Bohra Woman's Jihad Against the Dai's Tyranny.

[ghulam muhammed]

Interesting points made by Zehra Cyclewala, the answers to which the abdes must get from their masters :-

After all, I thought, when, from the time the bank was established till the Syedna had issued this fatwa, the bank had been giving and taking interest, and the Syedna knew about this all along, how come he had suddenly decided or realized that such interest was haraam? The Syedna himself had inaugurated the bank, and when he did so he had no problem with it dealing in interest. There was something fishy in this fatwa, I felt.

'Why don't you stop taking rent from the Bank of Baroda?' I asked.

The Bohras believe that the Syedna is a divinely-appointed man. To displease him, they believe, is a sure way to land in hell. To refuse his order, they think, is to disobey and revolt against God. This is what the Syedna has made them believe.

When my mother and I walked on the streets, Bohras used to spit at us. Many would utter abuses and curse us.

However, because the majority of shareholders of our bank were Bohras, and because they believed every word of the Syedna to be divine law, they voted to suspend me despite the court's stay order. This was tantamount to contempt of court.

15 Bohra men were suspended from the bank's board of directors.

No Bohra came for her funeral-not even her other children, my siblings. The Bohras of Surat refused to bury her in the community's burial ground.


News about my mother's body being thrown out of the Bohra mosque soon spread throughout the town, and so, in the dark hours of the morning, and under police protection, a crowd of some 10 thousand Sunnis and Hindus collected at the Bohra graveyard and ensured that my mother's body was laid to rest there. Not a single Bohra came for the funeral.


The Bohra amil of Surat, Syedul Khair, son-in-law of the Syedna, was leading the crowd. 'Come out and we shall hammer you!' he shouted.

I had something to tell other Bohras, to teach them that standing up for truth, for values, for principles was true surrender to God, and that the supine surrender to a corrupt priesthood, which the Syedna insists on in the name of Islam, was its complete contradiction.

I must say, despite the torrent of hatred that has been directed against me all these years, many Bohras who refuse to countenance any criticism of the Syedna now come to me with requests for loans.

But since I have never cowed down to their threats and blandishments, I can, as my mother always told me to, hold my head high, and so, after I leave this world, people can say, 'There was a Bohra girl called Zehra who shook the Bohra community and dared to challenge the tyrants within it.'

We dream of doing many things in the future, one of them being to establish a common graveyard for people of all religions and communities so that people who are tormented and oppressed by their religious leaders, like my mother was, can find a final resting place there.


Sometimes, people ask me, 'If the Syedna and his henchmen are such tyrants, why do you reformist Bohras not convert to another religion or to another Muslim sect? Why do you insist on remaining Daudi Bohras?' I reply to them, saying, 'This is precisely what the Syedna wants, because if we reformists quit the Bohra fold, he will be able to rule just as he pleases, without any opposition whatsoever!' That is why I insist we must remain within the Bohra fold and continue to struggle for our rights, for true internal democracy. I think Islam, if correctly understood, tells us that this is precisely what we should do.


Some people may say that I was too obstinate or even vindictive, that I should have compromised instead of taking people to court, staging demonstrations, and lodging police complaints. But I tell them, 'If we keep quiet and cave in, tyrants will continue to play with our lives. Surely, speaking up against tyranny is a fundamental duty and right, is it not? Surely this is what Islam, properly understood, should inspire us to do.'

The reformists are appealing to the world to see the trickery behind the 'pious' exterior of the Syedna and his cronies, who are misusing and misinterpreting religion to extort money from the Bohras and enforce a stultifying form of slavery on them, on their bodies and minds, all in the hallowed name of Islam. This is how the Syedna and his family have become among the richest in all of India.

The Syedna turns 100 this year, and hectic activities are underway to celebrate his centenary. A lot of public functions will be held to project him as a truly 'pious' man and a 'popular' religious leader. I appeal to people to listen to my voice, to the voice of a Bohra woman who has seen through and struggled against the tyranny of the Bohra establishment for decades, not to fall prey to this nefarious propaganda.

[bohri]

As usual the Abdes come running, zombie-like in defence of their 'jaan na maalik' and derail the forum, with their galias and twisted logic.

I am truly inspired by Zehra ben - to me she personifies the best teachings in our religion, that of standing up for your beliefs despite the direst of situations. Zehraben has sacrificed a comfortable life living in a bohra muhalla, facing the wrath of the community, not to mention her own family. She follows in the footsteps of (in my opinion) the bravest women in the history of our religion, that is Bibi Zainub, who stood up against the tyrant Yazid, knowing that he was in the majority, knowing he was wealthy and influential, knowing he had a large and devoted following and knowing that she would endanger her own life.

Abdes would crawl on all fours begging for 'maafi', even if all they did "wrong" was attend their own father's funeral, at the slightest threat of missing out on 2 kharas and 2 mithaas.

Abdes - might, power and majority does not equal right, though it often equals bullying!

Brother GM, thank you for your post.