Pilgrimages and Voyages

Syedna Taher Saifuddin undertook many travels to see for himself the unending glories of the Creator, to perform the rites of pilgrimage and to pay homage to Allah’s chosen guides. He went for hajj, the pilgrimage to Makkah in 1937 and became the first al-Dai al-Mutlaq in the period of the seclusion of the Imam to pray at the holy site of Ghadir-e-Khum, where the Prophet openly proclaimed Ali ibn Abi Talib (SA) as his successor. He journeyed to Madina, paying homage to the Prophet whose descendants every al-Dai al-Mutlaq takes pride in serving. He was the first al-Dai al-Mutlaq to have travelled to Egypt where the Fatimi Imams once ruled and where the sacred mosques attesting to the greatness of the Fatimi era still survive. He was pained to see the devastation time had wreaked upon the masjid of the 16th Imam, al-Hakim (SA), and expressed the desire that Allah would one day make the restoration of the masjid possible. His beloved son and successor completed this work of devotion to the Imam in 1980, restoring the structure to its original magnificence and purpose. He travelled to Baytul Muqaddas in 1937 where he performed the ziyarat of the early prophets of Qur’anic and Biblical history. He was also the first Dai to have travelled to Syria, where the decapitated head of al-Husayn (SA), the grandson of the Prophet was initially interred and where the final resting-places of many of the Prophet’s family and Imams exist.

Wherever, he travelled, he was accorded state guest welcome and his meetings with the leaders of the lands greatly enhanced the mutual friendship and amity between peoples widely separated in space but united in their common purpose in serving mankind.

His visit to East Africa in 1963 was nothing short of miraculous to the Dawoodi Bohras of East Africa. His presence brought about a subtle re-orientation in their thinking, which in subsequent years revolutionised their society and brought them material and spiritual prosperity. On that occassion, Jawaharlal Nehru asked him to act as India's ambassador of peace and goodwill.