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:

I am new to this site and was really happy to know that there are people other than me who feel that our self-appointed religeous heads are the ones who are actually leading us astray rather than show us the right path. Since I was a child I hated the way we were treated like cattle as if we did not have a will or feelings of our own. We are commanded to do things and we dare not ask `why?` for fear of antagonising the powers-that-be and compromising our existence. I was always asking my father why did we put up with this injustice and he would always give me the same defeatist answer : Samaj ma rehvu chhe to aa badhu karvuj parsey nahi to tamari shaadi kem karsu, tamey hamney dafan ka karso,.........etc. And I always used to think : Is this all there is to our deen - the fear of oppression? And the fear is so palpable that because of it we have stopped following Islam and have started following our so-called spiritual leader and we have stopped worshipping God and started worshipping a human being. Our condition is such that we are not even worthy of pity. Anyway, now my conviction is becoming more strong and eventually I will break free from this bondage. May the Almighty Allah shower his blessings on you for all the good work that you are doing and may you achieve the heights of success in your noble venture. One more thing before I end - I just cannot understand why some people use such abusive language when writing to you when, on the other hand, you are so polite in all your answers. Instead of using abusive language they could intellectually argue with you on any point that they disagree OR they could totally ignore you. Oops.....sorry.....I forgot my question. Well, here it is: I have heard that some bad/evil spirit (atmaa?) enters our body and then we become an unwilling host to it. Then there are some people who are adept at exorcising these spirits and trapping them into bottles. This is done even in our community. Is this really true? Is there anything in the Glorious Quran or any authentic Hadiths regarding these phenomenon. I personally do not believe in ghosts and evil spirits but I would appreciate it if you could throw some light on it.

(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:

Good brother comments and ghosts

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever 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.

May Allah Subhanah reward you with the best of this world and the Hereafter for your kind comments of encouragement for our humble efforts in the propagation of the Truth. If our humble and modest efforts have helped even one brother or sister get closer to Allah and His Deen of Truth, then we would consider ourselves indeed fortunate to have been given this opportunity by the Lord Most Merciful to serve in His Cause. We hope, beg, and pray the Merciful Lord accepts our humble and weak efforts, forgives us our shortcomings, and saves you, us, and all the believers from the torment of the Hell Fire. Ameen.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 6 Surah Anaam verse 125: Those whom Allah (in His Plan) Wills to guide He opens their breast to Islam; those whom He Wills to leave straying He makes their breast close and constricted as if they had to climb up to the skies: thus doth Allah (heap) the penalty on those who refuse to believe.

All Praise is due to Allah Subhanah Alone Who has guided the believers to the Striaght Path. Had it not been for the Infinite and Sublime Mercy and Grace of our Benevolent Lord, Allah is our witness, none could have guided himself to the Straight Path and we would have remained in utter darkness and thus ruined not only our lives in this world, but the eternal and everlasting life of the Hereafter. All Praise is due to Allah Subhanah Alone Who, from His Infinite Mercy and Grace, taken His humble and repentant servants out of darkness and misery and guided us towards His Light and His Forgiveness.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah Baqarah verses 256-257:

256 Let there be no compulsion in religion. Truth stands out clear from error; whoever rejects evil and believes in Allah hath grasped the most trustworthy hand-hold that never breaks. And Allah Heareth and Knoweth all things.

257 Allah is the Protector of those who have faith: from the depths of darkness He will lead them forth into light. Of those who reject faith the patrons are the Evil Ones: from light they will lead them forth into the depths of darkness. They will be companions of the fire to dwell therein (for ever).

Your Statement: I was always asking my father why did we put up with this injustice and he would always give me the same defeatist answer : Samaj ma rehvu chhe to aa badhu karvuj parsey nahi to tamari shaadi kem karsu, tamey hamney dafan ka karso,.........etc. (Translation: 'If we have to live and abide in the community, we must abide (by their oppression); otherwise how will we ever get you married, where will you get us buried, etc.) And I always used to think : Is this all there is to our deen - the fear of oppression?

Dear and Beloved Brother in Islam, the defeatist answer your parents gave you is exactly the same given to every person who wishes to stand on the side of the Truth against falsehood and oppression! This is indeed a genuine fear put into the hearts of the simple people by their supposedly 'learned' holy men and unscrupulous priests, whose permission and presence is absolutely obligatory on every major event of their follower's lives!

Only if our parents had the wisdom and knowledge of the Truth, they would have informed them that it is not as if one was leaving a big community to join a small one; but Praise be to Allah, if one were to leave their community of falsehood they would be leaving a minute community of one million to join a community of 1.8 billion believers! Who has a wider choice when it comes to marrying their children or getting themselves buried? The one million slaves of a mere human being (Abde-Syedna), or the 1.8 billion slaves of Allah Subhanah (Abd-Allah)!

If this was the only fear of those who embraced oppression; then Allah is our witness, their fear was absolutely baseless and unfounded! If indeed they wished to fear something, then the fear of being presented alone in the Majestic and Supreme Presence of Allah Subhanah on an Inevitable Day is something to fear about; for Allah is our witness, all fears absolutely and utterly pale in comparison to this One Fear!

All Praise is due to Allah Subhanah Alone who has removed all the fears from the hearts of His believing slaves, and united them to fear none but Him Alone! If one does not fear Allah Subhanah, he will fear everything in the world; but if one fears Allah Subhanah Alone as He Alone deserves to be feared, the Merciful Lord removes all the fears of the universe from such fortunate beings. If one does not bow or worship or invoke Allah Subhanah Alone, he will bow, and worship, and invoke every idol, and grave, and image, and human being to fulfill his needs; but he who submits himself to bow and worship and invoke none but the Lord of the Worlds Alone, Allah Subhanah relieves him from the humiliation and misery of every need, but Him!

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 (muslims) 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 (Allah) is your 'Maula': what an Excellent 'Maula' and what an Excellent Helper!

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 22 Surah Hajj verses 13: Then, instead of Allah, he (the disbeliever) invokes those who can do him neither harm nor good. This is the last extremity of deviation! He invokes those who are more likely to do him harm, than good! What an EVIL 'MAULA' he chooses, and what an evil companion.

Your Statement: One more thing before I end - I just cannot understand why some people use such abusive language when writing to you when, on the other hand, you are so polite in all your answers. Instead of using abusive language they could intellectually argue with you on any point that they disagree OR they could totally ignore you.

Dear and Beloved brother in Islam, please, we beg you in the Name of Allah Subhanah, please do not let the abusive language our beloved brethren use against us to hurt you, or cause you any pain in the least. No matter what some of our beloved but misguided brethren say or write or do against us, or how much abuse and oppression they wish to levy upon us; Allah is our witness, we do not hold an iota of malice or hatred or seek revenge towards them in the least. Our hearts and our arms are as open to their comments as they are to every believing brother and sister on the forum. Regardless of how much malice and hatred they show towards the Truth of the Quran and the Sunnah, it may be that one day before their appointment of death, the Lord Most Merciful may guide them to see the 'Truth' and they find themselves enveloped in the Lords Infinite and Sublime Mercy and Grace.

Had Allah not taken us into His Mercy, we too, in our ignorance, would have retaliated and used abusive language to argue with them. All Praise is due to Allah Subhanah Alone Who has guided and commanded His believing slaves to argue and present the Truth to those who do not believe in the most polite and excellent manner; and to unconditionally submit to His Command and Guidance is an honor that the believers who seek nothing but His Pleasure and Good Will should relish.

Allah says in the Holy Quran: Chapter 16, Surah An-Nahl Ayat 125: Invite to the way of your Lord with wisdom and excellent admonition and argue with people in the best manner. Your Lord knows best who has gone astray from His Way and who is Rightly guided.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 41 Surah Haa-Meem verses 33-35:

33 Who is better in speech than one who calls (men) to Allah, works righteousness, and says "I am of those who bow in Islam"?

34 Nor can Goodness and evil be equal. Repel (evil) with what is better: then will he, between whom and thee was hatred, become as it were thy friend and intimate!

35 And no one will be granted such goodness except those who exercise patience and self-restraint; none but persons of the greatest good fortune.

When one is born and grown up in a certain way, believing a certain belief; and one fine day someone comes and tells him that his beliefs and worships are complete falsehoods according to the guidance of the Quran and Sunnah; it can only be expected that such a person will immediately try to assault the one who is trying to help him see the Truth. Praise be to Allah Subhanah Alone Who has made the Truth clear from the falsehood; and when, one day when Allah Subhanah blesses the brothers and sisters to see the Truth, they become the best friends and well wishers of those whom they previously despised!

Allah Subhanah has blessed the brothers and sisters on this forum to witness many such cases, where in the beginning one who heaped abuse and even gave us death threats wrote back to say that they have turned in repentance to their Lord after being guided aright to the Truth of the Quran and Sunnah. Allah-o-Akbar! Allah-o-Akbar! Allah-o-Akbar! Allah is our witness, some of those letters brought tears of gratefulness to the eyes of the brothers and sisters on the forum, for never in their wildest imagination could they believe that Allah Subhanah would bless their this humble and weak effort to play its humble and insignificant role in the search of a brother to see the Truth.

Thus, my dear and beloved brother in Islam, never let the rebuke or abuse of a person whom you are trying to help seek the Truth discourage or hurt you in the least; for it may be that one day when they realize the Truth, they will be your best friends and well-wishers in this life and the Hereafter. And even if no one appreciates your humble efforts in the Cause of Allah Subhanah, rest assured that your effort will never be in vain; for it is only the Pleasure and Good Will of the Merciful Lord that the true believers seek.

Your Question: I have heard that some bad/evil spirit (atmaa?) enters our body and then we become an unwilling host to it. Then there are some people who are adept at exorcising these spirits and trapping them into bottles. This is done even in our community. Is this really true? Is there anything in the Glorious Quran or any authentic Hadiths regarding these phenomenon. I personally do not believe in ghosts and evil spirits but I would appreciate it if you could throw some light on it.

The Angels, the Jinns, and the human beings are indeed amongst the creations of Allah Subhanah; but none amongst them have the power or ability to enter the bodies of another, or host the other, or overpower the actions of another, etc. Amongst all the creations of Allah Subhanah, only the Jinns and the Humans have been bestowed with a limited 'free will' to choose between obedience and disobedience, good and evil, Truth and falsehood, etc.; and each Jinn and each Human will be accountable for his own deeds done of his own 'free will' in the Presence of the Majestic Lord on an Inevitable Day.

If the Jinn were allowed to overpower human beings and enter into their bodies, or make them do things which the human did not will to do, or had no control over, etc.; then the whole devised process of Truth for being held accountable for one's deeds would stand destroyed and in error! Every Jinn and every man has full control over his will, and thus he alone will be accountable for his own deeds.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 14 Surah Ibrahim verse 22: And Shaytaan will say when the matter is decided: "It was Allah Who gave you a promise of Truth: I too promised, but I failed in my promise to you. I had no authority over you except to call you, but ye listened to me: then reproach not me but reproach your own souls. I cannot listen to your cries nor can ye listen to mine. I reject your former act in associating me with Allah. For wrongdoers there must be a Grievous Penalty."

There is absolutely no reality to the stories of 'bhoots', ghosts, evil spirits, evil 'aatmas' or souls of deceased people coming back to haunt the living, 'daakan', 'churail', witches, etc...... These are just falsehoods narrated by people to scare and involve one another in false beliefs and fears! There is absolutely nothing in the Quran and Sunnah which give credence to these absolute and utter falsehoods.

Your Statement: Then there are some people who are adept at exorcising these spirits and trapping them into bottles. This is done even in our community.

Not only in the Bohra community, but in every community of false beliefs this phenomena of exorcism is shamelessly propagated by their unscrupulous 'holy men' and 'priests': who first guide their ignorant and helpless followers towards these super-natural fears; and then for a fee (of course), perform absolutely ridiculous rituals and chants to remove from these helpless souls what which was not there in the first place! And because of their own ignorance of the Truth and Guidance of the Quran and Sunnah, these helpless followers believe every word of their unscrupulous and evil self-appointed priests and pay a fortune to them to allay the fears that were planted by these 'holy men' in the first place!

These evil and unscrupulous priests tell all kinds of tall-tales and stories to install absolute fear into their unsuspecting and helpless followers, and may the curse of Allah be upon them, they even sell the Aayahs of the Quran as chants, and 'taaweedh', and amulets, etc. in their efforts to extort them of their hard-earned wealth!

Little do the helpless-ignorant-and-blind followers of these unscrupulous and evil priests know that Allah Subhanah has warned them in the Quran against such 'holy men' and priests who devour the wealth of others by evil means!

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 9 Surah Taubah verses 34-35: O you who believe! There are indeed many among the priests and the holy men who devour the wealth of others by evil means, and debar the people from the Way of Allah. Give them the good news of a painful torment, who hoard up gold and silver and do not expend these in the Way of Allah. The Day shall surely come when the same gold and silver shall be heated in the fire of Hell, and with it will be branded their foreheads, their bodies and their backs. (And it will be said): "Here is that treasure you had hoarded up for yourselves! Taste now the evil of your hoarded treasure!"

Your Statement: I personally do not believe in ghosts and evil spirits but I would appreciate it if you could throw some light on it.

The believers should put all their Trust in their Lord Alone and know for sure that if all the Shayateen amongst the Jinns and the humans got together and willed to harm a person, they would not be successful in the least unless Allah Subhanah Wills it. And if all the Shayateen amongst the Jinn and the humans got together and tried their utmost to withhold something which Allah Wills to bless His slave with, they will not be able to withhold it in the least! Thus the believers should put their full and absolute Trust in Allah Subhanah Alone, and fear none except Allah Subhanah, the Lord of the Worlds.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 35 Surah Fatir verse 2: What Allah out of His Mercy doth bestow on mankind there is none can withhold: what He doth withhold there is none can grant apart from Him: and He is the Exalted in Power Full of Wisdom.

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