My Time in the Company of Allama Muhammad Abdul Hakeem Sharaf Qadri

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My Time in the Blessed Company of

The King of GnosticsHazrat Abdul Muhammad Hakeem Sharaf Qadiri (RA)

By Monawwar Ateeq

HAZRAT Àllamah Àbdul Hakim Sharaf Qadiri (Rahmatullahi alayh)

was born in Mirzapur in the home of Mouwlana Allah Ditta on 24th Sha’ban

1363h (13th August 1944). His family migrated to Lahore whilst he was a child

and he started his primary education there. He thereafter studied under the

leading Ulama of his era among them were Muhadith-e-Azam Pakistan

Mouwlana Sardar Ahmad Qadiri, the spiritual mentor of his mother, ÀllamahGulam Rasool Rizwi commentator of Sahih Bukhari, Mufti-e-Azam Pakistan

Sayyid Abul Barakat Ahmad Qadiri son of Sayyid Deedar Àli Shah Alwari,

Mufti Àbdul Qayyum Hazarawi ex-President of Jamia Nizamiya, and Ustaadh

al-Ulama Àllamah Àta Muhammad Bandyalawi[1], senior teacher at Jamia

Mazhariya Bandyal. He surpassed his peers in combining between the inner

and outer sciences and was renowned for his mastery in the rational sciences

(ma`quwlat). Among his living peers are Àllamah Àli Ahmad Sidehlwi the

Musnid of Lahore and Àllamah Gulam Rasool Saèedi the Muhadith of

Karachi, who studied Jami` Tirmidhi together with him at Jamia Mazhariya

Bandyal.

Hazrat was also a Muhadith and had a lot of interest in the chains of

Hadith. He narrates from the abovementioned scholars and from Sayyid

Àbdurahman Kattani of Morocco, the Mufti of Egypt Muhammad Àli

Jumàh, Sayyid Muhammad Àlawi Maliki, Shaykh Fadhl al-Rahman Madani,

Mufti Hassan bin Muhammad al-Ghumari, Sayyid Malik al-Àrabi al-Sanusi al-

Madani, Shaykh Muhammad Àli Murad Shami al-Madani, Àllamah Shareef

al-Haq Amjadi, Mufti Akhtar Raza Khan al-Azhari, Sayyid Ahmad Saèed

Kazimi, Muhadith-e-Kabir Dhiya al-Mustafa Qadiri, Àllamah Àbdul Haq

Bandyalawi and others.

Sayyid Abul Barakat Ahmad became the Spiritual Mentor (Murshid) of

Hazrat Sharaf and many other Shuyukh also gave him khilafat in various Sufi

pathways among them are: Àllamah Rayhan Raza who received it from Hujjat

al-Islam Hamid Raza and Mufti-e-Azam Hind Mustafa Raza Khan both of

whom received it from their father and from Sayyid Ahmad Nuri Barakati.

Shaykh Fadhl al-Rahman Madani son of Qutb-e-Madina Dhiya al-Din Madani

gave Hazrat Ijaza in his father’s silsilah. Among the others are: Sayyid Masùd



Ahmad Rizwi, Sayyid Muhammad Ameen Miya Barakati, Sayyid Ahmad `Ali

Rizwi, Sayyid Ahmad Ashraf Ashrafi Geelani, Khawajah Muhammad Sadiq of

Gulhar Kotli, `Allamah Shareef al-Haq Amjadi, Sayyid Muratib Shah andSayyid Na’eem Ashraf.

Hazrat’s Murshid: Sayyid Abul Barakat Ahmad Hazrat says in Shajarah Haiy Tariqat: “This needy of Allah was the head

teacher at Daar al-Ulum Islamiya Rahmaniya in Haripur Hazarah, when I

pondered about seeking a perfect murshid. After constant contemplation, I

chose Sayyid Sahib (Sayyid Abul Barakat Ahmad Qadiri of Lahore) who was a

handsome embodiment of knowledge and practice, and was also the Khalifa of the Imam of Ahl al-Sunnah; Mouwlana Shah Ahmad Raza Khan Barelwi. Thus,

I traveled to Lahore and asked him to accept my request to which he replied:“come the day after tomorrow”. This was a manner of the Mashayikh as they

would judge whether the seeker is a true one or not. Due to their extra grace

upon me, I was pretty frank therefore replied: “when a non-believer wants to

utter the shahadah, it must not be delayed and he must be taught it straight

away”, to which he remarked “la hawla wa la quwwata! What do you mean by

this?” I said: “I want to repent on your hands, and you are instructing me to

come a day after the following” upon hearing this he said “fine, so come to meat this instant” and thereafter took my pledge in the prestigious Rizwi Silsilah,

this was on the 16th of Muharram 1395h, 25th March 1970.

Similarly, I requested him to grant me permission in his chain of

transmission in Hadith, and recited some Hadiths of Tirmidhi before him. He

was extremely benevolent with me and honored me with it whilst documenting

my name on it with his own pen writing “My brother in the love of Allah,

Muhammad Abdul Hakim son of Mouwlana Allah-Ditta Sahib of Lahore”

Whereas Sayyid Sahib had a stringent procedure in giving his sanad[2].

Mouwlana Qadhi Muhammad Muzaffar Iqbal Rizwi, may Allah increase his

noble life, head of Jamia Nu`maniya of Lahore, once informed me that whenSayyid Sahib used to teach at the Dehli Gate Madrasah[3] he would give the

students who studied Hadith under him his Sanad certificate, but did not sign ituntil two or three years later! Upon my request, he also gave me Ijaza in

reciting Dala’il al-Khayrat. May Allah most High have mercy on him and be

pleased with him”[4]

Sayyid Hamdullah Jaan Afgani, a skilled teacher of Arabic grammar

who taught at Data Darbar for eighteen years, informed Hazrat Sharaf Sahib

Rahmatullahi alayh that Mouwlana Muhammad Jaan Sabir of Deerah Ismail

Khan used to study Hadith under Sayyid Abul Barakat Ahmad. In one of the



lessons, Sayyid Sahib said “whosoever studying Hadith does not see the

Messenger of Allah upon him be peace and blessings during his studies, should

consider his studies unaccepted”. Muhammad Jaan Sabir had not seen theMessenger of Allah yet he had been studying for nearly eight months. Oneafternoon, after his classes, Mouwlana Sabir went to his room that was directly

situated above Sayyid Sahibs, and sat their crying upon his loss and wept until

he fell asleep in that state in which his eyes were blessed with the vision of

Rasulullah (upon him be peace and blessings). From beneath, Sayyid Sahib

exclaimed: “Mouwlana Sabir! So have you now been blessed with the noble

vision? Congratulations!” “Yes! He was benevolent with me!” replied

Mouwlana Sabir. [5]

Sayyid Abul Barakat Ahmad was the son of the massive Muhadith andFaqih of Alwar who later migrated to Lahore, Sayyid Deedar Àli Shah Alwari.

Sayyid Abul Barakat completed several classical texts in various disciplines

with his father and graduated under Mouwlana Sayyid Muhammad Naèemudin

Muradabadi after having completed Qazi Mubarak, Hamdullah, al-Ufuq al-

Mubeen, Sadra, Sharh al-Aqa’id, books in Medicine and the six books of

Hadith with him in 1337h/1919. He thereafter completed the six books again

with his father and received Ijaza in them. In the year of his graduation, hetraveled to Bareily Shareef, India, with his father and they both took the Rizwi

Silsilah and absolute Ijaza[6] from the Unrivalled Imam, Shah Ahmad Raza

Khan (may Allah have mercy on them all). Sayyid Sahib remained in BareileyShareef for a period of time and practiced Ifta under him, this is why his

manner of writing has the same style as of the Great Imam of Bareily. In his

appearance and beauty, Sayyid Sahib was similar to Sayyid Àli Hussain

Ashrafi Kachouchawi who was called “Shabeeh-e-Gawth-e-Azam” by Imam

Ahmad Raza Khan in a Persian couplet.

Bear in mind that Sayyid Sahib’s Murshid in bayàh was Sayyid Àli

Hussain Ashrafi and talab and Khilafat was with Imam-e-Ahl-e-Sunnat ShahAhmad Raza Khan. Likewise, Sayyid Sahib’s father, Sayyid Deedar Àli Shah,

better known as “Sanad al-Muhaditheen” chief of Hadith masters, was aMureed of Shah Fadhl al-Rahman Muradabadi who was a student of Shah

Àbdul Àziz Dihlawi and Mureed and Khalifa of Shah Muhammad Afaq.

From this fact we learn the high status and prestigious rank of Imam AhmadRaza Khan that the leading Ulama would take Tariqa from him after they had

completed their studies.



I have recorded detailed chains of Hadith for the father and son in my

recent Arabic collection of chains of hadith of the Ahl al-Sunnah Ulama of the

subcontinent, titled “Fat’h al-Qawiy” published recently in Damascus.

My Relation with Hazrat Àllamah Àbdul Hakim Sharaf Qadiri’s affection towards me (May his

grave be filled with tranquility and light) was of a similar nature of his

Shaykh’s with him. I always considered him my spiritual father and Allah Most

High has poured immense love of his into my heart. His knowledge combined

with practice and humbleness made him shine out from among his peers. He

was an embodiment of Sunna and Taqwa. Hazrat never complained aboutdunya and lived a simple life, though he could have enjoyed the luxuries of this

life if he desired. I was told by an authentic source that Hazrat and his familyspent over 20 years in a small 2 bedroom flat provided by Jamia Nizamiya

when he taught there up until 2001!

In 2006, I was blessed to meet Hazrat in the month of Rabi` al-Awwal

for the third time, and many times thereafter at his home in Lahore, at his

Maktabah Qadiriya (Daata Darbar) and at the Madrasa of Mouwlana Àbdul

Gafoor. I met Hazrat twice before in the UK in 2001 once at the Imam AhmadRaza Conference in Bradford, having the memory of him sitting behind the

stage crying with his eyes lowered (and this was his state at most times), and

the second time was when he visited us at Hazrat Sultan Bahu Trust andexamined me in Fiqh, Bab al-Jana’iz from al-Ikhtiyaar.

Hazrat is the teacher of both of my teachers, Àllamah Rasul Bakhsh

Saèedi (founder of Madrasa Faizan-e-Rasul, Birmingham) from whom I took

Sarf, Nahw, Adab, Usul al-Fiqh, Fiqh, Usul al-Hadith, Hadith, Tafsir, Mantiq,

and Mufti Yar Muhammad Qadiri (senior teacher at Hazrat Sultan Bahu Trust,

Birmingham) with whom I studied major books in Tafsir, Balagah, Fiqh,

Aqa’id, Usul al-Fiqh, Falsafah and Mantiq.

Before I traveled to Pakistan in 2006, I had been in contact with Hazratvia telephone and had earned many of his duas supporting me to spread the

teachings of Ahl al-Sunnah. In my first conversation that I noted in my diary

dated 18th of December 2005 at 2pm I informed Hazrat that I am his GrandStudent and informed him of the Sunnaconnect projects to which he replied

“you are the sign of the acceptance of my efforts”. Hazrat said a similar

statement to Àllamah Rasul Bakhsh Saèedi, my teacher and Hazrat’s student,

over a telephone conversation regarding my stay in Lahore, as we finished

dhikr on a Thursday at the Madrasa of Mouwlana Àbdul Gafoor saying “I have



witnessed the signs of acceptance of my efforts in the likes of Monawwar

Ateeq”.

After several visits to Hazrat’s house and many days of suhbah andlearning various Dhikr with perseverance, I requested Hazrat to accept my talabin the prestigious Rizwi Silsilah. He asked about my bayàh and I informed him

that it was with my righteous father. He brought out his Ijazah and wrote in it

my name with his pen in the following manner “I give Ijazat and Khilafat to

Mouwalna Àllamah Monawwar Ateeq May Allah preserve him, son of

Mouwlana Muhammad Abdullah Ateeq Sahib May Allah prolong his life, from

Azad Kashmir, living in Birmingham, in the Qadiri Rizwi Barakati,

Naqshbandi Mujaddidi, Shadhili, Rifaì, and Ashrafi paths” I feel undeservingof these words and unworthy of the kindness of Hazrat Rahmatullahi alayh, but

believe they are a dua for me that will Insha Allah be accepted. He also gaveKhilafat and Ijaza to my Noble father Shaykhi wa sayyidi Muhammad

Abdullah Ateeq (may Allah prolong his life with health more ibadah). This was

on the 3rd of Rabi` al-Awwal 1427h.

As for Ijaza in Hadith and the entire Islamic sciences, I asked Hazrat to

kindly present it to me so I can be connected to the great luminaries of the Ahl

al-Sunnah through him, so he offered it to me and wrote “the pious sonMuhammad Monawwar Ateeq Rizwi may Allah- Most Blessed and Elevated-

employ him to spread the propagation of Islam” and this was a day before I

received Khilafat from him on 2nd Rabi` al-Awwal 1427h. This Ijaza isnumbered 937.

It was the mere love and enormous affection of Hazrat for me that during

my last visit to Lahore, he called me to his abode and deputised (tawkeel) me in

giving Ijaza of Hadith and in the Islamic Sciences on his behalf to the Ulama,

and penned this on his personalised letterhead with a beautiful wording. This

gift is dated 22nd Jamadi al-Uwla 1427h in Hazrat’s handwriting, Rahmatullah

alayh. The wording is:

هللا ی ی ھ n ھ

یی ھ هللا ی ی ی یی ی ھ ھ ی

یھ هللا ی ی .

ھ ی هللا هللا ی ھ ھ ھیھ هللا

ی ھ



ی ی

I received numerous Ijazas from Hazrat (Rahmatullahi alayh). Four of them Hazrat gave me directly and the others came to me recently through the

post by courtesy of my teacher and Hazrat’s dear colleague the Musnid of

Lahore Àli Ahmad Sindehlwi (May Allah prolong his life and extend his

benefit to all).

On one of my early visits in Rabi` al-Awwal, Hazrat gave me his revised

and edited manuscript on Hadith chains titled “al-Durr al-Manzum fi Asaneed

Bahr al-Ulum” by Muhammad Ateeq Ansari Lakhnouwi on the chains of

transmissions of Bahr al-Ulum Àbdul Àli Lackhnouwi[7]. He opened the last

two pages and told me to read from the manuscript. So I did, and it was anastounding account of Bahr al-Ulum’s meeting with the Noble Prophet (uponhim be pace and blessings). Here is the translation of the Arabic passage I

recited before Hazrat:

“Bahr al-Ulum’s bayàh: he gave his pledge directly on the hands of

Allah’s Messenger may Allah give him mercy and blessings, in consciousness

by meeting him through means of Sayyiduna Abu Bakr Siddique, and he used

to say “Abu Bakr is my means to Rasulullah”. The incident narrated by some of

his students among them is his son in law Mulla Àlaùddin, is as follows:

when he migrated from Lakhnouw to Shahjahanfur and settled there, he wasonce studying late night in the upper floor of his home as usual whilst his

students were busy in their studies in the lower floor, a handsome Arab man in

his old age who had a lot of presence around him appeared and asked about

Mouwlana. The students told him that he is in the upper floor so he went

upstairs and gave salam, Bahr al-Ulum replied with greetings and continued

studying. The old man said “do you not honour your guest?” Upon hearing this

Bahr al-Ulum closed his book and attended him. The man said, “Stand, and

accompany me, for somebody great is calling you”. So he did, and the man led

him to a garden, and under a tree he saw a horseman who had veiled his face.

Bahr al-Ulum was overwhelmed by the awe of this person. Without removing

his veil, the horseman asked: “do you know the Satan cannot resemble the form

of your Prophet may Allah send blessings upon him?” Bahr al-Ulum replied:

“that is established in an authentic Hadith”. Then the horseman asked: “have

you memorised the description (hilya) of your Prophet may Allah send peace

upon him?” Bahr replied: “yes”. The Horseman removed the veil from his

noble face and said: “I am your Prophet, and this is Abu Bakr”. ThenRasulullah placed his mantle on the ground and they all sat on it and he ordered

Bahr to take bayàh so he stretched his hand to the noble hand and done



so.[8] One of the students had also followed in secrecy and witnessed this event

from far without being noticed. Upon returning to his home, the student was

eager to know and asked about this unusual event after Fajr prayer. Bahr al-Ulum denied informing anyone but the student insisted and indicated towardssome of the things he saw. Bahr al-Ulum told him of the incident, the student

regretted over his loss and wept over the failure to attain this enormous gift.

Whenever somebody insisted to take this pathway of bayàh from Bahr al-

Ulum he would give it and would say “Àbdul Àli took it from Siddique al-

Akbar who took it from the Messenger of Allah, may Allah send peace and

blessings upon him”. And great benevolence and enormous gift is not given to

except the major Gnostics, and there is no doubt in the authenticity of thisbayàh, since the consensus of the Awliya is established on this and the reports

of this kind are mass-transmitted. The author of Manahil said: “this consensusaffirms the events when he saw the souls of the martyrs in many nights,

mounted on horses meeting the people of this dunya and speaking with

them”[9].”

Hazrat said: “Subhanllah! Loot at this amazing incident!” thereafter he

taught me a wazifa to meet Rasulullah upon him be peace and blessings, which

he received from Muhadith-e-Azam Pakistan Mouwlana Sardar Ahmadrahmatullahi alayh.

Allah Allah! This was Hazrat’s love for his servant.

When I visited Hazrat on the 8th of Jamadi al-Uwla 1427h at his home,

he gifted me his newly released book titled “Muqaddimaat-e-Rizwiyyah”

collated by Mouwlana Abdusattar Tahir Mas’udi in which the latter collected

all of Hazrat’s forwards written to books pertaining to the great Imam of India;

Imam Ahmad Raza Khan. I remember Hazrat was extremely joyful on that day

and took me through it smiling, may Allah shower mercy on his grave. In its

front cover he wrote the following passage in Arabic

ھ ھ هللا ی هللا ی ی ی ی هللا .

ھ ی 8.ی1427

It was time for Salat al-Maghrib and Hazrat instructed me to lead the

prayer. I, feeling awfully uncomfortable to stand before the Great Imam of

Shariah and Tariqa of his era, hesitated from this but this was not the first time

he ordered me to lead so I stepped ahead since “command preponderates



etiquette”. He would instruct me to lead even if his student or son was praying

with us and a couple of times he lead the prayer himself. It was Hazrat’s

spiritual aid that lead me to the mat ahead and encouraged me to reciteotherwise I never attempt to take lead even on a daily basis.

After prayer, Hazrat performed dhikr and taught me it whilst I sat in a

specific way as he placed his hand on my heart (Lateefa al-Qalb) for

approximately twenty minutes. Hazrat’s servant and student who stayed at his

house, Riyadh al-Din of India, accompanied me. On completing the dhikr

session Hazrat said, “I was once sitting with a scholar when Mushtaq (Hazrat’s

son) came up to me and complained of a severe headache. The Shaykh askedfor some water, recited a few words and blew in it, ordering Mushtaq to drink

from it. After a sip, the shaykh asked “has the pain finished?” I sitting besideshim remarked astonishingly “what did you recite?” he replied “I recited these

words constantly 125, 000 times in one masjid for one and a half months”.

After narrating this incident Hazrat said “SubhanAllah! These are the blessings

of performing dhikr with persistence and especially the Divine names of Allah.

If one has permission from Shuyukh and is persistent in dhikr, he reaps all of its

benefits.”

Following Dhikr, Hazrat ordered Riyadh al-Din, to read out the

masterful Persian couplets of Imam Ahmad Raza Khan in rejoice of the birth of

Sayyid Ibrahim Miyan Marahrawi’s son, and their excellent elaboratingcommentary by himself published towards the end of “Muqaddimat-e-

Rizwiyya”. The whole poem is written compromising terms used in the

nomenclature of Mantiq and is extremely difficult to understand. Hazrat Sahib

verbally commented on all of it and mentioned that he made istikhara and

special dua for spiritual opening for many days before he was given the

meanings of the poem! Hazrat’s Urdu commentary and understanding of this

difficult poem is a clear sign of his mastery in the rational sciences. The reason

why Imam Ahmad Raza wrote the poem in this manner was because he wasteaching Mantiq when he heard of the good news of the birth of this son, from

Balgram, as he mentions in the opening couplets. The poem consists of termssuch as wadha and hamal with their abbreviations (jeem and baa, both with

long madds), Shakl, Qiyas Iqtirani, Natijah, Tasdeeq, Hujja, Aks Mustawi.

Hazrat loved his students equally to his sons. He considered them his

spiritual progeny and honoured them, illustrated kindness towards them and

always offered them Nasihah. Once Hazrat came into the room around Zuhr

time smiling and said “Aisha says something” Aisha is Hazrat’s grand

daughter, the child of Dr Mumtaz the eldest son, and then called her and told



her to repeat what she said. Aisha in a shy tone repeated “I will take Munawwar

Chachu to Madina with me” (chachu is an affectionate way of saying uncle in

Urdu) Hazrat continued smiling and made Dua for the acceptance of this word.On my numerous visits to his home, or via telephone, Hazrat reminded me of the words of Aisha.

When my marriage date had been decided, I invited Hazrat to my

wedding in Kashmir. He apologised and I continually insisted that he should

come and I ensured the comfort of his journey but Hazrat apologised due to the

length of the journey (approximately 7 hours by car). After my marriage,

Hazrat invited me and my wife to his home in Lahore, to compensate formissing the wedding, and we remained as guests in his home for two nights, but

seemed like his children. He was tremendously pleased of our visit and madenumerous supplications for us.

I have lost count on how many times Hazrat taught me Dhikr (talqeen).

It must have been around fifteen times. The first time he placed his hand on my

heart and taught me the special manner of sitting in Dhikr to keep the satanic

influence away, Hazrat sang many couplets of Shaykh Attar, Jami and Rumi in

Persian. I got into a state of ibtihaal whilst Hazrat was crying and singing in afrail tune. This was at the Madrasah of his dear friend, the servant of Ustadh

Àta Muhammad Bandyalwi; Mouwlana Àbdul Gafoor, on the day he invited

us for food. My father in-law was present in this sitting.

Before making dhikr, Hazrat gave me the following nasiha, “the Ulama

must master three things:

1. Oratory and publics sermons; this is important so that they can enjoin

people in Good and Forbid Evil. But, words will diffuse into thin air and they

have a short term effect on the laymen.

2. Authoring and writing; they must not ignore this important area of their duty.Words that are lost in thin air during sermons can be preserved by ink in books.

3. Dhikr and spirituality; the Ulama of the outward sciences usually ignore thisaspect and remain in the conflicts of qeela wa qaal. Your realisation and

proximity with Allah is the goal of your knowledge. You must practice Dhikr

to bring life to the secrets hidden in your chest (referring to the Lata’if; Qalb,Ruh, Sirr, Khafi & Akhafa) when they are awake, then the entire creation

attaches to you, and you attach to the throne in the realm of Light. Do you not

ponder how many years it has been since Daata Àli Hujwayri’s demise? But

his shrine is attended all day and night, even the pigeons live on its roof, it is



because his Lata’if are alive and are very powerful due to immense practice of

Dhikr”.

On another occasion at his abode, Hazrat explained the details of Lata’if,their colours and secrets to me, and illustrated and taught me the five manners

of performing Dhikr that are not enclosed to the public and are usually

discussed with signs among people of Tariqah.

His manner of teaching Dhikr was powerful and one would be awed by

it. He sat in front of me in the same manner that is cross legged, as I held tight

“rag-e-keemas” with my right toe, placing his two fingers the index and middlefinger on my heart “latifa-e-Qalb” and holding my crossed hands with his left

hand or my right knee moving it rapidly, chanting Dhikr as I would look at hisforehead. Hazrat once explained that there was a golden secret in this manner

and later disclosed it to me. Then Hazrat would sing couplets on tawba and then

shout “Huw Huw Huw” throwing a hand full of thin air at my heart, and crying

out “Ya Sayyid Abul Barakat!” Alhamdulillah, I took this from of Dhikr on

every visit and in most of my sittings with him, and on my last but one visit in

2006 Hazrat instructed me to start this form of Dhikr on Thursdays or Mondays

with a circle of true seekers and told me that the doors of blessings had beenopened for me.

I mentioned Hazrat’s passionate singing. Hazrat was a teacher of therational arts such as Hikma with all of its subsidiary sciences, Mantiq, modern

philosophy, and later he abandoned its teaching and diverted his attention

towards teaching the mother books of Hadith. Hazrat was an Uslui

(methodologist), Mutakallim (theologian), Faqih (jurist), Muhadith (master of

Hadith) and Mufassir (Master of Quranic Exegesis) of the top rank. After

having taught for approximately forty years, he secluded himself in his home

where he rested his tired and ill body and occupied all of his time in `Ibadah,

Dhikr, and writing when he was well. Hazrat was a persistent reader of Dala’ilal-Khayrat since the time his Murshid; Sayyid Abul Barakat Ahmad Qadiri

gave him permission and the Noble Qur’an on a daily basis. His spiritualityincreased immensely in the latter part of his life due to these reasons and

therefore would sit singing Persian couplets of vast meanings compromising

remorse and turning to Allah, humility and shame before Allah, munajat suchas the following verses which Hazrat jotted down in my personal diary in his

handwriting

ی



یی ھی

ی ی ی ی ی ی ی

ی ی (by Mouwlana Jami)

ی ھ ی

ی ی ھ

ی ی ھ(by Shaykh `Attar)

And other couplets:

ی ھیھ ی ی ی ھ ھ

ی ھ

ھ

On one occasion, Hazrat gave me the manuscript of Awa’il Sunbuliyya,

a text in Hadith, and told me he had completed sama` for it from a scholar in

Makkah who gave him a copy of the original. Upon hearing this, I wasoverwhelmed with joy and eager to recite it before him and hear some of it

from him. As I held it in my hand without placing it on the table, Hazrat

realised what I intended. After a short while, he said: “put the book aside. You

must occupy yourself only and only in the Dhikr I taught you”. I later realised

that Hazrat wanted me to focus more on my inward as I had always restricted

myself to words and texts. He knew I must purify my inner self for these

Hadith to give their fruits. Even though I did not attain the sama` of the Awa’il



from him, he did not deprive me of its Ijaza and recently sent a signed Ijaza for

it through Shaykh Àli Ahmad Sindehlwi signed by the latter too.

Hazrat was graceful upon me and also narrated to me Hadith al- Rahmahwithout my prior request.

Just before Hazrat’s demise, I spoke to him over the telephone and

informed him that I had completed the transcription of the unpublished

endorsements of the Ulama of Shaam on al-Dawla al-Makkiyya and that I sent

him a copy of the published book through Mouwlana Akram Azhari, head of

Bhera Sharif Branch in Lahore. Upon hearing this great news of futuh andsuccess, Hazrat was delighted and made Dua for the betterment of my dunya

and akhira. This was the last Dua I heard from Hazrat’s mouth and my chesthas secured it as my ears heard it. This Arabic research is titled “Taqareez

Ulama al-Shaam” and it received a forward by Dr Mumtaz Sadeedi, Hazrat’s

son and Hazrat himself dictated some of it to me over the phone and the rest of

it was dictated to me before him.

May Allah Ta`la reward him for His love, affection, and charity and join us

with him in the company of Rasulullah in the hereafter, upon him be peace andblessings.

Writings & TranslationsHazrat is the author of numerous books. His commentary on “al-Mirqat”

in the principles of Mantiq (Logic) is renowned in student and scholarly circles.

Hazrat informed me that he was recently working on three things, a translation

of the Quràn in Urdu that was different to other translations as it disclosed all

pronouns by mentioning the subjects in brackets, a commentary on the Divine

names of Allah and he was using a rare epistle on the topic by the great Indian

Muhadith who died at sea Muhammad Irtidha Àli Khan al-Safawi[10], and a

commentary on Sahih al-Bukhari.

Hazrat’s translation of Imam Fakhrudin Razi’s exegesis on the NobleQuran titled “al-Tafsir al-Kabir”, translation of Àllamah Mahdi al-Fasi’s

Persian commentary on Dala’il al-Khayrat titled “Matali` al-Masarrat” and

Urdu translation of Àllamah Fadh al-Haq’s Persian text “Tahqeeq al-Fatwa” inrefutation of Shah Ismail, are three other notable works.

Hazrat’s interests in Hadith transmissions increased in the latter part of

his life. It seems that this change occurred after his first visit to Egypt when

over one hundred Ulama and students took Ijazas from him. Thus, in 2005, he



authored his own Thabat titled “al-Jawahir al-Galiya min al-Asaneed al-Aaliya”

in Arabic in which he penned the details of his Shuyukh in the various Islamic

Sciences and their channels of transmission. Hazrat instructed me to proof readthis work, re-organise it and publish it in more detail. I believe my Shaykh’sspiritual attention is towards me to make this affair and the other

responsibilities given to me easy.

Among his other writings, Hazrat’s major concern in authoring was

highlighting the blameworthy acts and practices that had creped into the

Minbars, prayer mats and sermons of the Ahl al-Sunnah. He warned of

narrating extremely weak and fabricated reports in Miraj and Mawlid talks, andstressed that people had lost adab with Allah Most High in their worship, Duas

and sermons. His excellent and late work on this topic is “khuda kuw yaad karpiyarey” three quarters of which he himself recited to me.

Hazrat had an excellent style of penning biographies and is renowned for

collating memoirs of the Ulama Ahl al-Sunnah in Urdu and Arabic. Hazrat

once showed me a large document in which he penned Arabic biographies of

the Sunni Ulama of the subcontinent in alphabetical order and had not finished

with alif! He said he wrote these for them to be published in an encyclopedia inJordan. Hazrat instructed me to continue this work from where he had left off.

He also insisted that Dr Mumtaz Sadeedi shall proof read this work.

Alhamdulillah, I penned three detailed biographies in Arabic for Muhadith-e-Wasiy Ahmad Suwrti, Sayyid Aal-e-Rasul Marahrawi and Sayyid Abul

Hussain Nuri, may Allah have mercy on all of them, and sent them to Hazrat,

he endorsed the work, was glad of the start and prayed for its completion.

Hazrat was also excellent in reading manuscripts and indexing classical

books. On one of my visits, Hazrat gave me his copy of the Thabat of Bahr al-

Ulum Àbdul Àli Lakhnouwi in Arabic that he had proof read and solved

ambiguities of its original text, and instructed me to work on it along with theThabat of Shah Na’eem al-Din Muradabadi and al-Nuru wa al-Baha by Sayyid

Abul Hussain Nuri and publish it with footnotes. All of these are manuscriptsthat Hazrat gave to me to work on. Books such as al-Nibras (sharh of sharh al-

Aqaìd) and al-Ta`leeq al-Mujalli (a marginal note on Munya al-Musalli) of

Muhadith-e-Surti are indexed by Hazrat. Both of these texts are very delicateand are annotations of mother books.

Meetings with Arab Ulama Àllamah Àbdul Hakim Sharaf Qadiri met several Arab Ulama. In his

last visit to the Haramayn during the first days of Ramadhan 2006, he met with



Shaykh Muhammad Àwwama, Sayyid Malik al-Àrabi Sanusi and many other

Ulama. In his earlier travels, he visited Sayyid Muhammad Àlawi Maliki

Makki at his home in Makka for the first time where Hazrat delivered a khutbaat a Mawlid. Sayyid Muhammad Àlawi had great love for Hazrat and met himin Jamia Naèemiya when he went to Lahore and thirdly in Karachi. Hazrat told

me that he took Ijaza in Hadith from Sayyid Muammad Àlawi on the second

meeting in Lahore. Hazrat said “I was sitting near him in the ceremony at

Na’eemiya. He placed something in the Ijaza[11] and gave it to me. Later, upon

opening the Ijaza, I saw a few hundred dollars and was shocked by the

generosity of the Sayyid!” Hazrat narrated this incident and smiled. “Look at

the akhlaq of the Sunni Ulama in the Arabs. It is very high and they areexcellent examples” remarked Hazrat. Thereafter Hazrat praised the akhlaq of

Sayyid Yusuf Hashim Rifaì who was a dear friend of his, and encouraged meto adopt the top akhlaq of these Ulama.

Àllamah Àbdul Hakim Sharaf Qadiri travelled to Egypt twice to meet

the Ulama of Azhar the last of the two journeys was in 2004 when his elder son

Dr Mumtaz received his PhD from al-Azhar on the Arabic poetry of Mouwlana

Fadhl al-Haq al-Khayrabadi and his services in Arabic literature.

On one of my visits I asked Hazrat to spare some time to visit Damascus

and he was delighted by this news. We agreed that later this year or latest next

year, we must visit the schools and Ulama of Shaam with Dr Mumtaz and thecosts of two persons will be covered by Sunnaconnect. On one of my later

telephone conversations last year, Dr Mumtaz stressed that Hazrat wanted to

travel to Damascus but unfortunately this programme of ours was delayed and

an opportunity has been missed, and Allah knows best.

The Demise… Hazrat passed away to the mercy of his Lord on Saturday 1st September,

19th Sha`ban 1428h, at 2pm at his home in Lahore. His funeral took place thesame night at Daata Darbar at 10pm, filled by scholars and students of the

Sacred Deen who traveled from different parts of the subcontinent upon hearingthe sudden demise, and was buried besides his home, in Lalah Zaar Phase 2,

Thouwkar Lahore, at midnight. The area of land in which Hazrat is buried in

was the area on which Hazrat was intending to establish a Madrasah. It wasrecently agreed by the Ulama and Hazrat’s sons that Hazrat’s shrine will be

situated in the new building of the Madrasah.

Hazrat’s second son, my beloved brother Àllamah Mushtaq Ahmad

informed me two days after the funeral prayer that Hazrat had indirectly



informed them of his demise recently. He said “we wanted to fix the date of

Nisaar Ahmad’s wedding (the youngest son who takes care of the Maktabah

Qadiriya) as soon as possible after Ramadhan. We insisted that the marriageshould be finalised for Sunday 21st of October, a week after Eid. Hazrat alsostressed that the marriage must take place as soon as possible but continually

denounced this date and told us we will not be celebrating on that date!” Allahu

Akbar! Now, Hazrat’s fatihah and major Khatm is fixed on this date.

Hazrat Àbdul Hakim Sharaf Qadiri has left behind tens of thousands of

students, some of whom are founders of Islamic schools of learning; others are

senior teachers and lecturers at Islamic Universities and tens of thousands of disciples and devotees. This is my story of joy and sadness both of which came

to me at once, and there are many other accounts too, but this one is thepersonal account of a child who lost his father.

May Allah have mercy on him and be pleased with him, reward him on

behalf of the Deen and the Umma the best of rewards, and give his family,

students and murideen patience in this tremendously painful time, Ameen.

Please recite fatiha for Hazrat every time you read this account.

Dog at the door of Sharaf,

Monawwar AteeqLuton, UK

06/09/07

Footnotes [1] Hazrat in al-Jawahir al-Gaaliya mentioned that he served Ustaaz Àta

Muhammad and accompanied him for nearly four years (from1958 onwards) in

which he studied Nahw, Balagah, Mantiq, Falsafah, Hayàt, Kalam, Handsah,

Fiqh, Usul, Munazarah, Tafsir Jalalayn, Tafsir Baydhawi, Mishkat al-Masabihand Jami` Tirmidhi.

[2] The scholars who combined between diraya and riwaya are found to havestrict policies in giving ijazas. Sayyid Ìsaam Àrrar Hassani of Damascus, may

Allah most High increase his life with good health and more obedience, told me

and Shaykh Gibril Haddad, on our visit to his abode in 2006 that SayyidMuhammad Makki Kattani gave him ijaza after seventeen years of continuous

suhbah and studies under him in Makka and thereafter in Damascus.

Alhamdulillah, he recited the entire ijaza aloud to us which is framed in an

extra-large frame in the handwriting of the Shaykh. This is also the reason why



the Ulama of Ahl al-Sunnah of the Subcontinent are not renowned for giving

ijazas merely based on riwaya or barakah.

[3] Old Hizb al-Ahnaf (qadeem) in Lahore which later moved next to DaataDarbar and remains there today[4] Shajarah Haey Tariqat, p10 -12

[5] Shajarah haiy Tariqat p 14-15

[6] An incomplete photocopy of it is in print in Hazrat Sharaf Sahib’s “Tazkira

Ulama-e-Ahle-Sunnat”.

[7] He is the author of many unrivalled books. “Fawatih al-Rahamuwt”, the

commentary on Musallam al-Thubuwt is his renowned work. He is among

Imam Ahmad Raza Khan’s great grand teachers and Bahr al-Ulum’s fatherMulla Nizamduin was the founder of the renowned Dars-e-Nizami course.

Imam Ahmad Raza penned a five hundred paged annotation on Fawatih that Ihave a copy of in manuscript form, Alhamdulillah.

[8] Hazrat Sharaf Rahmatullah alah in a note mentioned that this incident

occurred in a garden of Rampur.

[9] Allahu Akbar! Bahr al-Ulum would see the souls of people who are in their

sleeps meeting the souls of the shuhada, in a state of consciousness. Ibn al-

Qayyim al-Jawziyya has mentioned in Kitab al-Ruh that this is true and souls

do meet in this manner.[10] One of the shuyukh of Sayyid Ahmad bin Zayni Dahlan in Hadith.

[11] I think he said Ijaza, or may have said an envelope.

from: http://www.scholarspen.blogspot.com/

My Time in the Company of Allama Muhammad Abdul Hakeem Sharaf Qadri

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