Sirat e Amir e Millat.Biography of Sayyid Jama'at Ali Shah (r.a)1841-1951 Part 2

Sirat e Amir e Millat.Biography of Sayyid Jama'at Ali Shah (r.a)1841-1951

Sayyid Jam'at Ali Shah (r.a) was born in the village of Alipur Sayydan in Sialkot district of the Punjab in 1841.His patents were lineal descendants of Sayyid Muhammad Sa'id Nawruz Shah Shirazi (r.a) who came to India with the contingent of Persians who accompanied the Mughal ruler Humayun (d.963/1556) on his campaign to reconquer India.

Sayyid Jam'at Ali Shah (r.a) received an extensive religious education,achieving distiction as a memorizer of the Quran (hafiz) and a hadith specialist ( muhaddith).His father Sayyid Karim Shah (d.1319-20/1902)had Hafiz Shihabuddin Kashmiri come from nearby Qal'ah Subha Singh to teach the Qur'an.After studying with Abdur-rashid Alipuri,Abdulwahab Amritsari and Ghulam Qadir Bhirawi,Hazrat Jama'at Ali Shah (r.a) studied religious sciences with two well-known revivalist Naqshbandis,Irshad Husayn Rampuri (d.1311/1893-1894) and Shah Fadlurrahman Ganj Muradabadi (d.1312-1313/1895).He also studied with Muhammad Abdullah Tonki (d.1338-9/1920) and first rector of Nadwat al-Ulama,Muhammad Ali Mongiri (d.1346-47/1928). He received permission to transmit Hadith from Muhammad Abdurrahman Panipati (d.1313-14/1896) and when he traveled to Mecca,Shah Abdulhaqq Allahabadi Makki (d.133-34/1915) gave him authorization to narrate additional hadiths.(Source:Sufi Heirs of the Prophet (saws) by Arthur Buehler)

Book: Sufi Heirs of The Prophet: The Indian Naqshbandiyya and the Rise of the Mediating Sufi Shaykh. by Arthur F Buehler Ph.D ,Published by University of South Carolina.
Book Review by Asif Naqshbandi June 15,2003
This book fulfills two roles: it provides a very good history of the Naqshbandi Sufi Order in general and it also looks in detail at the life of one of the greatest Sufi saints of the 19th/20th century Sayyedina Ameer al Millat Grandshaykh Pir Sayyid Jama`at Ali Shah Naqshbandi (may Allah be pleased with him) of Alipur Sharif, Pakistan, as a case study. It is a welcome first look at this great saint and also it gives detailed information on Naqshbandi Sufi practices and beliefs. It should appeal to all those interested in tasawwuf and also of religion in the Subcontinent as well as to the millions of admirers and disciples of Grandshaykh, Hazrat Amir al Millat who was the Ghawth [spiritual helper] of his age. The only criticism is that it is very academic and meant for the specialist student of Sufism and not for the lay-person; yet with a bit of application all can benefit from this book and discover real Islam from a Master!