Dawoodi Bohra Forum

Mr. Insaf recently wrote a post for this forum titled "In defence of the silent majority". I posted a response at one point but soon realized my post was almost immediately buried under dozens of subsequent posts, most of which resolved around personal squabbles between other members of this forum ...

Humsafar wrote:

2) Criticism of Bohra clergy by non-abde Bohras and Wahabis. Both see that there is fundamentally wrong with the picture. Both criticise the clergy from different standpoints. Our agendas are different. It is unfortunate that the two get clubbed together. Not only that, this lack ...

Al Zulfiqar, I will now resume my previous post.

You wrote:

when will reform come? will it ever come? yes, it will happen. that is a resounding affirmation from my side. revolutions usually gather steam at a snail's pace. sometimes the flame flickers and almost goes out, but every setback ...

Al Zulfiqar:

Thank you for the long and excellent post. I can relate to how writing posts can take up a lot of time, my wife is even more annoyed with me than usual! I agree with 90% of your post, but disagree on some points, which I bring up in the spirit of friendly and respectful debate.

i ...

Ozdundee:

You wrote:

May be you would have done more credit to your impeccable writing skills by concluding what you propose people to do when they see the level of bad practises you described ? Should they turn a blind eye ?

First of all, thank you for the compliment on my writing! As for ...

yusuftopiwala just left a fantastic post on this thread, it should be placed on the homepage of this website and every reformist should be forced to read it 1000 times. I don't recall ever reading such a respectful, short, yet comprehensive refutation of the entire reformist enterprise. In ...

Ghulam Mohammed:

You wrote:

As regards me, kindly note that Iam NOT a member of reformist group,

I stand corrected. In retrospect, I should have known better; your posts show a seriousness about religious issues that reformists almost always lack. I have noted Mr. Insaf has been frequenting the ...

humanbeing:

With all due respect, one of us is confused, but it isn't me.

You presented your views on bohraism as total falsehood and yet want to introduce your children to bohra culture.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=9212

The above link is to my first post on this forum. In that post, I tried to ...

Ghulam Muhammed:

You recently wrote:

10. And the most important question of all…. If this concept of the appointment of the Imam is so important and pivotal to Islam and its survival, how come nothing (absolutely nothing) has been mentioned about it in the Holy Quran? How come the Messenger of ...

Well it seems that this thread has basically come to an end. I am thankful to the people that shared their thoughts. But it is disappointing that noone really attempted to address the specific issue I raised in the beginning...

What I am interested in is people with reformist outlooks explaining ...

Humsafar:

You wrote:

Nothing much has changed since we discussed this topic six months ago. You've nothing new to say.

Well I suppose this is true, but I do find it strange you would say that to someone who has posted here only 13 times. What new things have you been saying over 14 years and 2 ...

SBM:

You wrote:

I deduce from your post that you are a Non Bohra and Non Shia Muslim since you clearly advocate Bohras to quit this sect and join another Muslim Sect.

You are correct. I was born and raised as a Dawoodi Bohra though.

I am still looking for a Muslim Sect which follows the True ...

humanbeing:

you wrote:

Munafiq is inappropriate accusation when I question bohra doctrines. Prove that bohra doctrines are worth believing !

I do not accuse you of hypocrisy for the actual questioning of Bohra doctrines. For doing that, I would only accuse you of having a functioning brain. But ...

humanbeing:

I also enjoyed reading your POV. I found it insightful, particularly your observation that I like things to be black and white. I have heard that from many others!

I do have some qualms with your response though.

You write:

I am a member of orthodox bohra community.

But you also ...

Six months ago, I wrote a post on this forum entitled "Is reform truly possible?"

http://www.dawoodi-bohras.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=9212

In my opinion, this question remains by far the singular most important issue facing Dawoodi Bohras today.

The first question all Bohras must ask ...

AliZahra:

I have now read your "claimants exposed" post (along with many others, 98% of which I agree with).

In it, you state that not only is the Dai not infallible, much of what he does is blatantly un-Islamic.

Then you call into question whether the Imam uz-Zaman even exists! After all, there ...

You seem to be saying that if Dai is claiming to be something then let him be.

Yes, exactly.

That his claims are in contravention of our core beliefs does not seem to be much of a problem for you.

Well, it was enough of a problem for me that I left the faith, but I do believe he can claim ...

The role of the Dai and Dawat is clearly laid out in the Fatimid and Tayyebi source books and well defined by tradition and history.

I find this statement somewhat problematic. Others on this forum (Al-Zulfiqar) have made a similar argument, referencing the Fatimid Dai Qadi Noman and his work ...

Humsafar, you wrote:

In any religious system there always are some central planks of beliefs that remain firm and almost absolute. When discussing Bohra faith, we've to agree on what those central planks are: In my understanding it is the Ismaili system of Imamt (and his representatives) founded ...

Humsafar: You wrote:

Even so, the fact remains that you've built your argument on a false premise - infallibility of the Dai - and with the slightest nudge the whole thing comes crashing down.

I did not build my argument on the premise that the Dai is ACTUALLY infallible; I built my argument on ...

Biradar: You have written:

In any case, that the da'i is infallible is a myth.

This is your opinion. Hopefully it is clear by now that I wholeheartedly agree.

It is not part of the Bohra faith.

Now this statement is more problematic. It may be that the claim of infallibility is a relatively ...

JC:

I strongly disagree that there is any validity in what Humsafar wrote, must I respond to someone who calls me a devious devil? Besides, the main thrust of his argument is that I believe in the infallibilty of the Dai ; I made it very clear that I do not and that I left the faith. And I do not ...

think, Ozdundee:

I must admit I find the excitement and hope many reform-minded Dawoodi Bohras have placed in Khuzema Qutbuddin to be very peculiar.

The basic narrative of the Progressive Bohras is as follows: Our Dais used to be humble servants of God and the community. Then, a change began to ...

Hello everyone. Like many of you I am sure, the events of the past few weeks have grabbed my attention and have even prompted me to write to this forum for the first time.

I was born in the United States into a Dawoodi Bohra family. At an early age, I became troubled with many aspects of our faith ...