Category: Media

His Holiness Da’i Mutlaq Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin, spiritual leader of the Dawoodi Bohra, a Shi’a sect based out of Mumbai, India, visited Woodland Hills last week to consecrate the Mohammedi Center’s mosque.

…two sheikhs of the Mohammedi Center, Aamer Jamali and Adnan Hamid, invited Rabbi Gabriel Botnick from Temple Aliyah in Woodland Hills to welcome Saifuddin in a procession.

Botnick also received an audience with Saifuddin in which the two spiritual leaders discussed their mutual commitment to serving the same God as well as pursuing peace.

Rabbi visits mosque consecration (The Acorn)

The door opened, a man emerged and a crowd of 2,000 people erupted into thunderous cheers, their excitement tangible.

The man was Syedna Aali Qadr Mufaddal Saifuddin, the 53rd leader of the Dawoodi Bohra, a sub-sect of Shia Islam, and he traveled from India to Palo Alto on Saturday evening to officially bless the city’s first-ever freestanding mosque.

High priest travels to bless new Palo Alto mosque (Palo Alto Online)

KGET-7 Segment: Mosque Inaugurated (03/07/2015) (KGET 17)

Syedna presided over a momentous reception, during which several dignitaries welcomed His Holiness to Los Angeles. A representative from the office of Rep Brad Sherman presented Moula with an American flag that had once flown over the capitol. I was watching Moula from a balcony afar, and saw the flag about to be presented to Moula. I turned my head for a split second, only to see when I looked back that Moula had so swiftly stood up out of his chair, and in a half bow of respect, accepted the flag and shook the dignitary’s hand. The flag was then opened, and Moulana held the American flag wide open for all of us to see. What a sight indeed! I’ve never felt more proud to be an American Dawoodi Bohra than when, on his fist visit to America as Dai, Moulana held up our flag, an emblem of our nationality.

Proud to be American, proud to be Muslim (Beliefnet.com; City of Brass)

During his time in Los Angeles, Saifuddin took an opportunity to accept a U.S. flag from representative Brad Sherman and also to address members of the community about peace and patriotism. Mufaddal Ezzy told LADN that he especially appreciated Saifuddin’s “first gesture in his first address on American soil: patriotism, loyalty and being active in the community in which you live…I had tears in my eyes.”

L.A.’s First Dawoodi Bohra Mosque Gets Its Blessing (LA Magazine)

…the Mohammedi Center in Woodland Hills did not become an official mosque of the Dawoodi Bohra until their holy leader arrived Saturday from half a world away to inaugurate it. His reception from a thousand kneeling faithful was deafening.

“This is your outpouring of love — mohabbat — that my father taught you,” said His Holiness Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin, the 53rd Dai al-Mutlaq to inherit the spiritual throne of the ancient Shi’a sect based in Mumbai, India. “And you see my love for you.”

For the small San Fernando Valley Dawoodi Bohra congregation of mostly Indian-born professionals, their first mosque in Los Angeles meant they were an immigrant community come of age.

Islamic world leader inaugurates Woodland Hills mosque (LA Daily News)

His Holiness Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin, the Religious Head of the Dawoodi Bohra Community, called on the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, in Mumbai today.

The Prime Minister recalled his long and warm association with Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin, the former Religious Head of the Dawoodi Bohra Community, who had passed away last year.

His Holiness Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin appreciated the Prime Minister’s efforts to take India forward, and pledged the community’s support to his initiatives.

His Holiness Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin, the Religious Head of the Dawoodi Bohra Community, calls on the PM (Business Standard)

As a Dawoodi Bohra muslim, I believe that the true and rightful sucessor to Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin (ra) is Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin (tus).

Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin (tus) was named heir at least three times, twice privately with multiple witnesses and once publicly in front of thousands of people at Raudat Tahera in Mumbai. There is ample documentation of these events, in form of signed papers, living witnessess, and video.

No Schism, just sadness: A Dawoodi Bohra responds (Patheos.com)

Systems like Qardan Hasana are gaining popularity among various religious groups, notably the Muslim community, which are creating an underground economy of sorts with a cooperative lending model in a time when most traditional banks are patching up their recession-battered books and have tightened loan criteria to an extent not seen in years.

“We don’t take interest from banks, we have our own financing system where we give out loans to people and they have 24 months to pay it back,” says Nooruddin Yamani, president of the Burhani Business Counseling Center of Houston, the community organization that sponsored the event.