CHARMINAR
: Masjid-e-Burhani, one of the most spacious mosques at Hussaini Alam in Old City, was recently inaugurated by Syedna Muffadil Saifuddin, on his maiden visit to Hyderabad after being anointed the 53rd spiritual leader of the
Dawoodi Bohra
community.
While the newly constructed mosque was inaugurated by Syedna in October 2019, the original mosque was constructed in 1913.
According to members of the Arastu Clan, a section within the
Bohra
Muslim community, the century old Masjid was originally built by Dr. Shaikh Abdul Hussain Arastu Yaar Jung Bahadur and his wife Amtul Qiyoom Begum.
Dr. Shaik was the personal physician to the sixth
Nizam of Hyderabad
Nawab Mir Mahboob Ali Khan, and the seventh Nizam Nawab Mir Osman Ali Khan. The construction of the mosque was then carried out by Dr. Shaikh Mohsin Ali, who undertook the responsibility of constructing the mosque under his supervision. The mortal remains of the three are interred in the basement of the mosque.
Two distinct features of the mosque are the golden kalashs (finale) of the minarets which were made of gold, and the use of steel beams, which was a very new concept in the early twentieth century. This enabled the mosque to essentially avoid pillars in between that usually obstructed the formation of safs (lines of Namazis standing in prayer).
The mosque is big enough to accommodate 2,500 people at a time. The masjid has three floors, two of which are reserved for female members of the community.