Sayyid Jama'at Ali Shah Naqshbandi(r.a)

Sayyid Jamaat Ali Shah Naqshbandi (r.a)

Sayyid Jama'at Ali Shah (rahmat Allah alayhi) - d. 1951
Naqshbandiyya revivalist contributions in the twentieth century are centered around Sayyid Jamaat Ali Shah (rahmat Allah alayhi). He was born in the village of Alipur Sayyidan in the Sialkot District of Punjab (Pakistan), where he received an extensive religious education, achieving distinction as a memorizer of Quran (hafiz) and a Hadith specialist (muhaddith). He was initiated into Naqshbandiyya Mujaddadiyya in 1891 by Baba Faqir Muhammad Churahi (d.1897) (rahmat Allah alayhi). He established his religious leadership in the Islamic revival movement by actively propagating Islam (tablig) as he traveled to many villages and towns throughout the Indian subcontinent. Not only encouraging regular performance of required religious duties according to Islamic law (sharia) and supervising the construction of mosques, he propagated idea of Naqshbandiyya and attracted learned religious scholars to join the Islamic revival movement. In 1904, Jamaat Ali Shah (rahmat Allah alayhi) founded the Anjuman-i-Khuddam as-Sufiyya (The Voluntary Association of Sufi Servants) and began publishing the Anjuman's monthly journal, Risla-yi-anwar as-Sufiyya. The explicit goals of the Anjuman were:1. To unify all Sufi groups,2. To spread knowledge of Taswwuf (Sufism),3. To make books on Sufism available,4. To circulate the Journal in which Sufis' hagiographies, exemplary character, and conduct are featured.In 1925 he presided over first All-India Sunni Conference, giving the keynote speech. Then in September 1935,having been declared the " leader of Muslim Community" (amir-i-millat),at a special conference of the "United Muslim Community" (ittihad-i-millat),he stressed the need for love of Prophet saws followed by the need for active propagation of Islam, for unity of Sufis and Ulama. Throughout the Pakistan movement, Jamaat Ali Shah (r.a) supported Mohammad Ali Jinnah and Muslim League. At the 1946 All-India Sunni Conference, he publicly exclaimed (to counter those who accused Jinnah of being non-Muslim), "Jinnah is an intimate of God." The conference was attended by 500 shaykhs, 7000 ulama, and over 100,000 other people, which encouraged the Muslim League to form Pakistan. A committee with many scholars and Sufis was set up to make sure that the new Pakistan government would be Islamic. He passed away in 1951.Today many successors and their disciples are scattered throughout Pakistan and India, some of whom have established Sufi lodges in England and United States. Sayyid Afdal Husayn Shah is the living successor in Jamaat Ali's lineage and serves on Naqshbandiya Foundation for Islamic Education's Advisory Council.
Naqshbandi Lineage:1. Sayyid Jamaat Ali Shah(d.1951)2. Faqir Muhammad Churahi (d.1897)3. Nur Muhammad Churahi (d.1869)4. Faydullah Tirahi (d.1829)5. Khwaja Isa (d.1806)6. Shah Jamalullah (d.1794)7. Shah Qutbuddin (d.1766)8. Muhammad Zubayr (d. 1740)9. Hujjatullah Naqshband (d.1702)10. Muhammad Masum (d. 1668)11. Ahmad Sirhundi (d. 1624)(From Buehler, "Charisma and Exemplar,"1993)