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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Your Questions Answered (volume 6) Q. 10: Why Do You Write D For ض? Why do you write d in the English Al-Mizan to indicate ض is not like D? example, there are four letters, ض , when the pronunciation of A: Arabic alphabets contain many letters which have no equivalent in English. For ض . And there is only z in English with a sound like ز . How will you transcribe Arabic words containing ض ,ظ or ذ into English and writing.

The Western scholars have devised two or three systems for correctly transcribing Arabic words. The one I am using is called the Glasgo system. ذ,ز ,ظ ??There are for example four words in Arabic,,, ?? and ?? according to the Glasgo system they will be transcribed as zalla, dhalla, zalla and dalla. The dot under d indicates that there is of ض ض in that place. It does not show what is the pronunciation in Arabic.

The English Al-Mizan is being written for people in the Western countries, and therefore it is necessary to follow a system which they are familiar with. Q. 11: About Bohoras: A friend of mine is an IsmailI Bohra (follower of 21 Imams and 52 Dais).I managed to argue with him by showing the weeklies and books. But he does not agree with me in the matter of lmamate. I have given him books and traditions of Prophet (S.A.W) and Imams.

A: I advise you to get a copy of Hollister's book, Shi 'a of India. Hollister was a Christian Missionary and he was more sympathetic to the Ismai'lis (Bohoras and Aga Khanis) than to the Ithna-'Asharis. He has described in that book, inter alia, the faith and practices of both branches of Isma'ilism. I am sure you can find a copy in Osmania University's library. Another book in Urdu, Mujtahid)will be of more help to you. You may get a copy from Lucknow.

Probably Imame Zamana Mission (Jet House, Shaheed Yar Jang Rd, Himayat Nagar, Hyderabad 500 029) can help you in getting this book. Meanwhile, you may point out to your friend the following:- As you will see in my book, Imamate, the number of 12 Khalifas was foretold by the Holy Prophet (S.A.W), as was the information that the 12th Imam will go into Occultation and will re-appear before Qiyamat. And these most important traditions are recorded even in the Sunni books.