Bohra issues: archive of eye-opening articles and posts
This website and Forum have many interesting and thought-provoking posts submitted by various members over a period of many years, and which are difficult to locate. We have gathered this material in one place to provide easy access, and a starting point. Do yourself a favour, read this today.
News & Events
- Breaking new ground with Ziyarat tour
- A tour of 40 cities Ziyarat by reformists Bohras is jointly organized by Central Board of Dawoodi Bohra Community (CBDBC), Bombay, Bohra Youth Association (BYA), Udaipur and Fuli Bai and Zehra Cyclewala Charitable Trust, Surat. The Tour includes Ziyarat at Surat, Ahmadabad, Khambat, Jamnagar, Godhara, Sidhpur, Patan, Jawra, Ahmadnagar, Morbi, Rampura, Ujjain, Burhanpur, Aurangabad and Mumbai. On 23rd May 2014 morning Bhai Tayyebi Zamindar, senior reformist and staunch Gandhiwadi from Ahemdabad and I, Saifuddin Insaf, General Secretary of CBDBC, reached Surat in the morning. more
Features
- Bohra scholar who speaks truth to power
- On a cool December morning I knock on the door of a house in a posh Los Angeles county. A diminutive man opens the door. He is Ismail K. Poonawala, former professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies at UCLA. There is renovation going on in the house, Prof. Poonawala apologises for the mess. We make small talk as he gives me a tour of his study, it is lined with books on three sides, the fourth is held up by glass doors overlooking the Pacific Ocean in a distance. more
Islamic perspective
- Qur'an and Isma'ili ta'wil
- Qur'an is divine but its interpretation is human and hence there have been different interpretations of various Qur'anic verses. The differences in interpretation of the Qur'anic verses was not a later development but began shortly after the death of the Holy Prophet (PBUH). more
Bohras and Reform
- Ismaili Law: A case for reinterpretation
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This is an article by Ismail K. Poonawala arguing how Ismaili Law as followed by Bohras is in dire need of reinterpration and revision as it does not meet the demands of modern times. The article is from The Study of Shi'i Islam: History, Theology and Law, edited by Farhad Daftary et al. (London: I.B.Tauris, 2013). The book will be officially released next month.
Ismail K. Poonawala writes, "Ever since its promulgation, most probably in 349/960, as the official code of the Fatimid empire, the DaÄim has reigned supreme, particularly with the MustalÄ«-TayyibÄ« Ismailis of Yemen and the Indian subcontinent after the fall of the Fatimids in Egypt in 567/1171. However, this centuries-old law has not met the necessities of modern life for the Ismaili communities of the DÄudÄ«s, SulaymÄnÄ«s and AlawÄ«s who follow this school of Islamic jurisprudence. Those advocating the status quo (maintaining the traditional system), notably the conservative religious establishments of all the three above-mentioned communities, have had little to offer in terms of a constructive legal reform which might adapt Ismaili law as formulated by its founder, al QÄÄ«di al-NumÄn, to the modern conditions of life. more
- Sayedna meets Modi... what's going on?
- Dr. Sayedna Mohammmed Burhanuddin, head of the Dawoodi Bohra Community, met with the Chief Minister of Gujarat Narendra Modi on October 2, 2003. more
Multimedia
- Interviews and talks
- Few people understand what the reform movement is about. They think reformists are against the Dai. This is not true. Check out a series of long-ranging interviews and talks to understand why reformists are fighting and what they are fighting for. more
Your story
- Walking out of the Bohra falsehood
- I was born in India in a small village more than 40 years ago into a Bohra family. I came with my family to Malaysia when I was only 4 years old. I grew up like any normal Bohra surrounded by the richness of the Bohra culture and rituals. My religion was primarily restricted to namaz and learning to read the Qur’an. more