Data Sahib urs starts today

LAHORE The 960th Urs of Hazrat Syed Ali bin Usman Hajweri (RA), also known as Data Gunj Bakhsh (Bestower of Spiritual Treasures), will start today (Friday).

Punjab Governor Khalid Maqbool, Parliamentary Secretary Qaim Shamsi and Data Darbar Religious Affairs Committee Chairman Hafiz Manzoor Khan will inaugurate the Urs celebrations. City government departments will be closed on April 10 to mark the occasion.

Mr Maqbool will lay a floral wreath at Data Sahib’s (RA) shrine. A poetry recital will be held in this regard. The Punjab religious affairs and auqaf minister will be the chief guest on the occasion and prominent poets including Prof Muhammad Hafiz Taib, Dr Khurshid Rizvi, Muzaffar Warsi, Prof Jamshed Azam and others will recite poetry. Later, a naat recital will be held Azad Kashmir Transport Minister Muhammad Hamis Raza will be the chief guest.

According to the Urs’s administration committee, 250 large containers of food (daig) and 200,000 breads (naan) will be distributed to the public daily and approximately 50,000 people across the province will donate thousands of tonnes of milk on the occasion. A separate food distribution point (langar) being supervised by seven separate committees will also distribute food inside the shrine. The administration committee members said a number of volunteers had been deputed to maintain the arrangements. The members said the administration committee had also arranged three tube wells for a continuous supply of water on the occasion.

Police has also finalised security arrangements. Closed circuit cameras have been installed at various points in the shrine, while a number of police, special branch and other law enforcement agency personnel will also be deputed to maintain security and order.

History: Data Gunj Bakhsh belonged to a place called Hajwer in the town of Ghazni, Afghanistan. He lived during the 5th century AH (11th century AD) and was well versed in all the Islamic sciences such as Tasfir (exegesis of the Quran), Hadith (traditions of the Holy Prophet [PBUH]), Fiqh (Muslim law) and dogmatic theology (Ilmu Kalam).

He came to Lahore in the later part of his life for the specific purpose of preaching and teaching Islam. He passed away in Lahore in 469 AH (1077 AD).

Kashf al-Mahjoob: Originally written in Persian, Data Sahib’s (RA) book won instant admiration and was translated by his mureeds (devotees) into many languages so that the message of Islam, compiled in books by the great mystic for all times, could be read by an optimal number of people.

Thousands of people embraced Islam after reading his book and within no time Muslims became a majority in Lahore.

Allama Iqbal was also a truthful mureed and expressed his emotions for the Bestower of Spiritual Treasures through many poems.

Iqbal used to visit Data Sahib’s tomb daily to offer prayers and seek Allah’s blessings for himself and the Muslim community. Shahnawaz Khan

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