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.

We thank you for your kind words and supplication to our Merciful Lord.   May Allah accept yours and our humble and weak efforts,  and forgive us our sin in this blessed month of Ramadan.

Q.1 Regarding Tahara; where in the Quran , we are commanded to keep ourselves clean except for Qusl, I don`t remember reading about other things.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 5 Surah Maidah verse 6:

O you who have believed!   When you rise to offer salaat you must wash your faces and hands and arms upto to the elbows,  and wipe your heads with wet hands,  and wash your feet up to the ankles;  and if you have become unclean (through sexual intercourse),  cleanse yourself with a full bath (ghusl).   If,  however,  you are sick or are on a journey,  or if any of you have relieved himself,  or if you have ‘touched’ women (through sexual intercourse),  and you can find no water,  then cleanse yourselves with pure dust.   Strike your palms on it and wipe your hands and faces with it.    Allah does not will to make life hard for you,  but He wills to purify you and complete His blessings upon you so that you may show gratitude.

Q.2  In ramadan, the correct time for breaking the fast is before praying magreb or after it ? In as much as I have researched on this subject, it is it is the Prophet`s sunnah to break the fast first and then pray the magreb prayers.

It is indeed the Sunnah or Way of the Prophet (saws) to break the fast first and then offer the Magrib prayers.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah Baqarah verse 187 (part):

… You are also permitted to eat and drink (during the nights of the fast month),  until you can discern the white streak of dawn from the blackness of the night.   Then complete your fast till nightfall……..

The way the Messenger of Allah (saws) understood and implemented the above aayah,  was that he used to break his fast first and then perform the Magrib prayers.    This is the Sunnah or Way of the Prophet (saws),  and anyone who wishes to follow the tradition of the Prophet should do the same.   In Islam,  nightfall starts immediately when the sun has set,  and that is the precise time of iftaar.

Sunan of Abu-Dawood Hadith 2349  Narrated by Anas ibn  Malik The Apostle of Allah (saws) used to break his fast before praying with some fresh dates; but if there were no fresh dates, he had a few dry dates, and if there were no dry dates, he took some mouthfuls of water.

Al-Muwatta Hadith  Hadith 18.6 Yahya related to me from Malik from Abu Hazim ibn Dinar from Sahl ibn Sad as Saidi that the Messenger of Allah (saws) said, "People will remain in good as long as they are quick to break the fast."

Sunan of Abu-Dawood Hadith 2346  Narrated  by Abu Hurayrah The Prophet (saws) said: “Religion will continue to prevail as long as people hasten to break the fast, because the Jews and the Christians delay doing so.”

Thus,  it is clearly evident from the various narrations that the Messenger of Allah (saws) used to break his fast first and then pray the Magrib prayers.   He also regularly encouraged the believers to hasten to break their fasts and delay in taking the early morning ‘sohoor’ meal.

Q.3 Bohras follow the Misry calender , which is , in general practice I have seen a day before or ahead of the Islamic calender. So they celebrate their eid a day earlier, start and finish ramadan a day earlier , even I have seen people going to spent the day in arafat a day earlier [during haj time] , ofcource it is not allowed now by saudi authorities, so they are not doing under pressure. which calender or the way to determine the new moon is the correct way according to the Quran and sunnah.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah Baqarah verse 189: They ask you (O Prophet) about the phases of the moon.   Tell them, “These are signs for the people to reckon dates,  and fix the periods for Hajj”.

The moon has always been used in Islam to determine the number of days in a calendar month,  as was the tradition of the Messenger of Allah (saws).    The Bohras follow a calendar and for some reason call it the Egyptian Calendar,  whereas in the whole of Egypt the believers start and end their months by sighting the moon!  Allah Alone knows best how and why they derived this name and the method to calculate their dates of the month!!!

It is narrated in an authentic hadith that Yahya related from Malik from Thawr ibn Zayd ad-Dili from Abdullah ibn Abbas that the Messenger of Allah (saws), once mentioned Ramadan and said, "Do not start the fast or break it until you see the new moon. If the new moon is obscured from you, then complete a full thirty days."

 It is nothing but misguidance to perform Hajj on a day when the whole of the Muslim Ummah is not performing it!!!   May Allah guide our Bohra brethren to fear Allah and the Last Day.

Q.4  I have seen many of oour bohra friends especially gujrati speaking,never say "salamalikum" to greet each other but say ` kaim choo ` [how are you in gujrati]. Is not saying salamalikum or greeting each other like that not an established sunnah of the prophet. In fact I heard one time, one bhai saheb, making a remark about another bohra brother, who use to say salamalikum, to quote, he said " why do you wish like the muslims do" , may be he does not know or teaching others that we the bohras are not muslims , and I used to think what are we if not muslims, perhaps "momins".

Allah has used the words ‘muslims’ and ‘mumins’ interchangeably in the Holy Quran for the believers.   Both these terms are used for the believers.

To invoke the ‘salaams’ on a muslim brother,  is to invoke a ‘dua’ or prayer for our brother in Islam.   To invoke salaams on each other,  is not only the established Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (saws),  but it is also the command of Allah in the Holy Quran.   And this invocation of salaams on the believers is not only for the life on earth,  but as stated in the Holy Quran,  ‘salaam’ will also be the invocations amongst  the people in Paradise.  

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 24 Surah Noor verse 27: O you who have believed!  Do not enter other houses other than your own until you have the approval of the residents and have wished them ‘salaams’.  That is the best way for you,  and it is expected you will observe it.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 24 Surah Noor verse 61 (part aayah): When you enter the houses,  you should invoke ‘salaam’ amongst each other,  for this prayer of greetings prescribed by Allah (salaams) is blessed and pure.  Thus does Allah make his Revelations clear to you, so that you may understand.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 4 Surah Nisaa verse 86: And when anyone greets you in a respectful manner,  greet him with a better salutation than his,  or at least return the same.  Indeed Allah takes count of everything.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 10 Surah Yunus verse 10: Those who believe and do righteous deeds,  Allah will guide them aright because of their Faith;  and there will be canals flowing underneath them in the Gardens of Bliss.   Therein,  their prayer will be, “Glory be to You, O Lord”,  and their greetings will be “Salaam”,  and the burden of their hymn will be, “Praise is for Allah Alone,  the Lord of the Worlds.”  

The Messenger of Allah (saws) said “spread the (invocation of) salaam,  whether you know the brother or not.”  

The Messenger of Allah (saws) said, “It is the right of a muslim brother that when he invokes the salutation of peace (salaams),  you must return the salutation to him.” 

In light of the above aayahs of the Quran,  and the Sunnah of the Messenger (saws),  it is a duty unto every muslim to invoke the prayer and salutation of peace (salaams) unto his muslim brother.

The bhai-saheb who made such a remark must indeed be ignorant in the teachings of Allah and His Messenger (saws) in Islam.   Had he known the teachings of the Quran and Sunnah,  he would never have uttered such a thing!    The Messenger of Allah (saws) said in an authentic narration, “Do the opposite of the ‘mushriks’ (non-believers).”    Seems like the bhai-saheb,  in his blind hatred for true muslims,  preached the opposite when,  he said, “why do you wish (the salaams) like the muslims do”!!!!!!

This practice of ‘doing the opposite of the believers’ is consistent with the Bohra way of life.   The believers start Ramadan on one day,  the Bohras start on another!   The believers perform Hajj on one day,  the Bohras perform on another!  The believers greet other believers by saying ‘salaam aleikum’,  the Bohras say ‘kem cho’!   The believers pray 5 times a day,  the Bohras pray 3 times a day!   The believers obey only Allah and His Messenger (saws) unconditionally,  the Bohras obey and follow their clergy and holy men unconditionally!    The believers use the Glorious Quran as their constitution,  the Bohras use a book by a human being called ‘Dai’im ul Islam’ as their constitution!    The believers do deeds to win the Pleasure of Allah,  the Bohras do deeds to win the pleasure of their syedna!  The believers invoke and worship Allah Alone,  the Bohras invoke and worship human beings and graves with Allah!   The believers bow down in sajdah to Allah Alone,  the Bohras bow down in sajdah to men and graves with Allah!  The believers feel honored to be recognized as slaves of Allah (Abd-Allah),  the Bohras pride in calling themselves the slaves of humans (abde-syedna)!

From Allah we have all come,  and to Allah is our ultimate return.

Q.5 The custom of hugging or embracing a person three times to offer him condolances, [when somebody dies in the family] is this an Islamic tradition, derived from the Quran or sunnah of the prophet ?

To meet the family of the deceased and offer them condolences for/until a period of three days is the Sunnah of the Prophet (saws).   The custom of hugging or embracing a person three specific times in a specific way is not derived from the Quran or Sunnah,  therefore we should not make it an obligatory act when offering condolences to the family of the deceased.    But if one does hug or embrace someone,  there is no harm.   We need to be aware,  and not make it into a specific ritual in Islam that the only way to offer condolences is to hug or embrace the family of the deceased in three specific hugs.  

What is important is that we meet the family of the deceased,  and offer them our condolences,  and pray to Allah to have mercy on the soul of the deceased;  and thus share in the grief of our brothers-in-Islam.   Depending on the custom of the land or people,  we should meet them likewise.   If the custom of meeting is hugging and embracing (like the Indian sub-continent, etc.),  we may hug and embrace;  if the custom is shaking hands (like US, Europe, etc.) we may shake hands;  if the customs is kissing on the cheek or nose (like Arabia, etc.),  we may kiss on the cheek or nose;  and if the custom does not have any physical contact,  then one may do likewise.   There is no special Islamic ruling on how one must physically interact while giving condolences to the family of the dead. 

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