Biography of Sultan ul Ashiqeen
Father
The name of Sultan Mohammad Najib-ur-Rehman’s father was Abdul Hameed. He was born on February 8, 1931 (21 Ramadan, 1349 H) Sunday at Madhan Tehsil Nakodar, District Jalandhar, India. He got the education upto middle standard. Then he started working with his father in cultivation. Alongside, he also learnt accounts from a Hindu that paid him a lot in his practical life.
Piety of Sultan ul Ashiqeen's father
Abdul Hameed was very punctual about offering his midnight (Tahajjud) prayer or salat. As a matter of fact, he used to stay up worshipping Allah at night right from early age. Sultan Mohammad Najib ur Rehman says that he had always seen his father very punctual in prayers (namaz/salat). He never even missed any voluntary prayers (Tahajjud and Ishraq) let alone missing the compulsory ones (fard namaz). Moreover, he used to offer supererogatory prayers (nafls) getting up at the half-passed night. Then he recited the Holy Quran from midnight till dawn. After offering Fajr (dawn) prayer he used to do invocation (dhikr) of Allah’s name till sunrise.
Mother of Sultan-ul-Ashiqeen
Sultan Mohammad Najib-ur-Rehman’s mother Kaneez Fatimah was the daughter of Chaudhry Sharf Din. She was born in Jalandhar city (India) on Saturday, 4, August 1934 (23 Rabi al-awwal, 1353 H). Her father Sharf Din was a secondary school teacher. She had received education till middle standard at the time of creation of Pakistan. Her father died a few months before Pakistan came into being. After migration her family settled in Montgomery (present Sahiwal). Later, she got married to Abdul Hameed on Thursday 13, March 1958 (21 Shaban, 1377 H).
Piety of Sultan-ul-Ashiqeen’s Mother
Sultan-ul-Ashiqeen’s mother had great love and regard for the Holy Prophet (pbuh), people of cloak and al-Ghawth al-Azam. She used to celebrate Eid Mawlid an-Nabi (birth anniversary of the Prophet, celebrated on 12 th Rabi al-awwal) with great zeal. Not only that, she also always commemorated Ashura (10 th of Muharram, the martyrdom of Imam Husayn). She liked to hold small gatherings in remembrance of the martyrs of Karbala and honourable Fatimah tuz-Zahra. Additionally, she regularly celebrated 11 th of every Islamic month in remembrance of al-Ghawth al-Azam Abdul Qadir Jilani. While doing her everyday chores she would repeatedly recite aloud the following salutation (Durood) with great devotion:
یَانَبِیْ سَلاَمُ عَلَیْکَ یَارَسُوْلْ سَلَامْ عَلَیْکَ
Meaning: Salutations upon you O beloved Prophet.
Sultan Mohammad Najib-ur-Rehman’s mother had a great influence on his nature, life and personality. Besides, he resembles a lot to his mother in physical features and appearance.
Financial Condition of Sultan-ul-Ashiqeen’s Parents
The parents of Sultan-ul-Ashiqeen Sultan Mohammad Najib-ur-Rehman tied a knot of marriage in 1958 AD in Bakhshan Khan tehsil Chishtian, district Bahawalnagar and stayed there till the 1965 war. During this time Allah blessed them with two sons, Najib-ur-Rehman and Naveed-ur- Rehman. Till 1965, the parents of Sultan-ul-Ashiqeen were prosperous but after that they could barely make the ends meet. This is because the relatives of Abdul Hameed seized his property in 1964. Then in 1965, his small grocery store went out of business because of loss. From here began the life of poverty, starvation and hardship of Sultan-ul-Ashiqeen, during which he faced many problems. Due to financial troubles, Abdul Hameed along with his family migrated to Bahawalnagar where at first, he worked as a cashier at a local store and then worked as an accountant for a wholesaler.
Migration to Layyah
When Sultan-ul-Ashiqeen’s father could not make the ends meet in Bahawalnagar, he along with his family migrated to Layyah. Here he worked as a cashier and accountant for a little while. Then in 1968, on the advice of his brother-in-law, Shah Mohammad (late), he started a small business of buying and selling of grains in partnership with a friend at the Chichawatani grain market. This improved his financial condition a little bit. The same year, Allah also blessed him with a daughter named Nosheen Akhtar.
The hard work of Abdul Hameed flourished his business a lot. However, he could not escape the evil eye of the rivals who began to cause troubles for him. Due to which he was forced to separate himself from the business partnership. Then he moved to Dipalpur, district Sahiwal (present day Okara) during the Indo Pak war in 1971. He stayed there till Thursday, 4 th January 1990 (6 Jumada ath-thani 1410 AH).
Abdul Hameed worked as an accountant in Dipalpur and Okara. He was an expert in accounts. However, while living in Dipalpur, the family faced many hardships and could barely make the ends meet.
Sultan-ul-Ashiqeen Supported his Parents from an Early Age
Sultan-ul-Ashiqeen started supporting his parents financially from a very young age. He along with his studies did different laborious jobs to share the financial burden of his parents. He would sometimes herd the goats, put a small stall to sell commodities or do farming work to earn money for the family. This fostered the attributes of hard work, patience and courage in his personality from an early age. In 1990, Sultan-ul-Ashiqeen brought his parents to Lahore to live with him.
DEATH OF PARENTS
The mother of Sultan-ul-Ashiqeen remained unwell in last ten years of her life. She had epilepsy which deteriorated her health and she eventually died on Wednesday 6 th June 1990 (12 Dhul al- Qadah 1410 AH) at 3:00 a.m. in Lahore, Pakistan. Thereafter, his father died in 2004 on Friday, June 18 th (29 Rabi ath-thani 1425 AH) at 1:00 a.m. Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un (Surely, we belong to Allah and to Him shall we return). The graves of his parents are in the graveyard of Kareem Block, Allama Iqbal Town, Lahore, Pakistan. To be accurate they are located on the right-hand side, when entering the gate in front of the college from northern side of the graveyard. Here on the right side are also the graves of his daughter and parents in law.
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