Secrecy of appointment due to fear of violence: Syedna’s half-brother

Staking a claim to the position of the new spiritual leader of the Dawoodi Bohra community, Khuzaima Qutbuddin, half-brother of the deceased Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin, told the Bombay High Court on Tuesday that he was appointed the successor in secret due to the fear of violence.

Mr. Qutbuddin said in December 1965, Burhanuddin had performed in secret the official ceremony called ‘nass’, for conferring the position of ‘Dai’ (spiritual head) on him. He later learnt from his uncle that the reason for this confidentiality was the Syedna’s apprehension of violence in the community.

“When asked why the ‘nass’ had not been made public, the Syedna told my uncle that if he had done so, swords would have clashed,” Mr. Qutbuddin said in his deposition.

He told the court that the Syedna appointed him ‘mazoon’ — second in command to the ‘Dai’ — and said that he was “much more” than a ‘mazoon’. “The Syedna said I was a beloved son. This carried the meaning that I was his successor,” Mr. Qutbuddin told the court.

‘Attempts on life’

While a section of Bohras have already accepted Burhanuddin’s second son Syedi Mufaddal Saifuddin as the new Syedna, the community is divided over the successor. Mr. Qutbuddin who has filed a suit in the High Court alleged that Syedna Saifuddin, under the influence of his father-in-law Yusuf Bhaisaheb, hatched schemes to malign him.

He said there were two attempts on his life in one each in Indore and Yemen, but refused to disclose the source of his information.

Earlier, Mr. Qutbuddin told the court that his kin supported his claim to the position of ‘Dai’, but they did not do so in public.