Commemorating the Passing of Famous Personalities

Our Pious Predecessors

Mawlana Abu Majid Muhammad Shahid Attari Madani

Shawwal is the tenth month of the Islamic calendar. In the Monthly Magazine Faizān-e-Madinah, Shawwal editions from 1438 AH to 1443 AH, we have learned about 85 noble Companions عَـلَيْهِمُ الرِّضْوَانْ, saints, and ulema رَحِمَهُمُ الـلّٰـهُ who are celebrated in this month. In this edition, we will learn about twelve more luminaries.

The Noble Companions عَـلَيْهِمُ الرِّضْوَانْ

1.   Sayyidunā ꜤAbdullāh b. Jaḥsh al-Qurashī al-Asadī رَضِىَ الـلّٰـهُ عَـنْهُ was the son of the Prophet’s paternal aunt and the brother of the mother of the believers, Sayyidatunā Zaynab b. Jaḥsh رَضِیَ الـلّٰـهُ عَنْهَا. An early Muslim, he was a fearless warrior who fought in the way of Allah and participated in the Expedition of Badr. He migrated from Makka to Abyssinia and from there, to Madina. In the brotherhood bond established in Madina, he was paired with Sayyidunā ꜤĀṣim b. Thābit al-Anṣārī رَضِىَ الـلّٰـهُ عَـنْهُ. Seventeen months after the migration to Madina, he was appointed commander of the famous expedition, Sariyah ꜤAbdullāh b. Jaḥsh. Following this expedition, he paid the one-fifth tax (khums); the first person to do so. He was martyred in the Battle of Uḥud (15^th Shawwal, 3 AH) and was buried together with his maternal uncle, leader of the martyrs, Sayyidunā Ḥamza رَضِىَ الـلّٰـهُ عَـنْهُ, in the same grave. He was over 40 years old at the time.^[1]

2.   Sayyidunā ꜤAmr b. al-Jamūḥ al-Anṣārī رَضِىَ الـلّٰـهُ عَـنْهُ, a generous man of dignity, was the respected leader of Banū Salama. He had curly, white hair. He was the last of the Ansar to embrace Islam. Due to a physical impairment, he was excused from the Expedition of Badr. However, upon his insistence, he was permitted to participate in the Expedition of Uḥud in which he fought courageously until he attained martyrdom alongside his son Khallād.^[2]

The Honourable Saints رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْهِم

3.   Aˈinaˈ-e-Hind, Sayyidunā Akhī Sirāj al-Dīn ꜤUthmān Awadī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه was born in 656 AH in Awadh, U.P. India and passed away on 1^st Shawwal, in 758 AH. His resting place is in Lakhnauti, Bengal. He was a scholar, teacher, spiritual master of the Chishtī Niẓāmi order, and a prolific author. His works include the Arabic primers Hidāyat al-Naḥw, Panj-Ganj, and Mīzān al-Ṣarf.^[3]

4.   Rehnoma-e-Millat, Sayyid ꜤAlī al-Baghdādī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه was born in Baghdad. He learnt the outward and inward sciences from his father Sayyid Muḥiy al-Dīn Abū Naṣr رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه and other scholars of Baghdad. He received the cloak of spiritual succession from his father. He passed away on 23^rd Shawwal, 739 AH in Baghdad and was laid to rest there.^[4]

5.   The Sufi master, Sayyidunā Mīr Muḥammad Hāshim al-Qādirī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه was a radiant beacon of guidance from the Razzāqī branch of the descendants of Shaykh ꜤAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه. He was a devout ascetic known for his unwavering adherence to Islamic teachings. After arriving in Kashmīr in 1125 AH, he immediately began calling people to Islam. He passed away on 27^th Shawwal, 1135 AH and his resting place is in Ḥawal, Srinagar, Kashmir.^[5]

6.   Sayyidunā Shāh Badr al-Dīn Awḥad al-Qādirī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه was born in 1115 AH and passed away on 26^th Shawwal, 1205 AH. He was a scholar, a spiritual guide and a teacher in JāmiꜤ Masjid Farakh Nagar. His resting place is known as Takyah Shāh Badr al-Dīn in Maḥāllah Rām Nagar, Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh, India).^[6]

7.   Sayyid Shāh Muḥammad Ṣādiq Mārahrawī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه was born in the acclaimed spiritual centre of Marehra, India, on 7^th Ramadan, 1248 AH and passed away on 24^th Shawwal, 1326 AH in Sitapur. He was buried in his orchard on Shah Jahanpur road near Qenchi pul. He was a scholar, a spiritual guide of the Qādirī order, owner of the Ṣubḥ Ṣādiq printing press in Sitapur, and possessed an energetic personality. He arranged the construction of the Barakātī spiritual centre in Marehra and other buildings in Sitapur.^[7]

8.   Sayyidunā Khawājah Pīr Sayyid Niyāz ꜤAlī Shāh Gardezī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه was born in 1238 AH in Kodhendhi Kiyath, Rāwalākot, Kashmir and passed away on 3^rd Shawwal, 1333 AH. His resting place is in Sarsyeddan, Bāgh, Kashmir. He was a scholar, a spiritual guide and blessed with inward and outward beauty. He was a teacher of scholars and established two seminaries. He was a disciple and spiritual successor of Khawāja Shams al-ꜤĀrifīn رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه.^[8]

Scholars of Islam رَحِمَهُمُ الـلّٰـه السَّلام

9.   Shāh Abū al-Khayr al-Fārūqī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه was born in the spiritual centre of Baherah, near Walidpur, in Mau District, U.P. India, in 1008 AH and passed away there on 11^th Shawwal, 1059 AH. His mausoleum was built beneath a banyan tree in the outer courtyard of his home.^[9]

10.   Shaykh Sayyid Ahmad b. Abū Bakr b. Sumayṭ al-Ḥusaynī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه was born on 5^th Rajab, 1277 AH in Itsandra (in the Comoros) in the Indian Ocean, close to Africa, and passed away on 13^th Shawwal, 1343 AH in Zanzibar, Africa. He was an erudite scholar, a seasoned spiritual guide, a successful author, and the Islamic judge and mufti of Zanzibar. Apart from issuing fatwas and judgements, he would also teach. Many learned scholars were his students. He had an important rank in the Ottoman Sultanate and travelled to many lands. His resting place next to the JāmiꜤ Masjid in Zanzibar is renowned. One of his eight books is Manhal al-Wurrād.^[10]

11.   Mawlānā Sayyid Aḥmad Ḥasan Abdālwī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه was born in Ḥasan Abdāl, Attock district and passed away on 14^th Shawwal, 1356 AH. He was buried in Bahāwulpūr. He was a student and disciple of Sayyidunā Pīr Mehr ꜤAlī Shāh رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه. He combined between Islamic law and spiritual wayfaring and was an accomplished teacher. He was the lead teacher for Islamic studies in Bahāwalpūr University for 40 years.^[11]

12.   The Quranic exegete, Sayyidunā Mawlānā Muḥammad ꜤAbd al-Qadīr Ḥasrat Ṣiddīqī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه was born on 27^th Rajab, 1288 AH and passed away on 18^th Shawwal, 1388 AH in Hyderabad, Deccan, India. His final resting place is in Ṣiddīq Gulshan Bahādarpūrā. He was an expert in both modern and established disciplines, an ocean of knowledge, an embodiment of piety and was granted authority to be a spiritual guide. His 6 volume Tafsīr-e- Ṣiddīqī is revered by the ulema. He was the Professor of Hadith and the head of religious studies in Osmania University. He was also the honorary administrator of Jamia Nizamia.^[12]