Fazal Ali Qureshi

Fazal Ali Qureshi Naqshbandi
Born Daud Khel, Punjab, Pakistan
Died 28 November 1935 = 1 Ramadan 1354 AH
Miskeenpur, Punjab, Pakistan
Region Islamic scholar/Sufi
School Sunni Islam, Hanafi, Sufi, Naqshbandi

Khwaja Ghareeb Nawaz Mawlana Pir Fazal Ali Shah Qureshi (Urdu: پیر فضل علی قریشی‎) was an Islamic scholar and the leading Naqshbandi shaikh of colonial India in the early twentieth century. He was born to Murad Ali Shah in 1270 AH (1853 or 1854) in Daud Khel, Punjab, and died at 84 in the first night of Ramadan 1354 AH (28 November 1935) and was buried at Miskeenpur shareef, district Muzaffargarh, Punjab.[1]

Tariqat

He was a shaikh of Naqshbandi Sufi order. He first went to Khwaja Muhammad Usman Damani for Ba'yah, but he was too old to take new followers. So he took the oath of allegiance with Sayyad Laal Shah Hamdani who was a khalifa of Khwaja Usman. After the death of his shaikh, he then did second oath of allegiance with the son and successor of Khwaja Usman, Khwaja Sirajuddin Naqshbandi and received Ijazah and Khilafat from him.

Tabligh (Preaching)

He established the first spiritual center (dargah/Khanqah) named Faqirpur shareef in 1892 AH in district Muzaffargarh, Punjab. Due to hard-to-reach location of Faqirpur, he established another spiritual center named Miskeenpur shareef in the same district, near Shahar Sultan. He lived there for the rest of his life and was buried there.

His biographers have written that the number of days he spent in traveling for preaching, was greater than the days he spent at home. He traveled to many places of Sindh and Punjab, and also traveled to (current day) India for multiple times. He followed Hanafi school of law, and avoided the local schools of thought in India namely Deobandi Barelvi, rather followed the Naqshbandi school in all matters.[2]

Deobandi school

Mazar at Rahmatpur.
Shrine of Pir Fazal Ali Qureshi at Miskeenpur

There are conflicting accounts from the shaikh's biography about his following the Deobandi branch of the Hanafi school of thought. Many of his followers follow this school and claim that the shaikh himself followed it. But there are others who claim that the shaikh never followed the Deobandi school, rather merely visited the Deoband Islamic school for preaching Islam and Naqshbandi tariqah. This difference of opinion is even evident in the immediate family of Pir Qureshi, where some of his grandsons follow the Deobandi school while others follow the shaykh himself and do not affiliate to the Deoband.

Pir Qureshi and scholars of Deoband

Mawlana Abdul Malik writes in Tajalliyat that once the shaykh was in madrasah of Deoband, and at the time of Zuhr prayer, Qari Muhammad Tayyab came to lead the congregation. He had covered his head with a cap. After the prayer, the Shaykh said "Lack of following the great Sunnah even in the center of learning?", pointing to the lack of following the Sunnah of Amama (turban) during prayer. At this, Qari sahib asked someone to bring the Amama and put it near the place of Imam, so whoever would lead the congregation, would take that and place it on the head.[3]

In the same book, Mawlana Siddiqi narrates that the mentioned scholar Qari Muhammad Tayyab was indeed too happy to see the shaykh and invited him at his home for food. Pir Qureshi accepted it and visited him. When the shaykh was leaving from his home, Qari Tayyab, out of pleasure and deep respect, helped the shaykh put on his shoes.[3] This is a sign of deep esteem and respect in Sufism, and shows esteem the scholars of Deoband gave to the shaykh.

Another famous Deobandi scholar, Syed Ata Ullah Shah Bukhari was also devoted to the shaykh. Once he was traveling and passed near the village of shaykh and visited him. Pir Qureshi was ploughing his farm at the time. When Syed Bukhari met him and requested for praying for him, the shaykh taught him the Zikr-e-Qalbi (the remembrance of heart, the first lesson of Naqshbandi Sufi order). Syed Ata'ullah narrates that his heart immediately started doing this Zikr. From that time, Syed Bukhari was deeply devoted to the shaykh and is reported to have met him multiple times.[2]

Beliefs

Many of his followers maintain that Pir Qureshi believed in plain Sunni beliefs and did not follow any of the offshoots of Sunni Islam in India. Following points from the Malfuzat of Pir Mitha, who was one of his chief Khulafa, assert this idea.

Shaykh Fazal Ali himself built a covered room meant to be his final burial place, and told this to Pir Mitha and Mawlana Abdul Sattar (brothers and khulafa of Pir Qureshi) and asked them to bury him there. At the time of death, Mawlana Abdul Sattar was there and he told the people the Shaykh's will, so they buried him there. This is in contradiction to the Deobandi rulings that the grave must not be covered.[4]

Pir Fazal Ali attended the Urs of Sufi saints of India and the gatherings of Mawlid. This also is in contradiction to the Deobandi doctrine that the practice of Urs is bid‘ah. The most famous is his attending the Urs of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer, India, where the shaykh not only attended the Urs but also listened to the qawwali (sung with music) which is prohibited in the Deobandi doctrine. Though the shaykh himself never listened to the music neither allowed his followers, he listened to the Qawwali only due to the love of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti Ajmeri.

He also openly proclaimed and would call upon Muhammad saying Ya-Rasulullah which is also evident from his biography and the Naat written by him

Shaykh Qureshi also believed that making the tombs at the shrines of Sufi saints is a righteous practice, and also believed in covering the graves of saints with embroidered clothes, a practice common on most of the Sufi shrines. Deobandi scholars strictly prohibit these practices.

In short he was an ashiq e rasool, a Sufi and a Sunni (Ahl e Sunnah wal jamaah) Scholar

Spiritual chain of succession

Pir Fazal Ali Qureshi belongs to the Mujaddidi order of Sufism, which is the main branch of Naqshbandi Sufi tariqah. His spiritual lineage goes to Muhammad, through Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi, the Mujaddid of eleventh Hijri century. The complete lineage is as under:[5]

  1. Sayyadna Muhammad d.11AH, buried Madinah SA (570/571 - 632 CE)
  2. Sayyadna Abu Bakr Siddiq d.13AH, buried Madinah
  3. Sayyadna Salman al-Farsi d.35AH buried Madaa'in
  4. Imam Qasim ibn Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr d.107AH buried Madinah.
  5. Imam Jafar Sadiq (after which moves to Iran) d 148AH buried Madinah.
  6. Shaikh Bayazid Bastami d 261AH buried Bistaam, Iraq (804 - 874 CE).
  7. Shaikh Abul Hassan Kharqani d 425AH buried Kharqaan, Iran.
  8. Shaikh Abul Qasim Gurgani d.450AH buried Gurgan, Iran.
  9. Shaikh Abu Ali Farmadi (after which moves to Turkmenistan) d 477AH buried Tous, Khorasan, Iran.
  10. Khwaja Abu Yaqub Yusuf Hamadani d 535AH buried Maru, Khorosan, Iran.
  11. Khwaja Abdul Khaliq Ghujdawani d 575AH buried Ghajdawan, Bukhara, Uzbekistan.
  12. Khwaja Arif Reogari d 616AH buried Reogar, Bukhara, Uzbekistan.
  13. Khwaja Mahmood Anjir-Faghnawi d 715AH buried Waabakni, Mawralnahar.
  14. Shaikh Azizan Ali Ramitani d 715AH buried Khwaarizm, Bukhara, Uzbekistan.
  15. Shaikh Muhammad Baba Samasi d 755AH buried Samaas, Bukhara, Uzbekistan.
  16. Shaikh Sayyid Amir Kulal d 772AH buried Saukhaar, Bukhara, Uzbekistan.
  17. Shaikh Muhammad Baha'uddin Naqshband d 791AH buried Qasr-e-Aarifan, Bukhara, Uzbekistan (1318–1389 CE).
  18. Shaikh Ala'uddin Attar Bukhari, buried Jafaaniyan, Mawranahar, Uzbekistan.
  19. Shaikh Yaqub Charkhi, d 851AH buried Charkh, Bukhara, Uzbekistan.
  20. Shaikh Ubaidullah Ahrar, d 895AH buried Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
  21. Shaikh Muhammad Zahid Wakhshi, d 936AH buried Wakhsh, Malk Hasaar
  22. Shaikh Durwesh Muhammad, d 970AH buried Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
  23. Shaikh Muhammad Amkanaki, (after which moves to India) d 1008AH buried Akang, Bukhara, Uzbekistan.
  24. Shaikh Muhammad Baqi Billah Berang, d 1012AH buried Delhi, India.
  25. Shaikh Ahmad Faruqi Sirhindi, d 1034AH buried Sarhand, India (1564–1624 CE)
  26. Muhammad Masum Sirhindi, d 1079AH buried Sarhand, India.
  27. Muhammad Saifuddin Faruqi Mujaddidi, d 1096AH buried Sarhand, India
  28. Hafiz Muhammad Mohsin
  29. Sayyid Nur Muhammad Badayuni, d.1135AH
  30. Mirza Mazhar Jan-e-Janaan, d.1195AH
  31. Abdullah Dahlawi, alias Shah Ghulam Ali Dehlavi, d.1240AH
  32. Shaikh Abu-Saeed Faruqi Mujaddidi, buried in Dehli, India, d.1250AH
  33. Shaikh Ahmed Saeed Faruqi Mujaddidi, buried in Madinah, d.1277AH
  34. Khwaja Dost Muhammad Qandhari, Musa Zai Sharif, d.1284AH
  35. Khwaja Muhammad Usman Damani, Musa Zai Sharif, d.1314AH
  36. Sayyad Laal Shah Hamdani, Hamdan, Punjab, d.1323AH
  37. Khwaja Muhammad Sirajuddin, Musa Zai Sharif, d.1333AH
  38. Pir Fazal Ali Qureshi, Miskeenpur, district Muzaffargarh, Punjab, Pakistan, d.1935

Notable Khulafa

Successor

The current successor or sajjada nasheen at khanqah naqshbandia fazlia miskeenpur sharif is Maulana Muhammad Shah Qureshi sahib. He is the son of Maulana Kaleemullah Shah sahib who was the son-in-law of Pir Qureshi and was affiliated with Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Abbasi Madni. Maulana Muhammad Shah Sahib received Ijazah of Naqshbandi tariqah from Maulana Kaleemullah Shah Sahib.

He is said to have about 66 Khulafa, many of whom became prominent shaikhs after his demise. The most famous of them was Khwaja Abdul Ghaffar Naqshbandi Fazali.[6] Born at Jalalpur-Pirwala near Mutan, he traveled to Sindh on the command of his shaikh, and later migrated to Rahmatpur, Larkana, Sindh. He had more than a hundred Khulafa. He died in 1964 and was buried in Rahmatpur, Larkana. He himself had about 143 Khulafa, and was succeeded by Khwaja Allah Bakhsh Abbasi alias Sohna Saeen, whose son, Khwaja Muhammad Tahir is currently living and a leading shaikh of Naqshbandi Sufi order in Pakistan.

Khwaja Abdul Ghaffar and his brother Khwaja Abdul Sattar were both Khulafa of Pir Qureshi. Pir Qureshi once told Khwaja Abdul Ghaffar that I have never given Khilafat (Ijazah) to any two brothers before. You belong to such a family that if your elder brother (Mawlana Muhammad Ashraf) and your father (Mawlana Yar Muhammad) were alive, I would have given Khilafat to both of them.[4]

Another one of his most prominent, The youngest and the last living Khalifa/successor was Ali Murtaza (1907 - 1988) of Gadai Dera Ghazi Khan Pakistan, Pir Ali Murtaza was also given khilafat in the four Main silsila's by Fazal Ali Qureshi, He was the son of a great scholar the Shaikh ul Hadith of Bhopal and Hyderabad Deccan namely Molana Muhammad Hussain Saheb, a very good friend of Pir Qureshi too. Once Fazal Ali Qureshi came to Gadai shareef, Dera Ghazi Khan and met Molana Muhammad Hussain. He said to him "I can smell odour of Madinah shareef from your house. Call your son."

Maulana Muhammad Hussain said "which one?" As he had two sons. Fazal Ali Qureshi said the young one (Shaikh Ali Murtaza). Fazal Ali Qureshi took hold of the young Ali Murtaza and made him his mureed in his own house. He was the only Khalifa given the name/title 'Fragrance of Madinah'.

Alhamduillah the silsila of Pir Fazal Ali Qureshi has spread widely across the globe and the Western world through Maulana Ali Murtaza sahib, The first ever spiritual Sufi centre (Khanqah) in the western world was established in Manchester (UK) by Moulana Ali Murtaza Sahib's Khalifa Shaykh Asif Hussain Farooqui in the 1970s

He Ali Murtaza had 59 khalifas, his main Successor/Khalifa and the current leader of the Naqshbandi Mujaddidi order is Shaikh Asif Hussain Farooqui - Resident in Manchester UK, Asif Hussain Farooqui Sahib was also given khilafat in the four main silsilas (Qadri, Soharawardi, Chishti & Naqshbandi) by Ali Murtaza Sahib, He is the only Khalifa in Europe.

Another one of his Prominent Khalifa was Mawlana Abdul Ghafoor Abbasi Madani, Who actively preached the silsila in the subcontinent at first and then later after his migration to Madina tul Munawwarah the silsila was very actively spread across the Hijaz al Muqaddas, he had ziyarah to establish the Naqshbandi Mujaddidi khanqah in Madina. Many of Pir Fazal ali Qureshi's Khulafaa upon visiting the blessed city would stay at this Khanqah. He died in Madina and is buried in al-baqee.

Pir Qureshi did have sons but not paternal grandsons. At dargah Miskeenpur sharif, his maternal grandsons reside who all are Islamic scholars and shaykhs.Mawlana Muhammad Rafiq Shah Qureshi sahib is an Islamic scholar who studied at dargah Allahabad near Kandiaro in Sindh, and received Ijazah of Naqshbandi tariqah from Khwaja Sohna Saeen. He is currently associated with Khwaja Muhammad Tahir Bakhshi, son and successor of Sohna Saeen.[7] He is the son of Mawlana Abdul-Rauf Shah who was the son-in-law of Pir Qureshi and was affiliated with Shaykh Sohna Saeen.[8]

References

  1. ↑ Jalwa Gah-e-Dost (Urdu) 2nd edition (2008) by Khwaja Muhammad Tahir Abbasi January 2012
  2. 1 2 Seerat Pir Qureshi (Urdu) by Mawlana Habib-ur-Rahman Gabol January 2012
  3. 1 2 Tajalliyat (Urdu) by Mawlana Abdul Malik Siddiqi
  4. 1 2 Malfuzat Hazrat Pir Mitha (Sindhi) by Mufti Abdur-Rahman Allahabadi January 2012
  5. ↑ January 2012
  6. ↑ Seerat Pir Fazal Ali Qureshi (Urdu) by Mawlana Habib-ur-Rahman Gabol: http://www.islahulmuslimeen.org/urdu/books/pir_qureshi/11.htm
  7. ↑ List of Khulafa of Khwaja Muhammad Tahir Bakhshi: http://www.islahulmuslimeen.org/shaikh/khulafa.htm
  8. ↑ "Seerat Wali Kamil Vol-2 Chapter 6 (Urdu) Biography of Hazrat Sohna Saeen by Mawlana Habib-ur-Rahman Gabol". Islahulmuslimeen.org. Retrieved 2012-01-20.
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