Remembering Our Pious Elders - Dhu al Hijjah 1446

Our Pious Predecessors

Mawlana Abu Majid Muhammad Shahid Attari Madani

Dhū al-Ḥijjah is the twelfth month of the Islamic year. Regarding the noble Companions, saints, and scholars who passed away or whose lives are commemorated in this month, 105 have been previously mentioned in the Faizan-e-Madinah Monthly Magazine 1438-1445 AH editions. A further 11 are mentioned herein.

Noble Companions رَضِیَ اللهُ عَنْهُم

Martyrs of the Battle of Harrah

During Dhū al-Ḥijjah 63 AH, a Yazīdī army consisting of ten to twelve thousand soldiers attacked the sacred city of Madinah. The people of Madinah, under the leadership of Sayyidunā ꜤAbdullāh b. Ḥanẓalah al-Awsī al-Anṣārī رَضِیَ اللهُ عَنْهُمَا, confronted the Yazīdī forces on the 27^th of Dhū al-Ḥijjah 63 AH and attained martyrdom. 700 from among the Anṣār and Muhājirīn, along with 10,000 residents of Madinah, were martyred. Their homes were looted and atrocities continued for three days.[1]

1. Sayyidunā Khallād b. Sūwayd b. ThaꜤlabah al-Anṣārī رَضِىَ اللّٰهُ عَـنْهُ was a shining light of the Khazraj tribe. In Dhū al-Ḥijjah of the 13^th year after the declaration of Prophethood, he participated in the Third Pledge of ꜤAqabah. He demonstrated his bravery in the Battles of Badr, Uhud and Khandaq. During Dhū al-Ḥijjah 5 AH, he took part in the Battle of Banū Qurayẓah. A Jewish woman threw a millstone from her fortress, striking him and making him a martyr.[2]

Saints رَحِمَهُمُ الـلّٰـهُ

2. The founder of the SaꜤdiyyah spiritual order, Sayyidunā Shaykh SaꜤd al-Dīn b. Yūnus al-Jabāwī al-RifāꜤī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه was born in 460 AH in Makkah and passed away on 29^th Dhū al-Ḥijjah 575 AH in Jabā (district Quneitra), Syria. He memorised the noble Quran, he was a distinguished ShāfiꜤī scholar, author of many books, an accomplished spiritual guide, and a saint known for his marvels.[3]

3. Sayyid ꜤAbdullāh al-Riḍawī al-Kirmanī, also known as Shāh Abban Badr Chishtī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه was born around 860 AH. He was a ḥāfiẓ, practising scholar, a shaykh of the Chishti order, founder of the spiritual lodge and madrasah in Amroha, a lover of the noble Quran, and a saint blessed with marvels. At times, he would enter a state of spiritual rapture. He passed away in 987 AH, and his resting place is located in Amroha, Uttar Pradesh, India. His Ꜥurs is held there from 10^th-15^th of Dhū al-Ḥijjah.[4]

4. Sayyidunā Khawājah ꜤAbd al-Khāliq al-Ūwaisī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه was born to a religious family in 1097 AH in the village of Mohib Ali near Pakpattan. He acquired religious education from Damiyan, Lahore, and from Sayyidunā Khawājah Fakhr al-Dīn Fakhr Jahān al-Diḥlawī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه. Most of his time was devoted to teaching, studying, dhikr, and contemplation. He received spiritual blessings from Sayyidunā Uwais al-Qaranī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه. He had a large number of disciples. He passed away on the 26^th of Dhū al-Ḥijjah 1187 AH, and his resting place is located in Bakhshan Khān, Tehsil Chishtian, district Bahawalnagar.[5]

5. The founder of the Samāniyyah sufi order, Quṭb al-Zamān Sayyidunā Shaykh Abū Abdullāh Muḥammad Samān b. ꜤAbd al-Karīm al-Madanī al-Bakrī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه was born in 1130 AH in Madinah. He passed away there in 1189 AH and was laid to rest in Jannat al-BaqīꜤ. He was a student of the ShāfiꜤī jurist, Sayyidunā Shaykh Muḥammad b. Sulaymān Kurdī ShāfiꜤī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه. After acquiring the spiritual path of the Khalwatī order from Sayyidunā Shaykh Muṣṭafā al-Bakrī al-Khalwatī       رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه, and the Qādiriyyah order from Sayyidunā Shaykh Muhammad Tāhir al-Kurdī al-Madanī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه, he established the Samāniyyah order. He authored several works, including Al-Nafāḥat al-Ilāhiyyah fī Kayfiyyat Sūlūk al-Ṭarīqah al-Muḥammadiyyah, and Mawlid al-Nabī صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم, both of which are published.[6]

6. BāBā Jī Shakarpura, Sayyidunā Shaykh Dīn Muḥammad Qādirī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه was born to a Hindu family in 1293 AH in Shakarpura (Peshawar, KPK). He accepted Islam at the hands of Sayyidunā Mawlānā Najm al-Dīn al-Qādirī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه. He became enriched with knowledge and spiritual insight and dedicated his life to guiding others. He passed away on 8^th Dhū al-Ḥijjah 1362 AH, and his resting place is located at Tappa Daud, Peshawar, on the bank of the River Shah Alam.[7]

7. Sayyidunā Sain Ujagar Shah Lāhorī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه belonged to the Jīlānī Sayyid family of Hujrah Shah Muqīm, District Okara. He was a saint known for his marvels. His Ꜥurs is observed on the 24^th of Dhū al-Ḥijjah, and his resting place is located in a small lodge on the northern side of the road leading from Chah Miran to Kot Khwaja Saeed.[8]

Scholars رَحِمَهُمُ الـلّٰـهُ

8. The Hadith expert, Sayyidunā Abū ꜤĀṣim Ḍaḥḥāk b. Makhlad al-Shaybānī al-Nabīl رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه was born in RabīꜤ al-Awwal 122 AH and passed away on Thursday night 14^th Dhū al-Ḥijjah 212 AH. He was a student of eminent scholars such as Imam Sufyān al-Thawrī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه and Imam ꜤAbd al-Raḥmān al-AwzāꜤī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه. He was a notable Islamic scholar and one of the hadith teachers of Imām Bukhārī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه.[9]

9. Imām Abū Yamān Hakam b. NāfiꜤ Ḥimṣī Buhrānī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه was born in 138 AH and passed away in Dhū al-Ḥijjah 222 AH in Homs. He studied under eminent Hadith scholars and attained the rank of a great muḥaddith. Among his students were renowned scholars such as Imām Bukhārī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه and Imām Yaḥyā ibn MaꜤīn رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه.[10]

10. The 15^th grand shaykh of Al-Azhar University, Sayyidunā Shaykh Aḥmad Al -Damhūjī al-ShāfiꜤī al-Azharī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه was born in Damhūj, Manūfiyyah, or Cairo, Egypt, in 1170 AH. After memorising the noble Quran, he enrolled in Al-Azhar University. He attained complete mastery over the traditional Islamic sciences due to his intelligence. He began his professional life as a teacher in his alma mater. He was devoted to teaching and remained engaged in it from morning to evening. During the final year of his life, he was appointed as the grand shaykh of Al-Azhar. During Hajj, after standing at Arafah, he passed away on the night of 10^th Dhū al-Ḥijjah 1246 AH. His funeral prayer was held at Al-Azhar University.[11]

11. Sayyidunā Mawlāna Karam Dīn al-Qādirī al-Naushāhī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه was born in 1307 AH in the village of Jand, district Chakwal. He acquired education from Kallas and Chak Mujahid (district Pind Dadan Khan), and pledged spiritual allegiance to Pīr Nūr ꜤĀlam al-Naushāhī al-Gowjarwī. He spent his entire life teaching and studying in his hometown. He passed away on the 26^th of Dhū al-Ḥijjah 1394 AH.[12]