Lal Shahbaz Qalandar

{{Infobox religious biography

| name = Sayyid Shah Hussain Jafari al-Marwandi
Lal Shahbaz Qalandar

| birth_name = Sayyid Shah Hussain Jafari al-Marwandi

| image = File:Shrine Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, Sehwan Shareef, Sindh, Pakistan.jpg

| caption = Tomb of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sehwan

| religion = Islam

| sect = Sunni

| alias = Lal Shahbaz Qalandar

| location = Sehwan

| title = Qalandar

| period = 12th/13th century

| predecessor =

| successor =

| post =

| parents = Sayyid Ibrahim Kabiruddin al-Jawabi al-Jafari (father)

| previous_post =

| present_post =

| birth_date = 1177

| birth_place = Marwand{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H5cQH17-HnMC&dq=%22LAL+SHAHBAZ+QALANDAR%22&pg=PA493|isbn=1576073556|title=Holy People of the World: A Cross-cultural Encyclopedia, Volume 3|pages=493|last1=Jestice |first1=Phyllis G. |year=2004 }}

| death_date = {{death date and age|1274|02|19|1177|df=yes}}

| death_place = Sehwan (present-day Sindh, Pakistan)

}}

Sayyid Shah Hussain Jafari al-Marwandi , (1177 - 19 February 1274) popularly known as Lal Shahbaz Qalandar ({{Langx|sd|{{Naskh|لعل شهباز قلندر}}}}), was a Sufi saint and poet who is revered in South Asia. In Taqaiyah, his maternal grandfather changed his name to Usman al-Marwandi on the name of Usman ibn Manzoor. {{Cite web|title=The Sufi in red Pakistan Today|url=https://archive.pakistantoday.com.pk/2012/07/09/the-sufi-in-red/|access-date=2021-08-11|website=archive.pakistantoday.com.pk}}

Born in Marwand, Sistan,{{Cite web |date=2017-12-18 |title=Hazrat Lal Shehbaz Qalandar |url=https://aalequtub.com/hazrat-lal-shehbaz-qalandar/ |access-date=2023-03-31 |website=Aal-e-Qutub Aal-e-Syed Abdullah Shah Ghazi |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=al-Karbassi |first=Dr. Shaykh Mohammed Sadiq |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AKMJBAAAQBAJ |title=Tarikh al-Sidana al-Husayniya |date=2014-02-01 |publisher=Hussaini Charitable Trust |isbn=978-1-908286-99-4 |location=London, UK |pages=55 |language=Arabic}} Lal Shahbaz Qalandar eventually settled in Sindh and is revered by the local Sindhi population.{{cite book|last1=Sells|first1=Michael|title=Early Islamic Mysticism: Sufi, Qur'an, Mi'raj, Poetic and Theological Writings|date=1 January 1995|publisher=Paulist Press|isbn=0809136198|edition=1}}

Names

File:Lal_Shahbaz_Qalandar.jpg, also known as Jhulelal Qalandar, in Sindh, Pakistan.]]

He is called Lal ("ruby-coloured") because he used to wear red color attire, red was his favorite color;{{Cite web |last=admin |date=2012-01-01 |title=Story Of Pakistan {{!}} Lal Shahbaz Qalandar |url=https://storyofpakistan.com/lal-shahbaz-qalandar/ |access-date=2024-04-04 |website=Story Of Pakistan |language=en-US}} "Shahbaz" to denote a noble and divine spirit and "Qalandar" as he was a wandering spiritual man.

Lal Shahbaz Qalandar is sometimes called Jhulelal (Sindhi: {{lang|sd|جھولےلال}}).{{cite book|last1=Kugle|first1=Scott|title=Sufis and Saints' Bodies: Mysticism, Corporeality, and Sacred Power in Islam|date=5 March 2007|publisher=The University of North Carolina Press|isbn=978-0807857892}} The term Jhulelal means "red bridegroom". There are various legends why he was called thus. According to the Garland Encyclopedia, Lal Shahbaz Qalandar was referred to as Jhulelal (red bridegroom) because he was promised marriage to a daughter of his friend, but the friend died and later his friend's son refused to allow the agreed upon marriage, which caused Lal Shahbaz Qalandar to grief.{{citation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZOlNv8MAXIEC&pg=PA760|title=The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music: South Asia : the Indian subcontinent|year=1998|page=760|publisher=Garland Publishing|isbn=9780824049461}}

Another legend relates the name to Jhulelal, a Sindhi deity, whose abode is river Indus.{{Cite book |last1=UNESCO |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CQmtEAAAQBAJ&dq=indus+jhulelal&pg=PA226 |title=River Culture: Life as a dance to the rhythm of the waters |last2=Beijing |first2=UNESCO Office in |date=2023-01-05 |publisher=UNESCO Publishing |isbn=978-92-3-100540-4 |language=en}} As per Dalrymple, Jhulelal name and legend go together. It was passed down to local Muslim devotees of the saint, many still believe like Jhulelal, Lal Shahbaz controls ebb and flow of Indus and thus name.{{Cite book |last=Dalrymple |first=William |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=huP_QQAw_TwC&dq=%22It+was+here+that+Lal+Shahbaz+is+said+to+have%22&pg=PA124 |title=Nine Lives: In Search of the Sacred in Modern India |date=2010-06-07 |publisher=A&C Black |isbn=978-1-4088-0124-6 |language=en}}

Life

Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, son of Sayyid Ibrahim Kabiruddin al-Jawabi,{{Cite book |last=Qazi Ghulam Shabbir |title=Aqwal al-Masomin Fi Rad al-Muqasirin |volume=1 |location=Pakistan |pages=57 |language=Urdu}}{{Cite news|url=http://www.dawn.com/news/1066533|title=Saint revered by people of all religions|first=Masood|last=Lohar|date=5 October 2004|publisher=DAWN (newspaper)|access-date=14 February 2018|language=en}} was born in Marwand to a Sayyid family from Baghdad, Iraq. He later settled in Sehwan, Sindh under the reign of the Ghaznavid and Ghurids (today's Punjab, Pakistan).N B G Qazi (1971) Lal Shahbaz Qalandar Usman Marwandi. RCD Cultural Institute.

A contemporary of Rumi, he travelled around the Muslim world and settled in Sehwan, Sindh where he was eventually buried.M Inam (1978) Hazrat Lal Shahbaz Qalandar of Sehwan Sharif. Karachi. There is evidence of his presence in Sindh in 1196 when he met Pir Haji Ismail Panhwar of Paat and he is believed to have arrived in Sehwan around 1251. There he established a meeting house (khanqah), taught in the Fuqhai Islam Madarrsah and wrote his treatises Mizan-us-Surf, Kism-e-Doyum, Aqd and Zubdah. Lal Shahbaz lived a celibate life.

In Multan, he met Baha-ud-din Zakariya of the Suhrawardiyya order, Baba Fariduddin Ganjshakar of the Chishtiyya and Syed Jalaluddin Bukhari. The friendship of these four became legendary. They were known as the Chahar Yar (In Persian "the four friends"). According to some historians, the four friends visited various parts of Sindh and Punjab (in present-day Pakistan).

This was also the time period when Ghiyas ud din Balban (reigned: 1266 – 1287) ruled India.

It is said Lal Shahbaz Qalandar was a tough ascetic. When he arrived in Sehwan (then Savistan), there was a shaivites cult of ascetics. He joined the ascetics, was engaged in tapasiya and acts of self-mortification like sitting on a cauldron of fire.

The 19th century spiritual Sufi Manqabat Dama Dam Mast Qalandar is dedicated to Lal Shahbaz Qalandar and is widely popular in the sub-continent.

Shrine

File:Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, Sehwan Shareef Sindh.jpg

File:Lal Shahbaz Mazaar inside view 6.JPG]]

The shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar was built by Feroz Shah Tughlaq in 1356,{{Cite book|last=Hasan|first=Masudul|title=Hand Book of Important Places in West Pakistan|publisher=Pakistan Social Service Foundation|year=1965|location=Lahore|pages=21}} expanded by Mirza Jani Beg{{Cite book|last=Balfour|first=Edward|title=The Cyclopædia of India and of Eastern and Southern Asia, Volume 3|publisher=B. Quaritch|year=1885|pages=562}} and his son Mirza Ghazi Beg of the Tarkhan dynasty, but was not completed until 1639, when Nawab Dindar Khan paved the courtyard with glazed tiles.{{Cite book|title=Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Volume 68|publisher=Bishop's College Press|year=1899|location=Asia|pages=32}} The silver work on the gate, the balustrade around the tomb and the top of the dome was gifted by Mir Karam Ali Talpur of the Talpur dynasty. Later on the shrine was decorated with Sindhi 'kashi-tiles', mirror-work and a gold-plated door was installed by the late Prime Minister of Pakistan, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.{{Cite web |last=Khan |first=Mohammad Hussain |date=2023-03-11 |title=In pictures: Devotees converge on Sehwan as Lal Shahbaz Qalandar's urs begins |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1741623 |access-date=2023-04-18 |website=DAWN.COM |language=en}} The inner sanctum is about 100 square yards with a silver-canopied grave in the middle, according to Nadeem Wagan, Cutharo silver donated by Sardar Mahboob Ali Khan Wagan (Chief Sardar of Wagan Tribe) on one side of the marble floor is a row of about {{convert|12|in|mm|adj=mid|-high}} folding wooden stands, on which there is a set of copies of the Quran for devotees to read. On the other side, beside a bundle of incense, are rows of oil-lamps lighted by devotees. Thousands of devotees visit the tomb particularly every Thursday.

= Mela / Urs (Annual Fair) =

Lal Shahbaz's annual Urs (death anniversary), held on the 18 Sha'aban – the eighth month of the Muslim lunar calendar, brings more than two million pilgrims from all over Pakistan and parts of India, Bangladesh. Essentially, it is a south Asian affair.{{Cite news|url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/1412392/glory-qalandars-urs-culminates-sehwan/|title=In all its glory, Qalandar's urs culminates in Sehwan|date=18 May 2017|work=The Express Tribune (newspaper)|access-date=14 February 2018|language=en-US}}

= The 2017 terrorist attack =

On 16 February 2017, a group claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on the shrine, which resulted in the deaths of 88 people.{{cite news|title=Sehwan bombing toll reaches 88, over 250 injured|url=https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/186965-Sehwan-bombing-toll-reaches-80-over-250-injured|access-date=14 February 2018|publisher=The News International (newspaper)|date=17 February 2017}} The following morning, the shrine's caretaker continued the daily tradition of ringing the shrine's bell at 3:30 A.M. and defiantly vowed that he would not be intimidated by the terrorists. Pakistani government and security forces have also launched a nationwide security crackdown and have recently killed 37 terrorists.{{cite news|title=37 terrorists killed in security crackdown after Sehwan bombing|url=https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/186962-37-terrorists-killed-in-security-crackdown-after-Sehwan-bombing|access-date=14 February 2018|publisher=The News International (newspaper)|date=17 February 2017}} The shrine's dhamaal, or meditative dancing ceremony, was resumed the very next evening following the attack.{{cite news|title=Pakistan's Sufis defiant after Islamic State attack on shrine kills 83|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pakistan-blast-sufis-idUSKBN15W1OP|access-date=14 February 2018|agency=Reuters News Agency|date=17 February 2017}}

Dhammal

Dhamaal is a mystical dance of Sindh which is mainly performed by faqirs, dervishs, sufi saints and devotees. The Dhammal of Hazrat Lal Shahbaz Qalandar is quite famous. The main performers would wear all red color Jama and Sindhi Patko (turban), the red is the color of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, which was the favorite color of him, he wore the attire of red color as well, hence the name "Lal" has been given to him which means "Red".{{Cite web |last=admin |date=2012-01-01 |title=Story Of Pakistan {{!}} Lal Shahbaz Qalandar |url=https://storyofpakistan.com/lal-shahbaz-qalandar/ |access-date=2024-04-04 |website=Story Of Pakistan |language=en-US}} Dhammal is characterized by religious fervor. Nagaro, Nobat, Gharyal, Ghugoo instruments etc provide the beat and tempo for the dance.