The Saifee Masjid, officially known as the Ghurrat ul Masajid, is a

Dawoodi Bohra The Dawoodi Bohras are a religious denomination within the Ismā'īlī branch of Shia Islam. They number approximately one million worldwide and have settled in over 40 countries around the world. The majority of the Dawoodi Bohra community re ...

Shi'a Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political successor ( caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community ( imam). However, his right is understoo ...

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

, located in the

Bhendi Bazaar Bhendi Bazaar is a market (bazaar) in South Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. Bhendi Bazaar occupies an area between Mohammed Ali Road and Khetwadi. The closest Central and Harbour lines station for the Mumbai Suburban Railway is Sandhurst Road, ...

area of

South Mumbai South Mumbai, colloquially SoBo from South Bombay in Indian English, administratively the Mumbai City District, is the city centre and the southernmost precinct of Greater Bombay. It extends from Colaba to Mahalaxmi (Western side), Byculla ...

, in the state of

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

, India. The mosque was constructed by

Taher Saifuddin Taher Saifuddin (4 August 1888 – 12 November 1965), also known as Tahir Sayf al-Din, was the 51st and longest serving Da'i al-Mutlaq of the Dawoodi Bohras. Saifuddin adapted the modernisation in Western and European ideas, and establishe ...

in the early 20th century.

History

The 51st leader of the

s, Syedna

built Saifee Masjid in 1926, and it was the largest community mosque of that time. Syedna Taher Saifuddin laid the foundation stone of the mosque on May 6, 1923 (21 Ramadan, 1341 Hijri) and inaugurated the completed mosque in a period of three years on March 9, 1926 (25 Shaban 1344 AH). Saifuddin delivered sixteen Ashara Mubaraka sermons in this mosque, and his son,

Mohammed Burhanuddin Mohammed Burhanuddin (6 March 1915 – 17 January 2014) was the 52nd Da'i al-Mutlaq of Dawoodi Bohras from 1965 to 2014. He led the community for 49 years in a period of social, economic, and educational prosperity; strengthened and re-institu ...

, the 52nd leader, delivered thirteen Ashara Mubaraka sermons. In 2011, Burhanuddin delivered his 100th birthday discourses. The foundation stone for reconstructing the mosque was laid in 2018 by Syedna

Mufaddal Saifuddin Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin () is the spiritual leader, the 53rd Da'i al-Mutlaq of more than one million Dawoodi Bohras, a subgroup of the Tayyibi, Musta'li, Ismaili Shia branch of Islam. He is the second son of the 52nd Da'i al-Mutlaq, M ...

as part of the

redevelopment project undertaken by

Saifee Burhani Upliftment Trust Saifee Burhani Upliftment Trust (SBUT) is a non-profit organization established in 2009 to undertake one of urban India's largest makeover projects of sheer magnitude and impacting around 20,000 people. The redevelopment project was, envisioned ...

. Mufaddal Saifuddin inaugurated the reconstructed mosque on September 25, 2023.

Architecture

The Saifee Masjid consists of a mixture of various architectural styles; including Indigenous Indian, Indo-Islamic, and Neoclassical architecture. The mosque measures long and wide, and high; and is able to accommodate approximately 5,000 worshippers. The two

minaret A minaret is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generally used to project the Muslim call to prayer (''adhan'') from a muezzin, but they also served as landmarks and symbols of Islam's presence. They can h ...

s at each corner of the mosque are adorned with ornamentation. This design has been taken from, Taj Masjid in

Morbi Morbi or Morvi is a city founded as a princely state around 1698 by Jadeja Thakor Saheb Shree Kayoji Ravaji. It is in the Morbi district in the States and territories of India, state of Gujarat, India. It is situated on the Kathiawar peninsula. ...

, Gujarat, built by Taj Mithaiwala, a resident of Morbi who migrated to Mumbai. He made enough wealth to build this masjid through his mithai shop - Taj Sweets located in Bombay. The Waqf was done by the 43rd Dai Syedna Abdeali Saifuddin. Burmese teakwood, from the original mosque, was reinstalled in the doors, windows, columns and beams. The walls are adorned with

Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...

ic verses, ornate floral motifs and decorative patterns. Chandeliers are designed and hand-crafted in the former Republic of

Republic of Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland became part of Na ...

. Marble, quarried from

Makrana Makrana is an urban city located, near Kuchaman City, at the centre of state in Didwana-Kuchaman district in the Indian state of Rajasthan. Rajasthani language is widely spoken here. It also served as a tehsil headquarters, with 136 villa ...

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

, and intricate mosaics were used to embellish various parts of the mosque. The main entrance is inspired by the design of Bab ul-Futuh. The mosque has a rainwater harvesting system along with a sewage treatment plant. The lights in the utility building are powered entirely by solar panels. Date palm trees provide natural shade in the courtyard.

References

{{Mosques in India 20th-century mosques in India Dawoodi Bohras Indo-Islamic mosques Mosque buildings with minarets in India Mosques completed in 1926 Mosques in Mumbai Neoclassical architecture in India Neoclassical mosques Shia mosques in India

History

Architecture

See also

References