Hazrat Maulana Abdul Qadir Sahab, Raipuri^Rh

Name & Lineage:

Maulana Abdul Qadir Raipuri. His ancestors hailed from village "Thoha Mahram Khan" Tahseel Tala-Gung, District Kaimbalpur, Pakistan. Kaimbalpur was a district of west Punjab before the partition. Now it is in Pakistan.

Birth & Childhood:

His exact date of birth is unknown to his brothers, relatives even to him. According to analysis, he was born around 1290 A.H. corresponding to 1873 A.D. His father named him as Ghulam Jeelani. When he came to Raipur, his sheikh (spiritual leader), Hazrat Maulana Shah Abdur Raheem called him as Abdul Qadir and since then, he became well known by the name. Though the people in the area knew him as Ghulam Jeelani and the same was his parents gifted name.

Education:

He received primary education like Nazra Quran, Hifz-e-Quran, and elementary Arabic language at his native place. Later, he visited to Delhi and adjacent areas, as they were supposed to be the educational hub. Hence, there were many prominent scholars in the area. Due to this a large number of students of Hadith from remote areas, like Afghanistan, Sindh, Punjab and so on, would set off to Delhi.

Educational Journey to India:

When he intended to get education from Delhi and its suburbs, he reached Saharanpur first and studied Sharhe-Jamee (A detailed Arabic grammar book) before Maulana Sabit Ali who was supposed to be an expert in teaching the book. That is why students would come from "Kabul and Qandhar" to study before him. Maulana Habibur Rhaman's son Maulana Ahmad Ali Muhaddith from Saharanpur also taught him some other books. Then, he moved to Panipat and studied Qur'anic phonetics before Qari Abdur Rahman, a very famous Qari in the region. Then he went to Rampur where he was taught Logic. While staying in Rampur he lived a very miserable life that sometimes he had nothing to eat. So, he used to go to the market and bought some radish leaves and that would be his bread and butter for few days. After that, he was taught Hadith by Maulana Abdul Ali and Maulana Sayyed Nazir Hussain from Delhi. He also visited some other places to quench his thirst of knowledge and wisdom. At last, he completed his graduation from "Bans Bareilly" and got his first job at the same place.

Pledge of Allegiance (Be'at):

During the early period of service, he was impressed by Hazrat Maulana Shah Abdur Raheem from Raipur and requested him to grant him the pledge of allegiance, but he referred him to Hazrat Maulana Rasheed Ahmad from Gangoh. On insisting, he accepted his request. After that, he went to his native place in Pakistan. After coming back from Pakistan, he decided to a accompany with the Shaikh from Raipur, thus, he spent with him almost sixteen years. He struggled really hard in his walks of life while living in "Raipur".

Propagation & Guidance:

After the demise of his Shaikh Shah Abdur Raheem, Maulana Abdul Qadir from Raipur became successor to him (appointed as a spiritual leader). Because of sincerity, high moral and love for everyone, he became an apple of everyone's eyes and served the people for a long period of forty years, from 1922 to 1962. Many times, he visited western and eastern Punjab, areas next to Raipur, Saharanpur and Muzaffarnagar districts, to propagate Islamic thoughts. As a result, thousands of people pledged to him and laid the foundation of Madrasas and religious institutions.

Visit to Pakistan & Death:

On the insistence of his relatives in Pakistan, he paid a visit to them in 1962. There, his health conditions worsened. The reason is that, he was ailing for few years. Sometimes he got cured and sometimes he was taken ill. During this period, whenever he felt better, wished to return to India but the destiny had been fixed and he, therefore, passed away on Thursday, August 16 at about 11:30 P.M..