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
- Rehana Banu, prominent reformist wins election
- The young and popular Bohra reformist activist, Rehana Banu Germanwala has been elected as a Councillor of the Udaipur Municipal Board from Ward No. 48. Rehana Banu was the candidate of the Congress Party, she defeated her rival Hemlata from the BJP by 130 votes. She has been elected to a five-year term. Apart from the BJP candidate she had two other independent candidates in the fray for the municipal seat. 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
- Holier than thou: Islam and the religious ego
- Every religion has its own concept of the 'other', specially the 'religious other'. Generally the followers of a religious tradition looked down upon other religious traditions as inferior and less true, if not untrue though it may not be exactly the scriptural position. more
Bohras and Reform
- Reform and social change among Bohras - Part 1
- Change is always painful, especially if what involved is faith, intellectual beliefs and traditions. One more aggravating factor is added if the group happens to be closely-knit and dominated by a religious hierarchy with the pretensions of being the sole-interpreter of the tradition and faith. more
- When Sayedna finally came to Udaipur
- The visit of Sayedna Muhammad Burhanuddin to Udaipur in March 1999 was a milestone for the Bohra reform movement for reasons more than one. The Kothar has tried every trick up its sleeve to break the reform movement specially in Udaipur. 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
- How can we stop Kothar’s juggernaut?
- I was born in 1939 in a Dawoodi Bohra family. Having been brought up in a traditional Bohra household and later having migrated to North America I ensured that my children were raised in the same tradition. I taught them to read, write and recite Arabic, how to perform wudhu and offer prayers, explained Islam and its sects down to what we are as Dawoodi Bohras. more