A good number of devotees from all walks of life thronged the Dargah (mosque) on Linghi Chetty Street for the 64th Urs of Qutubul Akhtab Hazrath Hafiz Syed Habib Mohammed Hasan Moulana Khadiri Baghdadi (Raz), the 31st descendant of Prophet Mohammed (Peace Be Upon Him) and the 19th descendant of Hazrat Ghouse-ul-Aazam Dastageer (Raz), on Friday night (March 11).
The Sufi saint, who was born in Baghdad came to India in the early 20th century with his father Hazrath Syed Mohammed Rasheed Maulana Baghdadi Khadiri (Raz), to propagate Sufism. Trained by Colombo's patron saint Hazrath Syed Saleh Maulana Madani (Raz), the Hazrath became a Qutub, which is the highest order in Islamic spiritualism.
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The saint, revered by the people of India in general and the people of Hyderabad and Chennai in particular, chose Mannady as his final resting place. That he is still remembered and venerated could be seen from the congregation which assembled for the occasion. H. Habibullah Shah, Sajjad-e-Nasheen and Muthavalli of the dargah led the night-long prayers which commenced with Zikhr. Poems, hymns and salutations were also recited on the occasion.
The Bijli Brothers – Afzal, Tahir, Ameen and Yousuf Qurashi stole the show with their immaculate rendering of the salaam. A number of ulemas and dignitaties including the Chief Khazi to the Government of Tamil Nadu, Salahuddin Md Ayub, Prof. Fayaz Bijli and Afzal Quraishi (DGM, HAL) were present. The function came to an end with the recital of the Quran after Fajar prayers the next morning. More details can be had from