Urs of Pious Predecessors in Dhul Hijjah

Our Pious Predecessors

Rukn-e-Shura, Abu Majid Muhammad Shahid Attari Madani

Dhu al-Hijja, the twelfth month of the Islamic calendar, marks the passing away or annual urs of many Companions, saints, and ulema. Further to the seventy such righteous souls that have been mentioned in the Dhu al-Hijja editions of Faizan-e-Madinah Magazine from 1438 to 1442 AH, we introduce an additional thirteen:

Honourable Companions عَـلَيْهِمُ الرِّضْوَانْ:

1.   Sayyidunā ʿAbd Allah ibn Zamʿa al-Qarashī al-Asadī رَضِىَ الـلّٰـهُ عَـنْهُ was the nephew of Sayyidatunā Umm Salama رَضِیَ الـلّٰـهُ عَنْهَا, a Mother of the Believers. This noble Companion was the doorkeeper of the Holy Prophet صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم and from the most distinguished members of Quraysh. During the Migration, he was five years old. He went on to transmit many hadith. He resided in Madinah al-Munawwara and was martyred during the Event of Yawm al-Dār, 18^th Dhu al-Hijja, 35 AH.^[1]

2.   Sayyidunā ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAmr al-Qarashī رَضِىَ الـلّٰـهُ عَـنْهُ was an erudite scholar, an expert muhaddith, and a devout worshipper. He spent his days fasting and his nights in worship and reciting the Quran. Described as having a long face with a reddish complexion, Sayyidunā Abū Hurayra رَضِىَ الـلّٰـهُ عَـنْهُ said of him, “From all the Companions of the Messenger صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم, none of them had more hadith than me, except ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAmr. This is because he would write them, whereas I did not.” He passed away on the 27^th or 28^th of Dhu al-Hijja, 63 AH, in Madinah al-Munawwara, during the Harrah incident.^[2]

Noble Awliya رَحِمَهُمُ الـلّٰـهُ تَـعَالٰی:

3.   Sayyid Abū Muhammad Sulaymān ibn ʿAbd Allah al-Maḥḍ al-Ḥasanī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْـه was the great^x3 grandson of the Messenger of Allah صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم and the brother of Sayyid Idrīs al-Ḥasanī I (the eponymous founder of the Idrisid dynasty in Morocco). He passed away at the age of 53 in Makka al-Mukarrama, on the 8^th of Dhu al-Hijja. Sayyid ʿAbd Allah and Sayyid Muhammad were his two sons, the latter of whom migrated to Africa with his uncle, Sayyid Idrīs I, and later passed away in Tlemcen.^[3]

4.   Sayyid Ṣafiyy al-Dīn Aḥmad al-Qushāshī al-Madanī al-Ḥusaynī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْـه was born in Madina al-Munawwara in 991 AH. He was a hafiz of the Quran, a jurist of the Shafiʿī school of jurisprudence, and a Sufi master of the Naqshbandi way. He studied with approximately a hundred Arab and non-Arab scholars and authored around seventy books, of which al-Durra al-Thamīna fī mā li Zāʾir al-Madīna—a guide for visitors to Madina—is perhaps the most well-known. An adherent of ontological “Unity of Being” (waḥdat al-wujūd), he actively promoted and defended this ideology. Passing away in Madina on 19^th Dhu al-Hijja, 1071 AH, he was laid to rest in al-Baqīʿ cemetery.^[4]

5.   Shah Sayyid ʿAbd Muhammad Qādirī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْـه was born in 1001 AH in Baghdad to a household of the Razzaqi branch of our master, Shaykh ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī. He passed away on 9^th Dhu al-Hijja, 1075 AH, and was laid to rest in Bijapur (Karnatak, India). During his travels, he had come across Bijapur and was greatly loved by the people there, leading him to live there. He was a saint of immense spiritual blessings.^[5]

6.   Shah Muhammad Fākhir Ilāhabādī Qādirī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْـه was born in 1120 AH and passed away on 11^th of Dhu al-Hijja, 1164 AH. He was the son of Shah Khūbullah Ilāhabādī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْـه and a saint from birth. A righteous scholar, he was also a teacher of the traditional dars-i-nizami curriculum and a spiritual heir of his khanqah. His shrine is located in close proximity to Sultan Alamgeer in Aurangabad, Deccan, India.^[6]

7.   Shah Ghawth Sayyid Muhammad Mūsā Gīlānī I رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْـه was born in Khotaki to a Jīlānī family of sayyids (descendants of the final Prophet صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم through Shaykh Abd al-Qadir Jilani رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْـه). He passed away on 8^th Dhu al-Hijja, 1173 AH. He was an eminent scholar, the disciple and spiritual successor of Sultan Nūr Muhammad Qādirī ibn Sulṭān Bāhū, the founder of Khotaki’s central masjid, and a shaykh of great spiritualty who was loved by people from all walks of life.^[7]

8.   A descendant of the final Prophet صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم through both his mother and father, Khwāja Pīr Sayyid Mubārak ʿAlī Shah Maśhadī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْـه was born in 1276 AH in Jehanabad (near Bhoi Guard, Hasan Abdaal, District Attock). He passed away in Rawalpindi on 5^th Dhu al-Hijja, 1356 AH. His burial took place in the surrounding area of Darbar Naugaza (Kashmir Road, near Mareer Chowk, Rawalpindi). An accomplished scholar and unwaveringly observant of Islamic teachings, he was a spiritual successor of Pīr Sayāl Khawāja Shams al-ʿĀrifīn and deeply revered by the masses.^[8]

Noble Scholars رَحِمَهُمُ الـلّٰـهُ:

9.   Shaykh al-Islam Abū Yaḥyā Zakariyya al-Anṣārī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْـه was born in Sunika, located in the western province of Egypt, in 826 AH. Alongside being a graduate of Al-Azhar University, he was a prominent jurist of the Shafiʿī school of jurisprudence, the leading muhaddith of his time, hafiz of hadith, a seasoned Sufi, chief judge in Islamic law, an excellent reciter of the Quran, author of numerous books, an expert in linguistics and theology, a historian, teacher, mufti, and the reviver of the ninth century. He passed away on 4^th Dhu al-Hijja, 925 AH, in Cairo, Egypt. He was laid to rest near the shrine of Imam Shafiʿī, in Qarafat al-Sughra. His celebrated works include al-Ghurar al-Bahiyya, Tuḥfat al-Bārī ʿalā Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, and Asnā al-Maṭālib.^[9]

10.   Mawlana Aḥmad ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq Farangī Maḥallī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْـه was born in 1103 AH and passed away in Lucknow on 9^th Dhu al-Hijja, 1167 AH. He was the nephew and student of Mawlana Niẓām al-Dīn Sihālwī, the eponymous designer of the acclaimed dars-i-nizami curriculum. He was an accomplished scholar, an adherent of the Qādirī way affiliated with the Razzāqiyya khanqa, Bansa Sharif, an author, and a guide for people. His commentary on the primer Sullam al-ʿUlūm on logic is notable.^[10]

11.   Affectionately known as Mian Jī, Mawlana Maḥbūb ʿĀlam Bijnorī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْـه was born in 1298 AH to a family of academics in Najibabad, Uttar Pradesh, India. This was also the place he passed away on 1^st Dhu al-Hijja, 1370 AH. Extremely devout and pious, he was a disciple and successor of Ameer-i-Millat, a spiritual guide, and a person of great patience and gratitude.^[11]

12.   A prolific writer, Mawlana Mufti Ghulām Sarwar Lāhorī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْـه was born into a household of muftis, hailing from the Soharwardi spiritual path. During his journey to Hajj, he passed away in Madinah province on the 27^th of Dhu al-Hijja, 1307 AH. He was buried near Badr. A devout Sufi and scholar, he also excelled in history, journalism, writing, and poetry. He spent his entire life in writing and researching. He wrote many books, from which Khazīnat al-Aṣfiyāʾ and Jamiʿ al-Lughāt became well-known.^[12]

13.   Mawlana Mufti ʿAbd al-Raḥīm Golarawī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْـه was born into an intellectual household in Thathi Gujran (Fath Jang township, District Attock). His father and uncle were erudite scholars with many students, and it is from these two personalities that Mufti ʿAbd al-Raḥīm Golarawī also learned sacred knowledge. Pledging spiritual allegiance to the renowned gnostic and saint, Pir Mehr ʿAlī Shah, he dedicated his life to teaching and serving Islam. He passed away on 17^th Dhu al-Hijja, 1358 AH.^[13]