Muslims throughout the world will, this evening (11 Rabi-ul-Aakhir – Oct 3), observe the physical passing of Islam’s greatest saint, Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jilani, who is buried in Baghdad, Iraq, with the day commonly being referred to as Giyarwi Sharif.
Known as the paramount Sufi saint, Shaykh Jilani, who was born on the 1st of Ramadaan, is also fondly referred to as Hazrat Ghous Pak and is a descendent of the Holy Prophet Muhammed (PBUH), from both his father and mother’s side. The first sign that he was truly a ‘friend’ of the Almighty, was when, in his infancy, he refused to be fed by his mother during the day and only accepted a feed at night, during the fasting month of Ramadaan. Among
the great Islamic scholars who acknowledged Hazrat Ghous Pak as their Shaykh, was Khwaja Mu-inuddin Chishti Ajmeri Rahmatullahi ‘alayh, who spearheaded the spread of Islam in India. Hazrat Ghous Pak, who is the ‘king of all saints’, gave ten main rules for his followers, which included: to avoid cursing or harming any creature, to always keep one’s promise, never to desire what belongs to others and to always put one’s trust in the Almighty only. *Hundreds of South African Muslims visit Iraq annually, during this period, to pay their respects at the Shaykh’s final resting place in Baghdad.