Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin spiritual leader of Dawoodi Bohra community died

Dr Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin spiritual head of the Dawoodi Bohra community died of cardiac arrest in Mumbai on 17 January 2014. He was 102.

He was the 52nd Dai al-Mutlaq or spiritual head of the Dawoodi Bohras community for more than 50 years.

He was credited with having built several institutions. One among them is the Raudat Tahera, the mausoleum of his father Syedna Taher Saifuddin, near Saifee Mosque. The mausoleum has the entire Quran inscribed in letters of gold on its walls.

He also started community kitchens across the world so as to provide hygienic and nutritious food to members of his community.

He had received the numerous honours, the memorable being the Star of Jordan and Order of the Nile from the governments of Jordan and Egypt respectively.

He was also given honorary doctorates by renowned institutions like Cairo's Al-Azhar University, the Aligarh Muslim University and the University of Karachi.

In October 1999, he was elected chancellor of the Aligarh Muslim University.

About Dawoodi Bohras

Dawoodi Bohras community is a merchant community having a blend of cultures, including Yemeni, Egyptian, African, and Indian.

Dawoodi Bohras have their own language called Lisanu d- Dawat, which is written in Perso-Arabic script and is derived from Urdu, Gujarati and Persian.

They have a very small, tight-knit community made up of approximately one million adherents worldwide, with the majority of adherents residing in India. There is also a large community in Karachi, as well as a significant population in Europe, North America, the Far East and East Africa.

Presently, Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin, the second son of Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin, is the Dai al-Mutlaq or the spiritual head of the community. He is 53rd Dai al-Mutlaq in succession.