Some of the observations made by Justice Nathwani Commission on "Misaq" :-
In the case Advocate General of Bombay V/s Yusuf Ali & Others reported in 24 BLR. 1060 (Supra) also known as Chanda Bhoy Galla Case, the predecessor of the present Sayedna Saheb was himself a defendant. His name was Taher Saifuddin Saheb. He had given oral evidence. He had himself produced a document purporting to be Misaq. Its English translation was also kept on record. It was Ex. 17 on the record of the case. Justice Marten has in his judgemnet of the case characterized it as a 'remarkable' document. Remarkable, indeed, it is!
It was claimed as a secret document by Taher Saifuddin Saheb. It has, therefore, not been fully set out in the judgment of the Bombay High Court. But Justice Matten has referred to it and has noted that according to Taher Saifuddin Saheb himself it was ninety years old. This evidence was given in 1920 A.D. Therefore, according to the then high priest himself its origin is not very antiquated. It must have been written around the Year 1833 A.D. The date of writing has been mentioned at the foot of the document by the author which is 1248 Hijra which comes to 1833 A.D.
Another witness has produced a printed book entitled “Mussalman Wakf Act and the Dawoodi Bohra Community” which he says he had got printed in 1933. It contains about 29 documents inluding the memorial and representations made to various authorities by the reformist section of Dawoodi Bohras requesting them not to accept the demand made by some Bohras to exempt the Dawoodi Bohras from the Mussalaman Wakf Act 1923.
The book contains at serial No. 7 the document ‘Misaq' in English translation. This translation also tallies with the copy referred to earlier. We are, therefore, satisfied that what we have is an authentic copy of the Misaq as it was produced by Taher Saifuddin (51st Dai) in the Court. We are also satisfied that the same document is today being used by the priestly class while administering Misaq.
Taher Saifuddin had claimed that the document produced by him was a secret document. We are unable to see how it can be so claimed when it is administered to every Bohra Youth by Amils and the High priest himself. There may have been some need for secrecy when Ismailis were fearing persecution by the sovereign rulers or by other sects but after the establishment and consolidation of the British rule and then after the advent of independence no one can seriously contend that the High priest or priestly class or the community as a whole stand in the danger of facing religious persecution from others.
This document affects a large number of Dawoodi Bohras. The claim to secrecy is, therefore, out of question and we would not be justified in refraining from putting it on our record and incorporating it in our report. Besides, it has been published several times. The latest is its publication in New Quest (issue no. 7 Jan Feb 1978) published from Pune.
This document is virtually a charter of slavery, in particular, paragraphs, 4, 5, 6, 7, 11, 12, and 13 are remarkable for their unabashed inhumanity.
Paragraph 2 commits every Dawoodi Bohra to absolute obedience of the orders of Dai of Imam i.e. Sayedna Saheb of the time. Disobedience is a sin. It is an advance commitment to obey all the commands of Dai of the time in future by a minor child without even knowing what those commands will be.
It is claimed by the priestly class that this oath is voluntarily taken. They argue that if one does not desire to accept the high priest as the master of his life, one should not take the oath! This is an untenable argument because it is maintained in the same breath that "no one is a Dawoodi Bohra by birth but he becomes one only when he makes that oath."
The implication of the oath is thus clear. It is that a promise of absolute obedience to all the future commands of the dai, whatever they are, and whatever be their subject matter, is a condition of being a Dawoodi Bohra. One has to accept the Dai not merely as a religious head but as a master in secular affairs as well! This puts the Dai in the position of an absolute dictator controlling all aspects of the life of all members of the community.
Even God is not above the Dai. Because the oath says that if Dai's orders are broken even God will not pardon the person who has disobeyed the Dai's orders. If he however again takes the oath of allegiance to the Dai, God will be pleased to pardon him. A benevolent God may pardon the sinner even though he has sinned against His own commands but He cannot pardon the man or woman who disobeys the Dai's orders!
And what is the sanction for breach of the covenant? Not merely the fear of hell and torture in the next life but complete ostracism and pauperization in this life as well! His property should be looted and his nearest relations should break away from him. His wife stands automatically divorced!
It should be noted that a reformist is not entitled to dissuade a Bohra youth from giving the misaq. This means that the guardian of minor cannot tell his ward not to give misaq if he doesn't agree. The minor of 15 years of age should set his face against his guardian if the latter tries to dissuade him.
A transgressor of the oath must give Misaq again and express his repentance and give a deed of apology if he wants to return to the fold. Several witnesses have produced the terms of apology which they were asked to accept and sign.
The Misaq it should be noted, is not prescribed by the Quran or by the tradition of Mohammed. It is a typical Ismaili-Dawoodi institution. It is not obligatory on Muslims except Dawoodi Bohras. Some sort of 'Ahd' or oath is found among another Isma'ili sect called Sulaimani Bohras. But it is not so rigid or harsh. No other Muslim sect practices Misaq or its equivalent.
However, after the disappearance of the Fatimid power the Misaq lost its raison d'etre and seems to have been retained for its symbolic or ritual value. The Dais who officiated as the heads of the Isma'ili mission after the last Isma'ili Imam went into seclusion continued to take Misaq more or less as a ritual. It is also important to remember that right from the beginning the Misaq was taken for the Imam and not for the Dai.
Thus one of the earlier Dai-al-mutalaq says in his book Tahfut-ul-Qulub that "it does not behoove a Dai to ascribe a single word of the Misaq towards himself." He also makes it clear in the said book that Misaq is essentially for the purpose of strengthening the Isma'ili faith and not achieving any worldly end. Most of the Dais after the last Isma'ili Imam went into seclusion, faithfully, observed these instructions and never exploited Misaq for worldly ends.
The 51st Dai however used misaq to build a personality cult. What had eventually become a ritual was revived and strictly enforced thus using it as a weapon for centralizing power and building his own empire. He used it as a standing threat to coerce Dawoodi Bohras into submission and to make them obey his commands not only in the religious but also in the secular field. This came into his hands as a powerful instrument for concentrating power and collecting wealth on a fantastically large scale. Thus the personality cult came to be systematically built by him.
A word for every letter of the Urdu Alphabet is coined which glorifies him in every manner. Whatever be the correct position and whatever the historical justification or otherwise for introducing the Misaq, the fact remains that the Misaq in its present form is absolutely oppressive, harsh and inconsistent with human rights.
To judge its true character, it is immaterial in our view, whether it was prevalent in the 11th century and continued in the 20th. Hoary antiquity cannot sanctify what is essentially destructive of human dignity and freedom. Untouchability and Slavery were also age-old institutions but were cast away by the civilized mankind. Nothing that is inhuman can be justified merely because it assumes the cloak of religious practice nor can it gain sanctity by virtue of its antiquity.
byline: Excerpts from the Nathwani Commission Report
http://dawoodi-bohras.com/index.php?mac ... eturnid=97