Mufaddal Saifuddin Age, Wife, Children, Family, Biography

Bio/Wiki
Birth Name	Aali Qadr Mufaddal
Profession(s)	• Spiritual Leader • Philanthropist • Chancellor
Known For	Being the 53rd Da'i al-Mutlaq (The most senior spiritual rank and office in Tayyibi Isma'ilism)
Physical Stats & More
Eye Colour	Black
Hair Colour	White
Career
Awards & Honors	• 2014: Certificate of Commendation at Tampa, Florida • 2014: Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition at the United States House of Representatives • 2015: Honored with the Global Peace Award • 2015: Certificate of Appreciation - Ontario, California • 2015: Resolution California Legislature • 2015: Certificate of Appreciation by the City of Bakersfield • 2015: US Senate Certificate of Recognition • 2015: Certificate of Appreciation by the City of Los Angeles • 2015: Key to the City of Houston by the Mayor of Houston, Annise Parker • 2015: Honored with Key to the City of Tampa by Mayor of Tampa, Jane Castor • 2015: Conferred an honorary doctorate degree by University of Karachi (KU) at Governor House • 2015: Honored with the "Key to Moshi - The Land of Kilimanjaro" by the Mayor Japhary R Michael • 2017: Awarded with the Elder of the Order of the Golden Heart (E.G.H.) by the president of Kenya • 2017: Honored with the Key to Karachi by the Mayor of Karachi, Waseem Akhtar • 2019: Honoured with the Key to City of Colombo by the Mayor of Colombo, Rosy Senanayake • 2022: Honored with Key to Mahajanga • 2022: Awarded with the highest award of Kenya the Chief of the Order of the Golden Heart (CGH) by President William Ruto • 2023: Awarded Grand Cordon of the Order of the Nile known as the Nile Sash • 2023: Honored with the key to Mwanza, Tanzania • 2023: Awarded with the highest award of Pakistan Nishan e Pakistan
Personal Life
Date of Birth	20 August 1946 (Tueday)
Age (as of 2023)	77 Years
Birthplace	Surat, Bombay Presidency, British India (now in Gujarat, India)
Zodiac sign	Leo
Hometown	Mumbai
Signature
Nationality	Indian
College/University	• Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt • Cairo University, Giza, Egypt
Religion	Islam
Community	Dawoodi Bohras
Address	Badri Mahal, Dr. D. N. Road Fort, Mumbai
Controversies	Accused of being an advocate for Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) In 2019, prior to his visit to the United Kingdom, a group of anti-FGM activists and survivor-led organisations protested against his visit to the country. Saiffudin had to visit UK to give sermons. The group claimed that Saiffudin has publicaly shown his support for the mutilation practice and the country had rules to not grant visa to anyone who supports FGM. [1]The Guardian Faced a decade long legal battle over his succession In April 2014, after Saiffudin's father passed away, his half brother Khuzaima Qutbuddin made an appeal in the Mumbai High Court against Saiffudin demanding that Mufaddal Saifuddin should not be allowed to assume the position of the 53rd leader of the Dawood Bohra community. He claimed that Saifuddin had claimed his succession using “fraudulent manner.” In 2016, Khuzaima Qutbuddin passed away after which his son, Taher Fakhruddin, became the plaintiff in the case. After a decade, on 5 April 2023, the judge on the case gave a verdict in the favour of Mufaddal Saifuddin. [2]The Indian Express
Relationships & More
Marital Status	Married
Marriage Date	1 January 1970
Family
Wife/Spouse	Jawharatusharaf Najmuddin
Children	Son(s)-3 • Jafar us Sadiq Imaduddin (Poet & Scholar) • Taha Najmuddin (An Arabic scholar) • Husain Burhanuddin (Member of Naqabāt Qurrāʾ al-Quran in Cairo, Egypt) Daughter(s)- 2 • Ummehani A Nooruddin • Ruqaiyyah Saifuddin
Parents	Father- Mohammed Burhanuddin (Spiritual Leader; passed away in 2014) Mother- Amatullah Aaisaheba (Writer)
Siblings	Brother(s)- 6 • Qaidjoher Ezzuddin • Malik ul Ashtar Shujauddin Sister(s)-3
Other Relatives	Grandfather- Taher Saifuddin (Spiritual Leader; 51st Da'i al-Mutlaq of the Dawoodi Bohra)

Some Lesser Known Facts About Mufaddal Saifuddin

• Mufaddal Saifuddin belongs to a family of Islamic Spiritual leaders. At the time of birth, he was given the name Aali Qadr Mufaddal by his grandfather. The Abjad value of his birth name i.e. 1365 corresponds to his Islamic birth year.
  

  Mufaddal Saifuddin’s childhood picture with his father and grandfather

• His kunya, a tekonym derived from the name of his eldest son, is Abu Jafar us Sadiq and his laqab, a nickname, is Saifuddin.

• Mufaddal Saifuddin is a descendent of many renowned Ismaili Dawoodi Bohra saints including Fakhr al-Din Shaheed, Abd al-Qadir Hakimuddin, Khanji Pheer, and Syedi Lukman.

• In 1969, at the age of 22, his father named Mufaddal Saifuddin as his successor by performing nass. He later performed the ritual in 2005 and 2011.
  

  Burhanuddin performing the Nass ritual with Saifuddin

• Saifuddin is the 53rd Da’i al-Mutlaq, the most senior spiritual rank and office in Tayyibi Isma’ilism, of the Tayyibi Isma’ili Dawoodi Bohra community. He was appointed by his predecessor and father, Mohammed Burhanuddin II.
  

  Mufaddal Saifuddin preaching for the first time after his succession in Mumbai

• In 1970, he was appointed as the Amirul Hajj, a leader of Hajj pilgrims and in 1971, he was given the title of Aqeeq-ul-Yemen by his father.

• He is known as the Haafiz al-Quran as he has memorized the entire religious text of Islam known as the Quran.

• He has led the restoration of various medieval Fatimid architecture in Cairo, Egypt, including Al-Anwar Mosque, Al-Aqmar Mosque, Al-Juyushi Mosque, and Lulua Mosque and also rebuilt shrines of the Ahl al-Bayt, the family of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.

• During his travels to Yemen, he has led various campaigns to improve the socio-economic conditions of the inhabitants of the Haraaz region, introduced sustainable agricultural systems, improved local infrastructure and provided equal access to education for children.

• In 2014, Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin was featured in the annual publication The 500 Most Influential Muslims. In 2024, Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin was featured on the list of one of The 500 Most Influential Muslims for the second time.

• In March 2015, he established the Saifee Burhani Medical Association in North America. The purpose of the association is to run free medical clinics, mentor students, and facilitate professional development.

• On 9 November 2015, he was appointed as the chancellor of the Aligarh Muslim University for the first time and on 2 December 2018, he was re-elected as the chancellor for the second term.

• In May 2016, Saiffudin initiated the redevelopment project of Bhendi Bazaar in Mumbai, Maharashtra, which was started by his father. The first phase of the project was completed in 2021 under which the trust was able to rehabilitate 610 families and 128 businesses in two towers named ‘Al Saadah’ A and B, spreading over one acre of land, replacing 13 unsafe buildings.

• For the competition of the redevelopment project of Bhendi Bazaar, his father set up a trust known as the Saifee Burhani Upliftment Trust and Saiffudin is a member of the board of the Trust and overlooks all the phases of the project.

• In October 2016, he donated $53000 to public schools in Tanzania.
  

  Mufaddal Saifuddin (extreme left) with the president of Tanzania

• To improve the living standards of the people of his community, he started a social upliftment program known as the Rafo Mustawa Machate Mumineen in December 2016.

•  To improve the lives of people who are marginalized, neglected or living in poverty, he has launched a global campaign named Project Rise in collaboration with government bodies and local organizations around the world.

• On 20 April 2017, Mufaddal Saifuddin along with the President of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta, inaugurated the 14-acre Aljamea tus Saifiyah campus, an Arabic academy dedicated to Islamic learning in Nairobi, Kenya, which was built by Saifudin’s father.

• On 30 April 2018, a new species of orchid, a cross-breed between Bangkok Fancy and Adisakdi White, was named Dendrobium HH Dr. Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin.

• On 14 March 2023, he was appointed as the Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia University in New Delhi.

• In October 2019, Saifuddin donated 60,000 seed balls to Kenya, and a month later, on the occasion of his 76th birthday as per the Islamic calendar, he donated 76,000 more seed balls to Kenya.

• He inaugurated the Imam Al-Hussein Mosque with the President of Egypt, Abdel Fattah El Sisi on 27 April 2022.
  

  Mufaddal Saifuddin while inaugurating the mosque in Cairo

• He is a philanthropist and has made large sums of donations in various countries for various issues.

• He has expanded the community kitchen scheme named Faiz al-Mawaid al-Burhaniyah started by his father. He also introduced the motto ‘ek kharaas, ek mithaas, no israaf’ under which he created rules to limit the number of dishes served in any Dawoodi Bohras’ community, social or personal gatherings to reduce food wastage.

Good to see these pics of the Dawoodi Bohra community orgns doing mass community kitchens that are providing 25,000 meals a day. Yday, they were part of a global initiative to distribute 500,000 meals in a day across their kitchens! Well done!👍👍 pic.twitter.com/eYYAXB9bQO

— Rajdeep Sardesai (@sardesairajdeep) April 9, 2020

• Mufaddal Saifuddin travels extensively around the globe during the entire year to various Dawoodi Bohra community centres to meet his followers, deliver sermons, organise local communities, initiate social projects, and attend various religious functions.

• He has visited various countries including Yemen, Iraq, and Egypt. He has also travelled to various locations in India for pilgrimage including Taherabad in Rajasthan; Ahmedabad, Jamnagar, Mandvi, and Delmal in Gujarat; Burhanpur and Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh.
  

  Mufaddal Saifuddin in Surat, Gujarat

• Mufaddal has composed various Risalah, a collection of religious clarifications, including Hikmat al-Ghaybat al-Qudsāniyyat al-Abadiyya (2016), Shukr Ne’am As’hāb al-Barakāt (2017), and Dafīnat Mafākhir āl al-Nabi al-Tuhr (2020).