Piya Haji Ali
Haji Ali Dargah is one of the most popular religious
places in Mumbai, visited by people of all religions alike. Haji Ali Dargah is one of India’s most famous
and prestigious landmarks situated about 500 yards from the Mumbai
shoreline in the middle of the Arabian Sea off Lala Lajpatrai Marg.
The structure was erected on a set of high rising rocks and was
given its present day shape in the early 19th century
after the Trust was legally formed as an entity in 1916.
Haji Ali Dargah is
the complex housing the tomb of the Muslim Saint Pir Haji Ali Shah Bukhari
(R.A.). Along with the
tomb, there is also a Masjid at Haji Ali. This monument has been
sentinel to the shores of Mumbai since a long time.
There
have been several saints who have traveled from far and wide to
India, spreading the word of Islam like Khwaja Gareeb Nawaz
(R.A.) and many other saints who migrated to India from the Arab
countries and Persia. They came as and when informed by their own
intuition or will or as per the instructions of Prophet Mohamed (S.A.W.S.
-
Peace Be Upon Him) as envisioned in their dreams or by Ilm (Wisdom
of Faith) i.e. as pointed out by spiritual power given to them by
Allah (S.W.T).
The spread of Islam as a whole in India is a story of the gradual
growth of the Islamic religion essentially through various itinerant
Sufi Saints and traders who settled amongst the local indigenous
population.
A magnificent example of such spread
of Islam by an Iranian Saint is that of Pir Haji Ali Shah Bukhari
(R.A.). It is a belief of the Muslims that the
holy saints who sacrifice and devote their lives in the way of Allah
(S.W.T) are immortal. Their stature is equivalent to that of the Martyrs (Shaheed)
as they have renounced their worldly lives for Allah (S.W.T.) and
are called Shahadat-e-Huqmi.
There are many miracles that have
happened during the life of Pir Haji Ali Shah Bukhari (R.A.) and
after his death. Whatever is known about Pir Haji Ali Shah Bukhari
(R. A.) is learnt
from the caretakers and trustees from generation to generation as
the Saint never married and has no descendents. Some people tried to
portray themselves as his descendants or heirs and have destroyed
the exact history of the Saint, his Tomb and the Dargah.
It is learnt from "Rivayat" (Legends)
that Pir Haji Ali Shah Bukhari (R.A.) was sitting at some lonely place
in his hometown and
was busy in his prayers when a lady passed-by from there crying and
screaming. When the Saint enquired about her crying, she pointed to an empty vessel
in her hand and said that she had dropped some oil. And if she goes home without the oil
her husband would beat her. She was
crying in need of help. The Saint asked her to be calm and went with
her to the place where the oil had been dropped. He then took the
vessel from the wailing lady and pushed the earth with his thumb. The oil came
out like a fountain and the vessel was full. The Saint gave her the
vessel with oil and she went away happily.
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Hazrat Pir Haji Ali Shah Bukhari (Rahmatullah Alaih)
Posted by
Sayed Rizwan Raza Qadri