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 has asked this question:

First of all I would like to congratulate you in being a clever and canniving person that any enemy of Islam would be proud of. You sabaqs are cleverly disguised as a hidayat for dawoodi bohras but in effect they are an insult to the intelligenice of dawoodi boahras. You should know that among the Dawoodi bohras are professionals, scinetists, doctors, engineers, and businessmen who can decide for themselves what is right and wrong. We don`t need a guidance from a person who himself claims to only have "Kindergarden Knowledge" of Islam. You only know what you have been taught by the Mullah you obey and who gives you instructions. You have failed miserably in your attempt to convert Bohras from the path of truth. It is evidence by the fact that people who are responding to you are the people who who have already strayed for their deen. Every Vaaz I attend encourages us to read and understand Quran, I don`t know which ones you attended.

(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:

Your sabaks are an insult to the Dawoodi Bohras

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.

Firstly brother, we would like to humbly apologize to you and anyone else whose feelings we might have hurt with our articles. Allah is our witness, that was never our intention nor our motive. Our only motive was to invite our brethren to read and understand the Message that our Merciful Lord and Creator has revealed for our guidance and align our beliefs and deeds with it. We never did mean to hurt the intelligence of our Bohra brethren; but rather with the bestowed intelligence and free will that Allah Subhanah has bestowed on every individual, we only tried to present the clear arguments and evidence from the Glorious Quran so that our brothers and sisters could determine the Truth of Tawheed (Oneness of Allah) from the falsehood of shirk (associating others with Allah)!

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 103 Surah Asr verses 1-3:By the Time! Man is surely in great loss, except those who believed and did good works, and exhorted one another to the Truth, and exhorted one another to patience.

Your Statement: You should know that among the Dawoodi bohras are professionals, scinetists, doctors, engineers, and businessmen who can decide for themselves what is right and wrong.

We do not doubt for even a minute that among our brethren are professionals, scientists, doctors, engineers and successful businessmen and women…. But my beloved brother, we only want to remind you that in the Court of Allah Subhanah all these degrees and avenues to earn success in this world hold no value or weight, unless one has truly believed in Allah Subhanah, worshipped Him Alone according to the guidance revealed by Him; obeyed and followed the commands of Allah and His Messenger (saws), and did righteous good deeds in accordance with His commands! A person may have acquired all the knowledge of the world from all the best universities the world has to offer, but if he did not believe in Allah and the Last Day, his knowledge will be of no use to him in the Court of Allah; and he will be among the losers! And conversely, a person may not have had the opportunity to acquire any of the worldly knowledge, but recognized his Lord through his innumerable Signs, and submitted his will to the Will of the Lord, believed and did righteous good deeds…. Allah has promised this person His Mercy and Forgiveness. And that is indeed the Supreme Success!

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!

Brother, also let me remind you that a multitude among mankind are those who are better professionals than the Bohras, smarter scientists than the Bohras, bigger doctors than the Bohras, better engineers than the Bohras, and more successful in their worldly businesses than the Bohras… but every evening they come and bow down in ‘sajdah’ to idols made of stone and clay and believe in them as their gods!!!!! Some of these highly qualified people might believe that Prophet Isa (a.s.) is the son of god!! Some of these same people might believe that they have originated from monkeys!!! While some even believe that if they do not worship their gods of clay and mud, they might return to the earth as monkeys!! If that is not absurd enough, some of them even claim to call themselves believers but bow down in sajdah to human beings and the graves of their holy men!!!

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 he will give me life again, and of Whom I expect that He will forgive me my errors on the Day of Judgment.”

Having knowledge of this world is not a pre-qualification to attaining the Mercy and Guidance of Allah Subhanah! Believing in His Revealed Guidance is the guidance which will hold weight on the Day, which is sure to come!

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 7 Surah Aaraaf verses 2-3:This is a Book which has been sent down to you. So, let there be no hesitation in your mind about it. This has been sent down that you may thereby warn (the disbelievers), and that it may be an Admonition to the believers. O people, follow what has been sent down to you from your Lord, and do not follow other ‘auliyaas’ besides Him. But you seldom take Admonition!

Your Statement: We don`t need a guidance from a person who himself claims to only have "Kindergarden Knowledge" of Islam. You only know what you have been taught by the Mullah you obey and who gives you instructions.

If that is your opinion about our source of knowledge, we would humbly like to disagree with you. Our source of knowledge is only what Allah has revealed in His Glorious Quran and from the traditions and practice of our beloved Prophet, Mohamed ar-Rasool Allah (saws)! Other than these two sources of knowledge, there is none needed for a believer to obtain guidance!

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 3 Surah Ale Imran verse 31-32:O Prophet, tell the people, “If you sincerely love Allah, follow me. Then Allah will love you and forgive you your sins, for He is All Forgiving, All Merciful.” Also say to them, “Obey Allah and His Messenger.” And if, in spite of this, they do not accept your invitation, warn them that Allah does not love those, who refuse to obey Him and His Messenger.

The Glorious Quran is indeed an ocean of knowledge, which was revealed by the All Wise, All Knowing Allah Subhanah Himself! If any scholar worth any merit, claims that he has more than kindergarten knowledge of this Glorious Book of Wisdom from Allah Subhanah….he obviously is giving himself more merit than is due to him!

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 31 Surah Luqmaan verse 27:And if all the trees on earth were pens and the Ocean (were ink), with seven Oceans behind it to add to its (supply), yet the Words of Allah would not be exhausted (in the writing): for Allah is Exalted in power Full of Wisdom.

Your Statement: You have failed miserably in your attempt to convert Bohras from the path of truth.

It is the Mercy and Grace of Allah that He has not given the Power to decide who fails and who succeeds to the human being! That decision is the Sole Domain of our Merciful Lord and Creator, and He Alone will decide on a Tumultous Day who have failed miserably in the test of life, and who have succeeded!

Our attempt was only to invite our brethren to read and understand the Message that was revealed by our Merciful Lord. We cannot, will not, and do not force anything on anyone. Allah has only made a duty unto the believers to invite anyone who cares to listen to good caution to the Truth of the Glorious Quran… to guide them or leave them astray is in the Power and Sole Domain of Allah, the Lord of the Worlds!

Your Statement: It is evidence by the fact that people who are responding to you are the people who who have already strayed for their deen.

Every human being has been bestowed with intelligence and a free will for a limited time by our Merciful Lord… and if you have exercised your intelligence and free will to come to the above opinion, that is your choice and your right!

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 25 Surah Furqan verses 26-30:The Real Kingdom on that Day will belong only to the Meciful. And it will be a very hard Day for the disbelievers. The unjust man will bite at his hand and say, “Would that I had stood by the Messenger! Oh, woe to me! Would that I had not chosen so and so for a friend! For it was he, who had deluded me to reject the Admonition which had come to me. Shaitaan has proved indeed very treacherous to man.” And the Messenger will say, “O my Lord, my people had made this Quran the object of their ridicule.”

Some peoples opinions are based on the clear evidence of the Holy Quran; and some people’s opinion are based on whims, conjecture, and guess work! Allah Alone will decide who was on the Right Path and who was astray on a Day from which there will be no return!!!

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah Baqarah verse 77-79:Do they really not know that Allah is fully aware of what they hide and what they disclose? Then there are among them some ignorant people who have no knowledge of the Book, but depend upon empty hopes and are guided by mere conjecture and guess-work. So woe to those who write the Book with their own hands, and then say to the people, ‘This is from Allah’, so that they might gain some paltry worldly gain! This writing of their hands will bring woe to them, and what they gain from it will lead them to their ruin.

Your Statement: Every Vaaz I attend encourages us to read and understand Quran, I don`t know which ones you attended.

We have attended more Vaaz and sermons of the Syedna than we may care to count! Yes, the Bohra clergy always advocate their followers to recite the Holy Quran, which is good. But understanding the Quran is not amongst the advice the clergy ever dare to give! Simply because if their followers did ever understand the Glorious Quran, it would mean an end to their power-play, and the many avenues and businesses they have opened and profited from in the name of Allah Subhanah! They never allow their followers to understand the Quran; neither do they teach it; nor do they have a translation of the Quran in any language; nor do they endorse an existing translation; nor do they guide their followers from the Quran! They are more interested in giving fiery sermons from some parts of the History of the Muslims; they are more interested in praising their ‘chosen’ personalities from the days gone by; they advocate their invocation and the invocation of their ancestors and ‘some’ holy men; they demand that their followers bow down to them in sajdah, and bow down to the graves of their ancestors!!! They have created a mechanism to make their followers ‘abde-syedna’ (slaves of syedna), rather than guide them to be ‘Abd-Allah’ (slaves of Allah Subhanah)!!!!!!

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 22 Surah Hajj verse 78:Exert your utmost for the cause of Allah, as one should. He has chosen you for His service and has not laid on you any hardship in your deen. Therefore, be steadfast in the religion of your father, Abraham. Allah had called you ‘Muslims” before this, and has called you (by the same name) in this Quran also, so that the Messenger may be a witness in regard to you, and you may be witnesses in regard to the rest of mankind. Therefore, establish the ‘salaat’ and pay the ‘zakaat’, and hold fast to Allah. He (Allah) is your ‘MAULA’: what an excellent ‘MAULA’ and what an excellent Helper!

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.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 18 Surah Kahf verses 103-106:Tell them (O Mohamed), “Should We tell you who are the most unsuccessful people and miserable failures in regard to their deeds? They are those, all whose endeavours in the worldly life, had gone astray from the Right Way, but all along they were under the delusion that everything they were doing, was rightly directed! Those are the people who rejected the Revelations of their Lord and did not believe that they would ever go before Him. Therefore all their deeds were lost, for We shall assign no weight to them on the Day of Reserruction. Their recompense is Hell for the disbelief they showed, and for the mockery they adopted in regard to My Aayahs and My Messengers!”

Our duty was no more than to invite you to read and understand the clear guidance of the Glorious Quran, and Allah is our witness, we have fulfilled our duty unto you. To believe or to deny is the choice each individual has to make himself….. and then await the consequences of his choice on the Promised Day!

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 10 Surah Yunus verses 40-44:Some of these people will believe in (The Quran), and others will not. Your Lord knows these mischief-makers very well indeed. If these people deny you, say to them: “I am responsible for my deeds and you are for yours. You are not accountable for what I do, nor am I for what you do.” There are many among them who hear what you say, but will you make the deaf to listen to you, even though they be incapable of understanding this? Then there are many others among them who see you. But will you show the way to the blind, even though they be bereft of sight? The fact is that Allah does not in any way wrong the people, but they wronged themselves!

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 18 Surah Kahf verse 29:Proclaim, “This (Quran) is the Truth from your Lord: now whosoever wills may accept it, and whosoever wills may reject it.” (As for those who reject it) We have prepared for such workers of iniquity a fire whose flames have encircled them. There, if they ask for water, they will be given a drink like the dregs of oil, which will burn their mouths! What an evil drink, and what an evil abode!

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 6 Surah Anaam verses 125-126:So (the fact is that) whomever Allah wills to guide aright, He makes his breast wide open to Islam. And whomever He wills to let go astray, He makes his breast narrow and squeezes it so tight that (at the very idea of Islam) he begins to feel as if his soul were climbing up towards the sky. Thus Allah puts the wrath over those who do not believe, whereas this Way is the Straight Way of your Lord, and We have made its Signs quite clear for those who are open to advice.

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

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