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:

All the Bohra brothers are requested to remove their e-mail address from so called dawoodibohrahelpline.com. This is not a site from dawoodi bohra but infact it is against our beloved Aka moula and they are trying through their >false statements  to take us away from the right path of Islam. Beware and don't go away with their false statements. Lets get together and say "LONG LIVE OUR BELOVED MOULA" and his saaya to be always on our head Laanat to all the helpers of this dawoodibohrahelpline.com they should change the site name to dawoodibohradestroyline.com May Allah grant our beloved Moula a long life.

(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:

Dawoodibohrahelpline misleading

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.

My beloved brother, Allah has given us the power of reasoning and intelligence which He has not bestowed on any of His other creation. And this is exactly what we will be held accountable for on the Day of Judgement. Did we, with this gift and blessing of reason and intelligence, determine the Truth and obey it? Or did we, deny the Truth and followed the ways we found our elders and forefathers following? We have the very words of Allah Subhanah in the form of the Holy Quran amongst us in its exact original form? Did we try to understand, obey and follow the commands of Allah; or did we spent our entire lives following some holy person or Personalities in the name of Islam?

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 31 Surah Luqman verse 21:And when it is said to them, “Follow what Allah has sent down”, they say, “We shall only follow that upon which we found our forefathers.” What! Will they still be following them even if Shaitaan had been calling them to the raging Fire?

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 34 Surah Saba verse 43:When Our clear Revelations are recited to these people, they say, “This person only wants to turn you away from those deities whom your forefathers have been worshipping.”

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 33 Surah Ahzab verse 66-68:On the Day their faces are rolled about on the Fire, they will say, “Would that we had obeyed Allah and His Messenger!” And they will say, “O our Lord, we obeyed our CHIEFS and our GREAT MEN, and they led us astray from the Right Path. O our Lord, give them a double chastisment and curse them severely”.

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.

Intelligence dictates, that we should have an open mind and give the person a chance to give his views, especially if they are backed by evidence from the Holy Quran. If the views of the person are indeed from the guidance and teachings of the Holy Quran, then it is a duty unto every believer, who sincerely believes in Allah and the Last Day, to submit to the commands of his Lord and Creator. And if the views of the person is not backed by the evidence from the Holy Quran, no matter who the person is, we should refrain from obeying them in Islam. Only Allah and His Prophet (saws) have the right that they should be obeyed and followed unconditionally. Anyone else, no matter who the person is, cannot be followed unconditionally; the pre-condition to obeying and following them is that they guide only from the Holy Quran and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (saws).

But to revile and not allow the person to give his views at all, without referring whether his source is the Holy Quran or not, is not intelligence. It could be arrogance, ignorance, prejudice, or the inability to arrive to the Truth, but never intelligence.

All we ask and urge our brethren to do is read the Holy Quran with understanding, even if only once. And if after this exercise, they still think that the deen they are following is the right way; by all means follow it. And if they find that the deen they have been following is against the very guidance of the Holy Quran, they are welcome to align their lives to the commands and teachings of Allah Subhanah. At least this way, they will have the knowledge of the Holy Quran to back up their actions in the Court of Allah.

And this is exactly the guidance of the Holy Quran.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 18 Surah Kahf verse 29:Proclaim, “This is the Truth from you Lord: now whoever wills may accept it, and whosoever wills may reject it”.

Allah is our witness, that is all we invite our brethren to do. One thing we have realized, that if one reads the Holy Quran with understanding, no one will ever be able to misguide him/her in the name of Islam. Allah has laid upon the believers to invite mankind to the Truth of Islam. To believe or deny is left to each individual’s own free will. There is absolutely no compulsion in religion, an ultimately all of us will be gathered on an Inevitable Day in the Court of the One Lord, and He will Judge between all of us with Justice.

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