Why not call ourselves Muslims?
Mu' meneen Brothers
and Sisters,
As Salaam Aleikum wa
Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be
upon all of you)
One of our
brothers/sisters has asked this question:
Dear brother
I have been receiviving your mails for some
time. I really appreciate your effort.
You are doing a great work by taking people
to Islam and Tawheed.
Why not follow the main stream ISLAM and call our self MUSLIMS
instead of calling ourselves
Dawoodibohra.
(There may be some
grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not
change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our
readers for circulation in confidentiality.)
Answer:
Why not call ourselves Muslims?
In the name of
Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah
guides none can misguide, and who-ever He allows to fall astray, none can guide
them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no
grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone,
and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of
His Messengers.
All Praise is due to
Allah, Who has given you and us the ‘tawfeeq’ to understand, learn and
propagate His Deen according to the Quran and Sunnah. May Allah reward you for your efforts and the time you spend
in studying Islam and hymning His Praise. May Allah bless you and increase your quest for
knowledge in this beautiful Deen of Islam.
We do appreciate
your encouragement, and Allah is our witness, we only wish to invite our
brethren to read and understand the Glorious Quran and stay away from the
heinous crime of ‘shirk’. We ask
for no reward and no appreciation for this service … our reward is with the
Lord of the Worlds! Normally
we get a fair share of hate mail and curses from our brothers and sisters who
do not want to appreciate the Truth and Guidance from the Holy Quran, but would
rather follow the deen on which they found their fathers and fore-fathers, even
though it might be against the clear guidance and teachings of the Quran.
What you have said
regarding calling ourselves muslims, is absolutely true. A true believer, who truly believes in
Allah and the Last Day, must only take pride in being called a muslim! Allah says that this Ummah is One Ummah
and commands us again and again in the Holy Quran, not to divide this
Ummah. He has called us ‘muslims’,
and that is all we should be.
There is no pride in being called Sunnis, or Shias, or Itna-Asharis, or
Aga Khanis, or Ismailis, or Dawoodi Bohras, or whatever. Allah, the All Mighty, All Wise,
has given us the name ‘muslims’, and we should be honored and proud to recognize
ourselves by the name bestowed upon us by the Lord of the Worlds.
Allah says in the Holy
Quran Chapter 23 Surah Mu’minoon verse 52-55: And you all belong to one and
the same Ummah, and I (Allah) am your Lord; so fear Me Alone! Yet afterwards the people divided
themselves into different sects, and each sect rejoicing in what it has. Well, leave them deeply involved in
their heedlessness up to an appointed time. What? Do they think that, by continuing to provide them with
wealth and children, We are solicitous for their welfare? Nay, they do not
understand the reality of the matter!
Allah says in the Holy
Quran Chapter 22 Surah Hajj verse 78: Exert your utmost for the cause of Allah,
as one should. He has chosen you
for His service and has not laid on you any hardship in your deen. Therefore,
be steadfast in the religion of your father, Abraham. Allah had called you ‘Muslims” before this, and has
called you (by the same name) in this Quran also, so that the Messenger may
be a witness in regard to you, and you may be witnesses in regard to the rest
of mankind. Therefore,
establish the ‘salaat’ and pay the ‘zakaat’, and hold fast to Allah. He is your ‘Maula’: what an excellent ‘Maula’ and what an
excellent Helper!
May Allah have mercy
on the Ummah of Islam and guide you and us all to the Siraat al Mustaqeem.
Whatever written of
Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever
of error is of me. Allah Alone
Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.
Your brother in
Islam
Burhan