http://blog.farashaeuker.com/2009/03/modes-of-prayer.html

Brother why don’t you clarify the allegations others are putting on ismaili? i don’t know much about ismailis. but if you think its not like this then you should answer their allegations. And if their allegations are correct then i am afraid ismailis can not be considered as muslims as per my knowledge of islam.

At this controversial jumma prayer, Now i understand the meaning of Fitna referred to in qurani ayaths.

Islam: General Introduction
The last in the line of the Abrahamic family of revealed traditions, Islam emerged in the early decades of the seventh century. Its message, addressed in perpetuity, calls upon a people that are wise, a people of reason, to seek in their daily life, in the rhythm of nature, in the ordering of the universe, in their own selves, in the very diversity of humankind, signs that point to the Creator and Sustainer of all creation, Who alone is worthy of their submission.* It was revealed to Prophet Muhammad (s.a.s.) in Arabia from where its influence spread rapidly and strongly, bringing within its fold, in just over a century after its birth, inhabitants of the lands stretching from the central regions of Asia to the Iberian peninsula in Europe. A major world religion, Islam today counts a quarter of the globe’s population among its adherents, bound to their faith by the affirmation of the witness that there is no divinity except God, and Muhammad is His messenger.

Muslims are those who submit to God. They are a community of the middle path, of balance, which is taught to avoid extremes, to enjoin good and forbid evil, using the best of arguments. Such a community eschews compulsion, leaves each to their own faith and encourages all to vie for goodness: it is the nobility of conduct which endears one in the sight of God. In its pristine sense, Islam refers to the inner struggle of the individual, waged singly and in consonance with fellow believers, to engage in earthly life, and yet, to rise above its trappings in search of the Divine. But that quest is only meaningful in tandem with the effort to do good for the kin, the orphan, the needy, the vulnerable; to be just, honest, humble, tolerant and forgiving.**

The spiritual dimension of Islam varies from individual to individual according to their inner capacities as conditioned by the external environment. Equally in the collective domain, a divergence of views has persisted, since the demise of the Prophet, among the pious and the learned, on what constitutes the best community. The very comprehensiveness of the vision of Islam, as it has unfolded over time and in a multiplicity of cultures, has rendered a monolithic conception of the ideal society difficult. Nevertheless, whatever the cultural milieu in which Islam takes root, its central impulse of submission to the Divine translates into patterns of lifeways and acts of devotion, which impart a palpable impress of an Islamic piety to whichever spheres Muslims occupy.

Shia Islam: Historical Origins
Within its fundamental unity, Islam has elicited, over the ages, varying responses to its primal message calling upon man to surrender himself to God. Historically, these responses have been expressed as two main perspectives within Islam: the Shia and the Sunni. Each encompasses a rich diversity of spiritual temperaments, juridical preferences, social and psychological dispositions, political entities and cultures. Ismailism is one such response integral to the overall Shia perspective which seeks to comprehend the true meaning of the Islamic message, and trace a path to its fulfilment.

All Muslims affirm the unity of God (tawhid) as the first and foremost article of the faith, followed by that of Divine guidance through God’s chosen messengers, of whom Prophet Muhammad was the last. The verbal attestation of the absolute unity and transcendence of God and of His choice of Muhammad as His Messenger constitutes the shahada, the profession of faith, and the basic creed of all Muslims.

During his lifetime, Prophet Muhammad was both the recipient of Divine revelation and its expounder. His death marked the conclusion of the line of prophecy, and the beginning of the critical debate on the question of the rightful leadership to continue his mission for the future generations. The debate ensued as a result of the absence of consensus, in the nascent Muslim community, on the succession to the Prophet.

A variety of viewpoints on the nature of the succession continued to be expressed before being consolidated into systematic doctrine, propounded by legal scholars and theologians, towards the end of the ninth century. From the beginning, however, there was a clear distinction of views on this matter between those, known as shi’at Ali or the “party” of Ali, who believed that the Prophet had designated Ali, his cousin, as his successor, and those groups which followed the political leadership of the caliphs. These latter groups eventually coalesced into the majoritarian, Sunni branch, comprising several different juridical schools.

In essence, the Sunni position was that the Prophet had not nominated a successor, as the revelation, the Quran, was sufficient guidance for the community. Nevertheless, there developed a tacit recognition that the spiritual-moral authority was to be exercised by the ulama, a group of specialists in matters of religious law, the shariah. The task of the ulama came to be understood as that of merely deducing appropriate rules of conduct on the basis of the Quran, the Hadith or the Prophetic tradition and several other subordinate criteria. The role of the caliph, theoretically elected by the community, was to maintain a realm in which the principles and practices of Islam were safeguarded and propagated.

The Shia or “party” of Ali, already in existence during the lifetime of the Prophet, maintained that while the revelation ceased at the Prophet’s death, the need for spiritual and moral guidance of the community, through an ongoing interpretation of the Islamic message, continued. They firmly believed that the legacy of Prophet Muhammad could only be entrusted to a member of his own family, in whom the Prophet had invested his authority through designation. That person was Ali, Prophet Muhammad’s cousin, the husband of his daughter and only surviving child, Fatima, and his first supporter who had devoutly championed the cause of Islam and had earned the Prophet’s trust and admiration. Their espousal of the right of Ali and that of his descendants, through Fatima, to the leadership of the community was rooted, above all, in their understanding of the Quran and its concept of qualified and rightly guided leadership, as reinforced by Prophetic traditions. The most prominent among the latter were part of the Prophet’s sermon at a place called Ghadir Khumm, following his farewell pilgrimage, designating Ali as his successor, and his testament that he was leaving behind him “the two weighty things”, namely the Quran and his progeny, for the future guidance of his community.

Among the early Shia were the pious Quran readers, several close Companions of the Prophet, tribal chiefs of distinction and other pious Muslims who had rendered great services to Islam. Their foremost teacher and guide was Ali himself who, in his sermons and letters, and in his admonition to the leaders of the tribe of Quraysh, reminded Muslims of his family’s right, in heredity, to the leadership for all time “as long as there is among us one who adheres to the religion of truth”.

The Shia, therefore, attest that after the Prophet, the authority for the guidance of the community was vested in Ali. The Sunni, on the other hand, revere Ali as the last of the four rightly-guided caliphs, the first three being Abu Bakr, Umar and Uthman. Just as it was the prerogative of the Prophet to designate his successor, so it is the absolute prerogative of each Imam of the time to designate his successor from among his male progeny. Hence, according to Shia doctrine, the Imamat continues by heredity in the Prophet’s progeny through Ali and Fatima.

Evolution of Communities of Interpretation
In time, the Shia were sub-divided. The Ismailis are the second largest Shia Muslim community. The Ismailis and what eventually came to be known as the Ithna ashari or Twelver Shia parted ways over the succession to the great, great grandson of Ali and Fatima, Imam Jafar as-Sadiq, who died in the year 765. The Ithna asharis transferred their allegiance to as-Sadiq’s youngest son Musa al-Kazim and after him, in lineal descent, to Muhammad al-Mahdi, their twelfth Imam who, they believe, is in occultation and will reappear to dispense perfect order and justice. Led by mujtahids, the Ithna asharis are the largest Shia Muslim community, and the majority of the population in Iran.

The Ismailis gave their allegiance to Imam Jafar as-Sadiq’s eldest son Ismail, from whom they derive their name. Throughout their history, the Ismailis have been led by a living, hereditary Imam. They trace the line of Imamat in hereditary succession from Ismail to His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan, who is their present, 49th Imam in direct lineal descent from Prophet Muhammad through Ali and Fatima.

There was also divergent growth among the Sunnis. From the early decades, various, embryonic systems of law began to emerge in response to concrete situations of life, reflecting initially the influence of regional custom in the way the Quran was interpreted. Eventually, these were consolidated into four major schools, which came to command the allegiance of the majority of Sunni adherents.

The history and evolution of Islam, thus, witnessed the growth of different communities of interpretation with their respective schools of jurisprudence. However, whatever the differences between the Shia and the Sunni or among their sub-divisions, they never amounted to such fundamental a divergence over theology or dogma as to result into separate religions. On the other hand, in the absence of an established church in Islam, and an institutionalized method of pronouncing on dogma, a proper reading of history reveals the inappropriateness of referring to the Shia-Sunni divide, or to interpretational differences within each branch, in the frame of an orthodoxy-heterodoxy dichotomy, or of applying the term “sect” to any Shia or Sunni community.

Principles of Shiism
The essence of Shiism lies in the desire to search for the true meaning of the revelation in order to understand the purpose of human existence and its destiny. This true, spiritual meaning can never be fettered by the bounds of time, place or the letter of its form. It is to be comprehended through the guidance of the Imam of the time, who is the inheritor of the Prophet’s authority, and the trustee of his legacy. A principal function of the Imam is to enable the believers to go beyond the apparent or outward form of the revelation in search of its spirituality and intellect. A believer who sincerely submits to the Imam’s guidance may potentially attain the knowledge of self. The tradition attributed to both the Prophet and Imam Ali: “He who knows himself, knows his Lord”, conveys the essence of this relationship between the Imam and his follower. The Shia thus place obedience to the Imams after that to God and the Prophet by virtue of the command in the Quran for Muslims to obey those vested with authority.

The succession of the line of prophecy by that of Imamat ensures the balance between the shariah or the exoteric aspect of the faith, and its esoteric, spiritual essence. Neither the exoteric nor the esoteric obliterates the other. While the Imam is the path to a believer’s inward, spiritual elevation, he is also the authority who makes the shariah relevant according to the needs of time and universe. The inner, spiritual life in harmony with the exoteric, is a dimension of the faith that finds acceptance among many communities in both branches of Islam.

Intellect and Faith
The intellect plays a central role in Shia tradition. Indeed, the principle of submission to the Imam’s guidance, explicitly derived from the revelation, is considered essential for nurturing and developing the gift of intellect whose role in Shiism is elevated as an important facet of the faith. Consonant with the role of the intellect is the responsibility of individual conscience, both of which inform the Ismaili tradition of tolerance embedded in the injunction of the Quran: There is no compulsion in religion.

In Shia Islam, the role of the intellect has never been perceived within a confrontational mode of revelation versus reason, the context which enlivened the debate, during the classical age of Islam, between the rationalists who gave primacy to reason, and the traditionalists who opposed such primacy without, however, denying a subordinate role for reason in matters of faith.

The Shia tradition, rooted in the teachings of Imams Ali and Jafar as-Sadiq, emphasizes the complementarity between revelation and intellectual reflection, each substantiating the other. This is the message that the Prophet conveys in a reported tradition: “We (the Prophets) speak to people in the measure of their intelligences”. The Imams Ali and Jafar as-Sadiq expounded the doctrine that the Quran addresses different levels of meaning: the literal, the alluded esoteric purport, the limit as to what is permitted and what is forbidden, and the ethical vision which God intends to realise through man, with Divine support, for an integral moral society. The Quran thus offers the believers the possibility, in accordance with their own inner capacities, to derive newer insights to address the needs of time.

An unwavering belief in God combined with trust in the liberty of human will finds a recurring echo in the sermons and sayings of the Imams. Believers are asked to weigh their actions with their own conscience. None other can direct a person who fails to guide and warn himself, while there is Divine help for those who exert themselves on the right path. In the modern period, this Alid view of Islam as a thinking, spiritual faith continues to find resonance in the guidance of the present Imam and his immediate predecessor. Aga Khan III describes Islam as a natural religion, which values intellect, logic and empirical experience. Religion and science are both endeavours to understand, in their own ways, the mystery of God’s creation. A man of faith who strives after truth, without forsaking his worldly obligations, is potentially capable of rising to the level of the company of the Prophet’s family.

The present Imam has often spoken about the role of the intellect in the realm of the faith. Appropriately, he made the theme a centrepiece of his two inaugural addresses at the Aga Khan University (AKU): “In Islamic belief, knowledge is two-fold. There is that revealed through the Holy Prophet and that which man discovers by virtue of his own intellect. Nor do these two involve any contradiction, provided man remembers that his own mind is itself the creation of God. Without this humility, no balance is possible. With it, there are no barriers. Indeed, one strength of Islam has always lain in its belief that creation is not static but continuous, that through scientific and other endeavours, God has opened, and continues to open, new windows for us to see the marvels of His creation”.

Muslims need not be apprehensive, he said, of these continuing journeys of the mind to comprehend the universe of God’s creation, including one’s own self. The tendency to restrict academic inquiry to the study of past accomplishments was at variance with the belief in the timeless relevance of the Islamic message. “Our faith has never been restricted to one place or one time. Ever since its revelation, the fundamental concept of Islam has been its universality and the fact that this is the last revelation, constantly valid, and not petrified into one period of man’s history or confined to one area of the world.”

Crossing the frontiers of knowledge through scientific and other endeavours, and facing up to the challenges of ethics posed by an evolving world is, thus, seen as a requirement of the faith. The Imam’s authoritative guidance provides a liberating, enabling framework for an individual’s quest for meaning and for solutions to the problems of life. An honest believer accepts the norms and ethics of the faith which guide his quest, recognises his own inner capacities and knows that when in doubt he should seek the guidance of the one vested with authority who, in Shia tradition, is the Alid imam of the time from the Prophet’s progeny.

Ismaili Community

History
[From the Preface of Farhad Daftary, The Ismailis: Their history and doctrines (Cambridge University Press, 1990, pp.xv-xvi. See also A Short History of the Ismailis: Traditions of a Muslim Community, (Edinburgh University Press, 1998) by the same author.]

“The Ismailis constitute the second largest Shia community after the Twelvers in the Muslim world and are now scattered in more than twenty countries of Asia, Africa, Europe and America. This book traces the history and doctrines of the Ismaili movement from its origins to the present time, a period of approximately twelve centuries.”

“The origins of Sunnism and Shiism, the two main divisions of Islam, may be traced to the crisis of succession faced by the nascent Muslim community following the death of the Prophet Muhammad, though the doctrinal bases of these divisions developed gradually in the course of several centuries. In time, Shia Islam, the minoritarian view, became subdivided into different groups, many of which proved short-lived. But Imami Shiism, providing the common early heritage for several Shia sects, notably the Twelvers and the Ismailis, was a major exception.”

“The Ismailis have had a long and eventful history. In mediaeval times, they twice established states of their own and played important parts for relatively long periods on the historical stage of the Muslim world. During the second century of their history, the Ismailis founded the first Shia caliphate under the Fatimid caliph-imams. They also made important contributions to Islamic thought and culture during the Fatimid period. Later, after a schism that split Ismailism into two major Nizari and Mustalian branches, the Nizari leaders succeeded in founding a cohesive state, with numerous mountain strongholds and scattered territories stretching from eastern Persia to Syria. The Nizari state collapsed only under the onslaught of all-conquering Mongols. Thereafter, the Ismailis never regained any political prominence and survived in many lands as a minor Shia Muslim sect. By the second half of the eighteenth century, however, the spiritual leaders or imams of the Nizari majority came out of their obscurity and actively participated in certain political events in Persia and, then, in British India; later they acquired international prominence under their hereditary title of Agha Khan (Aga Khan).”

Because of political developments in Iran in the late 1830s and early 1840s the 46th Imam, Aga Hasan Ali Shah, emigrated to the Indian subcontinent. He was the first Imam to bear the title of Aga Khan, which had been previously bestowed on him by the Persian Emperor, Fath Ali Shah. He settled in Bombay in 1848 where he established his headquarters, a development that had an uplifting effect on the community in India and on the religious and communal life of the whole Ismaili world. It helped the community in India gain a greater sense of confidence and identity as Shia Ismaili Muslims, and laid the foundations for its social progress. It also marked the beginning of an era of more regular contacts between the Imam and his widely dispersed followers. Deputations came to Bombay to receive the Imam’s guidance from as far afield as Kashgar in China, Bokhara in Central Asia, all parts of Iran, and the Middle East.

In the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries, Ismailis from the Indian sub-continent migrated to East Africa in significant numbers.

The Ismaili Community in the 20th Century
Under the leadership of Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah, Aga Khan III, the first half of the twentieth century was a period of significant development for the Ismaili community. Numerous institutions for social and economic development were established on the Indian sub-continent and in East Africa. Ismailis have marked the Jubilees of their Imams with public celebrations, which are symbolic affirmations of the ties that link the Ismaili Imam and his followers. Although the Jubilees have no real religious significance, they serve to reaffirm the Imamat’s world-wide commitment to the improvement of the quality of human life, especially in the developing countries.

The Jubilees of Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah, Aga Khan III, are well remembered. During his 72 years of Imamat (1885-1957), the community celebrated his Golden (1937), Diamond (1946) and Platinum (1954) Jubilees. To show their appreciation and affection, the Ismailis weighed their Imam in gold, diamonds and, symbolically, in platinum, respectively, the proceeds of which were used to further develop major social welfare and development institutions in Asia and Africa.

On the subcontinent of India and Pakistan, social development institutions were established, in the words of the late Aga Khan, “for the relief of humanity”. They included institutions such as the Diamond Jubilee Trust and the Platinum Jubilee Investments Limited which in turn assisted the growth of various types of cooperative societies. Diamond Jubilee Schools for girls were established throughout the remote Northern Areas of what is now Pakistan. In addition, scholarship programmes, established at the time of the Golden Jubilee to give assistance to needy students, were progressively expanded. In East Africa, major social welfare and economic development institutions were established. Those involved in social welfare included the accelerated development of schools and community centres, and a modern, fully-equipped hospital in Nairobi. Among the economic development institutions established in East Africa were companies such as the Diamond Jubilee Investment Trust (now Diamond Trust of Kenya) and the Jubilee Insurance Company, which are quoted on the Nairobi Stock Exchange and have become major players in national development.

Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah also introduced organisational forms that gave Ismaili communities the means to structure and regulate their own affairs. These were built on the Muslim tradition of a communitarian ethic on the one hand, and responsible individual conscience with freedom to negotiate one’s own moral commitment and destiny on the other. In 1905 he ordained the first Ismaili Constitution for the social governance of the community in East Africa. The new administration for the Community’s affairs was organised into a hierarchy of councils at the local, national, and regional levels. The constitution also set out rules in such matters as marriage, divorce and inheritance, guidelines for mutual cooperation and support among Ismailis, and their interface with other communities. Similar constitutions were promulgated in the Indian subcontinent, and all were periodically revised to address emerging needs and circumstances in diverse settings.

Following the Second World War, far-reaching social, economic and political changes profoundly affected a number of areas where Ismailis resided.

In 1947, British rule in the Indian subcontinent was replaced by the two sovereign, independent nations, of India and Pakistan, resulting in the migration of at least a million people and significant loss of life and property. In the Middle East, the Suez crisis of 1956 as well as the preceding crisis in Iran, demonstrated the sharp upsurge of nationalism, which was as assertive of the region’s social and economic aspirations as of its political independence. Africa was also set on its course to decolonisation, swept by what Mr. Harold MacMillan, the then British Prime Minister, aptly termed the “wind of change”. By the early 1960s, most of East and Central Africa, where the majority of the Ismaili population on the continent resided (including Tanganyika, Kenya, Uganda, Malagasy, Rwanda, Burundi and Zaire), had attained their political independence.

This was the world in which the present Aga Khan acceded to the Imamat in 1957. The period following his accession can be characterised as one of rapid political and economic change. Planning of programmes and institutions became increasingly difficult due to the rapid changes in newly-emerging nations. Upon becoming Imam, the present Aga Khan’s immediate concern was the preparation of his followers, wherever they lived, for the changes that lay ahead. This rapidly evolving situation called for bold initiatives and new programmes to reflect developing national aspirations.

In Africa, Asia and the Middle East, a major objective of the Community’s social welfare and economic programmes, until the mid-fifties, had been to create a broad base of businessmen, agriculturists, and professionals. The educational facilities of the Community tended to emphasise secondary-level education. With the coming of independence, each nation’s economic aspirations took on new dimensions, focusing on industrialisation and modernisation of agriculture. The Community’s educational priorities had to be reassessed in the context of new national goals, and new institutions had to be created to respond to the growing complexity of the development process.

In 1972, under the regime of the then President Idi Amin, Ismailis and other Asians were expelled, despite being citizens of the country and having lived there for generations. The Aga Khan had to take urgent steps to facilitate the resettlement of Ismailis displaced from Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya and also from Burma. Owing to his personal efforts most found homes, not only in Asia, but also in Europe and North America. Most of the basic resettlement problems were overcome remarkably rapidly. This was due to the adaptability of the Ismailis themselves and in particular to their educational background and their linguistic abilities, as well as the efforts of the host countries and the moral and material support from Ismaili community programmes.

Spiritual allegiance to the Imam and adherence to the Shia Imami Ismaili tariqah (persuasion) of Islam according to the guidance of the Imam of the time, have engendered in the Ismaili community an ethos of self-reliance, unity, and a common identity. The present Aga Khan continued the practice of his predecessor and extended constitutions to Ismaili communities in the US, Canada, several European countries, the Gulf, Syria and Iran following a process of consultation within each constituency. In 1986, he promulgated a Constitution that, for the first time, brought the social governance of the world-wide Ismaili community into a single structure with built-in flexibility to account for diverse circumstances of different regions. Served by volunteers appointed by and accountable to the Imam, the Constitution functions as an enabler to harness the best in individual creativity in an ethos of group responsibility to promote the common well-being.

Like its predecessors, the present constitution is founded on each Ismaili’s spiritual allegiance to the Imam of the time, which is separate from the secular allegiance that all Ismailis owe as citizens to their national entities. The guidance of the present Imam and his predecessor emphasised the Ismaili’s allegiance to his or her country as a fundamental obligation. These obligations discharged not by passive affirmation but through responsible engagement and active commitment to uphold national integrity and contribute to peaceful development.

In view of the importance that Islam places on maintaining a balance between the spiritual well-being of the individual and the quality of his life, the Imam’s guidance deals with both aspects of the life of his followers. The Aga Khan has encouraged Ismaili Muslims, settled in the industrialised world, to contribute towards the progress of communities in the developing world through various development programmes. In recent years, Ismaili Muslims, who have come to the US, Canada and Europe, mostly as refugees from Asia and Africa, have readily settled into the social, educational and economic fabric of urban and rural centres across the two continents. As in the developing world, the Ismaili Muslim Community’s settlement in the industrial world has involved the establishment of community institutions characterised by an ethos of self-reliance, an emphasis on education, and a pervasive spirit of philanthropy.

From July 1982 to July 1983, to celebrate the present Aga Khan’s Silver Jubilee, marking the 25th anniversary of his accession to the Imamat, many new social and economic development projects were launched, although there were no weighing ceremonies. These range from the establishment of the US$ 300 million international Aga Khan University (AKU) with its Faculty of Health Sciences and teaching hospital based in Karachi, the expansion of schools for girls and medical centres in the Hunza region, one of the remote parts of Northern Pakistan bordering on China and Afghanistan, to the establishment of the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme in Gujarat, India, and the extension of existing urban hospitals and primary health care centres in Tanzania and Kenya.

These initiatives form part of an international network of institutions involved in fields that range from education, health and rural development, to architecture and the promotion of private sector enterprise and together make up the Aga Khan Development Network.

It is this commitment to man’s dignity and relief of humanity that inspires the Ismaili Imamat’s philanthropic institutions. Giving of one’s competence, sharing one’s time, material or intellectual wherewithal with those among whom one lives, for the relief of hardship, pain or ignorance is a deeply ingrained tradition which shapes the social conscience of the Ismaili Muslim community.

I don’t know why they takes this data if Ismailis are considered as Muslims in Pakistan. But they are not Muslims because their believe in IMAAN is entirelty different than Shia or Sunni Muslims.

Thanks for information. You must share with me if you find some thing new about Boora or Ismalilis.

Our country government is praiser of Money…. regardless of source of getting it.

Paisa Phaink, Tamasha Daikh… Agha Khan is doing the same with our Government to fill their stomachs.

Ismailis (called Bora in India) are the same. Have you ever meet these boora people. They calls themselves “Shia-Muslim” but I have visited their weekly congregation in Middle East once to see their practices that whether it is the same as true Shia. No doubt they believes in Agha Khan as a GOD and do as he says. They can’t take a single step without his permission. Their community is like a chain. They have many businesses in the whole world and every body contribute to run their JAMAAT.

One bad thing I come to know that they never offers prayers in all Masjids. They pray only on one Masjid, that is in centre of city. They says that Namaz is not accpeted every where because Land is NAPAAK. One other thing about them is that they collects water that is used by Agha Khan to take bath. Then they distribute this water to their people and they spray the same on their food, after cooking it. It is valid news and I have confirmed from one Boora.

They are not considered as Muslims in Pakistan but in india, they are called as Shai and they even go for Hajj from there. This is one reason that in India (specially), Other muslims calls Shai as non muslims…by observing Boora (Ismalisis)

I told many Indian Muslims that these are not Shia…Shia and Sunni dont have so many differences, as these Boora have ( but boora are called always as Shia in India). Please visit Wikipedia.. you will find more information about booras.

By Natalie Hancock
BBC News, Oxford

Prof Amina Wadud
Professor Amina Wadud has led prayers in America

A woman is to lead a congregation of men and women in an Islamic prayer service for the first time in the UK.

Muslim scholar Professor Amina Wadud is to give the sermon - or khutbah - at the start of a conference on Islam and feminism at Wolfson College in Oxford.

The move has provoked opposition as the tradition is that imams - always men - hold mixed services. Some believe it is against Islam for a woman to do so.

But organisers heralded it as a “leap forward” for “theological destiny”.

Chairman of the Muslim Educational Centre Oxford (MECO) Dr Taj Hargey, who is organising Friday’s conference, argued that the prayer service would be a step in the right direction.

“We believe Islam is a gender-equal religion,” he said.

“There is a record that the Prophet Mohammed allowed a woman to lead a mixed-gender congregation, but this precedent has been ignored.

Even in Christianity Catholics still don’t accept female priests
Mokhtar Badri
Muslim Association of Britain

“Women have led prayers in South Africa, Canada and the US and this is a first time here - it is a celebration.”

But Mokhtar Badri, vice-president of the Muslim Association of Britain, is opposed to the sermon.

“With all respect to sister Amina, prayer is something we perform in accordance to the teachings of our Lord,” he said.

“It has nothing to do with position of women in society. It is not to degrade them or because we don’t think they are up to it.

“This is something divine not human. We have to do it in the way it has been ordained by God to do it.

“Women can lead prayers before other women but for this very specific point, in this situation before a congregation of men and women, a man must lead.”

Protest planned

He added: “I also don’t think this is a subject confined to Islam. Even in Christianity Catholics still don’t accept female priests.”

When Ms Wadud led a service in New York City three years ago, it had to be held in an Anglican church after mosques refused to host the event.

There are also expected to be objections to Friday’s sermon at the Oxford Centre in Banbury Road, with opponents understood to be planning protests.

But Dr Hargey is undeterred.

“People thought it was a bad idea to give women the vote,” he said.

“When Emmeline Pankhurst chained herself to the railings in protest there was uproar, but things move on.

“This is about theological self-empowerment - women as well as men have the right to determine their own theological destiny.”