The Multiple Registers of Arabic in the Daudi Bohra Daʿwa and South Asian Public Life, c. 1880–1920

Abstract

In 1917, an Arabic treatise was published by the recently inaugurated Daudi Bohradāʿī al-muṭlaq(chief cleric), Tahir Sayf al-Din (r. 1915–65). In the work, entitledDawʾ Nur al-Haqq al-Mubin(The Brilliance of the Light of Transparent Truth), thedāʿīnot only underscored his monopoly of religious interpretation in the Daudi Bohra community, but also engaged in a series of jibes against Sunnis and Shiʿis.1As the book gained a wider readership beyond the confines of the Daudi Bohra community, several cities in Gujarat were beset by public campaigns against thedāʿīand his followers. Handbills in Gujarati and Urdu were disseminated challenging thedāʿīto a disputation and calling for his censure. Arabic, Persian, and Urdu fatwas were also penned castigating thedāʿīfor engaging in what his detractors regarded astakfīr(excommunication).