2024-05-12 19:22:06
image source, The Dawoodi Bohras
Comment on the photo, Al-Sisi awards Sultan Bohra the Order of the Nile.
Last updated 5 hours ago
On Sunday morning, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi inaugurated the Sayyida Zeinab Mosque in the Old Cairo district of the Egyptian capital, after its restoration, in the presence of Sultan Mufaddal Saif al-Din, sultan of the Bohra community in India.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said the state is taking steps to evacuate some old houses adjacent to a number of historic mosques in Egypt in order to develop the area surrounding these mosques and restore them to shape appropriate in which they were previously.
Al-Sisi added: “It is possible to compensate the owners of some of the houses that have been established next to many of these mosques with good compensation.”
Sisi thanked the Sultan of the Bohra sect and his accompanying delegation for supporting the development of this and other historic mosques, saying all support was available to make any further projects in this area a success.
Sultan Bohra and the sect contributed to the restoration and renovation of a number of shrines in Ahl al-Bayt and a number of historic Egyptian mosques, such as: Al-Hussein Mosque and Al- Hakim Bi-Amr Allah in Cairo, in addition to supporting many various charitable activities, including a donation to the Long Live Egypt Presidential Fund of 16 million Egyptian pounds ($337,604.80 in 2016).
Bohras’ participation in the restoration of mosques has sparked controversy in Egypt in recent months, as some see it as a change in the characteristics of these mosques.
In August last year, Al-Sisi awarded the Sultan of Bohra the Nile Belt, in recognition of his continued efforts in Egypt on cultural, charitable and societal levels, according to a statement from the then Egyptian Presidency and during Saif. Visit to El-Din in Egypt to participate in the opening of the Sayyida Nafisa Mosque.
Who is Sultan Mufaddal Saif al-Din?
Mufaddal Saifuddin is the current Sultan of Bohra and the second son of the late Sultan of Bohra, Dr. Muhammad Burhanuddin. In the sect’s literature, he is not called a sultan, but rather “the preacher”, and he is the 53rd preacher of the sect, and his followers call him “the preacher or our master”.
Mufaddal Saif al-Din was born in the Indian city of Surat on August 20, 1946. He was raised and educated by his father, the late Sultan Dr. Muhammad Burhan al-Din. He has five sons, three males, the first of. who is Prince Jaafar al-Sadiq, then Prince Taha, then Prince Hussein and two daughters.
According to what the members of the Bohra sect believe and what is stated in their books, a new sultan will only assume leadership through a text and appointment from the previous sultan. Therefore, the late Bohra Sultan, Dr. Muhammad Burhan al-. Din, named his son Mufaddal Saif al-Din as his successor (crown prince) two years before his death in 2011 in the city of Mumbai in front of hundreds of thousands of sect members.
The University of Karachi, Pakistan awarded Mufaddal Saif al-Din with a Doctor of Arts degree on September 8, 2015, in recognition of his charitable efforts to strengthen decent bonds among Muslims.
India also awarded him the World Peace Prize on September 23, 2015, in recognition of what it described as his valuable efforts and keenness to advance human freedoms and achieve social justice, his efforts to establish a project to distribute and secure food around the world. (the overflow of demonstrative tables), and its efforts to promote the social and economic role of women.
Bohra sect
The word “Bohra” means merchant and symbolizes one of the most famous Islamic sects belonging to the Shiites, which triumphed for the Imamate of Ahmad al-Mustali the Fatimid, against his brother Nizar al-Mustafa Lidin Allah, after the death of their father. , the Fatimid caliph al-Mustansir Billah in 1094, who chose his son al-Mustali as governor, so a dispute broke out between them the two brothers and ended in favor of the Musta’li sect, which was defeated by defeat. of the Fatimid state in the hands of Saladin, who founded the Ayyubid state, defeated the Fatimids and expelled them from Egypt in 1174, sending the Bohras to many countries around the world. The sect also includes a Sunni minority.
The Bohras are divided into several groups, including the “Dawoodi Bohras” named after Daoud Burhan al-Din bin Qutb Shah. They spread across India and Pakistan after moving their center from Yemen in the 10th century AH. Their current sultan is Mufaddal Saif al-Din, and their headquarters today is in Mumbai. They have groups in more than 40 countries around the world, including Yemen, Egypt and the Emirates, and their numbers have been estimated in Egyptian field research to be ca. 15,000.
Over the centuries, the Dawoodi Bohras migrated to all parts of the world in search of better trade opportunities, and their small settlements grew into large formal communities in many places around the world.
The Bohras began arriving in Egypt in the 1970s, where they resided primarily in the Fatimid region of Cairo. They restored the Al-Hakim Mosque, Bi-Amr Allah, at that time, with the approval of the late Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. It is one of the oldest university mosques in Egypt and the second largest mosque in Cairo after Ahmed Ibn Tulun. Mosque. This was accepted by Sadat, who was invited to open it and offer prayers there at the time, and it has become the approach of the Egyptian presidency on several occasions since then.
The Bohras strive to revive everything related to the Fatimids, including their tombs and mosques, and pay huge sums of money to restore them, as their sultan contributed to the appreciated efforts for restoration and renewal of the Al-Bayt family shrines in Egypt, and a number of historic Egyptian mosques, including the shrines of Sayyida Nafisa, Sayyida Zainab and Al-Hussein, as well as charitable activities in Egypt.
The Bohra sect is responsible for the revival of the Al-Hakim Bi-Amr Allah Mosque after long periods of deterioration, and has also recently played an important role in the renovation of heritage and archaeological buildings, including the shrines of ‘Ahl al-Bayt and related mosques. to its beliefs, such as the Al-Aqmar, Sayyida Zainab and Sayyida Ruqaya mosques.
The Bohras use an Islamic lunar calendar with a special formula, developed since the time of the Fatimids and which relies on astronomical calculations to determine the start of the months, so it is fixed and differs by a day or two from the date usual Islamic. .
Bohras celebrate Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha and organize other celebrations, including the celebration of the Prophet’s birthday and the day of Ghadir Khumm (the 18th of the holy month of Dhul-Hijjah) and commemorating the day of Ashura on the tenth of Muharram every year, and they have their own customs and traditions on these occasions.
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