TheRamadanOfShaykhAl-hadithMuhammadZakariyyaKandhelviAndOurEldersByShaykhDrMuhammadIsmailMemonMadani

Ramadan of the Eldersand became irritated when people came to meet him as it took timeaway from recitation of Qur’an. The only time people were allowedto meet him was between ‘Aśr and Maghrib [also, he gave one hourin the morning to guests from between 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. - Zakariyyā].Other than that, without need or sudden emergency, he did notmeet anyone. He closed the doors to his room and relished the fruitsof reclusion and entreating and conversing with his Creator. Heate little in Ramadan, though his devotions and spiritual exertionsincreased drastically, so much so that people pitied his condition [thegathering between ‘Aśr and Maghrib was cancelled for the month ofRamadan -Zakariyyā]. In ifţār and seĥr, he barely drank two cupsof tea and half or one chappati. In the beginning of Ramadan, heled tarāwīĥ himself and finished between 2 a.m. to 2:30 a.m. exceptwhen he became too weak in the last days of Ramadan, when helistened to the Qur’an instead. Aside from his own recitation, helistened to three to four Qur’ans in tarāwīĥ. He forbade guestsfrom meeting him as all his time was spent reciting Qur’an, [thenumber of guests that came to meet Shāh‘Abd al-Rahīm Raipūrīwas greatest in the month of Ramadan, but no one was allowed tomeet Ĥađrat. People were only allowed to see him from afar whilehe was going to the masjid -Zakariyyā]. All correspondence was alsoclosed during Ramadan; he never read or listened to even a singleletter. His diet was the remembrance of Allah u [in whichever wayit was performed]. The strength he gained from dhikr of Allah uwas such that could not be gained from dawā musk and jawāhir muhra[two herbal medicines taken to gain strength].As has been mentioned previously, the number of guests wasgreatest in the month of Ramadan. But all these guests were trueseekers of Allah u who themselves had no time to meet withanyone. His admirers could only see him from afar when he cameand went to the masjid. Ĥadrat especially disliked the arrival ofpeople whom he was forced to meet with [due to their social statustranslator].In Āp Bītī [part 4], I have written under the chapter of‘expressing our gratitude to Allah u’, that in the last Ramadan of1334/ July, 1916 of my father’s life, I expressed my desire to Shāh129