Mithaq
Misaq in Bohra Tradition
The Misaq or Mithaq, in Dawoodi Bohra tradition, is considered a rite of passage from childhood to adulthood. Similar to a bar mitzvah, followers must be a certain age before taking the oath. Before the oath is taken, parents are responsible for the actions of their children. However, once a child of the correct age takes the oath, they are considered adults and responsible for their own actions. It is usually taken after puberty - women take it earlier than men - and is often followed by a large celebration.
Mishaq oath
The Mishaq is administered by the Bhaisaheb, also known as an Amil, either in a group setting with the Bhaisaheb and all the followers holding a rope to symbolize unity or one on one with the follower holding the Bhaisaheb' hand. The Bhaisaheb then asks the followers if they believe and will follow the following statements. If the follower agrees they are to say yes after each statement.
- And if the Imam of the time or his Dai calls upon you to war against the enemy then you should make war. You should help with your life and property. And you should obey the Imam of the time or his Dai sincerely......Say yes.
- And whatever the Imam of the time or his Dai orders you to obey you should obey the Dai and you shall not become a sinner (by disobedience); and you shall not become hostile to the Dai. You shall not falsify the Dai.
- You shall keep up the command of the Imam and that Imam is Imam Tayeb Abul Qasim Amirul-Mominin. He is your Imam.
- And you shall accept the order of the Dai of Imam in all things. And you shall not use that thing which the Dai shall forbid you, and you shall not take steps (towards it). You shall love him whom the Dai loves. You shall be enemy to him with whom the Dai is hostile. You shall war against him whom the Dai makes war. Any person transgressing those engagements to the Dai is outside the pale of religion. Whether he be great or small, whether he is a close relation or a distant one you shall not have any intercourse with him. You shall not correspond with him openly or secretly. You shall not do any act calculated to be friendly to him. And by no manner or means or pretense shall see the enemy of the Dai. The enemy of the Dai is your enemy
- And you shall attend on the summons (of) the Imam or the Dai to make religious war. At that time you shall not shirk or play the coward. You shall with all heart spend your property and your life in the cause of the Dai. You shall report fully to the Dai or to the Deputy of the Dai any person who transgresses the covenant of the Imamuzamam
- And you shall not permit yourself to be induced to withhold assistance from the Dai, service and obedience to him, and prevent you from carrying out the order of the Dai. Further you shall not offer any disbeliever to turn you away from taking the oath of the covenant to the Dai. You shall render perfect service with your property and with the offer of your life (to the Dai). The master of your life is the Dai or the Imam of the time.....Say yes.
- (This has been omitted from ex. 17)
- (This has been omitted from ex. 17)
- And you shall be pleased by the order of the Dai of the Imam. The Dai shall raise among you or degrade among you persons as he likes. He shall gift to and shall deprive persons as he pleases. The Dai shall reward persons and shall punish them in his discretion. The Dai shall smile upon or shall break his wrath on whomsoever he thinks fit. You shall be pleased in that which Dai is pleased
- The person to whom the oath is due enjoins to this effect that if a person on whom it is made obligatory by me to keep faith to the oath openly or secretly breaks it the defaulter is forsaken by God the Creator of the Earth and heavens, the framer of the limbs of the creatures, the conferrer of blessings on him, and the Bestower of health. The breaker of the oath is shut out from the books Tawrat (laws of Moses), Injeel (The Bible), Zaboor (Psalms of David), and the Holy Quran. He is also deprived of the perfect words (Blessings of the Imam)
- If a person taking the oath breaks it, all his possessions, i.e. moveables, cash, housing, utensils, jewels, ornaments, carriages, horses, cattle, milking cows, she buffaloes, slaves, males and females and all worldly materials become unlawful for him. All his property is liable to be looted and to be distributed among the poor and the needy. When he takes the oath again and accepts all the terms of that covenant then his things become lawful to him and then only he is entitled to get his things back
- All the benefits which he had already enjoyed (from his possessions) becomes unlawful i.e. with a prospective effect unless he takes the oath afresh (the past enjoyments) do not become lawful. All the slaves males and females of the breaker of the oath become free and the defaulter loses all ownership over them until a fresh oath and he keeps faith with the covenant
- And if the breaker of the covenant has a wife that wife becomes forbidden to him. The breach of covenant has the effect of three Talaqs (divorce) against the wife i.e. Kataee, Haraj and Sunnat (three forms of divorce). The woman can never marry him again, neither can he take her as a wife.. say yes. If the breaker of the oath performs Hajj thirty times with naked feet even then God shall not forgive him his sin (in breaking the covenant) nor God shall accept his Hajj. But if he takes the oath again by the true Dai's covenant, his master, then and then alone God shall accept his Hajj, his prayers, fasts and other good deeds
- And the breaker of the covenant accursed of God by that curse which was inflicted on Iblis, the Satan the effect of which was that paradise was lost to Satan and hell became his inheritance.
- And the breaker of the covenant shall face his God as Kafir and apostate after his death. He is beyond redemption by the power of God. He will be thrown on his own soul and shall curse him and shall extend hell to him which hell is the worst of all places. There is no God but the Merciful and Benevolent. The Defaulter turns away his face from the worship of God and turns it into the worship of idols. All Kafirs worship idols and thus shall become attached to the idol and the grace of God shall destroy the breaker of the oath with rapidity and shall confine him to hell in which there is nothing but torture
- There is no freedom for your soul but loyalty to the covenant and there is no salvation for you but in fulfilling the terms of the covenant. You have made God your witness and the testimony of God is enough
- You heard my words and you are pleased with my conditions. The person to whom the covenant is due say that you took upon your neck the obligation to hear the covenant of God and you took the mighty oath and you gave oath of allegiance which is very strong and which for our Lord the Imam Tayeb Abul Qasim Amiril Mominin may the peace of God be on him and his holy ancestors and the generous descendants who are expected till the day of resurrection. When Imam Tayeb went in seclusion owing to the high handedness of the oppressors, he left in Dawat three ranks behind him, namely, the rank of Dai, the rank of Mazoon and the rank of Mukasir. Owing to the existence of these three ranks the existence of Imam of the time is known to be in existence. The present Dai of the Imam of the time is the grand Maulana the singular (insert current Dai's name), may God prolong his life and his Mazoon is (inset current mazoon's name) and his Mukasir is (inset current mukasir's name). Whoever recognizes (insert current Dai's name) and these three ranks he recognizes the imam of the time
- Then be pleased that you have given the oath of allegiance to the Imam and his Dai, God says in the Quran to Prophet: "O Mohammed the people do not give the oath of allegiance to you, rather they give it to God. The hand of God is above the hands of all people". Whoever breaks the covenant his soul will be tormented and whoever fulfils the covenant God will bless him and will highly recompense him. The person from whom the Misaq is taken says that God may keep firm to the covenant and it may not be that he may treat the covenant as a mere deposit. May God grant you and me, the true believers, to be faithful to the covenant and my God keep you and me steadfast to His obedience and the obedience of God's prophet and the obedience of Wali of God, the present Imam and his Dai and may God make it complete for you and us to remain firm for the mercy of God through the good end. And (all) praise is due to God, the one, the great Avenger; and peace of God be on Mohammed the Selected and on his wasi, Preserver, and on his Progeny, the good, the pure, the righteous and Salaam!
- It is written on the (inset current day) of the month of (insert current month) by the slave of Grand Dai (insert current Dai's name), may God prolong his life, (insert follower's name) the son/daughter of (inset follower's father's name) in the year (insert current year) (hijra) in the town of (insert current location), may God the Exalted protect him.[1]
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