their children delude you:  for Allah wills only to chastise them by means of their wealth and children in this world, and their souls depart while they are still disbelievers.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 9 Surah Taubah verses 69: You are behaving just like those who went before you.   They had more power than you, and possessed greater riches and had more children than you.   They had enjoyed their portion of the good things of the worldly life, and you too, have enjoyed your portion of the good things like them.   You are also engaged in idle discussions like the discussions they held.  Consequently, in the end everything they did, proved vain in this world, and shall be vain in the Next World.  Surely they are the losers!

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 8 Surah Anfaal verses 36-37: Those who have denied, spend their wealth to hinder (men) from the Way of Allah, and will go on spending still more of it.   But in the end, these very efforts of theirs will become a cause of their regret; then they will be overcome, and the disbelievers shall be gathered and driven towards Hell; so that Allah may separate the filthy from the pure, and gather together every sort of filth, and then throw the whole heap into Hell.  These are indeed the real losers!

Just see the below aayahs of the Holy Quran and see how weak are these people whom their followers have taken as their support besides Allah.   They think these humans and those dead in their graves can help them in this world, and be their intercessors with Allah in the Hereafter!   They thus devote all their attention and do deeds to gain the pleasure of these humans and those buried in their graves; but little do they realize that these people have absolutely no power nor authority whatsoever!   They pride in calling themselves slaves of Syedna (Abd-Syedna) rather than becoming slaves of Allah (Abd-Allah)!   All Power and All Authority rests with Allah Subhanah Alone!

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 22 Surah Hajj verse73: O mankind!  A parable is related to you, so listen to it!  Those on whom you call besides Allah, cannot create a fly, even though they may all combine together for this purpose!  Nay! If a fly snatches away anything from them, they would have no power to release it from the fly!  How weak are the those who petition, and how weak are those to whom they supplicate!

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 34 Surah Saba verses 22: (O Prophet) say, “Call on those whom you invoke as deities besides Allah.  They neither own an atom’s weight of anything in the heavens, nor in the earth.   Nor have they anything to share in either, nor is any of them a helper of Allah”

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 36 Surah Yaa Seen verses 74-75: Yet, they have set up others besides Allah, hoping that they would be helped!   They (those invoked) do not have the power to help them, yet these people stand as an ever ready troop at their service!

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 3 Surah Ale Imran verses160: If Allah helps you, none can overcome you!  And if Allah forsakes you, who is there, then, after Allah that can help you?  Therefore, the true believers should trust in Allah Alone.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 22 Surah Hajj verses 13: Then, instead of Allah, he invokes those who can do him neither harm nor good.  This is the last extremity of deviation.   He invokes those who are more likely to do him harm, than good!  What an evil ‘Maula’ he chooses, and what an evil companion.

May Allah help us, have mercy on us, and forgive us our sins.  May Allah guide us to read and understand the clear teachings and guidance of the Holy Quran.   May Allah open our hearts to the plain and simple understanding of the Glorious Quran.  May Allah guide you and us all to the Siraat al Mustaqeem.

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.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan