Why do you call yourself Dawoodibohra?
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:
The first thing that
you should do is change your name. You are not only using the name given
by our beloved dai but the dai's very own name. It is not difficult to
change the name or your religious faith or the person you follow. Noboby
is forcing you to be a Dawoodi Bohra. Why do you call yourself a Dawoodi
Bhora when you know clearly that Dawoodi Bhora's follow syedna and all the 21
Imans. All shia muslim's believe in Imamuzaman and they all also believe that
Imam is in 'parda' and will reveal himself. Even other muslims have there
own Imam. Are you a Hafeez-a-Quran and a scholar in Arabic or are you using
some astray person's translation? I know that not everybody in the 'royal family' is perfect. As one
suggestion change your web site name to something else. So who do you
exactly follow. Just Allah and Prophet Mohammed?
(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:
In the name of Allah, We praise
Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can
misguide, and who-ever 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.
Your Comment: The
first thing that you should do is change your name. You are not only
using the name given by our beloved dai but the dai's very own name. It
is not difficult to change the name or your religious faith or the person you
follow.
What do I need to do to convince
you that ‘Burhan-uddeen’ (meaning giving proof or evidence for the deen) is my
real name? Would you consider a copy
of my passport or my driving license as good evidence? You tell me, and I will forward it to
you! I don’t need to lie about
anything, for I write nothing but the Truth from the Holy Quran! I fear no one, except My Lord and My Creator
Alone; for He Alone deserves to be feared!
We, as muslims, are commanded by Allah and His Messenger (saws) not to
lie and always speak the Truth! And the
truth is that my name is indeed as mentioned!
The irony is that this name was given to me by your very syedna! Subhan Allah!
Your Comment: Nobody
is forcing you to be a Dawoodi Bohra.
Allah has given each individual
a free will and intelligence to choose the path he wants to attain salvation. No one can force someone to any deen, and
true to your word; nobody is forcing me to be a Dawoodi Bohra. It is indeed the Mercy and Grace of Allah
Who has guided us to read and understand the Quran. And it is indeed His Mercy Alone that he has guided us to leave
all the other deens, and honored us to be muslims.
Your Comments: Why
do you call yourself a Dawoodi Bhora when you know clearly that Dawoodi Bhora's
follow syedna and all the 21 Imans. All shia muslim's believe in Imamuzaman and
they all also believe that Imam is in 'parda' and will reveal himself.
Even other muslims have there own Imam.
We do not call ourselves Dawoodi
Bohras or anything else for that matter.
Allah has called the believers muslims, and we are proud and honored to
be recognized by the name that our Lord and Creator has chosen for the
believers.
Allah says in the Holy
Quran Chapter 22 Surah Hajj verse 78: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 deen. Therefore, be steadfast in the religion of
your father, Abraham. Allah had called you ‘Muslims” before this, and has
called you (by the same name) 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. Therefore, establish the
‘salaat’ and pay the ‘zakaat’, and hold fast to Allah. He is your ‘Maula’: what an excellent ‘Maula’ and what an
excellent Helper!
Allah has commanded the believers
in the Quran to obey and follow only the Last Messenger of Allah (saws). All the other names, positions and titles
have absolutely no authority from Allah.
They are nothing but the inventions and hopes of man himself, and are
thus not binding on the true believers.
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 says in the Holy
Quran Chapter 33 Surah Ahzab verse 66-68:On the Day their faces are rolled
about on the Fire, they will say, “Would that we had obeyed Allah and His
Messenger!” And they will say, “O our Lord,
we obeyed our CHIEFS and our GREAT MEN, and they led us astray from the Right
Path. O our Lord, give them a double
chastisement and curse them severely”.
Your Comment: I know
that not everybody in the 'royal family' is perfect.
No one is perfect, except the
being of the One Who Created the heavens and the earth! Allah has sent us a Book which is a perfect
guidance for mankind. If we follow the
commandments of this Glorious Book of Allah, we will be guided aright. If we follow the ‘royal family’ or anyone
else for that matter, we will be misled from the Straight Path. My only advise and humble invitation to you
is to read the Message that your Lord and Creator has sent for your guidance. If after reading the Quran with
understanding, you find out that what you have been following all your life is
from the guidance of the Quran; then at least you can confirm that you are on
the Right Path. But what if you find
out that what the ‘royal family’ is guiding you towards, is against the very
principles of the Holy Quran? Will you
then believe in Allah or will you still take the word of the ‘royal family’?
Your Comment: As one
suggestion change your web site name to something else.
We were born into Dawoodi Bohra
families and at various times of our lives, Allah guided us to read and the
understand the Holy Quran. Today we are
honored and privileged to be recognized by the name that Allah Himself has
bestowed upon the believers: that is,
muslims. Allah has commanded the
believers to invite mankind to the Truth of Islam and that is all we intend to
do. If you accept our invitation and
read the Quran with understanding, fine.
If you deny and reject our invitation, that is your prerogative. Our only duty was to invite you to Islam,
and Allah is our witness, we have fulfilled our duty. To guide or leave someone astray is in the Power and Domain of
Allah Subhanah Alone.
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 18 Surah Kahf verse 29:Proclaim, “This (Quran) is the Truth from
your Lord: now whosoever wills may
accept it, and whosoever wills may reject it.” (As for those who reject it) We
have prepared for such workers of iniquity a fire whose flames have encircled
them. There, if they as for water
, they will be given a drink like the dregs
of oil, which will burn their
mouths! What an evil drink, and what an
evil abode!
Your Question: So
who do you exactly follow. Just Allah and Prophet Mohammed?
I swear by Him, Who Created
everything that exists; we follow and obey only Allah and His Last Messenger
(saws). We bear witness that there is
none worthy of worship except Allah Subhanah Alone, and we bear witness that
there is none worthy of being followed except the Last Messenger of Allah,
Mohamed ar-Rasool Allah (saws).
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
