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:

how is help line going on. any problems from the kothar people wether the eunuchs can pray in the mosque. if yes besides whom?

 (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:

Where should the eunuchs pray?

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.

Your comment: How is the help line going on. any problems from the kothar people

All praise is due to Allah Alone, who has guided us to read and understand the Quran, and through it has guided us to the Right Path. It is only with His help and His Mercy that we started this forum to invite our brethren to Islam. Allah is our witness, we did this only for His Pleasure. Alhamdolillah, we now have in excess of 20,000 people on the mailing list and growing, and Allah Alone knows best how many people they forward the messages to. We get our fair share of curses, abuses and threats, but it is also the Mercy of Allah, that we have some brothers who have accepted our invitation and have started reading the Quran with understanding for themselves. And some of these brothers have written back and said that they have changed their beliefs to come in line with the guidance of the Holy Quran. If we are able to help even one brother to become a better muslim, and thus help him save himself from the terrible punishment of Hell Fire with these humble and weak effort of ours, then we will indeed consider ourselves very very fortunate. We don’t ask any appreciation or reward for our this service. We do it only for the pleasure of Allah, and look only towards Him for our reward in the Hereafter.

We have had absolutely no problems with the ‘kothar’, and neither do we expect to have any problems from them. And that is simply because we do not need anything from them anymore; as Allah is more than sufficient for all our needs!

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 26 Surah Shuaraa verse 69-82:And tell them the story of Ibrahim, when he asked his father and his people: “What are these things that you worship?” They answered, “These are idols which we worship and we serve them devotedly.” Ibrahim asked, “Do they hear you when you call on them? Or do they bring any good or harm to you?” They replied, “No, but we have found our elders doing the same.” At this, Ibrahim said, “Have you ever seen with open eyes the things which you and your elders have been worshipping? They are all enemies to me, except the One Lord of the Worlds, Who created me, then He it is Who guides me, Who gives me food and drink, and Who gives me health when I am ill, Who will cause me to die and then will me life again, and of Whom I expect that He will forgive me my errors on the Day of Judgment.”

We have left far behind us the narrow and false world of invocation and worship of man and graves, and have come into the vastness of the invocation and worship of the One True Lord! It is extremely difficult to put into words the peace and tranquility we feel within ourselves by worshipping and fearing the One Lord Alone, Who is the Creator of the heavens and the earth and everything that exists in between.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 41 Surah Fussilat (Ha Mim Sajdah) verses 30-32:Those who said, ‘Allah is our Lord’, and then stood steadfast, angels descend on them and say, ‘Fear not nor grieve, and rejoice in the good news of Paradise that has been promised to you: we are your companions in the life of this world, and also in the Hereafter. There you will have whatever you desire, and whatever you ask for, will be yours! An entertainment from the One, Who is All Forgiving, All Merciful.’

But I will tell you where my biggest problems and concerns come from. They are not from the ‘kothar’, but rather from my flesh and blood; my family: my mother and my sisters! Allah is my witness, I love them as a believing brother should love their sister, and as a believing son should love his mother! And everytime I think about them, it pains me so deep inside my heart, that it hurts! It hurts me to imagine, that if they were to die in their existing stage, they will stand up as criminals in the Court of Allah. It hurts me to imagine, that from all the people in the world, my own flesh and blood have belied the Oneness of Allah. It hurts me to imagine, that if they were to die in their existing state, Allah will never ever forgive them. It hurts me to imagine, that if they do not stop this practice of ‘shirk’ and turn back to Allah, they will deserve the ever-lasting Fire of Hell, which Allah has decreed for anyone who dies in ‘shirk’! It hurts me to imagine that my mother and my sisters have chosen the path that is guaranteed to lead them to the everlasting Fire of Hell. It hurts me to imagine that they, or anyone else for that matter, just do not have the skin, that will be able to bear this terrible and terrifying torture of the Hell Fire. It hurts me to think that we will not be united with our loved ones in the life hereafter! I swear by Allah, it hurts!

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 5 Surah Maidah verse 72:Whoever commits ‘shirk’ (invoking anything with Allah), Allah shall forbid for him Paradise, and Hell shall be his abode. And for such wrong doers there will be no one to help.

But Allah has not made it our duty to force anyone to understand and accept the Quran. Our duty and responsibility is only to invite them to the Truth of Islam. To guide someone, or leave them astray is only in the Power and Domain of the Supreme Lord Alone.

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.

I earnestly and humbly pray to The Merciful to have mercy on them and us, and save us all from the terrifying punishment of the Hell Fire.

Your comment: wether the eunuchs can pray in the mosque. if yes besides whom?

As I have explained earlier, the eunuchs are people with sound and intelligent minds, but born with freak physical features. They have the same sense of right and wrong, guidance and misguidance, Truth and falsehood, sin and virtue, like the rest of us. Thus they will be accountable like everyone else in the Court of Allah.

To give a direct answer to your question, the eunuchs can, of course, pray in the mosques like all the other believers.

If the eunuch who has all the physical features of a male, but his habits and/or voice are that of a female; and he is more inclined towards the male sex, then he will pray with the men in the mosque.

If the eunuch has all the features of a female, but her habits and/or voice are that of a male, and is more inclined towards a female, then she will pray with the females in the mosque.

But there are some eunuchs, whereby it becomes difficult to ascertain whether they are male or female. The Messenger of Allah (saws) advised the woman in Islam to do ‘purdah’ from these eunuchs, and they will neither pray with the men or the women. In the times of the Prophet (saws), the way the congregational prayers were held were that the men used to pray in the front, then the children in the back and then the women behind the children. For the eunuchs who are between male and female, and it is difficult to ascertain whether they are male or female, these will pray neither with the men nor the women, but a different ‘saff’ or line will be formed behind and separate from the men in the mosque.

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.

Brother I want to ask a few simple questions:

Have you started to read the translation of the Holy Quran?

If yes, did you have any difficulty in understanding the guidance?

If not started, then why not? Please let me know a valid reason.

Did you find any aayah in the whole Quran which justified the ‘kothar’ and their system of Islam?

Have you never wondered why the Bohra leadership never teach the Quran with understanding, when we all believe that this is the Book of Guidance sent by Allah?

Have you ever wondered why the Bohra leadership have never written a translation of the Holy Quran themselves, nor have they endorsed an existing one?

When is the last time you heard that the Bohras do so and so because it is from the Quran?

Have you ever wondered why no one ever converts to Bohra-ism, and hundreds of thousands of people convert to Islam every year around the world just by reading and understanding the Quran?

Have you ever noticed that the whole Bohra deen is made up from the History of the Muslims, rather than the guidance of Allah and His Messenger (saws)?

And finally, my last question. What is it about these eunuchs? Do you know someone who is a eunuch, or you are just curious to know the Islamic-Shariah laws on eunuchs?

Your brother & well-wisher in Islam,

Burhan