9th Muharram: Urs of Maulana Shaykh (Mazhar) Shamsuddin Habib Allah, 29th Grandshaykh of the Golden Chain

Bismi Llāhi r-Raḥmāni r-Raḥīm

The 9th of Muharram marks uroos/passing of Maulana Shaykh (Mazhar) Shamsuddin Habib Allahق.

Heق was the 29th Grandshaykh of the Naqshbandi Golden Chain.

Shaykh Mazharق was born in 1113 H / 1701 AD in India. From his childhood, the light of Guidance and the traces of Piety shone from his forehead. His features (mazhar) were molded with the manifestation of heavenly beauty (tajalli al-jamal). He was famous, like the Prophet Yusuf (AS), for his beauty, and everyone loved him because he represented beauty. That is an attribute of God, about whom the Prophet ﷺ said, “God is beautiful and He loves beauty.”

He had countless miraculous experiences and visions of both the heavenly and earthly worlds.

Once he said, “I visited the grave of Shaykh Muhammad Hafiz Muhsinق. I disappeared from myself and in a vision I saw his body. It had suffered no decomposition, and his shroud was still perfectly clean, except for a patch of dirt near his feet. Through my spiritual power, I asked him about that.

He said, ‘O my son, I will tell you a story. One day I took a stone from my neighbour’s garden and put it in a hole in my own. I told myself, ‘In the morning I will return it,’ but I forgot. As a result of that action, the dirt appeared on my shroud. That one deed tainted it.’”

A man once came to him and said, “O my master, my brother has been jailed in another village. Please pray to Allah to save him.” He replied, “O my son, your brother is not in jail. He has done something wrong, and tomorrow you will receive a letter from him.” It turned out exactly as he had said.

He gave his followers glad tidings, though some jealous people refused to believe him. He said, “If you don’t believe me, let us bring a judge. We will each present our view and let him decide.” They replied, “We do not accept any judge but the Prophet ﷺ, and on the Day of Judgment we will ask for his ruling.”

He said, “There is no need to wait. We will ask the Prophet ﷺ to judge now.” He entered a deep contemplative state and was told in his heart to recite Fatiha. He did so, and immediately the Prophet ﷺ appeared to everyone and said, “Al-Mazhar Habibullahق is right and all of you are wrong.”

Shortly before his death, Shaykh Mazharق was in a state of deep emotion and love of God. He experienced great sorrow for having lived so long in this fleeting world. He spent his final days in intense contemplation, always saying that his state was one of Annihilation and Existence in Allah, Sublime and Exalted.

He increased his dhikr, and the resulting powerful light of attraction brought thousands of seekers into the tariqat. Each new day brought three thousand visitors to his door, and he did not let a single one leave without meeting him. Eventually, due to exhaustion, he limited his meetings to two sessions a day.

One day, one of his followers, Shaykh Mullah Nasimق, asked for permission to travel and visit his parents. He replied, “My son, you may go, but I may not be here when you return.” This reply spread quickly and shook the hearts of the people, for it signalled the end of an era. With tearful eyes and heavy hearts, people across Punjab began to wail and cry. His house was full, and none knew what would happen when he was gone.

He took a paper and wrote to one of his successors, Mullah Abdur-Razzaqق, “O my son, I am now over eighty and my life is drawing to a close. Remember me in your prayers.” He sent him that letter, along with many others.

Thanking Allah for His favours, he said, “There is nothing left in my heart of any desire or goal that remains unfulfilled. Everything I ever asked of Allah, I received. My only remaining wish is to leave this world and be in His Presence continually. Allah gave me everything, except permission to go to Him. I ask Allah to take me to Him today, before tomorrow.

But I do not want to go to Him as an ordinary person. I want to go as Allah described in the Holy Qur’an, as a martyr who is always alive. So O Allah, make me a martyr in this world and take me to You as a martyr.

This kind of death will bring joy to my heart and bring me into the presence of Your Prophet ﷺ, of Ibrahim (AS), of Musa (AS), of all 124,000 prophets, of the Prophet’s Companions, of al-Junaydق, of the master of this Order Shah Naqshbandق, and of all the Masters of the tariqat. O Allah, I want to combine the witnessing of physical martyrdom with the spiritual death in the State of Witnessing, in the State of Annihilation.”

It was Wednesday evening, the seventh of Muharram, 1195 H / 1780 CE. His servant came and said, “Three men are at your door. They wish to visit you.” He said, “Let them enter.” When they entered, he came out of his bedroom and greeted them.

One of them asked, “Are you Mirza Jan Janan Habibullahق?” He answered, “Yes.” The other two turned to the third and said, “Yes, he is the one.” One of the men took a knife from his pocket and stabbed him in the back, piercing his kidney.

Due to his age, he could not bear the severity of the blow and fell to the ground. At Fajr time, the King sent a doctor. He sent the doctor back and said, “I don’t need him. As for the men who stabbed me, I forgive them. I am happy to die as a martyr. They came as an answer to my prayer.”

He passed from this life on Friday. That day, he read the Qur’anic chapters Fatiha and Yasin until Asar. He then asked his followers how many hours remained until sunset. They replied, “Four hours.”

He said, “It is still a long wait before meeting my Lord.” He added, “I have missed ten prayers in my life, all within these last two days, because my body is full of blood and I could not lift my head.”

They asked him, “In such a weak condition, must a sick person pray with movements of the eyes and forehead, or can he delay it?” He replied, “Both are correct.” He waited patiently for sunset and passed away. It was the night of ‘Ashura, 1195 H / 1781 AD.

Tonight, do send gifts of Surah Al-Fatiha and Yasin to our 29th Grandshaykh of the Golden Chain, Maulana Shaykh (Mazhar) Shamsuddin Habib Allahق.

With Love, Al-Fatiha.

To learn more about the month of Muharram and the day of Ashura, please click here.

Wassalam.