Poverty in Ahmedabad

[Muslim First]

MN
haa haa haa, you can be quite funny sometimes you know!

I am glad you liked it Brother. But it is true. Is it not?

[bohraji]

Dear Mr. Nalwala,
My post was in no way to ridicule or to insult you.If you feel offended then I apollogise. What I am trying to do is for people to recognise the stark realities in our community.You have read about the rolexes, and seen the swiss holiday pictures.You must have also seen the huge tear drops made of rubies being put up at Mola Ali's Mehrab.
Just think of it,my brother in faith.Does Mola Ali care about rubies adorning his masjid?
Mola Ali would eat jau no Ato (Oates) even though he had the huge revenues of Fadak at his disposal.This is the same Mola who gave away his ring while in Ruku,The same man who would refused a life of luxuries as he thought it unjustified to live prosperously when there were poor amongst his men. Now you must know of the poverty amongst Bohras.Does it Justify the Dai of the Ummat to order strawberries from UK for breakfast when his own people sleep hungry? How do you justify the high rates being charged at Musafir Khanas in the mazaars when all has been made and paid for by the ummat? All they need money is just for maintenance ,now.What use is of the Airconditioned rooms when only the rich can afford it?The poor still go and stay at the halls which does not offer privacy .Should not the poor ,the aged,the children be able to avail the facillities at the mawaid,for free/ Think about it.
Is it OK to adorn the graves of our masters with expensive chadars,Gilafs when the poor,wretched of our community do not haave simple kurtas to wear.Is this what Qutbuddin Shaheed wanted? That his grave be adorned with Gold and rich fabrics when just at the nearby saifee colony (right opposite his Roza) there is an old widow abandoned by her children.
You are talking about me being impolte,well you are correct. But have you seen how the Amil insults people,mostly elderly men in his official office during Ramadan at the time of collection.Have you not heard of situations where burials of abdes have been denied because their dues were unpaid.You call that decency?
Have you any idea as to how nmany Bohras have left the forld in the past 20 years? Who is to blae for this?
Think about it. Let us bring the change from within ourselves and truly try to live like Ali and die like Hussain!

[mustafanalwalla]

Dear Mr. Nalwala,
My post was in no way to ridicule or to insult you.If you feel offended then I apollogise. What I am trying to do is for people to recognise the stark realities in our community.You have read about the rolexes, and seen the swiss holiday pictures.You must have also seen the huge tear drops made of rubies being put up at Mola Ali's Mehrab.
Just think of it,my brother in faith.Does Mola Ali care about rubies adorning his masjid?
Mola Ali would eat jau no Ato (Oates) even though he had the huge revenues of Fadak at his disposal.This is the same Mola who gave away his ring while in Ruku,The same man who would refused a life of luxuries as he thought it unjustified to live prosperously when there were poor amongst his men. Now you must know of the poverty amongst Bohras.Does it Justify the Dai of the Ummat to order strawberries from UK for breakfast when his own people sleep hungry? How do you justify the high rates being charged at Musafir Khanas in the mazaars when all has been made and paid for by the ummat? All they need money is just for maintenance ,now.What use is of the Airconditioned rooms when only the rich can afford it?The poor still go and stay at the halls which does not offer privacy .Should not the poor ,the aged,the children be able to avail the facillities at the mawaid,for free/ Think about it.
Is it OK to adorn the graves of our masters with expensive chadars,Gilafs when the poor,wretched of our community do not haave simple kurtas to wear.Is this what Qutbuddin Shaheed wanted? That his grave be adorned with Gold and rich fabrics when just at the nearby saifee colony (right opposite his Roza) there is an old widow abandoned by her children.
You are talking about me being impolte,well you are correct. But have you seen how the Amil insults people,mostly elderly men in his official office during Ramadan at the time of collection.Have you not heard of situations where burials of abdes have been denied because their dues were unpaid.You call that decency?
Have you any idea as to how nmany Bohras have left the forld in the past 20 years? Who is to blae for this?
Think about it. Let us bring the change from within ourselves and truly try to live like Ali and die like Hussain!

Sir, i accept your apology and would like to tender mine too, if in case i might have hurt you.

Yes, i agree to what you say and believe me, i wish there was something we could do about it.

Yes, we can always refuse to pay any money, refuse to listen to give in to undue demands if they make on stretch one owns means of living and if it is at the expence of us sacrificing our well-being, but this is a view that is not openly admitted, more so by the older generation amongst us.

What you have written here is not an eye-opener. it is nothing new, we know about it.

The expensive chaadar, the ruby tears etc are made from money donated by us, agreed. But then again, all the fat salaams that the reformist community keeps talking about, well, peope have made it with their own free will. Maybe waajebat amount if forced, but salaams are purely voluntarily.

The argument for that then is why dont they donate that money to charity? Well, its their own money, they can do what they deem correct. So why cant the Kothar distribute that money? Well, they do. I agree, quite a bit of it might be getting embezzled, but then with crores of rupees in front of you, who wont be tempted to pocket some! I know that if i was in their position, it would be hard for me to resist too, and i am being honest about it.

But that still doesnt stop me from wishing that there was something that we could do to rectify, nay, balance the situation.

Some of the more vocal members on our side here to not approve of the stand that people like Stranger, Human being and I take, but that is because.... well, i dont know why!

[mustafanalwalla]

MN
haa haa haa, you can be quite funny sometimes you know!

I am glad you liked it Brother. But it is true. Is it not?

No. its not true at all. why should i get in trouble?

[mustafanalwalla]

also ,if given openly ,one cannot say this is from moula. Many a times mumineen on a personal basis foot the expenses of feeding mumineen on many religious occasions, but announcement is made that this jaman is from moula and this is simply not true.

Nope.

What you say is simply not true.

Every year, during Ramazan, it is always announced if a jaman or part of it, or tea, or iftaari food is sponsored by someone. That persons name is taken.

[AgnosticTheist]

also ,if given openly ,one cannot say this is from moula. Many a times mumineen on a personal basis foot the expenses of feeding mumineen on many religious occasions, but announcement is made that this jaman is from moula and this is simply not true.

Nope.

What you say is simply not true.

Every year, during Ramazan, it is always announced if a jaman or part of it, or tea, or iftaari food is sponsored by someone. That persons name is taken.

There hasn't ever been a public announcement about who is doing the Ramadan jaman in our city even though more than 60% of the jamans are sponsored (rest comes from collection). So I believe the statement by think is not completely false.

However, the iftaar (milk/tea) and other khidmat guzar names are publicly announced.

[Fateh]

Dear Mr. Nalwala,
My post was in no way to ridicule or to insult you.If you feel offended then I apollogise. What I am trying to do is for people to recognise the stark realities in our community.You have read about the rolexes, and seen the swiss holiday pictures.You must have also seen the huge tear drops made of rubies being put up at Mola Ali's Mehrab.
Just think of it,my brother in faith.Does Mola Ali care about rubies adorning his masjid?
Mola Ali would eat jau no Ato (Oates) even though he had the huge revenues of Fadak at his disposal.This is the same Mola who gave away his ring while in Ruku,The same man who would refused a life of luxuries as he thought it unjustified to live prosperously when there were poor amongst his men. Now you must know of the poverty amongst Bohras.Does it Justify the Dai of the Ummat to order strawberries from UK for breakfast when his own people sleep hungry? How do you justify the high rates being charged at Musafir Khanas in the mazaars when all has been made and paid for by the ummat? All they need money is just for maintenance ,now.What use is of the Airconditioned rooms when only the rich can afford it?The poor still go and stay at the halls which does not offer privacy .Should not the poor ,the aged,the children be able to avail the facillities at the mawaid,for free/ Think about it.
Is it OK to adorn the graves of our masters with expensive chadars,Gilafs when the poor,wretched of our community do not haave simple kurtas to wear.Is this what Qutbuddin Shaheed wanted? That his grave be adorned with Gold and rich fabrics when just at the nearby saifee colony (right opposite his Roza) there is an old widow abandoned by her children.
You are talking about me being impolte,well you are correct. But have you seen how the Amil insults people,mostly elderly men in his official office during Ramadan at the time of collection.Have you not heard of situations where burials of abdes have been denied because their dues were unpaid.You call that decency?
Have you any idea as to how nmany Bohras have left the forld in the past 20 years? Who is to blae for this?
Think about it. Let us bring the change from within ourselves and truly try to live like Ali and die like Hussain!

Salambhai,you write ground reality of our community.
kya miliye aise logo se jinki asaliyat chhupi rahe,naqali chehara samne aaye asli surat chhupi rahe.

[mustafanalwalla]

also ,if given openly ,one cannot say this is from moula. Many a times mumineen on a personal basis foot the expenses of feeding mumineen on many religious occasions, but announcement is made that this jaman is from moula and this is simply not true.

Nope.

What you say is simply not true.

Every year, during Ramazan, it is always announced if a jaman or part of it, or tea, or iftaari food is sponsored by someone. That persons name is taken.

There hasn't ever been a public announcement about who is doing the Ramadan jaman in our city even though more than 60% of the jamans are sponsored (rest comes from collection). So I believe the statement by think is not completely false.

However, the iftaar (milk/tea) and other khidmat guzar names are publicly announced.

I dont know AgnosticTheist, everywhere, every year, in Mumbai, they announce that the niyaaz is from so and so, and so and so na salwaat...

So i guess its extremely subjective.

Tell you what, lets just say that there might have been isolated incidents where due credit has been not given and there might have been isolated incidents where due credit has been given.

So, lets move on. Ok?

[AgnosticTheist]

So i guess its extremely subjective.

Agreed.

So, lets move on. Ok?

And agreed.

[mustafanalwalla]

So i guess its extremely subjective.

Agreed.

So, lets move on. Ok?

And agreed.

[humanbeing]

but salaams are purely voluntarily.

Although a highly subjective situation, but we know what happens in reality with regards to salaam deemed as voluntary. Haven’t we come across instructions by side kicks how much to put in the covers for salaams !! and Fixing minimum units for Najwa !!

[SBM]

Thought to share with you, Once upon a time our community was the most innovative and philanthropic, now all we do is distribute Dabba and Weetis. Look at the following story Also remember
1-First Super retail store was Akberally;s in Mumbai by a Bohra
2-Mercandtile co operative bank started by a Bohra
3-One of largest Developer-Lokhandwala a Bohra (incidentally he is not involved in Bhendi Bazar upliftment, I wonder why)
On philanthropy side
Maskati Turst-Adamjee Peerbhai Tust-Morriswala Trust-Darukhana Trust- and many more who used to give instead of taking like all these Kothari Goons are doing, May be Adam-Progticide_Profstian as well Nalwalla can shed some light on how many TRUSTS ARE BEING RUN BY THESE ZAADAS AND THE KOTHARI GOONS

> Did you know that a Bohri was a pioneer of development of Bombay. read article below:
> SALEBHOY KARAMJI BARODAWALLA ( A Dawoodi Bohra Icon)
>
> Sheriff of Bombay, 1926-27, Landlord and Businessman; Chairman (twice) Improvement Committee of Municipal Corporation, Bombay, 1935, Born 1884, son of Karimji Allibhoy M. Karimji Allibhoy was a landlord and Financer and Partner of M/s. Balkrishna and Curimji Contractors who constructed the Victoria Terminus, Bombay Municipality, Army & Navy Building (twice) Whiteway Laidlaw Building, Anjuman-i-Islam School Building, Churchgate Station Bldg, Salvation Army Building (Fort), his own buildings and various mills, Falak Numa Palace (Hyderabad) and Bezwada Railway, Hyderabad Deccan, Dewan’s Office, Kaiser Baug & Palace, Civil Secretariat, Palaces for His Exalted Highness Hyderabad, Basni Baug Palace of Vik-ul, Uma of Hyderabad, laying of water pipes and building filter beds for the whole of Hyderabad City, Jail and other buildings in Baroda, etc. including the Palace. Also constructed the Railway Track from Baroda to Ahmedabad and various Bridges from Bombay to Baroda, Hyderabad and Bezwada.
>
> Was elected in 1907 to Bombay Municipal Corporation and retained the seat for over 31 Years. Member standing Committee of the Corporation for more than nine years and its Chairman, 1916-17, was made J. P. and Honorary Presidency Magistrate, 1908.
>
> During the Great World War was responsible for getting about 30 lacs subscribed by his community towards the War Loans without interest was solely responsible in inducing the Government to issue War Loans bearing endorsement “Without Interest”, was more than once Chairman Entertainment Committee for British and Indian Soldiers. At his own expense got a temporary theatre built at Marine Lines for the enjoyment of grounded soldiers. Was awarded Certificates of Merits and was recipient of the Voluntary and General Service Medal 1914-1918 from the Commander-in-Chief. Was mentioned twice in the dispatches during the War, was Capitan of Merit and Cups for marksmanship in the Rifle Shooting.
>
> Member of the Bombay Board of Film Censors from 1919-1937; acted for short time as Secretary and President. Chairman, Markets and Garden Committees 1923-34,,Member of the Food and Other Commodity , Committees for B, C and E wards and its Chairman 1914-18. Member of the Law, Revenue and General Purpose Committees and its Chairman. Member of the Doorways and Telephone Committed and its Chairman. Member of the Improvement Trust Board and twice its Chairman 1934 to 1936.
>
> Nominated Member, Bombay Legislative Council, 1916-1921. Elected Member Legislative Assembly, 120-23; Vice President and President, All India Muslim Federation from 1926 and Further President All India Hedja Conference 1926. President, All India Muslim Education Conference, Malagam and Surat, 18th April 1917.
>
> Regular player in Lord Sydneham’s Cricket Eleven. One time held the All India Lawn Tennis Championship and several times at Islam Gymkhana. Had obtained several times swimming and other indoor and outdoor games Championship prizes. Had the honour of performing the unveiling ceremony of the portraits of Their Excellencies Lord and Lady Willingdon at Viceregal House, 29th March 1933 New Delhi. Was awarded Royal Silver Jubilee Medal, 1935.
>
> Founder and Director of The Bombay Chronicle along with the late Sir. Pherozshah Mehta, Kt. It is mentioned in the book published by the Chronicle some years ago. At the request of late Sir Pherozshah Mehta who along with Mr. B. Horniman, Editor of the Chronicle.

>

[SBM]

Nalwalla

Some of the more vocal members on our side here to not approve of the stand that people like Stranger, Human being and I take, but that is because.... well, i dont know why!

Nalwalla if the people on this forum (die hard Regressive) do not approve of your stand regarding corruption how do you think the Kothari Goons and Aamils will even listen to people who go and complain and ask for help and other things?

[bohraji]

In most towns or cities the Jaman is announced as "aqa mola na taraf se" and this will be a norm everywhere.
Salaam is not voluntary in a majority of cases.We all know that so there is no point discussing that.

[bohraji]

Adding my bit to SBM's post.
Bohras pioneered the canning/food preserve industry in India ( Mala's).Bohras pioneered indegeneous cosmetics ( E.S. Patan Wala of Afghan Snow ).Bohras pioneerd paints industry ( Bombay Paints ). The pioneers of appartment hotels in the gulf are the Dadabhai's ,another dawoodi Bohra family.One of the earliest and largest poultry farm in Mahrashtra belongs to Dawoodi Bohras (Karachiwala's) Even the major shipchandlers have been dawoodi bohras.C J of India, Justice Miya Bhai was a dawoodi Bohra as well He was also from Ahmedabad and on good terms with The late sayedna. Infact at a party in Surat where all the zaadas were present.The then Sayedna asked Justice Miya Bhai to mingle with his sons and find out who is the smartest.After the party Justice Miya Bhai told him YN! A prominent professor was hired from a top university and NY's education began at home.The Profesor was able to finish his lob in a year and told Sayedna Taher Saifuddin that his job is done as YN was very smart. This story is well known in Ahmedabad.

[zohair1977]

Just go and visit Burhani Society, its called Dawoodi Bohra slum which is right behind Qutbi Roza...

[SBM]

]IS IT JUST ME OR DID EVERYONE HAS NOTICED THAT ALL THE ABDE REGRESSIVE EXCEPT FOR MUSTAFA ARE ABSENT ON THIS THREAD
ADAM-PROGTICIDE-PROFSTIAN-MURTAZA VD-SHBBIR4U THE DEFENDERS OF KOTHARI GOONS HAVE NOT POSTED ANYTHING ON THIS THREAD, THEY THINK POVERTY DOES NOT EXISTS IN DB COMMUNITY BECAUSE KOTHARI GOONS AKA AAMILS ARE TAKING CARE OF PEOPLE

Hats off to Bohraji for bringing this tragedy in our community to forefront and I do hope people from Progressive side will stand up and help people thru Bohraji without imposing our beliefs or attacking their beliefs. Humanity first and foremost and rest is just talk.

[ghulam muhammed]

all the fat salaams that the reformist community keeps talking about, well, peope have made it with their own free will.

Do you understand the difference between 'free will" and "compulsion (majboori)" ? Take the recent example of the dai's recent visit to pune where there were daily qadambosis with an average turnout of around 5000 people. He was seated on his throne and there were seperate queues for ladies/gents i.e. the queue reaching his right foot was of gents and the left one for ladies. Abdes could only manage to kiss his feet and the charges were Rs.5,200/- per head. I agree that many abdes gave the amount voluntarily but there were even poor abdes who had the khwahish of doing qadambosi and had to COMPULSARILY pay Rs.5,200/-, an amount which is enough to take care of their monthly expense. Moreover, have you ANYTIME seen the salam amount "not specified" i.e. has it been told that one has to do salams, the amount not specified ????

[abde53]

Adding my bit to SBM's post.
Bohras pioneered the canning/food preserve industry in India ( Mala's).Bohras pioneered indegeneous cosmetics ( E.S. Patan Wala of Afghan Snow ).Bohras pioneerd paints industry ( Bombay Paints ). The pioneers of appartment hotels in the gulf are the Dadabhai's ,another dawoodi Bohra family.One of the earliest and largest poultry farm in Mahrashtra belongs to Dawoodi Bohras (Karachiwala's) Even the major shipchandlers have been dawoodi bohras.C J of India, Justice Miya Bhai was a dawoodi Bohra as well He was also from Ahmedabad and on good terms with The late sayedna. Infact at a party in Surat where all the zaadas were present.The then Sayedna asked Justice Miya Bhai to mingle with his sons and find out who is the smartest.After the party Justice Miya Bhai told him YN! A prominent professor was hired from a top university and NY's education began at home.The Profesor was able to finish his lob in a year and told Sayedna Taher Saifuddin that his job is done as YN was very smart. This story is well known in Ahmedabad.

and all that happend because of our shafiq bawa TUS duas and wasila, all these people are our shafiq bawa's adna ghulam and our because of his dua and ehsan our community is prospering and doing good May our shafiq bawa TUS and his mansoos syedi wa moulai Muffadal bs TUS live ta qayamat and help with the prosperity of our community. remembers it is our shafiq bawa TUS who gave raza to organize trade fair in mumbai too.

[mustafanalwalla]

all the fat salaams that the reformist community keeps talking about, well, peope have made it with their own free will.

Do you understand the difference between 'free will" and "compulsion (majboori)" ? Take the recent example of the dai's recent visit to pune where there were daily qadambosis with an average turnout of around 5000 people. He was seated on his throne and there were seperate queues for ladies/gents i.e. the queue reaching his right foot was of gents and the left one for ladies. Abdes could only manage to kiss his feet and the charges were Rs.5,200/- per head. I agree that many abdes gave the amount voluntarily but there were even poor abdes who had the khwahish of doing qadambosi and had to COMPULSARILY pay Rs.5,200/-, an amount which is enough to take care of their monthly expense. Moreover, have you ANYTIME seen the salam amount "not specified" i.e. has it been told that one has to do salams, the amount not specified ????

Yes i agree that it is quite sad that for poor Bohra's who wish to do Quadambosi, they had to pay money... But all i can say is that since they wanted to do Quadambosi, they HAD to pay money. So, it was in essence, not COMPULSARY, not FORCED. If they could not pay the money, they would have to forgo their chance, which again, yes i agree, is quite unfortunate.

[bohraji]

Seconding SBM's post.
Where are the othos gon?
Are we as a community reduced to shouting laanats only. Did not Mola ALi gave all the money he had to a poor person even though his family was starving? Why is that the othos are quiet on this subject?
Did not Imam Zainal Abedin go out in the dark of night with a bag of food and fed the hungry? Just look around amongst our own people.Yu will find poor young people who cannot get married because they are not rich enough. Just inqire about a bohra asking for alms near a roza and you will know that he has hungry children at home.Next time you buy an expensive attar to put on a mazaar,just look at the steps of the roza.Thre will be an old widow sitting ,her dark rida a stark contrast to the whiter than white marble of the masoleum.The amount you paid for the attar could have bought her the medicines that she badly needs.However we beleive that her dirty clothes have blended with her white surroundings and she was invisible to our eyes.
Let us open the eyes of our souls instead.Try to help a dsititute today.Look around in the Jamaat Khana the next time.There will be a thaal of the outcasts.They are shown no respect as they cannot afford shiny topis.The next time you have a jaman done ,please make sure that you invite atleats one such person.try to cut down an extra Kharas and extra mithai.And instead do a sadaqa of the same amount of money.Perhaps a child will be able to buy a uniform and will not be ridiculed at school.Stop doing the monthly,pehli tarikh salaam to your amil,instead buy a pencil box and give it to a poor child.The Amil has his food taken care of and is being his wazifa,the salaams should be a token amount only.
Let our faces shine on the day of Judgement and proclaim proudly to Allah,and say ,yes , I did try to live like Ali. As brother SBM told me,let us help one person,one family at a time.Let us rather give one chappati to a living hungry child then a rose on the grave of a dead loved one.

[aqs]

Seconding SBM's post.
Where are the othos gon?
Are we as a community reduced to shouting laanats only. Did not Mola ALi gave all the money he had to a poor person even though his family was starving? Why is that the othos are quiet on this subject?
Did not Imam Zainal Abedin go out in the dark of night with a bag of food and fed the hungry? Just look around amongst our own people.Yu will find poor young people who cannot get married because they are not rich enough. Just inqire about a bohra asking for alms near a roza and you will know that he has hungry children at home.Next time you buy an expensive attar to put on a mazaar,just look at the steps of the roza.Thre will be an old widow sitting ,her dark rida a stark contrast to the whiter than white marble of the masoleum.The amount you paid for the attar could have bought her the medicines that she badly needs.However we beleive that her dirty clothes have blended with her white surroundings and she was invisible to our eyes.
Let us open the eyes of our souls instead.Try to help a dsititute today.Look around in the Jamaat Khana the next time.There will be a thaal of the outcasts.They are shown no respect as they cannot afford shiny topis.The next time you have a jaman done ,please make sure that you invite atleats one such person.try to cut down an extra Kharas and extra mithai.And instead do a sadaqa of the same amount of money.Perhaps a child will be able to buy a uniform and will not be ridiculed at school.Stop doing the monthly,pehli tarikh salaam to your amil,instead buy a pencil box and give it to a poor child.The Amil has his food taken care of and is being his wazifa,the salaams should be a token amount only.
Let our faces shine on the day of Judgement and proclaim proudly to Allah,and say ,yes , I did try to live like Ali. As brother SBM told me,let us help one person,one family at a time.Let us rather give one chappati to a living hungry child then a rose on the grave of a dead loved one.

@Bohraji,

To a very large extent i agree with your post and intention and we should follow. We all are doing our part in helping our brethren in need but its not enough as we can still see people who are in despair. Faizul Mawaid Al Burhania is one such scheme which has the potential to change things in the community on ground level. People on this Forum have been harping about only negatives of the scheme forgetting how many of our less fortunate brothers are getting decent quality food because of this. This is in no way a favor to them as its ordained on us to help them.

Dont blame the whole community because of few bad apples, WE (you and others on this forum are a part of WE) all have been brought up in the same environment with same kind of teachings from our parents and we also feel the anguish in the same way. As said earlier every one is doing their part, its just that more needs to be done.

[bohraji]

"As said earlier every one is doing their part, its just that more needs to be done."...Aqs.
Dear Aqs Bhai.
That is the whole point! Every body is not doing their part. The priestly class has brainwashed the young generation to a large extent.They beleive najaat is gained by paying the establishment as most do not know the ground realities of our community.When this community can afford to pay for the lavish lifestyles of the Kothar,the Benzes,the diamond,the rubies, etc.Then the same community can take care of their own needy.The bulk are made to beleive that the money paid to kotahr is used for charity.But where is the charity when we can spot children with worn out jablo izaar,coming to the jamaat khaana just so that they may get food.Where is the charity when young boys in rajasthan have to leave midway from college to go to the gulf to earn.I can go on and on.
I am glad that we agree on many things.Even I am for the dabba system.A lot of poor are benefitted.ofcourse a lot is being syphoned as well.
Let us change, as we change,the world changes.

[mustafanalwalla]

Seconding SBM's post.
Where are the othos gon?
Are we as a community reduced to shouting laanats only. Did not Mola ALi gave all the money he had to a poor person even though his family was starving? Why is that the othos are quiet on this subject?
Did not Imam Zainal Abedin go out in the dark of night with a bag of food and fed the hungry? Just look around amongst our own people.Yu will find poor young people who cannot get married because they are not rich enough. Just inqire about a bohra asking for alms near a roza and you will know that he has hungry children at home.Next time you buy an expensive attar to put on a mazaar,just look at the steps of the roza.Thre will be an old widow sitting ,her dark rida a stark contrast to the whiter than white marble of the masoleum.The amount you paid for the attar could have bought her the medicines that she badly needs.However we beleive that her dirty clothes have blended with her white surroundings and she was invisible to our eyes.
Let us open the eyes of our souls instead.Try to help a dsititute today.Look around in the Jamaat Khana the next time.There will be a thaal of the outcasts.They are shown no respect as they cannot afford shiny topis.The next time you have a jaman done ,please make sure that you invite atleats one such person.try to cut down an extra Kharas and extra mithai.And instead do a sadaqa of the same amount of money.Perhaps a child will be able to buy a uniform and will not be ridiculed at school.Stop doing the monthly,pehli tarikh salaam to your amil,instead buy a pencil box and give it to a poor child.The Amil has his food taken care of and is being his wazifa,the salaams should be a token amount only.
Let our faces shine on the day of Judgement and proclaim proudly to Allah,and say ,yes , I did try to live like Ali. As brother SBM told me,let us help one person,one family at a time.Let us rather give one chappati to a living hungry child then a rose on the grave of a dead loved one.

@Bohraji,

To a very large extent i agree with your post and intention and we should follow. We all are doing our part in helping our brethren in need but its not enough as we can still see people who are in despair. Faizul Mawaid Al Burhania is one such scheme which has the potential to change things in the community on ground level. People on this Forum have been harping about only negatives of the scheme forgetting how many of our less fortunate brothers are getting decent quality food because of this. This is in no way a favor to them as its ordained on us to help them.

Dont blame the whole community because of few bad apples, WE (you and others on this forum are a part of WE) all have been brought up in the same environment with same kind of teachings from our parents and we also feel the anguish in the same way. As said earlier every one is doing their part, its just that more needs to be done.

Welcome back Aqs. Missed you for a long time.

What Bohraji is saying does strike a chord somewhere.

The next time i decide to put money in the galla, i think i will give it to a poor person. And the next time i take my son to mc donalds, i shall make sure i buy atleast 2 small burgers for the kids outside.

He is right, we need to change ourselves first, then the community, then the nation and then the world.

Thank you Bohraji, your words have opened my eyes...

[aqs]

Topic should be renamed to Poverty in Bohras as its not exclusive of Ahmedabad only. As GM, AZ and others have mentioned about Mumbai and Surat almost every Bohra City has people who are finding it hard to make their ends meet. Food, Medicine, Education every basic need has skyrocketed in India and Pakistan. We have a habit of paying to Kothar and then closing our eyes to poverty strewn in front of us, we think they are being taken care by Moula and their is no need for us to directly help and shamelessly we sometimes blame poor people for just using the resources or money given by Kothar which in reality might have never reached them.

Its time we on our own individual level start helping just one mumin at a time(as mentioned by Br. SBM and others), dont wait for Kothar or others to take care of needy its our duty to help, if you want to take help of others and organise its good otherwise one can also help it just needs the will.

Start with things not used in your household but is in good condition, donate cloths, blankets, extra crockery, stationary, school books, Uniform, ration for a month to a family.

[humanbeing]

Bohraji

Hats off to you ! I appreciate your thinking and provoked a conscience in reader’s heart. May Allah bless you. I also agree with Aqs, few bad apples spoil the whole basket.

Thus such corrupt apples shall be identified, punished and reformed. Many people cry about corruption and express helplessness to fight corruption, Cowardly we have accepted corruption in our tiny closely controlled community as norm of life. Comparative examples are given with large size governance of countries with Bohra community its limited size and ability to control can weed out corruption

Corruption can be reduced if not eliminated. A tightly held community where a policy implementation is fastest, can work wonders if top management decides to get rid of corruption. The sad irony is “Rakshak hi Bhakshak ban gaye hai”

When transparency, accountability, discipline and clarity of schemes are existent, then there is little chance of failure or wastage or corruption. I can stretch my imagination and dream of a world, the difference bohra community members can bring with concerted effort, wealth, expertise and blessing from Allah.

We don’t need gold zaris, we don’t need fancy resorts around musoleums, we don’t need superstitious Faals, we don’t need money oriented respect. We need schools, we need medical assistance, we need housing schemes, we need scholarship programs, we need old age homes, we need vocational training centres. More and more, here and there, now and then !

We need to change our mindset; expression of love shall be deeds not money ! money has become a benchmark to express respect and affection. Be it salaams, galla, chaadar, silver faals.

Let coordinators, organizers, volunteers, planners and managers of association be paid handsomely to carry out charity work as NGO do. But let their be transparency. Imagine the revolution we can achieve if we apply commerce strategies (SCM, transportation theory, accountability, delegation and internal controls)

I have come across some good schemes recently ! better late then never :

Kuwait Jamaat undertook a massive drive to revamp / renovate living conditions of all Bohra mumineen living in Kuwait; family or bachelors. Houses were inspected as per benchmark quality standards and repairs were suggested and arranged with shared expenses.

Thali / Dabba scheme has helped many bohra mumins, who are living on meagre salaries. Struggling in a strange land away from family. Debt to pay off and lacking talent to improve their income in short span.

Bit by Bit, let good work happen. Inshallah I stand in support of every good initiative undertaken. There will be bad apples, they need to be picked up before they become a disease !

I will continue to pay sabeel, wajebaat, hoob to the extent I feel justified that its going in Khair-na-kam. Every bohra mumin shall be aware and take effort to know what he /she is participating into. Washing off responsibility by entrusting chunk of wealth into other’s hands inspite of seeing visible corruption is not faith. Charity is a responsibility not a duty !

[bohraji]

Mashallah!
Look at the community we are in.
Just a few words have inspired people to change their view of thinking.I have always beleived in the kindness of human nature and yes let us stop paying off the fat salaams .One person,one family at a time.

[SBM]

What Bohraji is saying does strike a chord somewhere.

The next time i decide to put money in the galla, i think i will give it to a poor person. And the next time i take my son to mc donalds, i shall make sure i buy atleast 2 small burgers for the kids outside.

He is right, we need to change ourselves first, then the community, then the nation and then the world.

Thank you Bohraji, your words have opened my eyes...

mustafanalwalla

Posts: 881
Joined: Thu Mar 03, 2011 7:13 am

Br, Aqs-Mustafa-HB and Bohraji
Thank you and specially to Mustafa Nalwalla, I am glad that you are seeing the things in right direction May Allah reward you and your family for doing the right and helping people in need
Br Aqs always the voice of reason-I just donot think that I will put any money in the GOLAKS as you suggested but instead do what Bohraji and Nalwala suggested and as done by Bohraji-- DIRECT HELP TO PEOPLE IN NEED

[ozmujaheed]

Eradicating poverty is more important than giving handouts, $1 sadaqa when visiting a roza will not eradicate poverty. It may benefit the giver by emotional satisfaction.

The fundamental way is education, employment, self employment , giving skills and tools to earn a living, health prevention and cure to make people productive in labour, birth control, political freedom to challenge corruption, etc etc

This may sound bigotry but how many bohras employ non bohra shop assistants, chauffeurs , workshop workers and house helps, there is nothing wrong or shameful in employing fellow bohras and treating and paying them a decent wage, objective is to reduce unemployment .

Sponsor kids in schools so they finish college, help them find jobs or employ them fairly. Buy or rent them low cost housing.

I do not know the numbers but ejamaat will have the stats, how many bohras are below the poverty line globally, , 1 lake or 5 lakh out of the 1millon population.

For discussion Assuming 3 Laks because India as a general has 40% people living below unesco poverty levels so 30% in bohras cannot be far from the real figure. This is equivalent to 1 lakh families. If they need rupees 5000 per month to live above poverty then the benovalent fund has to be in the range 500 million rupees a month or say 5 billion rupees a year which is approx $ 100 million dollars a year.

Roughly $200 per person who is not poor. Say for discussion this is $1000 per family. Now if a large portion of wajebat was used for this, sincerely, I would not mind giving $1100 where $100 could be kothars profit. I know in the west the average or mimimum figures are as high as $3000 wajebat. So there is no excuse that the admins have no funds for the cause, if they reduced their greed

Sponsor a bohra family from overseas like I have where I have adopted a kid through a local charity and will educate her for the rest of her school life...however in my case it is a non bohra because there is no trust worthy well run charity that I know of which operates the way I have described or like world vision or red cross.

[SBM]

Br Ozmujaheed

Eradicating poverty is more important than giving handouts, $1 sadaqa when visiting a roza will not eradicate poverty. It may benefit the giver by emotional satisfaction.

What you are saying is very true but it is not the within the scope of these small group of people from both side of spectrum who are trying to help one person or one family at a time. Eradication of poverty requires lot of efforts with NGOs Remember India's famous political slogan GHARIBI HATAAO all it did was remove the Ghaarib.
What Bohraji is doing is commendable and please help him in his efforts As was said in a movie Upkaar which I saw yesterday RATION PEY BHASHAN HEY, BHASHAN PEY RASTION NAHI
We need action and Bohraji's actions are commendable you see the results already, MN-Stranger and many other unnamed people are already doing it discreetly
I did not mean to offend you just wanted to make sure that we do not get off topic of helping the people within our means