How to invite bohras?
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:
As Salaam Aleikum, Dear Burhan I don`t know how I started getting your mails in my inbox
initially I never used to read them when I saw Dawoodi
bohra written on the subject. I thought you are
preaching the bohra religion :) but when I read the
mail I came to know the truth. I am sunni muslim from childhood, but my mom`s
relatives are all dawoodi bohras,
so I know all of things they do and I know they are wrong, but when I try to
explain them them don`t
want to listen because there are mostly women in the family. When they did`nt listen to me I said a lot
of bad things about their mullaji and had a big fight
with them since then I never said anything to them. This happened long back,
but now I want to speak to them in a way they `ll understand I need to know how to start but I don`t want to them to feel bad. I don`t
visit them often since they stay in
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confidentiality.)
Answer:
How to invite 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.
May Allah Subhanah
reward you with the best, for your intention of inviting your relatives to the
Truth of the Holy Quran and Islam. Brother, whenever we want to invite people to
the Truth, and even though you know for
sure that the ones you are inviting are following falsehood, we must always
invite them with humility, politeness
and wisdom. It we get angry, or start
ridiculing their beliefs, or end up fighting with them; they will
never ever give ear to the Message of Truth.
One must always be careful to choose the right place and the right time,
and make sure never to say something that will hurt their feelings. We must realize that the person, even though
he/she is following falsehood, is doing
so out of ignorance, or probably because
they were simply born into that deen.
Allah says in the Holy
Quran: Chapter 16, Surah
An-Nahl Ayat 125:Invite to the way of your Lord with wisdom and excellent
admonition and argue with people in the best manner. Your Lord knows best who
has gone astray from His Way and who is Rightly
guided.
Rather than arguing on the
points on which they are wrong; it is always prudent, when inviting someone to
the Truth, to
tell them what is the Truth from the Holy Quran…. And
then give them some time to figure out the Truth from the falsehood for
themselves. We should be careful never
to force our beliefs on someone else;
our duty as believers is only to invite mankind to the Truth of Islam. To believe or deny the Truth from the Holy Quran is a choice each individual has to make with his own
intelligence and free will. We should
not, and we
cannot, force someone to become a
believer! To guide someone or leave
them astray is in the Sole Power and Domain of our Merciful Lord Alone.
And we must also learn to develop
a lot of patience if we really wish well for the person. We should not imagine that just because we
are inviting them to the Truth of the Holy Quran,
they will believe the Truth in an instant!
Sometimes it may take just one meeting, and some times it may take a
life-time! Our duty is no more than to
convey the Message in a clear manner to all who want to listen to good caution.
The best way to invite a Bohra to the Truth of Islam, is to
convince him/her to read the Holy Quran with
understanding. Brother, it is our humble
opinion that our Bohra brethren are some of the most
humble, kind, and decent human beings on this planet earth. They probably work harder in their deen, are regular observers of the prayers and fasts, and try very hard
to follow their beliefs. But because
they have very little knowledge of the Holy Quran,
they are not able to understand that all their hard work will bear no fruit in
the Court of Allah Subhanah, because they are so
involved in the heinous and unforgivable crime of Shirk, without even realizing
it. It is only by reading and
understanding the Quran will they ever realize the
difference between Tawheed (the Oneness of Allah Subhanah) and Shirk (associating others with Allah Subhanah). Thus if
you could just invite them or convince them to read the Holy Quran with understanding, there is a very good chance that
they would leave their practices of shirk,
and become true believers of Islam.
May Allah Subhanah
reward you with the best and help you, and guide you to invite your friends and
relatives to the Truth of the Holy Quran. May Allah give you and us the wisdom and the
patience to invite our brethren, and may Allah Subhanah
guide our brethren out of the dark ways of ignorance, to the light and noor
of the Holy Quran.
Allah says in the Holy
Quran Chapter 66 Surah Tahreem verse 6:O you who have
believed, save yourselves and your families from a Fire whose fuel shall be men
and stones; over which shall be
appointed fierce and stern angels, who
never disobey Allah’s Command, and they
only do as they are commanded!
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,
Wister