His Holiness Dr. Syedna Muhammed Burhanuddin Abul-Qaid Johar born March 6, 1915 is the 52nd Dai or Unrestricted Missionary of the Dawoodi Bohras. The Dawoodi Bohras are a sub group within the Mustaali, Ismaili Shia branch of Islam.
Burhanuddin was born in Surat, Gujarat, India. He was appointed to be the future Dai at the age of 19 by his father, the previous Dai Taher Saifuddin. Burhanuddin succeeded his father, upon the latter's death when he was 53 years of age. He has seven sons and three daughters and all members of his family reside at Saifee Mahal, Mumbai.
Burhanuddin completed recitation of the Quran in 1921. At around the age of 13 he escaped an accident when bridge railing collapsed while on travel in Colombo, where his vehicle got hung on one wheel. He got lakab of Burhanuddin at age of 15 on his occasion of misaq. He received the designation of hadiyath (Sheikh) from 51st Dai at the age of 17 (1931 A.D.) and later designated as mazoon at the age of 20. He became hafiz at age of 21 (1935 A.D.) and married Amatullah Aai two years later.
Much later (1381 AH) he made a trip to Yemen to visit the earlier Dais of Yemen and consequently received the designation of "Mansural-Yaman". At the age of 53 (1965 A.D.) he became 52nd Dai on death of his father Taher Saifuddin.
Burhanuddin organised Ashura (Imam Husain's) function at various locations and addressed the gathering of Dawoodi Bohra (invited from all over world).
The
community held a ceremony at the Taheri Masjid Complex to mark the occasion. It began with a welcome address by Mullah Hasnain.Shaikh Shabbir Bhai Sadriwala informed the audience about the genesis of the idea of coming up with a postage stamp to commemorate the centennial birth celebrations of the Syedna, and thanked the government and the Pakistan Post for extending their support in this regard.
He also talked about those, including stamp collector M. Arif Balagamwala, who floated the idea of issuing a commemorative stamp at an expo held in January this year and also designed the stamp.
After that Mullah Hasnain gave the background to the design of the stamp. He said it had the image of Baab-i-Hatimi at Aljameatus Saifiya, North Nazimabad, which actually represented the 1000-year-old architectural design from the Fatimid period in Egypt.
Honorary secretary of the Faiz-i-Hakimi Saifuddin Bhai said that Syedna Burhanuddin had many qualities (he’s a teacher, an intellectual, a researcher, a guide, a spiritual leader etc), and had always taught and preached about the welfare of mankind. He said one of the essential teachings of the Syedna to his followers was serve and be loyal to the country where they lived. He also praised the Burhani Guards Trust (BGT) for its extensive and untiring efforts in arranging the programme and undertaking other assignments.
M Arif Balagamwala said that the ceremony was one of its kind because it was taking place on a Sunday. He said 500,000 stamps had been printed since the government didn’t allow more than that number, so it would be good if they were bought as early as possible.
BGT chairman Mr Noorudddin told the audience that the stamps would be showcased in a museum in Mumbai as well.
He said that throughout the history of Pakistan, leaders from the Quaid-i-Azam to the present prime minister had treated the Dawoodi Bohra community with affection.
For any purchase of stamps or FDCs please contact via E.Mail: aliphilatelic@gmail.com
(Thanks Dawn News and Wikipedia)
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