The Sulaymani branch of Tayyibi Isma'ilism is an Islamic community, of which around 70,000 members reside in Yemen, while a few thousand Sulaymani Bohras can be found in India. The Sulaymanis are sometimes headed by a Da'i al-Mutlaq from the Makrami family.[1]
It is not correct that this branch is headed by one from the Makrami family always as the D'ai al Mutlaq could be from other families and communities. Examples: the first Da'i was Dhuayb Bin Mousa (Hamdan), Dawud Bin Ajab Shah (Indian), Sulayman Bin Al Hassan (Indian) and some of his brothers and sons were Indians. It is, however, true for the very recent Da'is have came from the Makrami family, with exception of the late Da'i Abdullah bin Mohammad, who was not from the Makrami family.
History
Founded in 1592, the Sulaymanis are mostly concentrated in Yemen but are also found in Pakistan and India. The denomination is named after its 27th Daʻī, Sulayman bin Hassan.
The total number of Sulaymanis currently are around 300,000, mainly living in the eastern district of Jabal Haraz in northwest Yemen and in Najran, Saudi Arabia.[2] Beside the Banu Yam of Najran, the Sulaymanis are in Haraz, among the inhabitants of the Jabal Maghariba and in Hawzan, Lahab and Attara, as well as in the district of Hamadan and in the vicinity of Yarim.
In India there are between 3000 and 5000 Sulaymanis living mainly in Vadodara, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Surat. In Punjab, Pakistan and there is a well-established Sulaymani community in Sindh. Some ten thousand Sulaymanis live in rural areas of Punjab known to the Sulaymani as Jazeera-e Sind; these Sulaymani communities have been in the Jazeera-e Sind from the time of Fatimid Imam-Caliph Al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah when he sent his Daʻīs to Jazeera-e Sind.
There are also some 900–1000 Sulaymanis mainly from South Asia scattered around the world, in the Persian Gulf States, United States, Canada, Thailand, Australia, Japan and the United Kingdom. The Sulaymanis split off from the Tayyibi community, following a succession dispute upon the death of Dawood Bin Ajabshah in 1589. While most of the Tayyibis in India recognised Dawood Bin Qutub as his successor and thus forming the Dawoodi Bohras, the Yemeni community followed Sulayman bin Hassan.
Starting from 1677, Sulayman's successors almost always came from the Makrami family. The da'is made Najran their headquarters and ruled the area, supported by the Banu Yam, until their power waned under the successive rules of the Ottomans and Saudis.[1] The leadership of the Sulaymaniyah, whose Indian community was small, reverted to the Yemen with the succession of the thirtieth Da'i al-Mutlaq, Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn Fahd Al-Makrami, in 1677. Since then the position of the dai al mutlaq has remained in various branches of the al Makrami family except for the time of the forty-sixth dai, an Indian.
The Makrami da'is usually resided in Badr in Najran, Saudi Arabia. With the backing of the tribe of the Banu Yam they ruled Najran independently and at times extended their sway over other parts of the Yemen and Arabia until the incorporation of Najran into Saudi Arabia in 1934. The peak of their power was in the time of the thirty-third Da'i al-Mutlaq, Isma'il ibn Hibat Allah (1747–1770), who defeated the Wahhabiyah or Wahhabism in Najd and invaded Hadramawt. He is also known as the author of an esoteric Qur'an commentary, virtually the only religious work of a Sulaymani author published so far. Since Najran came under Saudi rule, the religious activity of the da'is and their followers has been severely restricted. In the Yemen the Sulaymaniyah are found chiefly in the region of Manakha and the Haraz mountains. In India they live mainly in Baroda, Ahmadabad, and Hyderabad and are guided by a representative (mansub) of the Da'i al-Mutlaq residing in Baroda.
Isma'ilism is a branch or sect of Shia Islam. The Isma'ili get their name from their acceptance of Imam Isma'il ibn Jafar as the appointed spiritual successor (imām) to Ja'far al-Sadiq, wherein they differ from the Twelver Shia, who accept Musa al-Kazim, the younger brother of Isma'il, as the true Imām.
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 resides in India, with sizable congregations in Pakistan, Yemen, East Africa, and the Middle East. They also have a growing presence in Europe, North America, and Australia. The present leader is the 53rd al-Dai al-Mutlaq, Mufaddal Saifuddin who assumed office in January 2014.
Musta'li Isma'ilism is a branch of Isma'ilism named for their acceptance of al-Musta'li as the legitimate ninth Fatimid caliph and legitimate successor to his father, al-Mustansir Billah. In contrast, the Nizari—the other living branch of Ismailism, presently led by Aga Khan IV—believe the ninth caliph was al-Musta'li's elder brother, Nizar.
Da'i al-Mutlaq is the most senior spiritual rank and office in Tayyibi Isma'ilism. The Da'i al-Mutlaq has headed the Tayyibi community since the seclusion of the 21st Tayyibi Imam, at-Tayyib Abu'l-Qasim, traditionally placed in 528 AH/1134 AD.
Tayyibi Isma'ilism is the only surviving sect of the Musta'li branch of Isma'ilism, the other being the extinct Hafizi branch. Followers of Tayyibi Isma'ilism are found in various Bohra communities: Dawoodi, Sulaymani, and Alavi.
Progressive Dawoodi Bohra also known as Bohra Youth is a reform movement within the Dawoodi Bohra subsect of Mustaali Ismai'li Shi'a Islam. They disagree with mainstream Dawoodi Bohra, as led by the incumbent Da'i al-Mutlaq, on doctrinal, economic, and social issues and broke off c. 1977.
Hafizi Isma'ilism, also known as Majidi Isma'ilism, was a branch of Musta'li Isma'ilism that emerged as a result of a split in 1132. The Hafizis accepted the Fatimid caliph Abd al-Majid al-Hafiz li-Din Allah and his successors as imams, while the rival Tayyibi branch rejected them as usurpers, favouring the succession of the imamate along the line of al-Hafiz's nephew, al-Tayyib.
The Atba-e-Malak community are a branch of Musta'li Isma'ili Shi'a Islam that broke off from the mainstream Dawoodi Bohra after the death of the 46th Da'i al-Mutlaq, under the leadership of Maulana Abdul Hussain Jivaji in 1890. They are based in Nagpur in India. There are several hundred followers of this branch of Islam. They have further split into two more branches:
The Hebtiahs Bohra were a branch of Mustaali Ismaili Shi'a Islam that broke off from the mainstream Dawoodi Bohra after the death of the 39th Da'i al-Mutlaq in 1754. They were mostly concentrated in Ujjain in India with a few families who were Hebtiah Bohra.
The Alavi Bohras are a Tayyibi Musta'lavi Isma'ili Shi'i Muslim community from Gujarat, India. In India, during the time of the 18th Fatimid Imam Al-Mustansir Billah around 1093 AD in Egypt, the designated learned people (wulaat) who were sent from Yemen by missionaries (du'aat) under the guidance of the imam established a da'wah in Khambhat.
Idris Imad al-Din ibn al-Hasan al-Qurashi was the 19th Da'i al-Mutlaq of Tayyibi Isma'ilis from 1428 to 1468. A major religious and political leader in 15th-century Yemen, as well as a notable theologian, Idris was also an important medieval Isma'ili historian whose work is fundamental for the history of the Fatimid Caliphate and the Isma'ili communities in Yemen.
Syedna Qutub Khan Qutbuddin as-Shaheed was the 32nd Da'i al-Mutlaq of the Dawoodi Bohra. He succeeded Kasim Khan Zainuddin bin Feer Khan. He was the first Da'i to be killed for being Muslim, and in a manner that resembles the death of Husayn ibn Ali, and so his burial place, Mazar-e-Qutbi, is referred to as Choti Karbala.
Syedna Dawood Bin Maulai Ajab Shah Burhanuddin in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India was the 26th Da'i al-Mutlaq of the Dawoodi Bohra branch of Musta‘lī Islam. He succeeded the 25th Dai Syedna Jalal Shamshuddin bin Hasan to the religious post.
Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Ja'far ibn Ibrahim ibn Abi Salama ibn al-Walid al-Abshami al-Qurashi was the 5th Tayyibi Isma'ili Da'i al-Mutlaq in Yemen from 1209 to his death in 1215. Descended from a noble lineage of the Quraysh, he was a noted scholar and Tayyibi theologian, and an author of several influential works on Tayyibi doctrine. Before becoming himself Da'i al-Mutlaq, he served as senior deputy to the third and fourth holders of the office. His rise to the office inaugurated a period of two and a half centuries where it would be almost monopolized by members of his own family.
Syedna Ismail Badruddin (I) Bin Maulaya Raj was the 34th Da'i al-Mutlaq of the Dawoodi Bohras. He succeeded the 33rd Da'i Feer Khan Shujauddin to the religious post. Syedna Ismail became Da'i al-Mutlaq in 1085AH/1657AD. His period of Dawat was 1065–1085 AH/1657–1676 AD. He is the first Da'i descendant of Moulaya Bharmal.
Ibrahim ibn al-Husayn ibn Ali ibn Muhammad ibn al-Walid was the eleventh Tayyibi Isma'ili Da'i al-Mutlaq in Yemen, from 1287 to his death in 1328.
Muhammad ibn Hatim was the twelfth Tayyibi Isma'ili dāʿī al-muṭlaq in Yemen, in 1328–29.
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