Differences in belief between Bohras and Nizaris

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kmaherali
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http://www.khabrein.info/index.php?opti ... &Itemid=64

THE PROBLEMS OF THE BOHRA COMMUNITY

By Asghar Ali Engineer

(Here we reproduce an article on Dawoodi Bohra Community and issues faced by it in the country by Asghar Ali Engineer, the best known face of the Bohra community)

Modernisation and change has brought many problems in its wake. The change is hardly ever smooth though we often like it to be one. Many religious communities have gone or have been going through turmoil in this process of modernisation and change. What is referred to as rise of fundamentalism in world religions in general, and in Islam in particular, owes its rise, among other things, to this tortuous process. No wonder then that the Bohra community has also been witnessing cataclysmic upheavals of late. In a way the problem for this community is probably a shade worse as it is not only tightly-knit but also under the tight grip of the priesthood used to govern the community with an iron hand.

Any community ruled with an iron hand for long develops a psychology of servility. It begins to crawl where it only needs to submit and it prostrates where it has only to bow. The bohras have not only been governed under absolutist rule, they have faced certain adverse historical situation as well. They were, until nineteenth century, a persecuted community considered as it was heretical by other Muslims. Persecution leads to sense of insecurity which in turn results in dependence syndrome on some or the other authority and if this authority happens to be religious, this dependence gets further reinforced. Thus persecution-complex breeds dependence-complex and creates fertile ground for development of authoritarianism.

Today in the bohra community if there is any most major problem it is authoritarianism. Authoritarianism, as is quite natural, refuses to accept doctrine of accountability in any form or any field. The reform movement which started around turn of our century never demanded accountability from the Da'i in the field of religion; it demanded accountability only in secular matters and even that was refused.

I would like my bohra sisters and brothers to understand that a true religious spirit never leads to authoritarianism in any form, not even in religious form. The holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was extremely gentle and polite and never showed any trace of authoritarianism. No wonder the holy Qur'an says about him, “And surely you have sublime morals (Khuluqin ‘azim)”. His sublime morals won him great admiration even from his enemies who too referred to him as al-amin i.e. the trusted one. Thus he was gentle, polite and a model of honesty and integrity. No one could accuse him of authoritarianism even in religious matters. It should be remembered that Islam categorically rejects authoritarianism and absolutism even in religious matters. It was not for nothing that the holy Qur'an says, “Call to the way of thy Lord with wisdom and goodly exhortation, and argue with them in the best manner”( 16:126) . Also the Qur'an has resonantly proclaimed,“There is no compulsion in religion”(2:257).

These are no mere exhortations, it is a serious attempt to build a non-authoritarian, open and democratic culture respecting human conscience and right to believe. The whole Qur'an and the Prophetic traditions are suffused with this spirit, not to talk of the Prophet's conduct which was a model of this most humane culture and tradition. The Bohra priestly establishment's conduct, on the other hand, represents total negation of open, democratic, conscientious and humane religio-cultural model represented by Islam and early Islamic society. The Bohra priestly model is authoritarian to the core. It has no place for democratic openness, let alone conscientious dissent. It is most intolerant and absolutist. It is highly coercive and far from persuasive.

Islam lays great emphasis on reason. All the prophets of Allah rejected those earlier traditions which rested on sanctity of time but did not measure up to the criteria of reason. Whenever leaders of unbelievers (kuffar) referred to their ancestral traditions the prophets exhorted them to use their own reason and bear testimony to the truth from Allah. Many verses can be quoted to this effect from the Qur'an. Prophet Ibrahim Khalilullah defied idol worship of his father Azar and instead followed the course of deliberation, reasoning in keeping with the revelation from high on.

Islam, let us remember, is not religion of blind faith. It calls upon mankind to follow rational faith - synthesis of faith and reason. Even iman bi al-ghayb (faith on unseen) cannot be construed as irrational though it may at the most be described as supra-rational. It is in fact faith in future and its various potentialities as they unfold and of whom we have no knowledge and hence it is described as ghayb (unseen). The Isma'ilis and M'utazilas - two important sects of Islam - laid great deal of emphasis on reason. It would be no exaggeration to say that the Isma'ilis in particular imbibed all the knowledge that was available even outside the Islamic world of the time and incorporated into, and synthesised with, the doctrines of Islam. They acted according to the Prophetic tradition al-hikmah dallah al-m'umin (wisdom and knowledge is lost property of the faithful, it should be appropriated from wherever available). Resa'il Ikhwan al-Safa are an outstanding testimony of all this.

The Bohras should not only be justly proud of this intellectual heritage but should do everything possible to disseminate it and elevate it to new heights in this age of explosion of knowledge. However, it is very sad, indeed very tragic, that the Sayedna's establishment does everything to negate this proud intellectual heritage and instead inculcate, slavish mentality and blind unquestioning faith. The Daras in Surat (the theological seminary) too, strives to produce theological robots who only act on commands and carry out programmes as fed through software produced by the Sayedna's close relatives, the coterie surrounding him. The trainees at the Saifee Daras are not allowed to raise any questions, let alone approach traditional theology with critical openness and carry out researches in various fields of received theological knowledge. If the Kothar did not have powerful vested interests in perpetrating blind obedience, the Daras at Surat could have become a great and invigorating, stimulating center of Isma'ili theological and philosophical research . The community does have resources for such activities.

Let my Bohra brethren know that the Isma'ili and Fatimi Da'is of yester years were great intellectuals of their time well versed not only in the Isma'ili theology an philosophy but also in comparative religion, in natural sciences, in mathematics and in Greek philosophy which was considered in those days as the highest achievement of human mind. They were not found wanting in any field of knowledge. They could take on any intellectual giant of their time in religious and philosophical polemics. Sayedna J'afar Mansur al-Yaman, sayedna Muyyad Shirazi and Hamid al-Din kirmani are some of the shining examples. Muyyad Shirazi entered into polemics on number of questions with the great poet and intellectual Abul Ala M' arri. It is said that Abi Sina, the great philosopher, was also an Isma'ili, though he never made it public for fear of consequences. Even if he had not been, there were great many philosophers, eminent writers and poets who proudly entered the ranks of Isma'ilis and proclaimed it with sense of pride.

It was not easy to be a Da'i. He had to fulfill more than 100 rigorous conditions to qualify as one. Sayedna Hatim has included these conditions in his celebrated work Tuhfat al Qulub from a risalah compiled by Sayedna Ahmad Nishapuri. These conditions are very rigorous indeed. A Da'i has to be most knowledgeable - in fact competent in knowledge of other religions, secular philosophies of the time, physical sciences etc. so that he could enter successfully into arguments with others in order to demonstrate superiority of his religion. A Da'i has to be an efficient administrator, a statesman of high quality, shrewd in worldly matters, polite, gentle, compassionate and wise. There are many more such conditions laid down in the Risalah.

Our Da'i hardly fulfills these conditions. Our ‘Ulama do not have adequate knowledge of their own religion, let alone competent knowledge of other religions, secular philosophies and physical sciences. They have been trained, as pointed out above, only to be obedient robots. It is considered great crime to think, to question and to doubt. Questioning and doubting is most subversive and is severely punished. No wonder than that our community has become intellectually most stagnant. We read Quran not to think and contemplate deeply over its verses (the Quran says that this “Book that we have revealed to thee abounding in good, that they may ponder over its verses and that the people of intelligence may take heed, 38:29”) but to recite only to earn thwab (religious merit).

The bohra religious establishment is today completely devoid of any intellectual vigour and stimulation. It has totally lost the Quranic spirit in other respects too. In my humble opinion there are four extremely significant words in the Quran which represents its real spirit. These words are ‘adl, ihsan , rahmah and hikmah. All these represent essence of any religion and are most essential for building a humane society. You cannot build a humane society without justice, benevolence, compassion and wisdom.

Can kothar claim any of these virtues? Its every act is contrary to these concepts. It is most unjust, in fact outright tyrannical; it has never known benevolence. On the contrary it is so greedy that it has become totally insensitive to others needs, it has no sense of obligation towards others, it only makes demands for itself. Any establishment which is based on injustice, tyranny and greed, loses all its potential for compassion. One cannot expect compassion from those who are completely insensitive to others suffering. And where is the question of wisdom (hikmah) where there is no spirit of ‘adl and ihsan. In fact ‘adl and rahmah (justice and compassion) are twins, one cannot exist without the other. Qur'an lays so much emphasis on ‘adl (justice) that it equates it with taqwah (piety). (5:8). as for hikmah (wisdom) the Qur'an observes, “And whoever is granted wisdom, he indeed is given a great good” (2:269).

As for rahmah it is repeatedly asserted in the Qur'an that Allah is Rahim and Rehman (Merciful and Compassionate). It is thus more than clear that a truly Islamic, imamic and religious establishment, society or rule has to be based on these four fundamental virtues. If it lacks these it is anything but Islamic and humane. We thus appeal to our Bohra sisters and brothers to do everything possible to bring about these virtues and promote them so as to make our religious establishment most Islamic and humane.

Critical thinking is most fundamental to any change. No revolution or social change is possible without freedom to think, criticise and evaluate. Freedom of conscience is most fundamental to modern democratic society. It is this freedom which Sayedna's establishment is trying to prevent. They see nothing but subversion in it. This is not only against the spirit of modern democracy, it is totally opposed to the Qur'anic spirit too. The Qur'an gives option even between iman and kufr (faith and unbelief) through its doctrine La ikraha fi al-din (there is no compulsion in religion). It leaves it to the conscience of the believer though warning him of the severe consequences of kufr (unbelief). we should, therefore, refuse to submit blindly and unthinkingly to Kothar (Sayedna's religious establishment). A truly faithful is also a truly fearless creature. Faith and fearlessness are integrally connected. Only those who lack integrity of faith are fearful. Deliverance from exploitation cannot come without fearlessness.

When Prophet Shu'aib and his followers were threatened by the arrogant chiefs to be thrown out from the town they fearlessly replied : “Indeed we should have forged a lie against Allah, if we go back to your community after Allah has delivered us from it. And it is not for us to go back to it, unless Allah, our Sustainer please....”(7:88-89). We should have iron determination and fearlessness of Shu'aib and his followers. If our religious chiefs boycott us let them. We who have firm faith in Allah and His guidance, His Prophets, angles, Day of judgment, should not be fearful of such boycott and firmly refuse to return to the community of those who violate the Qur'anic spirit in every conceivable manner.

We are great inheritors of Fatimi D'awah and its glorious traditions. Its intellectual contribution to Islam and humanity has been second to none. Its intellectual achievements can make anyone proud. It led humanity from darkness of blind obedience to the light of creative thinking. It is our duty today to enrich this tradition and not shame it by blind submission to the forces of darkness and exploitation. The Fatimi Imams had established al-Azhar, then Islamic world's greatest institution of learning and had furnished it with the collection of best books then available in the world. The scholars of the world used to flock to it for higher learning.

Unfortunately we have forgotten these traditions and are not even aware of our intellectual heritage. Let us create institutions of higher learning and come out of the Jamatkhana syndrome. The institution of jamatkhana has been continuously reinforced in last few decades to distract our attention from other pressing problems and to create a disgraceful culture of obedience. Thanks to it we have fallen far behind in higher learning though at one time we were the leaders in that field. I do not say that the institution of Jamatkhana be abolished altogether; it may have some purpose to serve in a small community of small businessmen. However, it should not become our obsession. All our resources should not be put only in that basket. There are other and more useful baskets inviting our attention.

There is also shameful levels of poverty in our community today. Thousands live in hutments or ramshackle houses. Hundreds are unemployed and many more on fringes of illiteracy. They too deserve our urgent attention. There are enough charitable institutions in the community but all have slipped under the control of Sayedna's authority. The Quran strongly condemned hoarding of wealth by the Jewish ahbar (priests). The Quran says admonishingly, “O you who believe, surely many of (the Jewish) priests and monks eat away the property of men falsely, and hinder (them) from Allah's way. And those who hoard up gold and silver and spend it not in Allah's way - announce to them a painful chastisement”(9:34).

Our priests are also guilty of eating away people's properties and hoarding hordes of money and living a life of vulgar luxury when thousands are living on fringes of poverty. Yet, strangely enough, the community has been putting up with such state of affairs. Not only this, we go on giving them more and more money. This plunder must stop right away. The collection of zakat and other dues should be made by a democratically responsible body and resources so collected must be spent on welfare of the poor and needy and on building institutions of research and higher learning. The priesthood should be paid their wages for their religious services, and no more. It is their due. The control of all the properties vested in the community should rest with community. The priesthood should have no control over it.

All the ills we are suffering from today is on account of centralised control in the hands of the priesthood. In fact it has become virtual owner of all that which rightfully and legitimately belongs to the community. We have made the priesthood so powerful that we have become powerless so much so that we are being treated as utter slaves and nothing but blind submissions demanded from us. In other words we are ourselves responsible for this state of affairs. It is for us to liberate ourselves. The reformists have shown the way. They have also provided a democratic model which has been functioning now for several years. It is now for the community to break the shackles of slavery and veer round the reformists. Fatimi Da'wah has been imprisoned by powerful vested interests. Let us liberate it from the clutches of exploiters and make it a dynamic institution that it once was.
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Post by kmaherali »

Vice President Releases a Book 'Sulaimanis -Lives Less Ordinary'
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19:21 IST
The Vice President of India Shri M. Hamid Ansari released a book titled "Sulaimainis- Lives Less Ordinary" edited by former Cabinet Secretary Shri Zafar Saifullah at a function here today. Addressing on the occasion, the Vice President said that a good book has been published about very eminent personalities. The book has added to knowledge about the sheer diversity of Indian Society. The diversity is a fact of life. Each one them exists as an identity. In India, that identity is allowed to sustain.

The Vice President said that this unique book is an exercise of sheding light on diversity. He congratulated Smt. and Shri Zafar Saifaillah of bringing out such a valuable and informative book. Shri K.Rehman Khan, Deputy Chairman Rajya Sabha, Shri Mani Shankar Aiyar, Union Minister for Panchayati Raj, Smt. Shiela Dikshit, Chief Minister of Delhi, Shri Amar Singh (MP, Rajya Sabha) and a large number of distinguished persons were present on the occasion.

The book is a tribute to the Sulaimani Boharas, their talents, values, labours, dedication, tenacity and commitment, inspiring accomplishments and above all strong patriotism not just to the country of their birth but to the incomparable society. The book describes that by dint of their qualities, the Sulaimani rose to positions of national eminence in this wide spectrum of professions and carving of unique niche for themselves in the country's mainstream. And for a community that is truly miniscule in size, their achievements measured by any yardstick, are an eloquent and self evident tribute to their outstanding mettle.

The Sulaimanis belong to the Ismaili Shiya sect of Islam. Their roots are in Yemen, located in the South-west coast of Arabia, the birth place of major world religions including Islam. The world's first cities developed here over 5000 years ago. This is, indeed, a community that is extraordinary, for its men and women have influenced the course of events in their country, time and again.

SK/BS

http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=42151
From_Alamut
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Re: Differences in belief between Bohras and Nizaris

Post by From_Alamut »

ONiazi wrote:Assalamu aleikum!

What are the differences between Bohra Ismailis and Nizari Ismailis?

I know that practice-wise the both groups differ remarkably - so much so that one would not consider them part of the same group (Ismailis) of Shi'ism. Yet, how do they differ doctrinally and theologically? (Besides, of course, their Imam being in ghaibat and the Nizari Imam being mawjud and hazir.)

(I think it's interesting how Gujarati plays a large role in both groups.)

Thanks!

Mowla hafiz,
wa `Alaykum As-Salam and MOWLA ALI MADAD

The differences between Bohra Ismaili and Imami Nizari Ismaili Muslims are that the Bohra`s Mazab are (Zahiri) and Nizari`s are (Batini)......The Bohra`s believe that their Imam is hidden and will return in future, but the Nizari Ismaili' Imam is always present in the EARTH, it is said that "The world can not exist without Imam"....And also, Holy Prophet Mohammad (s.a.s) said in one of his Hadith "One who dies without knowing the imam of his time, dies an infidel , One who does not recognize his Imam is not recognizing God.......

I have a very simple question according to Bohra`s Mazab, Ishanasirya and Druze? Why is the Imam hiding from the world? Why should He? What makes him to hide? Since Imam is the king of the both world, He don't need to hide? nor He fears anybody. It has been 1 400 years that Ishanasirya`s imam is hiding?.... Imam is the Noor of Allah, the hand of Allah is with him, right path is with him and without him we all will go astray. If these people believes that the Imam (Mahdi) is hiding but He is here in this world, then why don't they look for him and find their guide? How long should they be waiting?
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Transferred from Contemporary section

Posted: 06 Jan 2009 09:56 am Post subject: BOHRAS IN THE NEWS
ISMAILIS IN INDIA : MUMBAI
The Other Muslim
The affluence of Dawoodi Bohras of Gujarat and the Ismailies of Mumbai deconstruct the myth of Muslims as a poor and marginalised community, says Danish Reyaz


If taken on face value, it is hard not to stereotype the Dawoodi Bohra community as 'just your average Muslims' – conservative, inward looking and, who knows, even fanatical. After all, isn't that the most common, albeit erroneous picture that is painted to depict an average Muslim? But on a closer look you will realise that this community has learnt the fine art of maintaining a perfect balance between devoutly following the Islamic teachings and keeping pace with the 'modern' world.

The Dawoodi Bohras are an advanced lot in every sense of the word, be it social, educational, political, or financial. They have developed their business economy and a separate identity not only in Mumbai but across the world. And there are those who will vouch for this: you will not find a single beggar from this community anywhere in India. And what, you may ask, is the secret behind their development and prosperity? Education, which they consider extremely important, for both men and women, and their love and quest for knowledge which disallows them to keep looking inwards and fall out of pace with the rest of the world.

"Knowledge is our legacy. Hence, it is our duty to protect this legacy for the betterment of our community. The world is changing fast and, to live a respectable life, it is necessary for us to be aware of what's going on around us; it is our duty to adapt to modern technology and industrial development," says Syedna Burhanuddin.

The Bohras of India belong to a Shiite sect of Gujarati-speaking Muslims. During the reign of the 11th Fatimid Caliph in Egypt, this group made a lasting impact on the people of Egypt and Yemen. It should be worth noting that the earliest Caliphs were 'Companions of the Prophet' and were called Khulfa-e-Rashideen (rightly guided Caliphs). Consequently, the Caliphate shifted to Damascus (Umayyads), then to Baghdad (Abbasids), Egypt (Fatmids), and finally to Turkey under the Ottomans before the Caliphate was abolished by Kemal Ataturk in 1924. After coming to India, the Dawoodi Bohras converted Gujarati Vaishyas and Brahmins to Islam.

Dawoodi Bohra and Ismaili sects of Muslims today inhabit around 25 countries; their population in India is about one million. Asghar Ali Engineer, a prominent Islamic scholar and researcher who himself belongs to Bohra community says, "Over 1.3 lakh Dawoodi Bohras live in Mumbai while there are over one million of them living all over the world. There is a famous shrine of Dawoodi Bohras at Mohammad Ali Road in Mumbai where devotees come to pay homage. Also found in large numbers in Mumbai, Ismailis have an old Jamaat Khana at Kharak in Dongri where they perform their rituals."

Even though the Dawoodi Bohras live all across the globe, yet they remain very close to each other and share a common streak – that of altruism. "We are an interconnected community. We help each other and do our best to help other segments of the society too," claims Raghib Qureshi, media in-charge of Dawat-e-Hidaya, Badri Mahal. The large number of Bohra schools, colleges, hospitals, social and welfare institutions in Mumbai corroborate Qureshi's statement.

"We were born here and we love this soil. Our predecessors, who were Vaishya and Brahmins, converted to Islam and made us aware of Islamic teachings. Syedna Mohammed Burhanudin Taash is our 52nd Imam who was knighted 'Dai-e-Mutlaq' (absolute preacher) in 1965 when he was 53. He was born on March 6, 1915, at Surat in Gujarat," Qureshi told TSI.


On the other hand, Hazrat Ali was the first Ismaili Imam. The current Imam, Prince Karim Agha Khan, is the 49th. He was vested with this power on July 11, 1957, and completed his 50 years of leadership last year. His birthday (December 13) celebrations this year had to be cancelled following the tragedy that befell Mumbai on November 26.

Dr Nuruddin Hirani sheds some light on the history of Ismailis: "We came to Mumbai between 1801 and 1810. In the early 19th century, Agha Hasan Ali Shah arrived in India and settled in Mumbai. This attracted people from across the world who followed suit and settled in the area from Dongri to Rea Road. When our 48th Imam, Sir Sultan Mohammad Shah Agha Khan, migrated to Europe, people started migrating to other countries."

It was a golden age for Ismailis in Egypt until the 19th century brought with it many changes for this community. "After his arrival in Mumbai, Agha Hasan Ali preferred social and welfare activities over other things. No doubt, Isamailis are a business community, but our Imam has been playing a leading role with respect to this issue as well. Agha Khan is not only our religious leader, he also guides us in worldly affairs," Dr Hirani added. It is true that you will find Ismailis occupying most of the business centres in Mumbai. They have played a big role in setting up of the Development and Credit Bank. "When people from other counries came to India, they needed money and subsequently small welfare institutions such as Masalawala Society and Cooperative Banks were established. Gradually, as the society grew, it was converted to Development and Credit Bank, which has Nasir Manji as its current Chairman," informed Dr Hirani.

The secret behind the success of Ismailis, as in the case of Dawoodi Bohras, is their focus on education. Says Dr Hirani, "Today, every Ismaili is well established because he never sidelines the importance of education. Sir Sultan Mohammad Agha Khan set up a girls' school to make women literate. During the times of crisis we actively took part in the relief works. Roller Support Programme and Agha Khan Foundation helped Ismaili community in its growth and development." The Dawoodi Bohras are more concerned for the preservation of their beliefs, traditions and culture than Ismailis, it is said. Yet, the determination of both these communities to keep moving ahead, even at a time when Islam is passing through a critical phase, serves as an inspiration to all.

http://www.thesundayindian.com/04012009 ... 8&pageno=1

Last edited by Admin on 06 Jan 2009 11:18 pm, edited 1 time in total



Headline News
Kuwait Times

Bohras : Sunni perspective
October 17, 2007
By Ahmad Al-Khaled, Staff Writer



KUWAIT: Sunni cleric Sheikh Mohammad Al-Hamoud, who is a member of the Jamiyat Ahiya Al-Torath, a local Salafist organization, spoke to Kuwait Times about the Bohra religion and some of the practices which separate it from the mainstream Muslim community.

Last week, the Municipality denied a request made by the government on behalf of local Bohras, who number somewhere between 25,000 to 50,000, to be allocated government land to build a house of worship. The request to build a Bohra place of worship raised a controversy, with Islamists arguing that the request should be denied based on the fact that no Kuwaiti nationals were members of the Bohra sect as well as the fact that residents in Ardiya opposed the building in their area. The unspoken reason for theopposition was more than likely based on the fact that local Muslims do not believe Bohras to be a legitimate sect of Islam. Bohras (which is linguistically traced to the Gujarati word meaning 'to trade') have roots in Gujarat , India where they were converts to Ismaili Shiism. In the eleventh and twelfth centuries, they broke from the branch following the Fatimi Tayyibi dawah of Yemen. They then broke into several offshoots on multiple occasions and came to be known as Aliyah Bohras, Dawoodi Bohras, Jafari Bohras and Sulaymani Bohra among others.

Bohras believe in seven pillars of their religion and not the five pillars of Islam which are mentioned in the Holy Quran . The first and most important of their seven pillars is that of walayah, which is love and devotion for Allah, the Prophets, the Imam, and the da'i.

Sunni Muslims do not believe in the worship of any God but Allah and do not call on followers to devote themselves to anyone but Allah. Sheikh Mohammad said the group has historically brought with it "a lot of movement that has harmed Islam in the past and present". "The Ismailia sect, which Muslim scholars believe is a sect which has strayed, believe in an imam who is without sin," he said. This belief is contrary to the belief of Sunni Muslims that only the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was sinless. "They believe the imam is a descendant of Imam Ismail bin Jaafar," he added.

Notably, the current da'i or leader of the Dawoodi Bohras, Sayyedna Mohammad Burhanuddin, is 52nd in a long line of da'i mutlaqs which can be translated to 'absolute preacher or summoner'. He is revered for his supposed ancestry and position which is contrary to Sunni beliefs, which do not allow religious reverence for anyone but Allah.

Sheikh Mohammad stated that the Bohras believe, "Whomever does not know the Imam of his time will die as a non-believer and non-Muslim." This belief flies in the face of Sunni Muslim beliefs which do not require reverence for imams or any religious heads as a prerequisite for being a Muslim. "They do not pray in Sunni or Shiite mosques (because) either they do not believe we are Muslims or they do not believe these are legal mosques," the cleric said.

Notably, among differences in Islam and Bohra beliefs is their belief in reincarnation . On Bohra beliefs on reincarnation, Sheikh Mohammad said, "If someone is righteous and he dies, Bohras believes his spirit will live on in another person." As to the possibility of Bohra building a place of worship in Kuwait, Sheikh Mohammad summed up the issue stating: "If these are their beliefs, then we should not help them build a temple because this is opposite to Islam and there are fatwas forbidding this." Specifically, he noted that a fatwa was issued by a religious committee in Saudi Arabia. "Their belief is a mixture of philosophy, interpretations, and Shiite practices," he said.


Huthayif Yusef, a spokesman of the local Bohra community, refused to comment on any of the topics discussed in this article.
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TRH The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall Greets Bohra Muslim Community in Visit to Mosque

http://sev.prnewswire.com/publishing-in ... 009-1.html

NORTHOLT, England, February 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Their Royal Highnesses The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall (TRH) visited Husaini Masjid, the mosque for the Dawoodi Bohra Muslims, in Northholt on Wednesday morning. They met with Prince Qaidjoher Ezzuddin, son of Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin, spiritual leader of Dawoodi Bohra Muslims worldwide.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090205/336960 )


TRH saw an exhibition covering aspects of the community's contribution to British life, particularly in medicine and business, and also their philanthropic work world-wide, including the restoration of heritage mosques in Egypt and Iraq, a state-of-the-art hospital in India and water sourcing and coffee farming projects in Yemen.

TRH examined some Fatimid features in the prayer area of the mosque complex, saw a children's classroom in the madrasah and from the prayer area, viewed a tree planted by His Royal Highness during an earlier visit in 1996.

In his welcoming speech, Prince Ezzuddin said:

"Since 1993, you have made significant statements in support of Islam and the values it espouses. It is heart-warming for our community and all Muslims residing in UK, that the Heir to the Throne of the country they live in should value their religion and traditions in the way that you have.

It is an inclusive and sympathetic approach, not born out of a political need or even a sense of responsibility as the future monarch, but a wish to seek out the best that the rich diversity of your subjects can offer. As a token of our gratitude for this, and to commemorate your visit today, we have published a compilation of your speeches on Islam."

The Prince of Wales praised the Bohra community for their contribution and expertise in business and said, "I am impressed by you what you have achieved here."

He also said, "But most importantly, I cannot applaud enough the invaluable example of your belief that patriotism is part of faith. This makes an enormous contribution to modern British society."

TRH were given a number of gifts including a traditional shawl and a Muslim cap.

The Dawoodi Bohra Muslims in UK are almost all British citizens. They have purpose-built mosques in London, Manchester and Bradford.


Anjuman e Burhani
Mohammedi Park, Rowdell Road, Northholt, Middlesex UB5 6AG

Contact: Mustafa Abdulhussein +44-7768101192

Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090205/336960

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http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.htm ... page_id=34

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Charles meets spiritual prince
1 day ago

The Prince of Wales met a spiritual prince when he visited a unique Muslim community that has made a major contribution to British business.

Charles was praised during the visit to the Dawoodi Bohra Muslims and their mosque in north-west London for valuing Islam and its traditions.

The Shia Muslim sect number around 6,000 in the UK, with more than 3,000 of those living in the capital.

Followers are led by spiritual leader Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin, and one of their key principles is "patriotism is part of the faith", which encourages them to make a positive contribution to whichever country they live in.

The word Bohra means trader, and traditionally most members of the sect have been entrepreneurs - most notably Sir Gulam Noon, who has built up a curry empire that supplies thousands of Indian meals to supermarket shelves.

Prince Qaidjoher Ezzuddin, the son and heir of the Dawoodi Bohra's leader, praised Charles in a speech to more than 100 people gathered in the mosque in Northolt.

He said: "Since 1993, you have made significant statements in praise of Islam and the values Islam espouses.

"It is heart-warming for our community and all Muslims residing in the United Kingdom that the heir to the throne of the country they live in values their religion and traditions in the way you do.

"It is an inclusive and sincere approach, not born out of a political need or even a sense of responsibility as the future monarch, but a wish to seek out the best that the rich diversity of your subjects can offer."

The Prince added that, as a mark of their gratitude and to commemorate his visit, they have published a compilation of his speeches on Islam, and presented him with a copy

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpres ... B7ACdWSHZg
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Feast of goodness

Dipti Nagpaul D'souza Posted online: Mon Sep 06 2010, 04:59 hrs
It's 7.30 in the evening and Kadri Makan in Modi Street resembles a wedding venue. Brightly lit, the sweet fragrance of fresh spices and delectable food hangs in the air as hundreds of people greet each other and then sit in a long queue where members of the Bohra Muslim community from the neighbourhood are going to be served the iftaar dinner — their first wholesome meal after the day-long fast.

Kadri Makan is only one of many venues across the world where a community dinner is held during days of Ramzan. A practice that does not date back to more than half a decade, it's a unique ritual that Sayedna Taher Saifuddin, the high priest of the Bohra Muslim community, introduced to strengthen the ties within the community.

A sub-sect of the Shia Ismaili community, Dawoodi Bohras are a 1.2 million-strong community worldwide with roots in India and chiefly, Mumbai. While religiously, they too, follow the Koran, the sect chiefly distinguishes itself through the system of priesthood.

As we scan the crowds, Saifuddin Kopty, a community member and resident of the famous Bohri Mohalla near Bhendi Bazar, talks about the holy month of fasting and what sets them apart from other Muslims. "We Bohra Muslims follow a fixed Hijri calendar, which is lunar. So every year, the month of Ramzan begins on the same day and lasts for precisely 30 days, culminating with Eid-ul-Fitr on the 31st day. This implies that unlike most other communities worldwide, our Eid does not depend on sighting of the moon. However, there isn't more than a day or two's difference between our Eid and the Eid celebrated by Sunni Muslims," he explains.
Primarily a community of traders from Gujarat, Bohra Muslims, as part of guidelines set by the Sayedna for the wellbeing of the people, follow the system of Zakat, which is a tax — a certain percentage of their yearly earnings — that every family pays as alms towards the community fund (kothar), managed by the Sayedna. "While the month of Ramzan sees Muslims from across the world give alms, Zakat is compulsory among the Bohra Muslims who give out generously during this period for it is believed to cleanse the soul," says Irfan Engineer, another community member.

Iftaar, the breaking of the fast, is a popular culinary event across the world, known for the delectable foods that comprise the meal, which includes kebabs, mutton keema, chicken cutlets and other meat specialties, and is as appreciated by non-Muslims for these delicacies.
But according to Kopty, a few years ago, the Sayedna, looking at the richness and possible health hazard posed by such a meal, suggested that the community members instead break the fast with a simple meal of two dates, two biscuits and a cup of tea instead. This is followed by the community dinner at a pre-decided venue in the neighbourhood. Kopty says that not only are hygiene standards maintained here, unlike other street-side food joints, but also looking at the current lifestyles, the meal is prepared in olive oil.

The Bohra Muslims will celebrate their Eid this year on September 9 with morning prayers called Eid ka Khutba, like any other Muslim sect. Most Bohra Muslims will follow this up with a visit to Raudat Tahera in Bhendi Bazar, the mausoleum of the Sayedna's father. "The 98-year-old Sayedna spends most part of the Eid day here in prayers and believers from across the city and country come here to get a glimpse of him," Kopty adds.

Culturally, however, there is little difference in the celebrations of Eid across the world. "Just like the others, we meet our near and dear ones. We too prepare the sevaiyyan though we call it sheer khurma. Of course, there is a strong Gujarati influence on our palate but that hardly sets us apart in such cosmopolitan times," smiles Shaifi Kaanchwala, a housewife from Marol.

In a city like Mumbai, Ramzan and Eid often help bring members of the various Islamic sects together. Engineer seconds this: "Eid is a social festival and since the government holiday for Eid is on the day when Sunni Muslims celebrate Eid, Bohra Muslims too join in for the celebrations."

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Feast ... ess/678233
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log120111-Mumbai-Dec10-162-NEF

Bohras’ Majlis of Muharram: Bohra Mohalla, Bendhi Bazzar, Mumbai,

Indian, December 2010

Dawoodi Bohras are Shia Ismaili, but differ from Agha-Khani Ismaili; they follow Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin who is their spiritual head. Bohras are commemorating Muharram by Majlies and not taking out procession. This year, Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin delivered sermons at Muharram Majilises in Bendhi bazaar.

As Times of India (TOI) reported; ‘Since the Syedna's speech is considered sacred for every Bohra, there was a great rush to be at his Majlis. The attendees received their invitations after registering by e-mail. Nearly two lakh Bohras from across the world are in town and around 32,000 get to sit in the massive mosque at a time. Those who have not found a place at the mosque see him on screens set up at 60 relay centres across the city and suburbs’ (TOI, December 14, 2010, ).

I had a privilege to attend and observer the majilis at Bendhi Bazar. The crowd in the street are there to see their spiritual leather, who would pass a bridge that I took the photo from. The bridge temporary connects Seifi Masjid and Rowda al-Tahera.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rezamasoudi/5348129075/
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Reform movement gathers forces in the Bohra community

Charges against Bohra religious head range from tyranny to corruption

Yoginder Sikand
Bengaluru

With a population of just over a million, the Dawoodi Bohras are ethnic Gujaratis, mostly small traders. Last month, when 3,000 Dawoodi Bohras gathered at Udaipur for their 14th world conference, the thrust was on galvanising the ongoing movement against what the organisers described as the draconian rule of their spiritual head or dai-e-mutlaq, Syedna Burhanuddin.

The Dawoodis are one of the many branches of the Ismaili Shia sect. Throughout their history, the Ismailis have faced dissensions over succession to the post of Imam, whom they believe to be appointed by God as the Prophet’s deputy. The Dawoodis believe that their 21st Imam, Tayyeb, who resided in Yemen, went into seclusion, and that in his absence he had appointed a dai-e-mutlaq, a deputy with absolute powers over his followers, to control the community.

Faced with violent opposition from Sunni Muslims, the Dawoodi branch of the Ismailis carried on an underground religio-political movement in Yemen. But when Sunni opposition became severe, the 24th dai shifted to Gujarat. Following this, missionaries of the sect made numerous converts in Gujarat, particularly among Lohana traders (called Bohras in Gujarati). The Dawoodi Bohras, the largest of the various Bohra groups, are followers of the 27th dai.

The present dai, Syedna Burhanuddin, is the 52nd in line. Today, he finds himself in the centre of a brewing controversy, faced with angry protests from reformist Bohras amidst allegations of corruption.

Related

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In his address to the Udaipur conference, noted Islamic scholar Asghar Ali Engineer, general secretary of the Central Board of the Dawoodi Bohra Community, recounted how the Syedna and his cronies have consistently sought to scuttle the reformist movement, not hesitating to use force in many cases. In an interview with this writer, Engineer spoke of the total control that the Syedna imposes on his followers, including demanding that they prostrate before him, although in Islam prostration is to be made only before God.

He referred to Burhanuddin’s father, Tahir Saifuddin, the 51st dai-e-mutlaq, who in a statement made in the Bombay High Court even declared himself to be “God on earth” (Ilah-ul-ard), a claim that is unambiguously unIslamic. He added that the Bohras are made to believe, quite contrary to Islamic teachings, that entry to heaven is dependent entirely on the Syedna’s goodwill.

The chief guest of the conference, social activist Medha Patkar, linked the struggle of the Bohra reformists to the wider struggle for social justice, stressing the need for internal democracy within religious communities and for challenging the autocracy of self-styled religious heads.

Syed Shahid Mehdi, former vice- chancellor of Delhi’s Jamia Millia Islamia, characterised the Syedna’s dictatorial powers over the Bohras as ‘religious apartheid’. Tahir Mahmood, former chairman of the National Minorities Commission, castigated the Syedna for making exorbitant demands on the Bohras and for allegedly making claims for himself that even the Prophet Muhammad had never done.

Noting how the reformist Bohras were being hounded by the Syedna for speaking out against their oppression, he called for a law to protect religious dissenters.

Over three days, dozens of Bohras expressed their anguish at the oppressive practices of the Syedna and his vast family of around a thousand members. Abid Adeeb, president of the Udaipur Dawoodi Bohra Jamaat, spoke of how the present Syedna levies a number of taxes on the Bohras that had no sanction in Islam.

Through his representatives or amils, he said, the Syedna extracts several crores of rupees from his followers annually, demanding payment on almost every conceivable occasion. Even prayer spaces in Bohra mosques in the month of Ramzan are now up for sale, he revealed.

He felt that opposition to the Syedna’s exploitation was mounting but those who dare to do so are immediately excommunicated. Adeeb recounted numerous cases of excommunicated dissidents being forced by the Syedna to divorce their spouses.

The reformists had taken the issue of baraat, the power of excommunication that the Syedna claimed for himself, to the courts several years ago, but the case was still pending. He noted that various political parties were hand-in-glove with the Syedna, owing to the vast economic clout that he wields and the votes he can deliver, because of which these parties are, he alleged, indifferent to demands for reform. He pointed out that the Syedna even had close links with Narendra Modi, despite the fact that Bohras, along with other Muslims, had suffered immensely in the anti-Muslim violence in Gujarat in 2002.

He also claimed that the Syedna routinely paid various Sunni Muslim institutions money so as to project himself as a pious Muslim as well as to buy their support and their silence on his un-Islamic practices and exploitative ways.

Likewise, he said, the mainstream media, which routinely sensationalises Muslim issues, had largely ignored the scandals that abound in the Bohra religious establishment. “The Syedna spends vast sums of money to place advertisements for himself in the newspapers, and I would not be surprised if the Syedna’s men pay some mediapersons hefty sums to keep off writing on the corruption of the Bohra

religious establishment or to praise the Syedna,” he added.

Zainab Bano, president of the Bohra Youth Association Udaipur, spoke of the origins of the reformist movement in Udaipur in the 1970s, recounting the torments they have had to suffer over the years as a result, including being beaten up by Burhanuddin’s men, forcibly divorced from their spouses, banned from Bohra mosques and denied access to graveyards.

She pointed out that the present Syedna had invented new titles for his sons and daughters, styling them as ‘princes’ (shehzada) and ‘princesses’ (shehzadi). He had, she added, appointed key members of his family as amils in towns with a sizable Bohra population, and many of them had amassed vast fortunes by levying a host of taxes on Bohras and through shady deals.

Saifuddin Insaf, 70, one of the pioneers of the Bohra reformist movement, and editor of the reformist journal Bohra Chronicle, traced the degeneration in the Bohra priesthood to the 47th dai, Abdul Qadir Najmuddin, great-grandfather of Syedna Burhanuddin, who had established hereditary rule.

In order to dispossess the Bohras of the numerous trusts that Bohra philanthropists had set up across the country, the present Syedna had gone so far as to claim to be their sole trustee. The reformists had challenged this claim in the courts years ago but, Insaf lamented, the verdict was still pending.

Insaf revealed that in order to impose total control on the Bohras, the Syedna insists that no Bohra can pray in a mosque or marry without his permission. “This is a complete violation of Islamic teachings. It is a tool to ensure complete slavery. If a Bohra marries without the Syedna’s permission, the marriage is considered illegal and the offspring of that union illegitimate,” he explained.

He spoke of how Tahir Saifuddin had invented a new rule demanding that every Bohra adolescent give an oath of allegiance (mithaq) to him, rather than, as in the past, to the Imam who is believed to be in seclusion. This new oath insisted on complete surrender to the Syedna’s will, and required that every Bohra declare himself to be the “slave of the Syedna” (abd-e syedna). The present Syedna, he said, continues with this mithaq, which he castigated as “wholly unIslamic”.

Next month, Burhanuddin turns 100 and lavish preparations are underway to celebrate his centenary. Conference participants revealed that instructions have been sent to every Bohra family to cough up a substantial amount of money to fund his birthday revelries. Speaker after speaker also spoke of battles behind the scenes between rival factions among Burhanuddin’s several brothers and sons to succeed him as head of the vast empire he controls once he dies since he has not as yet revealed his successor. When that happens, they do not rule out the community splintering into rival sects, which would only be in consonance with the Ismaili historical tradition.

Sikand is a sociologist and critic

http://www.tehelka.com/story_main48.asp ... HRASII.asp
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Radical Islamism & Jihad
19 Mar 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

One Woman’s Jihad

By Yoginder Sikand

Zehra Cyclewala is a leading figure in the reformist movement against the tyranny of Syedna Burhanuddin, the head-priest (dai-e mutlaq) of the Daudi Bohra Ismaili Shia sect. Here, in a conversation with Yoginder Sikand, she relates the story of her decades-long personal struggle against priestly tyranny.

The Syedna turns 100 this month, and massive celebrations are being organized by his followers across the world to project him as a popular and pious leader. Zehra’s life tells a different story, however.

My name is Zehra Cyclewala. I am 55 years old, and have lived in Surat for most of my life. I was born in an orthodox, lower middle-class Dawoodi Bohra family. My parents had five children, and I was the youngest child. In the mid-1980s, soon after I completed my education—I did my graduation in Commerce—I joined the Saif Cooperative Society in Surat, a bank established in the 1960s by a group of Bohra traders. It was inaugurated by the Bohra head priest Syedna Burhanuddin himself, and enjoyed his blessings. I started work there as a clerk, and, gradually, rose to become its manager.

From the very beginning, the Saif Cooperative Society gave and took interest. The Syedna naturally knew of this, and he had no problem with it, although some Muslims believe that even bank interest is forbidden or haraam in Islam. However, two years after I joined the bank, the Syedna issued a fatwa claiming that bank interest was forbidden, and demanded that the Bohras working in our bank leave their jobs at once. All the staff of the bank was Bohras at that time. Because the Bohras believe the word of the Syedna to be almost like divinely-inspired law, they hurriedly complied with his order and quit their jobs. I was the only one to refuse. After all, I thought, when, from the time the bank was established till the Syedna had issued this fatwa, the bank had been giving and taking interest, and the Syedna knew about this all along, how come he had suddenly decided or realized that such interest was haraam? The Syedna himself had inaugurated the bank, and when he did so he had no problem with it dealing in interest. There was something fishy in this fatwa, I felt.

Despite enormous pressure to leave the job, I refused. I lived with my mother, Fuliben Taherali, in Surat, and was the sole source of her support, because my father had died when I was 20. I simply could not do without this job. So, despite the Syedna’s order, I stuck on. The District Cooperative Society Board appointed a non-Bohra administrator—a man called Mr. Daru—to run the bank, and I worked under him. My defiance of the Syedna’s orders was not liked by the Bohras of Surat, and soon complaints about me reached the Syedna’s religious establishment—the Kothar.

The eldest son of the Syedna, Qaid Jauhar, came to Surat and met with me, and insisted that I must resign. ‘Why should I?’ I asked. I told him that a branch of the Bank of Baroda functioned in a building built on a plot of land owned by some Bohras in Surat, and that this bank dealt in interest. The bank paid rent to the Bohra owners, who, in turn, parted with some of it to the Syedna’s establishment, through the Syedna’s local amil or representative. ‘Why don’t you stop taking rent from the Bank of Baroda?’ I asked. Qaid Jauhar was shocked by what he regarded as my impudence. He told me that I asked too many questions, and said that this was improper.

As I said, by this time there was enormous pressure on me to quit my job. The Bohras believe that the Syedna is a divinely-appointed man. To displease him, they believe, is a sure way to land in hell. To refuse his order, they think, is to disobey and revolt against God. This is what the Syedna has made them believe. Hence, they thought that my refusal to quit my job was no ordinary revolt—but that it was nothing than a defiance of the divine will. And so, in a short while, a campaign was launched in Surat to excommunicate me. My house is in the middle of the Saifi Mohalla, a Bohra locality, hardly five minutes walk from the Jamia Saifia, the Bohras’ biggest madrasa. All my neighbours were fellow Bohras. Soon after I was excommunicated, they all stopped speaking to me. Even my relatives were forbidden to have any interaction—even on the phone—with me.

Yet, even in the face of this ostracism, my mother insisted that I must not give up. ‘Don’t you quit your job,’ she said. ‘You have to stand on your own feet. Your community is not going to help you when you need it.’ I did what she said. After all, I was no longer young, and it was not easy for me to get another job. If I quit my job, who would feed us?

The Syedna has a powerful weapon that he readily deploys to shut up anyone who dares protest against his oppression. Anyone who speaks out against his crass corruption (on the basis of which he and his vast family have become enormously rich by levying all sorts of taxes on the Bohras) or dares to criticize his dictatorship is at once excommunicated. This is called baraat. A Bohra who is thrown out of the community’s fold by the Syedna can have no social relations at all with any other Bohra, not even with his or her own family. Numerous spouses have been forcibly divorced, against their will, because one of them dared to differ with or raise his or her voice against the oppression and corruption of the Syedna and his henchmen.

And so, I, too, was declared to have become a mudai or apostate, and was subjected to baraat. Even my closest relatives, barring, of course, my mother, whom I lived with, stopped talking to me. When my mother and I walked on the streets, Bohras used to spit at us. Many would utter abuses and curse us. I refused to take this lying down. After all, I was always assertive, even as a child, and could not tolerate nonsense. And so, I filed a case against almost 20 Bohras who used to torment me and my mother in this vulgar way. This was in 1989. I won the case, and my tormentors came to me asking for forgiveness.

Meanwhile, the Syedna’s men continued to try to force me out of my job. They entreated Mr. Daru, the newly-appointed administrator of the bank, to throw me out, but he refused because I was good at my work. When I discovered that several rich Bohras of Surat, including some who had been office-bearers in the bank, had taken loans and had defaulted on payments, I took them to court, and the court forced them to return the money that they owed. This greatly incensed these men, and, using the enormous political influence that the Syedna wields, they pressurized the government of Gujarat, which was then controlled by the Congress, to remove the administrator of the bank and appoint someone else in his place, who they hoped would do their bidding. They managed to do so, and Mr. Daru was replaced. Mr. Daru’s only ‘fault’ was that he had refused to agree to their demand to expel me from my job.

Now that the Syedna’s men had succeeded in forcing Mr. Daru out of the bank and that the new administrator was a pro-Syedna man, I felt that my own job was under threat. So, I sent letters to top officials, including the Chief Minister of Gujarat, informing them about what was going on. Thereupon, I was suddenly demoted to the post of accountant, on the instigation of the Syedna’s men. I approached the court in protest, which issued a stay order, declaring that I should not be removed from the post of manager. The new administrator of the bank pursued the case in the higher courts, but even the high court confirmed the stay order, which was in my favour.

However, because the majority of shareholders of our bank were Bohras, and because they believed every word of the Syedna to be divine law, they voted to suspend me despite the court’s stay order. This was tantamount to contempt of court. And so, for three years, from 1989 to 1991, I could not go to office. It was at this time that I began meeting with other women—Hindus, Sunni Muslims and Christians—who had also suffered in their own ways and who were trying to speak out against their oppression. We formed a support group and tried to help each other cope with our difficult situation. It was these women who inspired me to refuse to let the board of directors of the bank off. After all, by voting to suspend me they had violated the court’s orders. And so, I lodged a contempt of court case against them, which dragged on for two years. In the end, the court ruled in my favour. The directors of the bank begged the court for mercy, and I was reinstated as manager, while 15 Bohra men were suspended from the bank’s board of directors. Till then, the bank had been in the hands of the Syedna’s cronies. To stabilize the bank and to make it more broad-based, I appointed several Hindus, Sunni Muslims and reformist Bohras as members of the society, and so it became much more cosmopolitan.

All this while, I refused to relent, although the Syedna’s men kept sending me messages, saying, ‘Repent and you will be forgiven.’ But what I did I need to repent for? It was not me, but they, who had done wrong. They should have repented, not me. I refused to tender any apology although I had to face, and still continue face, brutal social ostracism. After all, my struggle was not for myself alone, but for the many Bohras who live under the cruel tyranny of the religious establishment. It was a struggle for truth and justice.

In 1991, my mother fell sick but no relatives could come to see her, for fear of being ex-communicated. She, too, had been excommunicated by the Syedna because she lived with me and refused to accede to his orders that no Bohra should have anything to do with me. She knew that having been excommunicated she would not be buried in a Bohra graveyard. Still, even on her deathbed, she stood like a rock behind me, insisting that I must never surrender to injustice. Shortly after, she passed away. No Bohra came for her funeral—not even her other children, my siblings. The Bohras of Surat refused to bury her in the community’s burial ground. I insisted that she would be buried there and nowhere else, because I was a Bohra and I had my rights, and my mother had been a Bohra, too. The Sunni Muslims of Surat offered to let her body be buried in their cemetery. I thanked them but I declined their offer, saying that if I accepted their offer, it would be conceding defeat in the struggle against the Syedna’s religiously-sanctioned tyranny.

News about my mother’s body being thrown out of the Bohra mosque soon spread throughout the town, and so, in the dark hours of the morning, and under police protection, a crowd of some 10 thousand Sunnis and Hindus collected at the Bohra graveyard and ensured that my mother’s body was laid to rest there. Not a single Bohra came for the funeral.

Sometime in the 1990s, a local Bohra leader, Yusuf Bhai Badri, who was then Secretary of the Bohra Jamaat of Surat and a close confidante of the Syedna, had taken a loan from our bank, but because he had not repaid the loan, interest on it had mounted and he owed the bank almost double the principal. He refused to pay back on time, and I was compelled to take him to court. The court issued a warrant ordering the seizure of the property of his guarantor, a Bohra industrialist called Haiderbhai Hazur. I went to Haiderbhai’s house with the court order, along with some policemen. When I got there and he saw me, he said, ‘How dare you come here? You are an apostate!’ I told him that he had to repay the money, otherwise the court would take action against him. Scared of what might happen to him, he asked for three days to pay up.

Just as I left his house, some Bohras began screaming like mad men, alleging that I had abused the Syedna. They began hollering out to the Bohras around to come out and beat me up. Soon a huge crowd collected and surrounded me, including many Bohra women. Somehow, I managed to escape. I ran to the nearby Mahidarpura police station, but the crowd of Bohra men and women, more than 5000-strong, rushed there as well, following me. They started raising slogans, crying out, ‘Give us Zehra Cyclewala! We will kill her!’ The Bohra amil of Surat, Syedul Khair, son-in-law of the Syedna, was leading the crowd. ‘Come out and we shall hammer you!’ he shouted.

Inspector Khan of the police station said to me, ‘Ask them for mercy and they will let you go, or else they might kill you. Why create a fuss about refusing to say just two words in apology?’ But I refused, saying, ‘I would rather die but I shall never ask them for mercy. After all, what wrong have I done?’ The policemen did nothing to control the crowd or stop them baying for my blood. Instead of beating them with lathis or tear-gassing them or even registering a case against them, they lent them their support. Such is the enormous power of the Bohra establishment.

Although I was perfectly innocent and the crowd was at fault, a false case was registered against me, claiming that I had abused them! I tried to lodge a formal complaint in the police station, I was not allowed to and, instead, I was put into the police lock-up, where I had to spend the entire night. The next afternoon, I was taken to the court. A huge crowd of Bohra women gathered there. They demanded that I be sent to jail. But the magistrate refused, saying that it was a bailable case and so I was released on bail.

Because it was no longer safe for me to stay in the Bohra locality, where I had my home, I shifted to a Hindu locality for a couple of days. The Bohras had spread all sorts of false news about me, claiming that I had caused a disturbance by abusing the Syedna, so I went to the offices of leading newspapers in Surat to tell them the truth. I said, ‘You have been fed on wrong propaganda and, without doing any investigation, you have published false things about me. Now you have to publish my version of the events or else I will go on hunger-strike and will lodge a complaint with the Press Council.’ The journalists heard me out and the next day they published my story.

As I said, instead of supporting me, the police had taken the side of the Bohras, and so as soon as I was let off by the court I, along with several of my women friends of the Surat District Mahila Sangh, a women’s group of which I was one of the founders, went to meet the Police Commissioner and told him how badly the policemen had treated me. I don’t know what I would have done without the help of these women colleagues—who were mostly Hindus and Sunni Muslims. With the help of the Police Commissioner, a case was lodged against a group of Bohras who had attacked my house when I was in the prison lock-up, and eight of them were arrested. But I was not satisfied with this measure and lodged a writ petition in the High Court against the policemen and the Bohras who had assaulted me. I complained about how the police had refused to lodge a case of rioting against the Bohras, and, instead, had kept me locked up in jail. Some policemen came to me and asked me for mercy but I refused. If I relented, I thought, how would these people, who are paid to help the victims of those who violate the law, learn that they cannot refuse to abide by their duty?

Soon, my case was heard in the High Court, which ruled in my favour and came down heavily on the Bohra rioters and the police. By now things had become so tense that I knew that some enraged Bohra could easily kill me, and so the court ordered that I be given police protection 24 hours a day. And so, two armed police men were given to me, who accompanied me wherever I went. This carried on till 2006.

In 1998, the Rotary Club of Surat decided to hold a function to honour me for my struggle against the tyrannical Bohra establishment. They announced the event in the newspapers. As soon as the Bohras of Surat heard about it, they arrived in a huge horde outside the Rotary Club and began shouting slogans against me and the Club’s decision to honour me. The men who run that Club got scared on seeing them, and so, just a day before the event was to be held, they told me that they had called it off. When my colleagues in the Surat District Mahila Sangh heard of this, they were enraged. They went to the Club and told the men there, ‘You have dishonored and insulted Zehra, although you had announced you would honour her!’ The next day the news was splashed in the papers. But we did not stop at that. Through a lawyer, we sent a notice to the Rotary Club saying, ‘If you don’t apologise within three days, we will lodge a defamation case against you.’ The Club folks got nervous, and they asked me to forgive them. ‘We will never do this sort of thing again with any woman,’ they promised. I told them, ‘We accept your apology, but you must issue an advertisement in the press to this effect, and you must also add that the orthodox Bohras forced you to cancel the programme.’

The advertisement came out in three newspapers—it must have cost the Club a lot of money!—but we women were glad. After all, we did all this not so that I could salvage my name but so that organizations like the Rotary Club would learn not to cave in to the pressure of reactionaries and that they would stand up for justice, which they claim they are committed to.

Because I had taken on the Syedna’s henchmen, the police and influential organizations like the Rotary Club for siding with the tyrannical Bohra establishment, many newspapers had reported about me. This further incensed the Syedna’s blind supporters. One of them, a certain Mustafa Dodia, tried to trap me. Later, it was discovered, he had been paid by the Syedna’s men to do this. One day, he lodged a false complaint against me in a police station, claiming that I had tried to kill him. He got together a group of Bohras and they went on hunger-strike outside the police station, demanding my arrest and the removal of the police protection that the court had granted me. I was not one to take this lying down, of course. I reacted by lodging a complaint in the police station against Dodia, alleging that he had demanded the removal of police protection so that he could kill me. His demand, I added, was tantamount contempt of the orders of the court, for the court had ordered that I should receive police protection. Finally, Dodia was forced to withdraw his false complaint. The crime branch investigated his complaints against me and found them to be completely concocted.

Initially, I was the only Bohra in Surat to speak out against the tyranny of the Syedna and his men. I had no idea that there were other Bohras, in other cities, even in other countries, who were fed up of the extortion and the corrupt dictatorship of the Syedna and his family in the name of Islam, and who were agitating against all of this. Slowly, I came in touch with these reformists. News of my struggle reached them and they contacted me. They were inspired by my lone battle, and felt that I had something to tell other Bohras, to teach them that standing up for truth, for values, for principles was true surrender to God, and that the supine surrender to a corrupt priesthood, which the Syedna insists on in the name of Islam, was its complete contradiction. In 2001, a group of reformist Bohras invited me to Canada to speak on my life, and to help galvanise the Bohra reformist movement in the West, where a number of Bohras live. In 2005, I was invited to an international convention of reformist Bohras in Birmingham, England, where my biography, titled One Against All, written by the noted Bohra reformist Yunus Bhai Baluwala, was released. In the same year, I insisted that the reformist Bohras of India organize a convention in Surat, which is where the major Bohra madrasa is located. Some people were scared to do this in the very den of the Syedna, as it were, fearing that they would be attacked by the Syedna’s cronies, but we went ahead and it was quite a success!

I began my struggle and my public life in the Saif Cooperative Society in Surat, and I still work there, now as its manager. Our business has expanded considerably over the years. And, I must say, despite the torrent of hatred that has been directed against me all these years, many Bohras who refuse to countenance any criticism of the Syedna now come to me with requests for loans. Although I am still officially ex-communicated from the Bohra fold, many Bohras come to my office to see me. They cannot invite me to their homes on family functions, of course, because of the Syedna’s orders. My brothers and sisters, too, cannot meet me. If they dare too, they stand the risk of being ex-communicated.

I keep attending reformist Bohra conferences wherever they are held. I am also invited by secular women’s groups to speak, and in this way I have had the chance to travel to various parts of India. Hindu and Sunni Muslim groups also invite me to their meetings, and I am grateful to them for their support. Wherever I go, I talk of the central role of women in promoting reform and resisting tyranny in the name of religion, which is an affront to true spirituality. I also keep stressing the need for communal harmony. From my own personal experiences, not from reading fat books, I know how deeply inter-related patriarchy, communalism, violence and priestly tyranny are.

I owe a lot to my mother, who stood firmly by me when I was ex-communicated. For that, she was thrown out of the community herself, but she refused to budge. She kept insisting, ‘Zehra! Never cave in to tyranny. Keep your head high. This is what God wants.’ Some Bohras from Surat, blind followers of the Syedna, offered me 50 lakh rupees if I issued an ‘apology’ to the Syedna, and even said that this would enable me to rejoin the Bohra fold. I remembered what my mother always told me and said to them, ‘I will never do that, no matter how much money you offer as a bribe. I know that by offering me money you want me to shut my mouth, to stop speaking out against the tyranny of the priests, to stop the Bohra reform movement.’ Had I accepted their offer, my reputation as someone who has always stood for certain principles would have been in tatters and people would then say, ‘Zehra has sold herself for money.’ But since I have never cowed down to their threats and blandishments, I can, as my mother always told me to, hold my head high, and so, after I leave this world, people can say, ‘There was a Bohra girl called Zehra who shook the Bohra community and dared to challenge the tyrants within it.’

In memory of my brave mother, and as a small token of appreciation for all that she stood for, recently I set up a charitable trust in her name. The trust has five trustees—a Hindu, a Sunni and three reformist Bohras. The trust offers modest financial assistance to the needy. We dream of doing many things in the future, one of them being to establish a common graveyard for people of all religions and communities so that people who are tormented and oppressed by their religious leaders, like my mother was, can find a final resting place there.

Sometimes, people ask me, ‘If the Syedna and his henchmen are such tyrants, why do you reformist Bohras not convert to another religion or to another Muslim sect? Why do you insist on remaining Daudi Bohras?’ I reply to them, saying, ‘This is precisely what the Syedna wants, because if we reformists quit the Bohra fold, he will be able to rule just as he pleases, without any opposition whatsoever!’ That is why I insist we must remain within the Bohra fold and continue to struggle for our rights, for true internal democracy. I think Islam, if correctly understood, tells us that this is precisely what we should do.

I have lived a long life of struggle. I have had to face terrible odds. All through, it was not desire for personal revenge or power that goaded me to take on the Bohra establishment, but an irrepressible commitment to justice. That is something basic, or ought to be, to all human beings. I simply cannot compromise on this. Some people may say that I was too obstinate or even vindictive, that I should have compromised instead of taking people to court, staging demonstrations, and lodging police complaints. But I tell them, ‘If we keep quiet and cave in, tyrants will continue to play with our lives. Surely, speaking up against tyranny is a fundamental duty and right, is it not? Surely this is what Islam, properly understood, should inspire us to do.’

And this is what the Bohra reformist movement is doing. The reformists are appealing to the world to see the trickery behind the ‘pious’ exterior of the Syedna and his cronies, who are misusing and misinterpreting religion to extort money from the Bohras and enforce a stultifying form of slavery on them, on their bodies and minds, all in the hallowed name of Islam. This is how the Syedna and his family have become among the richest in all of India. Anyone who dares to speak out against this tyranny is automatically thrown out of the community.

I appeal to the Government, political parties, intellectuals and social activists, and to people in general to see through this charade of the Syedna and his cronies, who have been twisting Islam in order to promote their own interests. I ask them to stop supporting and patronizing these men. The Syedna turns 100 this year, and hectic activities are underway to celebrate his centenary. A lot of public functions will be held to project him as a truly ‘pious’ man and a ‘popular’ religious leader. I appeal to people to listen to my voice, to the voice of a Bohra woman who has seen through and struggled against the tyranny of the Bohra establishment for decades, not to fall prey to this nefarious propaganda.

A regular columnist for NewAgeIslam.com, Yoginder Sikand works with the Centre for the Study of Social Exclusion at the National Law School, Bangalore.

URL: http://newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamRadic ... cleID=4308

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agakhani
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Bohra's Dai will be 100 years old this month.

Post by agakhani »

Bohra community's dai His Holiness Dr. Saiyadina Mohammad Burhauddin Saheb will be 100 years old this month on March 25th, 2011.

In celebration of this coming birthday, there was a big parade in Sidhpur, Gujarat, India yesterday. In this parade there were 2 elephants, 21 horses,
8 camels and many peoples from Bohra community and other sects were participated.
Many many congratulations to Dr. Saheb for his 100 birthday from Ismaili. net readers along with me.
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Post by kmaherali »

Circumcision battle on web
SADAF MODAK

Mumbai, Dec. 18: A Mumbai-based Bohra woman has begun an online petition against the practice of female circumcision that young girls of the Ismaili Shia Muslim sect are made to undergo.

The petition, which has garnered over 500 signatures, will be sent to Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin, the religious head of the Dawoodi Bohras, asking for a ban on the practice by the community.

Started by Tasleem, a woman in her 40s who does not wish to reveal her second name, the petition calls the practice “cruel, inhuman and undemocratic”.

With a population of over a million, the Dawoodi Bohra community is largely concentrated in western Maharashtra and Gujarat and is the only Muslim sect in India to practise female circumcision.

Scholars of the religion say the practice finds no mention in the Quran and has its roots in Africa, where some tribes still practise female genital mutilation.

A medical expert said that unlike male circumcision, which has medical acceptance and is proven to reduce sexual diseases, female circumcision has no advantages.

“No medical organisation permits it because it is not beneficial to a woman in any way. On the contrary, it hampers a woman’s quality of life. Depending on which of four types of circumcision has been done, she can witness immediate or delayed effects such as infection, adjacent tissue injury, vascular bleeding, bleeding during menstruation or urination, and even sexual dysfunction and other psychological effects,” the expert said.

“It is a patriarchal practice that goes back to the thinking that women are not entitled to pleasure and their sexuality needs to be curbed.”

Tasleem said she began her campaign by first joining a group for Bohras on social networking site Facebook.

“I posted anti-female genital mutilation pictures, looked for people in the group who had little girls and pleaded with them not to do this,” she said.

Tasleem’s parents did not make her go through circumcision, nor has she subjected her daughter to it. Bohras say the women are generally circumcised around the age of seven, by an elderly woman from the community who is allowed to practise the technique by the clergy or, these days especially, by a doctor and under anaesthesia.

“I was taken to a house in the local community along with my mother and other women. An elderly woman asked me to lie on the ground on my back. I was seven then and vaguely remember having felt pain,” said a young Bohra woman.

“I forgot about it till my growing up years. It was only later when I realised what had been done that I questioned and criticised my family about it.”

Another woman said: “We were always told that it is done to both men and women and is good for one’s health and helps prevent sexual diseases.”

According to some Bohra women, while some parents are opting out of the practice, many others try delaying it but continue with it as otherwise they face constant pressure from the elder women in the family.

While the public relations office of the community remained unavailable for comment, the petition has found mixed reactions online. Some have said they would continue to do it to their daughters, calling it an “honour”.

http://telegraphindia.com/1111219/jsp/n ... eU.twitter
agakhani
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Post by agakhani »

Scholars of the religion say the practice finds no mention in the Quran and has its roots in Africa,
Are any other Muslim sects besides Bohra sect also practices this strange practice "female circumcision"?

What is significant behind this circumcision? I don't think any religious significant!!
kmaherali
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Post by kmaherali »

Bohra woman leads petition against female genital mutilation
Tuesday, 31st January 2012

An Indian woman from an Ismaili Shia Muslim sect called the Bohras is leading a petition against the practice of female genital mutilation, which still exists in her community, it has been reported.

News provider IPS spoke to the campaigner, who goes under the name Tasleem, about her fight to have the procedure outlawed.

"Initially, only the non-Bohras were signing, but once the media got into the act, many women from the community openly began talking about their painful experience," she stated.

Her petition is to the local high priest Dr Syedna Mohammad Burhanuddin and the campaigner recently told Indian news provider Outlook she thought as many as 90 per cent of Bohra people practise the ritual.

IPS said there are an estimated two million individuals in this community around the world.

Research from analysis and mapping company Maplecroft recently revealed in its Women's and Girls' Rights Index of 197 nations that up to nine out of ten teenage girls experience female genital mutilation in Somalia.

Posted by Carla MackenzieADNFCR-2094-ID-801277983-ADNFCR

http://www.figo.org/news/bohra-woman-le ... ion-009000
kmaherali
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Post by kmaherali »

Female circumcision anger aired in India


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Eleven years ago, Farida Bano was circumcised by an aunt on a bunk bed in her family home at the end of her 10th birthday party.

The mutilation occurred not in Africa, where the practice is most prevalent, but in India where a small Muslim sub-sect known as the Dawoodi Bohra continues to believe that the removal of the clitoris is the will of God.

"We claim to be modern and different from other Muslim sects. We are different but not modern," Bano, a 21-year-old law graduate who is angry about what was done to her, told AFP in New Delhi.

She vividly remembers the moment in the party when the aunt pounced with a razor blade and a pack of cotton wool.

The Bohra brand of Islam is followed by 1.2 million people worldwide and is a sect of Shia Islam that originated in Yemen.

While the sect bars other Muslims from its mosques, it sees itself as more liberal, treating men and women equally in matters of education and marriage.

The community's insistence on "Khatna" (the excision of the clitoris) also sets it apart from others on the subcontinent.

"If other Muslims are not doing it then why are we following it?" Bano says.

For generations, few women in the tightly-knit community have spoken out in opposition, fearing that to air their grievances would be seen as an act of revolt frowned upon by their elders.

But an online campaign is now encouraging them to join hands to bury the custom.

The anti-Khatna movement gained momentum after Tasneem, a Bohra woman who goes by one name, posted an online petition at the social action platform Change.org in November last year.

She requested their religious leader, the 101-year-old Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin, ban female genital mutilation, the consequences of which afflict 140 million women worldwide according to the World Health Organisation.

Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin is the 52nd Dai-al Mutalaq (absolute missionary) of the community and has sole authority to decide on all spiritual and temporal matters.

Every member of the sect takes an oath of allegiance to the leader, who lives in western city of Mumbai.

When contacted by AFP, Burhanuddin's spokesman, Qureshi Raghib, ruled out any change and said he had no interest in talking about the issue.

"I have heard about the online campaign but Bohra women should understand that our religion advocates the procedure and they should follow it without any argument," he said.

But over 1,600 Bohra Muslim women have since signed the online petition.

Many describe the pain they experienced after the procedure and urge their leader to impose a ban.

"The main motive behind Khatna is that women should never enjoy sexual intercourse. We are supposed to be like dolls for men," 34-year-old Tabassum Murtaza, who lives in the western city of Surat, told AFP by telephone.

The World Health Organisation has campaigned against the practice, saying it exposes millions of girls to dangers ranging from infections, hemorrhaging, complicated child-birth, or hepatitis from unsterilised tools.

In the Middle East, it is still practised in Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Jordan and Syria.

"It is an atrocity committed under the cloak of religion," says Murtaza, who along with her husband was asked to leave their family home when they refused to get their daughter circumcised.

"My mother-in-law said there was no room for religious disobedience and we should move out if we cannot respect the custom," she explained. "It is better to live on the street than humiliate your daughter's body."

Asghar Ali Engineer, a Bohra Muslim and expert on Islamic jurisprudence, has known the dangers of fighting for reform.

He has authored over 40 books proposing changes, particularly around the status of women, and has been attacked by hardliners inside a mosque in Egypt and had his house trashed by opponents.

While both France and the United States have laws enabling the prosecution of immigrants who perform female circumcisions, the practice remains legal in India and Engineer expects this to remain the case.

"Female circumcision is clearly a violation of human rights, the Indian government refuses to recognise it as a crime because the practice has full-fledged religious backing," he said.

"No government has the courage to touch a religious issue in India even if the practice is a crime against humanity."

He says many fathers are simply unaware of the damage they are doing by following the custom.

"I prevented my wife from getting our daughters circumcised but in many cases even fathers are not aware of the pain their daughters experience," he says.
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@yahoonews on Twitter, become a fan on Facebook ..
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Post by kmaherali »

IMPORTANT OCCASION FOR THE BOHORA COMMUNITY IN UGANDA

12 2012. By Vali Jamal: It was a great day for the Bohra community of Uganda today: The successor to the 52nd Dai al Mutlaq, Dr Mohamed Burhanuddin (TUS), Alqadir Sayedi Mufaddal Bhaisaheb Saifuddin (TUS) paid a 24-hour visit to lay the foundation stone of the first-ever Bohra mosque in Uganda. The succession was announced by the Dai himself in London two years ago. The Dai reached 101 years by the Islamic calendar this year, 100 years by the regular calendar next month.

I was invited to attend by the Mukhi of the Bohra jamat in Uganda, Sheikh Husseinbhai Malkan. His account is in my book in the section Those Who Never Left For Even a Day. He is the only original Bohra in Uganda. There are around 150 others from India. I was the only non-Bohra present. There were around 200 of the community, mostly from abroad, to catch a glimpse of their religion leader.

As Bhaisaheb Saifuddin alighted from his car a great cry of Allahu Akbar went up, accompanied by lots of tears-shedding. The heir to the Dai came to the verandah to sit on his ceremonial chair. Sheikh Husseinbhai went to brief him. Suddenly he called out my name to come to the dais. I hurriedly took my shoes off, took out the book volumes from my brief case and climbed the steps to meet the Dai. I was nervous. Bhaisaheb Saifuddin actually stood up from his chair to greet me, looking straight into my eyes with his kind eyes. We embraced. Sheikh Hussein showed him pages pertaining to himself in the book. Sayedi Saifuddin placed his hands on the book. He said I give you my blessings for your work. Then as another surprise he asked me to sit beside on the adjoining chair.

Everyone afterwards said to me nothing like this ever happened to any of them and my book was bound to succeed. Inshallah and al-Hamdulillah. I feel blessed and miracles already happened.

In one of the pictures: Sheikh Husseinbhai on the left and in another with the devoted kids. They were a delight to watch when the Bhaisaheb came to the dais. I agreed with Sheikh Hussein that I’d print a brand-new dedicated version next week to present to Bhaisaheb for the Dai al Mutlaq.

All related Vali Jamal: http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/tag/vali-jamal/
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Post by kmaherali »

Posted on May 6, 2010 - by mira

Ismailis: From Yemen to India and back

http://www.mirabaz.com/wordpress/ismail ... -and-back/


(Photo by PJW)

First appeared in Yemen Today

“Visitors must step inside the house,” says Haj Hassan Abdullah al-Hutaib, the imam of the mosque, as he insists on lunch. His guests decline repeatedly. He then excuses himself to carry out the noon call to prayer in the mosque.

The village children spot buses winding down the road along misty terraced mountains. In all anticipation they hurry with their bags to the village entrance. They set up along the walkway and wait for their visitors, like they do every day. They’re selling pecans, raisins and candy. The buses arrive, one after another bringing Indian nationals through Sana’a from around the world.

The pilgrims snake through the village garden, green with grass, and individually or in small groups make their way past the pigeons’ tower: Men in white thobes (traditional male dress) and embroidered kufias (traditional headdress) and women in colorful dresses decorated with lace and floral patterns, similar to those of the village women. They start climbing the stairs.

“Jalan! Jalan!” (Come up, come up) says a man standing outside a red stone hotel.

Another busload of pilgrims arrives. Then another, for a total of 10 buses, or around 200 pilgrims that day.

“Jalan,” the man repeats to the new wave of arrivals, gesturing for them to come up to the hotel for lunch.

Some pilgrims stop to visit the bright white mausoleum of da’i (spiritual leader) Hatim bin Ibrahim, adorned with Quranic verses, and the centerpiece of the village of Hutaib in the Haraz Mountains, where a community of Yemeni Dawoodi Ismailis lives.

How did the relationship between Hutaib and India come to be? Why is the da’i of this community of Ismailis based in Mumbai, India? And why does that leadership exclude the two other major branches of Ismailism, the Nizari and the Sulaymani sects?

Long before they would be known as Dawoodis or, more commonly, Bohras, there lived in the 12th century the third da’i, Hatim bin Ibrahim al-Hamidi, whose formal title was al-Da’i al-Mutlaq (the Absolute Missionary). He was of the Banu Hamdan tribe of Yemen and succeeded his father Ibrahim to the highest religious post.

Abbas Hamdani, Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, writes that Da’i Hatim was a writer, a versatile poet and an organizer of the faith. The da’i modified and formalized the structure of the Ismaili da’wa (mission), in an evolution from its origins in Fatimid Egypt that wouldn’t change to the present day.

It is believed that Da’i Hatim himself built the mosque overlooking the village of Hutaib to worship in it and to honor al-Sayyida al-Hurra (The Noble Lady), otherwise known as Queen Arwa al-Sulayhiyya, who ruled Yemen for over five decades from 1084 to 1138.

For it was none other than Queen Arwa who would expand the Ismaili faith in Yemen and beyond, in a dynasty that would rule from Dhu Jibla, and whose borders would reach as far as Mecca in current-day Saudi Arabia.

The Sulayhid queen is reported to have been strikingly beautiful, intelligent, courageous and of an independent character, like her mother-in-law and role model, Queen Asma. Arwa’s marriage to the son of the founder of the Sulayhid dynasty in Yemen led her to the reins of power. She was involved in running the kingdom even before her husband’s death, following war injuries he sustained and his retreat from public life.

For a long time the Sulayhids maintained a strong and mutually beneficial relationship with the Fatimid rulers in Egypt. The alliance provided security and support to the Sulayhids whenever their rule was challenged locally. For the Fatimids, the Sulayhid kingdom was strategically important in the Indian Ocean trade route and, through it, the spread of Ismailism in Yemen and Asia. The Fatimids were of the original Ismaili sect that was born after a division among the Shias in the 8th century AD over a question of leadership. Deriving their name from Fatima, the Prophet’s daughter, they ruled Egypt from 909 AD for over two centuries from Cairo, the capital which they founded, and built the University of al-Azhar, which has been an important center of learning for Islam.

It may have been the important role Queen Arwa played in the Ismaili faith and political necessity following her husband’s death, scholars contend, that made Egypt’s Imam appoint her as hujja, the highest religious position at the time.

“Arwa became the religious figure whose example was to be followed by the community of believers,” writes Samer Traboulsi, Assistant Professor of History at the University of North Carolina at Asheville. “She also became the ultimate authority for all the da’is [in Yemen], since she was the official representative of the Imam.”

The long-ruling queen would further spread the faith in Sind and Hind (now Pakistan and India) through the relationship developed with Asia in the Indian Ocean trade. According to the London-based Institute for Ismaili Studies (IIS), the Sulayhids are credited with playing an important role in the spread of Ismailism in South Asia, establishing a new Ismaili community in Gujarat, India, in 1067. They also oversaw the selection of da’is who were dispatched from Yemen to run the new community’s affairs.

But trouble arose when the Fatimid Imam al-Mustansir Billah died in Egypt in 1094 and the question of his successor split the Ismaili community. This would be the first schism to divide them, but not the last. The disagreement over the Imam’s successor resulted in the initial two sub-sects of Ismailism. The first were the Nizaris, who followed the Imam’s eldest son Nizar. Also known as Khojas, they live in India, Syria, and South and West Asia, among other regions worldwide. Their current leader is Prince Karim al-Hussaini Aga Khan IV, the 49th Imam.

The second faction of Ismailis approved of the Imam’s successor to the throne, Nizar’s brother al-Mustaali, whom Queen Arwa recognized as Imam. Thus the Ismaili communities of Yemen and Gujarat became known as Mustaalis.

But they would later come to be better known as Tayyibis in Yemen following a second schism in 1130, when the queen supported Imam al-Tayyib. Little is known about al-Tayyib, but Tayyibis believe that he went into occultation (concealment), and thus the period since then until the present is known as satr, or concealment.

It was during this second schism that Queen Arwa severed ties with Fatimid Egypt because of al-Tayyib’s occultation. The move would ensure the survival of Ismailis long after the collapse of both the Fatimid kingdom in Egypt and the Sulayhid dynasty in Yemen, according to IIS. She re-designated the title of the then-da’i as al-Da’i al-Mutlaq, or Absolute Missionary, allowing the faith to be independent from political rule. The Absolute Missionary was put in charge of the affairs of the community and, in the absence of the imam, was the highest authority of the Tayyibis.

Queen Arwa’s death in 1138 was effectively the end of the Sulayhid dynasty with no one to succeed her. She was buried in the mosque she built in Dhu Jibla. The Ismaili faith, however, did in fact survive and traveled on its own journey that led it back to India.

Now without political leadership, Ismailism would witness one of its bleakest times under Zaydi Shia imams in the 16th century AD and later, who considered the sect to be heretical. The Tayyibi Ismailis, who consisted of the Hamdani Yam branch in Wadi Dahr and the Yaaburi in Haraz, turned to the more tolerant Ottomans for protection at the time, but this would soon backfire. The Ottomans’ failure to maintain control of upper Yemen resulted in the persecution of the Ismaili community by the vengeful imam, according to Professor Traboulsi.

“Most of the Zaydi imams oppressed and starved the Ismailis,” says a knowledgeable member of the community who wished to remain anonymous.

Negotiations with the imam allowed masses of Ismailis to seek refuge in the Haraz Mountains, where they relocated their center from Wadi Dahr. But continued persecutions caused the then-da’i to escape to Zabid, where he appointed the first Indian da’i, who traveled to Yemen from Gujarat.

The community was able to thrive in Haraz and Wadi Dahr for several decades under Ottoman rule in the 16th century, but an epidemic took the lives of high-ranking Tayyibis and prompted the return of many Indian Ismailis to India. In the face of growing Zaydi power, the first Indian da’i was selected to rule from India.

Over 500 years after the establishment of the Gujarat community by Yemen’s Sulayhids, the spiritual leadership was transferred to Gujarat, and later to Mumbai, where successive da’is have ruled until the current da’i, Dr. Mohammed Burhanuddin.

Ties between Yemen’s estimated 60,000 Ismailis and India have remained to this day. Professor Abbas Hamdani’s father, Hussain al-Hamdani, is described by the IIS as one of the pioneers of modern Ismaili studies and is the author of the book The Sulayhids and the Fatimid Movement in Yemen.

Professor Abbas Hamdani explained his Yemeni ancestry in an e-mail: “In the early eighteenth century, my ancestor, Shaykh Ali b. Said b. Ali b. Husayn al-Hamdani migrated from Haraz, Yemen to Surat, India at the invitation of the then Tayyibi Dawoodi Da’i. He was a learned Shaykh and he brought with him rare manuscripts of the Ismaili community. Our family bears the name Hamdani as we are descended from this Shaykh Ali who belonged to the Yaaburi branch of the Hamdani tribe settled in Haraz. For the last six generations we have been Indians keeping up the tradition of Arabic learning and the study and augmentation of Ismaili literature.”

Da’i Burhanuddin has been received by President Ali Abdullah Saleh on several occasions, and is credited with renovations in the village of Hutaib and elsewhere, as well as with efforts to replace the village’s qat trees with coffee trees.

“In 1999 alone, 50,000 qat trees were replaced with coffee trees,” says Mohammed al-Hamdani, a Dawoodi Ismaili and instructor of English as a Second Language.

The 16th century, a dark time for Ismailis in Yemen, witnessed towards its end yet another schism over a leadership succession, dividing the Tayyibis into the Sulaymani and Dawoodi branches, named after the successors they followed. The IIS estimates that there are around 700,000 Dawoodis around the world.

The majority of Sulaymanis have made Saudi Arabia’s Najran their center since 1640. They are also known as Makarima after the tribe of al-Makrami which originated in the village of Tayba in Yemen. According to a 2004 Saudi census, they number around 408,000 in Najran, and their da’i is al-Fakhri Abdullah bin Mohammed al-Makrami.

Like other religious minorities historically persecuted in the Middle East and elsewhere, Yemeni Ismailis, who turned secretive in order to protect themselves, were surrounded with invented stories such as the discrediting of their claim to the Prophet’s lineage and, more offensively, having tails.

“Some people misunderstand or misinterpret Ismailism,” says Mohammed al-Hamdani. “Many stereotypes and rumors were spread about them historically by the Imam. It’s indicative that [Ismaili] shrines and forts are on top of mountains.”

Da’i Hatim’s mausoleum in Hutaib is a site of pilgrimage not only for Dawoodis but for Sulaymani Ismailis as well, since he lived before the schism between the two.

“[The visit to shrines] is controversial,” explains Ibrahim al-Harazi, whose family is Yemeni Sulaymani. “In Sunni Islam, it’s not only haram (forbidden) but polytheistic to visit shrines. But for us, we are not praying to them. When we visit, we read some parts of the Quran and say prayers. The Prophet’s daughter Fatima used to visit her father’s shrine.”

In Yemen’s ancient village of al-Qalaa, later renamed Tayba, with scenic views of Wadi Dahr, Ismailis visit the shrine of a da’i in the courtyard of a mosque frequented by the village’s Zaydi community. The village, historically important to Ismailis, is now home to around 250 Sulaymanis, says Haj Mohammed Abdullah, an elderly, learned member of the sect.

He receives guests from Najran who teach in Sana’a in a Saudi cultural exchange program and who come to him for advice. He indulges his guests by recounting some Ismaili history, and speaks highly of Queen Arwa and her contributions to Yemen.

“Ismailis are a peaceful people,” he says.

****
IIS article:
http://www.iis.ac.uk/SiteAssets/pdf/say ... 5B1%5D.pdf
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Post by kmaherali »

Examining the Ismaili Imams & the Bohras

This book is about the beliefs of Ismailis. Two major sects within the Ismailis are the Agha Khanis who believe in 49 Imams and the Bohras who believe in 21 Imams. However both the Agha Khanis and the Bohras believe Ismail as an Imam, who was the son of Imam al-Sadiq (as) and they reject Musa al-Kadhim s/o Imam al-Sadiq (as). This book investigates the authenticity of the Ismaili/Fatimid Imams whether they were really divine.

Online...
http://www.al-islam.org/examining-ismai ... har-arastu
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Post by kmaherali »

There is a related thread at:

Amusing Fatwa

http://www.ismaili.net/html/modules.php ... 0938#50938
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Dawoodi Bohra factions now fight over custody of 9 kids

Kids taken away from Saifee Mahal by their mothers, daughters of Qutbuddin, on the very day the Syedna died.

As the battle over who is the rightful successor to the late Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin wages in the Dawoodi Bohra community, a parallel dispute has been happening between the two warring sides over custody of nine children who happen to be descendants of both factions.

On January 17, the very day that the Syedna passed away, the children -- who lived in Saifee Mahal, home of the Syedna and his family in Malabar Hill, were taken away to Thane by their mothers, and there has been no trace of them ever since.

Their mothers, Arwa and Fatema, are both daughters of Khuzima Qutbuddin who is now threatening legal action to claim spiritual leadership of the community as its 53rd Dai or religious leader. Thane is where Qutbuddin resides. Immediately after they left their Malabar Hill home, the children were "sent abroad to ensure their safety," said a member of Qutbuddin's family, requesting anonymity.

The children's fathers on the other hand, belong to Mufaddal Saifuddin's side of the family. Arwa is married to Mufaddal's son Taha; the couple have five children. Fatema is married to Mufaddal's nephew Ibrahim, and they have four children.

Insiders told Mirror that the battle over the children, aged between eight and sixteen years, has been brewing since January. And now that the mourning period for the late Syedna is over, both sides are becoming aggressive about their rights over the children.

The fathers of the children are now exploring all options to get the children back, while the mothers support their father Qutbuddin's faction over their husband's side, and do not want their children to live in Saifee Mahal any longer.

Members of Qutbuddin's family said that Arwa and Fatema, who were aware of the succession battle in the offing, "feared for their lives and their children's and hence fled". "They are firm believers in their father's philosophy and stake to the community leadership. They knew that their community would have choose between their father and Mufaddal as religious leader and that a split in the community was inevitable. They knew they would not be able to follow their father while living with their husbands, and had no choice but to flee," said the member of Qutbuddin's family.

"The children are safe and with their uncle Taher Bhaisaheb in the there for their safety," Zara Qutbuddin, head of Qutbuddin's public relations team said. Had the children not been sent overseas, Mufaddal's side would have traced them and forced them back to their home, claims the Qutbuddin faction.

Mufaddal's side on the other hand, was emphatic that the children should be with their fathers.

"They have been whisked away and forced to go with their mothers. They belong with their fathers," said a senior member of Mufaddal's side. However there was no official comment from this faction, on the grounds that the matter was personal in nature. Mufaddal's side, according to sources, are in talks with their lawyers to find a way to claim custody of the children.

"The children have been sent to US, where our laws do not apply. We are grappling with the situation to find a way out," said the Mufaddal family member.

WHAT LED TO THE FEUD?

After Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin died on January 17, the rift between the two sides became immediately apparent. Syedna's brother Khuzaima Qutbuddin (the Syedna's deputy and one of the claimants to the title of Dai) paid his last respects to the just-deceased Syedna and left the official residence of Saifee Mahal (Malabar Hill) for his other residence in Thane. The Syedna's second son Mufaddal Saifuddin, who was away in Colombo, rushed back to Mumbai and sat mourning beside his father's body.

That very night Khuzaima Qutbuddin made his first official address, indicating that the succession (nass) had been made in his favour 49 years ago and he was the 53rd Dai. Mufaddal Saifuddin, however, also claimed that he had been appointed as successor by the Syedna two years ago. Ever since, the two sides have been at war. .

http://www.mumbaimirror.com/mumbai/othe ... 860902.cms
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Post by kmaherali »

"Bohras" Encyclopaedia of Islam article

http://www.academia.edu/15730180/_Bohra ... am_article
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Post by kmaherali »

Fighting female genital mutilation among India's Bohra

FGM: girl-children of Dawoodi Bohra sect are the only Muslim women in India systematically and forcefully mutilated.

Excerpt:

Last month a petition was launched by 17 Bohra women calling for a law banning FGM in India.

"A lot of Bohra women contacted me wanting to speak out and talk about what happened to them," Ranalvi said.

"I needed to do something about it. All of us are scarred in some way. We were cheated in a clandestine way."

Although it is not mentioned in the Quran, the Bohras consider Khatna - their name for female genital mutilation - to be a religious obligation. The Syedna, the religious head of the sect, who is based in Mumbai, supports the practice. Ranalvi said that the response of the religious head has been one of "silence".

"He has decided to keep quiet and the practice continues unabated," she said.

Dr Zeenat Shaukat Ali, a professor of Islamic Studies at St Xavier's College, in Mumbai, told Al Jazeera that the practice had nothing to do with religion.

"Nowhere is it mentioned in the Quran, it is a 'tradition'. It has nothing to do with religion. We always have this tendency to confuse religion and culture," she said.

"The idea is to suppress women, to dominate them. The practice is not acceptable for other Muslims in India except the Bohra sect. It is really not acceptable."

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/featur ... 08129.html
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Post by kmaherali »

Mufaddal Mola is scolding Bohra women for working outside home. Live 6th century life

VIDEO
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xHT928SywkE

Please watch this Video of Mufaddal Mola’s Waez in Madras. He is scolding Bohra women for working outside home. He asks Bohra men to stop their women going outside home for doing job. He wants Bohra woman stay home and serve husband and take care of children and man go to work and provide as what use to happen in sixth century. He scares Bohras that Shaitan (Satan) will mislead. How can he be sure Shaitan is not misleading him? He may me saying these words, because Shaitan wants Bohras to remain behind.
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Post by kmaherali »

Doctor accused of mutilating genitals of young girls defends procedure as religious practice

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/act ... 8b5f53f50a

The attorney for a Detroit-area doctor accused of mutilating the genitals of young girls acknowledges that her client performed the procedure, but she says it was part of a religious practice.

The revelation came during a detention hearing on Monday, a few days after Jumana Nagarwala was charged in what authorities say is the first case of its kind in the country. Shannon Smith said in federal court in Michigan that her client removed the girls’ genital membrane as part of a custom practiced by the Dawoodi Bohra, a small sect of Indian Muslims of which Nagarwala is a part, the Detroit Free-Press reported.

Nagarwala, 44, of Northville, Mich., was charged last week with female genital mutilation, transportation with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity and making a false statement to a federal officer. Federal investigators say she performed genital mutilations on two 7-year-old girls at a medical clinic in Livonia, just outside Detroit. The procedures were performed secretly after business hours and without medical billing records, according to a criminal complaint.
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Post by kmaherali »

The article below highlights important Bohra doctrines.

“Nass” once conferred cannot be revoked, says Taher Fakhruddin

Recording of evidence of Taher Fakhruddin (TUS), the Plaintiff in Suit 337/2014, which had been originally filed by his predecessor Khuzaima Qutbuddin RA in the Hon’ble Bombay High Court, began on 8th December 2017 at 12:00pm in the historic Courtroom No. 46, presided over by Hon’ble Justice Gautam Patel.

The Plaintiff first took the oath, and began his responses with Bismillah.

The Plaintiff was first examined by his Counsel, Anand Desai of DSK Legal. The Hon’ble Justice Gautam Patel also asked the Plaintiff several questions.

Desai asked the Plaintiff to explain the origins of the Dawoodi Bohra community. The Plaintiff replied that Dawoodi Bohras are Shia Ismaili Muslims, followers of Imam Ismail AS. He further explained that Ismaili Shia’s believe that nass of succession, once conferred, cannot be revoked, changed, superseded or replaced and that is a core Dawoodi Bohra theological doctrine. This was the basic difference in belief from the followers of Musa Kazim, who believed that the nass on Imam Ismail was revoked, and nass was then conferred on Musa Kazim by Imam Jafer us-Sadiq.

More...
https://udaipurtimes.com/taher-fakhrudd ... 11-12-dec/
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Diktats against Western-style toilets, secular wedding venues leave Bohra community baffled

New ‘advisories’ have included strictures against secular wedding halls and the amount of mehndi brides can apply.


On Wednesday evening, Zoher’s aged mother received a call from a representative of her local mosque, who asked her an unexpected question. “He wanted to know what kind of toilet we use in our house, Western or Indian,” said Zoher, a businessman from Maharashtra’s Jalgaon city who wanted to reveal only his first name.

This was the second time in a week that his mother had received such a call from their Dawoodi Bohra community representatives, and Zoher was stumped. On both occasions, his mother informed the caller that the family had installed a Western-style toilet at home. “The first caller told her that the Bohra authorities were just collecting information. But the second caller asked my mother to talk to the aamil sahab,” said Zoher.

As a pious member of the Dawoodi Bohra Muslim sect, Zoher’s mother did as she was told and called up her aamil or priest. The aamil asked her to explain why they had chosen a Western toilet, to list the number of family members with knee or other health problems, and told her to meet him when she went to the mosque next.

“If they had called me, I would have told them that they have no right to ask personal questions about what I do in my house,” said Zoher, whose Bohra friends and neighbours have also received similar calls from their mosques. “They are deliberately calling only the ladies of the house.”

More...
https://scroll.in/article/861702/using- ... ew-diktats
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Post by kmaherali »

The Commemoration of Muharram by Shia Fatemi lsmaili Tayyabi Dawoodi Bohras

This article discusses how Shia Fatemi Ismaili Dawoodi Bohras commemorate the first ten days of Muharram, also known as Al Asharah al Mubarakah in the remembrance of Azeem and unparalleled sacrifice of Moula al Husain Ibn Ali (as) at Karbala. Sayedash Shuhada Husain(as), his Ahl al Bait(as) and Ash'ab(ra) fought against the Zulm, injustice, and harassment committed by the Syrian emperor Yazid Maloon. The process of learning enriches the Knowledge of the community members through Muharram Wa’az (sermons), which includes various topics of interest. Reading this article informs us that this 1000 years old legacy of the Shia Fatemi Ismaili Imams is continued with the same spirit by their Du’at, which refreshes spiritual energies of the followers.

Article at:

https://www.academia.edu/34208128/The_C ... kly_digest
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