Sayyid Imam Ali Shah
The mausoleum of Imam Ali Shah in Punjab, now present-day India
Qayyum ul Alam
Born1798
Rattar Chattar
Died1865
Rattar Chattar
Major shrineMakan Sharif, Rattar Chattar
FeastUrs commemoration, 12th Shawwal
InfluencesAbdul Qadir Gilani, Bahauddin Naqshband, Hazrat Ishaan, Imam Rabbani
InfluencedSayyid Mir Fazlullah Agha and his descendants

Abu al Barakat Sayyid Imam Ali Shah (1798-1865) was a senior Indian Sufi Saint. He was of the Qadiri Naqshbandi Sufi Order. He is from Rattan Chattar a village in Punjab that is called "the noble sanctuary" (Makan Sharif) in his honor. In the Qadiri Naqshbandi Sufi Order he is venerated as the "sustainer of the order in the world" (Qayyum ul Alam).

Early life

Imam Ali Shah was born in Rattan Chattar to the Sufi Saint Sayyid Hussain Shah as member of a Naqvi Sayyid family whose genealogy traces back to Prophet Muhammad in the 35th generation through Imam Ali Naqi's son Sayyid Jafar al Zaki. Sayyid Hussain Shah was known as a revered ascetic and died when Imam Ali Shah was young. He then lived with his maternal grandparents together with his mother and brother. Imam Ali Shah was educated in Islamic Law (Fiqh) and Medicine and attended lectures in philosophy (Kalam) and Metaphysics (Sufism) at the Shrine of Fariduddin Ganjshakar together with his teacher Mawlana Jan Muhammad Chishti and his uncle. After graduating as a certified scholar, Imam Ali Shah served as his uncle's representative.[1][2]

Career

When his uncle passed away two years after his graduation, Imam Ali Shah participated in missionary activities. He founded a center called "mansion of holiness" (Dar ul Aqdas) where he centered his missionary activities. He was known for integrating philanthropic solutions like nutrition supply as well as establishing a center of Naqshbandi education in which 300 disciples could be instructed. Sources say that 300 goats had to be slaughtered in order to meet the daily demands of visitors and disciples, which reached one hundred thousand followers. His followers were mostly from South and Central Asia.[3][4]

British Indian investigators mention Imam Ali Shah's popularity and that disciples were "flocking in bands" in order to pay tribute to him. He was described in their reports as a welcoming personality.[5]

Notable teachings

Imam Ali Shah is considered an inheritor of Prophet Muhammad and is said to emphasize the central importance of noble behavior (Adab) in Sufism.[6] In this sense there is a legend that says, that he would stay mindful not turn his back towards the village of his second uncle.[7]

Legacy

Imam Ali Shah is venerated by the people of Rattan Chattar as their village's patron saint. Village inhabitants refer to Imam Ali Shah's blessings on the occasion of the lack of casualties during the Indo-Pakistani border skirmirshes in the 70s.[8] He is considered by his followers to be the Mujaddid of the 13th lunar century alongside Imam Ali Shah's companion Sayyid Mir Jan, who acted as contemporary Imam of the Naqshbandiyya.[9][10]

His descendants include Mir Mazhar ul Qayyum Shah as well as Sayyid Mahfooz Hussein Shah. They furthered Imam Ali Shah's legacy.[11]

His tomb is situated near the Ravi river in the Batala and is considered by Gazetters as an "eye-filling" cultural heritage sight.[12]

References

  1. ↑ Daira Muhammad Abad in Hazrat Sayyid Imam Ali Shah, Naqshbandi Makan Sharifi Institute, Rattan Chattar
  2. ↑ Prof. Munawar Hussein in "Imam Ali Shah", Al-Mazhar Institute
  3. ↑ Daira Muhammad Abad in Hazrat Sayyid Imam Ali Shah, Naqshbandi Makan Sharifi Institute, Rattan Chattar
  4. ↑ Prof. Munawar Hussein in "Imam Ali Shah", Al-Mazhar Institute
  5. ↑ Church missionary intelligencer 1850-1864, Oxford university, p. 172
  6. ↑ Buehler, p. 148
  7. ↑ Buehler, p. 149
  8. ↑ Singh in Indian Tribune
  9. ↑ Daira Muhammad Abad in Hazrat Sayyid Imam Ali Shah, Naqshbandi Makan Sharifi Institute, Rattan Chattar
  10. ↑ Tazkare Khwanadane Hazrat Eshan(genealogy of the family of Hazrat Eshan)(by author and investigator:Muhammad Yasin Qasvari Naqshbandi company:Edara Talimat Naqshbandiyya Lahore) p.432 ff.
  11. ↑ Sadaat Hussein Naqvi in Makansharif post
  12. ↑ Gurdaspur Gazette, p.63, published by the Sang-e-Meel publication agency in 1892 and archieved in the University of Chicago
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