Sayyidna Qazi Qidwatuddin Ali Halabi Raziyallahu Ta‘ala Anhu was born on 17 Rajab 219 Hijri in Madinah Munawwarah. He was the light of the Fatimid خاندان, a perfect wali, and possessed great spiritual eminence. In zuhd and taqwa, piety, righteousness and nobility, and in justice and fairness, he was unique in his time.
His father’s name was Hazrat Sayyid Bahauddin Raziyallahu Anhu, and his lineage connects to Hazrat Sayyidna Imam Ali Alaihissalam as follows:
Sayyid Qazi Qidwatuddin Ali Raziyallahu Anhu
bin Sayyid Bahauddin Raziyallahu Anhu
bin Sayyid Zaheeruddin Ahmad Raziyallahu Anhu
bin Sayyid Ismail Sani Raziyallahu Anhu
bin Sayyid Muhammad Maktum Raziyallahu Anhu
bin Sayyid Ismail Raziyallahu Anhu
bin Imam Ja‘far Sadiq Raziyallahu Anhu
bin Sayyid Imam Muhammad al-Baqir Alaihissalam
bin Sayyid Sajjad Imam Zainul Abideen Alaihissalam
bin Sayyid ush-Shuhada Imam Husain Alaihissalam
bin Maula-e-Kainat Maula Ali Murtaza Alaihissalam
The name of the wife of Sayyidna Qazi Qidwatuddin Ali Halabi Raziyallahu Anhu was Hazrat Bibi Hajra Fatima Saniya.
Allah Tabarak wa Ta‘ala granted him such personalities in the realm of wilayat whose blessed presence gave refinement to the whole world. That is, Sayyid Maqsooduddin al-maruf Shah Badruddin, Sayyid Matloobuddin al-maruf Qazi Hamiduddin, Sayyid Nizamuddin al-maruf Khwaja Baktash Wali, and Hazrat Sayyid Badiuddin al-maruf Ahmad Shah Zindan Sauf Raziyallahu Ta‘ala Anhu — these four great and eminent saints and global داعیانِ اسلام were his own beloved sons. When Hazrat Sayyid Badiuddin Zinda Shah Madar was born, the Prophet of Allah, Hazrat Khizr Alaihissalam, gave congratulations to Qazi Qidwatuddin Ali Halabi on the birth of Madar Pak.
Hazrat Qazi Qidwatuddin Ali Halabi Raziyallahu Ta‘ala Anhu possessed God-gifted intelligence, and at the age of only 13 he had mastered all outward and inward sciences. In his time he was known as Qazi-e-Halab, and his respected wife was Hazrat Sayyidatina Hajra Tabreziya Raziyallahu Ta‘ala Anhuma.
Hazrat Qudwatuddin Ali Halbi married Fatima Sani, also known as Bibi Hajra Tabrizia, in 237 AH. For about four years, they had no children, so he supplicated in the court of God for offspring. When the ظلم و تشدد (oppression and tyranny) of Mutawakkil ‘alallah intensified, he left his homeland and came to Chinar, where he took refuge in the house of Abu Ishaq Shami, a Jewish man. Here, he saw upon his forehead the radiant and shining light of sainthood. By the command of the Lord of the worlds, one night in a dream he was blessed with the honored vision of the Noble Prophet ﷺ. The respected Prophet ﷺ said:
“O Ali, be at ease and remain hopeful of divine blessings. Allah Almighty will grant you a son who will be the leader of his time. He will bring about a spiritual revolution in the world; the entire world will benefit from him, and countless people will reach their destined goal through him. Many spiritual powers and miracles will manifest from him. He will guide people to the path of truth. O Ali, do not be negligent in his upbringing, education, and training.”
After this guidance, he awoke. The joy gained from this glad tiding is difficult to describe.
It is said that when Badi‘uddin Ahmad was born, people would come to offer congratulations, and whatever they asked for, they would receive. In this way, six continuous months passed, until everything in the house was distributed. Meanwhile, the soldiers of Mutawakkil ‘alallah also reached Chinar. Once again, Ali Halbi had to leave that place, and he wandered through forests and deserts, protecting his family from the tyrant of the time, until they became exhausted from hunger and thirst. The affliction of hunger and thirst that kept them awake at night befell them. A long period of deprivation and sorrow left them completely weakened; even their patience and endurance began to falter.
His parents entrusted their matter to the One who turns hardships into ease. Taking turns holding their son in their arms, they continued toward their destination. As they walked, they became weighed down with exhaustion when a divine inspiration came: “Have trust and entrust the matter of your child to your Lord, and lay this child, Badi‘uddin, beneath such-and-such a tree, then free yourselves from grief and sorrow.” However, the tree indicated was one that always remained without fruit (a chinar tree). Yet his parents did exactly as they were instructed. Allah Almighty granted a blessed recompense, and that place was transformed into lush and flourishing land, with the most pleasant climate, filled with fruits and blessings.
The era in which Qazi Sahib was born, lived, and passed away was not free from turmoil and oppression. On one side, the enemies of Islam were plotting to destroy Muslims, while on the other, the Abbasid caliphs, entangled in the issue of “Khalq-e-Quran,” were unjustly persecuting Muslims and putting them to death.
For a brief period, it can be said that during the rule of Caliph Wasiq Billah (227–232 Hijri), Muslims experienced some relief and peace. During this time, hearing of the fame of Qazi Qidwatuddin Ali Halabi’s knowledge, he was summoned to the court after much effort and appointed as Qazi-e-Halab. However, after Wasiq Billah, when his brother Mutawakkil ‘Alallah ascended the throne, he unleashed severe ظلم و ستم, such as ordering the demolition of the shrine of Imam Husain and having cultivation done over it, and becoming a fierce enemy of the Alawis. Besides this, he committed many acts of oppression. In short, when his hostility turned towards Halab, Qazi Qidwatuddin Ali was forced to leave his city, and he took refuge in the village of Chunar at the house of a Jew named Abu Ishaq.
Qazi Qidwatuddin Ali Halabi Raziyallahu Ta‘ala Anhu, despite being greatly exhausted by ظلم و ستم, could never come out of grief, sorrow, and shocks throughout his life. In his lifetime, out of his four sons, he witnessed the deaths of three. That is, at the age of only 33, his son Sayyid Nizamuddin passed away (he is famously known as Khwaja Baktash Wali, and his blessed shrine is in Constantinople), and likewise, at the age of only 50, he also witnessed the passing of his son Sayyid Matloobuddin (whose blessed shrine is in the land of Shaam), and similarly, in 311 Hijri, he saw his son Sayyid Maqsooduddin (whose shrine is in Hisar) pass away during his own lifetime.
From this, it is evident how much his heart suffered from grief, pain, and the separation of his sons, that Qazi Qidwatuddin Ali Halabi Raziyallahu Ta‘ala Anhu had three sons whom he himself could not fully see flourish. However, among them, there was one son who witnessed many generations in his own lifetime. That is, Allah Tabarak wa Ta‘ala granted the fourth son of Qazi Qidwatuddin Ali Halabi, Hazrat Sayyid Badiuddin Zinda Shah Madar (Madar-e-Pak), a lifespan of 596 years.
The demise of Hazrat Sayyidna Qazi Qidwatuddin Ali Halabi Raziyallahu Ta‘ala Anhu also occurred due to a shock, the explanation of which is that in 318 Hijri, the leader of the Qaramita, Abu Tahir Qarmati, marched to Makkah Mukarramah with an army. It was the time of Hajj, and upon arrival, he began massacring the pilgrims. He looted all their belongings, did not refrain from killing people even inside the Kaaba, and had the bodies of the slain thrown into the well of Zamzam. He struck the Hajar-e-Aswad with a mace and separated it from the wall of the Kaaba, and it remained lying there for 11 days.
Abu Tahir looted the inhabitants of Makkah for 11 days and then placed the Hajar-e-Aswad on a camel and set off towards his capital, Bahrain. Observe the power of God: from Makkah to Bahrain, whichever camel the Hajar-e-Aswad was placed upon would die. In this way, 40 camels died along the entire journey, yet even from these incidents Abu Tahir did not take any lesson. And for 20 years, the Hajar-e-Aswad remained in the possession of the Qaramita. (This research is by Maulana Akbar Shah Khan Najibabadi.)
When the news of this terrible and dangerous incident reached Qazi Qidwatuddin Ali Halabi, he was overwhelmed with grief, weeping intensely, and fell into shock. In this very grief and anxiety, he suffered a heart attack and passed away. After his demise, Sarkar-e-Madar, along with his nephews, made many attempts to retrieve the Hajar-e-Aswad, but the result remained zero. However, he continued striving with his nephews and devotees to bring back the Hajar-e-Aswad. Then a day came when Allah Tabarak wa Ta‘ala showed a joyful moment to Sarkar-e-Madar and his dear ones: around 336 Hijri, and according to Islamic history in 339 Hijri, an agreement was made with Abu Tahir, the leader of the Qaramita, that whoever restores the eyesight of Abdullah bin Maimoon, who had become blind, would be given the Hajar-e-Aswad. Sarkar-e-Madar washed the Hajar-e-Aswad and applied its water to his eyes, and Abdullah’s eyesight returned.
Sahibe Jadeed Madar-e-Azam has written with reference to Tarikh-e-Tehran that after the theft of the Hajar-e-Aswad, most of it had broken. And Sarkar-e-Madar and his companions reinstalled the Hajar-e-Aswad in the Kaaba at the same place where the Prophet had placed it with his own hands.
