Vadodara Cyber Crime Police Inspector Mr Mahendrabhai Motwani was invited for Cyber Crime - Awareness and Prevention talk on 18 June 2023, Sunday at Taiyebi Hall, Ajwa Road, Vadodara. Saiyedi Siqat ud Da'wat Mukaasir Maulaa Mohammad Nuruddin Saheb DZ and Naasir ud Da'wat Raasulhudood Dr Zulqarnain Hakeemuddin Saheb ZI graced the occasion. Mukaasir Maulaa said that, "With Social Media encroaching every personal spaces of our lives, there is an urgent need for all of us to be highly cautious and careful. Fame, greed, lust and opportunistic approach has captured our minds. This leads to fraud, scam, extortion and disloyalty. Every age-group is affected by this. Easy internet connectivity, habit of online shopping and banking, keeping trust on strangers and giving them important personal details add to this woe."

"Every day we come across news reports of fraudsters experimenting with different online adventures and targeting gullible people. Through chats, messages and videos fraudsters fool people due to misinformation, ignorance and social disgrace. Today, our mobile and internet is a necessity but it should be used correctly, timely and intelligently."

Session lasted for 1.5 hrs where participants learnt about how to be safe and secure online in these days of fraudsters and scammers

• Hacking - Intrusion into your device without permission through any means
• Phising - Fraud through email
• Vishing - Fraud through phone calls
• Smishing - Fraud through SMS
• Honey trap sextortion - Blackmailing through nude video calls
• Cyber bullying - Online Harrassment
• Cyber stalking - Online Following and Threatening
• Voyeurism - Taking photos and videos without permission

Terms WE ALL KNOW BUT HARDLY UNDERSTAND...

This paper (webinar) focuses on the Alavi Bohra community in Vadodara, Gujarat, and their khizānat al-kutub, or treasury of books. As Shi’i Isma’ilis, the Alavi Bohras consider themselves heirs of the Fāṭimid Imamate (909–1171). Whereas other Isma’ili communities, such as the Nizārīs, claim a genealogical link to the Fāṭimids through the presence of a living Imam, the Bohras legitimize their “Neo-Fāṭimid” identity through a living Arabic manuscript culture and documentary practices enshrined in khizānat in Gujarat. These treasuries, which are governed by the sacerdotal families of the Bohra communities, contain vast collections of rare Isma’ili Arabic manuscript titles, ranging from legal works to philosophical treatises, to esoteric texts.

Yet these khizānat are more than repositories of books from the past: they are living manuscript scriptoria at work, where Fāṭimid and post-Fāṭimid texts have been manually copied for centuries under strict conditions of secrecy. While a philological link between the Bohras and the Fāṭimids has hitherto been acknowledged through the study of individual manuscript copies held in academic institutions, the social and historic importance of Bohra khizānāt in this chain of transmission remains uncharted territory.

Based on ethnographic observations and archival research among the Alavi Bohras, Dr Akkerman argues that these manuscripts, and their presence in Gujarat, are foundational for Bohra Isma’ilism as it is practiced today in South Asia and for the transmission of its knowledge system. Their material survival ultimately defines the Alavi Bohras’ identity and legitimizes their position and authority in the larger Shi’i context and in the Muslim umma at large as heirs of the Fāṭimids.

Dr Olly Akkerman (Institute of Islamic Studies, Freie Universität Berlin) is a specialist on Arabic manuscripts and Shi'i Islam. Her research examines the social life of manuscript repositories, and other forms of material culture among the Bohras in South Asia and the larger Western Indian Ocean. Her publications include The Bohra Manuscript Treasury as a Sacred Site of Philology: a Study in Social Codicology and a monograph: A Neo-Fatimid Treasury of Books. Arabic Manuscripts among the Alawi Bohras of South Asia (EUP, forthcoming 2022)

Islaam is the deen selected for the well-being of entire humanity with peace and love.  Harmony is the essence of peace and prosperity that fosters the high morals of a person irrespective of caste, creed and religion.  Islaam is the final and pure religion on this earth and it encompasses all the good qualities and pureness from every religious establishments.  ‘as-Salaam’ is one of the Allaah’s 99 attributes and it means peace and tranquility that is reflected in every aamaal of Islaam.  Recently on 10th April 2010, an international conference was held on World Peace by Indo-Iran Peace Forum and Iran Culture House in New Delhi where Mazoon ud-Da’wat Saiyedi Haatim Zakiyuddin saheb (dm) was invited by Cultural Counsellor Dr. K Najafi.  Here Saiyedi saheb met with renowned Shia-Sunni scholars and activists who notably contributed in establishing peace nationally as well as internationally between different nations and faiths.  Importantly, Saiyedi saheb met personally a topmost scholar of Iran Peace process fraternity ash-Shaikh Ali Mohammad at-Taskhiri and exchanged tabarrukaat and acknowledged his achievements with great respect.