TheRamadanOfShaykhAl-hadithMuhammadZakariyyaKandhelviAndOurEldersByShaykhDrMuhammadIsmailMemonMadani

the ramadan of shaikh muĤ ammud zakariyyĀpraying tahajjud behind Ĥađrat. Since little time was left aftervoluntary śalāt for seĥr, the mat was quickly laid out in the houseand everyone ate swiftly with eyes fixed on the clock and earslistening for the adhān. Ĥađrat rested for a short time after seĥrand then prepared for Fajr. He departed for the masjid and led Fajrshortly before sunrise. In the last ten days, Fajr śalāt began at itsbeginning time and finished shortly before sunrise [i.e. the Fajrwas very long-translator]. All the departees who prayed tahajjudwith Ĥađrat came to meet him before he left for the house. Whenhe arrived at the house, he lay down immediately and one or twoof his helpers massaged his body while another massaged his headwith oil. If Ĥađrat fell asleep while talking, the others wouldalso leave to sleep. After a little rest, Ĥađrat woke up, attendedto his needs, performed ablution and sat down to recite Qur’an.Then, people who had appointments with Ĥađrat started comingin at about 10 a.m. If Ĥađrat had any free time in between, hecontinued reciting or otherwise attended to the mail. Sometimesthis continued to Ẓuhr and if any time was leftover, Ĥađrat restedhalf an hour before Ẓuhr.This year Ĥađrat became extremely sick and ran a high fever fromthe middle of Ramadan. Seeing his condition, some of his helpersfelt it was better that he not perform i‘tikāf this year. They asked,“Ĥađrat, you will have difficulty in i‘tikāf.” Ĥađrat replied,“No, I have made the intention for i‘tikāf.”Thus, Ĥađrat’s place was set up in one corner of the masjid.Sometimes, he felt cold in śalāt due to the fever and wrapped athick shawl around himself and the ceiling fans were turned off. Inthis condition, he drank a bit of tea during the interval and thenstood up for śalāt again. He did the same in tahajjud, standing forlong periods reciting Qur’an.Ĥađrat was extremely sick and stayed in the house because ofwhich the congregation that gathered for tahajjud was cancelledfor four days. This increased the burden on Ĥađrat since he nowhad to recite more Qur’an in tahajjud in order to finish it withinthe last ten days. In addition, it was difficult for Ĥađrat to stay in150