Dawoodi Bohra Forum

Dear Aqa Maula, and all you bohras speak up! So-called "Imam Ali shrine" as US media calls it does not belong to al-Sadr or ANY politicos, arab, iranian, or yankee imperialist! This is a holy place for all of us. We must let the world know we care. Silence is just cowardice.

C'mon guys, let's call muslim first out once in awhile! "Bhagwan" means Lord. Of course His chair is empty!!! Even imam tayyib is "absent" so that we can think about God. Now there's an idea!

Dear Saad, hey man you are living the dream! Since when is it easy to go diving for the Pearl... so you really want it or not? Then submit to the One who knows the cost of these things. People in Najran know the cost because they are not saudi sunni wahhabi. How bout you? Her people have told her ...

Nicky br. Sikh, I applaud your courage in taking an objective stance on the "Old Man". Although I don't necessarily endorse everything that "bohra officialdom" does, I agree with you that our friends on this board have become a little too obsessive-compulsive about him, "losing sight of the forest ...

Can anyone on this board give an English translation or paraphrase of Idris Imaduddin's quotes from Ikhwan al-Safa, about not confusing the Tayyibi Imams with Twelvers concealed one? (It is found at the very end of his Uyun al-akhbar, thanks!)

Hur, Khairan, Muhsin, Musalmaan: I appreciate your input. As you've all pointed out in your own ways, it's not very likely that I can become "one of you", given the total lack of interest in possible converts like me! May I offer for your consideration two very different ways the future of the ...

Hur and Ismailite, do you have any comments on the "jaziras of Night" I proposed? Now I realize this is not a "perfect" facsimile of your 12 manifest Hujjahs (Day) and 12 concealed Hujjahs (Night), Ismailite. But I never pretended it was a perfect model; just a "jumping off point" for some mission ...

Hur and Ismailite,

Please bear in mind that I am sincerely solicitous in my desire to see a renewal and blooming of the Mission. At the same time I confess there are already some tuggings of despair for me as I see how very little the orthodox and reformist people who participate on this board ...

Mumineen tells us, we have known a lot of Indians and Pakistanis to be claiming arrogantly that they are "Sayyeds" - ancestors of Hazrat Ali etc.

History tells us that most of the Indians and Pakistanis have been originally converts from the Hindus to Islam. Hazrat Ali and his subsequent roots ...

This may not be a luxury available to you if you are a true Mission. Certainly dais on the run, "in the old days", could not cop out with a line like this! You are either there or you aren't...as I'm sure intellects who are capable of grasping this (like you) realize.

I am starting a separate thread, as a result of a correspondent kindly directing my attention to something which is often discussed on this board: whether it's possible for the Bohra Imams to have continued through so many generations since the time of the Fatimids. Apparently, the seventh Imam ...

Rasul,
before one can grow with the spiritual level, one must understand the starting point to grow from. Maybe you could establish this for us.

Thanks for your reply, Hur. Could you clarify your question abit -- do you mean the starting point for organizational growth, or the starting point of ...

In the interest of offering something constructive rather than the usual negative griping/belly-aching that so often characterizes this board, please consider the following:

"muslim" recently pointed out on several different threads that -- unlike traditional Ismailism -- the Dawa today is no ...

Sacred tradition, of course, says that this eventuality was clearly foreseen. Imam Amir had announced beforehand that he was going on a long journey (though few realized that he meant this "literally"). Concealed as part of the standard transfer of household goods that preceded a ruler's tour of his ...

What must be pointed out in these necessarily brief observations, is the overt desparation of the viziers' final grab for power in the Fatimid capital of Cairo. Although we cannot excuse the assassins of culpability in the murder of Imam Amir (1132 C.E.), it is clear that Ali bin al-Afdal, the heir ...

The actual "ruling" of the kingdom, in accordance with time-honored Islamic traditions of administering political entities, was facilitated through his "vizier", a kind of prime minister. During the lengthy reign of Imam Mustansir, an ambitious Armenian family provided able candidates for this ...

According to tradition, the descent of darkness was clearly foreseen and prepared for already in Imam Mustansir's reign. In addition, however, an inner dynamic or tension was building between the two 'provinces' of the Imam's ultimate governing roles as both 'king' and 'priest'. Neither the Imam ...

Rene Guenon correctly attributes the "schism" in the roles of priest-king that occurred within the medieval Christian West, as the defining characteristic of the present Age of Darkness (which he calls "Kali Yuga", in accordance with the ancient Vedic schema.) Although fatefully rooted in the ...

"The Roles of Priest and King for the Fatimid Imams"

In the Judaeo-Christian West, the traditional concept of priest-king is associated with the name of "Melchizedek" (found in both the Old and New Testaments), which Rene Guenon renders "Melki-Tsedeq". In Arabic, this name corresponds to Malik ...

The following remarks are a testament to a great scholar, Rene Guenon, author of "Le Roi du monde"; who although he was thoroughly versed in the Vedic literature of ancient India, proclaimed his spiritual testament clearly when he converted to Islam. He spent the last two decades of his life in ...