600-year-old Quran Sharief on display at Mumbai’s oldest dargah

As the holy month of Ramadan nears its end, thousands of devotees are expected to visit the iconic Mahim Dargah in Mumbai tonight to take part in the annual ritual that hasn’t taken place in the last two years due to the pandemic.

A 600-year-old Quran Sharief, penned by 13th century Sufi saint and scholar Makkhdoom Ali Mahimi, will be showcased to the public between 10.30 pm and 1.45 am on Saturday night (April 30). The Pir Makhdoom Sahab Trust, which looks after the dargah—the oldest of its kind in Mumbai—told The Federal that they expect to see a footfall of anywhere between 40,000 and 50,000 people between those hours.

Sohail Khandwani, the managing trustee, said “We have been consistently bringing out the book for public viewing for three and a half hours on the intervening nights of 28th and 29th day of Ramadan; this annual ritual has been taking place even before the Trust was formed back in 1901 (the dargah was built in 1869)… we (the Trust) are just carrying forward the ritual.”

Makhdoom Ali Mahimi lived during the Tuglaq dynasty and is a scholar widely acknowledged for his humanitarian views and liberal ideals. He was a resident of Mahim island, known as Nawayath back then, one of seven islands that later went on to form the city of Bombay (now Mumbai). After Mahimi’s death, he was buried in Mahim; the site is now marked by the iconic Mahim Dargah.

The dargah (or shrine) has for long been revered by both, Muslims and Hindus alike, two communities that comprise the bustling neighborhood of Mahim. Located in a primarily residential neighborhood adjacent to Mahim creek and almost touching the beach, it (the dargah) is also famous for a strange incident that occurred on the night of August 18, 2006, when the water of the Arabian Sea around the dargah “turned sweet.”

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Thousands of people flocked to Mahim beach after residents of the area claimed that this was a “miracle” and a “blessing” performed by the 13th century Sufi saint himself. Despite Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh publicly appealing to people not to drink the polluted seawater as it contained a large number of impurities and sewage, many devotees were seen drinking the muddy seawater turned into “holy water”, while others emptied plastic bottles and refilled it with seawater that was washing ashore.

Mayhem and pandemonium had set in at Mahim beach by midnight. Television crews arrived, amplifying the message of “Allah’s Karishma.” Within just a few hours, reports started coming in from near Teethal beach in Gujarat, claiming that the seawater there too, had turned sweet.

The rare phenomenon went on till 2 pm the next day. City officials later termed it as a natural phenomenon of inflow of freshwater caused by rainfall that had occurred a few days earlier. Other experts said that the water turning sweet could also have been due to pollution. Irrespective of the scientific arguments, this was the second time that the city of Mumbai had experienced hysteria on the lines similar to that when Ganesha idols were “drinking” milk across the country back in 1995.

In 2020, when India was witnessing a slew of anti-CAA protests across the country, Mahim Dargah became the first place of worship to install a preamble of the constitution within its premises. Its aim was to connect different communities and ensure peace and harmony prevailed between them.

“This particular Quran is 2 feet X 1 feet and is entirely hand-written by Makhdoom Shah baba using a type of calligraphy ink,” said Khandwani, adding that many scholars and researchers had visited Mahim dargah over time, expressing interest in wanting to examine pages of this book in a laboratory. However, the trust had denied permission citing that the pages of the book are very old and hence it (the book) cannot be moved out of the dargah. “The ink in the central pages still looks fresh…the paper has not gone brittle except for the last few pages…90 percent of the book is intact.”

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As it is with the 10-day Mahim mela that is held every year, Khandwani says that security has been beefed up before tonight’s event. “People who are coming tonight to view the Quran must cooperate with the management and follow the law of the land,” he said. “More people than we expect might show up tonight since this (ritual) is taking place after a two-year gap. We have a team of 80 volunteers who are helping out with security, and have also added 40-50 CCTV cameras…doctors have also been kept on standby. The access area to the dargah is very small since it is surrounded by a residential area.”