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
- Conference 2011: Fight for reforms continues
- The Bohra reform movement was hot news from1970s to 1990s. Thereafter nothing was seen in the papers and many people thought that movement must have died down as so many social movements do. However, it is not true. Still it is quite alive and kicking. The proof is, if anyone wants proof, the 14th All World Dawoodi Bohra Conference which was held in Udaipur – the reformist centre – from 11th to 13th February 2011. The inaugural session was attended by more than 700 people of whom about 500 were women. The subsequent delegate sessions on 12th and 13th were also attended by 400 persons of whom 300 were women. more
Features
- Merchant Princes of East Africa
- Gijsbert Oonk, the author, starts the book (The Karimjee Jivanjee Family: Merchant Princes of East Africa 1800–2000) with an insert of a family tree. This becomes a very necessary tool for readers as we weave through the journey of the prominent Karimjee Jeevanji family on the east coast of Africa. The author is a senior associate professor of non-western history at Erasmus University, Rotterdam, the Netherlands. He has published various books and numerous articles on the history of the Indian Ocean region. more
Islamic perspective
- Does Islam allow for family planning?
- Many people, especially women, ask me if family planning is permissible in Islam. They say the imams and ulama say the Qur’an prohibits family planning and quote a verse which says, “And kill not your children for fear of poverty; We provide for them and for you. Surely the killing of them is a great wrong.†(17:31). In no way this verse refers to family planning because it is talking of “killing†and you kill one who exists. No law in the world will permit killing one who is already born and hence the Qur’an rightly condemns killing of children. more
Bohras and Reform
- Dawat-e-Hadiyah (England) Act 1993 (c. x)
- An Act to incorporate the Dai al-Mutlaq as a corporation sole; and for related purposes. [1st July 1993] WHEREAS His Holiness Dr. Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin is the fifty-second incumbent in the office of the Dai al-Mutlaq, having been duly appointed by an act of designation in accordance with the canons and principles of the mission known as Dawat-e-Hadiyah: more
- Understanding Dawoodi Bohra faith
- I have no hesitation in admitting that I am not an Islamic scholar. But since I have to defend my faith against un-Islamic practices and innovations introduced by the last two Dais (51st and 52nd), I have tried to understand our Shia-Ismaili-Mustalian-Tayyebi faith through authentic source books and discussion with learned mashaikh. At the age of 68, I want to share my understanding with other knowledgeable readers of this site. 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