TheRamadanOfShaykhAl-hadithMuhammadZakariyyaKandhelviAndOurEldersByShaykhDrMuhammadIsmailMemonMadani

Ramadan of the EldersI also remember when some relatives insisted that my father cometo Kāndhla and lead them in tarāwīĥ. He came down to Kāndhlaand completed one Qur’an in Ummī Bī’s [my father’s maternalgrandmother and Shaikh Mużaffar Ĥussain’s 87 daughter. Her namewas Amat al-Raĥmān but she was better known by her nicknameUmmī Bī] house. These were the last few years of my father’s life.My father told me of how in his youth he spent the whole nightin voluntary śalāt. And since more than four people could notstand behind in śalāt in Kāndhla, the womenfolk alternated in thevoluntary śalāt while my father continued to recite the Qur’an. Myuncle also spent Ramadan in Kāndhla for Ummī Bī and spent thewhole night in tarāwīĥ. After praying his obligatory śalāt in themasjid, he left for the house and completed 15 or 16 part by seĥr.The story of Shaikh Ra‘ūf al-Ĥasan [my father’s maternal uncleand my late wife’s father] is narrated in detail in Āp Bītī [part 6]under the chapter of taqwā. I narrate one portion of this chapterbelow:On the 20th of Ramadan [March 17], he recited from Sūrat al-Baqara to Sūrat al-Nās in one rak‘a. After completing the secondrak‘a with Sūrat al-Nās at seĥr, he turned around and said to hismother, Ummī Bī, “I have recited two rak‘as you can complete therest ([18 rak‘as].” His mother, Ummī Bī, stood the whole time herecited the Qur’an in one rak‘a. One story leads to another and itseems as though I am on a tangent but as these stories relate to thesubject of the devotions of our elders in the month of Ramadan,they are not completely irrelevant either.My father didn’t have any set routine for Ramadan. I narratedseveral incidents and stories in different places in Āp Bītī. Duringhis stay in Gangoh until 1328/1910, I don’t ever remember myfather ever travelling during the month of Ramadan. I may havealso mentioned somewhere previously that in the last Ramadanof Shaikh Rashīd Aĥmad Gangohī in 1322/1903, Shaikh Gangohī87 A great shaikh known for his taqwā. He could not eat unlawfully gainedfood and would vomit it out immediately. For this reason, people were carefulabout inviting him lest it be revealed that they eat from unlawful sources.161