Remembering Our Pious Elders - Safar ul Muzaffar 1447

Our Pious Predecessors

Ṣafar al-Muẓaffar is the second month of the Islamic year. In this month, many esteemed Companions رَضِیَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهُم, great saints, and Islamic scholars رَحِمَهُمُ الـلّٰـهُ passed away or were born. A brief mention of 93 of them has already been published in Monthly Magazine Faizan-e-Madinah issues of Ṣafar from 1439 AH to 1446 AH. Please read below an introduction to 12 more:

Noble Companions رَضِیَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهُم:

(1) Sayyidunā Abū ꜤUbaidah b. ꜤAmr b. Miḥṣan al-Anṣārī رَضِىَ اللّٰهُ عَـنْهُ was the pride of Banū Najjār. His martyrdom occurred on the Day of Biˈr MaꜤūnah. This incident took place in Ṣafar, 4 AH.^[1]

(2) Sayyidunā Abū ꜤAmrah (ThaꜤlabah or Bashīr) bin ꜤAmr b. Miḥṣan al-Najjārī al-Anṣārīرَضِىَ اللّٰهُ عَـنْهُ  is an esteemed Companion. His son, Sayyidunā ꜤAbd al-Raḥmān al-Anṣārī رَضِىَ اللّٰهُ عَـنْهُ narrated Hadith from him. He had the honour of participating in the battles of Badr and Uhud. He joined the army of Sayyidunā ꜤAlī رَضِىَ اللّٰهُ عَـنْهُ in the Battle of Ṣiffīn (Ṣafar, 37 AH) and attained martyrdom.^[2]

Scholars رَحِمَهُمُ الـلّٰـهُ:

(3) Amīr al-Muˈminīn fī al-Ḥadīth, Abū SaꜤīd Yaḥyā b. SaꜤīd al-Qaṭṭān at-Tamīmī al-Baṣrī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه was born in 120 AH and passed away in Ṣafar, 198 AH. He acquired knowledge from many great luminaries like Imam Abū Ḥanīfah رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه. He was distinguished in the second century Ḥijrī for his knowledge, excellence, piety, and abstinence. He was from the TabaꜤ TābiꜤīn (successors of the followers of the noble Companions), a trustworthy narrator, a Ḥāfiẓ al-Hadith, and an exemplar for the scholars. He used to work with wool to earn lawful sustenance, which is why he was known by the title "Imam al-Qaṭṭān". He had a special fondness for reciting the noble Quran; for 20 years he completed the Quran once every day and night. He observed all five prayers in congregation, and regularly offered voluntary prayers.^[3]

(4) Shaykh Imam Sirāj al-Dīn Abū ꜤAbdullāh Ḥusayn b. Mubārak al-RabaꜤī al-Zubaydī al-Baghdādī al-Ḥanbalī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه was born in Baghdad in 545 AH or 546 AH. For thirty years, he frequented the Shaykhs of Baghdad, Damascus, and Aleppo in the pursuit of Hadith. After completing his education, he was appointed as a teacher at the Madrasah al-Wazīr in Baghdad for the Hanbalis. He was a great Imam of the Muslims, an author, a great Ḥanbalī jurist of Islam, a Hadith scholar of Syria, and was known for his patience and generosity. He passed away on 23^rd Ṣafar, 631 AH. He authored the book Manẓūmāt in language and recitation, and al-Bulghah in jurisprudence.^[4]

(5) Shaykh Shihāb al-Dīn Abū al-ꜤAbbās Aḥmad b. Abū Ṭālib al-Ṣāliḥī al-Ḥijjār رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه was born in Damascus around 624 AH and passed away on 25 Ṣafar, 730 AH. He benefited from many shuyūkh. In 630 AH, he received permission to narrate Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī from Shaykh Ḥusain b. Mubārak al-Zubaydī. He was the Imam of his time and a Ḥāfiẓ al-Hadith.^[5]

Saints رَحِمَهُمُ الـلّٰـهُ:

(6) Mawlānā Imdād Ḥusayn al-Rāmpūrī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه was born in 1244 AH. He acquired all Islamic sciences from his younger brother, Tāj al-Muḥaddithīn ꜤAllāmah Irshād Ḥusayn al-Rāmpūrī. He received the honour of bayꜤah (oath of allegiance) from ꜤAllāmah Walī al-Nabī al-Rāmpūrī. He received khilāfah (spiritual succession) from his brother, and after his brother's passing, he preached in his place. He passed away on 27^th Ṣafar, 1312 AH, and was laid to rest to the east of his brother's tomb.^[6]

(7) Sayyid Abū ꜤAmr Mūsā Thānī b. Ṣāliḥ ꜤAbdullāh Riḍā al-Ḥasanī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه was born on 6^th Muḥarram, 221 AH, in Madinah al-Munawwarah and passed away there in Ṣafar, 288 AH. According to one account, he was martyred in Kufa or Suwayq in 256 AH during the reign of the Abbasid Caliph Muhtadī Billāh. He was a narrator of Hadith, an embodiment of asceticism and piety, a person of steadfastness, and the successor to his esteemed father.^[7]

(8) Quṭb al-ꜤĀrifīn, Khawājah Abū Qāsim ꜤAlī b. ꜤAbdullāh al-Gurgānī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه was born in Gurgan, near Tus, Khurasan Razawi, Iran, around 350 AH and passed away there on 23^rd Ṣafar, 450 AH. He was an accomplished saint, an expert in Islamic and contemporary sciences, and a man of saintly marvels.^[8]

(9) Mawlānā Mian Muhammad Amīr Shāh al-Kābulī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه was born in Rampur, in the Ziyarat Halqa Wali neighbourhood. He was proficient in Persian and Arabic sciences. He took the oath of allegiance with Mian Ghulām Shāh al-Rāmpūrī. He undertook a forty-day spiritual retreat on 29^th Shawwāl, 1247 AH, and was renowned for his hard work and spiritual struggles. He was a highly influential, humble dervish. Many people pledged allegiance to him and were granted khilāfah. He authored several books, including Risālah Kashfiyyah in Persian, DaꜤwat DuꜤā-e-Sayfī in Persian, and TaꜤlīm al-Khawāṣṣ in Persian. He passed away on 23^rd Ṣafar, 1290 AH. The father of the author of Tadhkirah Kamilān-e-Rāmpūr built his shrine, where an annual ꜤUrs gathering is held.^[9]

(10) The scholar and mystic, Mian Tāj Muhammad al-Qādirī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه, was born in 1247 AH at the Qādirī Shrine of Gutbar Sharif, Lihri, Balochistan, and passed away on 7^th Ṣafar, 1310 AH. He was a religious scholar, a teacher of Dars-e-Niẓāmī, a man of saintly marvels, one whose supplications were answered, and the Sajjādah Nashīn (spiritual custodian) of the Qādirī spiritual centre.^[10]

(11) Mawlānā Shams al-Dīn Aḥmad Mian رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه was the son of ꜤAllāmah Faḍl al-Raḥmān Ganj Murādābādī. He was a distinguished religious scholar, accomplished spiritual guide, virtuous personality, and an expert in esoteric sciences. He was also naturally generous, highly ambitious, and a spiritual disciple, successor, and heir to his esteemed father. He passed away on 1^st Ṣafar, 1335 AH.^[11]

(12) Baqiyyat al-Salaf, Sayyid Shāh Abū al-Qāsim Muhammad IsmāꜤīl Ḥasan al-Mārehrawī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه, was born on 3^rd Muḥarram, 1272 AH, at the exalted spiritual centre of Marehra, UP, India, and passed away there on 1^st Ṣafar, 1347 AH. He was a Hāfiẓ of the Quran,  religious scholar, and spiritual guide. He received khilāfah in the Qādirī spiritual order from his maternal grandfather, his respected father, and Sayyid Shāh Abū al-Ḥusain Aḥmad Nūrī. He encouraged the Barakātī family towards religious education and managed the safeguarding of the family library and sacred relics.^[12]