The life, mission, and legacy of Sayyidna Muhammad ibn Abdullah (SAW) — the Seal of Prophets, the beloved of Allah, the Natiq of the final divine dispensation, and the one through whose lineage the Imamate continues in the Ahl al-Bayt. This is the foundation of every Bohra belief and practice.
Sayyidna Ibrahim ibn Azar (AS) — the Prophet Abraham — is the father of monotheism, the builder of the Ka'ba with his son Ismail (AS), and the ancestor through whom both the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) via the Ishmaelite line and a vast number of Prophets via the Israelite line descend. He is called Khalilullah (the Friend of Allah) and his trials are among the greatest in prophetic history. Hajj itself was established by him and restored by the Prophet (SAW).
A reference guide to the 14 Ma'sumeen — Rasulullah (SAW), Syedatona Fatema (AS), and the 12 Imams — whose names, lives, and legacy form the devotional and theological core of Bohra and wider Shia Islamic tradition.
The history of the Fatimid Caliphate (909–1171 CE) — the empire founded by the Ismaili Imams, builders of Cairo, al-Azhar, and the intellectual heritage that defines Dawoodi Bohra civilization to this day.
Sayyida Arwa al-Sulayhi (RA) — Queen of Yemen for nearly 70 years, the only woman in Islamic history to have had the Friday khutba read in her name, and the Hujjat of the Fatimid Imam in Yemen — was entrusted with the single most consequential act in Bohra history: appointing the first Dai al-Mutlaq when the 21st Imam entered occultation.
Who are the Duat Mutlaqeen? A history of the 52 Dais who have led the Dawoodi Bohra community through the period of the Imam's seclusion, from the Fatimid era to the present day.
The story and significance of Eid-e-Ghadeer-e-Khum, when Rasulullah (SAW) declared the wilayat of Imam Ali (AS) before 120,000 pilgrims — and why Bohras celebrate it as the greatest Eid.
The 51st Dai al-Mutlaq (1333–1385 AH / 1915–1965 CE) — poet, scholar, architect of institutions — who led the Bohra community through the most turbulent decades of the 20th century, revived Ismaili learning, composed thousands of verses of sacred poetry in Arabic and Urdu, and built Raudat Tahera — the luminous mausoleum in Surat where he and his son Syedna Burhanuddin (RA) now rest.
The 52nd Dai al-Mutlaq (1385–1435 AH / 1965–2014 CE) — who led the Bohra community for 50 years with extraordinary love and wisdom, oversaw the global expansion of the dawat, restored Fatimid monuments from Cairo to Medina, and was known to millions simply as Maula. He rests in Raudat Tahera in Surat.
The 53rd Dai al-Mutlaq of the Dawoodi Bohra community, Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin (TUS) assumed the mantle of the dawat on 17 Safar 1435 AH (2014 CE) upon the wafat of his father Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin (RA). He is the current living representative of the hidden Imam al-Tayyib (AS), the inheritor of a continuous chain of 900 years.
Sayyida Khadija bint Khuwaylid (RA) — the Prophet's first wife, the first person to embrace Islam, the woman whose love and wealth sustained the mission in its most vulnerable years, and the mother of Sayyida Fatima al-Zahra (AS). She is buried in Jannat al-Mualla in Mecca, making her resting place a sacred site for every pilgrim.
Sayyida Hajar (AS) — wife of Sayyidna Ibrahim (AS) and mother of Sayyidna Ismail (AS) — is among the most honored women in Islamic history. Her act of running between Safa and Marwah while searching for water for her infant son is commemorated forever in the rite of Sa'i, which every pilgrim performs in Hajj and Umrah. She and Ismail (AS) are buried in the Hijr Ismail within the Kaaba itself.
Aljamea-tus-Saifiyah is the Dawoodi Bohra community's central institution of higher religious learning — a centuries-old academy that trains the scholars, Amils, and intellectual leaders of the dawat. Its curriculum transmits the full legacy of Fatimid knowledge.
The story of how the Ismaili Dawat — its scholars, missionaries, and sacred tradition — traveled from the Fatimid seat in Cairo through Yemen and finally reached the merchants and communities of Gujarat in the 6th century AH / 11th century CE, laying the foundation of the Dawoodi Bohra community.
Between the 8th Imam (Muhammad ibn Ismail AS) and the emergence of the Fatimid Imam al-Mahdi (AS) in the 3rd century AH, four Imams lived in concealment — physically protected from the Abbasid Caliphate, their identities known only to the inner circle of the Dawat. This period is called the Satr (veiling). Understanding the Satr reveals why the Bohra tradition maintains that the Imam is always present — seen or unseen.
Sayyidna Muhammad al-Mahdi billah (AS) — the 13th Imam in the Ismaili Tayyibi chain and the 1st Imam of the Fatimid Caliphate — ended more than a century of Satr (concealment) when he emerged in North Africa in 297 AH / 909 CE. His emergence established the first Imam-led caliphate in Islamic history and launched a dynasty that would build al-Azhar, rule Egypt, and transform the Islamic world. He is the Imam through whom the Dawat entered its public, open phase.
Sayyidna Abu Talib ibn Abd al-Muttalib — the Prophet's paternal uncle and guardian, and the father of Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib (AS) — was the man who protected the Prophet (SAW) through the most dangerous years of the early Islamic mission. Without Abu Talib's protection, the Quraysh would have killed the Prophet (SAW) before the Hijra. In the Bohra tradition, he is honored as a believer whose faith was expressed through action even when circumstances required discretion.
Sayyidna al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah (AS) — the 4th Fatimid Imam/Caliph — presided over the most expansive phase of the Fatimid Caliphate. Under his command, the Fatimid general Jawhar al-Siqilli conquered Egypt in 358 AH / 969 CE, founded the city of Cairo (al-Qahira) and established al-Azhar mosque and university — institutions that endure to the present day. Al-Mu'izz moved the Fatimid capital from North Africa to Cairo, transforming the Fatimid state from a regional power into a civilization-defining dynasty.
Sayyida Zainab bint Ali (AS) carried the message of Karbala to the world through her two historic speeches — first in the court of Ibn Ziyad in Kufa, then before Yazid in Damascus. Her words transformed a tragedy into an eternal revolution and preserved the truth of Husain's sacrifice for every generation.
Sayyida Fatema al-Zahra (AS) — daughter of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW), wife of Imam Ali (AS), mother of the Imams — holds the highest station among the women of all worlds. Her life, her grief, and her legacy form the spiritual foundation of the entire line of Imamat.
Imam Ali (AS) — cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet, first Imam of the Shia, husband of Sayyida Fatema, father of the Imams. His life is the sword-point upon which Bohra faith turns: the Asas (Foundation) of the Prophet's message, the Gate of the City of Knowledge, the Ameer al-Mumineen.
Imam Hasan (AS) — the Prophet's first grandson, second Imam, and the elder of the two brothers whose names the Prophet joined in a single breath. His peace treaty with Muawiyah preserved thousands of lives; his patience in exile preserved the dignity of the Imamate.
Imam Husain (AS) — third Imam, grandson of the Prophet, who chose death over dishonor at Karbala in 61 AH. His sacrifice sealed the spiritual integrity of Islam and gave the Bohra community its deepest act of devotion: the ten days of Ashara Mubaraka in Muharram.
The 4th Imam — son of Imam Husain (AS), survivor of Karbala, author of the Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya — who carried the light of the Imamate from the ashes of Ashura back to Medina, and whose prayers became one of the greatest spiritual texts in Islamic history.
The 5th Imam — son of Imam Zayn al-Abidin, father of Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq — whose title al-Baqir (the Splitter) recognizes his role in cracking open the sealed reserves of prophetic knowledge and making them available to the scholars of his age.
The 6th Imam — whose four-decade teaching in Medina produced the founders of Sunni jurisprudence, the father of chemistry, and the systematization of Shia ta'wil — is perhaps the most intellectually consequential of all the Imams in terms of his lasting impact on Islamic civilization.
The 7th Imam in the Fatimid-Tayyibi chain — son of Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq (AS) — whose designation by his father and the continuation of the Imamate through his lineage forms the theological cornerstone separating the Ismaili tradition (and thus the Dawoodi Bohra community) from the Twelver path.
The 8th Imam in the Fatimid-Tayyibi chain — son of Imam Ismail ibn Ja'far (AS) — who received the Imamate after the death of his father, and whose entry into concealment (satr) began a 150-year period of hidden Imamate that ended with the emergence of Imam al-Mahdi and the Fatimid Caliphate in 297 AH.
The 14th Imam in the Ismaili Tayyibi chain and the 2nd Fatimid Caliph, whose reign (322–334 AH / 934–946 CE) was defined by the greatest crisis in Fatimid history: the revolt of Abu Yazid al-Kharijite, who nearly swept the dynasty from power before being defeated by al-Qa'im's son.
The 17th Imam in the Ismaili Tayyibi chain and the 5th Fatimid Caliph (365–386 AH / 975–996 CE) — son of Imam al-Mu'izz — who inherited Cairo and expanded Fatimid power into Syria, extended remarkable religious tolerance across his realm, and left a state at the height of its civilization.
The 18th Imam in the Ismaili Tayyibi chain and 6th Fatimid Caliph (386–411 AH / 996–1021 CE) — whose long reign of twenty-five years produced the magnificent Mosque of al-Hakim in Cairo, an enduring symbol of Ismaili patronage of architecture and learning, recently restored by the Dawoodi Bohra community under Syedna Burhanuddin (RA).
The 20th Imam in the Ismaili Tayyibi chain and 8th Fatimid Caliph — who reigned for sixty years (427–487 AH / 1036–1094 CE), the longest of any Fatimid ruler, and oversaw the establishment of the Dawat in Yemen and India through the appointment of al-Muayyad fi-Din al-Shirazi and the founding of the tradition that would reach the Dawoodi Bohras.
The 22nd Imam in the Ismaili Tayyibi chain (counted as 21st in some systems) and the last Fatimid Imam to rule publicly before the Second Satr. His son, Imam al-Tayyib (AS), was born in 524 AH and entered concealment (ghaybat) in 526 AH — beginning the Second Satr that continues to this day under the guidance of the Duat Mutlaqeen.
The 15th Imam in the Ismaili Tayyibi chain and 3rd Fatimid Caliph — who completed the defeat of the great Kharijite revolt that had devastated North Africa and nearly destroyed the Fatimid dynasty, then built the city of al-Mansuriyya to commemorate the final victory.
The 21st Imam in the Ismaili Tayyibi chain (9th Fatimid Caliph, 487–495 AH / 1094–1101 CE) — whom the Musta'li-Tayyibi branch of the Ismaili dawat, including the Dawoodi Bohras, accepts as the rightful successor to al-Mustansir following the disputed succession of 487 AH.
The 19th Imam in the Ismaili Tayyibi chain and 7th Fatimid Caliph (411–427 AH / 1021–1036 CE) — son of Imam al-Hakim bi-Amrillah (AS), who came to power as a teenager following his father's mysterious disappearance and ruled a stable, prosperous Fatimid state for fifteen years.
The Mosque of al-Hakim bi-Amrillah in Fatimid Cairo stands as one of the most significant Fatimid monuments in the world — and one of the greatest contributions of the Dawoodi Bohra community to Islamic heritage. Under the initiative of the 52nd Dai al-Mutlaq Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin (RA), the Bohra community undertook a complete restoration of this thousand-year-old mosque, returning it to its original glory as a living center of worship.
Masjid al-Aqsa in al-Quds (Jerusalem) is the third holiest site in Islam, the first Qibla toward which Muslims prayed, and the destination of the Prophet's miraculous Night Journey (Isra') before his Ascent through the heavens (Mi'raj). Its history intertwines with the Prophets, the early Muslim community, the Fatimid Caliphate, and the ongoing significance of Bayt al-Maqdis for the Muslim world.
The Dawoodi Bohra tradition holds women in singular honour — from the cosmic station of Sayyida Fatima al-Zahra (AS) at the summit of spiritual reality, to the historical example of Sayyida Arwa al-Sulayhi (RA) who held the highest rank in the Fatimid Dawat for decades, to the contemporary Bohra woman who is simultaneously a religious scholar, a professional, and a keeper of the community's deepest traditions.
After the 21st Imam al-Tayyib (AS) entered satr (occultation) around 524 AH, the Dawat's earthly leadership passed to the Duat Mutlaqeen — the representatives appointed to guide the community during the Imam's absence. For over four centuries, Yemen was the heart of the Dawat — its scholars, its institutions, and its chain of succession operating from the highland redoubts of the Haraz mountains. This period produced the first twenty-three Duat Mutlaqeen and laid the theological and legal foundations that the Bohra community carries to this day.
When the 24th Dai al-Mutlaq, Syedna Yusuf Najm al-Din (RA), established the seat of the Dawat in India in 946 AH, a new chapter began in the Bohra community's history — one that would span five centuries, encompass 29 Duat Mutlaqeen, navigate Mughal patronage and British colonialism, survive internal schisms and succession disputes, and ultimately produce the global Bohra community of today with its distinctive identity, institutions, and presence in over 40 countries.
The Fatimid Da'wa (the 'call' or missionary organization of the Fatimid Imams) was the most sophisticated and far-reaching Islamic missionary network of the medieval world. Operating across continents simultaneously — from North Africa to Khorasan, from Yemen to Sind — the Da'wa was not merely a political operation but a spiritual and intellectual movement that carried the Imam's 'ilm to seekers everywhere. The Dawoodi Bohra community is the living legacy of this Da'wa: it was the Da'wa's missionaries who brought Ismaili Islam to Gujarat in the 5th century AH, and it is through the unbroken chain of Duat Mutlaqeen that the Da'wa's light continues to reach mumineen today.
The Majalis al-Hikmah (Sessions of Wisdom) were the famous public and semi-public knowledge gatherings held in Fatimid Cairo during the 10th-12th centuries CE — a series of lectures, debates, and Quranic interpretations delivered by the Du'at al-Du'at (Chief Missionaries) in the presence of the Imam-Caliph. The greatest of these sessions were held by Syedna al-Mu'ayyad fi'l-Din al-Shirazi and attended by scholars, seekers, and officials from across the Islamic world. They represent the Fatimid Dawat at its intellectual zenith — and their spirit continues in every Bohra waaz to this day.
The Quran was revealed over 23 years, preserved simultaneously in the memories of the Companions and in written fragments. After the Prophet's death, two major compilations shaped the Quran as we know it: the first under Abu Bakr (gathering the fragments into a single manuscript) and the second under Uthman (producing the standardized mushaf distributed to the Muslim world). The Ismaili-Tayyibi tradition holds a distinctive perspective on the Quran's compilation — affirming the authenticity of the text while opening the door to the batin that the Quran itself declares is not accessible without the Imam's guidance.
Da'a'im al-Islam (The Pillars of Islam) is the greatest work of Ismaili jurisprudence, compiled by Qadi al-Nu'man ibn Muhammad al-Tamimi (d. 974 CE) — the Chief Judge of the Fatimid Caliphate under four Imams. In two volumes covering both the zahir of Islamic law and the batin of its esoteric meaning, the Da'a'im is the foundational text of Ismaili-Tayyibi fiqh. Its rulings govern Bohra religious practice to this day, making it the most practically influential single work in the Dawat's legal tradition.
Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib (AS) is the cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW), the first male to embrace Islam, the bearer of the Prophetic 'ilm, and the first Imam in the Ismaili-Tayyibi chain. Declared the Wali of Allah at Ghadir Khumm by the Prophet himself, Imam Ali represents the inseparable pairing of the zahir and batin — prophethood and walayah, Quran and Imam, the word spoken and the word's inner meaning. His martyrdom on 21 Ramadan is among the most sacred commemorations in the Bohra calendar.
Nabi Musa (Moses AS) is among the five prophets of supreme resolution (ulu al-azm) and the most frequently mentioned prophet in the Quran — appearing in 36 of the 114 surahs. Called Kalim Allah (the one who spoke directly with Allah), Musa's life contains every dimension of the prophetic experience: exile and return, confrontation with tyranny, divine law, covenant, and the long slow work of guiding a community through the desert of their own limitations. The Ismaili tradition sees in Musa and his brother Harun the paradigmatic Natiq-Wasi pair whose pattern repeats in every prophetic cycle.
Nahj al-Balagha (Peak of Eloquence) is the collected sermons, letters, and aphorisms of Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib (AS) — compiled by al-Sharif al-Radi in the 10th century CE. It is widely regarded as the greatest work of Arabic prose after the Quran, containing 239 sermons, 79 letters, and 480 short sayings. For the Bohra Dawat and the broader Shia world, Nahj al-Balagha is not merely literature but the preserved 'ilm of the first Imam — his theological vision, his political wisdom, and his intimate counsel to the soul that seeks Allah.