Bohra Burial after Zakat and Sabil
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:
who is the owner
of the kabarastan?
Why people who have
some dues of zakat or sabil not allowed to be buried.
Is it human to
make people clear all their sabil and zakat dues and then take the body of the
person died. As far as I know and have knowledge all burial grounds are the
property of the government and is given to all communites free of cost so that
they can carry out their last rites in their own system. But does that mean
that the leaders and heads of the community will become the owner of the burial
grounds and will decide who is to be buried and who is not to be.
It is very
shameful to learn that their are amils and sheiks who first see the receipt of
death persons sabil and zakat and then allows his body to be brought for bath.
If money is everything for us then why don`t we open a company known as Dawoodi
Bohra Company Ltd.
(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 Burial after Zakat and
Sabil
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.
One of the rights of a muslim on
his brother muslims is that they will bury him when he meets with his
appointment of death. To pray the
‘janaaza’ over a believer is an obligatory duty Allah and His Messenger have
prescribed for the believers, and is known in Islam as ‘fard-kifaaya’.
‘Fard-kifaaya’ means that if
some believers attend or arrange to do the deed, the whole community will share
its reward. But if no one arranges or
attends the burial, it will be a sin on the whole community.
Your Question: who is the owner of the kabarastan?
The ownership of the Muslim
graveyard depends on the laws of the country.
In an Islamic Country, the graveyards are generally owned by the State
to facilitate the burial of the believers.
But in non-Islamic countries like
Your Question: Why people who have some dues of zakat or
sabil not allowed to be buried. Is it human to make people clear all their
sabil and zakat dues and then take the body of the person died.
There is absolutely no law in
Shariah that one who owes dues like zakat or sabil, will not be buried in the
muslim graveyard. This is indeed
absolutely inhuman and unfair to the heirs of the deceased, that some community
leaders use this type of emotional blackmail, and refuse to bury their
followers, unless their dues to the community are paid.
For the community leaders to themselves
collect funds the way they do in the names of ‘zakat’ and ‘sabil’ by such
emotional blackmail, is in itself illegal and un-Islamic… And to stop the burial of a brother muslim,
until his heirs pay the deceased’s
zakat and sabil dues to the community, is absolutely inhumane and
un-Islamic. At a time when the
believers should strive to console and help the grieving heirs of the deceased,
some unscrupulous so called ‘holy-men’ use this incident to fill their
coffers! Rest assured that Allah Subhanah
is watching all the evil deeds they do in the name of Islam; and on the Day of
Judgement, Allah will take full retribution from these evil money-mongers.
Allah says in the Holy
Quran Chapter 9 Surah Taubah verses 34-35 :O you who believe! There are indeed many among the priests and
the holy men who devour the wealth of others by evil means, and debar the
people from the Way of Allah. Give
them the good news of a painful torment, who hoard up gold and silver and do
not expend these in the Way of Allah.
The Day shall surely come when the same gold and silver shall be heated
in the fire of Hell, and with it will be branded their foreheads, their bodies
and their backs. (And it will be said):
“Here is that treasure you had hoarded up for yourselves! Taste now the evil of your hoarded treasure!”
This system of emotional
blackmail is done only in some illegal sects of Islam. The normal muslim community have no such
hassles. If a believer dies, all they
have to do is report it to the local mosque, and the believers there will take
care of the full burial and janaza, and arrange to give an honorable Islamic
burial to their muslim brother.
Your Question: As
far as I know and have knowledge all burial grounds are the property of the
government and is given to all communites free of cost so that they can carry
out their last rites in their own system. But does that mean that the leaders
and heads of the community will become the owner of the burial grounds and will
decide who is to be buried and who is not to be.
Even if they have received the
burial grounds free of charge from the governments, the maximum these community
leaders can do is refuse to pray the janaza and arrange the burial, which is a
grave sin in itself.
The problem with the followers of
this particular community is that they themselves do not want to be buried in
the mainstream muslim graveyards; and because they wish their loved ones to be
buried in the ‘sect’s’ graveyard, they are at the whim and mercy of their
community leaders.
The way this particular
community is run, only the priestly class are allowed to pray the janaza,
nikah, etc. But in true Islam, any
believer is allowed to pray the janaza, nikah, etc.; and every believer should
learn these simple rites so that no unscrupulous priest can hold the dead body
of his loved one at ransom!
Your Statement: It is very shameful to learn that their are
amils and sheiks who first see the receipt of death persons sabil and zakat and
then allows his body to be brought for bath.
It is not only shameful for the
community leaders to use the dead body of the believers as ransom, it is
inhumane, illegal, and has absolutely nothing to do with the teachings and
guidance of the deen of Mercy, Al Islam.
Your Statement: If money is everything for us then why don`t
we open a company known as Dawoodi Bohra Company Ltd.
My beloved brother, if you have
not already realized, the ‘company’ is already formed and the unsuspecting
followers of this ‘Company’ are lining up to pay cash in the world, in the
false hope of buying a plot of Allah’s Paradise in the Hereafter! But, little do they realize, that the
World and the Hereafter, both belong to Allah Subhanah Alone; and He has not
authorized anyone to distribute the blessed Gardens of Paradise in His
Name! Allah Alone is the Lord of the
Day of Judgment, and on that Inevitable Day, only what Allah Subhanah decides
and decrees will happen…. And the falsehood created by the unscrupulous leaders
will vanish in front of their very eyes!
Allah says in the Holy
Quran Chapter 2 Surah Baqarah verses 165-167:There are people who set up equals
and rivals with Allah and adore them with the adoration due to Allah! Whereas the believers adore Allah most ardently. Would that these transgressors could
realize now what they will realize, when they see the chastisement before
them: that power and authority wholly
belong to Allah, and that Allah is severe in punishment! When He will inflict punishment, those very
leaders and guides whom they followed in the world will disown them. But
punishment they shall get and all their bonds shall be cut off. Then those who followed them will say,
“Would that we were given another chance to return to the world. Then we will disown them just as they have
disowned us today!” Thus Allah will
bring before them the deeds they did in the world in such a manner as to make
them wring their hands in regret, but they shall be unable to come out of the
Fire.
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.”
Allah says in the Holy
Quran Chapter 10 Surah Yunus verse 66:Note it well that all the dwellers of the
heavens and the earth belong to Allah.
And those who invoke partners besides Allah, follow nothing but surmises
and merely indulge in guess-works!
Allah Subhanah is High and Far
Exalted above all the things that they associate with Him.
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