Bohra misak oaths
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 exactly are
you?
what is your
qualification to answer questions related to Islam or the particular
nterpretation of Islam as practiced by the Bohris? I also have a theological
question Also, how do you resolve this contradiction between mainstream Islam
belief and the Bohri interpretation: according to mainstream Islam, there are
no agents of God. However, during the 'misak', Bohris are supposed to pledge allegiance to the Syedna, and that
if the Bohri then breaks his pledge, according to the scriptof the oath, he or
she will not be forgiven even by God. How can a mortal decide who God will and
will not forgive?
(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
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 are no more than humble slaves
of Allah Subhanah. Most of the
brothers who volunteer their time and efforts on this forum were born into
Bohra families. At various times in
their lives, Allah guided them to read and understand the Holy Quran. Now we have left the following of any
particular sect, and submitted our will to the Will of our Merciful Lord and
Creator, and we feel honored and blessed to be recognized by the name Allah has
chosen for the believers; that is,
‘muslims’.
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.
We do not follow nor answer any
of the questions on the forum according to the falsehood taught and practiced
by the Bohra deen. We answer all our
questions only from the guidance and teachings of the Holy Quran and the Sunnah
of the Messenger of Allah (saws).
Your
Questions: The issues of Misak, and how can a mortal decide who God will and
will not forgive?
The real and only ‘meethak’ or
covenant a believer makes and takes preference over all the other
covenants, is when he declares the
testification or ‘kalima’ : That there is no god worthy of worship except Allah
Alone, and that Mohamed (saws) is the
Slave and Messenger of Allah.
Thus if some people take any
other meethak with anybody, which is
against the covenant that one makes to Allah,
that covenant is ‘baatil’ or falsehood!
The people or sect-leaders who take this ‘meethak’ have absolutely no
authority from Allah Subhanah to do so.
The ‘meethak’ that a Bohra takes with the Syedna, whereby he pledges to unconditionally obey
and follow the sect-leader, is against
the principles of Islam. The believers
are commanded to follow only Allah and His Messenger (saws) unconditionally,
and no one else!
If the sect-leaders claim that Allah will not forgive anyone who breaks the Bohra pledge, that is their whim and conjecture. They make this and many such claims, without any authority from the Holy Quran or the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (saws). It is something that they have invented themselves, and have absolutely no basis or authority from Allah and His Messenger (saws).
Allah refutes such
claims in the Glorious Quran and says in Chapter 3 Surah Ale Imraan verses
79-80:No man, to whom Allah gives the
Book and sound Judgement and Prophethood, would say thereafter to the
people, “Be worshippers of me instead
of Allah.” He will surely say, “Be
true worshippers of Allah in accordance with the teachings of the Book you read
and teach.” He will never enjoin you
to make the angels or the Prophets your ‘rabbs’! Is it conceivable that a Prophet should enjoin you to adopt
disbelief, after you have surrendered
to Allah?
Thus, no one is allowed to call
the people to their worship. All good
believers and true scholars will always tell the people to invoke and worship
Allah Subhanah Alone, and obey and follow the commands of Allah and His Last
Messenger (saws).
The Syedna is obviously more
interested in getting his followers to invoke and worship him and his
ancestors, rather than call them to invoke and worship Allah Alone! He is more interested in getting his
followers to obey him and his self-made rules, rather than follow the guidance
and teachings of Allah and His Messenger (saws)!
He has thus moved the people away
from the True and Straight Path of Islam, and commanded his followers to invoke
and worship him and his ancestors in their graves; thus committing and
propagating the heinous and unforgivable sin of ‘shirk’ (associating other
beings with Allah Subhanah!).
Allah and His Messenger (saws)
guide mankind towards the Truth; and anyone who guides people to anything else
other than the teachings and guidance of Allah and His Messenger (saws), is
guiding the people to nothing but falsehood.
May Allah guide them to the Truth
and bring them to the Siraat al Mustaqeem.
You are absolutely right when you
say that a mortal has no right to declare who Allah will forgive, and who He
will not forgive. Allah Subhanah Alone
is the Creator and Sustainer of everything that exists, and it is His Right
Alone that He decides who deserves His Mercy and Forgiveness, and who deserve
His Wrath and Anger. No one has the
right or power to change or influence His Decision.
And, in His Sublime and Infinite
Mercy, Allah has revealed unto mankind a Book which gives the Criterion by
which He will Judge on the Day of Judgement.
Allah says in the Holy
Quran Chapter 39 Surah Zumur verses 53-54:
(O Prophet) say: “O My
servants who have wronged their own souls….Do not despair of Allah’s
Mercy! Surely, Allah forgives all
sins. He indeed is the All Forgiving,
All Merciful. Return to your Lord and
submit to Him before the scourge overtakes you; for then you may get no help
from anywhere.”
Allah says in the
Quran: Chapter 4 Surah An-Nisa Verse 48:Shirk (associating other deities with
Allah) is the only sin that Allah does not forgive, and He forgives, whomsoever
He pleases, sins other than this. For
whosoever associates any other partner with Allah, does indeed forge a big lie
and commits the most heinous sin
Allah says in the Holy
Quran Chapter 5 Surah Maidah verse 72:Whoever commits ‘shirk’ (invoking
anything with Allah), Allah shall
forbid for him Paradise, and Hell shall
be his abode. And for such wrong
doers there will be no one to help.
Allah says in the Holy
Quran Chapter 39 Surah Zumar verse 65-66:If you commit ‘shirk’ all your works
will be rendered vain and you will be among the losers. Therefore, you should worship Allah Alone,
and be among His grateful servants.
‘Shirk’ is the only sin that Allah
Subhanah has promised He will never forgive, and that is the precise sin the
Syedna is teaching and propagating to his followers!
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
