Dawoodi Bohra Forum

It would be good if we all acted from “our hearts”. But institutions do not normally work that way, especially religious and political institutions. All organised religions (and political systems) sooner or later turn into tyrannies. The rulers of closed Muslim societies are no more interested in Is...

observer, barwani Excellent ideas. We reformists are very well organised in India, the UK, Canada and the US. In the US there are many reformists in Connecticut and New Jersy, approx 100 families. They have recently formed a chraritable trust. This past summer they had organised a get-together of re...

Qiyam,

Those who fudge are normally blind to it. No wonder you are confused.

Sayedna saheb apologised to the Sunni community. I'm sure the papers of the day will have the details. One will have to look it up.

Qiyam,
How you fudge and obfuscate. Now it's all right to curse Islam's Caliphs but bad to defame other faiths.

Anyways, if it is good and proper thing to curse the caliphs, then why did the infallible Dai apologise?

Right, only bohras can bring about change. Other progressive sectors of society can provide crucial support (as they are already doing in India) but the onus of ultimate change will me on the bohra masses. We're making progress here. Distributing articles is a good idea. Creating awareness about thi...

Qiyam, You miss the point when you start listing merits of Islam against other faiths. Comparisons are odious, especially of religions. No matter, I do not wish to belabour the point any further. Your assertion that "we are taught not to defame others faiths" is wrong. Forget other faiths,...

Qiyam, You know what I'm driving at . The question is of spiritual (intellectual) honesty. If you were a Hindu, would you have bothered to study other religions? And if your study led to the Quran being the most enlightened book, would you have converted to Islam? Probably not. So back to my origina...

It is wrong to assume that reformist bohras are trying to change people or their belief systems. Our agenda is simple and well documented (pls see reform issues section of this site). It is wrong to say that reformists do not know what they want. Reformists want changes in the ways affairs of the co...

The question is, would you still swear by the Quran if you were born into a different religion?

barwani is right. it is important for reformists to create a real optoin for the orthodox to want to revolt against the priesthood. of course, it is not as easy as it sounds. but reformist will have to think of new strategies to deal with the crafty priests. Countering the kothar's propanada war is ...

Qiyam, You swear by the Quran and its virtues because you "are born into this religion" (your words). This is an accident of birth. What if you were born to Christian or Hindu parents? I doubt you would then view Islam and its teachings in the same light as you do now. So, the point is, yo...

Bravo, Br Namaskar. That's a wonderful prayer. Prayer can be a pwoerful weapon if done with sincerity and love.

Qiyam, I was not quoting Eric Fromm except the last two sentences with refrence to escape to freedom. No matter. Why should not faith be questioned? Everthing should be questioned. Every authority divine or otherwise must prove its legitimacy and validity. Otherwise all scriptures are in danger of b...

“As part of my faith, I never would question the actions of the Imam...let alone ask for accountability from him. As the representative of the Imam..in every way...I never would question the actions of the Dai.” Qiyam, The faith that does not permit doubt and questioning is a dead faith. It’s stagna...

via overhead?

Taizoon lives in a cuckoo land. He says we went public with this twadry tiff in the hope of getting support from Bohras. He expects brain-dead, priest-ridden fools to support him and his dubious cause? He and his feuding family is responsible for turning Bohras into a herd bleeting sheep. Now he wan...

Porus is right - this is soap opera. The "royal" power struggle is playing out in public now. The decadent kothar is getting ridiculous by the day - who says the royals are not changing with times. Washing their dirty linen in public. No matter comes out as winner, nothing will change for ...

In the cosmic scheme of things, planet Earth is a mere blip - a tiny planet in one of the thousands of solar systems. That the Creator, the Absolute One (or whatever you call it) who has created this infinite universe should actually care about life on a pimple of a planet is a delusion. Life on ear...

The example of white/black man you give indicates that as humans we are making progress, generally speaking. With time we are fine-tuning our values and attitudes towards one another and towards the world we live in. The Quran lays down the law on many things, big and small. But pls understand that ...

You can say that again. Kuods.

Khairan,
This is typical of mullahs. they will take round and round in circles without going anywhere. they will confuse and befuddle you until you get fed up and give up.

Is it any surprise that mullah who have no qualms about making slaves out of decent human beings should have any second-thoughts about killing animals for sport? Serendipity, you are right, this is the strongest possible indictment. But do our mullahs care? They have become so shameless, not to ment...

Qiyam, you say... Your comment is very similar to those given to the Prophet by the unbelieving pagans of Arabia. I say: The Sayedna is no Prophet and neither is this the seventh century - the age of jahilia. And comparing me to pagans is no argument. Tinking people always have and will question ort...

Now from the sublime to the ridiculous: Sayedna's vision (the subject of this thread). What do devotees find in it other than cheap thrills of magic and miracle. These are nothing but characteristics of a peasant society. And the talk of vision and 'gaib na jannaar' twaddle is nothing but cheap and ...

Allah is a meta-relaity. Muslim is right, understanding him trhough anthropomorphic perspective is problematic, not to mention the widespread acceptance of his maleness. Mullahs try in vain (if we ignore their ulterior motive for a moment) to explain God and his ways. To 'understand' and 'know' the ...

Here's a sufi verse (I quote from memory): jo aql mein gir gaya woh la-intiha kyun kar hua jo samajh mein aa gaya woh khuda kyun kar hua The human mind is finite. It cannot know everything. Thank God for that ;-) But this is not the problem. The problem begins when scriptures and its diehard interpr...

There is a reason why mullahs want to include ishq (emotion) in the concept of Aql (reason). Their defence of this argument is ideological and has little to do with philosophy. Mullahs use the hybrid concept of Aql (which includes emotion) to justify people's beleif in all kinds of irrationalities a...

porus, Do you expect this priest-ridden community to understand your plea for transcendental, unconditional love? Mired in money and material pleasures, what do these mullahs and their followers know about love or even religion. Religion for them is an instrument and no more. They quote the text of ...