Two Kinds of Sacred Days
The Bohra religious calendar — the taqwim — marks every significant wiladat and urs of the Prophets, Imams, and Duat Mutlaqeen. These are not mere historical commemorations but living occasions in the Dawat’s understanding: on each anniversary, the barakah of the one being commemorated flows anew into the world, and the community that gathers to remember participates in that flow.
Wiladat (وِلَادَة): Birthday, nativity. The occasion of the birth of a Prophet, Imam, or Dai. Celebrated with khushi (joy), noor (light), sweetness, and communal programs of praise.
Urs (عُرس): Literally “wedding” — used in Sufi and Islamic tradition to refer to a saint’s or holy person’s death anniversary. The metaphor of a wedding is deliberate: the wafat (death) of a Prophet, Imam, or Dai is understood not as a tragic ending but as the soul’s return to its divine Source — a reunion (wisal) between the created and the Creator. The word urs (wedding) captures the joy hidden within the grief: yes, there is loss of the physical presence, but the spiritual connection does not end at death.
The Logic of Commemoration
Some ask: why commemorate the dates of people who died centuries ago? Why does it matter whether it is the birthday of Imam Husain (AS) on 3 Sha’ban or the wafat of Syedna al-Qadi al-Nu’man on 7 Jumada al-Akhira?
The Dawat’s answer is theological: the awliya of Allah (the friends of God) are not absent. The Quran says: “And do not say of those who are killed in the path of Allah, ‘They are dead.’ Rather, they are alive, but you do not perceive it.” (Quran 2:154)
This verse, in the Dawat’s ta’wil, applies not only to those killed in battle but to all who gave their lives in the service of the Imam’s ‘ilm — the Duat Mutlaqeen who endured exile, opposition, and hardship for the Dawat’s sake. They are alive in the barakah they continue to transmit, in the ‘ilm they passed down, in the chain of guidance that continues unbroken to this day.
To gather on a wiladat or urs is thus not to remember the dead but to receive the living barakah of those whose spiritual reality continues to bless the world.
Wiladat Programs — Celebrating with Light
A Bohra wiladat program has a characteristic tone: joyful, luminous, celebratory. Key elements include:
Salawat and Na’at
The program opens with salawat (sending blessings on the Prophet SAW) and na’at — devotional poetry praising the one whose wiladat is being celebrated. Salawat is the bridge between the community and the Prophet (SAW), and through the Prophet to the Imams and Duat.
Illumination
On wiladat occasions, Bohra homes and masjids are traditionally decorated with lights (jalwa). The wiladat is associated with noor (divine light) — the light of the Prophet, the light of the Imam, the light of the Dai. This is not decorative habit but theology: each Prophet, Imam, and Dai is a mazhar (manifestation) of divine light in the world, and the wiladat is the anniversary of that light’s appearance on earth.
Sweet Food and Niyaz
Wiladat occasions are marked by sweet food — mitha dalia (sweet porridge), sheer khorma (vermicelli with milk and dates), or other traditional sweets. The sweetness of the food mirrors the sweetness of the occasion — the soul’s joy at the arrival of divine guidance in human form. Niyaz of sweet food is distributed to the community after the wiladat waaz.
Waaz
The Aamil delivers a waaz appropriate to the occasion — narrating the life of the person whose wiladat is being celebrated, drawing ta’wil from key moments in their life, and connecting their significance to the mumin’s own spiritual journey.
Urs Programs — Mourning with Gratitude
An urs program has a dual quality: grief at the physical absence, gratitude for the spiritual legacy. Key elements include:
Fatiha and Du’a
Every urs begins with the recitation of Surah al-Fatiha — the mother of the Quran, the prayer that opens all significant gatherings — followed by specific du’as for the soul of the one whose urs is being observed. The fatiha is not merely recited but directed: its barakah is sent to the ruh (soul) of the Prophet, Imam, or Dai, strengthening the mumin’s spiritual connection with them across the boundary of death.
Bukaa (Mourning)
On significant urs occasions — especially the urs of the Imams — bukaa (ritual weeping) is performed. This is most intense on the urs of Imam Husain (AS) during Ashara Mubaraka. The weeping is not theatrical but emerges from genuine grief: the grief of love at physical separation, the grief of historical injustice (in the case of the martyred Imams), and the grief of longing for the Imam’s presence.
Waaz on the Legacy
The urs waaz focuses on the person’s spiritual legacy: what ‘ilm they transmitted, what sacrifice they made, what barakah they left for the ummah. The message is always ultimately one of hope: the urs is not the end of the story — the Imam’s ‘ilm continues through the Dai, the Dai’s farmaan continues to reach the mumin, the chain is unbroken.
Major Wiladats in the Bohra Calendar
Wiladat al-Nabi (SAW) — 12 Rabi’ al-Awwal
The most universally celebrated Islamic birthday — the Prophet Muhammad’s (SAW) nativity. The Bohra celebration includes special waaz, salawat programs, na’at recitation, and illuminated homes. Some families observe a three-day celebration.
Wiladat Imam Husain (AS) — 3 Sha’ban
The wiladat of the 3rd Imam (AS) — “Sayyid Shubban Ahl al-Janna” (Master of the Youth of Paradise) — is observed with particular joy, as Imam Husain is the central figure of the Bohra devotional life. The contrast with his urs on 10 Muharram is sharp: the sha’ban wiladat is joyful; the muharram ashura is the most intense mourning of the year.
Wiladat Imam Ali (AS) — 13 Rajab
The wiladat of the 1st Imam (AS), father of the Dawat, husband of Sayyida Fatima, Amir al-Mu’minin (Commander of the Faithful). Celebrated with salawat, na’at in praise of Imam Ali, and programs focused on his qualities of ‘ilm, justice, and courage.
Wiladat of the Current Dai
The most personally significant wiladat for contemporary Bohras is the wiladat of the living Dai al-Mutlaq — the current 53rd Dai. His birthday is observed throughout the Bohra world with programs of praise, mubarak-badi (congratulations), salawat, and niyaz. In major jamats, Bohras travel to receive barakat on this occasion.
Major Urs Occasions in the Bohra Calendar
Urs of Imam Husain (AS) — 10 Muharram (Ashura)
The most intense urs of the Bohra year — Ashura, the day of the shahadat of Imam Husain (AS) at Karbala in 61 AH. The ten-day Ashara Mubaraka program builds toward this day of maximum mourning. See also: Ashara Mubaraka
Urs of Imam Ali (AS) — 21 Ramadan
Imam Ali (AS) was struck on 19 Ramadan 40 AH while in sujud at the Masjid of Kufa and died two days later on 21 Ramadan. This urs falls during the most spiritually intense period of the year — Ramadan — adding to its gravity.
Urs of Sayyida Fatima al-Zahra (AS) — 3 Jumada al-Akhira (or 13 Jumada al-Ula)
The urs of the Prophet’s daughter and the Imam’s mother — a day of deep mourning and fatiha in the Bohra community. The grief for Sayyida Fatima (AS) includes the grief of her short life (18-28 years according to different narrations) and the injustices she faced after the Prophet’s (SAW) wafat.
Urs of Duat Mutlaqeen
The urs of each of the 52 past Duat Mutlaqeen is marked in the Bohra calendar. The most observed in many jamats are those of the most recent Duat — Syedna Taher Saifuddin (RA) and Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin (RA) — whose living memory makes their urs especially vivid for contemporary Bohras.
The Ziyarat Connection
Urs and wiladat programs in the Bohra tradition are often combined with ziyarat — visits to the mazaraat (sacred tombs) of those being commemorated. On the urs of Imam Husain (AS), Bohras perform ziyarat of his mazaar in Karbala (either in person or virtually through the community’s programs). On the urs of local Duat, Bohras visit their mazaraat in Surat, Ahmedabad, or elsewhere in India.
See also: Understanding Ziyarat
Ta’wil of Wiladat and Urs
The zahir of wiladat and urs is the historical commemoration — marking the dates of births and deaths with appropriate programs.
The batin of wiladat is the perpetual birth of ‘ilm in the mumin’s heart: every time a mumin receives ta’wil from the waaz that illuminates a previously dark corner of understanding, it is a wiladat — the birth of divine knowledge in the human heart.
The batin of urs is the fanaa (dissolution) of the ego in love for the Imam and Dai: just as the person’s soul returns to Allah at death, the mumin’s ego should dissolve in the Imam’s walayah, so that what remains is the divine reality (baqaa bi-Allah — subsisting in God) rather than the self-assertion of the ego.
The Dawat teaches that the highest wiladat is the mumin’s own spiritual rebirth through the misaq — and the highest urs is not a date on the calendar but the mumin’s daily dying to the ego in the service of the Imam’s ‘ilm.
See also: Ashara Mubaraka, Understanding Ziyarat, Bohra Waaz, Niyaz Sacred Food, Shukr Gratitude, Misaq The Covenant, Sayyida Fatima Al Zahra, Imam Husain Master Of Martyrs