The Hujra of a Pious Man

Written by Saeed Qureshi

We had the unique privilege and immense blessing of sitting in the Hujra (room for prayers and meditation) of Hazrat Sufi Ameer Khan Sahib. This happened last Thursday when Sufi Sahib invited us to show his spiritual relics that were passed on to him from his family and were presented to him from the famous Dargas (tombs and burial places or spiritual house of saints).

The group of visitors comprised Hazrat Jinab Khaliq Qureshi Sahib, Shah Alam Siddiqui Sahib, Jinab Farooq Khan Sahib, Azad Khan and this scribe. Jinab Khaliq Qureshi Sahib is the most devoted disciple of Jinab Sufi Ameer Khan Sahib.

The occasion for this spiritually resplendent and blissfully packed assemblage was to offer prayers on the sad demise of the father of one of our colleagues and famous Radio anchor Azad Khan. Sufi Sahib in his typical devotional and most moving manner recited various suras from the holy Quran. He fervently prayed for the blessing and mercy of God, eternal peace and atonement for the departed soul and for grant of an exalted place to him in the paradise.

It was an atmosphere filled with an aura of divinity and serenity that one can only feel in the company of holy men, the saints, mystics and ascetics. But what was rare and exceedingly surpassing treat to the beholders was the collection of invaluable relics that were safely preserved in that physically small but spiritually magnificent room.

Here we saw the prayer rug or Jaanamaz from the Mazaar (burial place) of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auwliya of Delhi. This unique 600 years old relic was passed on to Sufi Ameer Khan by his honorable mother Bibi Khadija also a waliullah (saint of God) in her own right.

The front wall of the Hujra was covered with a profusely embroidered and glittering Galaaf (cover)   from the Mazaar of famous saint Khawaja Ghareeb Nawaz of Ajmer Shareef (1141-1230 AD). It is 50 years old and even now looks as if was prepared only recently. One looks at these awesome relics with utter amazement and a deep sense of divinity.

We were also shown six Chaddars (linen or silk sheets) from different tombs and mausoleums of the celebrated and spiritually most exalted saints of the past several hundred years. These were the covers of the huge graves of the sleeping ascetics or Aulias. These are chronologically listed below:

Chaddar from the Mazaar of Hazrat Data Ganj Baksh Ali Hujwiri (990- 1077 AD).   

Chaddar (50 years old) - from the Mazaar of Hazrat Abdal Qadir al-Gilani al-Husani (1077-1166 AD)

Chaddar from the Mazaar of Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki (1173-1235 AD)

Chaddar (25 years old) from the Mazaar of Baba Fariduddin Masud Ganj-e-Shakar (1188-1280       AD)

Chaddar (30 years old), from the Mazaar of Nizamuddin Aulia of Delhi (1238-1325 AD)

Chaddar (35 years old) - from the Mazaar of Amir Khusrau (1253-1325 AD)

Anyone wishing to see these rare relics can either get into touch with Jinab Khaliq Sahib or Sufi Ameer Khan himself. I am sure your visit would be most rewarding and spiritually thrilling. Sufi Sahib spends his better part of night either reading the holy Quran or in praying including Tahujjad (midnight prayer). So it would be better to call Khaliq Sahib in advance of visit for an appointment.