For centuries, the idol-worshipping and infidelity was at its peak in the Subcontinent, when ‘Darweshs of Allah’ entered into the territory of Hind (Subcontinent) with the light of Islam in their hearts and propagation of truthfulness on their tongue.
With their hard work, great character and sublime ethics, these Wali Ullahs (friends of Lord) secured such a place in the hearts of people that all and sundry were attracted towards them. They sympathized with the people in their pains in such a way that it was impossible for the people to be detached from them. They offered themselves as a model of our Holy Prophet’s courtesy in such a way that the needy people after revealing their hearts to them started listening to them and thus, the whole society started following the path of light. Gradually, the hearts started melting and were enlightened with the light of Islam due to sincere efforts of these saints. The people of Subcontinent started joining this caravan and millions of people entered into the orbit of Islam.
These saints not only preached the message of Allah and its Rasool (S.A.W) in such a befitting manner that the same people, who were once ignorant of these ideologies of Islam, have adopted the salient features of Islam including honesty, ethics, good character and uprightness. The people started asking the solutions for even their trivial matters from these saints and gradually, these shrines became the spiritual training centres for them, which laid foundation to a shrine system that transparent and pure. And for centuries, this shrine system strengthened its roots in this region. It not only preached the Holy commandments of Islam, educated the people morally and spiritually, reformed the cultural values but also guided the rulers of different eras regarding performing their duties in a befitting manner.
Amongst these shrines, there lies a one of Hazrat Pir Shah Jewna Mehboob Alam alias Mard Faqeer, which secures a unique place in Subcontinent with respect to its spiritual values. This shrine is located in District Jhang almost 30 kilometer distant from Jhang City. Federal Minister for many times, Makhdoom Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat is the Sajjada Nasheen, the descendant of Hazrat Shah Jewna. A sublime Urs is held every year on May
10, 11, 12. This year, the 462nd Urs will be witnessed. Hundred thousand devotees from all over the country and especially from far-flung areas will pay visit to this great saint to seek the holy blessings.
Hazrat Shah Jewna was from the family tree of Hazrat Jaffar Tuwab bin Imam Ali Naqi. Hazrat Qutbuddin Bukhtiar Kaki and Khawaja Nizamuddin Auliya Dehlvi were also part of this pedigree which shows that Hazrat Shah Jewna belonged to the same lineage of the mentioned great scholars of the Subcontinent.
Hazrat Shah Jewna’s grandfather Makhdoom Syed Jalaluddin Surkh Bukhari’s father Hazrat Abu Moweed married the daughter of Wali Turan Mehmood Bin Bafra Saljoqi. After him, Makhdoom Syed Jalaluddin Surkh Bukhari was also married to the princess of Bukhara who gave birth to two sons named Syed Ali and Syed Jaffar.
Makhdoom Syed Jalaluddin Surkh Bukhari migrated to the Subcontinent from Bukhara in the reign of slave dynasty to preach and promote Islam in this region and settled in Uch Sharif, Bahawalpur. After the demise of Makhdoom Jahanian Jahan Ghasht, the ansectors of Shah Jewana’s Sadats, moved to Qunoj (India) to preach Islam where Hazrat Shah Jewana was born in 1493 in the reign of King Sikandar Lodhi. His father Syed Sadar-ud-din Shah Kabeer was a great saint and was also among the advisors of King Sikandar Lodhi.
Syed Mehboob Alam (alias Shah Jewna) learnt the religious knowledge from his father, who used to teach him the spiritual knowledge, while he spent most of his life (almost 66 years) in Qanuj. He had great command on Arabic and Persian while he also studied Quran and its tafsir, hadith and Islamic jurisprudence from his teacher Qazi Bahauddin and thus became a prominent scholar of his time. His great pettiness and simplicity was the main reason of his fame which was spread to far-flung areas and many great scholars and saints of his era used to pay visits to him to get knowledge and blessings from him.
Hazrat Shah Jewna had witnessed the eras of Sultan Sikandar Lodhi, Ibrahim Lodhi, Zaheeruddin Babar, Naseeruddin Babar and Jalaluddin Akbar. He started his holy mission of preaching Islam from Qanuj, where he struggled really hard to complete his noble task. There is a town ‘Jewn’ associated with his name in the tehsil Jalalabad of
district Qanuj. Tehsil Jalalabad is also linked with the name of his ancestor Makhdoom Jalaluddin Jahanian Jahan Ghasht, while in district Qanuj, Saadat Shah Jewna’s colonized towns - Siray-e-Miraan, Uch, Bibiyan Jalalpur, Makhdoom Pur, Laal Pur (associated with the name of Saint Laal Bukhari) are still highly populated areas of the city. Siray-e-Miraan is the town where Shah Jewna used to teach about Islam to his students, who used to come in great number.
Once, when he was in Qanuj, the son of the then Raja was killed with a knife while playing with his Pirs. On the request of Raja, he prayed to Allah Almighty for the dead kid and while reciting some verses from Holy Quran, when he put his hand on the place of wound, by the grace of Allah Almighty, the boy opened his eyes and got a new life.
This miraculous act of Shah Jewna impressed the Raja so much that he, along with thousands of other Hindus, immediately embraced Islam.
Hazrat Shah Jewna inherited spirituality from his ancestors. According to book ‘Hadiqatul Auliya’ page No 50, the miracle of his grandfather Makhdoom Jalaluddin Surkh Bukhari was evident that in his teenage, when he was playing with his friends, a funeral was brought but he stopped the people to bury the dead body. He proclaimed that Allah is great and asked the dead body to stand up on the order of Allah. Every one present on the occasion saw that in a few seconds, the person was alive and lived 40 more years after this miracle.
In 1558, Pir Shah Jewna left Qanuj and migrated to Peel Padhrar to preach Islam. Peel Padhrar was an acidic area without any vegetation at that time but his arrival at that place made it populated and fertile. His miracles and noble deeds impressed the people so much that they started embracing Islam in a huge numbers. He prayed for the blessings of Allah for this area, which was granted and people even today have been getting benefits of that blessing. This well is known as ‘Pir’s well’ and people used its water to cure their physical and spiritual ailments.
From Peel Padhrar, he left for a town ‘Shah Jewna’ which is located near Jhang. It was also a deserted place but he once again made that place heavenly. Hazrat Shah Jewna as a simple but pious and generous saint, who always remained busy in helping the mankind and teaching and preaching Islam and ways of Quran and Sunnah to his followers as well as to other people.
Hazrat Shah Jewna had firm belief in the injunctions of Holy Quran and was emotionally attached to the Holy Prophet (S.A.W), as his love for Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (peace
be upon him) can easily be gauged from the fact that he made Surah Muzammil an integral part of his life. Due to reciting Surah Muzammil 10 million times at Chenab River, he was also known as ‘Pir Croreriya’ (Crore).
The great saint always rejected Monasticism and never preached renunciation of this world. Rather he believed in a practical way of life, earning in a lawful and Hilal manner according to the Shariah, quoting the Hilal earning as the “Righteous Practice”.
Pir Shah Jewna left this temporary world in 971 Hijri (1569) during the reign of Mughal Emperor Jalal-ud-din Akbar. At that time, Ba-Yazeed was in power in Sindh, Fareed-ud-din Bukhari in Punjab and Syed Abdul Wahab Bukhari in Delhi. It is said that all these great saints were the close relative of Hazrat Shah Jewna, so they along with Emperor Akbar might have attended the funerals of Pir Shah Jewna and also used to pay visit to this great saint.
Even after when he has left this mortal world centuries ago, a great number of devotees, every year gather at his Shrine, from far-flung areas to pay homage to this holy saint in order to get inner peace and also to remember his services for Islam. In this era of science and technology, the message of Hazrat Shah Jewna shows the right path to his followers and provide them inner peace and contentment.
