MELODY KO PHOTOGRAPHY

color america: Dr. Buhanuddin's Visit

Members of the Islamic community, Dawoodi Bohra, await the arrival of their spiritual leader who visits from India to bless the newly erected mosque in Billerica, MA for Ramadan.

These images were made in August 2004 during his welcoming ceremony in the airport hangar in North Andover, Mass.

Dr. Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin, leader of the Islamic community, Dawoodi Bohra, visits for a week to bless and celebrate the opening of a new 40,000-square-foot mosque in Billerica. The mosque is the first of its kind built in New England and cost an estimate of $18 million.
   
About 200 Dawoodi Bohra members crowded into a hangar at Lawrence Municipal Airport to receive blessings from their spiritual leader, Dr. Burhanuddin. About one million Shi’ite Muslims belong to the sect, which is based in India and Egypt.
   
Members clamor for blessings from Dr. Burhanuddin as he walks past. In New England, Dawoodi Bohra membership has grown from 10 people in the 1970s to hundreds today.
     
  
The 93-year-old spiritual leader blesses his followers, some of whom came from as close by as neighboring Andover, Massachusetts.
   
Faridah Hashim of Battle Creek, Michigan, holds her 4-month-old son, Aziz, aloft as Dr. Burhanuddin passes. Admirers from as far away as Sri Lanka came to celebrate the spiritual leader’s visit.
   
As Dr. Burhanuddin’s car departs the welcoming ceremony at Lawrence Municipal airport, his followers pay their respects and get on last glimpse.