Shaykh Mazhar Hussain
Shaykh Muhammad Mazhar Hussain al-Qadri was born on Monday 25th November 1963 to a noble family of scholars and saints. His father Khawaja Shaykh Muhammad Karam Hussain al-Qadri (Allah have mercy upon him) was an accomplished and renowned spiritual leader and great Sufi of his time who has followers throughout Pakistan and other parts of the world.
Shaykh Muhammad Mazhar Hussain al-Qadri started his early education and spiritual training from his household where he studied the holy Qur’an from his great-grandfather Khawaja Shaykh Yar Muhammad (Allah have mercy upon him). During the early 1970s, Shaykh Muhammad Karam Hussain sent his young son to reside in Lahore, Pakistan, under the direct care and guardianship of his paternal uncle and a great scholar of our time, Shaykh Muhammad Imdad Hussain Pirzada, who at the time was the Imam and Khatib of the famous central Noori Masjid of Lahore, Pakistan. During this time Shaykh Muhammad Mazhar Hussain had the opportunity to study Tajweed and the science of Qur’an from his learned teacher Qari Ghulam Rasul of Lahore.
After Shaykh Muhammad Imdad Hussain Pirzada moved to the United Kingdom in 1974, Shaykh Mazhar Hussain enrolled at the Islamic institution of Jamia Muhammadi al-Sharif in Jhang to further the scope of his knowledge in various Islamic disciplines. He gained the knowledge of tasawwuf and spiritual development directly from his noble father, Shaykh Muhammad Karam Hussain.
The Shaykh is blessed to be in the distinctive position of having the ijazah in the Sufi path of the Qadri Tariqah granted to him by his noble father and also having ijazah in the Sufi path of the Chishti Tariqah granted to him by his uncle, Shaykh Muhammad Imdad Hussain Pirzada.
The Shaykh is an admirable personality with followers throughout Pakistan and the world. He is the current Sajjada Nasheen and leads the centre of spiritual excellence at the khanqah of Mangani Sharif in Jhang, Pakistan, where the blessed mausoleum of his father and the elder brother of Shaykh Muhammad Imdad Hussain Pirzada, Khawaja Shaykh Muhammad Karam Hussain al-Qadri (Allah have mercy upon him), is located.
The Shaykh serves as the President of the Pakistan Chapter of Muslim Charity Helping the Needy, and thereby is closely involved with the humanitarian aid and assistance that is provided to the poor and needy throughout Pakistan. Through his selfless endeavours and love for the service to humanity, he has supervised numerous projects in Pakistan following various natural disasters that struck the country in the recent past. He has worked closely with Shaykh Muhammad Imdad Hussain Pirzada in bringing the gyne hospitals project to fruition and took personal care of every detail of the project. Today he oversees the successful running of the hospitals and through this selfless services he is not only able to cater for the spiritual ailments of his followers by way of being a spiritual master but is also able to cater for the physical ailments of patients by being a humanitarian worker. The words of prayers and joy of the patients in the hospitals are beyond expression in those remote and poor areas of Pakistan when the Shaykh takes personal care and visits the patients himself offering prayers and monitoring treatments.
Shaykh Muhammad Mazhar Hussain endeavours to perform Umrah every year and organizes a group of over one hundred and fifty people to travel with him to the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah. The group is always formed of the most poor, needy and deprived people from remote parts of the country who could not dream of being able to visit the holy land and due to the facilities set up and provided by the Shaykh, such people’s dreams turn to reality and their prayers and love for their Shaykh increases.
Shaykh Muhammad Mazhar Hussain al-Qadri is a righteous person of Allah (most high). His life has become totally dedicated to the people especially those less fortunate than others. The company of his presence is unique and his smile brings about a sense of peace even to those struck by grief and affliction.