TheRamadanOfShaykhAl-hadithMuhammadZakariyyaKandhelviAndOurEldersByShaykhDrMuhammadIsmailMemonMadani

the ramadan of shaikh muĤ ammud zakariyyĀWhen Shaikh Muĥammad Ţayyib arrived, many of the people inthe khanqā wished for him to recite the whole Qur’an in the last tendays. They presented the request to Ĥađrat asking, “After tarāwīĥ,can Shaikh Ţayyib recite three parts every day in voluntary śalāt?”Ĥađrat was deeply committed to fulfilling the rights ofpeople and adherence to the Shari‘a, both of which wereintrinsic to his nature. He was passionate and strict aboutavoiding things that upset or restricted others in order tofulfill his own desire and fervor for worship [he also trainedhis murīds in the same way]. If he had allowed these peoplewho made the request to pray in the khanqā masjid, there wasa possibility that some would not want to attend for whateverreason, and would be forced to stay awake because of theśalāt. Either that or they would have no option but to jointhe congregation. For this reason, Ĥadrat did not allow themto congregate in the khanqā. At the same time, he recognizedthe sincerity and goodness of the requesters [who wished tolisten to Qur’an and congregate for that purpose] and didwant to dishearten them. Therefore, a small masjid nearbywas chosen for this purpose. Whoever wished to congregatebehind Shaikh Muĥammad Ţayyib went there after tarāwīĥ.At that time, the khanqā masjid became silent. In this way,one Qur’an was completed in that masjid.Nowadays, many ĥuffāż and recitors hold voluntary śalāt in thenights of Ramadan after tarāwīĥ and show no concern for the weak,sick, or people who return from a full day’s work and wish to sleepat night. They suffer due to the insensitivity of such ĥuffāż andrecitors. Some masjids even install loudspeakers for this purposeand disturb the sleep of the people in the neighborhood. All thesethings look and seem like worship, but are actually acts of sin, asthey create hardship for others.Ĥađrat Thānwī often said, “Worship of this kind is only desirable,whereas saving oneself from hurting another Muslim is necessary[wājib], and opposing a necessary act is a major sin.”We had a habit in Deoband that a few of us would sit in ca-142