Urs of Pious Predecessors in Dhul Hijja

Remembering our Pious Predecessors

Maulana Abu Majid Muhammad Shahid Attari Madani

Dhū al-Ḥijjah is the twelfth month of the Islamic year. Of the honourable Companions عَلَیْہِمُ الرِّضْوَان, saints and scholars رَحِمَهُمُ الـلّٰـهُ who passed away or are commemorated in this month, 94 have been mentioned in the Faizan-e-Madinah Monthly Magazine (editions 1438 AH – 1444). A further 11 are mentioned herein.

Honourable Companions عَلَیْہِمُ الرِّضْوَان

Martyrs of Yawm al-Dār: In Dhū al-QaꜤdah 35 AH, insurgents from Egypt besieged the house of Sayyidunā ꜤUthmān رَضِىَ اللّٰهُ عَـنْهُ. This lasted for 40 days. Many Companions were martyred on this occasion, such as Ziyād b. NuꜤaym, ꜤAbdullah b. ZamꜤah, ꜤAbdullah b. Abī Murrah, and ꜤAbdullah Akbar b. Wahb. On 17^th or 18^th Dhū al-Ḥijjah, the siege ended with the unjust assassination of Sayyiduna Uthmān.[1]

1.    Sayyidunā SaꜤd b. MuꜤādh al-Anṣārī رَضِىَ اللّٰهُ عَـنْهُ was the leader of Banu Abd al-Ashhal (Aws). He was very handsome, courageous, and amongst the first in Madinah to accept Islam. He participated in the battles of Badr, Uḥud and Khandaq. Having sustained an injury in the Battle of Khandaq in Dhū al-QaꜤdah 5 AH, he passed away a month later aged 37 in Dhū al-Ḥijjah 5 AH. The Throne (ꜤArsh) shook upon his passing, the doors to the heavens opened, and 70,000 angels also participated in his funeral.[2]

Noble saints رَحِمَهُمُ الـلّٰـهُ

2.    Sayyidunā Bābā Tāj al-Dīn Sarwar Shahīd رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه was born in 643 AH in Pakpattan. He founded the city Chishtian and made it a centre point of guidance. Many accepted Islam because of his efforts, which ultimately led to non-Muslims martyring him on 4 Dhū al-Ḥijjah. His resting place—a fountainhead of blessings—is located in Purani Chishtian.[3]

3.    Sayyid Shāh Shihāb al-Dīn Nahrah Bukhārī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه was born to Sayyid Mawj Daryā Soharwardī in 964 AH. In addition to being an expert in Islamic sciences, he was an accomplished saint, manifested miracles, and was an esteemed sheikh of the Soharwardi spiritual order. He passed away on 11 Dhū al-Ḥijjah 1041 AH, and his resting place is situated in Islampura, Bhogiwal, Kot Khawaja Saeed, Lahore.[4]

4.    Sayyidunā Khawājah Nūr-Allah Tawghīrī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه was a true saint who performed miracles. He was the third custodian of the Tawghiriyyah spiritual order. The sheikh passed away on 15 Dhū al-Ḥijjah 1298 AH and was buried at the spiritual lodge.[5]

5.    Sayyid Muhammad Āghā Kābulī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه was a spiritual disciple of Khalifah Sayyid Mīrjān Kābulī and his successor. He was an erudite scholar, an accomplished spiritual guide who exhibited saintly marvels and also a poet. He passed away on 11 Dhū al-Ḥijjah 1299 AH. The sheikh was buried in the vicinity of Sheikh Īshān’s resting place in Begampura, Lahore.[6]

6.    Sayyid Muhammad Shāh Naqshbandī Amritsarī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه was a spiritual disciple of Sheikh Sayyid IsmāꜤīl Ḥasan Ludhyānwī and served to guide others. He passed away on 9 Dhū al-Ḥijjah 1339 AH and was buried opposite Buddhu Ka Aawa Graveyard near Engineering University, GT Road, Lahore.[7]

7.    Khawājah Muhammad ꜤUmar Dīn Aṣghar Chishtī Ṣābrī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه was a spiritual disciple of Sufi Muhammad Ṣiddīq Chishtī of Kaleke Mandi (Hafizabad) and his successor. He founded Sabri Masjid in Baddomalhi, Narowal and was the sheikh of a spiritual order. He passed away on 28 Dhū al-Ḥijjah 1388 AH and is buried in Araian Cemetery, Hanif Road, Kot Khawajah Saeed, Lahore.[8]

Scholars of Islam رَحِمَهُمُ الـلّٰـهُ

8.    Sheikh ꜤAlāu al-Dīn Ibn Jazarī Abū al-Ḥasan ꜤAlī Qarashī Dimishqī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه was born in either 748 AH or 749 AH and passed away in the year 813 AH in Damascus, Syria. Having benefitted from the Hadith and Fiqh experts of Syria and Arabia, he spent his entire life teaching, producing many students as a result.[9]

9.    Mawlānā Sayyid Fayḍ al-Ḥasan Tanwīr Shāh رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه was born in Shamsabad, Attock, in 1345 AH. Subsequent to studying his foundational years in his local area, he studied the syllabus at Dār al-ꜤUlūm Ḥizb al-Aḥnāf, Lahore. Thereafter, he studied his Dawrah al-Hadith at Dār al-ꜤUlūm  Mazhar al-Islām, Bareilly. The sheikh also pledged allegiance to Sheikh Sayyid Bashīr al-Dīn Shāh Qādirī Barelwī and became his spiritual successor. Maulana Sayyid Fayḍ al-Ḥasan was an excellent orator, the founder of Madrasah ꜤArabiyyah Fayḍ al-ꜤUlūm (Faqirwali), and a central figure in the community. The sheikh passed away on 17 Dhū al-Ḥijjah 1405 AH and is buried in Bahawalnagar.[10]

10.    Maulana Ghulām Rasūl Naqshbandī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه was born on 2 Dhū al-Ḥijjah 1359 AH in Fattuwala, Sharaqpur, Sheikhupura. It is also here that he passed away on 10 Dhū al-Ḥijjah 1437 AH. The sheikh was a graduate of Dār al-ꜤUlūm Ḥizb al-Aḥnāf (Lahore), a sufi, well read, and self-sufficing. For approximately 27 and a half years, he served as the muezzin and deputy imam at Data Sahib’s Masjid, Lahore.[11]

11.    Baba Ji Mawlānā Ḥāfiẓ Meharjān ꜤAlī Gholrawī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه was a ḥāfiẓ, erudite scholar, sufi, teacher of Dars-e-Niẓāmī, prolific teacher, teacher of Arabic in a school, and the founder of Madrasah Qādiriyyah Ghawthiyyah, Minchinabad. He was the brother of the renowned scholar ꜤAllāmah Ghulam Mehar Ali Chishtiyani. The sheikh was born in 1378 AH and passed away on 12 Dhū al-Ḥijjah 1440 AH. His resting place is located in Kabutri Banurah Wala Cemetery near Minchinabad Road, Bahawalnagar.[12]