Taher Saifuddin

Syedna
Taher Saifuddin
51st Da'i al-Mutlaq of the Dawoodi Bohra
طَاهر سيف الدِّين
Da'i al-Mutlaq
In office
1915–1965
Preceded byAbdullah Badruddin
Succeeded byMohammed Burhanuddin
Title
  • Syedna
  • Maulana
  • Shams al-Dua't al-Mutlaqeen
Personal life
Born
Taher

(1888-08-04)4 August 1888
Surat, British Raj
Died12 November 1965(1965-11-12) (aged 77)
Matheran, India
Resting placeRaudat Tahera, Mumbai
Home townMumbai
SpouseHusaina
Parents
CitizenshipIndian
Religious life
ReligionIslam (Shia Islam)
SectIsma'ili
Dawoodi Bohra
Jurisprudence
StyleHis Holiness
Chancellor, Aligarh Muslim University
In office
1953–1965
Preceded byRaza Ali Khan
Succeeded byHafiz Saeed Ahmad Khan

Taher Saifuddin (4 August 1888[a] – 12 November 1965[4]), also known as Tahir Sayf al-Din,[5] was the 51st and longest serving Da'i al-Mutlaq of the Dawoodi Bohras.[6] Saifuddin adapted the modernisation in Western and European ideas, and established its benefits for the Bohras, whilst still steeped in the traditions and the culture of the community's Fatimid heritage.[1][4][7] Saifuddin laid substantial groundwork in terms of philanthropy, education, entrepreneurship, social outreach, political outreach, and community upliftment[7] upon which his successors continued to build,[8] resulting in an unprecedented era of prosperity among the Dawoodi Bohras.[9][10]

Early life

Taher Saifuddin was born to Mohammed Burhanuddin I and Amatullah Aaisaheba[11] on 4 August 1888[a] in Surat, British India (present day the state of Gujarat).[1][12]

Da'i al-Mutlaq

Saifuddin confers honorary doctorate to King Saud in 1955 at Aligarh.

Saifuddin became the 51st al-Dāʿī al-Mutlaq in the year 1915 at the age of 28.

During his reign, he rebuilt and repaired many monuments of the Fatimid Imams, al-Dāʿī al-Mutlaq, and other structures, and artifacts.[vague][5]

Education

Saifuddin was instrumental in setting up over 350 co-ed institutes,[1][13] some of which bear his name, including but not limited to: Aljamea-tus-Saifiyah in Surat,[14] Saifee Hall in Calcutta,[15] Saifiyah Girls School in Karachi,[16] Saifi High in Mumbai,[17] Saifee Nursery at Saifee Mahal in Mumbai,[18] Saifee Eide Zahabi College in Karachi,[19] Saifee Golden Jubilee Quaderia College in Burhanpur,[20] Saifee Jubilee Arts and Commerce College in Sidhpur.[citation needed] Mohammed Burhanuddin later organized the schools under the banner of MSB Educational Institute[21] (also known as Al Madrasa Tus Saifiya Tul Burhaniyah[22][23]), which are affiliated with Indian Certificate of Secondary Education[24] and, as of 2011, has branches in 22 cities[25] across India, Pakistan, East Africa, and the Middle East.[24] Burhanuddin organized the numerous religious schools world-wide known as Madrasas under the purview of the department of Attalim.[26]

Saifuddin was appointed the Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University[27] for four consecutive terms,[28][29] starting in 1953. Under Saifuddin's chancellorship, Jawaharlal Nehru, first Prime Minister of India, laid the foundation of Asia's largest library, the Maulana Azad Library, at AMU.[30]

Aljamea-tus-Saifiyah

His Holiness [Taher Saifuddin] is not only the heir to Fatimid tradition of learning, but has in the course of his fifty years of office wrestled with the problems of the modern age. Literature and poetry, learning and teaching, organisation and administration, national and international harmony, commerce, industry and technology, these are the broad facets which received his diligent attention and filled every moment of his life.

—Yusuf Najmuddin, in a foreword of his book 'A Philosophical Discourse' speaks of Saifuddin's stewardship of the Dawoodi Bohra community.[31]

Saifuddin from his own personal wealth renovated Dars-e Saifee, an institution of Islamic studies, founded by his predecessor Abdeali Saifuddin c. 1810 in Surat,[32] transformed it in to a university by introducing secular courses and establishing affiliations with international educational bodies, and consequently renamed it Aljamea-tus-Saifiyah (lit. 'The Saifiyah University').[33]

Keeping in line with tradition of his predecessor, Ismail Badr al-Din I,[34][35] the talabat al-ilm (lit. 'seekers of knowledge') of the institution were provided with lodging and meals at full cost to the office of Dai al-Mutlaq.[1][14][35] To further inclusion and expansion, Saifuddin admitted to Aljamea its first female students.[14] As is tradition,[14] in his capacity as Dai al-Mutlaq, Saifuddin personally taught select classes at the newly renovated Academy.[36] Saifuddin brought about a structural and functional change at Aljamea: He personally oversaw the standardization of the syllabus of each class and wrote numerous memoranda and treatises which were instilled into the curriculum.[37] To this day, the treatises written by Saifuddin and his successors, Mohammed Burhanuddin and Mufaddal Saifuddin, are taught through the year[38] and are central subjects of al-Imtihan al-Sanawi (lit. 'the annual exams'),[38][39] among other religious[40][41] and secular subjects.[40]

After succeeding his father, Burhanuddin significantly expanded the reach of Aljamea: He added Mahad al-Zahra, an institute of Quranic studies c. 1976, re-renovated the Surat campus c. 1983, established campuses at Karachi c. 1983, Nairobi c. 2011,[14] and Mumbai c. 2013.[40] Aljamea and its graduates have since become integral to spiritual and temporal aspects of the Dawoodi Bohra community.[21][37][42][43]

Community service

Saifuddin with his son and successor Mohammed Burhanuddin c. 1960.

Saifuddin founded Bunaiyat-tul-Eidiz-Zahabi, a volunteer-run organisation of Dawoodi Bohra Women, in the 1950s which set a precedent that led to formation of Burhani Womens Association by his son Burhanuddin; Happy Threads and Supermums by Mufaddal Saifuddin's daughter Umme Haani in 2010s,[42] and The Radiant Arts by Mufaddal Saifuddin's daughter-in-law Zaenab Imaduddin.[44][45]

In a similar vein, Saifuddin established an organisation of Dawoodi Bohra men, Shabab ul-Eid iz-Zahabi, during the Golden Jubilee celebrations of his 50 years in the office of Dai al-Mutlaq,[46][47] exclusively for community service.[46][47][48][49] Mohammed Burhanuddin would later found the Burhani Guards (for crowd-control at miqaats lit. 'religious events'),[50][51] Tolaba ul-Kulliyat il-Mumenoon (of college and school students),[52][53] Burhani Medical Idara (of medical professionals),[54] Saifee Ambulance in India,[citation needed] and Burhani Ambulance in Pakistan (of paramedics and first responders).[55] Mufaddal Saifuddin, on his first visit to North America, established Saifee Burhani Medical Association (America),[56] on 14 March 2015.[57]

Rasm-e Saifee

Saifuddin presides over a Rasm-e Saifee Nikah in Jamnagar.

To subsidize costs and facilitate marriages among the close knit Dawoodi Bohra, Saifuddin initiated Rasm-e Saifee (lit. 'The tradition of Saifee')[58] in Jamnagar c. 1952 and later institutionalised it c. 1963.[59] Rasm-e Saifee is a singular occasion when multiple Nikah are solemnized at the hands of the Da'i al-Mutlaq and his representatives. Burhanuddin further organized it under International Taiyseer al-Nikah Committee (ITNC) (lit. 'International Committee for Marriage Facilitation'),[59] which organizes Rasm-e Saifee throughout the year at various miqaats (lit. '(religious) gatherings').[60] Burhanuddin's successor, Mufaddal Saifuddin, continues to uphold the tradition.[61][62]

Contributions to Islamic Institutions

Top (from left): Ras al-Husayn zareeh (Cairo) built by Saifuddin c. 1965; Saifuddin's name inscribed at Al-Aqsa Mosque. Bottom: Mazar e Qutbi (Ahmedabad) and Mazar e Fakhri (Taherabad), both built by Saifuddin.

Saifuddin contributed vast sums of money towards the refurbishment of mosques and shrines. He along with the Nizam of Hyderabad were among the few Indian Muslims to contribute towards the renovation of Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem:[63]

Sultan Taher Saif al-Din is said to have come from India with one hundred and fifty of his followers...At the Jerusalem station he was welcomed by the Mufti and other Sheikhs of the Supreme Moslem Council and a number of Arab notables including Ragheb Bey Nashashibi. A troop of Arab boy scouts paraded in his honour and there were two bands from Moslem institutions...The sultan was reputed to be a man of great wealth who had made substantial contributions to the religious and political funds of the Arabs of this country.[64]

Saifuddin also gifted the internal curtains which were kept in the Kaaba for decades to King Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia in 1354AH, with whom he kept warm relations.[65]

Saifuddin constructed Ghurrat-ul Masajid (lit. 'Pride of Mosques'),[66] also known as Saifee Masjid,[67] in Mumbai, Al-Mahal al-Saifee (lit. 'Saifee Palace') for pilgrims in Mecca, the zarih of Ali Ibn Abi Talib in Najaf and Husayn ibn Ali in Karbala and Cairo, the mausoleum of Qutub Khan Qutub al-Din[68] and Fakhr al-Din Shaheed. He also made and donated the kiswah for the Masjid al-Haram.[66][when?]

The Chandabhoy Galla Case

Main article: Chandabhoy Galla Case

The Chandabhoy Galla Case set a significant precedent on the issue of a human's claim to being infallible, immaculate, executor of God's will, and trusteeship of God's funds. The case was filed in 1917, during the British rule of India, by Sir Thomas Strangman, the Advocate General of Bombay, at the behest of Adamjee Peerbhoy's family against the 51st Dai al-Mutlaq of the Dawoodi Bohra, Taher Saifuddin. In 1921, Saifuddin won the case on basis of the belief that Imam, as representative of the Prophet and through him the representative of God, having withdrawn from public life, must entrust someone to represent them the Dai al-Mutlaq (and hence Saifuddin), in accordance with Tayyibi religious belief. Upon conclusion of the case, Strangman noted:[69]

"Looking back on the proceedings, I think what impressed me the most, even more than the extravagance of the claims, was the personality of the Mullaji, a frail looking figure possessed nevertheless of an iron will, great determination, and organising capacity. At the time he assumed office the administration must have been extremely slack. Yet he managed in a very few years not only to pull the administration together but to obtain a hold upon his followers greater perhaps than that of any of his predecessors."

Family

The 51st, 52nd, and 53rd Dai al-Mutlaq c. 1950.

Saifuddin married Husaina Aaisaheba, who was also from the family of the Du'at Mutlaqeen.[11] After her death,[citation needed] he then married Vazira Aaisaheba, Fatima Aaisaheba, and Amina Aaisaheba.[70]: 535 

Saifuddin had 12 sons and 8 daughters: His sons were Mohammed Burhanuddin, Husain Husamuddin,[b] Abdut Taiyeb Zakiyuddin, Yusuf Najmuddin,[c] Ismail Shehabuddin, Hatim Hamiduddin, Qasim Hakimuddin,[d] Aliasgar Kalimuddin,[e] Shabbir Nooruddin,[f] Abbas Fakhruddin,[g] Mohammed al-Baqir Jamaluddin, and Khuzaima Qutbuddin.[h] His daughters were Asma, Maryam, Khadijah, Zahra, Shireen, Banu, Fatema, and Zainab.[81][82][83]

Saifuddin descends from the family of the early leaders of the Fatimid mission in India, Fakhr al-Din and Abd al-Qadir Hakim al-Din.[11]

Works

Rasāʾil Ramaḍāniyya (Epistles)

Saifuddin's Risalah (lit. 'epistle') are peculiarly titled gematrically equivalent to the Hijri year of its publication.[84][85]

A list of Rasāʾil Ramaḍāniyya composed by Taher Saifuddin.
ID Title Title (Romanticized) Orig (AH) Pub (AH) Pub (CE)
AH 1330s
STS 01 ضوء نور الحق المبين Ḍawʾ nūr al-ḥaqq al-mubīn 1335
STS 02 ثمرات علوم الهدى Ṯamarāt ʿulūm al-hudā 1337
STS 03 زهر رياض الازلية Zahr al-riyāḍ al-azaliyya 1338
STS 04 درر البشارت Durar al-bišārāt 1339
AH 1340s
STS 05 المشرب الكوثري Al-Mašrab al-kawṯarī 1340
STS 06 درر الهدى المضيئة Durar al-hudā al-muḍīʾa 1341
STS 07 روض عالم القدس Rawḍ ʿālam al-quds 1342
STS 08 غرفة جنة Ġurfat ǧanna 1343
STS 09 غرة الحق Ġurrat al-ḥaqq 1344
STS 10 ثمار جنات عدن طيبة Ṯimār ǧannāt ʿadnin ṭayyiba 1345
STS 11 قطف شجرة خلدية Qaṭf šaǧara ḫuldiyya 1346
STS 12 زبدة برهان الصدق الواضح Zubdat burhān al-ṣidq al-wāḍiḥ 1347
STS 13 صبغ نور Ṣibġ nūr 1348
STS 14 غرس الجنة Ġars al-ǧanna 1349
AH 1350s
STS 15 درر اسرار اْل الكرار Durar asrār āl al-Karrār 1350
STS 16 نور روض الجنة Nūr rawḍ al-ǧanna 1351
STS 17 بحر فضل كبير Baḥr faḍl kabīr 1352
STS 18 مسرات الفتح المبين Masarrat al-fatḥ al-mubīn 1353
STS 19 الباب حظيرة القدس Al-Bāb ḥaẓīrat al-quds 1354
STS 20 كرامة العقول الوضية Karāmat al-ʿuqūl al-waḍiyya 1355
STS 21 صفحات عرفات المعارف Ṣafḥat ʿarafāt al-maʿārif 1356
STS 22 انهار رياض الجنة Anhār riyāḍ al-ǧanna 1357
STS 23 سحب بركات الخلد Suḥub barakāt al-ḫuld 1358
STS 24 ذات البركة Ḏāt al-baraka 1359
AH 1360s
STS 25 كوثر الخلد Kawṯar ḫuld 1360
STS 26 روضة فردوس Rawḍat firdaws 1361
STS 27 دلو غدير حق Dalw Ġadīr ḥaqq 1362
STS 28 مشربة تسنيم نور Mašrabat tasnīm nūr 1363
STS 29 سلسبيل حكم غدق Salsabīl ḥikam ġadaq 1364
STS 30 سرر رشد مرفوعة Surar rušd Marfūʿa 1365
STS 31 صور حوض مورود Ṣuwar ḥawḍ mawrūd 1366
STS 32 تكبير سكينة فتح مبين Takbīr sakīnat fatḥ mubīn 1367
STS 33 فلسفة فوز عظيم Falsafat fawz ʿaẓīm 1368
STS 34 تذكرة لبيب Taḏkirat labīb 1369
AH 1370s
STS 35 سلسلة نعمة عظمى 1370
STS 36 نعم الصبغة الالهية 1371
STS 37 خزائن امام المتقين 1372
STS 38 مفاتيح ياقوتة الحمراء 1373
STS 39 نهر النور الشعشعاني 1374
STS 40 بلاغ الدعاة الفاطميين 1375
STS 41 اشعة الفيض الازلي 1376
STS 42 امثال سدرة المنتهى Amṯāl sidrat al-muntahā 1377 1958
STS 43 روضة دار السلام Rawḍat dār al-Salām 1378 1430 2009
STS 44 توحيد الملة البيضاء Tawḥīd al-Millah al-Bayḍāʾ 1379 1431 2010
AH 1380s
STS 45 بركات اصحاب التطهير Barakāt Aṣḥāb al-Taṭhīr 1380 1432 2011
STS 46 كمال النعم السابغة Kamāl al-Aiʿam al-Sābiġa 1381 1433 2012
STS 47 تسبيح ذهب القدس Tasbīḥ ḏahab al-Quds 1382 1434 2013
STS 48 شموس بركات الربانيين[86] Shumūs Barakāt al-Rabbāniyīn 1383 1435 2015
STS 49 انهار فيوض الفاطميين[87] Anhār Fūyūz al-Fātimiyyīn 1384 1436 2016

Recognition

Saifuddin was conferred Doctor of Theology by Aligarh Muslim University on 15 April 1946,[88] and later c. 1953 accepted the chancellorship for which he was elected to for four consecutive terms.[89]

Saifuddin was among the first[90] to be conferred Doctor of Laws[88] by Karachi University c. 1955.[90]

Saifuddin was voted among 100 Greatest Indian Muslims of the Twentieth Century in an opinion poll run by Milli Gazette.[91]

Death

Raudat Tahera in Mumbai, Saifuddin's final resting place, built by his son Mohammed Burhanuddin, inaugurated by Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, the fifth President of India, in 1975.

Saifuddin died on 12 November 1965 (19 Rajab al-Asab 1385H)[4] at Matheran, a hill-station in Maharashtra, India.[92] He is buried at Raudat Tahera, a mausoleum opposite Ghurrat-ul Masajid in South Bombay, constructed by his successor, Mohammed Burhanuddin.[93]

Legacy

The Dandi Memorial

Saifuddin donated his home Saifee Villa in Dandi, Navsari where Gandhi stayed for ten days during his historic march from Sabarmati Ashram against the English Salt Laws, to Nehru in 1961. It was later converted into a National Museum.[94][95] Present day, it lies adjacent to the 15-acre National Salt Satyagraha Memorial which was inaugurated by Narendra Modi in 2019.[94]

Aligarh Muslim University

The Syedna Taher Saifuddin School at Aligarh.

The Syedna Taher Saifuddin School at Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) is named after him in his honour.[96] Saifuddin was the longest serving chancellor at AMU at 12 years,[28] and was a patron of the Ali Society at AMU.[97]

Hospitals

Saifee Hospital in Mumbai, inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2005, was dedicated to Saifuddin by his successor, Mohammed Burhanuddin, who built the hospital in social service.[98] Saifee Hospital was one of the first responders to 2008 Mumbai Terror Attacks.[99] Another hospital of the same name was built by Mohammed Burhanuddin in Karachi and dedicated to his father.[100]

Housing

In 2009 Mohammed Burhanuddin founded Saifee Burhani Upliftment Trust (SBUT), a large-scale cluster redevelopment project in Bhendi Bazaar and dedicated it to his father, Saifuddin.[101] The Government of Maharashtra plans to develop Kamathipura, one of the oldest neighborhoods of South Mumbai, after the cluster redevelopment model pioneered by SBUT.[102]

Remembrance

Saifuddin's urs (lit. 'death anniversary') is commemorated annually[103] by the Dai al-Mutlaq at Saifee Masjid, South Bombay.[104] Aljamea-tus-Saifiyah's annual examinations, Imtihan al-Sanawi, commence after the Dai al-Mutlaq delivers the Zikra sermons in remembrance of Saifuddin.[74]

Memorials

Saifee Hospital in Dar es Salaam.

Shortly after Saifuddin's demise, on 18 March 1966 Mohammed Burhanuddin established His Holiness Dr. Syedna Taher Saifuddin Memorial Trust for educational and medicinal financial aid for institutions and individuals.[105]

In memory of his father Burhanuddin set up Matheran Memorial Hall, a museum and lodging facility in the hill station of Matheran, where Saifuddin died.[106]

Notes

  1. ^ a b Two published sources put the date of birth at 5 August 1888,[1][2] whilst an entry in a book published by an official Dawoodi Bohra publication puts it at 4 August 1888.[3]
  2. ^ Mukasir al-Dawat to Mohammed Burhanuddin, Mazoon al-Dawat to Mufaddal Saifuddin.[71]
  3. ^ Amir al-Jamea (Rector of Aljamea-tus-Saifiyah).[72]
  4. ^ Amir al-Jamea (Rector of Aljamea-tus-Saifiyah). Mukasir, and then Mazoon al-Dawat to Mufaddal Saifuddin.[73]
  5. ^ Amir al-Jamea (Rector of Aljamea-tus-Saifiyah).[74] Mukasir,[75] and then Mazoon al-Dawat to Mufaddal Saifuddin.[76]
  6. ^ Chairman, Islamic Foundation[77]
  7. ^ Amir al-Jamea (Rector of Aljamea-tus-Saifiyah).[78]
  8. ^ Mazoon al-Dawat to Mohammed Burhanuddin. Claimant to the post of the 53rd Dai al-Mutlaq.[79][80]

References

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Further reading

  • Tahera Qutbuddin and Aziz Qutbuddin.“The Intellect is the Essence of the Human”: The Arabic Poem of the Intellect (Qaṣīdat al-ʿAql) by the Indian Fatimid-Ṭayyibī Dāʿī l-Muṭlaq Sayyidna Taher Saifuddin (1888-1965), Journal of Arabic Literature 54 (2023), pp. 1-50.
  • Tahera Qutbuddin. “Karbala Mourning among the Fāṭimid-Ṭayyibī-Shīʿa of India: Doctrinal and Performative Aspects of Sayyidnā Ṭāhir Sayf al-Dīn’s Arabic Lament, ‘O King of Martyrs’ (Yā Sayyida l-Shuhadāʾī),” Shii Studies Review 5 (2021), pp. 3-46.
  • Tahera Qutbuddin. “The Daʾudi Bohra Tayyibis: Ideology, Literature, Learning, and Social Practice,” in A Modern History of the Ismailis: Continuity and Change in a Muslim Community, ed. Farhad Daftary, London and New York: I.B. Tauris, 2011, pp. 331-54.
  • Abdul Qaiyum Mulla Habibullah, His Holiness Syedna Taher Saifuddin Saheb, Dai-ul-Mutlaq of Dawoodi Bohra, Dawoodi Bohra Book Depot Publications, 1953.
  • Saifuddin, Taher (1963). A Philosophical Discourse. Al Jamea tus Saifiyah.
  • Life and Works of His Holiness Syedna Dr. Taher Saifuddin Saheb, Leader Press Pvt. Ltd. Publications.
  • Mustafa Abdulhussein, Al-Dai Al-Fatimi Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin: An Illustrated Biography, Al Jamea tus Saifiyah Publications.

See also

Shia Islam titles
Taher Saifuddin
Born: 4 August 1888 Died: 12 November 1965
Preceded by 51st Da'i al-Mutlaq
1915-1965 		Succeeded by