Syedna Mufaddal Bhaisaheb Saifuddin, 70, has taken charge as the 53rd Dai-ul-Mutlaq or supreme spiritual head of the 2.5 million Dawoodi Bohra community. He succeeds Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin, who died on January 17.
Burhanuddin Saheb had decided two years ago that he would be succeed by Saifuddin, his second son. The late chief of the Bohras had performed the ‘nass’ (investiture ceremony) anointing Saifuddin soon after he (the Syedna) suffered a heart attack in UK in 2011.
The 70-year-old successor is the rector of the community’s 200-year-old institution for religious education, Jamea-tus-Saifiah, which has campuses in Surat, Karachi, Mumbai and Nairobi.
Saifuddin was closely associated with his late revered father and has received much of his spiritual guidance under his tutelage. The first son of the Syedna, Quaidjohar, heads the trust currently implementing the Bhendi Bazar cluster development project.
Mufaddal is said to be an early learner of the Quran. He started learning it when he was a child.
Most of his learning happened in Saifee Villa in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Highly respected among the community members across the globe, Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin has travelled widely with Syedna and met heads of states and other distinguished personalities across the world.
Among the many projects that Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin has worked under Syedna’s directions in the restoration of famous Fatemi Masjids in Egypt and other edifices in the Arab world.
