TheRamadanOfShaykhAl-hadithMuhammadZakariyyaKandhelviAndOurEldersByShaykhDrMuhammadIsmailMemonMadani

the ramadan of shaikh muĤ ammud zakariyyĀIn Mashāikh-e-Kāndhla it says:It was the routine of Shaikh Yaĥyā to lead his mother and maternalgrandmother in śalāt every Ramadan in Kāndhla, complete theQur’an in three days, then return to Sahāranpūr. The year he passedaway in Dhu al-Qa‘da, he completed the Qur’an in one night andreturned the next day.I have written about my father in various places in Āp Bītī, thoughI cannot remember anything at this time. I also mentioned in thebeginning of this booklet of Shaikh Gangohī’s practice of recitingQur’an loudly, both inside and outside of śalāt. Sometimes, I wasdeep asleep and was woken up by the sound of his crying.Amongst my elders, I found two who cried copiously, oneShaikh al-Islām Ĥusain Aĥmad Madanī and the second, my father.I have written in Āp Bītī that I accompanied Shaikh al-Islām Madanīon his trips around the Sahāranpūr area. His trips were like storms.He would arrive, for example, at 4 p.m., pick me up in his car,and rush off to Rairy or Dahlapara for a convention and drop meoff that night or early next morning in Sahāranpūr. Once, I wentwith him to Ābha. Ĥađrat Shaikh al-Islām told the people to putmy bed next to his in his room. At that time many of Ĥađrat’shelpers were with him. It was extremely cold outside and thehelpers had their beds in another room. The elders of Ābha had oldconnections with Shaikhain [Shaikh Qāsim Nānautwī and ShaikhRashīd Aĥmad Gangohī- the elders and founders of Deoband]and after them with the four great Shaikhs [Shaikh Khalīl AĥmadSahāranpūrī, Shaikh al-Hind Maĥmūd al-Ĥasan, Shāh ‘Abd al-Raĥīm Raipūrī, and Shaikh Ashraf ‘Alī Thānwī]. Because of theirconnections, they were unreserved with Ĥađrat Shaikh al-Islām.One of them asked him,“Why is it that his bed is put here while all the helpers arein another room?” Before Ĥađrat could say anything, I spoke up,“I will tell you why. The fact is that your being with Ĥađrat willdisturb him while I am like a goat tied by his door.” And this wastrue because whenever I went to Ĥađrat Raipūrī, Shaikh al-Islām,my uncle [Shaikh Ilyās], and Ĥađrat ‘Āshiq Ilāhī Mīrati, they166