Mumbai/New Delhi: A pall of gloom descended on the Dawoodi Bohra community on Friday as their spiritual head Syedna Mohammad Burhanuddin died here in Mumbai following cardiac arrest. He was 102.
Considered to be the 52nd Dai of the Dawoodi Bohra community, Burhanuddin was greatly revered by the Bohras. Shaikh Abdeali Bhanpurwala, Executive Secretary of Burhanuddin, confirmed to Gulf News that “the spiritual leader died due to a heart attack after prolonged illness.”
Burhanuddin’s media associate Shaikh Qureish Raghib said that the end came at Saifee Mahal, the spiritual leader’s residence in Malabar Hills in south Mumbai.
“Syedna Mohammad Burhanuddin has passed away this morning. The Dawoodi Bohra community will observe a 10-day mourning for the departed spiritual leader. As a mark of respect to him, all shops and businesses run by the community members shall remain closed for the next three days. It is tragic as the spiritual leader was all set to celebrate his birthday next month,” Raghib said.
Burhanuddin will be succeeded by heir apparent Syedi Mufaddal Bhaisaheb Saifuddin. The total Dawoodi Bohra population of the world is said to exceed one million with more than half living in Gujarat in India. However, since the 1920s, Mumbai has become the permanent seat of the spiritual head and the central hub of administration for his organisation.
Burhanuddin last made a public appearance on November 13 to mark the tenth-day of Moharram discourse, called “Ashura”, at Saifee Masjid in Bhendi Bazaar in Mumbai.
As the news about his demise spread across the country, hundreds of Dawoodi Bohras started pouring in at the spiritual centre at Devdi in Zampa Bazaar in Mumbai. However, to manage the situation, the community has been appealed to pray in local mosques instead of rushing to Devdi.
Former secretary of Surat Dawoodi Bohra Samaj, Yusuf Badri, is saddened by the news of Burhanuddin’s demise.
“For the tens of thousands of Dawoodi Bohra community members in India and outside, this is the day of great bereavement. It is a great loss to our community as we have lost our spiritual head of decades,” Badri said.
Having a blend of cultures including Yemeni, Egyptian, African and Indian, Dawoodi Bohras have their own language called “Lisnu-d-Dawat” meaning the “language of the Dawat”, which is written in Perso-Arabic script and is derived from Urdu, Gujarati and Persian.
One of the key principles of the community is “patriotism as part of the faith”. It encourages followers to make a positive contribution to the country they live in.
The Dawoodi Bohras are a very close-knit community. The majority of Dawoodi Bohras in the past have been traders. But not anymore. They are now taking on the professional world by a storm. In Sri Lanka, many Dawoodi Bohras have chosen to become doctors and engineers.
There is also a large community in Karachi, as well as a significant diaspora population in Europe, North America, the Far East and East Africa.
The Dawoodi Bohras maintain a distinct form of attire. Dawoodi Bohra men wear a traditional white three piece outfit, plus a white and gold cap and women wear the “rida”, a distinctive form of the commonly known burqa.
