53rd Syedna succession controversy (Dawoodi Bohra)

The 2014 death of Mohammed Burhanuddin who was the 52nd Dā'ī al-Mutlaq of the Dawoodi Bohra - a sect within Shia Islam, sparked a succession crisis where two rival claimants emerged for the title of 53rd Dā'ī al-Mutlaq: his son, Mufaddal Saifuddin, and his half-brother, Khuzaima Qutbuddin, who was previously mazoon (Associate, next to the Dā'ī) of the Dawoodi Bohra. After Burhanuddin suffered a stroke in June 2011 in London, a ceremony was conducted to declare Mufaddal Saifuddin as his successor while the Syedna suffered cerebral stroke and was not in position to speak nor move on his own. The Dawoodi Bohra community was reported about the succession by Mufaddal's brothers, a group formed in 2013 in support of Burhanuddin's half-brother Khuzaima Qutbuddin, who was Mazoon, serving second under Dai al Mutlaq. Khuzaima has denied formation of any separate sect by publishing a public affidavit.

After the Syedna's death in January 2014, Mufaddal took up the office, claiming to have been appointed successor after the Dā'ī al-Mutlaq had suffered a stroke in 2011. Khuzaima Qutubuddin also took office as the 53rd Dā'ī of Dawoodi Bohras with two headquarters, the primary being in Darus Sakina in Thane and the other in Saifee Mahal where Mufaddal resides. Qutbuddin, claiming to have been appointed heir 50 years earlier in secrecy, challenged Mufaddal's right to be Dai in court.