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February 7, 2014 Special Dispatch No. 5638

Succession War For The Leadership Of India's Bohra Muslims After Death Of Spiritual Leader Syedna Burhanuddin

February 7, 2014
India | Special Dispatch No. 5638


Syedna Muhammad Burhanuddin, who died on January 17, 2014

Syedna Muhammad Burhanuddin (1915-2014) was the leader of Bohra Muslims, a sect of Shia Muslims in India, also known as Dawoodi Bohras. Following Syedna Burhanuddin's death on January 17, Indian newspapers published a series of articles explaining his role and legacy.

Journalist Aakar Patel traced the historical role of the Bohra Muslims and their leadership based traditionally in the Indian state of Gujarat, especially with regard to the Partition of India in 1947 and the end of the Ottoman caliphate in Turkey at the end of the First World War. Tasneem Akolawala, a journalist and member of the Bohra Muslim community, wrote an article explaining the humanistic message conveyed by Burhanuddin over the years.

However, a war of succession has broken out following his death between Burhanuddin's half-brother Khuzaima Qutbuddin (from a different mother) and Mufaddal Saifuddin, the second son of the deceased leader. As reported by the daily newspaper Mumbai Mirror, decades of struggle between Burhanuddin and Khuzaima Qutbuddin have impacted the religious authority, and are now leading to a schism in the 1400-year-old minority Shi'ite sect.

"Burhanuddin Led The Dawoodi Bohra, A Minority (Seveners) Within A Minority (Shias) Within A Minority (Muslims) In India; He Became Syedna [Our Leader], The Title By Which He Was Commonly Known, In 1965"; "Burhanuddin Was The 52nd Syedna In A Line That Began In 1151 In Yemen And Moved To Gujarat In 1567"

The following are excerpts from Aakar Patel's article:[1]

"Mohammed Burhanuddin … headed one of two small but influential Gujarati Ismaili communities [a sect of Shia Muslims based mainly in the Indian state of Gujarat, around Mumbai and some other pockets]. Burhanuddin led the Dawoodi Bohra, a minority (Seveners) within a minority (Shias) within a minority (Muslims) in India. He became Syedna [Our Leader], the title by which he was commonly known, in 1965, and so was in office for 49 years. Burhanuddin was the 52nd Syedna in a line that began in 1151 in Yemen and moved to Gujarat in 1567.

"His father [Syedna Tahir Saifuddin] was Syedna for half a century from 1915-65, and the two of them were in office for an unbroken and amazing 99 years. From the second year of World War I to this year, the two men were in charge of a community that was mainly converted from Hindu mercantile castes. This caste ability and culture, they retained. The pharmaceutical firm Wockhardt's Khorakiwala family are Dawoodi Bohras. However, the Islamic insistence that interest was forbidden has limited them as small businessmen.

"In his authorized biography, Al-Dai Al-Fatimi - Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin, he is quoted as saying that he 'asked his community to rally behind two economic principles of Islam. The first being to recognize interest in all its forms as haram [forbidden], that is, sinful and morally wrong. The taking and giving and any sort of dealing in interest was to be eschewed even if it made apparent business sense and even if economic pressures demanded it. The second was to recognize the merits of interest-free loans.' Such loans of course were outside the banking system, and this is what helped bind the community.

"A scholarly man and a poet, the Syedna held absolute power over the Bohras, and they needed his formal approval for things such as marriage. All Bohras send an annual percentage of profit from their businesses to the Syedna's trusts, which deploy them in hospitals and other acts of charity. The penalty for crossing him or breaking the rules was excommunication from the community, which for a close-knit group was more painful than we can imagine (photographs of his funeral will reveal how there is no dissent even in their dress). My friend the great Islamic scholar Asghar Ali Engineer was one who resisted [the authority of Syedna], and he was manhandled and abused often by the Syedna's devotees.

"Ismaili Shias are thought to be quietist, meaning disinterested in politics; that has been only on the external front. And even that has not always been the case, as we shall see."

"In Today's Pakistan, The Bohra Is Seen As A Heretic By Every Denomination Of An Increasingly Militant Sunni Society, And Attacks On Their Markets And Mosques With Bombs And Guns Are On The Rise"

"The other community of Gujarati Ismaili Seveners is the Khoja Nizari Ismaili. Also like the Bohras, their leaders have been around a long time. The current one, Aga Khan IV, has led them since 1957. His father took charge in 1885 and so the two of them have led the Khojas for 129 years! Though these Gujarati communities are … small, they have affected the lives of all Indians forever.

"Aga Khan III was one of the founders and first president of the All India Muslim League [that led the movement for the creation of Pakistan]. In Gray Wolf, his entertaining but poor biography of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, H.C. Armstrong wrote of how an act by the Aga Khan affected both Turkey and India profoundly. The Khoja leader wrote a letter to an Istanbul newspaper supporting the [Ottoman] Caliph on behalf of Indian Muslims, as the global leader of the faith. This provoked Ataturk into abolishing the caliphate, making Turkey the military-dominated republic it remains today. It also ended the Khilafat Movement in India and deprived another Gujarati, Gandhi, of the opening to really take on the British.

"The most famous Khoja in history was of course Muhammad Ali Jinnah [the founder of Pakistan], and I was not surprised to read that he was influenced by Gray Wolf. I was surprised to read that Jinnah didn't speak Gujarati well and that Gandhi constantly nudged him toward their mother tongue. This means they probably spoke and negotiated in English, and that explains why they couldn't find compromise [that could have prevented the Partition of India in 1947]. It would have been easier in Gujarati.

"To return to the Bohras, Burhanuddin's father Syedna Tahir Saifuddin was also enthusiastic about Pakistan. Though he remained in Surat and Mumbai after Partition, there is a road named after him in Karachi. In the elections where Jinnah demanded Pakistan, Saifuddin 'issued a fatwa to Bohras residing in the Mumbai city constituency from which Jinnah was running for a seat in the Central Assembly to cast their votes for the Muslim League leader. Bohras made up a major electoral bloc in the constituency, so Syedna's fatwa was crucial' (according to the book Mullahs on the Mainframe: Islam And Modernity Among the Daudi Bohras by Jonah Blank).

"This enthusiasm may seem surprising given the experience of Bohras under Sunni rule. When [Mughal emperor] Aurangzeb came to Gujarat in 1645, the 32nd Syedna was executed as a heretic on a child's testimony and all Bohra mosques were handed over to Sunni clerics.

"Inevitably, in today's Pakistan, the Bohra is seen as a heretic by every denomination of an increasingly militant Sunni society, and attacks on their markets and mosques with bombs and guns are on the rise in Karachi. There are 100,000 Bohras in Pakistan, and they are one of that country's most prosperous and peaceful citizens, as are the other Gujarati Muslims. The Bohras, like all mercantile Gujaratis, are spread out across the world wherever the British empire gave them protection and opportunity. In all these places they will be in mourning for a leader who along with his father governed them for generations."

"[Muhammad Burhanuddin's] Sermons Were Mostly About Peace, Harmony, And Respect For All"; "His Mammoth Contributions To Every City That He Travelled … Earned Him Accolades From Humanists Across The Globe"

The following are excerpts from Tasneem Akolawala's article:[2]

"[Muhammad Burhanuddin's] sermons were mostly about peace, harmony, and respect for all. He adored men who showed courage and gave a shoulder to men who needed support. He spoke about women as the binders of a beautiful family and urged us to have bigger hearts and donate to the needy. He advocated entrepreneurship and was averse to loans and debt that included interest. He told children to educate themselves and become doctors, teachers, and athletes. He encouraged individualism and eccentricities. He believed in each and every one of his followers and treated them like his own sons and daughters.

"The [Bohra Muslim] community grew from strength-to-strength under his humble leadership and guidance. Believers prayed for his long life and dwelled in his positive upbringing. He became an example to follow in every household. He was the one they went to for advice, for a push or just for their own peace of mind.

"Understandably, his health deteriorated with age. Followers prayed for his long life and cried at his struggle to continue to lead us through, even after he was partially paralyzed. When he turned 100, the community celebrated with great grandeur. They showered Syedna with mithais [sweets], presents, and prayers. Chants for his long life echoed everywhere around him. Men, women were hungry just to see him. It had been long since they heard the soothing voice of their beloved leader. Selfishly, they wanted to live under his shadow forever because somehow that was the warmest place in the world…

"Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin was the ambassador, the leader, the face of the Bohra community. His contribution towards the uplifting of the people in his community and outside the community has been etched in history forever. His mammoth contributions to every city that he travelled (he almost travelled the world) earned him accolades from humanists across the globe. From building the Arabic Academy Al-Jameat-us-Saifiyah in Surat [a town in the state of Gujarat] to the technologically advanced Saifee Hospital in the heart of Mumbai, Syedna has managed to give back to the society a lot…."

"The Battle For Succession [Between Son And Brother] Fuses The Makings Of A Rich Court Intrigue - The Inability Of The Brothers (Born Of Different Mothers) To See Eye-To-Eye Across The Decades, The Schism Being Carried Across Generations, The Use Of Clout To Discredit A Religious Position…"

The following are excerpts from a report in the Mumbai Mirror daily:[3]

"In what has been one of the most challenging weeks in the 1,400-year history of the Dawoodi Bohra faith, the community lost its religious leader Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin last Friday [January 17, 2014], some 18 of its members were stampeded to death outside the Syedna's residence a few hours later [at a stampede at his funeral], and a battle emerged for who would emerge as its next religious leader the following day. The last event threatens to split the million-strong Dawoodi Bohra community the world over. There is a fault line emerging across this global community between those testifying their allegiance to Mufaddal Saifuddin, the second son of the just-deceased Syedna, and those who believe that the Syedna had already identified Khuzaima Qutbuddin, his brother and deputy for 49 years, as his successor a number of decades ago.

"The battle for succession [between the son and the brother] fuses the makings of a rich court intrigue - the inability of the brothers [Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin and Khuzaima Qutbuddin] (born of different mothers) to see eye-to-eye across the decades, the schism being carried across generations, the use of clout to discredit a religious position, and the creation of a coercive administrative machinery. The following sequence of events explains how the grief of the Syedna's passing away last week morphed into grief of a different kind - Dawoodi Bohras faced with having to select from two individuals claiming to having been appointed as the next spiritual leader:

"Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin expires on Friday: his second son Mufaddal Saifuddin (a claimant) is away in Colombo; his brother Khuzaima Qutbuddin (deputy and another claimant) pays his last respects to the just-deceased Syedna and leaves the official residence Saifee Mahal for his Thane residence [in area of Mumbai]; Mufaddal Saifuddin arrives in the evening and sits in mourning beside his father's body; Khuzaima Qutbuddin makes his first official address that night, indicating the succession (nass) had been made in his favor 49 years ago and that he should be asked to attend to the gusul (ceremonial washing of the body) and the burial; this communication is conveyed to the Mukasir (third in hierarchy) but draws no response. Mufaddal Saifuddin accompanies his father's body on the last journey amidst thousands; he presides over the namaz-e-janaza [prayer before burial] and burial; unable to get a response or assurance of personal safety, Khuzaima Qutbuddin is compelled to stay away. A proxy war emerges on social media; Khuzaima Qutbuddin, holding a respected religious position, is cursed across the masjids [mosques], his effigy burnt and he humiliatingly caricatured. A couple of days later, those perceived to be faithful to Khuzaima Qutbuddin are shortlisted and coerced into expressing their allegiance to Mufaddal Saifuddin in person, or face ex-communication (baraat).

"For a number of Dawoodi Bohras, the succession battle is seen as two divergent schools of Islam coming to a head. Khuzaima Qutbuddin is perceived to be a moderate liberal with a focus on humanistic aspects of Islam; Mufaddal Saifuddin is seen as a right-wing radical with hardline views on gender and educational access for women. While one would have expected that the Dawoodi Bohra community would have gravitated towards the former, the opposite appears to be presently true. A majority of the community appears to have pitched in with the latter group which, according to many, represents a dramatic shift in position for what is considered to be among the most progressive Islamic sub-sects the world over.

"There is another reality that most Bohras are talking of in hushed whispers. Many are confused how it was possible for the deceased Syedna to have verbally pronounced his successor in a London hospital when he had been affected by a cerebral stroke that for all practical purposes robbed him of his speech. A number of Bohras point out, under condition of complete anonymity, that the Syedna's sudden 'improvement' in health even as he was in the London ICU has never been medically explained. Besides, when the Syedna was flown from London to Mumbai to preside over the formal anointment some time later, he was unable to utter a word in front of a large assembled gathering."

"For Decades, The Dawoodi Bohra Community Developed A Brand For Being Wealthy, Educated, Liberal, And Technology-Embracing Without Diluting Religious Compliance; In Less Than A Week, The Community Appears To Have Turned This Carefully-Developed Brand On Its Head"

"For decades, the Dawoodi Bohra community developed a brand for being wealthy, educated, liberal and technology-embracing without diluting religious compliance. In less than a week, the community appears to have turned this carefully-developed brand on its head. 'There is a siege within the community on those who believe the succession was pronounced on Khuzaima Qutbuddin,' said a source on the condition of anonymity, emphasizing that the mere mention of a name would invite the wrath of the 'gangs of Bohra youth masquerading as Burhani Guards.'

"Many people … [said] how Khuzaima Qutbuddin himself was not spared this ordeal. There is reportedly a picket of 35-40 people permanently stationed by Mufaddal Saifuddin's group outside Khuzaima Qutbuddin's residence in Thane to intimidate family members and visitors. 'Some of those assembled outside are drunk and definitely not Dawoodi Bohra. If this is what one religious group can do to its close relatives, what hope is there for the average community member?' asked a member.

"The terror is being unleashed not just across Mumbai but across the world. There are email complaints pouring in from even the U.S. There are also reports that the group belonging to Mufaddal Saifuddin has started calling in reinforcements from outside the city so it would be relatively emotionless in carrying out the purge. 'The group belonging to Mufaddal Saifuddin dispatched a large group from Pune [a city near Mumbai] to wreak havoc on the small group of the faithful in Mumbai. The writing on the wall is clear: submit or be excommunicated with threat to our life and property,' said a community member.

"'Some community members have already started experiencing a form of social boycott in their housing societies in Mazgaon and Marol [areas]. Neighbors have stopped talking to them and it is only a matter of days until their businesses are boycotted,' related another. Over the last two days, a number of senior community members perceived to be 'close' to Khuzaima Qutbuddin were 'summoned' by the ruling clergy under the ruse of presenting their condolences to Mufaddal Saifuddin but with the latent objective to be interrogated. They were quizzed about the kind of devotion they had for Khuzaima Qutbuddin, asked to commit that they would have nothing to do with him and, worse, were told to pronounce the curse of Allah (laanat) on him!

"'I am emotionally shattered beyond words, and for some time I thought it would have been better to die than to pronounce a curse on a saint,' said one who attended the humiliation on Thursday. 'This is not what we expect of people claiming to profess the 'right' religion. There is a subtle warning that should we ever go back to Khuzaima Qutbuddin no mercy would be shown to us. This is clearly not what we expect in a free, secular, and democratic India, and are only waiting for the day when this matter is investigated by human rights agencies.'"

Endnotes:

[1] Livemint.com (India), January 25, 2014. The original English of all articles used in this dispatch has been mildly edited for clarity and standardization.

[2] Dnaindia.com (India), January 20, 2014.

[3] Mumbaimirror.com (India), January 24, 2014.

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