His Holiness Dr. Syedna Mohammad Burhanuddin is the High priest and 52nd Da'i al-Mutlaq of the largest group of Musta'li Ismailis, the Dawoodi Bohras.

Dr Syedna Mohammad Burhanuddin was born on the 6th of March 1915 in the city of Surat in the state of Gujarat in India. He was appointed to be the future Da'i al-Mutlaq at the age of 19 by his father, the previous Da'i al-Mutlaq, Dr Syedna Taher Saifuddin. Syedna Mohammad Burhanuddin succeeded his father upon the latter's death 53 years later.

Syedna Burhanuddin's era has been marked by a remarkable and successful fusion of traditional values and modern advances. Thus his community the Dawoodi Bohras is seen faithfully adhering to the principal tenets of Islam such as prayer and fasting. At the same time, in their temporal lives; the Bohras have rejected interest based financial activity and established an Islamic identity incorporating the beard for men and the veil for women. There is an imbibed quest for knowledge amongst both sexes and this knowledge includes secular study as well as religious and philosophical study.

His Holiness's era has also been marked by a spectacular and widespread programme of construction of masjids (mosques), mausoleums and community buildings in centres throughout the world. There is, for example "Raudat Tahera"; the mausoleum of his father Syedna Taher Saifuddin in Mumbai, India. This building contains the only example of the entire Quran being engraved in the walls of a building anywhere in the world. It has been done in gold leaf in marble with gems encrusted in the 'Bismillahs' (the opening verses of each individual chapter of the Quran).

In 1980 the renovation and restoration of the masjid of Al-Hakim in Cairo was completed by him, and since then several other Fatemid era masjids of Cairo have been restored to their former glory. In the wake of this endeavour Bohra communities across the world have sought to build their own masjids in their hometowns and Bohra masjids have been constructed as far afield as North America, Europe, Africa and Australia. These community centres and places of worship and congregation have fostered both a local and worldwide sense of togetherness and brotherhood which is seen most vividly in the annual gathering to commemmorate the martyrdom of the Prophet Mohammad's (s.a.) grandson, Hussain (a.s.) at Karbala in the seventh century.

The community gathers in its tens of thousands to hear nine days of sermons by His Holiness, the event taking place in a different city each year. Elsewhere the commemoration also takes place in every centre across the world with sermons given by appointed priests to local communities.

See also

• Ismaili
• Shi'a
• Islam

External links and references

• OUP Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World: Sayyidna Muhammad Burhanuddin