Why bohri dress is compulsory while visiting graves?
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:
Why is wearing kafni and sayias made compulsory
for ziyarat?
(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:
Why bohri dress is
compulsory while visiting graves?
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 says in the Holy
Quran Chapter 7 Surah Aaraf verse 26:O children of Adam,
we have sent down to you clothing in order to cover the shameful parts of your
body, and to serve as protection and decoration. And the best garment is the garment of
piety.
There is no particular dress
code in Islam for the believing men.
Whatever is pure and clean and adequately covers the ‘satr’ of the man is appropriate and permissible for the
believing men in Islam.
The boundaries set by Allah and
His Messenger (saws) in regards to clothes for the believing men are as follows:
Clothes made of silk were
declared haraam.
All other fabrics like cotton, wool, polyester, etc. are thus legal and
within the boundaries set by Allah and His Messenger (saws).
Whatever clothes one wears, the
‘satr’ should be adequately covered.
Whatever clothes one wears, they
should not lead to any ‘arrogance’ by the wearer.
A man should not dress like a
woman, and a woman should not dress like a man.
Whatever clothes one wears, he
should not copy a pagan culture or religion.
As long as one does not
transgress the above boundaries of Allah, he is allowed to wear any kind of
garments they choose.
Your Question: Why
is wearing kafni and sayias
made compulsory for ziyarat?
The Bohras
are commanded by their leaders to wear a particular sytle
of clothing which differentiate them from the other people, and are thus
commanded by their leaders to wear the specific kafnis,
saayas, topis, etc. This has more to do with Bohraism
than Islam. Allah and His Messenger
(saws) has put no such restrictions on the believers
and has not ordained a particular dress code for the men. It is the sect leaders who have ordained
this particular style of clothing for the members of their sect for reasons
best known to them.
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 in Islam,