A Qadiri Saint of Sukkur

Zulfiqar Ali Kalhoro TFT Issue: 21 Sep 2018

Zulfiqar Ali Kalhoro on the story and tomb of Shah Khairuddin Jilani

Persian Inscription by Mian Ghulam Muhammad Pirzado

There are many Sufi shrines in every major city, town and historic village of Sindh. These
Sufi saints played important roles in spreading the message of peace, love and tolerance
among different communities. These values won the hearts of many non-Muslims who
were impressed by the teachings of these Sufis and accepted Islam. One such Sufi saint who
converted many to Islam was Shah Khairurddin Jilani, popularly known as Jeay Shah
Badshah. The shrine of Shah Khairuddin Jilani is located in old Sukkur and is one of the
most popular and early Qadiri shrines in the city of Sukkur.

It is believed that Shah Khairuddin, son of Amir Ahmed Shah Jilani, was born in Baghdad in
911 AH/1505. He was from the family of Shaikh Abdul Qadir Jilani (1077-1166 AD), the
founder of the Qadiri Silsila of Sufism. He received early education at Baghdad and became
an erudite scholar of Quran, Hadith and Tafsir at the age of 40. At the age of 40 he moved to
Makkah where he is believed to have stayed for twelve years and performed 12 Hajj.
Afterwards, he went to Madinah and stayed some years there too. After spending several
years in Arabia, he came to Sindh for preaching in the last quarter of the sixteenth century.
He spent his initial years preaching in lower Sindh where he met an eminent Sufi poet
Abdul Karim Bulri (1536-1623 AD). Shah Khairuddin Jilani spent some time with him and
both engaged in religious discourse together in Bulri, where some other religious scholars
also attended these sessions. Later Shah Abdul Karim Bulri took him to eminent
Suhrawardi Sufi saint Makhdoom Nuh (1506-1589) of Hala. It is believed that four of the
saints – Shah Khairuddin Jilani, Shah Abdul Karim Bulri, Makhdoom Nuh andYousaf Shah
Rizviused to have daily religious discourses for quite some time at Hala, which
subsequently left a deep influence on Shah Khairuddin Jilani – to accept Makhdoom Nuh as
an established Sufi saint of the sixteenth century.Although he was impressed by the
religious knowledge of Makhdoom Nuh, he did not become his disciple as many of the
modern Sindhi writers have claimed in their books. He remained attached to Qadiri Sufi
traditions.
Shrine of Shah Khairuddin Jilani at old Sukkur
The shrine of Shah Khairuddin Jilani is located in old Sukkur and is one of
the most popular and early Qadiri shrines in the city of Sukkur.

After travelling and meeting Sufis saints of Bulri and Hala, Shah Khairuddin Jilani finally
went to Sukkur where he stayed in a cave in the hill of Sukkur. He used to spend all of his
time in the cave in pray and fasting. This hill is still known as ‘Shah Jo Jabal’ in Sukkur. To
some of the devotees of Shah Khairuddin it is also known as Chilgah. Near the Chilagh is a
mosque which is believed to have been built by Ghulam Muhammad Pirzado who was a
disciple of Shah Khairuddin Jilani. This mosque was built in 1176 H/1762 AD.

Later, upon the requests of his disciples Shah Khairuddin Jilani moved to then Tarkhan
Mohallah (now Pirzadah Mohallah) where he established his khanqah there where today
his tomb is situated now. During travelling in lower Sindh many people became his
disciples and some even came along with him to Sukkur. One of his disciples from lower
Sindh was Mian Sadruddin alias Sadan Sawai whose grave is located in the tomb of Shah
Khairuddin. Apart from Sadan Sawai, another eminent disciple of Shah Khairuddin was
Mian Haji Jamal Shah alias Shah Madini whose descendants now are the caretakers of the
shrine. Many other Sufis of Sindh praised the religiosity and mysticism of Shah Khairuddin
Jilani. One knows the piety and magnitude of the mysticism of Shah Khairuddin Jilani
from Malfuzat(discourse and sayings) of Pir Muhammad Rashid Shah (1756-1818 AD)
alias ‘Rozay Dhani’ which was written by his chief deputy Khalefo Mahmood Nizamani
(1775-18-51 D). He praised him and his disciples for their religious knowledge and piety.
Many nobles and Sufi poets also became his disciples. Mir Muhammad Zakria, a grandson of
Mir Muhammad Masoom Bakhari (1528-1606 AD), was also one of the disciples of Shah
Khairuddin Jilani. He spent all of his life at the khanqah of Shah Khairuddin Jilani and died
there. He was buried in the family graveyard of Mir Muhammad Masoom Bakhari next to
his father Mir Buzrug. Mian Nasiruddin Shah Rizvi and his son Shah Inayat Rizvi (d.1708),
both from Nasarpur were also disciples of Shah Khairuddin Jilani. Shah Inayat Rizvi was
also a Sufi poet of great repute. He also composed some poetry in the praise of his mentor
Shah Khairuddin Jilani. The list of Shah Khairuddin Jilani’s disciples is very long but I just
mentioned a few.
 Marble canopy over grave of Shah Khairuddin Jilani
Shah Khairuddin Jilani died on the 27th Ramazan in 1017 H/1609 AD. But there is dispute
among the Sindhi writers on the year of death of Shah Khairuddin Jilani. Some ascribed it as
1017 H/1609 and others cite 1027 H/1718 as the probable year of the death of Shah
Khairuddin Jilani. This confused historians very much.

Actually the reason behind this confusion is that there are inscriptions with two different
years of death of the saint. There are three Persian inscriptions, one nazam and one madah
in the tomb. The first inscription is fixed above the mehrab in the interior of the tomb that
shows 1027 H/1618 AD as the date of the saint’s death. The second Persian inscription on
the facade of the tomb bears the date of the tomb’s construction (1174 H/1760-61) and the
name of the builder. The third inscription is also on the facade of the tomb bearing the date
of the saint’s death (1017H/1609 AD), the date of the tomb’s construction (1174 H/1760-
61) by Mian Ghulam Muhammad and renovation and decoration of the tomb with ceramics
(1299 H/ 1282) by Mian Mureed Ali son of Muhammad Ali Pirzado. This third inscription
appears more correct – which has also been confirmed now by the present caretaker and
shows the actual year of death of the saint as 1017 H/1609 AD. Apart from three
inscriptions there is a nazam on the silver door of the tomb with the date 1305 H/1887 AD
and Persian madah on glazed tiles in the exterior of the tomb which was composed by
Abdul Qadir Bakhsh Bedal Rohriwaro (1815-1873 AD), a Sufi poet who belonged to the
Qadiri silsila of Sufism.

The tomb of Shah Khairuddin Jilani is one of the magnificent structures in Sukkur which is
adorned with beautiful ceramics with ornately carved, perforated and latticed marble
screens on the marble canopy over the grave of Shah Khairuddin Jilani. The ornamental
lantern over the dome of Shah Khairuddin Jilani is one of the impressive architectural
elements of eighteenth century Sindh.

The annual Urs of Shah Khairuddin Jilani is celebrated for two days on the 26th and 27th
Ramazan. On this occasion Mehfil-i-Maulood is held and a langar is distributed amongst the
devotees of Shah Khairuddin Jilani who come from all over Sindh, South Punjab and
Balochistan. Shah Khairuddin Jilani is highly revered not only by Muslims but also by
Hindus of three provinces of Pakistan.

The author is an anthropologist and has authored four books: ‘Symbols in Stone: The
Rock Art of Sindh’, ‘Perspectives on the art and architecture of Sindh’, ‘Memorial
Stones: Tharparkar’ and ‘Archaeology, Religion and Art in Sindh’. He may be contacted
at: zulfi04@hotmail.com