Dawoodi Bohras


Question:

The chief scholar of Bohras urges his followers to prostrate before him each time they visit him. Was this a practice in the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) or the Rightly Guided Caliphs? A recent photo has been published of a man prostrating to the Chief scholar of Bohras in the well-known Pakistani newspaper “Man” on 6/10/1977. Find attached a photocopy of the issue.

Answer:

Prostration is one of the acts of worship which Allah has ordained His Servants to offer exclusively for Him, and a means by which a servant can draw closer to Allah alone. Allah (Glorified be He) stated:

“And verily, We have sent among every Ummah (community, nation) a Messenger (proclaiming): “Worship Allâh (Alone), and avoid (or keep away from) Tâghût (all false deities i.e. do not worship Tâghût besides Allâh).” [an-Nahl: 36]

“And We did not send any Messenger before you (O Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم) but We revealed to him (saying): Lâ ilâha illa Ana [none has the right to be worshipped but I (Allâh)], so worship Me (Alone and none else).” [al-Anbiya: 25]

“And from among His Signs are the night and the day, and the sun and the moon. Prostrate yourselves not to the sun nor to the moon, but prostrate yourselves to Allâh Who created them, if you (really) worship Him.” [Fussilat: 37]

Thus, Allah (Glorified be He) has forbidden His servants to prostrate themselves either to the sun or the moon, which are merely two of His created Signs and do not deserve either prostration or any other act of worship. Allah (Glorified be He) has ordained that He be singled out in worship as the Creator of the sun and the moon and all creation. Thus, it is incorrect to prostrate to other than Allah.

He (Glorified be He) stated: “Do you then wonder at this recitation (the Qur’ân)? And you laugh at it and weep not, Wasting your (precious) lifetime in pastime and amusements (singing, etc.). So fall you down in prostration to Allâh and worship Him (Alone).” [an-Najm: 59-62]

In these Ayahs, Allah ordains His servants to prostrate themselves to Him Alone, then He generalizes His order by commanding His Servants to turn to Him Alone with all acts of worship. Therefore, if the case of Bohras is as mentioned in the question; prostration to their chief as an act of worship deifying him besides Allah, then what he has done of ordering them (Bohras) to prostrate themselves to him and his acceptance of this behavior renders him a Taghut (a false god) calling to a personality cult. Consequently, both parties, the followers (Bohras) and the followed (chief of Bohras) are Kafir (disbelievers) in Allah and Islam. We seek refuge in Allah from this.

Muftis
  • Estimated Reading Time
    2 min read
  • Source :
    Fatawa Al-Lajnah Ad-Da'imah no. 2289, Question 1
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