On the 20th Rabi-ul-Akhar 1426 Hijri, a million Dawoodi Bohras will celebrate the 93rd birthday of their spiritual head, Syedna Mohammed burhanuddin TUS, the 52nd Dai-al-Mutlaq. This joyous occasion will commemorate nine decades of the life and times of a benevolent father who has lead his community with care and concern to religious, spocial and economic distinction. It will mark a rejoicement of a million hearts and symbolize the indebtness of one and all to a savant, an educationist, a visionary and above all a loving and compassionate patriarch.

Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin TUS was born the first son to Syedna Taher Saifuddin RA in the eyar 1333 Hijri, 1915 in Surat. Syedna Taher Saifuddin’s personal grooming of his son and successor enables Syedna Burhanuddin to imbibe all the characteristics of his revered father and witness his solicitous nurturing of the community. True to his father’s directive, Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin TUS has presided over the destiny of his community, guiding them in all matters temporal and spiritual. As a true repository of Fatemi faith and tradition, he has displayed that rare humanism that transcends all climes and cultures. The citation of the Aligarh Muslim University reads, “A scion of Fatemi Imams, Syedna is himself the embodiment of learning and piety…His Holiness has been brought up in the traditions of his great father, and has therefore, both inherited and cultivated a broad and liberal humanism. The quality permeates the conduct of his high spiritual office, his bearing as a person and his relations with men.”

On the sad demise of Syedna Taher Saifuddin RA in te year 1385 H/ 1965, the community witnessed a smooth transition from exalted leader to accomplished son. Ever since Syedna has traveled extensively to maintain personal contact with his far-flung following spread over five continents. Although the majority of Dawoodi Bohras are concentrated in India and Pakistan, a sizeable number are domiciled in Africa, Yemen, USA and in the European and Gulf countries. Through practise and precept, he guides the community to dedicate themselves to their Islamic faith while remaming loyal and contributing citizens to the lands of their adoption. As he meets with leaders he strengthens the bonds of amity and goodwill and propogates the message of human compassion and tolerance. Ignoring bonds of caste and creed, he gives munificently to chartitable institutions. Syedna’s leadership has enabled his minority community to earn the confidence and regard of all as a religious, disciplined and enterprising fraternity.

The Burhani era has witnessed an unparalleled growth in the revival and restoration of Fatemi architecture. In 1400 Hijri, Syedna took up the monumental task of restoring Al-Jamea-al-Anwa, the fourth largest masjid in the world, to its former glory. The task involved careful research and meticulous execution of Fatemi architectural and design details, rewriting thousands of metres in Kufic script and removal of refuse from almost 29, 000 cubic metres in the edifice. The next fFatemi structures to be restored were Al-Jamea-al-Aqmar and Al-Jamea-al-Lulua in cairo. Beside being expressions of love and allegiance to the progeny of te Holy Prophet PBUH, these projects have served to reorient the community towards Islamic tradition. Since then there ahs been a furore in te construction of masajids, mausolea, schools and rest houses wherever dawoodi Bohras reside.

An erudite scholar and a patron of learning, Syedna oversees several educational projects which have ensured 100 percent literacy in the community with literally hundreds of schools and madrasas. Al-Jamea-tus-Saifiyah, te Arabic academy in Surat and its branch in Karachi, offers a curriculum which included Arabic language and literature, Islamic philosophy and jurisprudence, as well as the social and exact sciences. Of special interest is the Al-Mahad-al-Zahra, a center which aids students memorize the Quran with its modern technical and acoustic facilities. Expoundidng the bbelief that Islam is not only a religion but a philosophy of life Syedna TUS says, “Pursue by all means education that the modern world has to offer, but bear in mind that that which detracts from Islamic thought and belief and effaces one’s identity will prove detrimental.

Syedna TUS personally imparts religious and philosophical knowledge by delivering discourses running into several hours. These sermons, rich in content and lucid in style, delivered in Syedna’s TUS resonant voice, leave an enduring impression on the assembled. No account of the Burhani era would be complete without reference to the Ashara Majlis, the gathering of hundreds of thousands to mourn the martydom of Imam Husain SA the grandson of the Holy Prophet PBUH. AS Syedna TUS narrates the poignant account of Imam Husain SA at Kerbala, there remains no eye without the salty dampness of tears and lamentation. In 1399 Hiji, Syedna TUS issued a call to the community to assemble under the banner of Al-Mutalaqa-al-Fatemi. In is opening address he said, “ the believer must combine the knowledge that ebnsures fulfillment in this world with the knowledge which guarantees the Hereafter.” This demonstrates Syedna’s TUS proagmatism as he elucidated that the Islamic Shariat has inherent in it, all that harmonizes with the times. In recognition of Syedna’s TUS scholarship, the Aligarh Muslim University in India and Al-Azhar University in Cairo conferred Honorary Doctorates upon him. The Egyptian government honoured him with it’s prestigious title, Visha-un-Neel, while the Goevrnment of Jordon awarded him the title, ‘Order of the Star of Jordon.’

Syedna TUS has urged his followers to conform to Islamic economic etjhics and eschew interest which is prohobitedand to grant interest free loans. The Burhani Qarzan Hasana Trust was established to gran such loans to traders encouraging the spirit of self-relienace and enterprise. The business community, in restructuring itself, has stopped ineterst dealings and experienced substantial economic growth. Syedna TUS has also initiated several trusts and charitable organizations for the benefit of the community and humanity at large.The Amatulah Aisaheba Trust addresses the needs of women encouraging home industries, needlecrafts and education. His Holines Syedna Taher Saifuddin Foundation undertakes varied projects ranging from rural to medical to alliviate the lot of the needy. THE Burhani Founadtion Trust focuses on environmental issues while rasing the awareness of the ongoing desecration of nature. The Faize Husaini Trust has been entrusted with the care of planning and providing for the travekl and lodging of pilgrims. The Saifee Foundation Trust has, as its objectives, the relief of poverty, the advancement and propagation of education and the provision of medical relief. Syedna’s TUS efforts for the welfare and upliftment of humanity, acknowledged and appreciated by all, are based on the Holy Prophet’s PBUH doctrine, “Mankind is one family, the most beloved to Allah is the one most beneficial to it.”

Through the nine decades of his life Syedna TUS has inspired and educated, counseled and nurtured his followers. The love and devotion that the dwoodi Bohras have for him becomes amply evident, be it in a gatering of thousands who jostle for a glimpse of the serene countenance, or seek personal audience with him. This loe so much a part of religion is mutual, as Syedna TUS reiterates, “I know you love me dearly but I, your father, love you even more. You belong to me and I to you.”

The quran affirms, “Verily, in the messenger of Allah, you have an ideal (to follow)” as one who has patterned his life on the teachings of the Holy Prophet PBUH Syedna TUS has indeed merited the love and reverence of all.

The West gets its first look at the Dawoodi Bohras, a unique Muslim denomination who have found the core of their religious beliefs largely compatible with modern ideology. Combining orthodox Muslim prayer, dress and practice with secular education, relative gender equality, and Internet use, this community serves as a surprising reminder that the central values of modernity are hardly limited to the West—(Jonah Blank, The University of Chicago press)

Jonah Blank, an anthropologist and journalist, who is the author of the book ‘Mullahs on the mainframe: Islam and modernity among the Dawoodi Bohras’ writes, “… the Bohra clergy has attempted—with great success—to establish a communal identity that is at once universally Islamic and unique to the denomination.”Moreover, it has done so not by rejecting modern or Western ideas and technologies, but by embracing them: the Bohras have used modernity as a tool to reinvigorate their core traditions.

The Bohras uphold most aspects of Islamic orthopraxy faithfully. In all matters of prayer, dress, physical comportment, and even avoidance of financial interest, they seem to be highly conservative. At the same time they eagerly adopt any and every aspect of Western culture which does not fall into the sphere of forbidden. Far from displaying the anti-Western attitudes sometimes found among other revivalist groups, Bohras proudly send their children to Britain or the USA for education, exhibit greater gender equality than most communities of the sub continent, and have become internet pioneers uniting members of their far flung denomination into a world wide cyber congregation.

Is this unusual? But there is no reason that it has to be. Most aspects of ‘modern’ society that the Bohras reject are not really modern at al. The Bohra clergy urges the faithful to renounce alcohol, drugs, and promiscuity. But are these truly the hallmarks of modern society? People all over the world have been brewing alcohol, ingesting all manner or narcotics, and engaging in every conceivable sexual practice since the dawn of recorded history. Rejection of these practices is anti modern only if modern society is defined solely by its vices.

The Dawoodi Bohras shatter stereotypes about traditionalist Islam today. As a community of upto 1 million devout Shia whose faith whose faith is evry bit as fundamental to them as it is for Afghans, Saudis, or Iranisns, they present an example that must be taken seriously. While adhereing faithfully to traditional Islamic norms, the Bohras eagerly accept most aspects of modernity, strongly supposrt the concept of pluralist civil society, boast a deeply engrained heritage of friendly engagement with members of other communities, and have a history of apolitical quietism stretching back nearly a thousand years.