Sufi Muhammad Shafi’s older brother, Sufi Ghulam Nabi is buried in Jannat ul baqi. He visited the mother of Pir Saqib Shaami in a dream after Pir Saqib Shaami’s older brother, Musharraf Iqbal, died. She was told to excercise patience, and she was to witness a greater return for her unforgettable loss in the form of a son. Within the short space of a year the mother was visited in her dream by Sufi Ghulam Nabi again and he indicated glad tidings of the birth of her son and said “he will be a shining star”. The family was rewarded with the birth of a boy who was named Saqib which means a shining star.

After a childhood spent in rural Kashmir, his family migrated to England, where Pir Sahib started private studies in the Islamic Sciences. Wishing to further his studies he returned to Pakistan and completed Hifz (Memorisation of the Qur’an) in little more than eleven months. He then completed a one year Tajweed and Qiraat course in Jamia tul Furqan Rawalpindi.

At the age of 14 he returned to England and immediately placed himself under the guidance and tutelage of one of the most eminent scholars to have reached these shores, namely Sheikh Rasool Baksh Sa’idi. Pir Sahib began his Dars-e-Nizami course or Islamic Scholars Course.

After a period of study Pir Sahib read BA Law at Staffordshire University. On completion of the Dars-e-Nizami course he decided to further his Islamic studies abroad and chose Damascus, Syria. Whilst in Syria, Pir Saqib studied in Jamia Abu Noor and Jamia Fath al Islami, specialising in Fiqh where he benefited from some of the greatest scholars of Syria namely Shaykh Ramadhan al Booti, Shaykh Wali al Deen Farfoor and Shaykh Mustafa al Bugha. He also studied privately under great scholars in the region, most notably Sheikh Samir an-Nass and Shaykh Ussama Murad.

After the completion of his studies in Damascus Pir Saqib immediately set out to teach the sciences of Shari’ah (Islamic Law) in England. Many of the students who studied under him during this period benefited from him greatly and further pursued their studies in Syria and other places in the Arab world and also studied with Shaykh Rasool Bakhsh Saeedi and Mufti Yaar Muhammad.

In March 2003, Pir Muhammad Saqib Shāmi founded Kanz ul Huda after observing a need. He established the organisation on the classical sciences of Islam and Tasawwuf (Islamic mysticism), and has since led many educational and social projects bringing long overdue change to communities in the UK and abroad. His expertise and experience in these fields has also led to significant recognition from local, national and international organisations, and he has been invited to become a standing member of advisory boards for these organisations.

Pir Sahib is also leader of Tehreek-e-Ahle-Sunnat Britannia, responsible for organising a range of various activities and programmes for the Muslim community in the UK.

Pir Muhammad Saqib frequently delivers lectures in various cities of Pakistan and leads Umrah pilgrimage tours to Saudi Arabia for his students and there he is known to spend most of his time in Al-Madina al Munawwarah. It is in Al-Madina al Munawwarah where Pir Sahib initially met his Murshid, Baihaqee-e- Waqt Hazrat Allama Pir Mufti Manzur Ahmad Faizi (ra), and after pledging his allegiance he received Ijaza (permission) in the Chistiyya Faiziyya Sufi discipline. Pir Sahib also holds Ijazaat in the Qadri, Naqshbandi, Owaisi and Sabri Sufi disciplines from Shaykh Abdul Hakeem Sharf Qadri (ra), Shaykh Faidh Ahmad Uwaisi (Hafizahullah) and Shaykh Muhammad Ismaeel Ahmad Al Qadri (Hafizahullah).

Pir Saqib continues to deliver speeches and hold regular weekly/monthly spiritual gatherings.

Sources

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