TheRamadanOfShaykhAl-hadithMuhammadZakariyyaKandhelviAndOurEldersByShaykhDrMuhammadIsmailMemonMadani

the ramadan of shaikh muĤ ammud zakariyyĀu [‘ushāq]. They count the days of the year in anticipation of thislong-awaited month and only after it arrives is the yearning intheir hearts extinguished. And we are not talking of a bygone era;this was the state of our elders in recent times. It has been said ofthe recent elders that no sooner was the moon of Ramadan sightedthat they began waiting for the coming Ramadan.The arrival of Ramadan brought an overwhelming change inthe spiritual centers and khanqās (sanctums). In addition to thepermanent residers [who lived in these khanqās] came the seekersof the spiritual path who travelled from faraway places like shardsof metal to a block of magnet or like a moth to the fire. Thesespiritual centers became hubs of dhikr (chanting the name of Allahu), recitation of Qur’an, voluntary śalāt [nawāfil] and devotions.Anyone observing this spiritual activity from outside felt as if lifetruly had no other purpose or that perhaps this would be the lastRamadan. Every devotee competed with the other in the devotionsand every day was spent as if it was the last.Any person who remained in this spiritual atmosphere for evena short time soon became oblivious to the material world. It wasa place that warmed and revived the hearts of the dispirited, gaveambition and motivated those who had no feelings for Dīn andpurified the ones with corrupted hearts and those who lived a lifeof sin. It was like a diffusion of light that spread from one heart toanother and which wielded the power to give life to the soullessones. Whoever witnessed such spiritual and mystical gatheringswas moved to say that this world cannot come to ruin as long assuch gatherings remain, for these gatherings have turned theirbacks on the material world, the self and the cardinal desire inorder to please their Creator and gain for themselves a place inParadise.It is unfortunate that there is virtually no documentation aboutthe way of life in the khanqās of Ĥađrat Khawāja Niżām al-DīnAuliyā’ from the 8th century or Ĥađrat Shāh Ghulām ‘Alī Dehlawīfrom the 13th century. There is no account of the ambiance withinthese khanqās when Ramadan was celebrated, or of the hum of4