THE MUMBAI CAMPUS

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. The prayer area is inspired by the Fatimid masjid al-Jami al-Azhar in Cairo, while the interiors of the dining halls are a tribute to the ornate Gujarati residential havelis of His Holiness’ predecessors. The ceremonial hall is embellished with designs from the mausoleum of the 47th Dai 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 courtyard houses a minaret surrounded by a series of fountains and water bodies. The minaret alludes to Jamea’s role as a beacon of guidance while the water bodies suggest that Jamea is both a repository where knowledge collects, and a source from where it flows.