As Shi'i Muslims, Bohras believe that their Imāms are descendants of the Islamic prophet Muhammad by way of his daughter Fatimah and her husband Ali. We believe that Muhammad chose Ali as his successor while he was returning from his first and last Haj in 632 CE. Dawoodi Bohra believe that after Muhammad, Ali had been the rightful wasi, Imam and caliph, but the actual Caliphate was usurped by Ẓāhirī ("literalist") caliphs. Ali was the final Rashidun Caliph from 656-661 CE; the Imamate and caliphate were united in this period.
After Ali, his son Hasan ibn Ali, the first Ismāʿīlī Imam, struggled for the Caliphate, which resulted in a pact with the Umayyad Caliphate to recognise the claimant in power, Muawiyah I, as Caliph in order to avoid bloodshed, while Hasan retained the Imamate. After Hasan, Husayn and his family and companion were killed at the Battle of Karbala and Husayn's body was buried near the site of his death (KARBALA). Husain's head was then transferred from Damascus to Ashkelon,and then to Cairo.
Shia schisms and the Fatimid Dynasty
The first through the fifth Ismāʿīlī Imams - until Ja'far al-Sadiq - are commonly accepted by all the Shi'a, although numbered differently. Bohras count Hasan as the first Imam, whereas Nizari Ismāʿīlīs and Twelvers number Ali as the first. The followers of Ja'far's son, Isma'il ibn Jafar, became Ismailis, from whom the Bohra descend. Twelvers believe that Musa al-Kadhim was heir to Ja'far instead; their Imams diverged at that point.
During the period of Ja'far, the Abbasid Caliphate replaced the Umayyads and began to aggressively oppose belief in an Imamate. Due to strong suppression by the Abbasids, the seventh Ismāʿīlī Imam, Muhammad ibn Ismail, went into a period of Occultation. During this period his representative, the Dāʿī, maintained the community.
The names of the eighth, ninth, and tenth Imams are considered by some traditions to be "hidden", known only by their nicknames due to threats from the Abbasids. However, the Dawoodi Bohra, claim to have the true names of all the know Imams in sequence, including the so-called "hidden" Imams, namely: the eighth Ahmad al-Wafi (Abadullah), the ninth Muhammad at-Taqi (Ahmed ibn Abadullah), and the tenth, Rabi Abdullah (Husain ibn Ahmed).
The 11th Imam, Abdullah al-Mahdi Billah, founded the Fatimid Caliphate in 909 CE in Ifriqiya (present Tunisia), ending the occultation. In Ismāʿīlī eyes this act again united the Imamate and the Caliphate in one person. The Fatimids then extended up to the central Maghreb (now Morocco, Algeria, Libya). They entered and conquered Egypt in 969 CE during the reign of the fourteenth Imam, al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah, and made Cairo their capital. After the eighteenth Imam, al-Mustansir Billah, the Nizari sect believed that his son Nizar was his successor, while another Ismāʿīlī branch known as the Mustaali (from whom the Dawoodi Bohra would eventually descend), supported his other son, al-Musta'li. The Fatimid dynasty continued with al-Musta'li as both Imam and Caliph, and that joint position held until the 20th Imam, al-Amir bi-Ahkami l-Lah (1132 CE).
Tayyibi-Hafizi schism
At the death of Imam Amir, one branch of the Mustaali faith claimed that he had transferred the imamate to his son at-Tayyib Abi l-Qasim, who was then two years old. Another faction claimed Amir died without producing an heir, and supported Amir's cousin al-Hafiz as both the rightful Caliph and Imam. The al-Hafiz faction became the Hafizi Ismailis, who were later eliminated during the rule of Saladin. The supporters of Tayyeb became the Tayyibi Ismāʿīlī.
Tayyeb's claim to the imamate was endorsed by the Hurratu l-Malika ("the Noble Queen") Arwa al-Sulayhi, the Queen of Yemen. Arwa was designated a hujjah (a holy, pious lady), the highest rank in the Yemeni Dawat, by al-Mustansir in 1084 CE. Under Queen Arwa, the Dai al-Balagh (intermediary between the Imam in Cairo and local headquarters) Lamak ibn Malik and then Yahya ibn Lamak worked for the cause of the Fatimids.
Tayyibis (which include the modern Dawoodi Bohra) believe the second and current period of satr began after Imam Tayyeb went into occultation, and Queen Arwa created the office of the Dai al-Mutlaq to administer the community in the Imam's absence. Zoeb bin Moosa (d.546 AH/1151 AD) was the first Dai-ul-Mutlaq, and lived and died in Haus, Yemen. His ma'dhūn (assistant) was Khattab bin Hasan. The 3rd Dai Sayedna Hatim (d. 1191 AD) was prominent among the Du'at of Yemen and wrote many books, both exoteric and esoteric in philosophy on the Ismaili faith .
Transfer of Dawat to India
One Dai succeeded another until the 24th Dai in Yemen. In India, Wali-ul-Hind (emissaries from the Dai in Yemen to India) were appointed by the previous Dais one after another until Wali-ul-Hind Moulai Jafer, Moulai Abdul Wahab, Moulai Qasim Khan bin Hasan (d.950AH, Ahmedabad) and last Jalal Shamshuddin 1567 AD (12th wali-ul Hind and also became 25th Dai). The last three wali were of great help in the era of the 21st to 24th Dai. It was during this time when the Dawat was transferred to India from Yemen, that the 23rd Dai-al-Mutlaq Mohammed Ezzuddin performed nass (transfer of authority) on Yusuf Najmuddin ibn Sulaiman of Sidhpur, Gujrat, India.
The 24th Dai, Yusuf Najmuddin bin Sulayman (d.1567 AD), shifted the whole administration of the Dawat (mission) to India, in part due to their persecution by the Zaydi Imams. However, Yusuf Najmuddin continued to live in Yemen and died there. The 25th Dai Jalal Shamshuddin (d.1567 AD) was first dai to die in India; his mausoleum is in Ahmedabad, India. Dai Jalal's tenure as Dai was very short, only a few months, however, before his nass, he was Wali-ul Hind (after Moulai Qasim) for about 20 years under 24th Dai Yusuf while the Dai was in Yemen.
Persecution in India, and movement of the Dawat
In India the Bohras were persecuted by the Mughal rulers. The 32nd Dai Syedna Qutubuddin Shaheed (A.Q) was prosecuted and beheaded in 1648 AD under Aurangzeb. The 34th Dai Syedna Ismail Badruddin (A.Q)(son of Moulai Raj, 1657 AD onward) was the first Dai of Indian Gujrati origin. He shifted the Dawat from Ahmedabad to Jamnagar.[6] During this period Dai also moved to Mandvi and later to Burhanpur. In the era of 42nd Dai Syedna Yusuf Najmuddin (A.Q) (1787 AD onward) the Dawat office shifted to Surat. The educational institute Al-Daarus-Saifee (later renamed Al Jamea tus Saifiyah) was built in that era by the 43rd Dai Syedna Abdeali Saifuddin (A.Q), who was an extremely devoted scholar in the literary field. During the period of 51st Dai Syedna Taher Saifuddin (A.Q) (1915-1965 AD), the Dawoodi Bohra Dawat shifted to Mumbai and continues there to the present day, currently headed by 52nd Dai al Mutlaq Syedna Mohammad Burhanuddin (T.U.S).
Expansion and recognition
The first Dawoodi Bohra mosque in the West was built in Farmington Hills, Michigan in 1988. Immediately thereafter, the first Canadian masjid was inaugurated by Dr.Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin in Toronto. Mohammed Burhanuddin inaugurated the Houston masjid in 1996, which is now being reconstructed into a larger masjid that is four times the size of the original.
In June 2001 Masjid-ul-Badri in Chicago was inaugurated. In July 2004 new mosques in New Jersey (Masjiduz-Zainy), Washington DC and Boston were inaugurated.
The following year, August 2005, the Dā‘ī l-Mutlaq inaugurated another new masjid in Fremont, California (metropolitan San Francisco) and was congratulated by various officials and dignitaries from local, state and federal US governments. President George W. Bush also sent a letter from the White House. On 8 July 2007, Mohammad Burhanuddin inaugurated a new masjid in Paris, France.
The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall visited the Dawoodi Bohra Mosque in London in 2009, and their web page recognizes the Dawoodi Bohra community as a "community that has made a major contribution to British business and has patriotism at the heart of its faith".
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