According to Musta'lī tradition, after the death of
al-Amir bi-Ahkam Allah, his infant son,
Abu'l-Qasim al-Tayyib, about two years old, was protected by
Arwa al-Sulayhi who died in 1138, wife of the chief Fatimid Da'i of Yemen. She had been promoted to the post of
Hujjat al-Islam long before by al-Mustansir Billah when her husband died and ran the Fatimid dawah from Yemen in the name of
Imam Abu'l-Qasim al-Tayyib. During her leadership Abu'l-Qasim al-Tayyib went into occultation so she instituted the office of
Da'i al-Mutlaq.
Zoeb bin Moosa was first to be instituted to this office and the line of
Tayyibi Da'is that began in 1132. Arwa al-Sulayhi was the Hujjah in Yemen from the time of Imam
Al-Mustansir Billah. She appointed the
Da'i in Yemen to run religious affairs.
Isma'ili missionaries Ahmed and
Abdullah (in about 1067 AD (460 AH)) were also sent to India in that time. They sent
Syedi Nuruddin to Dongaon to look after southern part and
Syedi Fakhruddin to East
Rajasthan, India.
Branches • There is also a community of
Sunni Bohra in India. In the fifteenth century, there was schism in the Bohra community of Patan in Gujarat as a large number converted from Musta'li Isma'ili
Shia Islam to mainstream Hanafi
Sunni Islam. The leader of this conversion movement to Sunni was Syed Jafar Ahmad Shirazi who also had the support of the Mughal governor of
Gujarat. • In 1592, a leadership struggle caused the Ṭayyibi Ismailis to split. Following the death of the 26th Dai in 1591 CE,
Sulayman bin Hassan, the grandson of the 24th Dai, was
wali in Yemen and claimed the succession, supported by a few Bohras from Yemen and India. However, most Bohras denied his claim of
nass, declaring that the supporting document evidence was forged. The two factions separated, with the followers of Suleman Bin Hasan becoming the
Sulaymanis named after Sulayman ibn Hassan and mainly located in
Yemen and
Saudi Arabia, and the followers of Syedna Dawood Bin Qutubshah becoming the Dawoodi Bohra.
Dawoodi Bohra, found mostly in the
Indian subcontinent. • A split in 1637 from the Dawoodi Bohra resulted in the
Alavi Bohra. • The
Hebtiahs Bohra are a branch of Musta'li Isma'ili Shi'a Islam that broke off from the mainstream Dawoodi Bohra after the death of the 39th Da'i al-Mutlaq in 1754. • The
Atba-e-Malak community are a branch of Musta'ali Isma'ili Shi'a Islam that broke off from the mainstream Dawoodi Bohra after the death of the 46th Da'i al-Mutlaq, under the leadership of Abdul Hussain Jivaji in 1840. They have further split into two more branches: •
Atba-e-Malak Badar – The current leader is Maulana Muhammad Amiruddin Malak Saheb. •
Atba-e-Malak Vakil – Their current leader is Tayyebhai Razzak. • The
Progressive Dawoodi Bohra is a reformist sect within Musta'li Ismai'li Shi'a Islam that broke off circa 1977. They disagree with mainstream Dawoodi Bohra, as led by the Da'i al-Mutlaq, on doctrinal, economic, and social issues. • In 2014, following the desert of
Mohammed Burhanuddin, there was a
succession dispute. The Bohra Sultan Syedna
Mufaddal Saifuddin was established as the 53rd Da'i al-Mutlaq by his father, His Holiness Syedna Mohammad Burhanuddin. However, the Qutbi Bohra branch broke off from the original Dawoodi Bohra, falsely claiming the succession as theirs. This dispute was taken to the courts by the Qutbi Bohra, which denounced their claims as false, affirming Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin as the rightful 53rd Da'i al-Mutlaq. ==Musta'li Imams==