Zinda Pir

Compiled by: Afzal Mahmood and Barakat Khatam Sharif Date: 29/08/13 Page 1 of 8

بسم اللہ الرمحن الرحیم

Khatam Sharif

In Honour of the Venerable

Hadrat Zinda Pir

Rasulullah said, “A person who sincerely says, ‘La Ilaha Illallah’, will enter paradise.”

“Material things are just the idols of the imagination, whilst the reality is ‘La Ilaha Illallah’.” Allama Iqbal

One day Rasulullah was with his companions and he asked if amongst those present, there were any people present from the ahl e khitab (People of the Book). The companions replied there was no

one. Rasulullah then instructed a companion to close the doors. He then said to the companions, ‘Raise your hands and say ‘La Ilaha Illallah’.’

After a while, when the companions had recited these words for a moment, Rasulullah , said ‘Praise be to Allah. O Allah you have sent me with these words. You have promised Paradise with those who

profess it.’ Rasulullah then turned to the companions and said ‘Be happy, Allah has blessed you with His forgiveness.’ The companions were full of joy at this blessed news.

These few words, ‘La Ilaha Illallah’, that Rasulullah instructed the companions to recite in Dhikrwere the message that all of the Prophets came with; to make people say ‘La Ilaha Illallah’ and to achieve

this state. Rasulullah had taught the companions to repeat these words as it is through these words that a believer achieves salvation and achieves the purpose of life; to reach Allah. The Awliya (Friends of Allah) have followed in the footsteps of the companions to establish a connection to these words. Whilst we perceive these words ‘La Ilaha Illallah’, as a few Arabic words, the Awliya have attained such a deep understanding of these blessed words that these two words become the entire purpose of their lives. One such wali who lived his life in the constant repetition of ‘La Ilaha Illallah’ was Hadrat Zinda Pir . He was a person who lived his whole life devoted to the Dhikr of Allah. He never once desired on anything else but Allah, and because of this he arose from being a simple tailor in the Pakistani army to become one of the biggest Shaykhs of the modern era. Having passed away in 1999, he is now resting in Ghamkol Sharif in Kohat, Pakistan. When he first came to this particular area in the 1950s the place was a barren wasteland where only thieves and robbers would come to hide their loot as they knew no one would ever visit the area. There was no water or greenery in sight. Today that same place is a picturesque spectacle surrounded by beautiful greenery and in the centre is a beautiful mosque as well as the mazar of Hadrat Zinda Pir . The entire area is now a town which looks and feels like an oasis in the Arabian Desert. All this was attained due to the blessings of ‘La Ilaha Illallah’ and through that Hadrat Zinda Pir has today quenched the thirst of seekers from the east to the west and will continue to do so till the Day of Judgment.


Whilst serving in the army as a tailor a captain gave Hadrat Zinda Pir his uniform to be sewn by him and he asked him to sew the correct military insignia of a captain on the shoulder. When he came to pick up the uniform he saw that Hadrat Zinda Pir had mistakenly sewn on a colonel’s badge. He said ‘what have you done? This is wrong? Hadrat Zinda Pir ® said quietly ‘it is correct and as it should be.’ The captain asked him again to sew the correct badge on but Hadrat Zinda Pir refused. Eventually he took the uniform with him and when he got home he was told there was a telegram for him. In the telegram there was a message stating that he had now been promoted to a colonel. He immediately went back to thank Hadrat Zinda Pir who just said ‘we are a humble tailor, please don’t trouble us.’ However now the rumours started passing around that Hadrat Zinda Pir was indeed a very spiritual person. A few people started coming to see him and asked for his blessings and dua. Meeting the Shaykh Hadrat Zinda Pir had a friend who was also animam in the area he was serving in at first. He would often visit Khwaja Muhammad Qasim of Mohra Sharif. On one such occasion he told Khwaja Muhammad Qasim about Hadrat Zinda Pir and his constant ibad’at and Dhikr. Khwaja Muhammad Qasim said ‘indeed there are many chapattis in that young man’s basket.’ When the imam returned with this news, Hadrat Zinda Pir ® listened to what Khwaja Muhammad Qasim had said about him but he continued with his role in the army. In 1938 he finally decided to visit Mohra Sharif. Once he had reached Mohra Sharif it was his intention to seek bay’at from there. However Khwaja Muhammad Qasim was now an old man and had passed on all the duties to his son, Khwaja Muhammad Nazir . Khwaja Muhammad Qasim knew of Hadrat Zinda Pir ’s arrival and said to one of his khadims ‘Hadrat Zinda Pir is coming, he has a lot of chapattis in his basket’. The same message the Shaykh had said to the imam many years earlier. At this stage the khadims did not know who this name belonged to as everyone knew Hadrat Zinda Pir as Hadrat Shah. This was the first time anyone had referred to him as Hadrat Zinda Pir Khwaja Muhammad Qasim described him to the khadims who went out to collect him. The khadim went out and saw Hadrat Zinda Pir waiting at the back whilst everyone else was taking bay’at from Khwaja Muhammad Nazir . The khadims called him into Khwaja Muhammad Qasim ®’s chamber and he immediately met him and gave him bay’atas well as khilafat in the order. He then said ‘Allah karo tai loka n ki kana kalao, recite the dhikr of Allah and feed the people.’ This was his one and only visit to his master and four years later Khwaja Muhammad Qasim passed away. Nevertheless the message had already been passed in that first and last meeting with his master. The role of the master is to revive your heart, to bring your heart alive, and to kill your nafs and through the meeting with Khwaja Muhammad Qasim just in that one moment, Hadrat Zinda Pir was able to receive all this Hadrat Zinda Pir was now more focused than ever. Initially he returned to his regiment and continued his service in the army.He would still continue all his previous ibad’at. During the evening Hadrat Zinda Pir would offer nafl prayers on a masala which would be placed on water. On one instance of doing this one of his officers spotted this and confronted Hadrat Zinda Pir about this. Hadrat Zinda Pir ® simply said ‘if you mention this to anyone then that will be the end of you.’

Hajj and return to home Whilst serving in Abbottabad near Islamabadit had become common knowledge that Hadrat Zinda Pir was a saint of the highest rank and as the secret was now out he had to leave his regiment. At first he decided to stay near bye so some people, like his previous comrades from the army, could come and see him there. Then in 1952 he decided to go to Hajj for the first time. He was

accompanied by some close followers from his time in the army. When visiting the Prophet ’s grave in Madinah Sharif he was shown a vision of a beautiful mosque surrounded by scenic greenery and vegetation. On top of a mountain was the words “Hadrat Zinda Pir” whilst above the mosque were the

words “Ghamkol Sharif.” When he asked where this was Rasulullah replied ‘this is near your place of birth and you will build it. You must go there now.’


Early Life Hadrat Zinda Pir was born Hadrat Shah ® in 1912 in Jungle-khail, Kohat. His ancestors trace their lineage to Sayyiduna Abu Bakr Siddiq . His father was called Pir Ghulam Rasul Shah . He was a very pious dervish and one day after a visit to a train station with Hadrat Zinda Pir ’s brother, Hussain Shah he disappeared to never return home again. Later it was discovered that he had gone to Delhi and from there onto Ajmer Sharif where he eventually passed away. This meant that the family and in particular Hadrat Zinda Pir was without their father’s presence from a young age. Hadrat Zinda Pir was brought up by his brother and relatives. However even though he lacked the tarbiyat and financial support of a father figure, through the hardship of poverty and simplicity he became inclined towards Allah and spirituality from a very young age. Whilst growing up in Jungle-khail Hadrat Zinda Pir became associated with a local tailor who taught him how to sew clothes. After spending time with the tailor Hadrat Zinda Pir realised that this tailor was no ordinary person. He was a hidden wali who would constantly be in Dhikr whilst he was sewing and carrying out his work. After some initial hesitation the tailor now started to teach Hadrat Zinda Pir the ways of Dhikr and remembrance of Allah. Hadrat Zinda Pir then decided to take sewing up as a profession because he too wanted his piety and Dhikr to remain a secret from the masses. As the area that Hadrat Zinda Pir was residing in was under the control of the British, they recruited locals for their military regiment. Hadrat Zinda Pir spoke and met with many soldiers during this time and because he really liked the discipline of the army he decided to get a job in the army sewing uniforms. Having done this he would still carry on with his daily Dhikr and recitation of the Qur’an. Return from Hajj and seclusion After returning from Hajj, many of his followers offered to stay with him in different places promising to build khanaqahs for him. Hadrat Zinda Pir refused their offer and left Abbottabad to go to the exact

location which Rasulullah had shown him. After arriving in the area where Ghamkol Sharif is located he first went into in a cave as there was no houses or community for many miles. He remained in seclusion for several days. Negation is only the beginning Zinda Pir went into seclusion as this was the next step in his spiritual development. When looking at the kalimah there are two main parts. The first part of the Kalimah is negation, and this then leads to the second part of affirmation; that there is only Allah. This is the confirmation for a person as a believer that they realise that everything they have seen is coming from Allah. Everyone recites the kalimah at their own particular level, whether it be the novices like us, the awliya or the prophets. We are at the negation part. However we find it difficult to negate our ego and fight our worldly desires head on as these desires are running throughout our blood cells. It is only through the practice of this Dhikrthat we can begin the process of squeezing these desires out of our system. The Dhikr of ‘La Ilaha Illallah’ is the essence of reality; it begins from the tongue and through continual practice will reach the heart, flushing out the desires from our bodies. The Dhikr begins with negation, saying ‘la‘, as it is the desires people have that become their Gods. At this stage, a person is in nafs e amarah, a rebellious soul, finding excuse after excuse for not doing good deeds, such as not praying. When a person says ‘la’ to everything, the heart which is full of


desires, begins to become purified. The continuous reading of ‘La Ilaha Illallah’ gradually removesworldly desires from the heart. This is because now the tongue is saying ‘La Ilaha Illallah’ and so a person becomes mindful of their own actions, realising the mistakes they are making, and they begin to move away from distractions. This Dhikrwill eventually take a person to nafs e mutmahinah, the contended soul. However, the ego is very devious and having commenced on the spiritual path, it will now encourage the person to admire themselves and think highly of what they are doing. So it is important to know in this process a person will face further obstacles, making it necessary to still continue the practice of negation to subdue the ego. Zinda Pir placed huge importance on the repetition of this Dhikr, as at every level a person has to negate something. It ensures a sinner moves away from sinning and for a practising person, it ensures they do not fall into the traps of the ego and have pride in what they are doing. The purpose of negation is to ensure the heart reaches its purest form; to have no desire other than Allah. At this stage of mubasharrat, angelic things and the arwah of the Ambiya come to the Awliya, giving the good news that they are amongst the special ones. However, the Awliya disregard these spiritual states they experience, saying, ‘We are not here to worship states.’ They have the view that all stations of spirituality and sainthood are linked to ‘La Ilaha Illallah’ and so the masters practice ikhfa e hal, to hide the inner state. Zinda Pir would say, “You should hide your faqiri (inner state), like a woman on her periods hides her taaqi.” So when the Awliya have spiritual experiences, they continue to recite this Dhikr, as they seek to be closer to Allah and reach the pinnacle of the negation process. Now, they look at themselves and say, ‘What are you doing here?’ and negate themselves. They do this as they understand that even the Prophets are reciting this Dhikr. Therefore, no matter what state human beings reach, there is

something beyond that; since the best of creation, Rasulullah is asking to be with the Rafiqul Ala. The Awliya try to establish this connection to Allah in people, they realise we do not understand the process of negation, so they make it simple by instructing us to repeat ‘La Ilaha Illallah’. This repetition will awaken the heart and salvation may be achieved. The objective is not to just get a person into paradise but to realise the true purpose of Islam; to take a person to Allah. The Beginning of Ghamkol Sharif Zinda Pir allowed visitors to see him after completing his seclusion. As mentioned earlier the area that he had moved into had no source of water. The few close followers he had would bring water on donkeys and anyone who came to meet him would do so in the cave and whatever was on offer would be served to them. After a short while he instructed some of his followers to dig a well in a certain place. They started to do this and once they got to about 30 metres they came across a huge rock. Everyone said there was no way there was any water under here and took the news to Hadrat Zinda Pir who said ‘Allah told me that there is water there and I believe Him.’ Then one of the ex-soldiers suggested placing some grenades onto the rock. After doing this the rock was blown to pieces and underneath it there was water which continues to flow from the well to this day. The next obstacle was to build a mosque and soon Hadrat Zinda Pir gave instructions to some of the core murids to start building a mosque but specifically advised them not to go and ask for money from people to make it. On many occasions followers and other people would come themselves offering money for the mosque but Hadrat Zinda Pir would almost always refuse their donations as he knew the money was not from legitimate sources or the intention of the giver was not correct. Even the president of Pakistan, General Ayub came and said that ‘there is a mosque that the government has paid for near the city and since the people come to visit you here, if you want we will build a mosque for you here just like that one.’ Hadrat Zinda Pir asked him is ‘Allah not Gani (not in need)?’


He replied ‘Allah is Gani’ Then Hadrat Zinda Pir said ‘It is His house what need does He have of governments? When He wills, it will happen.’ So Hadrat Zinda Pir also refused help from him. Hadrat Zinda Pir was a true mu’min and he had complete belief that Allah is the only One who is in charge. Through his devotion to ‘La Ilaha Illallah’ he had learned this and had firm belief that only Allah had the mightto do everything and he was never distracted from this point. It did not matter who came to aid him financially, if he even got a hint that the person was not sincere he would immediately reject their offer even when the murids would want him to take it up so things would be made easier. When Shaykh Shah Abu’l Hasan Kharaqani ® was about to receive the visit of Shaykh Abu Sa’id Abul Khayr as a guest to his house he was extremely overjoyed. Shaykh Abu Sa’id Abul Khayr was treated with the utmost respect and sincerely enjoyed his visit there. However no one was aware that on the previous day a very tragic event occurred. The son of Shah Abu’l Hasan Kharaqani who was only recently married was killed brutally and his head was decapitated and thrown in front of the door of the Shaykh’s house. However this incident had no effect or bearing on the Shaykh’s hospitality towards Shaykh Abu Sa’id Abul Khayr and he did not even let the visiting guests garner that something like this had occurred as he did not want to trouble them. His focus was purely on his duty to be the host for the visiting Shaykh and to look after all the people who had come with him. In the same way Hadrat Zinda Pir never lost his focus on the task at hand and continued to have firm belief in Allah and no one else. Throughout this time Hadrat Zinda Pir would continue to go on Hajj every year. Sometime later through his sincere devotion and supplication to the will of Allah the Ghamkol Sharif mosque was finally completed. Hadrat Zinda Pir then moved from the cave to the mosque. The next step was to set up a langar. This started from people initially bringing niyaz or animals for qurbani to a full scale full time langar within a short period of time. People started flocking from all areas of Pakistan to come and see the Shaykh and seek advice and council or just do ziyarah. Many members of the army became devout murids of Hadrat Zinda Pir . His Characteristics Hadrat Zinda Pir would constantly be in Dhikr or prayer. He slept very little and also ate very little. He would usually eat dry bread with some vegetables. Once he explained the benefits of dry bread ‘Dry bread has done the greatest service to Islam. This is because when the ullema and the Pir would eat dry bread, they would focus on worship and calling people to Islam. When they started eating chickens then they lost that focus and became distracted.’ He himself never ate any meat. His temperament seemed harsh in its exterior due to his military background but he was always to the point and treated everyone equally whether it be a major politician or a poor villager. His most oft repeated phrase was ‘kyia chai ya, so what do you want?’ This may seem strict but as the following story shows, like all awliya he possessed a gentle and soft heart which truly loved all in Allah’s creation. There was a murid of Hadrat Zinda Pir who worked in Birmingham. When he would pray on his break time the foreman would chastise him and not let him pray in peace. Hadrat Zinda Pir had given the murid a wazifa to read daily for his own benefit. One day the murid read that wazifa but against the foreman. The next day the foreman did not come to work as he had fallen ill. So the murid was now content as he could pray in peace. Whilst the murid was sleeping after work on the same dayHadrat Zinda Pir came into his dream and said, ‘Khuda ke mahlooq ko tang karta heh, you dare to hurt Allah’s creation?’ After that Hadrat Zinda Pir immediately took the wazifa away from the murid. He was also an extremely great host so when people came to visit him he gave them his time and provided them with food and a place to stay if they required for as long as they wished.


He participated in manual work just as much as the murids. It was notable that whilst the mosque was being built in Ghamkol Sharif, when the murids were sleeping at night, he would continue to carry out the work on the mosque on his own. His entire life was spent in doing everything for the sake of Allah. He once said Sayyiduna Musa asked Sayyiduna Khidr ‘by what action did Allah grant you this knowledge of the hidden? Sayyiduna Khidr said ‘whenever I did an action I never thought of the reward. Whatever I did was for Allah’s sake and because of this sincerity Allah granted me things beyond description.’ He was the true manifestation and example of this point. Virtues of Dhikr Zinda Pir had great conviction in the declaration of ‘La Ilaha Illallah’, viewing it as the basis of iman,

and so everything he did in his life carried great value. He was aware that Rasulullah had mentioned that, ‘saying‘La Ilaha Illallah’abundantly was a way for a person to renew their iman.’ He would say this Dhikr with the utmost conviction and certainty as he would comprehend that he was

actually testifying to Rasulullah ’s favourite Dhikr and own testimony, that there is no Godbut Allah.

His understanding of Tawhid was profound, being aware that an Ummati of Rasulullah who is constantly saying ‘La Ilaha Illallah’ will never be committing shirk, since such a person would not be acknowledging the existence of anything, except for Allah.

Regarding the utterance of this Dhikr, Rasulullah said, “Indeed I know of a few words, which if anyone says it from his heart and he dies, then hell becomes forbidden for him.” The Awliya are aware that saying these few blessed words grants such safety and protection that no matter what failings a person has, they will be entitled to paradise. It is for this reason that they firstly constantly recite this Dhikr and also instruct people to do so. The blessings of this Dhikr are such that a person may have been a non-believer for a hundred years, but the moment that person utters the words ‘La Ilaha Illallah’, he becomes a Muslim; everything else is wiped away in an instance. This Dhikr offers such salvation even for those who have committed major sins, as if they utter the words are ‘La Ilaha Illallah’ as their last words, they will enter paradise.

Rasulullah said, “Allah will say on the Day of Judgement, take out of hell any person who said '‘La Ilaha Illallah’, even if there is one seed of faith in his heart, or remembered Me or feared Me on any occasion.” This fear is often when a person is about to sin, because at that moment, when a person has two choices, they begin to think of the consequences of their actions, and so think about Allah. It is at that moment, that person is nearest to Allah. It is for this reason that Zinda Pir was always encouraging people to make this Dhikr in abundance and repeat it, as it has such benefit that it destroys and eliminates sins. For the believer who abstains from major sins, the blessings of this Dhikr are such, that through it, they can ultimately reach the

Arsh of Allah; as Rasulullah said, “No servant of Allah who recites ‘La Ilaha Illallah’and the doors of heaven have not opened for him.” He who knows about the One The awliya explain that ‘When a Muslim says ‘I definitely believe there is no God but Allah.’ He should

be certain and believe this with all his heart because Rasulullah have told us there is no God, the

believers are testifying to their testimony. We firmly believe that Rasulullah out of all creation have better knowledge of what exists now, what existed before, what will exist in the future and they negate all of that and say ‘There is absolutely no God but Allah.’ We ourselves are not in that position to make that testimony. In the holy Qur’an Allah says ‘kulhu Allah uhad. ‘Say He Allah is One’ to


Rasulullah stating ‘You say Allah is One and then the whole Ummah will say after you that Allah is One.’ Allah wants to hear it from His Beloved’s tongue that ‘I am One.’ Once the Beloved has said this, then it is for the rest of the ummah to recite it. Therefore the tawhid is that tawhid which comes

via Rasulullah . ‘La Ilaha Illallah’ was Rasulullah ’s favourite Dhikr and what they praised and

practiced. As anUmmati of Rasulullah we are accepting this point. We out of our own efforts cannot

verify or deny. We don’t have the knowledge or the capacity but Rasulullah ) definitely have the capacity to make this statement. No one who is spiritual or reached any stages can deny that claim.

There is no one who has come after Rasulullah and can prove there is no God. So this declaration is the basis of iman and Hadrat Zinda Pir had great conviction in this belief so everything he did in his life carried great value. His legacy Hadrat Zinda Pir ’s legacy spread even further when in the 1960s his murids started to come to the UK. Through the guidance of their Shaykh the murids continued to be steadfast on their own iman even though they were now distant from him. They slowly began to set up places of worship and Dhikr despite being in a non-Muslim country. Many people had come to the UK to work and earn money leaving their former lives in Pakistan. Some had even left their faith there and only ever cared about work and money. Through the teachings of their Shaykh these few sincere murids helped to guide people back to their true faith and belief in ‘La Ilaha Illallah’. One such Murid was Sufi Abdullah who was a farmer and then joined the army in Pakistan. After being made Khalifa of Hadrat Zinda Pir he came to the UK. He was very steadfast in his faith and he gradually got some more people together and bought a house in Birmingham. He then used it to teach people about Dhikr and the numbers of murids kept growing from there. This movement spread from a small house where only three people participated in a Giyarvin Sharif at one point to a mosque which was one the largest mosques in Europe with a capacity of four and half thousand people. This movement also spread to different towns where people started doing their own urs and juloos.In and from there it spread from the UK to the rest of the world. Hadrat Zinda Pir passed away in 1999 on Sunday 21st march. Followers from all over the world came to pray his janaza which was read by the aforementioned Sufi Abdullah. There is now an annual urs held at Ghamkol Sharif which attracts tens of thousands of people every year.

Rasulullah mention, “There is no worry if people say ‘La Ilaha Illallah’ at the time of death or in their graves, as this protects their iman.” Zinda Pir ® understood the impact and blessings of this Dhikr and so he remained steadfast with constant remembrance of it in his life. He promoted this to his murids, ensuring they gained the protection of ‘La Ilaha Illallah’. It is a testimony to his achievements, that those who are fortunate to visit his blessed mazar today, hear this Dhikr being made. There will be people making this Dhikr whilst they prepare the food for langar, some when there is an event going on and others throughout the night. There are also two people who sit at the grave and read the Qur’an Sharif constantly. He was one person, dedicated and focused on Dhikr and this is the impact he has had. He was able to spread that impact into this country and that is despite having never set foot on these shores. He was not an orator but did all this through the Dhikr of ‘La Ilaha Illallah’. Now the impact is felt in every part of the world and continues to spread to this day. He knew that in essence the Dhikr was a magnet which he embodied into his very being. He himself then became that magnet which attracted and pulled countless people. He managed to do this without ever promoting himself or his way. In the modern context he would be considered a hermit or recluse who only ever stayed in one place but through the power of Dhikr he was able to reach so many people in so many places. That Dhikr of ‘La Ilaha Illallah ’was like honey which, when reproduced, would continually attract the bees. The Awliya say ‘As you need doctors for your body, you need spiritual people for your soul.’ This is because your true soul is hidden from the sight of average people but spiritual people can see everything as they are always connected to Allah. Hadrat Zinda Pir was one such spiritual person


who was always connected to Allah. He only asked of people to put Allah first and everything else after.

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Zinda Pir