Hyderabad, TELANGANA :
Tucked away in the locality of Urdu Shareef is the shrine of a sufi saint
The Deccan region has been blessed by the influence of many sufis, saints, gurus and spiritual leaders. It is said that 1400 paalkis (palanquins) came to Deccan, symbolising the number of sufi-saints. They spread the message of universal brotherhood, love, tolerance, peace, harmony, humanity and amiable relations between the two major communities. Many devotees and followers also embraced Islam. The entire Deccan region and the city of Hyderabad, in particular was visited by many god men, who not only commanded respect and reverence from common man, but also from nobilities and elite class of the society.
The old city of Hyderabad i.e. the southern part has shrines of many famous Sufi-saints, whose annual Urs are still celebrated with great devotion.
A little away from Pathergatti High Court road is the locality called Urdu Shareef, where the army of Mughal Prince Kaambakhsh stayed during that period. The palace of Kaambakhsh was also constructed in the vicinity.
It is in this area that you will see the shrine of Hazrat Arifullah Syedna Shah Saadullah Saheb Naqshbandi. The 175 year old shrine has a large dome with beautiful architecture housing four graves made of fine sand. It is an uncommon and unusual sight, as graves are usually made of cement, mortar, lime and stones; and rarely are covered by marble, the graves appear like sand dunes, and lie adjacent to one another. The biggest grave is that of Hazrat Saadullah Saheb.
The adjacent one on the left side is of his brother, Md Osman Saheb, the next one is of Osman’s wife, while on the far right is the grave of his favourite disciple, Mirza Ashraf Ali. The entire area of these graves is seven feet long and four feet wide. The sand is changed annually and many devotees, both Hindus and Muslims pay their respect and seek his blessings.
Hazrat Saadullah was born in the Frontier Province. He came to Deccan during the reign of Nawab Nasir-ud-daula, the fourth Nizam, and settled here. Many nobles including, Maharaja Chandu Lal, used to come to seek his blessings. A great scholar, he was an Arabic and Persian poet as well. Since he was physically disabled, he would sit on the back of a disciple when roaming around the city.
The impressive dome was constructed by one of his ardent followers, Maulvi Mohd Hussain, who was the tutor of the fifth Nizam, Mir Mahboob Ali Khan.
Just opposite the shrine is a small mosque built by Hazrat which bears similarity with Charminar. The architecture on the parapet, minarets and the ceiling is extraordinarily magnificent.
source: http://www.telanganatoday.com / Telangana Today / Home> SundayScape> Telangana Diaries / by Dr. Anand Raj Varma / October 15th, 2017