I am a follower of Islam and i am proud to be a Muslim and a follower of Dawwodi Bohra sect. I have been a constant observer of all your replies but friend i feel that when we are being cornered around the world as terrorists
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:
Dear
friend and fellow muslim i am a follower of Islam and i am proud to be a Muslim
and a follower of Dawwodi Bohra sect. I have been a constant observer of all
your replies but friend i feel that when we are being cornered around the world
as terrorists is it wise to divide our muslim brothers in the name of Shia and
Sunnis. Why in this times of trouble we are just feeding venom in each others
minds and making enimies out of brothers. why are we not learning from our own
turbulent past where cousins fought against cousin. all i need to say is that
whichever sect we are following we are muslims first and then Shia and Sunnis.
i belive that be it shia or sunni no one is wrong. what is right is the belife
that we are Muslims and the follower of the almighty allah though our paths may
be different. I may not be a great Scholar of Islam but with my mind wat i can
feel and see is that creating Haterade among muslims like u try to do is wrong.
I hope you will clarify on this
(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:
Spreading hatred and
sects Bohra
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 Chapter 30 Surah Rum aayat 31-32: This
(Islam) is the right and true faith, but most people do not know. (Be steadfast
on this) turning wholly and sincerely towards Allah Alone, and fear Him, and
establish the Salat, and do not be like the mushriks, who have set up their
separate creeds and divided themselves into sects, each sect rejoicing in what
it has.
Allah says in Chapter 45 Surah Al-Jathiyah aayat
17: Then they differed amongst themselves after the knowledge (of Islam) had
come to them, only because they wanted to wrong one another. Your Lord will
judge between them on the Day of Resurrection concerning the matters in which
they have been differing.
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 23 Surah
Mu’minoon verse 52-55: And you all belong to one and the same Ummah, and I
(Allah) am your Lord; so fear Me Alone!
Yet afterwards the people divided themselves into different sects, and
each sect rejoicing in what it has.
Well,leave them deeply involved in their heedlessness up to an appointed
time. What? Do they think that, by continuing to provide
them with wealth and children, We are solicitous for their welfare? Nay, they
do not understand the reality of the matter!
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 22 Surah
Hajj verse 77-78: O you who have believed,
do ‘rukooh’ (bow down) and do ‘sajdah’ (prostration), and worship your
Lord Allah Alone, and do righteous deeds: it may be that you attain true
success! 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 religion.
Therefore, be steadfast in the
religion of your father
My dear and beloved brother in Islam, Allah, our Lord and
Creator, has Himself chosen the name ‘muslims’ for the believers; and it does
not behove and befit one who sincerely believes in Allah and the Last Day to
call himself or be recognized by any other name!
We absolutely agree with you that just because two people
who have professed belief in Allah and His Messenger (saws) fight or hate each
other just because they have a difference of opinion; but we go a step further
and say that there is absolutely no need for a believer to even fight against a
disbeliever only for the fact that he does not believe!
For Allah Subhanah, our Lord and Creator, it is Who has
created man, bestowed upon him the intelligence and the power of reasoning, and
given him a ‘free will’ to choose the path they wish to follow. If one, of their own free will, chooses to
believe and follow the Straight Path of Islam, he be allowed to do so; and if
one of his own free will, chooses to follow a path other than Islam, he be
allowed to do so.
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!
Islam does not say that one who does not believe does not
have a right to exist; but what Islam does say and guide and commands the
believers is to clearly declare with patience, wisdom and excellent admonition from
the guidance and Message they have received, the punishment for those who
choose disbelief and disobedience of their Lord!
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.
The invitation and declaration of Allah’s Message to
mankind cannot and should not be taken as sowing ‘hatred’ amongst people! The only duty of the believers is to deliver
the Message from the Quran and the Sunnah to all those who are willing to
listen to good caution in the absolute best manner, and leave each individual
to choose for himself whether he wishes to follow it or deny it.
Every individual has a right to declare and make known to
those willing to listen to him what he believes is right and what he believes
is wrong; and it is upto the one being invited to either accept it or reject
it. Enmity, hatred, and fights happen
because one strives with his might and means to forcefully stop someone utilizing
his God-given right to declare what he believes to be right and wrong.
My dear and beloved brother, not only will there remain
difference of opinion amongst the believers and the disbelievers until the end
of time, but difference of opinion even between those who profess belief will
remain; for it is the very nature of the test that Allah Subhanah has involved
mankind in to see who amongst them sincerely submits to Him and who amongst
them does not.
Allah Subhanah has given each individual the liberty and
right for the short period of one transitory life to believe, follow and
declare what he believes to be right; and it is only when this God-given right
to follow and declare what one believes in is usurped by force, when hatred and
enmity entails between mankind.
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 45 Surah
Al-Jathiyah aayat 17: Then they differed amongst themselves after the knowledge
(of Islam) had come to them, only because they wanted to wrong one another. Your
Lord will judge between them on the Day of Resurrection concerning the matters
in which they have been differing.
Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah
Baqarah verse 113: The Jews say: "The Christians have
naught (to stand) upon"; and the Christians say: "The Jews have naught
(to stand) upon." Yet they (profess
to) study the (same) Book. Like unto
their word is what those say who know not, but Allah will judge between
them in their quarrel on the Day of Judgment.
Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 22 Surah
Hajj verse 17: Those who believe (in the Qur'an) those
who follow the Jewish (scriptures) and the
Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chatper 39 Zumar
verse 46: Say: "O Allah! Creator of the heavens and the earth!
Knower of all that is hidden and open! It is Thou that wilt Judge between
Thy servants in those matters about which they have differed."
Allah Subhanah has Commanded and guided His believing
slaves to declare His Message to mankind, and leave them to make their own
choice; for Allah, the Lord of the Heavens and the Earth Alone will Judge with
Justice between His slaves on the Day of Judgment.
My dear and beloved brother, Allah is our witness, our
only intention is to fulfill the duty our Lord has laid upon us to the best of
our ability: and that is to declare the Message of our Lord to all those who
are willing to listen to good caution in the best possible manner. If after hearing the Message, one wishes of
one’s own free will to submit to the Guidance of the Quran and the Sunnah, it
is well; and if one wishes to deny the Guidance and continue his worship and
invocation of the idols, and graves, and humans, etc. it is well, for it is a
choice the individual has made of his own free will.
Islam does not believe that the propagation of the Truth
from Allah is akin to sowing hatred between people, otherwise the Lord Most
Gracious would never have sent his Noble Prophets and Revealed His Books for
the guidance of mankind! It is those
individuals who opposed the Truth sent by their Lord, and used their might and
their means to stop the Noble Prophets of Allah from declaring and inviting
mankind to the Truth from their Lord who are the unjust transgressors in the
Sight of the Lord.
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 6 Surah
Anaam verse 157-158: Now that a Clear Proof,
a Guidance and Blessing (The Al-Quran), has come to you from your
Lord, who can be more unjust than the
one who treats Our Revelations as false and turns away from them? We will inflict the severest torment on
those who turn away from Our Revelations because of their aversion. Do the people now await that the
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 18 Surah
Kahf verses 57: Who can be more unjust than the person before whom his Lord’s
Revelations are recited to admonish him, and he turns away from them and
forgets the evil end to which he has paved the way with his own hands? (As regards those who have adopted such an
attitude), We have put coverings over their hearts which do not let them understand
the Quran; and We have produced heaviness in their ears. While in this state they will never be guided
aright, however much you may try to invite them to the Guidance.
Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 34 Surah
Saba verse 5: Those who strive against Our Aayats
(Revelations, Signs, etc.) to frustrate them, for such will be a Penalty! A Punishment Most Humiliating!
If one trusts, obeys, and follows the guidance and
commands of Allah and His Messenger (saws),
one can be assured of never ever being misled; but if one believes, obeys and follows any
other guidance, other than that of Allah and His Messenger (saws), one can be
assured of being led astray.
Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to
Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only
Source of Strength.
Your Brother in
Islam,
Burhan
Wister