TheRamadanOfShaykhAl-hadithMuhammadZakariyyaKandhelviAndOurEldersByShaykhDrMuhammadIsmailMemonMadani

the ramadan of shaikh muĤ ammud zakariyyĀreached Faisalabad at 12 p.m. He stayed at Muftī Zain al-‘Ābidīn’s‘Dār al-‘Ulūm in Faisalabad. Many of the fortunate attendeesmade their presence before Ramadan. Aside from the hundredsof daily visitors and those that sat for i‘tikāf for less then ten days,approximately two hundred people sat from the beginning ofRamadan and five hundred in the last ten days.My desire to perform i‘tikāf for the whole month of Ramadanwas not fulfilled, but by the grace of Allah u I was able to sit forthe last ten days of i‘tikāf. Though the aura of blessings, spirituality,and raĥma that envelop the environs of these blessed gathering isnot usually felt by someone like myself, even I quickly becameaware of these spiritual subtleties, though putting them in wordsis beyond my capacity.The first thing that came to mind when I first came across thisfascinating scene was of a river of nūr (light) and people drawingfrom this river according to however much is destined for them,some taking more, while others less.The Blessed Prophet s said of the dhākirīn,الَ‏ يَقْعُدُ‏ قَومٌ‏ يَذْ‏ كُرُ‏ ونَ‏ اللَّهَ‏ إِالَّ‏ حَ‏ فَّتْهُمْ‏ الَْلَ‏ ئِكَ‏ ةُ‏ وَغَ‏ شِ‏ يَتْهُمْ‏ الرَّحْ‏ مَةُ‏ وَنَزَلَتْ‏عَ‏ لَيهِمْ‏ السَّ‏ كِ‏ ينَةُ‏ وَذَكَرَهُ‏ مُ‏ اللَّهُ‏ فِيمَنْ‏ عِنْدَ‏ هُ‏No such group sits to remember Allah u but the angels drape them, raĥmaenvelops them, tranquility [sakīna] descends upon them and Allah umentions them amongst those who are with Him. 34As I witnessed the reality of this hadith with my own eyes, Ibegan hoping for the forgiveness of Allah u for someone asunworthy as myself, sitting in this gathering. The blessings andspiritual effervesence reached their peak in Ramadan. The light ofthe daily dhikr and recitation of Qur’an was cascading upon thegathering and Ĥađrat’s blessed company was rejuvenating hardenedhearts.34 Muslim, Fađl al-Ijtimā‘ ‘alā Tilāwat al-Qura’n48