Dawoodi Bohras Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
Dawoodi Bohras are a Musta'li subsect of Ismaili Shi'a Muslims based primarily in India and Pakistan. Their spiritual leader is Dr. Syedna Burhanuddin. The majority of Bohras are converts from Hinduism. Their conversion—the result of the work of some Arab missionaries from Egypt and Yemen—took place around the twelfth century A.D. in Gujarat in India. The converted were largely from the Hindu middle and upper castes and especially those engaged in trade and commerce. Later, indigenous converts undertook the missionary activities in other contiguous regions such as the areas that today constitute Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharastra. Thus today, the Bohras in India are concentrated in these areas and number between 800 to 900,000. They mainly engage themselves in small trade though a newly educated professional class is also coming into prominence. There is also a large community in Pakistan, where the main downtown market in Karachi, the largest city, is called Bohree Bazaar because of the community's major presence as shop-owners and -keepers.The Dawoodi Bohras are a very closely-knit community tightly controlled by the high priest (da'i) and are both highly Islamised in their religious practices and highly Indianised in their cultural practices and ethos. The ordinary Bohra is highly conscious of his separate identity and is made to jealously guard it by the priesthood. The priesthood makes every effort, not only to keep to tight spiritual control over the community but also keep it separate from the Islamic mainstream. The present high priest Dr. Syedna Burhanuddin has gone to another extreme in cutting the Bohras off from not only Sunni but also from the Shi'ah Muslims. Any contact with the other Muslims, the high priest thinks, will loosen his control over the community.
(portions adapted from THE BOHRAS - RELIGION AND SPIRITUALITY By Asghar Ali Engineer)
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