How Dawoodi Bohras observe Ramzan Submitted by admin4 on 26 August 2011 - 5:46pm Articles Indian Muslim By Danish Reyaz,

Mumbai: Do you have any idea about how Dawoodi Bohras celebrate the holy month o f Ramadan? Perhaps, many of us would say, No, because we are not much aware abou t this community. If taken on face value, it is hard not to stereotype the Dawoodi Bohra community as just average Muslims conservative, inward looking and, who knows, even fanatic al. After all, isnt that the most common, albeit erroneous picture that is painte d to depict an average Muslim? But on a closer look you will realise that this c ommunity has learnt the fine art of maintaining a perfect balance between devout ly following the Islamic teachings and keeping pace with the modern world.

Quresh Ragib, media in charge, Badri Mahal says we are celebrating our Ramadan as usual. Our prayer will begin with tahajjud, before the dawn, Dua and Tilawat. A nd after Sehri we pray Fajr. Mid day we offer Zohrana namaz where we club Zohar a nd Asr Salah at one pm. After every namaz we recite various duas, and after Magr ib salah we break our fast and then pray Isha. After Isha we take our meals. According to Quresh Ragib our spiritual leader has ordered that in this holy mont h we protect our health and avoid oily foods, so we are doing accordingly. Our If tar is organized by local jamat khana, where all community members are participa ting. Our dinner system is different. We have managed groups -- in every group t here are eight people who jointly eat in one tray, he further added.

The Dawoodi Bohras are an advanced lot in every sense of the word, be it social, educational, political, or financial. They have developed their business econom y and a separate identity not only in Mumbai but across the world. And there are those who will vouch for this: you will not find a single beggar from this comm unity anywhere in India. And what, you may ask, is the secret behind their devel opment and prosperity? Education, which they consider extremely important, for b oth men and women, and their love and quest for knowledge which disallows them t o keep looking inwards and fall out of pace with the rest of the world. Knowledge is our legacy. Hence, it is our duty to protect this legacy for the bet terment of our community. The world is changing fast and, to live a respectable life, it is necessary for us to be aware of whats going on around us; it is our d uty to adapt to modern technology and industrial development, says Syedna Burhanu ddin.

The Bohras of India belong to a Shiite sect of Gujarati-speaking Muslims. During the reign of the 11th Fatimid Caliph in Egypt, this group made a lasting impact on the people of Egypt and Yemen. It should be worth noting that the earliest C aliphs were Companions of the Prophet and were called Khulfa-e-Rashideen (rightly guided Caliphs). Consequently, the Caliphate shifted to Damascus (Umayyads), the n to Baghdad (Abbasids), Egypt (Fatmids), and finally to Turkey under the Ottoma ns before the Caliphate was abolished by Kemal Ataturk in 1924. After coming to India, the Dawoodi Bohras converted Gujarati Vaishyas and Brahmins to Islam.

Dawoodi Bohra and Ismaili sects of Muslims today inhabit around 25 countries; th eir population in India is about one million. Asghar Ali Engineer, a prominent I slamic scholar and researcher who himself belongs to Bohra community says, Over 1 .3 lakh Dawoodi Bohras live in Mumbai while there are over one million of them l iving all over the world. There is a famous shrine of Dawoodi Bohras at Mohammad Ali Road in Mumbai where devotees come to pay homage. Also found in large numbe rs in Mumbai, Ismailis have an old Jamaat Khana at Kharak in Dongri where they p erform their rituals. Share