Mohammed Burhanuddin
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| Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin | |
| Born | March 6, 1915  Surat, Gujarat, India |
|---|---|
| Occupation | 52nd Da'i al-Mutlaq of the Dawoodi Bohras |
| Children | Seven sons, three daughters |
Dr. Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin (Urdu: سیدنا محمد برھان الدین ) (born March 6, 1915) is the 52nd Da'i al-Mutlaq of a minority group of Shia Muslims, the Dawoodi Bohras.
Burhanuddin was born in Surat, Gujarat, India. He was appointed to be the future Da'i al-Mutlaq at the age of 19 by his father, the previous Da'i al-Mutlaq, Syedna Taher Saifuddin. Burhanuddin succeeded his father, upon the latter's death, when he was 53 years of age. Burhanuddin has seven sons and three daughters. All members of his family reside at Saifee Mahal, Bombay.
Burhanuddin's era has been marked by a fusion of traditional values and modern advances for Dawoodi Bohras.
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[edit] Education, culture and work for men and women
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Fatimid Empire |
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Mohammed Burhanuddin |
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He supervises the curriculum of the Arabic academy al-Jami'ah al-Sayfiyah and has emphasized education and modernization for both men and women of the community. The quest for knowledge includes religious education as well as secular study in universities throughout the world. His era has also been marked by a widespread programme of construction of mosques, mausoleums and community buildings in Bohra centres around the world. There is, for example, the Raudat Tahera, the mausoleum of his father Syedna Taher Saifuddin in Mumbai, India. The mausoleum has the entire Qur'an engraved on its four walls. This has been done in gold leaf on marble with precious gems encrusted in all the 'Bismillahs' (the opening verses of each individual chapter of the Qur'an). He has also made a contribution to the holy shrine of Ali ibn Abi Talib[citation needed], the first Shia Imam and fourth Sunni Caliph.
In 1980, he completed the renovation and restoration of the mosque of Al-Hakim in Cairo and since then several other Fatimid era mosques of Cairo have been restored to their former glory. 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. These community centres and places of worship have fostered both a local and worldwide sense of togetherness and brotherhood which is seen most vividly in the annual gathering to commemorate the martyrdom of the Prophet Mohammed's grandson, Hussain bin Ali at Karbala in the seventh century. He has also contributed towards the re-establishment of the Saifee Hospital in Mumbai in June 2005.
He delivers nine days of sermons every year, the event taking place in a different city each time. Elsewhere, the commemoration also takes place in every Bohra centre across the world, with sermons given by appointed priests to local communities. He also gives scholarships to students in India. He is driving a Trust in Mumbai for this purpose and many Dawoodi Bohra students are assisted by this Trust.
[edit] Awards and accomplishments
He has been widely acknowledged by many governments and non-government organizations for promoting peace in the world and spreading the message of brotherhood and respect for humanity[citation needed].
He holds an Honorary Doctorate from the Aligarh University in India, Al Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt and University of Karachi, Pakistan. He has been awarded the Star of Jordan and the Vishaul Nile.
As per the directions of the then President of the Egypt, Gamal Abdel Nasser, the Al Azhar University]conferred the Degree of Islamic Sciences (Honoris Causa) to Burhanuddin on March 13, 1966.[citation needed].
He has been involved with several notable projects including:
- The Raudat Tahera in Bombay.
- The repair and renovation of the Masjid Al Jame ul Anwar.
- The repair and renovation of the Masjid Al Aqmar in Egypt.
- The gold plating of Maulana Ali's Zaree in Najaf.
- The gold plating of Maulana Abbas e Alamdaar's Zaree in Karbala.
- The Mukalafat-al-Rasool next to Rasul Hussain, where some of the Imams are buried.
- The construction of Maulatena Zainab's Zaree in Egypt.
Dr Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin, who is known as Mansur-ul-Yemen, has turned his particular attention to his followers in Yemen. Under his reign, his followers in Yemen constructed the mausoleum of Syedna Hatim Saheb and the Masjid in Hutaib Mubarak. He also undertook projects for providing water and electricity to the faiz and town. The roads to ziyarats in Yemen were made more accessible to vehicles by him.
He was elected as the Chancellor of the Muslim University of Aligarh by the Court of the University in its meeting on October 3, 1999. On April 26, 2000 he visited Australia and became the first Da'i al-Mutlaq to have traveled to five continents.
On October 17, 1966, Aligarh Muslim University conferred upon him a Doctorate of Theology at a special convocation.[citation needed]
In June 2004 he was conferred a Doctorate of Literature (Honoris Causa) by the Governor of Karachi at a ceremony held at the Karachi University. He has also been honored by the highest civilian ranks of Jordan and Egypt[citation needed].
The cities of San Jose, Houston, Dallas, Irving and Richmond Hill have accorded Him an Honorary Citizenship and Keys to their cities.
In August 2005, He inaugurated a mosque in the United States in Fremont, California. President George W. Bush congratulated him for this in a letter from the White House. [1].
[edit] References
- Abdulhussein, Mustafa. Al-Dai al-Fatimi, Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin. ISBN 0-9536256-0-5. (an illustrated biography)
[edit] See also
- Dawoodi Bohras
- Venues of Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin during the past Ashara Mubarakah/Ashura
- Ismaili
- Shia
- Islam
- Islamic architecture
[edit] External links and references
- OUP Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World: Muhammad Burhanuddin.
- List of Syednas (according to Dawoodi Bohras)
![[1]](http://malumaat.com/pics/sanfrancisco1426/letter_from_president_bush_usa.jpg){kind=link}