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 Brother Burhan!

i was receiving your email since a long, sometime i read them, sometime i deleted them, because from first look, it appeared as it was from some routine islamic web. Few of them were really interesting and i made archive of them, which lead me to visit this web.

i have visited it no of times, read a few articles and i have to believe that it is real good work, i must appreciate.

Now my instinct says that you are one of progressive bohra group or some atheist who is born bohra. can you elaborate on that? Skip this question if you belive it is not necessary to answer. The point i want to make by this question is that if you are progressive bohra or a kind, i have some ideas to work out together. So if you are looking for anthusiastic people to work with call me back.

Allah Hafiz

(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:

Progressive 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 none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Your Question: Now my instinct says that you are one of progressive bohra group or some atheist who is born bohra. can you elaborate on that?

Respected brother, it is indeed accurate that some amongst the moderators of this humble forum were born into ‘Bohra’ families….and for a portion of their life they (unfortunately) practiced the ‘Bohra way-of-life’.

Subsequently at various stages of their lives, Allah Subhanah, in His Infinite Mercy and Grace, guided them towards the understanding of the Glorious Quran and they reverted to the ‘way of life’ of ‘al-Islam’ as Guided and Commanded by Allah Subhanah in His Glorious Quran.

Thus brother, we belong to no splinter group …or any group or sect for that matter…but rather, we are proud to call ourselves and be recognized only and purely by the name which the Lord Most High Has Himself chosen for the believers: ie. ‘muslims’. We have left behind us every single man-made and self-invented group, or sect, or creed…..and turned ourselves wholly and sincerely towards the Guidance of the Glorious Quran and the authentic and established Sunnah of the Last and Final Messenger of Allah (saws) alone.

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 Abraham. Allah had named you ‘muslims’ before this, and has named you (muslims) in this Quran also, so that the Messenger may be a witness in regard to you, and you may be witnesses in regard to the rest of mankind.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 30 Surah Rum verses 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’ (polytheists), who have set up their separate creeds and divided themselves into sects, each sect rejoicing in what it has.

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 and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan