Maternal Lineage
نانہیال
The Ancestor: Hazrat Sayyid Muḥyī al-Dīn
The maternal lineage of Bahr al-ʿUlūm Ḥasrat traces to Ḥusaynī Sayyids — descendants of the Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ through his grandson Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī (raḍiy Allāhu ʿanhumā), tracing through Imām Muḥammad Taqī. The first of this line to reach the Indian subcontinent was Hazrat Sayyid Muḥyī al-Dīn, who came to India during the reign of the Emperor Aurangzeb (raḥimahu'llāh) and settled in Burhānpur — a city long known as a centre of Islamic scholarship and Sufi tradition in the Deccan region.
From Burhānpur, the family moved southward into the heart of the Deccan over the generations, eventually establishing deep roots in Hyderabad under the Nizāmī state.
Hazrat Mīr Ḥaydar ʿAlī and the Panj Bhāʾī Group
Among the notable figures of this lineage in Hyderabad was Hazrat Mīr Ḥaydar ʿAlī, who came from Burhānpur to the Deccan as part of the Panj Bhāʾī (Five Brothers) group — a cluster of related families who moved together and established themselves in the service of the Nizāmī state. This group pattern of migration is characteristic of the Deccan's history: pious families moving in clusters, preserving their ties and their traditions in a new land.
Hazrat Mīr Ḥaydar ʿAlī served the Niẓām and was respected for his learning and piety. He passed away on 20 Jumādā al-Ākhira 1258 AH, leaving behind a family that would continue to produce scholars and saints.
Hazrat Mīr Parwarish ʿAlī — Sayyid Muḥammad Bādshāh Ḥusaynī
The next great figure in this maternal line was Hazrat Mīr Parwarish ʿAlī, also known as Sayyid Muḥammad Bādshāh Ḥusaynī — a man of extraordinary spiritual stature. He performed the Ḥajj pilgrimage to Mecca twelve to thirteen times over the course of his life — a remarkable testimony to his love for the Sacred House and his means and commitment to the prophetic path.
He was the founder and guiding spirit of Masjid al-Nūr (the Mosque of Light) — a mosque that became a centre of learning, dhikr, and teaching in Hyderabad. His teaching circle gathered students and seekers from across the region, and his learning encompassed both the outward sciences and the inward realities of the spiritual path.
He received bay'ah and khilāfah from Hazrat Mawlawī Mushajjaʿ al-Dīn Ḥusayn — a chain of spiritual transmission that connected him to the great masters of the Sufi tradition. He passed away on 22 Rabīʿ al-Ākhir 1289 AH.
The Family of Sayyid Muḥammad Bādshāh Ḥusaynī
Sayyid Muḥammad Bādshāh Ḥusaynī was blessed with children of exceptional quality. His eldest son was Hazrat Sayyid Khwāja Muḥammad Ṣiddīq Maḥbūb Allāh — who would become the spiritual master (pīr) of Bahr al-ʿUlūm himself. His daughter Sayyida Anwar Begum became the mother of Bahr al-ʿUlūm — and thus this family occupied the unique position of being both the maternal family and the spiritual lineage family of Ḥasrat. Two of Bahr al-ʿUlūm's own daughters later married into this same family — ʿUthmān and Bāqir, sons of Khwāja Maḥbūb Allāh — while Khwāja Maḥbūb Allāh's daughter Amat Allāh Begum married Bahr al-ʿUlūm's son ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, further weaving the two families together across two generations.
Hazrat Sayyid Khwāja Muḥammad Ṣiddīq Maḥbūb Allāh
Born on 29 Shaʿbān 1273 AH, Hazrat Sayyid Khwāja Muḥammad Ṣiddīq Maḥbūb Allāh was one of the most remarkable men of his age in the Deccan. His birth was preceded by a prophetic dream of Fāṭima al-Zahrāʾ (raḍiy Allāhu ʿanhā) — the blessed daughter of the Prophet ﷺ — a sign that was taken as divine promise of extraordinary spiritual gifts to come.
He accumulated approximately twenty-five honorific titles during his lifetime — a measure of the esteem in which he was held by scholars, nobles, and the common people alike. He was distinguished in his physical appearance, his moral character, and his intellectual gifts in equal measure.
His Mastery of Languages and Literature
Khwāja Maḥbūb Allāh possessed mastery of Arabic, Persian, and Urdu at the highest level. At a single mushāʿira (poetic gathering), he composed three hundred couplets — an astonishing feat of spontaneous literary creation that left his contemporaries in awe. Such was the depth of his command of language and form that poetry poured from him as naturally as breath.
His Spiritual Station and Bay'ah
He received bay'ah from Shāh Saʿd Allāh Naqshbandī, entering the Naqshbandī order and advancing through its stations with singular swiftness. He attained the station of Ghawthiyyat — among the highest of the spiritual stations recognised in the Sufi tradition, reserved for those whom Allāh has appointed as poles of divine mercy in their age. This station encompassed comprehensive mastery of both the outward sciences of the Sharīʿah and the inward realities of the Ṭarīqah.
His adherence to the Sharīʿah was absolute. In an age when some sought to separate the outward law from the inner path, Khwāja Maḥbūb Allāh embodied their unity. He taught by example that the Sunnah is not the shell but the very substance of the spiritual life, and that no inward journey can be true that does not proceed along the outward highway of prophetic practice.
He passed away on 18 Dhū al-Qaʿdah 1313 AH — a loss felt throughout Hyderabad and beyond.
Children of Hazrat Khwāja Muḥammad Ṣiddīq Maḥbūb Allāh
1. Hazrat Sayyid Muḥammad ʿUthmān Ḥusaynī
The eldest son of Khwāja Maḥbūb Allāh — Hazrat Sayyid ʿUthmān Ḥusaynī, raḥimahu'llāh — was born in Ṣafar 1290 AH. After the passing of his honoured father, he became his successor (jānashīn) in the spiritual chain.
He was proficient in Arabic, Persian, and Urdu — an author and compiler of repute. His gatherings and sermons were attended by great numbers of people. He resided for extended periods in Madīna al-Tayyiba, the radiant city of the Prophet ﷺ, drawn by love of the Holy City.
He had a special affinity for poetry; his pen-name was Fāʾiq ("superior"). His collected verse, titled Adhkār-e Ghayb (Remembrances of the Unseen), was published.
He was very simple by nature and made extensive use of indigenous hand-spun cloth (khādī) — a practice he introduced long before it became associated with political movements. His adherence to the Sunnah was such that he was not only himself bound by it but insisted strictly that his disciples observe it. If any disciple neglected the Tahajjud prayer (the voluntary pre-dawn prayer), he would avoid contact or conversation with that person until a sense of remorse arose and the practice was resumed.
So deep was his love for the prophetic example that he had sandals made on the model of the blessed sandals of the Prophet ﷺ — the revered naʿlayn al-Nabī ﷺ. Previously, such reproductions were not in common use among the people of the Deccan.
Such was the fruit of his following the Sunnah that he was honoured with visions of the Noble Master ﷺ. He would say: "If four days pass without a vision of the Master, I feel it..." And on one occasion: "For some time now, I have been standing behind the Master of the Two Worlds ﷺ in every prayer. When I stand for prayer, I find the Exalted Master as the imām."
He was very much inclined towards istighnāʾ (spiritual self-sufficiency and independence from the world). He greatly disliked the company of nobles and grandees. Nawwāb Mīr Maḥbūb ʿAlī Khān Āṣaf Jāh VI — the sixth Niẓām of Hyderabad — sought permission to visit him on numerous occasions, but Hazrat did not grant permission.
On 21 Shaʿbān 1329 AH, as was his custom, he went on foot with some of his disciples to offer Fātiha at the shrine of Bābā Sharīf al-Dīn at Pāyashāhī Sharīf. As he passed, the Niẓām happened to be residing nearby. The royal gaze fell on Hazrat, and the sovereign ran forward to grasp his blessed hand. Hazrat tried with difficulty to free himself. The Niẓām asked through his companions: "Is this Hazrat ʿUthmān Miān Sāhib Qibla himself?" Hazrat quickened his pace to move on. The next day after this encounter, the great flood of the Mūsī river struck Hyderabad — one of the most devastating floods in the city's history (1908 CE). Al-ḥamdulillāh, the Niẓām and his subjects were saved from the worst.
Of his bond with Bahr al-ʿUlūm, Hazrat ʿAbd al-Qādīr himself related: "I had boundless love for ʿUthmān Miān Sāhib. We would sit in opposite corners of the mosque and together perform the vocal dhikr — the mosque would fill up." And: "Once we both went to a khanqāh that had a lock on it. I took hold of the lock and pulled — it opened. We went inside, made the ziyārat, and on our return put the lock back."
ʿUthmān Miān Sāhib made the journey to the Holy Land fifteen times. On his last journey, in 1332 AH, he passed away there at the age of fifteen [note: likely a textual issue — context suggests "fifteen times" refers to journeys, and age at passing may be different]. His ʿurs is observed on the 13th of Ṣafar, and a monthly Fātiha is observed on the 13th of every month.
His second wife was a daughter of Bahr al-ʿUlūm Mawlānā ʿAbd al-Qādīr Ṣiddīqī himself. She passed away five days before Hazrat ʿUthmān. Both husband and wife are buried in Jeddah.
2. Hazrat Sayyid Muḥammad Yaḥyā Ḥusaynī
The second son of Khwāja Maḥbūb Allāh — Hazrat Sayyid Muḥammad Yaḥyā Ḥusaynī, raḥimahu'llāh — became successor after his revered elder brother. His kunyā was Abū al-Saʿādāt; he was commonly known as Yaḥyā Pāshāh. He was a Ḥāfiẓ of the Qurʾān. Born Ṣafar 1303 AH; he passed away 2 Ṣafar 1363 AH.
At nine or ten years of age he lost his father. He was raised under the guardianship of his elder brother Sayyid ʿUthmān Ḥusaynī. He received education up to the level of Mawlawī at Madrasat Dār al-ʿUlūm, then obtained a certificate (sanad) in Qurʾānic recitation and the science of tajwīd from his brother Sayyid ʿUmar Ḥusaynī. He also received instruction in the Eastern sciences from his father-in-law Allāma Sayyid Ghulām Shatārī and from his elder brother Bahr al-ʿUlūm Allāma Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Qādīr Ṣiddīqī. He completed his studies with a year's residence in Madīna al-Tayyiba, where he also benefited from Allāma Ḥusayn Aḥmadī and other teachers.
In calligraphy he was versed in both the naskh and nastaʿlīq scripts, having learned this art from Mawlawī Hāshim ʿAlī Sāhib. He also had a poetic gift — receiving guidance in the art first from his elder brother Hazrat Fāʾiq and later from the great master Ustād Badāyūnī.
He received bay'ah from his father Khwāja Maḥbūb Allāh, and khilāfah was also conferred upon him by his elder brother. He was very simple in his nature, always avoiding ostentation. He was content to sign himself merely as "Qāḍī" — keeper of no additional titles. His wife was the honoured Maymūna Begum, daughter of Allāma Sayyid Mawlānā Syed Shāh Ghulām Shatārī. From her womb came four sons and one daughter.
An extraordinary spiritual account is preserved of an encounter with a majdhūb (divine-intoxicated saint): Hazrat Yaḥyā Pāshāh, while visiting a shrine, came upon this majdhūb in a state of deep spiritual absorption. He was gripped by such awe at the luminosity of the saint's face that he could not bring himself to waken him — until at last his tongue called out by sheer compulsion. On this occasion, Hazrat himself was blessed with a vision in the sacred precincts (Ḥaram) — of these blessed souls who "not only saw that luminous face but were honoured with the blessing of touching that blessed body with their own hands."
3. Hazrat Sayyid Muḥammad Bāqir Ḥusaynī
The third son of Khwāja Maḥbūb Allāh — Hazrat Sayyid Muḥammad Bāqir Ḥusaynī, raḥimahu'llāh — was popularly known as Faqīr Pāshāh. His kunyā was Abū al-Shaʿ; his pen-name: Ṭāriq. Born 11 Ramaḍān 1305 AH; passed away 14 Dhū al-Qaʿda 1369 AH. His mausoleum is at Bāqir Nagar, near the New ʿĪd-Gāh, by the permanent lake of Mīr ʿĀlam, Hyderabad.
He spent considerable time in the Ḥijāz with his mother, studying near Madīna al-Tayyiba. On his return, he received education in Eastern sciences at Dār al-ʿUlūm, and benefited from both his father-in-law Hazrat Sayyid ʿUmar Sāhib and his elder brother Bahr al-ʿUlūm.
He had a special interest in poetry and literature; some of his work was published. He edited Risāla al-Nūr (The Journal of Light) for many years — a periodical through which he worked to awaken in Muslims the forces of religious learning, intellectual creativity, and ijtihād, and to cultivate in them qualities of resolution, courage, steadfastness, hard work, selflessness, and sacrifice. Bahr al-ʿUlūm himself wrote of this journal: "In it appear exceedingly elevated essays on scholarly, ethical, Sufi, and other subjects — and the editor himself is a learned man of the pen. The essays published over this period are a source of distinction." Professor Sayyid Manāẓir Aḥsan Gīlānī endorsed it as having "preserved for future generations the hidden treasures of the Deccan's radiant scholarship."
He was also a skilled historian, a calligrapher, and a physician — practising Unānī medicine and achieving great success. He took a particular interest in homoeopathic treatments; people would come from far and near to benefit. His temperament was one of simplicity and contentment — he paid no heed to the wealthy or the powerful.
His bay'ah was given to his own father (at the time of whose passing he was about eight years old). The chain of guidance continued and he had numerous murīds.
His wife Hazrat Zaynab Begum was the eldest daughter of Bahr al-ʿUlūm Mawlānā ʿAbd al-Qādīr Ṣiddīqī himself — another of the deep ties binding the two families together.
The Brothers of Khwāja Muḥammad Ṣiddīq Maḥbūb Allāh
1. Hazrat Sayyid Aḥmad ʿAlī Shāh
Hazrat Sayyid Aḥmad ʿAlī Shāh, raḥimahu'llāh — the elder brother of Khwāja Maḥbūb Allāh — was born 29 Ramaḍān 1241 AH and passed away 25 Rabīʿ al-Ākhir 1331 AH. A learned scholar, Ḥāfiẓ, and skilled Qāri, he led the tarāwīḥ prayers in the miḥrāb every Ramaḍān.
He also had an interest in poetry; his pen-name was Lāʾiq. His collected verses were published under the title Adhkār-e Gharīb. He was of the same simplicity as his family — favouring indigenous cloth (khādī), strict in the Sunnah, and deeply independent of the world. The Niẓām sought his company multiple times; he did not permit the visit.
He too was blessed with visions of the Prophet ﷺ. He said: "If four days pass without a vision of the Master, it comes. Every one of my prayers is performed behind the Master of Both Worlds ﷺ. When I stand for prayer, I find the Blessed Master as the imām."
An account from 21 Shaʿbān 1329 AH records an unavoidable encounter with the Niẓām while walking on foot to the shrine of Bābā Sharāf al-Dīn. When the Niẓām recognised him and ran forward, Hazrat quickened his pace. A courier ran after him to convey that the royal highness wished to meet and kiss his feet. Hazrat replied: "Very well. Maḥbūb ʿAlī, I greet you" — and continued on his way. His poetry was composed in the tradition of the Shatārī family: hamd, naʿt, and devotional verse. His Kulliyāt-e Shāʾiq was first published in 1320 AH and ran through so many editions that their number is difficult to count. Professor Sayyid Manāẓir Aḥsan Gīlānī endorsed his naʿtiya verse as reflecting a deep ʿishq-e rasūl (love of the Prophet ﷺ).
2. Hazrat Sayyid Shāh Maḥmūd Dakkī
The younger brother of Khwāja Maḥbūb Allāh — Hazrat Sayyid Shāh Maḥmūd Dakkī, raḥimahu'llāh — was popularly known as Makkī Miān. His pen-name was Dhākir. Born 1280 AH; passed away 5 Muḥarram al-Ḥarām 1338 AH. His mausoleum is at Ḥusaynī Takrīyā, near Kishān Bāgh — a shrine visited by all.
He was a skilled Qāri of the Qurʾān with a good command of Arabic and Persian. He composed a versified work on Ḥanafī fiqh titled Tawsha-e ʿUqbā, which was printed. His poems, composed under the pen-name Ḥamz, are very popular and widely known.
He combined faithfulness and truthfulness with extreme simplicity. He was completely independent (mustaghnī) from the world, did not mix with the wealthy and prominent, and would see any task he undertook through to completion. His spiritual states were distinguished and he also took an interest in spiritual healing of demonic possession (āsib); whoever came was benefited.
He received bay'ah and khilāfah from his elder brother Khwāja Muḥammad Ṣiddīq Maḥbūb Allāh. His murīds and followers are numerous, and the stream of blessings continues to this day. His mausoleum at Awliyāʾ Bāgh near the dome of Sīr Pahādī Sharīf is visited by all.
Among the children of Hazrat Sayyid Shāh Maḥmūd Dakkī was Mawlānā Sayyid Muḥammad Ṣiddīq Maḥmūdī — known as Khwāja Pāshāh, born Muḥarram 1318 AH with the pen-name Ramz. He studied at Dār al-ʿUlūm, passed the Mawlawī Kāmil examination, and also passed Punjab University's Munshī Fāzil and Mawlawī Fāzil examinations. From childhood he studied with Bahr al-ʿUlūm himself in both outward and inward sciences; Bahr al-ʿUlūm would often mention him specifically among his most devoted students.
He served as assistant teacher of Arabic and religious sciences at Chādarghat Bāni School, where his principal was the celebrated English convert Marmaduke Pickthall — the same Pickthall who produced the widely-read English translation of the Qurʾān. Pickthall was deeply impressed by Mawlānā and often conversed with him in Arabic. After the Police Action of 1948 and the political upheavals that followed, Mawlānā migrated to Karachi, Pakistan, under the insistence of his sons. He passed away on 24 Ramaḍān 1382 AH in Karachi.
3. Hazrat Sayyid ʿUmar Ḥusaynī Qādirī
The younger brother of Khwāja Maḥbūb Allāh — Hazrat Sayyid ʿUmar Ḥusaynī Qādirī, raḥimahu'llāh — was born 1282 AH and passed away on 19 Ṣafar 1330 AH. His mausoleum is at Qādirī Chaman, near Falak Numā, Hyderabad — a shrine visited by all.
Bahr al-ʿUlūm Allāma Mawlānā ʿAbd al-Qādīr Ṣiddīqī wrote an introductory essay about him, published in volume 2, issue 2 of Risāla al-Qadīr. Hazrat Sayyid ʿUmar was the youngest son of his father, who passed away when he was only four years old; he was therefore raised under the guardianship of his elder brother Khwāja Maḥbūb Allāh.
Physical Appearance and Character
He was tall and exceedingly handsome, with well-proportioned limbs, large eyes, a straight nose, and a fair complexion — his hair deep black and lustrous. When he walked, there was such an attraction in his bearing and the luminosity of his face that people could not help staring. He wore a wide robe and white turban, carried a handkerchief on his shoulder and a small walking stick.
His initial education was given at home by his mother and grandmother. He enrolled at Madrasat al-Maḥbūbiyya and studied literature, morphology (ṣarf), syntax (naḥw), logic (manṭiq), and hadīth. He completed the six canonical hadīth collections (Ṣiḥāḥ Sitta) from Mawlānā ʿAbbās ʿAlī Khān Sarhadī Afghānī, and obtained certificates in the seven modes of Qurʾānic recitation (Sabʿa Qirāʾāt) from Hazrat Sayyid Muḥammad Tūnsī. His spiritual education was given by his elder brother Khwāja Maḥbūb Allāh himself.
His Teaching, Adherence to the Sunnah, and Character
He began giving Qurʾānic tafsīr and sermons (waʿẓ) after Friday prayers — with his elder brother Khwāja Maḥbūb Allāh sometimes attending from a corner without making himself visible. His approach was practical and direct. He said: "The Friday prayer is obligatory for the believers. Once every eight days, let them rest from their work. Let each person discharge the rights due to every other." By this steady teaching, the mosques of his neighbourhood began to fill — and those who came for Friday prayers gradually took on the full five daily prayers.
In his daily business, eating, drinking, and every activity, he cited only Allāh and the Prophet ﷺ — qāla Allāhu and qāla al-Rasūl ﷺ. He was deeply grounded in the Ḥanafī way. He was an example of selflessness (īthār); he could not bear to see the suffering of another.
During the great Mūsī flood of 1908 CE, when the river rose catastrophically and hundreds were at risk, he opened his home and provided shelter for three days — housing, feeding, and caring for all those who came to him, until the waters receded. He was also physically vigorous: he performed seven hundred push-up dips (dand) daily and leaped over a thousand times — and throughout his physical exercises he kept his heart in the remembrance of Allāh (Lā ilāha illa Allāh).
He wrote several treatises refuting the Qādiyānī heresy, and issued invitation letters to its proponents and to scholars and saints of the Deccan — though none responded. He visited Mecca Ahmad Raza Khan Bareilwī (1856–1921) and the two eminent scholars shared great mutual love and respect.
His Works
1. Rahbar-e Ṭarīqat — an Urdu translation of the famous work of Hazrat Shaykh Tāj al-Dīn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh Makandarī (d. 1000 AH), known as Risālat al-Ṭarīqat / Tahdhīb al-Nufūs. Published 1330 AH.
2. Taṣrīf al-Qādirī — a work on Arabic verbal morphology, arranging both minor and major conjugation patterns in an accessible manner.
3. Tafsīr-e Qādirī — a continuous Qurʾānic commentary begun after Friday prayers, covering fourteen to fifteen juzʾ over approximately twelve years and exceeding two thousand pages — left incomplete at his death. His eldest son Mawlawī Sayyid Muḥammad Bādshāh Qādirī hoped to complete it.
4. Farāʾiḍ al-Qādirī — a clear Urdu guide to the Islamic law of inheritance (ʿilm al-mīrāth), which gave Muslims great facility in the correct distribution of estates.
Majlis-e Muʾayyid al-Ikhwān — a society he founded to free Muslims from interest-bearing loans and to dissuade them from wasteful customs and unlawful celebrations. Such was his sincerity that this society stood long after his death.
Hazrat Sayyid ʿUmar Ḥusaynī passed away on 19 Ṣafar 1330 AH — the same year that plague struck Hyderabad with devastating force — at the age of approximately thirty-eight years. Innā lillāhi wa innā ilayhi rājiʿūn.
His marriage in 1303 AH was to Amtat al-Majīd Begum, the daughter of Sayyid Shāh Asad Allāh Ḥusaynī Qādirī of Jabr (Poona), in Secunderabad. From her, two sons and two daughters were born.
Shaykh al-Islām Sayyid Muḥammad Bādshāh Ḥusaynī Qādirī
The eldest son of Hazrat Sayyid ʿUmar Ḥusaynī Qādirī was Shaykh al-Islām Sayyid Muḥammad Bādshāh Ḥusaynī Qādirī, raḥimahu'llāh — pen-name Raḥmat. Born in Qādirī Pūra, Hyderabad Deccan; passed away 19 Rabīʿ al-Ākhir 1383 AH / 25 August 1963 CE — a Tuesday at 5:30 a.m. He is buried alongside his father and forebears at Masjid al-Nūr, Qādirī Pūra.
He received his initial education from his father up to age thirteen, then enrolled at Jāmiʿa Niẓāmiyya and completed the Dars-e Niẓāmī curriculum. In Ramaḍān 1330 AH, in the presence of Bahr al-ʿUlūm himself, along with Mawlānā Ḥabīb al-Raḥmān, Nawwāb Ṣadr Yār Jung, and others, he received the dastār-e faḍīlat (the graduation turban) at the mosque. The invitation for this ceremony was issued in Bahr al-ʿUlūm's name.
Among his distinguished teachers: Mawlānā Anwār Allāh Khān Sāhib Faḍīlat Jung, Mawlānā ʿAbd al-Karīm Sāhib Shaykh-e Jāmiʿa, Mawlānā Shāh Muḥammad Sāhib Shatārī Shaykh al-Adab, Mawlānā Sayyid Ibrāhīm Sāhib Adīb (Professor of Arabic, Osmania University), and Mawlānā Muftī Raḥīm al-Dīn Rayhānī (Jāmiʿa Niẓāmiyya).
The author records a beautiful testimony: "Jāmiʿa Niẓāmiyya prepared a lamp, and Bahr al-ʿUlūm Allāma ʿAbd al-Qādīr lit it into flame — the figure whom the world today knows as Shaykh al-Islām." Together, the senior scholars transmitted the deep light of Hazrat Sayyid ʿUmar Allāma Syed Qādirī through his son, so that "Hazrat Bādshāh Ḥusaynī became such a comprehensive personality that finding his like in today's world would be difficult."
He continued his father's covenant of preaching after every Friday prayer at the mosque. Every year on 11 Rabīʿ al-Munawwar and 29 Rajab he gave sermons at which the Niẓām himself attended. When he praised the honour of the Companions ﷺ — especially Ḥaḍrat Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq and Ḥaḍrat ʿUmar al-Fārūq (raḍiy Allāhu ʿanhumā) — it would bring tears to the eyes of his listeners.
When neo-Wahhābī currents attacked the standard Sunni practices — intercession through saints (istigātha bil-awliyāʾ), the customary Fātiha readings, the life of the Prophet ﷺ after death (ḥayāt al-nabī), and the conveying of reward to the deceased (īṣāl al-thawāb) — he stood firm from the pulpit of Mecca Mosque, defending by hadīth evidence the honour of the Companions, the sanctity of the Ahl al-Bayt, love of the Prophet ﷺ, and the spiritual connection to the great saints.
He was elected head of the Department of Religious Sciences at Osmania University. He also received Shāh Saʿūd of Saudi Arabia when the latter visited Hyderabad, presenting a poetic supplication-letter in both Urdu and Arabic in the royal presence. When Shaykh al-Islām subsequently visited Mecca and Madīna for Ḥajj, Shāh Saʿūd specially summoned him and received him with honour.
He received bay'ah and khilāfah from his father, with additional ijāza in other silsilas — though he gave bay'ah exclusively in the Silsila-e ʿĀliya Qādiriyya, as he was Qādirī in his spiritual orientation. His murīds and devotees numbered in the thousands.
His marriage at age twenty-one was to Raḥmat al-Nisāʾ Begum — the granddaughter of Hazrat ʿAlī Shāh Chishtī, and the younger daughter of Hazrat Sayyid Shāh Muʿayn Allāh Ḥusaynī. From her, three daughters and three sons were alive at the time of his passing. After his passing, his eldest son Mawlānā al-Ḥāj Muḥammad ʿUmar Ḥusaynī became his successor; and after him, Mawlānā al-Ḥāj Ḥājib Maḥbūb Qāsim Ḥusaynī Sāhib serves as the present successor. (Ḥasrat Academy)
Here ends Chapter Two — the account of the maternal lineage of Bahr al-ʿUlūm Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Qādīr Ṣiddīqī Ḥasrat, raḥimahu'llāh.