Bohara way of life: History and Now

[Habeel]

After reading the philosophy and vision of fatemidawat.com, I thought this is what I always have dreamed of ideal bohra doctrine and natural path of the deen. Based on current dawoodi bohra belief system, some of the principles doesn't seems to fit, so either Khuzaima saheb is attracting progressive bohra towards him or Is this how the vision of dawat should be?. I would like to hear from some of you who has experienced the era of Taher saifuddin (Ra) maula, Burhanuddin maula(Ra) and current conditions. How is its different now and was then in terms of following.
My very old uncle who is PHD in Islamic studies used to say "when I was studying in hakimiyah in Burhanpur, the waaz of miyan saabs of the time was such powerful that has encouraged me to pursue career in islamic studies"

1 Jamaats administration
2 Bayaans and Majalis
3 Society, Education and Belief system
4 Dargah policies
5 Spirituality and self awarness
6 Philanthropy and social upliftments.

I know its very involved discussions and would request you to refrain from historical issues ( Nass issues after 46th Dai), personal grudges and relatively harsh language. Please feel free to add to the list.

[Akhtiar Wahid]

Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin (RA) and Syedna Taher Saifuddin (RA) had claimed that SKQ sahib will get fateh over Udaipur mumineen, Isn't this going to be true.
he is not putting a political stance or something, he is talking about haq....and in haq ni dawat the haq is for mumineen and they are the instigators.

[salaar]

akhtiar wahid when Maulatena Zainab was brought in the darbaar of Yazeed he recited an ayat frm holy Quran which says" and it is Allah who decides to give victory to some and defeat to some" on this Maulatena Zainab said Yazeed dont try to use Quran aayat in your undue favour, what is your intention in saying this aayat here at this time............." this address is a clear warning for those who interprets anything said by waliullah in such a way as to create confusion among people therefore without understanding the reference to the context.

[humanbeing]

Opinion are limited to my experiences only.

1 Jamaats administration

There used to be autonomy of jamat operations until 1997, bohras organized themselves in markaz with voluntary contributions and guidance from central jamat. Feeling of service (khidmat) was paramount. One and all used to come forward to serve in kind or cash. Accountability & Transparency was central to Administration’s character ! Treasurer would share the accounts with pride and express happiness over surpluses and deficiets were covered by someone or other without pleading.

There used to be no announcements to offer “Faakhir-rakams” infact people would contribute in big amount and prefer to keep their name confidential (Ek-muminbhai-na-taraf-thi). Whereas jamat was sensitive to keep the names of donors confidential who contributed meagerly. List of expense and incomes were pasted on the notice boards.

2 Bayaans and Majalis

Amils used to give sermons in muharram, the riwayats and bayaan were amazing ! amils used to be praised and benchmarked with their speaking ability. Matam used to be a lot lesser during bayaans as focus was on story telling !

Muharram Majalis used to be known as “Roshni” , which used to be short and sweet filled with melodious and soul stirring singing of marsiyas and nohas by zaakir-e-hussain. Such zaakirs earned popularity with their voice ! truly admired and respected for their contributions.

3 Society, Education and Belief system

Having studied in Madrassah untill primary grade (4th). Experience is humbling,, we had a secular madrassah where all round education was covered. We had hindu, Christian and muslim teachers for various subjects as well as Mulla-saab teaching Arabic and Quran. We used to also have translation of Quran taught to us (Starting 30th Sipara).

An affordable, disciplined, secular education in madrassah with all round development which prepared us to integrate with deen and duniya !

4 Dargah policies

Dargah used to be simple and in its simplicity was the message of the Saaheb who rested in peace ! our elders would tell us the stories and we admired these saahebs as heroes.

5 Spirituality and self awareness

In service (khidmat) was the spirituality ! As a kid I was unaware of the Kothari activities and intentions then… but at ground level with common folks around. There used to be more khidmatguzaars than sheikhs and mullahs with pompous air about their titles.


6 Philanthropy and social upliftments.

Approach and response of jamat members used to be sensitive to seeker’s pride and respect. There was always the spirit to help. Jamat could help the mumin with limited amount or amil will request the rich bohra to help them out.

Upliftment activities were a lot less as compared to recent 100 milaad times.

[Habeel]

Thanks for taking time and responding on this post. I always had conflict with my uncle who is in his 90s about his experiences and current teaching. He always have many questions and objections on current situations based on teachings of his time as I always had arguments on submission to the beliefs, trust, love and go with the flow while his focus was on righteous and contents rather than person. He always argued that you guys do "wyakti puja" and was giving examples from his youth time policies to support that.

[wise_guy]

Thanks for taking time and responding on this post. I always had conflict with my uncle who is in his 90s about his experiences and current teaching. He always have many questions and objections on current situations based on teachings of his time as I always had arguments on submission to the beliefs, trust, love and go with the flow while his focus was on righteous and contents rather than person. He always argued that you guys do "wyakti puja" and was giving examples from his youth time policies to support that.

I have come across many cases who initially had the ghost of being die hard abdes (including me ) But then, as they realized themselves through some event or another, they changed (one of my relative trimmed his long beard, stopped wearing topi and attained nirvana )

[abbasb]

True...few of my immediate family members and friends have had a bitter experience in the past couple of years and changed drastically from 'brain dead abdes/amtes' to 'open minded Mustaqal Bohras' asking questions and reflecting on each and every aspect of religious dogmas.

As this power struggle prolongs, more and more diehards are bound to come out in the open. I hope the real reform takes place in my life time!

[Habeel]

I am thankful to this conflict which has opened my eyes. Started reading Quraan translations, exploring other resources for knowledge, being more spiritual than traditional and most importantly being awakened.

[monginis]

Thanks for taking time and responding on this post. I always had conflict with my uncle who is in his 90s about his experiences and current teaching. He always have many questions and objections on current situations based on teachings of his time as I always had arguments on submission to the beliefs, trust, love and go with the flow while his focus was on righteous and contents rather than person. He always argued that you guys do "wyakti puja" and was giving examples from his youth time policies to support that.

you should immediately apologize to him.

[Habeel]

We used have healthy discussion and having good understanding and respect each other opinions. There is no hard feelings brother.