Link between Imam and Dai
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:
dear dawoodi bohra team
forstly i would like to
congratulate you on the good n highly useful work that u have been doing my question to you is "how has dai
got their status and on what basis can we
believe in them as we know the imam tayaib had no children ? i fail
to understand this i hope u have
understood my question if not then please let
me know thankyou
(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:
Link between Imam and Dai
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.
Your Question: my question
to you is "how has dai got their status and on what basis can we believe
in them as we know the imam tayaib had no children ?
The first thing we must understand that it is only the
Prophets of Allah who have the authority to come to mankind and declare that
they have been appointed as Prophets by Allah. No imam, no dai, no bhaisaheb,
no sheikh, no mullah, no whatever has a right to come to man and say that he
has been appointed by Allah! These
are chosen by man himself and have absolutely no basis and no authority from
Allah.
To answer your question directly, Imam Tayyeb was a four
year old child when he was forced into hiding or purdah, because of a
political turmoil in the Fatemid leadership. As the story goes, Imam Mustansir
and Iman Al-Amir supposedly appointed a woman by the name of Hurrat-ul-Maleka
as HUJJA an interim leader, who in turn appointed the first dai as Syedna
Zoeb ibn Moosa in Yemem. Then the Dai appointed the next Dai before
he died to succeed him, and that is how this chain is established. Please note that at various times, there
were disputes as to who was the appointed Dai, and at several stages more
sub-sects were formed in the Bohra faith like the Najmi Bohras, Alia
Bohras Sulaimani Bohras, Dawoodi Bohras, etc.
Your Question: how has dai got their status and on what
basis can we believe in them.
The status of the Dai has evolved over a period of
time. In the beginning, these were
pious scholars who did daawah and propagated the deen of Islam to the
masses. The literal meaning of the Arabic
word dai is one who invites or calls.
Over time, the Dai, in the absence of the imam (as he was now in
purdah), evolved to take over the exact position of the imam, to act and do
exactly as the imam would have done.
And unfortunately, today, the evolution has probably gone too far and
some people think that the Dai is the Messenger of Allah; and at times the
followers give the same rights and status that is due only to the Prophets of
Allah! So much so, that even the Dais
wives are given the position of Umm-al-Mumeneen (mother of the believers),
which was the right exclusively given by Allah to only the wives of Mohamed
ar-Rasool Allah (saws) in the Holy Quran.
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 33 Surah
Ahzaab verse 6:The Prophet is closer to the Believers than their own selves,
and his wives are their mothers.
The truth is that there is absolutely no basis or
authority from the Holy Quran or in the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah
Mohamed ar-Rasool Allah (saws), to believe in any person unconditionally. A believer is commanded by Allah to
unconditionally believe, obey, and follow only Allah and His Messenger
(saws). Other than that, no human
being has been given that right! And if indeed one wants to follow the
preaching of some leader or scholar, then the basis should always be the Holy
Quran and the Sunnah of the Prophet (saws).
If what the leader or scholar is preaching is from the Holy Quran and
Sunnah, then it is fine to follow him; and if the leader is preaching anything
which is not from the Quran and Sunnah, it cannot be guidance, and should be
immediately rejected. Thus the basis for any believer must, at all times, be
the clear guidance of the Holy Quran and of the traditions of the Messenger of
Allah (saws).
Your Question: we know the
imam tayaib had no children ?
The only thing we are told by the current leadership is
that Imam Tayyeb went into an apparent purdah at the age of four. Where he is or was, where he lived or
lives, what he did or does, etc. all remain a mystery! The only thing the leadership tells us is
that there is always a descendant of Imam Tayyeb alive and well in this planet
earth, and he apparently is in touch with the current Dai through a process of
dreams or ilhaams; whereby, the current Imam commands the current Dai to do
whatever needs to be done! This is what
is being told, and this is what the Bohras believe as the basis of their deen.
Even if we are to agree with these various twists and
turns, the following logical questions remain unanswered:
Where is the Imam today?
Is he alone living somewhere, or does he too have a
following like the Syedna?
If he has a following in todays world, we would
definitely know it, as they would be similar in belief and actions to the
Dawoodi Bohras. Wouldnt they? Why is
he still in seclusion? Why does he not
come out and proclaim himself? There
is no apparent threat to his life or belief today.
We are made to believe that the Imam and Syedna correspond
to each other by ilhaam, whereby the Imam comes in the Syednas dreams. Has Allah indeed given any man the power to
come in anothers dream at will and correspond with him? Allah did not even give this kind of powers
to His appointed Messengers!!
Is it the same 4 year old Imam Tayyeb alive today after
these hundreds of years, or is it his descendants?
Today we live in a secular and non-Godly world. There would absolutely be no harm to the
Imams life or mission if he were to reveal himself to mankind today (if there
is indeed one to be revealed!).
How come the leadership never mention anything about the
Imam, except his name?
And the most important question of all. If this concept of the appointment of the
Imam is so important and pivotal to Islam and its survival, how come nothing
(absolutely nothing) has been mentioned about it in the Holy Quran? How come the Messenger of Allah (saws)
never mentioned anything about this Imam and his seclusion? Did Allah and His Messenger (saws) forget
to tell us about this very important aspect of Islam and its survival?
Glory be to Allah!
Allah and His Messenger (saws) did not forget anything that was needed
for our guidance to Islam. If something
is not from the Quran and Sunnah, then it does not form part of Islam and
there is absolutely nothing in either the Holy Quran or the Sunnah about the
Imam, his seclusion, about the Dais, about their succession, about their
superiority, about their correspondence through ilham, about !!!! These are their wishful fantasies and their
whims, which have absolutely no basis in the deen of Islam! Can you imagine the deen of Islam being
based on these kind of stories.. My
dear brothers and sisters, this Islam is the deen of Truth from Allah Subhanah
and based on nothing but the Truth. .
Not some mythological story of a four year old boy hiding in seclusion for
approximately 800 years and having the power to correspond with the Syedna by
coming in his dreams at will!!!
Nothing in Islam is illogical, and this fantastic story of the Imam and
the Dai does not have an iota of logic around it!!!!
What we do know is that the Holy Quran is the Book of
Allah, which was revealed for our guidance.
What we do know is that Mohamed ibn Abdulla (saws) was appointed the
Last Messenger of Allah. What we do know is that the deen of Islam was revealed
in completion before the death of the Messenger of Allah (saws), and no changes
are allowed in that deen. What we must
realize today, is that to practice Islam, we only need to follow two things
1. The Holy Quran and 2. The Messenger of Allah (saws). If anyone is guiding from any other source
than the above two divine sources, you can be assured of mis-guidance!
Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to
Allahs 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
Wister