He was born in Ghazna (in present day Afghanistan) in the beginning of Ghaznavids period (around 990) and died in Lahore (in present day Punjab, Pakistan) in 1077 CE. His most famous work is The Kashf Al Mahjub (“Unveiling the Veiled”) written in Persian language. The work debates Sufi doctrines of the past.

Hujwiri belonged to the Junaidia school of Sufism. These sufis followed Junaid Baghdadi of Baghdad. Hajwiri is also viewed as an important intercessor for many Sufis.

Hujwiri probably entered the Sufi path very early in his life and spent many years travelling to Iran, Iraq, Syria etc, during which he met several Sufi saints. He studied Sufism under Abu’l-Fadl Muhammad b. al-Hasan al-Khuttali through whom he is spiritually connected) with Junaid Baghdadi. He settled for some time in Iraq where he had a short experience with married life. Finally he was taken as a captive to Lahore, where he spent the rest of his life and compiled the major portion of his book, The Kashf Al Mahjub.

Although a Sunni Hanafite, Hujwiri’s theology was reconciled with the concept of Sufi annihilation. However he strenuously campaigned against the doctrine that human personalities can be merged with God, instead likening annihilation to burning by fire which allows the substance to acquire fire like properites while retaining its own individuality. He also was a great upholder of the Sharia and rebuffed the idea that outward observances of Islam are not important for Sufis. Hujwiri believed that individuals should not claim to have attained “marifat” or gnosis because it meant that one was prideful, and that true understanding of God should be a silent understanding.

It has a been a practice of Sufi saints coming to the Indian subcontinent to first visit the shrine of Hazrat Usman Ali Hujwiri. Hazrat Khwaja Muinuddin Chishti first came to Lahore to pay his respects at Data Ganj-Bakhsh upon his arriving in the subcontinent. There he was directed to settle in Ajmer Sharif and commence his spiritual mission in India. Hazrat Moinuddin Chishti paid homage to Hazrat Usman Ali Hujwiri in the following words:
Ganj Bakhsh-e faiz-e aalam, mazhar-e Nur-i Khuda
Naqisaan ra pir-e kaamil, kaamilaan ra rahnuma

Translation:
Ganj Bakhsh is a manifestation of the Light of God for the people
A perfect guide unto the imperfect ones and a guide unto the perfect ones

His mausoleum, popularly known as Data Durbar, is located in Lahore, Pakistan.

Culturally people living close to the shrine have become emotionally and economically dependent on the shrine. Food stalls, flower sellers and numerous beggars are dependent on Shrine visitors.

On special occasions, the shrine is lit up with lights, dinner is prepared for hundreds of people and Fakirs dance around and musicians play music for hours.

In the boundary of shrine, Muslims recite Qur’an, and pay tributes to Muhammad.

Uch Sharif is basically famous for various beautiful shrines and tombs. The beautiful shrines and tombs are what attract many tourists to Uch Sharif. Uch Sharif has been divided into three sections, which are named after three important personalities and rulers. Uch Bukhari is named after the name of Hazrat Syed Jalaluddin Bukhari Surkhposh while Uch Jilani has borrowed its name from Hazrat Shaikh Mohammad Ghaus Qadri Jilani. The third section is Uch Mughlian is named after the Mughal rulers.

Some of the famous shrines in Uch Sharif include Hazrat Jalaluddin Surkh Bukhari, Makhdoom Jahanian Jahangasht, Hazrat Bahawal Haleem, Shaikh Saifuddin Ghazrooni and Bibi Jawandi. The tomb of Bibi Jawinidi is a wonderful monument that is beautifully designed and is covered in a number of tiny blue tiles that present wonderful sight when sunrays fall on them. The shrine of Jalauddin Bukhari is a must visit sight at Uch Sharif. The saint is believed to have converted the legendary warrior Genghis Khan to Islam.

Uch Sharif lies in the district of Bahawalpur, which is two hours distance by train from Multan. From Bahawalpur you can hire a car or take a mini bus to reach the non-descript village of Uch Sharif. If you are in the region during September/October, take part in the festival held in Uch to honor the Sufi saints.

Sayyidna Tahir Allauddin Al Qadri Al Gillani was a well known islamic scholar, politician and a sufi who is renowned as the teacher and spiritual guide of Shaykh ul Islam Dr. Muhammad Tahir ul-Qadri. He was born in Baghdad on 11 July 1932 and died on 23 June 1991. He is the 17th descendant of the Shaykh Abdul-Qadir Gilani and the 28th descendant of Islamic prophet Muhammad. Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri founded the muslim organisation Minhaj-ul-Quran International in 1984 under the direct guidance of Sayyidna Tahir Allauddin Al Qadri Al Gillani who inaugurated its headquarter in 1987.

Shaykh Sayyidna Tahir Allauddin was a spiritual guide and a reformer of Sufism. He was known to possess a high degree of taqwa, tawwakul and was seen as a lover of Shaykh Sayyidna Abdul-Qadir Gilani. He worked at a senior position at the UN commission of Iraq.

He regularly visited various countries for his lecture tours. He visited Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Sweden, Norway, Holland, Great Britain, Germany, Belgium, Canada, Indonesia, Japan, Sri Lanka, Singapore, India, and Gulf States. In 1956 he decided to migrate to Pakistan and settled permanently in Quetta, Pakistan. He first arrived in Lahore and stayed at Darbar Data Sahib (Syed Ali Hajveri) for 40 days.

Syed Abdullah Shah Ghazi was a ninth-century sufi who claimed direct descent from the Prophet and is thought of by his followers as something like the patron saint of Karachi. People, most of them Muslims, come here to pay homage to him from across the country.

His poetry is full of symbolism. Some of his most famous kafis feature the Charkha, as in those days foreign merchants used to sell cotton to Lahore, which the poor later weaved into cloth.

Hadrat Shah Lal Husayn of Lahore, a disciple of Bahlul Shah Daryai. His mother was a Rajput woman of the Dhadha tribe, and his paternal ancestors were known as Kalsarai. Thus Lal Husayn’s own name was originally Dhadha Husayn Kalsarai. The first of his ancestors to accept Islam was a man named, Kalsarai who became a Muslim during the reign of Firoz Shah Tughlag, and was appointed by him to be Shaykhul-Islam. The family name, Kalsarai, dates from that time. Lal Husayn showed, even as a child, a marked preference for clothes of saffron and red colour, hence the epithet Lal added to his name. Very early in life it became clear that he possessed a religious disposition, and while still only ten years’ old he was initiated into the Qadiri Order by Bahlul Shah Daryai.

For twenty-six years he strictly followed the rites and practices of Islam, and led a life of real austerity. But on reaching the age of thirty-six, it is said that while studying a commentary on the Quran under a certain Shaykh Sa ‘du’llah in Lahore, he came one day to the verse; “The life of this world is nothing but a game and sport.” (vi. 32). He asked his master to explain this to him, but when the usual meaning was given he refused to accept it, saying that the words must taken literally, and that henceforth he himself would pass his life in sport and dancing. This incident proves to be a turning point in his career and from that time he sought to express in life the extraordinary views he held.

In consequence he abruptly left the madras and went about shouting and dancing in public. He never returned to his student life and religious practices. One of his first acts on leaving his studies was to throw his book. Maddrik, a commentary on the Quran, into a well. His fellow-students, grieved at the loss of so valuable a work began to chide him, whereupon he turned and addressed the well as follows: “”O water, return my book, for my friends are anxious to have it;” on saying this he drew it out unsoiled.

He now gave himself up to the life of a libertine and spent so much of his time in drinking, dancing and music that he became, in the language of the Sufi malamati, blameworthy. It is said that his pir Bahlul Shah Daryai. hearing of the change in his disciple came to see him and, strange to relate, in spite of the freedom from restraint which he himself witnessed in Husayn’s manner of life he expressed himself satisfisfied with the hidden sanctity of his disciple, and thereupon confirmed him in his position as his vicegerent in` Lahore.

Hassu Teli, famous as the saint of oilmen, was a contemporary of Lal Husayn. He kept a shop at Chawk Jhhanda near the Mori gate. At first he used to sell corn but later at the direction of his Pir, Shah Jamal ((whose tomb is in Ichhra) he started selling oil.

Lal Husayn, who was in the habit of visiting the tomb of Data Ganj Bakhsh, would stop on his way at the shop and spend some time in dancing and shouting. One day Hassu Teli teasing him said, O, Husayn, why this dancing and shouting? You have no cause for such ecstasy, for I have never seen you in the court of the Prophet.” But on the following day, when Muhamad held his court in the spirit world, with all the prophets and saints in attendance including Hassu Tell as one of the representatives of the living saints on earth, a child appeared who first went to the lap of the Prophet, and was then passed from one to the other, finally coming to Hassu Teli. While playing on the latter’s knee he plucked out some hairs from his beard. When next Husayn stopped at the oilman’s shop Hassu repeated his taunt that the man was not worthy of being admitted into the Prophet’s court. For reply Lal Uusayn quietly produced the hairs which he had plucked from Hussu’s beard! The oilman was at first thrown into great consternation, but recovering his equilibrium retorted after a moment’s silence: “So it was you, was it ? Ah well, it was as a child that you got the better of me!”

Lal Husayn’s name is popularly associated with that of another person called Madhu, and in fact, the two are so constantly thought of together that the saint commonly goes by the name of Madhu Lal Husayn as though the master and this disciple of his were one person. Madhu was a young Hindu boy, a Brahmin by caste, to whom Lal Husayn was, one day, irresistibly attracted as he saw him pass by. So strong indeed was the fascination he felt for the boy, that he would rise in the middle of the night and, going to his house, would walk round it. In time Madhu himself felt the attraction of Lal Husayn and, coming under the spell of his fervent love, began to frequent his house, and even joined him in drinking wine. Such intimate connection between a Hindu boy and a Muslim faqir of questionable character very soon become the talk of the place. Madhu’s parents feeling it to be a disgrace to their family tried their utmost to dissuade the boy from going to Lal Husayn, but in vain.

So far Madhu, though the bosom friend of Lal Husayn, had not yet renounced Hinduism. It was, we a told, a miracle wrought by LAl Husayn that finally led him and his parents to the conviction of the truth of Islam. The story goes that once when Madhu’s parents were going to Hardwar to perform the bathing ceremony they desired to take their son with them. Lal Husayn however, would not let him go, though he promised to send him later. When the parents had reached Hardwar Lal Husayn made Madhu shut his eyes and then, after striking his feet upon the ground, to open them again , Madhu did as he was told and was greatly astonished on looking round to find himself in Hardwar! His surprise was shared by his parents, who marveled at his arrival from such a distance within so short a space of time. Impressed by this miracle, Madhu and his parents on their return to Lahore accepted Islam at the hands of Lal Husayn.

The latter died in 1599 A. D. at the age of 63 and Madhu who survived him for forty-eight years was buried in a tomb next to that of his pir, in Baghanpura, in Lahore. The shrine containing their tombs continues even to this day to attract dense crowds of people of classes. The urs used formerly to be celebrated on 22nd Jamdi ‘th-thani, i. e. the anniversary of Lal Husayn’s death; but later, in order to avoid any inconvenience through the date for the celebration falling in the heat of summer, it was agreed to make the festival coincide with the advent of spring so now the 14th Baisakh and the last Sunday in March are the recognized dates for its celebration.

Lal Husayn had sixteen Khalifas, four of them were called Khaki, four Gharib, four Diwan, and four Bilawal. After his death four of them, viz. Khaki Shdh, Shdh Gharib, Diwan Madhu, and Shah Bilawal took up their abode at his shrine, and were eventually buried within its precincts.

Its chief incumbent, Ven. Tantirimale Chandaratne Thera would tell you rather boastfully that the vast panoramic site spans an area of almost 150 acres. But the Venerable does not standstill. As he talks he keeps on moving about almost restlessly, pointing at something here and there and arranging and disarranging his dark orange robes. Frankly the placid and serene demeanour one expects from a disciple of the Buddha is not manifest in him. For he is not living in the 6th or 5th century BC at the base of the Himalaya range, but he is living in the post-ethnic strife period of Lanka at the dawn of the 21st century. He has seen much and suffered much. There is so much left to do to resuscitate the age old shrine and his restlessness signifies that he himself is in a quandary where to begin it all and how to accomplish it all.

The monk has seen only the civil strife of the 20th Century staged in the island but the gigantic shrine he rules over has seen much more. It had been one of the main victims of the Magha invasion that led to its almost total destruction. Its golden period was the 7th to 8th Century, but came the demon Magha from South India on his way from Mantota towards A’pura and the sculptors and artists putting the final touches to many works of art simply fled.

Actually it is no exaggeration to state that Tantirimale now neglected and forlorn, is as old as Buddhist Lanka. In fact, it was one of the first colonies that the Aryan group that came over in 6th century BC established. The chief Incumbent likes to identify it with Upatissagama. Of course it could be in the vicinity of Upatissagama. It was a main junction on the road from Mantota to A’pura and soon zoomed into a commercial venue. Naturally it became thickly populated though today you can drive miles around the area without sighting a single human being. The area is starkly depopulated.

But even after the conversion of the king and the capital’s people to Buddhism, Tantirimale had remained Brahminic. The main figure in the area had been Nivattaka Brahmana who however had made a visit to Tantiri the capital during Devanampiyatissa’s time that resulted in his embracing Buddhism. He returned with a bo sapling of the Sri Mahabodhi, that is Tantirimale’s most sanctified object of veneration today. Soon the sheen of yellow robes began to spread all over the area.

Tantirimale does not exude only a religious aura. There is something inexplicably mysterious about it. It is as if you are visiting a cavern of a phase of long bypassed time, as it lies there swathed in some inexplicable primeval aura.

As you stand on the rocky bed and feast your eyes on the gorgeous panorama all around, it is as if the two and a half millennia of time lapsed since the 6th century BC just disappears and leaves you right inside that time cavern, to ponder on the marvels of the world.

Meanwhile, the chief monk walks about talking of many a plan to develop not only the shrine but the undeveloped community denizening the area around. The prosperous have fled the area minus the comfortable amenities of living. It is only the helpless who opt to make the area their permanent residence.

Banks, NGOs, and the thera has tapped them all. Some of his envisaged plans are almost Quixotic as the project to divert the medicinal plants on distant Ritigala mountain to the Ayurvedic venues mushrooming in foreign sponsored hotels and guest houses in the Yapahuwa-Sigiriya area. It is an economically viable project, he said.

Strength oozes from him, the strength drown from defending himself and Tantirimale inhabitants from many an adversary during the border skirmishes.

So one has to forgive him even if his imagination runs loose on these projects. But he needs genuine help, help of many a person placed in more fortunate circumstances Tantirimale, his domain, running down through millennia of our history, basking there in the golden rays of the setting sun, under the shadow of many a statue of the Thathagatha too beckons that help.