From Syedi Fakhruddin Shaheed QR to the Dai Syedna Taher Fakhruddin TUS - A tradition of knowledge, compassion, and sacrifice

'They were descendants one of another. Allah is Hearer, Knower..'

(Surat Aale-Imran: Ayat 34)

This article was written by Ra'sul Hududil Mayameen Janab Syedi Aziz Bhaisaheb Qutbuddin in 2017.

On the occasion of the Urus of Syedi Fakhruddin Shaheed QR, we remember his great endeavors and the ultimate final sacrifice of life for Dawat. Syedna Taher Saifuddin RA records his history in his risalat, and says that it is because of the unequivocal efforts and sacrifice of of Syedi Fakhruddin Shaheed that today there are Muslims and Mumineen in Wagardh (a region in modern day Rajasthan having a dense population of Dawoodi Bohras).

Almost a thousand years ago, the Fatemi Imams, during the time of their reign over Egypt and North Africa, sent missionaries to India to spread the Dawat al-Haq, and the call of the true Imam of the time.

Maulaya Abdullah and Maulaya Ahmad arrived in Patan, in what is today Gujarat, and the king there Siddraj Jaysingh came into the fold of Islam and Iman on the hands of Molaya Abdullah. Two vazirs of the king, Raja Bharmal and Raja Tarmal, also came into the fold. Raja Bharmal’s son Maulaya Yaqub was appointed as Wali of Hind, in charge of the Dawat in India. He trained and sent the son of Raja Tarmal, Maulaya Fakhruddin Shaheed to Wagadh.

At that time Wagadh was like a blank sheet of paper, on which Syedi Fakhruddin Shaheed wrote lines of truth, Haqq, Iman, and Islam, with the intellectual pen of the knowledge, ilm, of Aal-e-Mohammed, the Fatemi Imams. Many in that region came into the fold of Dawat due to the fearless, unflinching and tireless efforts of Syedi Fakhruddin Shaheed, known among Mumineen as Babji Maula QA.

It is worth pausing here to consider the conditions under which Babji Maula QA would have proceeded to Wagadh. A place of darkness, not a ray of Iman or Islam. And in that to bring about the dawn of light, Iman and Islam, is a feat which is beyond remarkable.

What was the magic formula that allowed Babji Maula, Maulaya Yaqub, Maulaya Abdullah, Maulaya Ahmed, and other Dais to achieve this feat so effectively? A combination of selfless dedication to the cause, to the Imam, untiring and unflinching efforts, sacrifice, knowledge and good character. The Quran says, وكان عرشه على الماء. The throne of Allah Ta’ala is on water.

Syedna al-Muayyad al-Shirazi says that the throne of Allah Ta’ala is the Dawat, and water is knowledge, the ‘ilm of Ale Mohammad. The foundations of Dawat are thus built on this ‘ilm.

As Syedna Taher Fakhruddin TUS said in one of his Ashara Mubaraka waaz this year, it is not money or power on which Dawat is founded, rather it is the ‘ilm of Aal-e-Mohammad which forms its foundation stone.

Let every member of the Dawoodi Bohra Community ask themselves sincerely, who today embodies these principles of knowledge, compassion, understanding, good character, and sacrifice?

Syedna Taher Saifuddin RA, Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin RA, Syedna Khuzaima Qutbuddin RA, and today Syedna Taher Fakhruddin TUS have built Dawat on those principles. ‘Ilm has always been the foundation, and at the very center of Dawat. Knowledge, understanding, compassion, the ideals of good character, these are the cornerstones on which these Dais have won the hearts of Mumineen, and built the community for the betterment of Mumineen in this world and the next, and continue to do so.

Today, those who oppose the Dawat and oppose Syedna Khuzaima Qutbuddin and Syedna Taher Fakhruddin possess neither knowledge, understanding, compassion, nor good character, and therefore rely on force, intimidation and persecution to achieve their own worldly agenda.

Syedna Khuzaima Qutbuddin, like Syedi Fakhruddin Shaheed, sacrificed his life, the safety and security of his family, and put all he had on the line, to establish the truth, and the true principles of Dawat, and free Mumineen from this tyranny of mind and body.

Today Syedna Fakhruddin continues on this same path. Mumineen, the world over, witnessed his ‘ilm, his compassion and care for the community, his understanding and right-guidance, in the three waaz that were broadcast live this Ashara Mubaraka.

May Allah Ta’ala give Syedna Taher Fakhruddin victory over these perpetrators by the wasila of Babji Maula QR, and give Fakhruddin Maula longest life till Qiyamat.

Fakhruddin Maula TUS is the tenth Dai in the lineage of Syedi Fakhruddin Shaheed.