A day in April 2014 was a momentous one for Shabbir Cochinwala. The supreme leader of the Dawoodi Bohras, Syedna Maulana Abu Jaffar Sadiq Mufaddal Saifuddin, was visiting the 35 families, comprising 135 people, in Fort Kochi. This was just three months after Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin’s father, Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin, had died at the age of 99 in Mumbai.
“Syedna blessed us and said that he was very happy to be in Kochi and to meet all of us,” says 37-year-old Shabbir. Community member Shireen Fakrudhin calls it an extraordinary event. “In just 45 minutes, Syedna detailed the entire history of the community, beginning from Prophet Mohammed. We felt so happy,” she says.
The Bohras, like the Jews, are one of the tiniest communities in Kochi. According to history, they migrated from Gujarat in two groups 150 years ago. One group, which went looking for business opportunities, came from the town of Sidhpur in Mehsana district. “Another section came from Jamnagar and Kathiawad,” says Sadiq H Kapasi, secretary of the Dawoodi Bohra Jamaat. “They had migrated due to a severe famine.”
All of them set up businesses in timber and hardware. “Today, most of us remain entrepreneurs,” says Sadiq. So strong is the instinct for being an entrepreneur that Shabbir, an engineer who worked in the IT industry in Chennai, Singapore and Bournemouth in Britain, gave it all up in 2004 and became a hardware businessman in Kochi.
“I felt the urge to come back because at heart I am a businessman,” he says. “As my own boss, there is a lot more pressure and stress. But because we are in business, our belief in God becomes all the more, because we don’t know when or where our next rupee is going to come from.”
His father’s hardware firm, Abdul Hussain Abdul Kader & Company, is more than 100 years old. As a second-generation Bohra Muslim, Shabbir knows to read, write and speak Malayalam. “However, because of our attire and diction, locals know that we are not Malayalis,” he says. “But they also know we are part and parcel of Kerala.”
Says Sadiq, “The people treat us with a lot of respect, especially because of the way we conduct ourselves. We are a peace-loving community. The Syedna won a Global Peace Award recently.”
The community’s women can be seen in Kochi in their colourful and embroidered burqas (rida). “The women are well educated,” says Shireen. “There are doctors, teachers, engineers, and architects. Some run home-based outfits like catering, stitching, and online businesses. This ensures a good work-life balance.” Shabbir’s wife Zainab runs an online travel agency.
Because of their small number, the community has to look outside for marriage alliances. Parents send their children’s bio-data to the portal of Mumbai-based Taiseer-un-Nikah Committee. Then a meeting is arranged where the boys and girls meet. “Counsellors help them find the right person,” says Sadiq. “The bridegroom’s family gives gold ornaments to the girl, according to their financial status.”
Though they have lived in Kochi for decades, they stay in touch with their roots. Once a year, Shireen goes to Sidhpur in Gujarat to her ancestral house to meet relatives. “It’s good to have two homes,” she says. “My heart beats with affection for both places.”
Pilgrims’ Progress
■ Like the Jews, the Bohras are one of the tiniest communities in Kochi
■ They migrated from Gujarat due to a severe famine and set up businesses in timber and hardware
■ Because of their small number, they have to look outside their community for marriage alliances
■ Most of the second-generation Bohra Muslims in Kochi are fluent in Malayalam