IMO News Service
Mumbai: Over 200,000 Dawoodi Bohra community members from all over India, South Asia, Far East, the Arabian Gulf, East Africa, Europe, North America and Australia congregated in Mumbai to attend the ten-day Moharram observance known as Ashara Mubaraka, with their spiritual leader His Holiness Dr. Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin.
The revered occasion concluded on the Day of Ashura, the 10th of Moharram. The tragic martyrdom of Imam Husain SA, the grandson of Prophet Mohammad (pbuh), was narrated during these solemn days with much fervor in remembrance of his sacrifice for the cause of Islam and humanity remembered.
With the directions of Syedna, his heir-apparent Syedi Mufaddal Bhaisaheb Saifuddin (70) delivered the Moharram discourses at Saifee Masjid in Bhendi Bazaar. Apart from imparting teachings based on Islamic principles on family values, women empowerment, and patriotism, he reiterated Syedna’s universal message of social justice, peace and international harmony. He also conveyed His Holiness’s special prayers for the progress and prosperity of India and for the wellbeing of humanity at large.
For the convenience of the thousands of community members converging to the city, elaborate arrangements had been made by Anjuman-e-Shiate Ali- the community’s Mumbai Jamaat and the International Ashara Mubaraka Committee for all the necessary facilities and recourses. Special cells for better management of the event had been set-up at the newly inaugurated Mufaddal Shopping Arcade, the first and only commercial transit provide by the Saifee Burhani Upliftment Trust (SBUT) that is redeveloping the Bhendi Bazaar area.
The community-run Saifee Hospital, The Saifee Ambulance Society and Burhani Medical Idarah (BMI) co-ordinated in providing the best of medical facilities to the attendees. As to de-centralize the large number of participants, the Moharram discourses were transmitted in 60 other Dawoodi Bohra Masjids and community centers in South Mumbai and in the suburbs.
The occasion of Moharram was also observed with much spiritual enthusiasm by the Dawoodi Bohras living in all parts of the world.
In the past years, Moharram sermons of Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin have been held in international cities like Cairo, Dubai, Houston, Colombo, Karachi, Nairobi, Dar-e-Salaam and in Indore, Pune and Jamnagar in India to name some. Last year the occasion was held at Surat.