al-Khidma — Rawzat

al-Khidma — Service: The Spiritual Dimension of Serving the Community and the Imam

الخِدمَةُ — خِدمَةُ الأُمَّةِ وَالإِمَامِ فِي التَّقلِيدِ الإِسمَاعِيلِيّ

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Al-Khidma (الخِدمَة — service, serving, ministering, from *kh-d-m* meaning to serve/minister/attend) is the concept of service — to Allah, to the Prophet, to the Imam, to the community — as a fundamental spiritual value and practice in Islam, and especially in the Bohra Ismaili tradition where khidma (khedmat) is one of the most prominent community values. The Prophet: *'The master of a people is the one who serves them.'* And: *'The best of people is the one who is most beneficial to others.'* In the Ismaili tradition, khidma to the Imam — in whatever form — is simultaneously service to Allah, because the Imam is Allah's proof in the era. The Bohra community has institutionalized this through volunteer-based communal service: serving at community meals (*niyaz*), at the mosque, at community events, caring for the elderly, education — all forms of khidma. The da'i himself is the supreme example of khidma: his entire function is service to the Imam and through the Imam to the community.

Service in Prophetic Teaching

The master as servant: The Prophet: “The master/leader of a people is the one who serves them (khadimuhum).” — The inversion of status: the greatest is not the one most served but the one who serves most. This principle pervades Islamic social ethics — leaders are servants; authority is a form of service, not entitlement.

Service as highest worship: “The best of people is the one who is most beneficial (anfa’uhum) to people.” — The Prophet identified service and benefit to others as the measure of a person’s goodness — above individual ritual excellence, above formal scholarly achievement. The one whose life most benefits others is the best Muslim.

See also: Akhlaq, Al Karam, Sadaqa, Al Birr

Bohra Khidma Tradition

Institutionalized service: The Bohra community has developed extensive traditions of voluntary service — cooking and serving at communal meals (niyaz, the food offered after prayers), cleaning the mosque, serving at ‘Ashura gatherings, organizing iftars in Ramadan, caring for pilgrims. These forms of khidma are understood as simultaneously communal benefit and spiritual practice.

Khidma to the Da’i: In the Bohra tradition, personal service to the Da’i al-Mutlaq — physical attendance, assistance, hospitality, and financial support through wajibat — is understood as the highest form of khidma, because the Da’i is the Imam’s representative. Serving the Da’i is serving the Imam; serving the Imam is serving Allah.

The Da’i as Supreme Khidma

Service as the Da’i’s identity: The Da’i al-Mutlaq’s very title — Da’i (one who calls/invites) — is a service title: his entire function is calling the community to the Imam’s walayah, serving as the channel of the Imam’s guidance. The highest khidma is this comprehensive service to the community and the Imam that the Da’i embodies.

al-Khidma — Service: The Spiritual Dimension of Serving the Community and the Imam

Service in Prophetic Teaching

Bohra Khidma Tradition

The Da’i as Supreme Khidma

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