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

Chapter One
dhikr and recitation, the nocturnal worship, or a schedule of the
spiritual programs that went on during the month of Ramadan,
though we are able to capture some glimpses of them in Fawā’id
al-Fu’ād, Siyar al-Auliyā’ and Durr al-Ma‘ārif. My words cannot
express the beauty of these khanqās, but for those who have
experienced their spiritual programs, the vigor and power of its
shaikhs and the illumination that emanated from them, they will
understand what I am talking about.
Indeed, many khanqās from the recent past inherited the spiritual
wealth of the 8th and 9th century khanqās and their shaikhs, and
the shaikhs of these recent khanqās successfully revived the fervor
and spirit that was the life and soul of the older ones. It seemed as
if history was once again repeating itself.
There are few people alive today who have witnessed firsthand
the month of Ramadan in the lifetime of Shaikh Rashīd Aĥmad
Gangohī 11 , though many saw the shaikhs after him like Shāh ‘Abd
al-Raĥīm 12 in Raipūr and Shaikh Thānwī in Thāna Bhawan. When
such people remember those times, they are overcome by nostalgia.
Shaikh Madanī and the Month of Ramadan
One of the only shaikhs we know from this era who revived this
forgotten Sunna was Shaikh al-Islām Ĥusain Aĥmad Madanī.
11 Maulānā Rashīd Aĥmad Gangohī (1829-1905) was the spiritual father
and guardian of the school of Deoband. He combined the best of Shari’a and
taśawwuf; he was a brilliant scholar and also on the highest spiritual state of
taśawwuf. In one of his letters to his shaikh, he writes, “praise for me and denigration
are equal in my eyes.” His letters and fatwas (religious law edicts) tell of
his acumen and prove that he was a true inheritor of the insight and intellect of
Shāh Walī Allāh.
12 Maulānā Shāh Abd al-Raĥīm Raipurī (1853/1919) was one of the highestranking
successors of Maulānā Gangohī. He was a master in Taśawwuf and loved
recitation of Qur’an. He established centers for learning recitation of Qur’an
[for children and adults] throughout his region and spent his night and days reciting
Qur’an in the blessed month of Ramadan. Due to his devotion to Qur’an
in Ramadan, no one was allowed to meet him in the holy month. Maulānā
Shaikh ‘Abd al-Qādir Raipūrī [next footnote] was his main successor.
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