Bohra brother revert
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:
Assalamoalaykum
Dear brother
I have been regular visitor of this site and
greatly benifitted from the sound advice you give on different religious
issues. May allah reward you for these services and bless you with enough
strength to continue serving like this, ameen.
Now my question is, I belong to bohra family being married and having a baby
girl. I have read allama Abdullah yusuf ali’s translated quran and know really
what the islam is and trying to follow the true Islamic way of life. But my
wife doesn’t like my Islamic idealogy, she force me to go to attend waaz of
mola, darees, and other bohra functions where all kind of unislamic activities
along with shirk are done. If I don’t agree what she tells, then she threatens
me to break our marriage, which is highly impossible for me to do so.
I seek your kind advice on this matter very
urgently in the light of quran and hadiths.
Your brother in islam.
(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:
Bohra brother convert
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 of this world
and the Hereafter for your kind comments of encouragement for our humble
efforts in the propagation of the Truth.
If our humble and modest efforts have helped even one brother or sister
get closer to Allah and His Deen of Truth, then we would consider ourselves
indeed fortunate to have been given this opportunity by the Lord Most Merciful
to serve in His Cause. We hope, beg,
and pray the Merciful Lord
accepts our humble and weak efforts,
forgives us our shortcomings, and
saves you, us, and all the believers
from the torment of the Hell Fire.
Ameen.
Your Question: I belong to bohra family being married and
having a baby girl. I have read allama Abdullah yusuf ali’s translated quran
and know really what the islam is and trying to follow the true Islamic way of
life. But my wife doesn’t like my Islamic idealogy, she force me to go to
attend waaz of mola, darees, and other bohra functions where all kind of
unislamic activities along with shirk are done. If I don’t agree what she
tells, then she threatens me to break our marriage, which is highly impossible
for me to do so.
Dear and Beloved Brother in Islam, may Allah Subhanah accept your reversion to
the obedience of the Quran and the Sunnah, and bestow upon you and your family
His Sublime and Infinite Mercy and Grace, and give you the wisdom, patience and
the courage to remain steadfast on the Path of Truth you have chosen until the day
when the Angel of Death fulfills his duty decreed for each amongst mankind.
Beloved Brother, it is only natural that when one has been
born and brought up in a certain surrounding, and subsequently one recognizes
and accepts the Truth of the Quran and Sunnah; one will experience a certain
amount of resistance from one’s loved and near ones who are absolutely ignorant
of the Truth. One must understand and
appreciate that one’s loved and near ones genuinely love them, and wish nothing
but the good for them in the criteria or belief they grew up, which might be
devoid of the wisdom and guidance of the Truth of the Quran and the Sunnah.
Allah is my witness, I myself have gone through this
process for the past 20+ years and the only word that I can find in the English
language that comes close to describing the condition of the attitude of ones
loved ones towards the ones who have chosen the Quran as their Criterion is:
heartbreaking! For ten long years after
my acceptance of the Truth of the Quran and Sunnah against the belief I was
born into, I was rebuked, ridiculed, and almost isolated from the ones who undoubtedly
loved me, and Allah is my witness, I loved them! After ten long heartbreaking and
heart-wrenching years, the Merciful Lord answered my prayers and guided my
eldest brother and the patriach of our family, whom I love and respect probably
as much as I loved and respected my late father, to accept the Truth of the
Quran!
Subesequently, Allah Subhanah helped and guided him to
influence many other members of our family to leave the ‘deen’ they were born
into and submit to the Truth of the Quran and the Sunnah. Allah is my witness, some of the staunchest
opponents of the Truth in my family, whom I, in my absolute and utter
ignorance, thought would never submit to the Truth of the Quran and Sunnah were
the foremost in accepting the Truth; and those whom I had thought would easily
accept logic and reasoning because of their good nature, to this day have not
submitted to the Truth! Allah Alone Knows
who deserves guidance, and who does not.
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.
And unfortunately even until today, almost after 20+ years
of this struggle in our family between the Truth and falsehood, my own aged and
disabled mother, one of my elder brothers and his family, my two elder sisters
and their familes, and almost all the members of our extended family, aunts,
uncles, cousins, etc. ardently follow the deen they were born into and refuse
to accept the guidance of the Quran. Leave alone accepting our invitation to just
meet us and talk to us, they are commanded and threatened by their ‘holy’
priests to socially boycott us and break all relations with us!
Allah is my witness, had Allah Subhananh not helped us and
had Mercy upon us, we would have been, without a doubt, completely ruined! All Praise and thanks are due to Allah
Subhanah Alone, the Lord of the Worlds.
My dear and beloved brother in Islam, the only reason I
relate my personal story to you is to assure you that you are not the only one
who is facing this emotional blackmail from the ones whom you love most. Every human being in the history of mankind,
who was blessed to be guided aright by the Lord Most Merciful, has to go
through this trial of facing the wrath of the misguided and ignorant society;
be it the Prophets of Allah, the noble companions, or even humble and sinning
believers like you and me! If only you
and I could understand the trials faced by those who believed in the times gone
by, we would realize just how Kind and Merciful our Lord has been upon us. The same Lord Who guided us to the Truth can
only be expected to guide His believing slaves to patience and perseverance!
Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 4.809 Narrated by Khabbab bin Al Arat
We complained to Allah's Messenger (saws) (of
the persecution inflicted on us by the infidels) while he was sitting in the
shade of the Ka'ba, leaning over his Burd (i.e. covering sheet). We said to him (saws), "Would you seek
help for us? Would you pray to Allah for us?" He (saws) said, "Among the nations
before you a (believing) man would be put in a ditch that was dug for him, and
a saw would be put over his head, and he would be cut into two pieces; yet that
(torture) would not make him give up his religion. His body would be combed
with iron combs that would remove his flesh from the bones and nerves, yet that
would not make him abandon his religion. By Allah, this religion (i.e. Islam)
will prevail till a traveler from Sana (in Yemen) to Hadramaut will fear none
but Allah, or a wolf as regards his sheep, but you (people) are hasty!’
Thus, my dear and beloved brother in Islam, the reaction of
your wife and loved ones against your acceptance and submission to the Truth of
the Quran should only be expected! No
matter what they say and do, you remain steadfast on the Straight Path of the
Quran and Sunnah; and constantly seek the help and guidance of your Lord Most
Merciful, and in all humility and fear beg Him to bestow upon you the wisdom,
and the patience, and the courage to remain steadfast on the Path of Truth you
have chosen to live.
Beloved brother, practice extreme patience and wisdom when
confronted by your wife or your loved ones; and whenever you get an opportunity
invite them to read and understand the Truth of the Glorious Quran. It is
expected that Allah Subhanah will take them out of their ignorance and guide
them to the Straight Path.
Your Statement: If I don’t agree what she tells, then she
threatens me to break our marriage, which is highly impossible for me to do so.
Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 9 Surah
Taubah verses 23-24:
23 O ye who believe! Take not for protectors
your fathers and your brothers if they love infidelity above faith: if any of
you do so they do wrong.
24 Say: ‘If it be that your fathers, your
sons, your brothers, your wives, or your kindred; the wealth that ye have
gained; the commerce in which ye fear a decline; or the dwellings in which ye
delight are dearer to you than Allah or His Messenger, or the striving in His
Cause; then wait until Allah brings about His decision: and Allah guides not
the rebellious.
Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 1.15 Narrated by Anas
The Prophet (saws) said, "Whoever
possesses the following three qualities will have tasted the sweetness
(delight) of faith:
1. The
one to whom Allah and His Messenger (saws) becomes dearer than anything else.
2. Who
loves a person and he loves him only for Allah's sake.
3. Who
hates to revert to disbelief just as he hates to be thrown into the fire."
Dear and Beloved Brother in Islam, the guidance of Allah
and His Messenger (saws) is absolutely clear in such conditions! It is possible that the threats of your wife
are no more than threats to put emotional pressure upon you to come back to the
pagan deen you were born into; but if she sees that you are adamant and
steadfast on the Truth that your Lord has guided you towards, she might soften her
stand and not fulfill her threat to divorce you. Regardless of what she says and does, and no
matter how much she threatens you; you remain kind and merciful towards her,
practicing and displaying nothing but the best behavior of patience and wisdom
as behoves a believer who sincerely fears Allah and the Last Day. It may be, that one day, because of your
superior and patient behavior towards all the atrocities and abuses they throw
upon you; Allah might soften their hearts and guide them to the Truth of the
Quran and the Sunnah.
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.
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!
After Allah Subhanah has had Mercy upon one and guided him
to the Truth of Tawheed, it does not behove the believer who sincerely fears
Allah and the Last Day to prefer disbelief over faith, irrespective of the
trials and atrocities the pagans may wish to break upon him; even if it means
that one might lose one’s most loved ones, or one might lose all of one’s
possessions, or even if it means that one might lose one’s own life! There is absolutely no compromise allowed
with the manifestations of ‘shirk’ once The Merciful Lord has guided His slave
towards the Truth of ‘Tawheed’!; for the believer knows for certainty that the
life of this world is only short and transient, but the life of the Hereafter
in the Presence of his Majestic Lord is unending and everlasting.
Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 9 Surah
Taubah verses 111-112:
111 Allah hath purchased of the believers
their persons and their good; for theirs (in return) is the Garden (of
112 Those that turn (to Allah) in repentance:
that serve Him and Praise Him; that wander in devotion to the Cause of Allah;
that bow down and prostrate themselves in prayer; that enjoin good and forbid
evil; and observe the limits set by Allah; (these do rejoice). So proclaim the glad tidings to the
Believers.
May Allah Subhanah bestow you with the wisdom, and
patience, and the courage needed to confront the trials laid upon you in your
adherence to the Truth. May Allah
Subhanah have mercy upon you and your family, and bless you with a day when you
and your family will be united in the worship and service of the One and Only
Lord of the Worlds Alone. May Allah
Subhanah make your trial easy for you and guide you to remain steadfast on the
Straight Path of the Quran and Sunnah that you have chosen to tread. Ameen.
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,
Burhan
Wister