Khan Bahadur Sheikh Sadiq Ali Ansari

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Sheikh Sadiq Ali was a Deputy Collector in the Frontier District of Upper Sind, Vazir Khairpur State and was also a Muslim Elected Member of the Bombay Legislative Council for three terms from Sindh along with Rai Bahadur Udhwdas Tarachand.

He belonged to the Ansari family, which is originally from Madina, Arabia. From where they first migrated to Herat, Afghanistan, then to Saharanpur, U.P., India, and from there to Shikarpur, Sindh, Pakistan.

Now the family lives in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. The Family’s antecede is from Khalid ibn Zaid, better known as Hazrat Abu Ayyub al-Ansari. At whose house Prophet Muhammad had resided for seven months when he had migrated along with his companions from Mecca to Madina. And hence the family was given the distinction of “Ansar”, which became their tribal name afterwards, as they gave protection to Prophet Muhammad and assisted him in his mission ever after and composed his army. The word “Ansar” means those who help and befriend.

Ansar were originally Jews or Bani Israel. Their great ancestor, Shumul, was a physician and councilor in the service of King Tubba, who was king of Yeman. Tubba during his reign had marched into Madina, Arabia along with four hundred physicians and councilors of whom Shumul was the chief. They all had told the king that they intended to settle there as Prophet Muhammad would immigrate to that place and they wished to be reckoned amongst his followers.

Hence Tubba wrote a letter declaring his embracing Islam in anticipation and deliverd it to Shumul with the instructions that the letter be treated as a legacy to be deliverd in succession until it is handed over to Prophet Muhammad by one of his descendants. The letter was delivered to Prophet Muhammad one thousand and fifty three years later by the writer’s great ancestor Khalid ibn Zaid (Hazrat Abu Ayyub).

After Shumul our ancestors were devided into two sub-divisions, called;

1. Al Khazraj

2. Al Aws

Hazrat Ayyub was descended from Khazraj. He died at Constantinople, Turkey in A.H. 51, 688 CE and was buried outside the city. His mausoleum is well know as all the muslim emperors of Turkey performed their coronation on succession there.

Sheikh is not a tribe, but a term of respect applied to men specially of high literary attainment and religious sanctity. Thus Ansari’s are called Sheikh simply out of respect due to their high descent and early conversion to Islam.

There are many families of Ansar who live in Saharanpur, Karnal and Panipat Districts of INDIA, where they had settled in the reign of the Afghan kings, as one of their ancestors, Hazrat Ubaidullah Ahrar was the Amir of Herat and the head of the religious order of Nakshbandi.