NEW DELHI // India’s community of Dawoodi Bohra Muslims has become a house fiercely divided – by a succession battle over leadership, but also by competing visions of its place in the modern age.
Since April, the dispute over who should be the “Dai Al Mutlaq”– the spiritual leader of the Bohras – has been fought in the Mumbai High Court. After the earlier Dai, Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin, passed away in January at the age of 102, his son Mufaddal Saifuddin claimed that his father had nominated him as his successor.
A Dai always names the next in line to the title. It is not always the son who inherits the title, although some sons have succeeded their fathers.
But Burhanuddin’s half-brother, Khuzaima Qutbuddin – at 73 only three years older than his nephew – challenged this transition of leadership.
Meanwhile, Saifuddin — the 53rd person to hold the title of Dai — has thrown the community into ferment, calling for its women to dress more conservatively and to stay away from higher education and employment outside the home.
"It's a huge setback to the community," Irfan Engineer, a Dawoodi Bohra lawyer who runs the Center for Study of Society and Secularism in Mumbai, told The National.
Dawoodi Bohras – Shiites who trace their lineage to Yemen – number nearly a million across the world. Roughly half that population lives in India, their ancestors having arrived in the state of Gujarat in the early 1500s after fleeing Sunni persecution.
The word “Bohra” evolved from the Gujarati “vehru”, which means trade, the traditional profession of the community.
Mr Engineer said India’s Dawoodi Bohras have been relatively progressive. “The proof is there for everybody to see. Despite whatever Saifuddin has been saying, Bohra women aren’t wearing hijabs unless they’re going to the mosque. They aren’t quitting their jobs to sit at home.”
Qutbuddin has alleged that Saifuddin and his family “took advantage of a severe debilitating stroke that affected Burhanuddin following his 100th birthday in London” to declare Saifuddin the successor. In a statement issued in February, Qutbuddin also said his objections said had earned him “abuse, intimidation and even violence” from Saifuddin’s family.
Qutbuddin claimed that Burhanuddin “had privately appointed him as his successor … A private appointment is valid according to Bohra doctrine.”
Supporters of Qutbuddin have also alleged that Saifuddin is a coercive leader, a charge that Mr Engineer corroborated.
“They’re known to pressure people,” he said. “When you get into their bad books, any information about you is good enough to harass you and settle scores.”
Saifuddin is supported only by “a tiny, tiny section” of the community, Mr Engineer said – mostly a coterie that derives some benefit from being close to the Dai.
As community leader, Saifuddin controls the mosques and religious institutions affiliated to the Dawoodi Bohras.
Saifuddin’s sermons have been disturbing, said a Mumbai-based Bohra woman in her mid-30s, who wished to remain anonymous because she did not want to be seen speaking publicly against her community’s leader.
“If he had his way, he would want us to just stay at home and tend to our families, and nothing else,” she said. “And this is causing a real division within the community. Disagreeing with the Dai on such fundamental matters is regarded as some sort of betrayal.”
India’s Dawoodi Bohras had to change with the times, she said. “Otherwise we’ll be stuck in the same regressive customs while the rest of the country moves ahead.”
Videos of Saifuddin’s sermons, in which he reportedly urged men to throw women out of the house if they did not wear the hijab, have recently been taken down from YouTube.
In contrast, Qutbuddin has, on his website, emphasised the need for “secular learning” and to educate women.
Although women should maintain modesty “in dress and behaviour”, they should also “strive for the best possible education, become accomplished homemakers, and also doctors, teachers, engineers and business leaders, break the glass ceiling”, Qutbuddin wrote in a post spelling out his vision for the community.
But Saifuddin has his champions as well.
On the religious forum Patheos, a US-based Dawoodi Bohra named Aziz Poonawalla has vigorously defended Saifuddin against his critics, some of whom have blogged on the same website.
Mr Poonawalla wrote that Saifuddin only had a “legitimate concern … for the physical safety and cultural identity” of young women who worked in firms such as call centres.
“He has never discouraged Bohra women from higher education or professional careers, though he has rightly encouraged women and men alike to uphold their cultural values, and not neglect their responsibilities to their spouses and their families,” Mr Poonawalla wrote.
The dispute is not good for India’s Dawoodi Bohras, Mr Engineer said. “But there is a great resentment against Saifuddin.
“The community will not take his messages lying down.”
ssubramanian@thenational.ae
Nepotism is the name of the game
Salman Khan’s father, Salim Khan, is one of Bollywood’s most legendary screenwriters. Through his partnership with co-writer Javed Akhtar, Salim is credited with having paved the path for the Indian film industry’s blockbuster format in the 1970s. Something his son now rules the roost of. More importantly, the Salim-Javed duo also created the persona of the “angry young man” for Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan in the 1970s, reflecting the angst of the average Indian. In choosing to be the ordinary man’s “hero” as opposed to a thespian in new Bollywood, Salman Khan remains tightly linked to his father’s oeuvre. Thanks dad.
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THE SCORES
Ireland 125 all out
(20 overs; Stirling 72, Mustafa 4-18)
UAE 125 for 5
(17 overs, Mustafa 39, D’Silva 29, Usman 29)
UAE won by five wickets
FA%20Cup%20semi-final%20draw
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Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
Match info
Manchester United 4
(Pogba 5', 33', Rashford 45', Lukaku 72')
Bournemouth 1
(Ake 45 2')
Red card: Eric Bailly (Manchester United)
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UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
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The stats
Ship name: MSC Bellissima
Ship class: Meraviglia Class
Delivery date: February 27, 2019
Gross tonnage: 171,598 GT
Passenger capacity: 5,686
Crew members: 1,536
Number of cabins: 2,217
Length: 315.3 metres
Maximum speed: 22.7 knots (42kph)
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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SEMI-FINAL
Monterrey 1
Funes Mori (14)
Liverpool 2
Keita (11), Firmino (90 1)
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Suggested picnic spots
Abu Dhabi
Umm Al Emarat Park
Yas Gateway Park
Delma Park
Al Bateen beach
Saadiyaat beach
The Corniche
Zayed Sports City
Dubai
Kite Beach
Zabeel Park
Al Nahda Pond Park
Mushrif Park
Safa Park
Al Mamzar Beach Park
Al Qudrah Lakes
David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
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Saturday's results
West Ham 2-3 Tottenham
Arsenal 2-2 Southampton
Bournemouth 1-2 Wolves
Brighton 0-2 Leicester City
Crystal Palace 1-2 Liverpool
Everton 0-2 Norwich City
Watford 0-3 Burnley
Manchester City v Chelsea, 9.30pm
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