Mumbai: The spiritual head of the Dawoodi Bohra community, Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin, passed away here Friday following a cardiac arrest, an official said.
[Bohra spiritual leader with Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi (File Photo)]
He was 102 years old. The end came at Saifee Mahal, his residence in Malabar Hill in south Mumbai.
Burhanuddin was born in Surat, Gujarat, India. He completed recitation of the Quran in 1921. He was appointed to be the future Dā'ī at the age of 19 by his father, his predecessor Taher Saifuddin. He became hafiz in 1935 and married Amatullah Aai two years later. He has seven sons and three daughters and all members of his family reside at Saifee Mahal.
His era has also been marked by a widespread programme of construction of mosques, mausoleums and community buildings in Bohra centres around the world. These include the Raudat Tahera, the mausoleum of his father Taher Saifuddin in Mumbai. The mausoleum has the entire Qur'an engraved on its four walls.
In 1980, he completed the renovation and restoration of the Mosque of al-Ḥākim in Cairo and since then, several other Fatimid era mosques of Cairo have been restored. In the wake of this endeavour, Bohra communities across the world have sought to build their own mosques in their hometowns and Bohra mosques have been constructed as far afield as North America, Europe, Africa and Australia.
In 1929, he escaped an accident when bridge railing collapsed while on travel in Colombo, where his vehicle got hung on one wheel.
As soon as the news spread, thousands of grieving Dawoodi Bohra community members rushed to Saifee Mahal.
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