Mumbai

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday inaugurated the Dawoodi Bohra’s Arabic Academy in Mumbai. He inaugurated the new campus of Aljamea-tus-Saifiyah Arabic Academy.

The head of the Dawoodi Bohra community, Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin welcomed the Prime Minister at the complex. They proceeded towards the main entrance, which is modelled after ‘Baab Zuwayla’—a gateway to the old city of Cairo built by the Fatimid imams—from where he entered the campus. 

They planted a fig tree, which serves as a symbol of growth, renewal, and the flourishing of knowledge. Two young members of the community presented Prime Minister Modi with doves, which were released as a gesture of peace and goodwill. The Honourable Prime Minister then unveiled the inaugural plaque and officially inaugurated the Arabic Academy with a ceremonial untying of the ribbon.

The Prime Minister was given a tour of the campus to take him through the history, heritage and educational values of the Bohra community. Around 100 students and faculty members were situated at various locations along the Prime Minister’s route throughout the campus to greet and exchange conversations with him.

The Prime Minister then visited the Ceremonial Hall of the campus where dignitaries and members of the Dawoodi Bohra community from India and abroad were seated. Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin, the 53rd al-Dai al-Mutlaq and head of the global Dawoodi Bohra community, thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for joining him on this auspicious day.

He spoke of the decades-old friendship and bond between the Honourable Prime Minister and his father Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin. He thanked the Prime Minister for his numerous initiatives for the betterment of the nation, remarking specifically on his presidency of the G20. “India has been our home for centuries, and we are at peace here,” he added. He also prayed that every child in the nation and across the world receives a beneficial education and the opportunity to grow and flourish.

The Prime Minister was felicitated and presented with a traditional shawl as a symbol of gratitude and appreciation. He was then accompanied to the Western Gate of the campus and bid farewell.

Aljamea-tus-Saifiyah Arabic Academy (also known as Jamea) is the principal educational institute of the Dawoodi Bohra community. Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin, is the institute’s sole benefactor, and gives it its direction and its inspiration. The Academy has been functioning from its campus in Surat, India for over two centuries.

In 1983, a sister campus was inaugurated in Karachi. Two subsequent campuses were initiated in Nairobi in 2011 and in Mumbai in 2013 respectively. About the Mumbai Campus The establishment of the Mumbai campus of Jamea was announced by the 52nd leader of the Dawoodi Bohra community, the late Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin in celebration of his Golden Jubilee as head of the Dawoodi Bohra Community in 2013.

For almost a decade now, the Academy has been functioning from temporary premises while construction was underway on a new, monumental structure nearby. There are currently over 600 students at the Mumbai campus, but it has the capacity of up to 700 students.

There are approximately 220 female students and a little under 300 male students. Across Jamea’s four campuses globally, there are approximately 3,000 students. There are approximately 160 faculty members and staff at the Mumbai campus. Striking features of the Mumbai Campus.

The Mumbai campus, located in the hills of Marol, is a multi-structure complex covering 850,000 sq ft and can accommodate 700 students and 100 faculty. The campus consists of boys and girls hostels, faculty residences, administration and classroom buildings, a library, a dining hall, a prayer hall, and a building dedicated to teaching the Holy Quran. The prayer area is inspired by the al-Jami al-Azhar in Cairo, which was the original location of the Al Azhar University, one of the oldest extant universities in the world.

Paying tribute to the Community’s Gujarati heritage, the interiors of the dining halls are a tribute to the ornate Gujarati residential havelis of its predecessors. The ceremonial hall is embellished with designs from the mausoleum of the 47th leader Syedna Abdulqadir Najmuddin (d. 1885) who was the first to express a desire to establish a campus of Jamea in Mumbai 150 years ago.

The multi-level courtyard houses a minaret surrounded by a series of fountains and water bodies. The Mumbai campus of Aljamea-tus-Saifiyah is a testament to the educational legacy of the Dawoodi Bohra community in India.

Alongside modern infrastructure, the new campus houses richly ornate spaces of worship and learning that celebrate the Dawoodi Bohra community’s history in South Asia where this knowledge has been preserved for centuries.