Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin, the spiritual leader of the Dawoodi Bohras – a sect of Shia Muslims originally from Gujarat – died of a cardiac arrest at his residence in Mumbai on Friday morning. He was 102 according to the Islamic calendar, and had led the community for 48 years.
Burhanuddin was born in Surat, Gujarat, on March 6, 1915, and became the 52nd Dai in 1965, after the death of his father, Syedna Taher Saifuddin. He was the sect’s longest-running Dai, leading nearly one million Bohras all over the world, predominantly in India.
For a community that brought in his 100th Islamic birthday with grand, world-wide celebrations in 2011, Burhanuddin’s death is a time of deep mourning. “It is a very sad day for us,” said Farrokh Varis, principal of Mumbai’s Burhani College, which was founded by Burhanuddin in 1969. “The Syedna was not only a benevolent soul, but also a great man known for his nobility.”
Burhanuddin's tenure was marked by the establishment and restoration of several religious, educational and healthcare institutions around the world. In 1980, he completed the restoration of Cairo’s al-Hakim Mosque and followed it up with renovating and constructing numerous other mosques and mausoleums in India, Egypt, Iraq, Yemen and the US. He also established the multi-speciality Saifee Hospital in Mumbai in 2005.
“The Syedna gave a lot of importance to health and education and the hospital was his vision,” said Dr. Saifee Bapai, the director of Saifee Hospital.
In 2011, under his leadership, the Bohras became one of the first religious communities to launch biometric identity cards, called the e-Jamaat cards. The cards are used across Bohra institutions to access mosques and shrines, attend religious and cultural events and are also needed for wedding ceremonies. While some community members have been sceptical about the use of the card, fearing that it will keep track of their attendance (or lack of it) at religious events, most Bohras welcomed it as a move towards embracing modern technology.
The latest project launched by Burhanuddin is the Bhendi Bazaar cluster redevelopment project in Mumbai, which seeks to transform 16.5 acres of dilapidated, densely populated buildings in which many Bohras live into a cluster of high-rise residential buildings. The project is expected to cost approximately Rs 3,000 crore.
Throughout his period as the head of the Bohras, Burhanuddin maintained friendly ties with Indian prime ministers, chief ministers as well as leaders of other nations. He was awarded honorary doctorate degrees by universities in Cairo, Karachi and the Aligarh Muslim University.
But Burhanuddin also had his share of detractors, predominantly a group of reformists within the community who, in the early 20th century, began to express disagreement with several aspects of the Bohra establishment, particularly the mandatory oath of allegiance that community members are expected to take to the Syedna.
“Anybody’s death is a sad event and we pray that the Syedna’s soul rests in peace, but we wish he had engaged more with the reformists to discuss the issues they were agitating about,” said reformist Bohra Irfan Engineer, the son of prominent reformist Asghar Ali Engineer who died last year. “The Dawoodi Bohra establishment continues to coercively collect a lot of money from the community and still socially boycotts the followers who do not agree with them.”
Within the community, too, there have been some voices of dissent in the recent past. Despite its image of being a progressive community that promotes the education and independence of women, for instance, the Dawoodi Bohras are possibly the only community in India that silently -- yet officially -- practices female genital mutilation, a ritual that is considered a human rights violation by most countries around the world.
In 2011 an anonymous Bohra woman started an online petition, addressed to the Syedna, to put an end to this practice. The petition, though widely publicised and signed by more than 2,500 people, was largely ignored by the Syedna and his establishment.
Burhanuddin is to be succeeded by his second son, Aaliqadr Mufaddal Saifuddin, who he had named as the next dai in 2011.
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Burhanuddin was born in Surat, Gujarat, on March 6, 1915, and became the 52nd Dai in 1965, after the death of his father, Syedna Taher Saifuddin. He was the sect’s longest-running Dai, leading nearly one million Bohras all over the world, predominantly in India.
For a community that brought in his 100th Islamic birthday with grand, world-wide celebrations in 2011, Burhanuddin’s death is a time of deep mourning. “It is a very sad day for us,” said Farrokh Varis, principal of Mumbai’s Burhani College, which was founded by Burhanuddin in 1969. “The Syedna was not only a benevolent soul, but also a great man known for his nobility.”
Burhanuddin's tenure was marked by the establishment and restoration of several religious, educational and healthcare institutions around the world. In 1980, he completed the restoration of Cairo’s al-Hakim Mosque and followed it up with renovating and constructing numerous other mosques and mausoleums in India, Egypt, Iraq, Yemen and the US. He also established the multi-speciality Saifee Hospital in Mumbai in 2005.
“The Syedna gave a lot of importance to health and education and the hospital was his vision,” said Dr. Saifee Bapai, the director of Saifee Hospital.
In 2011, under his leadership, the Bohras became one of the first religious communities to launch biometric identity cards, called the e-Jamaat cards. The cards are used across Bohra institutions to access mosques and shrines, attend religious and cultural events and are also needed for wedding ceremonies. While some community members have been sceptical about the use of the card, fearing that it will keep track of their attendance (or lack of it) at religious events, most Bohras welcomed it as a move towards embracing modern technology.
The latest project launched by Burhanuddin is the Bhendi Bazaar cluster redevelopment project in Mumbai, which seeks to transform 16.5 acres of dilapidated, densely populated buildings in which many Bohras live into a cluster of high-rise residential buildings. The project is expected to cost approximately Rs 3,000 crore.
Throughout his period as the head of the Bohras, Burhanuddin maintained friendly ties with Indian prime ministers, chief ministers as well as leaders of other nations. He was awarded honorary doctorate degrees by universities in Cairo, Karachi and the Aligarh Muslim University.
But Burhanuddin also had his share of detractors, predominantly a group of reformists within the community who, in the early 20th century, began to express disagreement with several aspects of the Bohra establishment, particularly the mandatory oath of allegiance that community members are expected to take to the Syedna.
“Anybody’s death is a sad event and we pray that the Syedna’s soul rests in peace, but we wish he had engaged more with the reformists to discuss the issues they were agitating about,” said reformist Bohra Irfan Engineer, the son of prominent reformist Asghar Ali Engineer who died last year. “The Dawoodi Bohra establishment continues to coercively collect a lot of money from the community and still socially boycotts the followers who do not agree with them.”
Within the community, too, there have been some voices of dissent in the recent past. Despite its image of being a progressive community that promotes the education and independence of women, for instance, the Dawoodi Bohras are possibly the only community in India that silently -- yet officially -- practices female genital mutilation, a ritual that is considered a human rights violation by most countries around the world.
In 2011 an anonymous Bohra woman started an online petition, addressed to the Syedna, to put an end to this practice. The petition, though widely publicised and signed by more than 2,500 people, was largely ignored by the Syedna and his establishment.
Burhanuddin is to be succeeded by his second son, Aaliqadr Mufaddal Saifuddin, who he had named as the next dai in 2011.
