Musallaa (Prayer Mat): The musallaa (masalla-prayer-mat) on which 41st ad-Da’i ul-Mutlaq al-Faatemi al-‘Alavi Saiyedna Fakhruddin saheb (aq) prayed namaaz and did Du’aa for mumineen at Devdi Mubaarak as well as in the old mosque (Masjid-e-Ziyaai, Badri Mohalla) was made in the 1336 AH. By the farmaan of Huzoor-e-‘Aali Saiyedna saheb (tus) we are publishing this rare photo on our website. It is recently framed in the office of Mazoon Maulaa. Since 1336 AH Muqaddas Maulaa used to offer namaaz of Laylat ul-Qadr, ‘Eid, Washeek, Laylat ul-Me’raaj, Laylat un-Nisf on this jaa-namaaz (musallaa) till his Intiqaal in 1347 AH. Thereafter Saiyedna Badruddin saheb (aq) used this ba-barakat musallaa during his time for 30 years. When the zamaana of Saiyedna Yusuf Nooruddin saheb (aq) and Huzoor-e-‘Aali (tus) came, it was occasionally used only for Faazil nights. This is the historic musallaa on which 4 du’aat offered namaaz and prayed for the maghferat and najaat of Mumineen.

The Alavi Bohras are a Taiyebi Musta’alavi Isma’ili Shi’i Muslim community from Gujarat, India. In India, during the time of the 18th Fatimid Imam Ma’ad al-Mustansir Billah around 1093 AD in Egypt, the designated learned people (wulaat who were sent from Yemen by the celebrated missionaries-du’aat under the guidance of the Imam established a Da’wah in Khambhat (Gujarat, India).

After the division of the Mustaalid community, the Yemenite Da’wah followed their 21st Imam, the son of 20th Imam Aamir in the succession of Fatimid Imams of Egypt, at-Taiyeb Abul Qaasim as their Imam of seclusion, and the Bohras are the modern descendants of Taiyebi Da’wah established from Khambhat, Patan and Sidhpur in the 5th century Hijri and also the immigrants from Yemeni Taiyebi Da’wah.

Subsequently, splits occurred at various instances in the mainstream Bohra community regarding the spiritual appointment in the succession of the representative of the Imam us Satr or Da’i in Ahmedabad between 1422-1640 AD. Two major splits during this period resulted in the formation of three major groups of Bohras: Alavis, Dawoodis and Sulaymanis. Alavi Bohras believe in the Da’wat of 29th Da’i al-Mutlaq Saiyedna ‘Ali Shamsuddin as the rightful successor of 28th Da’i Saiyedna Shaikh Adam Safiyuddin.