Syedna Taher Saifuddin (Arabic سيدنا طاهر سيف الدين رض)(4 August 1885 - 12 November 1965) was the 51st Dā‘ī l-Muṭlaq and led the Dawoodi Bohras community from 1915 to 1965. He was succeeded by his son, Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin.
Syedna Taher Saifuddin was born on 4 August 1888 (27th Zilqad 1305 Hijri), and at the age of 28, he succeeded to the leadership of the Dawoodi da‘wah and the associated Bohra community. Under his leadership, the Arabic learning academy Jamia Saifiyah in Surat, India, saw growth and development. The community also saw renewed adherence to Islamic tenets, general development and progress. He contributed to the development of many monuments, chief of them being the internal curtains of the Ka‘bah and the zarih of Imam ‘Alī and Imam Husain. Several schools, the Saifee Hospital and Saifee Masjid in Mumbai were erected in his era. The Zarih of Imam Husain at Karbala was made in 1939 AD/1358AH and 500 gold coins (6 kg)(each coin consisted 12 grams weight) & 200 thousand coins (2.4 Tons) of silver were used, and beautified with precious gems.
Syedna was the chancellor of the Aligarh Muslim University in India for four consecutive terms. He was an accomplished writer who compiled more than 40 books, or rasaail, and hundreds of odes, qasaaid, pertaining to Islamic theology and the Fatimid Imams. Syedna was known to have taught 28 religious lessons (also known as sabaq) in a day. He extended the then existing practice of giving religious sermons on Husayn ibn ‘Alī as during the days of Muharram to nine days, culminating on ‘Āshūrā. Several of his elegies on Imam Husain are recited by community members to this day. Much of his work is studied at the Jamia Saifiyah academies in India, Pakistan, and Kenya.
Syedna died at the age of 80 in Matheran, India, on 12 November 1965, (19th Rajab 1385 Hijri). The Mausoleum Raudat Tahera in Mumbai is erected in his memory.
Name of the Syedna Taher Saifuddin is recorded at third holy mosque of Islam, Masjid-al-Aqsa,Jerusalem.
| Preceded by Syedna Abdullah Badruddin |
Dā'ī al-Mutlaq 1915 to 1965 |
Succeeded by Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin |