Spiritual and temporal head of Dawoodi Bohra Muslim community Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin passed away at his south Mumbai residence here on Friday. He was 102.
A spokesperson for the community said that Syedna, who had succeeded his father after the latter’s death in 1965, was to celebrate his 103rd birthday in next few weeks. An Arabic scholar who was acclaimed as ‘Hafiz Al-Quran’, a person who has memorised the entire Holy Quran, Syedna was credited with ushering the Dawoodi Bohra community into an era of modernity and prosperity. Dawoodi Bohra is a sect of Shia Muslims, spread across the world and primarily involved in business and trading enterprises.
last year, thousands of Dawoodi Bohras from across the world flocked to the city to celebrate Syedna Burhanuddin’s 102nd birthday. Born at Surat in Gujarat on March 6, 1915 (as per the Egyptian Muslim calendar), the Syedna was educated by his illustrious father, the late Syedna Taher Saifuddin. At 53, Syedna Burhanuddin succeeded his father in 1965.
Among his contributions to the community were to supervise and support the community’s literacy efforts at all levels, through a network of 400 educational institutions around the world, imparting religious, spiritual and secular education, equipping the candidates to face the real and competitive world. The Dawoodi Bohra community took out a large procession in honour of the Sydena at Bhendi Bazaar in south Mumbai, on Friday afternoon.