TheRamadan of Shaykh Al-Hadith Ml ZakariyyaKandelwi by Dr Muhammad Ismail Memon Madani

the ramadan of shaikh muĤ ammud zakariyyĀ
One Benefit of the Gathering in Faisalabad in
Ramadan of 1400/1980
As an expression of my gratefulness to Allah u, I would like to
mention one more important point since Allah u blessed me with
the opportunity to be in Faisalabad this Ramadan .
The month of Ramadan is the best time for the practice and
devotions of taśawwuf. The practice of 40 days of i‘tikāf adopted
from the elders [which is now in practice in Sahāranpūr and other
places in India] had not yet been established in Pakistan. The
lofty objective [the revival of dhikr of Allah u in the umma]
of spreading this practice to other places in the world (using the
Ramadan of Faisalabad as a model) was why Ĥađrat left Madina to
spend his Ramadan in i‘tikāf in Faisalabad [despite his deteriorating
health and weakness].
When the schools are in need of help or aid, they call upon the
people and take help from them. Likewise is the case with any other
work of Dīn. The nature of the khanqā system runs contrary to this
as taśawwuf is about eliminating the self and being vigilant over
ones internal state. This is why we never see anyone calling others
to open their khanqā. For this reason, Shaikh Yaĥyā and I decided
to establish a model of the khanqā system in Karachi, as there has
been one for the people of Punjab in Faisalabad, and as many of
Ĥađrat’s successors reside in Karachi. If these scattered lights and
powerhouses gather together they can establish a khanqā system
there. We shared our idea with Shaikh ‘Abd al-Ĥāfiż, who gave
his full support and called Shaikh Al-Ĥāj Muĥammad Zubair, his
brother Muftī Shāhid, and Shaikh Yūsuf Ludhiānwī to gather in
one place for dhikr. In this setting, they would be able to guide
and help others in the path of sulūk, establish the system of bai‘a
and spread the dhikr of Allah u. They would have one combined
khanqā like the khanqā of Thāna Bhawan where the successors of
Miāńjī Nūr Muĥammad, Ĥađrat Hājī Śāĥib, Ĥađrat Ĥāfiż Ďāmin,
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