Our Pious Predecessors

Mawlana Abu Majid Muhammad Shahid Attari Madani

Muharram is the first month of the Islamic year. From amongst the noble Companions عَـلَيْهِمُ الرِّضْوَانْ, pious saints and scholars of Islam whose anniversaries of passing away are in this month, eighty-eight are mentioned briefly in the 1439 AH to 1444 AH editions of the Monthly Faizan-e-Madinah Magazine Muharram. Take note of a brief introduction to a further eleven:

Noble Prophetic Companions عَـلَيْهِمُ الرِّضْوَانْ

Martyrs of Marj al-Ṣuffar: This incident occurred at the beginning of the caliphate of Sayyidunā ꜤUmar b. al-Khaṭṭāb رَضِىَ الـلّٰـهُ عَـنْهُ in Muharram 14 AH. The disbelievers launched an attack on the Muslims in which Sayyidunā Salamah b. Hishām Makhzūmi Qurashī, Sayyidunā SaꜤīd b. Khālid b. SaꜤīd Umawī, Sayyiduna Salamah b. Muslim Juhanī and Sayyidunā MasꜤūd b. SaꜤd AshjaꜤī were martyred.^{^[1]}

1. Imam al-ꜤUlamāˈ Sayyidunā MuꜤādh b. Jabal al-Anṣārī al-Khazrajī رَضِىَ الـلّٰـهُ عَـنْهُ embraced Islam in the 12^th year after the proclamation of prophethood. He was 18 years old at the time. He was present at the Pledge of ꜤAqabah and took part in Badr, as well as all of the other major battles. With his remarkable handsomeness, forbearance, modesty, as well as his generosity and intelligence, he had a striking personality. He was privileged to be part of the collation of the noble Quran and was a prolific narrator of hadith. He was an erudite jurist and accomplished mujtahid. He was appointed to teach the new Muslims after the Conquest of Makkah and was then assigned governorship over Yemen. He was martyred in the plague of ꜤAmwāṣ (Muharram or Ṣafar 18 AH) at the age of 38 years. It is narrated that the beloved Prophet صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم said: مُعَاذُ بْنُ جَبَلٍ امام الْعُلَمَاءِ بِرَتْوَةٍ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ “MuꜤadh b. Jabal will be the leader of the scholars on the Day of Judgement.”^{^[2]}

Noble Saints السَّلَام رَحِمَهُمُ الـلّٰـهُ

2. Sayyidunā Khawājah Muḥammad Naqshbandī Sirhindī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه was born in Sirhind on 7 Ramaḍān 1034 AH and passed away there on 29 Muharram 1114 AH. He was a scholarly marvel of the inward and outward sciences. Widely acclaimed, he had a lofty spiritual rank and was blessed with many miracles.^{^[3]}

3. Shaykh al-Ṭarīqah Shāh ꜤAbdullāh Fārūqī Soharwardi رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه was from the major scholars of Burhanpur (Madhya Pradesh, India). He was a personification of Islamic law and the spiritual path. He spent most of his time busy in teaching, and left behind many students. He passed away on 29 Muharram 1098 AH.^{^[4]}

4. ꜤĀshiq-e-Haqq Sayyidunā Mawlānā Shāh Muhammad Fāḍil Qādirī Lāhorī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه was born in Rasulpur (near Satghara) and he passed away on 2 Muharram 1099 AH. His resting place is in Beron darwazah Rajpurah, Lahore. He was a spiritual guide of the Qadiri way and was an embodiment of the outward and inward sciences. He was an author and a blessed spiritual personality. From his disciples was Sayyid Mujtabā Jīlānī.^{^[5]}

5. Sayyidunā Imam al-Dīn Barnālwī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه was born in 1250 AH in Beknawala, near Dingah, Gujrat province. He passed away on 6 Muharram 1313 AH. He was buried at the feet of Sayyidunā Baba Topi wala in Barnali, Kharian district, Gujrat province. He was a scholar of Islam, an imam, an orator, and the spiritual successor of Khawājah Shams al-ꜤĀrifīn. He possessed inward and outward beauty and was a close adherent of the Sunnah.^{^[6]}

6. A teacher at al-JāmiꜤ al-Umawī, Sayyid Abū al-Fatḥ b. ꜤAbd al-Qādir Khaṭīb al-ShāfiꜤī al-Dimashqī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه was born in 1250 AH as a descendant of the Crown of the Saints, Shaykh ꜤAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه and passed away on 10 Muharram 1350 AH. He was buried near the graves of his family in Maqbarah Daḥdāh. He was a scholar, a seasoned jurist of the ShāfiꜤī school of jurisprudence, constantly engrossed in worship, and an ascetic. He was in charge of the Ẓāhiriyyah library and was the teacher of scholars.^{^[7]}

Scholars of Islam السَّلَام رَحِمَهُمُ الـلّٰـهُ

7. Quṭub al-Abdāl, Sayyidunā Karīm al-Dīn Mimshād Dinawari رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه was born in Dinawar, Kermanshah province in Iran. He passed away on 14 Muharram 298 AH in Baghdad. He was a hafiz of the noble Quran and brought together the inward and outward sciences. He was generous, endowed with miracles, and committed to his spiritual austerities. He also received spiritual successorship from Sayyidunā Khawājah MaꜤrūf al-Karkhī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه.^{^[8]}

8. Maḥbūb-e-Khallāq Shah Muḥammad Āfāq Diḥlawī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه was born in 1160 AH and passed away on 7 Muharram 1251 AH. His resting place is located in Sabzi Mandi Mughalpura, Delhi. He also travelled to Afghanistan where the king was one of his devoted disciples.^{^[9]}

9. Shams al-Kawnayn, Sayyidunā Khawājah Muhammad ꜤAbd al-Khāliq Mujaddidī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه was born in 1270 AH in Jahan Khelan, Hoshiarpur province, eastern Punjab, India. He received spiritual training at the hands of Khawājah Tawakkul Shah Anbālwī. He studied with erudite scholars and became the disciple and spiritual successor of Hājī Maḥmūd Ārzū Jālandharī. He laid the foundations for Khānqah Kot ꜤAbd al-Khāliq, Hoshiapur province. He also had a great deal of interest in social welfare work and established the Khāliqiyyah Orphanage next to the spiritual lodge. Later, he opened a madrassa as well. He passed away on 17 Muharram 1350 AH and was buried at the spiritual lodge.^{^[10]}

10. Ḥakīm Sayyid ꜤAbd al-Ghaffār Shāh Rāshidī Qādirī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه was born in 1301 AH in Goth Relan (Larkana, Sindh) and passed away on 20 Muharram 1381 AH in Murad Memon Goth, Malir, Karachi. He possessed knowledge of both Islamic law and medicine. He was a proficient and reliable physician. He was the founder of the literary publication ‘al-Kāshif’ and a Sindhī Sufi poet who authored an anthology.^{^[11]}

11. The Quranic exegete and research scholar of Ahl al-Sunnah, Mufti Muhammad Jalāl al-Dīn Qādirī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه was born in Chodo, Khariyan district, Gujrat. He was born on 1 Jumādā al-Ukhrā 1357 AH and passed away on 2 Muharram 1429 AH. His resting place is in JāmiꜤah Islāmiyyah, Kharian, Gujrat province. He was an observant scholar, a keen historian, and the student and disciple of the celebrated saint and hadith master of Pakistan, Mufti Sardār Aḥmad al-Qādirī. He received spiritual successorship from the Grand Mufti of India and acclaimed saint, Musṭafā Razā Khan. He was also the founder of JāmiꜤah Islāmiyyah, Kharian. Amongst the books he authored is an important seven-volume commentary of the Quran entitled Aḥkām al-Quran.^{^[12]}