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In 1975, His Eminence, Fakhrul Islam Allama al-Hajj Hafiz Maulana Muhammad Ibrahim Khushtar Siddiqui Qadiri Razvi arrived in Neslon, a small town in the North West of Lanchashire, UK, and approximately 30 miles from Manchester. His Eminence took over the duties as Imam from a student of his, Maulana Khalil-ur-Rehman, who had studied under His Eminence for 7 years.
His Eminence had a great style of teaching, unlike other stern and harsh Imams and was found to be humble, respectful and soft spoken to young and old. Although he was an Urdu speaker among the majority of Punjabi speakers, His Eminence conversed and lectured in a manner everyone could understand.
Students found him steadfast, calm and serene in his personality and when followers approached him for Zikr mehfils (gatherings), he stressed the importance that recitals such as Zikr are easy to begin, but the importance is its continuity and regularity. Once these Halqa Zikr programs begun, the attendance of followers increased rapidly, and those who attended these Halqa Zikr sessions of His Eminence are still benefiting today and have a very high opinion of His Eminence. His Eminence was very committed to these Halqa Zikr sessions and was always on time for Zikr. For the duration of the two years that His Eminence was lecturer and Imam in Nelson, he was only ever late, once, for 10 minutes, due to transport problems. His commitment to these Halqa Zikrs was such that one day he was to attend a conference in London and be at the Halqa Zikr in the evening. His Eminence read his Fajr prayers, left for London, a journey of approximately five hours in those days, and with Almighty Allah blessings, was back in the evening to lead his Halqa Zikr classes and give blessings to those that attended.
His Eminence stressed to the students in Nelson the importance of the daily prayers and controlling the desires for the materialistic outer world, which he himself practiced. He spoke very little and only when necessary, otherwise he kept mostly to himself busy with 'Tasbeeh' remembering his Creator. He always avoided the spotlight and shunned fame and ultimately ran the Mosque as a Khanqah, laying great stress on spiritual elevation and purification. One of the most important aspects of Tasawwuf, which His Eminence uses to imbue in everyone, was the visual contact, therefore 'Tassawar-e-Shaikh' with his own Pirs (Sheikhs). He mentioned that continuous practice of 'Tassawar-e-Shaikh' leads one to build a firm contact with ones Spiritual Guide which would prevent the disciple from doing wrong and get help in times of adversity. Like seeing a policeman at the time of committing an offence would deter one from doing the cat, in the same way, by continuously being aware of your Pirs spiritual presence, externally and internally, the disciple is prevented from committing a sin.
His Eminence always practiced what he preached and strictly adhered to the Shariah, a sign of recognition of true dervishes, Fakirs, Sufis and never bowed down to peer pressure, to please friends or the community, but always kept one thought in mind, to please his Creator and his beloved Prophet Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace).
On one particular Ramadaan, the Mosque committee of Nelson had agreed that Eid-ul-Fitr should be celebrated on Saturday, a decision made in consultation with other communities in other towns and cities. This resulted in everyone keeping having to keep their fast for 29 days. His Eminence disagreed with this decision and stressed the importance of the Shariah Law that Ramadaan starts when one sees the new moon and should be finished when the new moon re-appears. Due to bad weather conditions in the early 70`s, it was very rarely that a clear sky would be seen in the UK. From this point of view His Eminence insisted that everyone should adhere to this Law and fast the full 30 days instead of his own reasons for fasting 29 days. The committee has its own reasons for fasting for 29 days only instead of 30, and since the celebration would fall on a Saturday, which is usually a holiday for most people and the collection of money on this day would be very profitable. A certain individual even offered His Eminence 500 pounds (a lot of money in the 70`s), to lead the Eid prayers. His Eminence refused the offer, resulting in the committee finding another alternative person to lead the community into reading the Eid prayers.
The Eid prayers were held in a Hall and many followers turned up in numbers. Everyone in Lancashire made Saturday the Eid celebration, except a few people like His Eminence, his students and other true believers. Although it was a very tense and serious matter at that time, however, there was a funny side to this story and a great lesson to be learnt. The Imam designated to lead the Eid prayers on Saturday started to read and recite the Namaaz Janaaza (funeral prayers) instead of the Eid-ul-Fitr prayers, and he had to re-read and address the followers. This could have been due to his lack of knowledge and experience or perhaps just a message from Almighty Allah to those who disobey his loved ones. The next day a number of reputable scholars from the entire UK came to meet His Eminence and congratulated him for adhering firmly to the Shariah and not lowering himself to the demands of the public.
The Sunni Razvi Society International (Lancashire Branch) started in September 1997 with the blessings of His Eminence with the aim of strengthening the beliefs of the Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat and introducing the teachings of the great genius Alahazrat Imam Ahmad Raza Khan Qadiri (may Allah be pleased with him). During the initial stages, leaflets and pamphlets were distributed among relatives and friends, giving them information on various topics such as the Islamic months, benefits of reading Durood Shareef, respect for our beloved Prophet Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace) and other issues which quite often other 'sects' of Islam would consider to be 'bidat' The Society felt that this was a very important aspect that needed to be addressed; particular the younger generation such as the numerous students who attended the colleges and Universities in Lancashire, who were often confused about their belief. Small classes were first held at the member’s homes as a means of inviting followers to Islam. For men, a Qadiriyya Halqa Zikr was held over weekends at the local Mosque after Esha prayers as well as circulating information on important Islamic days such as Milad-un-Nabi, Miraj Shareef, Shab-e-Baraat, etc.
A woman’s study circle has been set up in Nelson with the blessings of His Eminence, Fakhrul Islam Allama al-Hajj Hafiz Maulana Muhammad Ibrahim Khushtar Siddiqui Qadiri Razvi. With the help and spiritual guidance of His Eminence the sisters have started giving classes laying emphasis on the teachings of the Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat as well as practical issues of Islam such as Namaaz (prayer), how to dress a female corpse and Ghusl (bath) of corpse, etc. Currently the ladies classes have about 30 people ranging from 8-45 years of age including many converts to Islam.