Current State of Bohras

[bohra_manus]

I came across this picture that reminds me of current status of Bohras in general. Folded hands and crying while in presence of their godman. No one dares to stand up to the madman and his bullies.

[think]

just a little imagination and the flat nosed can be a long nosed or stubby nosed.

[gulam_parinda]

Abde dumbo ki khaal se bani huyi...Pure halal leather...

[Shk Mohammed Yamani]

કયા વોહ નમરૂદ કી ખ઼ુદાઈ થી?   
બંદગી  મેં મેરા ભલા  ન  હૂવા


کیا وہ نمرود کی خُدائی تھی؟
بندگی  میں میرا بھلا  نہ  ہوا

When prayers do not help; may be you are worshipping a false god like Nimrud    Mirza Ghalib

Bohras, please think. You are worshiping false (money) Gods.

Note: Anjuman-e-Qutbi Jamat address is1027 E Philadelphia St, Ontario, CA 91761 United States Tel.+1 626 623 2864

Ughrana ઉઘરાના for Sherullah 1438H

Salaam, Members of Anjuman-e-Qutbi,

I am writing this email to share with you some thoughts and concerns regarding issues in the Jamat . 
Shehrullah

Shehrullah is around the corner and once again the BoD (Board of Directors) of Anjuman e Qutbi are trying to fix something that hasn't broken yet. Since this Jamat started, families have been doing Shehrullah Niyaz  individually, with their own khushi and without any pressure whatsoever. Around 5 years ago the Jamat  started collecting iftaar fund of $253 from families who were not participating in Jaman which was OK and reasonable. The very next year they raised the unit to $353. The following year it was raised to $553 and that's when the greed kicked in. Now they want to eradicate the concept of individual family Jaman and collect $753 from every family. What for? If a family is ready to do Jaman on their own with their khushi, then why enforce this ugrana on them? There was a never a problem of doing Niyaz  in Ramadhan, all nights were being taken by families very quickly. If you look at the calculation, $753 x 123 families (according to the calendar) = $92,619. Is this really how much money that will be spent in Ramadan?? You got to be kidding me! Even if they deduct 23 non Sabeel paying families, it is still 75K. The cost of Niyaz  may be different for weekdays and weekends but that's up to the family on how much they want to spend.  My family has been doing Ramadhan Niyaz  for many years. We prefer to do it on a Sunday and it absolutely costs more than $753. But the question is, why are we being forced to pay this unit when families have no problem to do Niyaz  with their khushi as it is being done worldwide. Those families who used to participate know the satisfaction of hosting iftaar jaman.  Not to forget Lailatul Qadr Niyaz  is collected separately as per guidelines from Al Vazarat. First of all it is not acceptable to have such a high ugrana ઉઘરાના unit. Doesn't it cost less to do Jaman these days because of the simple menu as per guidelines from Al Vazarat? And also negotiability with the caterers for giving contract of whole month and buying iftaar necessities in bulk? When you ask board members about the breakdown, they give you a look of "how dare you" ? On the other hand they are sending out emails which sound more like an executive order of mandatory units round the year. If the intention is to include everyone in the ramadhan Niyaz  then this unit would be reasonable and not ridiculously high like this. This is just pure greed....92K or 75K, seriously?? In this case I would rather give money to Jamat s in India and Pakistan where they struggle to fill up the Ramadhan nights rather than giving surplus to anjuman e qutbi. Who knows,they might have already decided $1053 unit for the next year. This is not about affordability. It is about unnecessary and unreasonable collection of funds, integrity and taking charge of everything as a whole. If I were a multi-millionaire I would still raise these questions because what is wrong is wrong. 
 Sabeel
When a few families left the Jamat the BoD used that as an excuse to raise the Sabeel. There are so many families that have joined the Jamat since then. Shouldn't the Sabeel be accordingly decreased then? Also, we had no Amil Saheb in charge from Shaban 1437 till Safar 1438 (7 months) so the Jamat must have saved up money on the Wazifa. So this year Sabeel should actually be less. (Only in perfect scenario). Not to forget they are also collecting maintenance fee from non Sabeel paying members (which is also debatable about its existence). Jamat have sold La Puente Markaz for over 400K not too long ago. They also bought 6 or 8 apartment units in SB County in 2011. About 5 years ago we had solar panels installed to decrease our electricity bills for the whole complex. Where did all these savings go? When members approach the Secretary about the dues being increased, he starts listing all your spending e.g. you bought a new car, you bought a house, you went on vacation, your son/daughter/spouse is earning very handsomely etc. So now this is a taste of their own medicine.  


Darees in Masjid Sehan

We have such a beautiful masjid, why aren't we using it for all occasions? Why private Darees is not allowed in masjid? A Darees whether private or not is prayed in the name of Syedna Hatim RA, Syedna Taher Saifuddin RA, and Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin RA and not in the name of the host, isn't it so? Also on some occasions, we have seen some private Darees take place inside the masjid. So, why the discrimination? Guests who come from other Jamats ask us why is this Darees being done in sahen. I don't know what to answer. If any of you know the reason please explain. Perhaps one day board may decides that only farizat Namaz can be prayed in masjid and tatauwah Namaz be prayed in sehan. The direction in which the Board is going these days, it is very much possible.

Attendance
Back then we used to have such a good attendance at religious events but over the years the trend is on the severe decline. Families that used to be active are now dormant. Have you wondered why? It is all because of those round the year collections and harassment from few board members. We used to have many Darees and Majlis at mumineen’s houses but that's not the case anymore these past years because of limitations enforced due to all these so called mandatory collections. They are the ones who are creating a hindrance in earning Moula's (TUS) khushi. Recent clearance email is an example which has a long list of dues you have to clear before you can even approach the Amil Saheb for raza. It's as if all they care about is the money and not the people or ibadat. We used to be one big happy family when we were at La Puente Markaz. We had limited resources but we managed. Since we moved to masjid, I feel as a Jamat we are taking backward steps instead of marching forward. 

Ikraam Fund

Ikraam fund has been an issue for the past 2 years. The reason for its ultimate failure is the wrong approach and policies. As they say “when you fail to plan, you plan to fail”. We all know that there was an extensive expense during Aqa Moula's TUS visit, no doubt. And we had to come up with the money. What went wrong was the approach that was used to collect this money. If members of AQ can pay $ 5000 unit for land, $ 1852 for planning and permits and minimum 27K per family for masjid construction, how can $6053 be a deal breaker? I have always been in favor that every single family should contribute to the ikram fund but if my circumstance does not allow me to pay this at that time then there should be a reasonable adjustment. When they approached me I said I can only pay a certain amount. The only options I was given were to pay the full amount or take QH. Since I already had QH running, it was not possible for me to pay another one. Every family has their own financial situation. They have no right to humiliate or harass anyone because of unpaid dues. There was a huge setback in ikraam fund collections when Zoher BS and Shk Mustansir Rangoonwalla decided to humiliate me during urus majlis in Aug 2015. Later, it was backed by Shk Hussain Jamali. Some of you may have witnessed what happened that night. I was so shocked that they could stoop down to this level and associate ikraam fund to zikr e Hussain (AS). For me, zikr e Hussain (AS) is the highest form of ibaadat. And that is the reason I am still doing zikr e Hussain (AS) despite so many cheap tactics to stop me. I will never forget what happened that night. If it was about my ego I would have stopped sitting in zakereen long time ago. But this is my ibaadat and I can't let anyone dictate my ibaadat. Few months ago Shk Hussain Jamali approached me very rudely in masjid before the start of a Darees telling me " taney zakereen ma nathi bethwanu. Agar tu bethse toh mein badhaa na wich ma si uthawis" . How dare he talk to a Jamat member like this? Does he think the Jamali masjid belongs to him that he has the right to tell me where to sit and where not to sit?!! This is just downright wrong!! And he has never apologized! My issue is not about money any more. It's personal between me, Shk Mustansir Rangoonwala and Shk Hussain Jamali. I know that Shk Hussain Jamali has done a lot for this Jamat and continues to do so but surely this does not give him the right to humiliate anyone like this nor dictate the Jamat policies. 
Not just Zikr e Hussain they also used other forms of ibaadat like azaan and takbira restrictions for ikraam fund collection.  I can give them the benefit of doubt about their ignorance regarding ibaadat but what surprises me is the endorsement from Amil Saheb back then who knew exactly how important these ibaadats are. If my basic rights as a Jamat  member like hosting Darees, Majlis, mithi shitabi, doing azaan and takbira are being taken away then what's the point of paying Sabeel? If this continues, I have no plan of paying my Sabeel (membership fee) this year. After trying humiliation and harassment, they have realized it will get them nowhere. That's why they're now begging for people to just commit for now and pay whenever they can. If they had used this reasonable approach from the beginning with families who had financial issues at that time, they would have had 99% commitment. 
 Those new families who think why $ 6053 is a big deal they haven't participated in the payment of $ 5000, $ 1852 and 27K back then. So for them that is easy to say. 

  Appreciation

 Despite these issues I would like to appreciate some good work being done by the Board. I think Niyaz  e Hussain is the best thing that has happened to Anjuman e Qutbi. It is being managed very well from the beginning. Nooruddin bhai Hassanali has been in charge for many years and is doing an excellent job. He's very approachable and understanding. For Treasurer we had the right person for the right job, Shk Feroze bhai Bhaijee. Ever since he left his post it has been a disaster. Shk Feroze bhai used to stay on the top of everything, always available for any matters and very particular about issuing Qardhan-e Hasana checks and depositing checks given to Anjuman-e-Qutbi. He had one on one relationship with Jamat  members and with his polite and personal approach he made the

Qardhan-e Hasana scheme flourish in our Jamat. Personally I had more faith in him than Anjuman e Qutbi. Now there is no systematic deposit of the checks nor are we getting our annual receipts on time. Recently it took them a week to just verify the amount in my account when I needed to withdraw money from my QH account. Before, one call to Shk Feroze bhai was enough. I wish he would come back. 

 I would also like to thank Murtaza bhai Jupiterwala for always being there to talk to about any issues and having open ears. He is very understanding and approachable. He is working very hard under pressure and is taking the heat from Jamat members for the BoDs wrong decisions. It is not a secret that only a few of the board members are taking/influencing all these decisions. 

 I also appreciate Mulla Yusuf bhai Zakir who is a vibrant member of the Board.  He understands the struggles of the younger families in the Jamat very well. It is good to have presence of someone in the board who understands the legalities of running an organization.

  Conclusion

 First of all if you have read this email till this point, THANK YOU! I know it is very long and I appreciate you taking time for it. These are issues that are being discussed by members privately in their own circle but everyone is expecting someone else to bring it forward. Talking behind the back is not going to change anything. We should have a platform where issues like these can be openly discussed. We cannot have 2-3 board members of this Jamat dictate its course and our pockets. Please note that the Jamat is an organization and like any organization it can have issues in its management. Make no mistake, standing against Jamat 's wrong policies does not mean standing against Dawat. In case they use this tactic to shush you. 

 If you think raising your voice won't change anything, I'm telling you it surely does. Have you noticed that the tone of the emails from AQ has become softer? And Houston Ashara Niyaz  fund in 2015 from AQ went down from $353 to $172? They had committed 19K in Houston and were planning to collect 31K by unreasonable unit of $353. During the wafaat of Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin RA, Jamat tried to make money by setting a unit of $353 despite the fact that all 40 nights of khatmul Quran were taken by individual families. Eventually they had to stop collecting that unit. All these changes happened because I raised my voice and talked to person concerned. And that is why I am not in their good books. I'm not trying to take any credit but to show that if you have any concern specific to management (not about Farman from al vazarat) things can be changed; but, only if you speak up about it. May Allah SWT guide us all in attaining the khushi of Aqa Moula TUS.

Khuda taala Aqa Moula TUS ni umar ne ta roz-e-qayamat daraaz ane daraaz karey. Ameen. 

 Wasalaam

 Burhan Shk Hussain Lahorewala

 

Asghar Vasanwala
20754 Tulip Circle
Yorba Linda California 92887
United States

[SBM]

For me, zikr e Hussain (AS) is the highest form of ibaadat

This sentence itself should disqualify him being a Muslim

[I Rizwan]

For me, zikr e Hussain (AS) is the highest form of ibaadat

This sentence itself should disqualify him being a Muslim

how does this sentence disqualify him from being Muslim? what do you know about Islam? what do you know about Imaan? how much do you understand status of Imam Hussain(A)? what is your aukaat to give fatwa about some body Muslim status?