10,000 gather for Bohra spiritual leader's week-long celebrations

His Holiness Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin the 53rd al-Dai al-Mutlaq of Bohras. He arrived in Mombasa on Friday. [Kelvin Karani, Standard]

An estimated 10,000 members of Dawoodi Bohra from East Africa have converged in Mombasa for a week-long celebration and sermons from their global spiritual leader.

The leader, His Holiness Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin, 53rd al-Dai al-Mutlaq of Bohras, arrived in Mombasa on Friday, after a brief stopover in Nairobi. Al-Dai al-Mutlaq is the community's most senior spiritual rank and office, meaning the absolute, missionary. Dawoodi Bohras are a close-knit community of the Shia Muslims.