Bohras - An Historical insight!

Bohras - An Historical insight!
This Muslim community of Gujarat in western India, traces it's spiritual ancestry to early conversions to Ismaili Shiism during the reign of the Fatimid Caliph Imam Al-Mustansir (427-487 H. / 1036-1094 CE). When schisms occurred in the Ismaili dawah (Mission) in the 11th and 12th centuries in Egypt, the Ismailis in India followed the Fatimi Tayyibi dawah of Yemen. Subsequently, this community split a number of times to form the Jafari Bohras, Dawoodi Bohras, Sulaymani Bohras, Aliyah Bohras, and other lesser-known groups.

The word 'Bohra' (also spelled Bohara or Vohra) is derived from the Gujarati "vohorvu" or "vyavahar", meaning - 'to trade'. This has sometimes caused Hindus, Jains, and Muslims of trading communities other than those related to the Tayyibi Ismailis to list themselves on census forms as Bohras. The early Indian converts of the 11th century comprised a single group of Ismaili Bohras owing allegiance to the Dai mutlaq in Yemen. A number of them seceded in 1426 to form the Jafari Bohras, who adopted the Sunni Hanafi school. The modern Jafari Bohra community comprises mainly of cultivators residing in Patan, Gujarat, who revere descendants of the 16th century Sunni missionary Ahmad Jafar al-Shirazi. After the Jafari schism, the Ismaili Bohras were subject to severe persecution by local rulers. However, by the late 16th century, they had grown strong enough to enable the transfer of the mission's headquarters and the residence of the Dai mutlaq to India. The Dai mutlaq operates as the sole representative of the secluded Ismaili Imam, and as such has had a great influence on the history, faith, and practices of the Ismaili Bohras.

The term "Bohra" applies most commonly to the Dawoodi Bohras, who are reputed to be the best organized and wealthiest of all Bohras. The Dawoodi Bohra community has largely been molded into it's present form by the two Dai's who have led the community in the 20th century. The 51st Dai, the celebrated Tahir Sayf al-Din (1915-1965), was an accomplished scholar, a prolific writer and poet, a capable organizer, and a man of vision. During his period of 50 years he revitalized the community, fostered strong faith, modernized the mission's organization, promoted welfare and education in the community, and guided it through the tumultuous period of world wars and independence of nations. A doctrinal dissent that had severely disturbed the community for 60 years prior to his accession was successfully challenged and reduced during his period to a less significant anti-Dai social reform movement. As much as z percent of the community belongs to this movement, whose demands are regarded as heretical by the rest of the Bohras. The reformists were particularly active in the 1970's and early 1980's, but their efforts failed to win legal recognition and only amounted to bad press and distress for the Bohra community.

The present Dai, Muhammad Burhanuddin, has continued his predecessor's endeavors with particular emphasis on strengthening the community's Islamic practices and on the promotion of its Fatimid heritage.

The religious hierarchy of the Dawoodi Bohras is essentially Fatimid and is headed by the Dai mutlaq who is appointed by his predecessor in office. The Dai appoints two others to the subsidiary ranks of Madhun (licentiate) and Mukasir (executor). These positions are followed by the rank of Shaikh and Mullah, which are held by hundreds of Bohras. An Aamil (usually a graduate of the order's institution of higher learning, Al Jamea al-Safiyah) who leads the local congregation in religious, social, and communal affairs, is sent to each town where a sizeable population exists. Such towns normally have a mosque and an adjoining Jamaatkhanah (assembly hall) where socio-religious functions are held. The local organizations which manage these properties and administer the social and religious activities of the local Bohras report directly to the central administration of the Dai based in Bombay, called Al-Dawah al Hadiyah.

At the age of puberty every Bohra, or Momineen (believer) as sectarians call each other, pronounces the traditional oath of allegiance which requires the initiate to adhere to the Shariah and accept the leadership of the Imam and the Dai. This oath is renewed each year on the 18th of Dhu al-Hijjah (Id Gadir al-Khumm). The Bohras follow the Fatimid school of jurisprudence, which recognizes seven pillars of Islam. Walayah (love and devotion) for Allah, the Prophets, the Imam, and the Dai is the first and most important of the seven pillars. The others are Taharah (purity and cleanlinnes), Salah (prayers), Zakah (purifying religious dues), Sawn (fasting), Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca), and Jihad (holly war). Pilgrimages to the shrines of the saints are an important part of the devotional life of Bohras, for the facilitation of which rest houses and assisting organizations have been set up. The martyrdom of Imam al-Hussain is commemorated annually during the first ten days of Muharram. The Dawoodi's use an arabicized form of Gujarati, called lisan al-dawah, which is permeated with Arabic words and written in Arabic script. Another distinctive feature is their use of a Fatimid lunar calender which fixes the number of days in each month. There is a strong religious learning tradition among the Dawoodi Bohras, their Dai's usually being prolific writers and orators. The Dawoodi Bohras number about a Million and reside in India, Pakistan, the Middle East, East Africa (since the eighteenth century), and the West (since the 1950's). They are easily recognizable by their dress: men wear beards and white gold-rimmed caps, and women wear a colorful two-piece head-to-toe dress called 'Rida'.

Dawoodi Bohras are named after their 27th Dai, Daud ibn Qutbshah (d. 1612). Sulayman Bohras acknowledge a different line of Dai's ensuing from the 27th Dai, Sulayman ibn Hasan (d. 1597). Similarly, Aliyah Bohras follow Ali ibn Ibrahim (d. 1637) as their 29th Dai having seceded from the Daudis in 1625. Neither have significant doctrinal differences with the Dawoodi Bohras, though their religious organizations are different. The Aliyah Bohras are led by their 44th Dai, Tayyib Diya al-Daimin, residing in Baroda, India - and number about 5,000. The Sulaymani leadership reverted to Yemen soon after the Daudi-Sulaymani split and has mainly remained there. Their current leader, Sharaf al-Husayn ibn Hasan al-Makrami, is the 49th Dai in the Sulaymani series. His Chief Representative in India, called the Mansub, resides in Baroda. The Sulaymanis number about 4,000 in India and about 70,000 in Yemenite region of Najran.

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