Salaams,
My copy of A Story Of Faith only arrived last friday, in an unassuming book post parcel from Mumbai. I wasted no time in tearing into it, but I was unsure of what I was expecting. Let me tell you what I found.
The book is actually three books in one. The first tells the story of the mumineen on East Africa, and their history and struggles against munafiqin, politics, and the social and economic turmoil associated with the end of colonialism.
The second is an overview of the broader issues addressing the Bohra community as a whole, especially with regard to the transition between Syedna Taher Saifuddin (AS) and Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin Moula (TUS), and the renaissance of our community as it fully re-embraced its cultural heritage and responsibility.
Finally, the third is a discussion of what it means to be Bohra. Critiscisms against our beliefs, misconceptions, and common arguments against the primary farmaans are all answered and defended against and the essential simplicity and beauty of the faith is paraded for the reader's comprehension and understanding.
Any of these three books would make a great Discovery Channel two-hour special, or merit inclusion in an issue of National Geographic. But this time, it is not some alien culture or faith that we are learning about.. it is our own, and in a clear, documentary-style setting that speaks directly to the television-bred, media-fed, information-overloaded 90's believer, under assault from the West and from within. The actual writing style is at times hard to follow, but that is a reflection more on the reviewer than on the author. Overall, the book leaves the reader feeling like they have truly tasted the global context of the legacy of being Bohra in the twentieth century, with all the change we have weathered, the attacks we have borne, and the success we have earned by virtue of the guidance and dua of our Aqa Moula (TUS), whose hand shields and showers us with barakaat as we enter the next millennium.
I have only read three-quarters of the book before feeling compelled to write this review. This is simply because even when the last page has been turned, the story will not end. This book is an extension of ourselves into the past, and the story within will only end when the world does. We are still writing what Rashidabahen herself also continued, a story that stretches back 1400 years onto the plains of Karbala. With Aqa Moula's (TUS) guidance, we will see the tale through to the glorious end.
For information on how to order a copy of A Story Of Faith, email Shk Zoher Ghadiali at nzg@integracom.net .
Abde Syedna (TUS),
Aziz Hatim Poonawalla