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Among the Shias
of South Asia the
Ithna-Asharis
are in the majority
while the Khojas
and Bohras of Western
South Asia belong
to the two internal
divisions of the Isma`ili
group of Muslims -
the Nizaris (Khojas)
with Satpanth Ismaili
and the the Musta‘lis
(Bohras or Bohri)
with Tayyibi Ismaili.
The Bohras
are subdiveded into
three main sects:
Dawoodi,
Sulaimani
and Alavi.
Most Bohras are Dawoodi
(Daudi) Ismailis and
smaller Sulaimani
branch is located
in Yemen. The Bohras
have their headquarters
in Mumbai. They are
under the leadership
of a Da'i Mutlaq,
or "Absolute
Preacher." The
Bohras believe their
leader is a reincarnation
of the previous leader,
who was initially
a reincarnation of
Hadrat Ali. The sect
was formed in the
11th Century C.E during
the Fatimid dynasty.
The Mustalis accepted
the caliphate of al-Mustali.
They remained in Egypt
until the fall of
the Fatimid dynasty
in 1171. From there
the sect moved to
Yemen where it split,
with some remaining
in Yemen and others
moving to South Asia
where they became
known as Bohras. The
Bohra is derived from
Gujarati language
word Vohra meaning
trader. The
Musta'li missionaries
converted local people
to Islam.
Though highly Islamised as compared to
the Isma'ili
sects like the Khojas,
the Bohras have retained
much from the native
South Asian culture.
The Dawoodi Bohras
are a Shi'a Isma'ili
sect numbering over
a million today. The
majority of Dawoodi
Bohras live in
Pakistan
and India. While the
Sulaimani
Bohras live in
Yemen and Najran province
of Saudi Arabia.
The Dawoodi Bohra sect has split into
conservatives and
progressives groups.
The smaller Progressive
Dawoodi Bohra
group is moving towards
mainstream Islam.
Page Last Updated:
Wednesday, April 02, 2008 23:27:15 -0400
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