All praise is due to Almighty Allah as He is all Merciful, Most Gracious and Most Compassionate Lord who has gathered all knowledge in His Essence and Who is the Creator of all knowledge for eternity. We beg for peace and blessings upon our Master the beloved Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessing be Upon Him) and his progeny, companions and followers. All grace and thanks belong to Almighty Allah.
Should any spiritual brethren or sincere seeker decide to peruse the Khanqah Qadiriya Razviya web site, I sincerely beg forgiveness for any forgetfulness and errors on intent and reason. I tender my apologies for the inadequate and weak expression of my words and diction and ask readers to overlook my mistakes of language and concentrate upon the substance of the meaning of what is offered here. Any unintentional and intentional errors are mine the praise is His.
This web site, like any literary initiative, required the cooperative effort of many people; the authors who provided the chapters are the real contributors, an assembly of experts in the discipline. It is with great pleasure that I acknowledge the help of the many institutions and individuals who have knowingly and unknowingly helped and I would like to thank them.
Information and data gathered for the web site came from numerous sources such as articles that deal with the activities of His Eminence, of the Society itself and those dealing with various Islamic topics. One of these sources is the yearly Souvenir magazine, which has a worldwide circulation and has International correspondents and collaborators and the present Editor-in-Chief and General Secretary is G.M. Isaac. Some of the International correspondents who have graciously contributed are M.C.A Hassan, Hansard Reporter (Ceylon), N.M.A Sattar Qadiri Razvi (Sub-Editor, Foreign News Desk, Times of Ceylon), Muhammad Bana of Durban, South Africa and numerous other writers.
Many booklets and pamphlets have been published since the inception of the Society in 1965 until today, and the most notable are the Khanqah Qadiria Razvia in Durban and the Sunni Razvi Publications in Cape Town, South Africa. It would also be a grave miscarriage of justice if we fail to mention and acknowledge the kind courtesy of the research institutions such as Idara-e-Tehqeeqat-e-Imam Ahmad Raza of Karachi, Pakistan who has made available their publications to the Society for reprint.
Heartfelt thanks goes to Prof. Dr. Masud Ahmed of Pakistan who has dedicated his entire life for the dissemination of the message and the knowledge of one of the greatest Mujaddid of Islam (renewer of the Sharia, expected once every Hijri century). He has introduced Imam Ahmad Raza (may Allah be pleased with him) to the West and English speaking nations of the world. In 1986 he and his wife hosted Usha Sanyal [Berkeley University (USA)], and invited this unknown Indian Hindu woman into their home in Karachi, Pakistan. Furthermore it was Prof. Masud Ahmed that made contact in Karachi, Lahore and Delhi with others whose assistance provided crucial to her work and post-doctoral thesis. He guided many other scholars who were doing research work on Imam Ahmed Raza, such as, Dr. Barbara Metcalf [Berkeley University (USA)], Prof. Ghayasuddin [Birmingham University (UK)], Prof. Dr. Majeedullah Qaadri [Karachi University (Pakistan)] and Dr. J.M.S. Baljon [Leidin University (Holland)] etc.
I am especially grateful to the following individuals for their comments, suggestions, assistance, and counsel over the development of this Website: Special thanks to Abdool Bashir [Mauritius] for collecting data (booklets, books, magazines, pamphlets, etc); taking the marvelous photographs of our Pir-i-Murshid on the beach, Urs Shareef, Milad-un-Nabi celebrations, Sunni Razvi Academy, Khanqah Qadiri Razvia, etc and was designated by His Eminence to be my contact person in Mauritius. Altaff Hoosain, Ahmed and Masud Khushtar in Manchester (UK) who were my contact persons when His Eminence was in Manchester. Iqbal Latuna, the Mauritius Consular General in South Africa, now based at the United Nations in New York and Ayub Malik from Nelson (UK).
A very special thanks to Ziad Zidawi, webmaster of the naqshbandi.org from Michigan, USA who designed the master web layout, enhanced graphics, web hosting, etc and for his patience and technical advice. Without his sincerity and allocating personal time to help, this web site would not have been a reality.
I am most fortunate to have been supported by my family and indebted to my parents, simple folks, I give grateful thanks for their loving support and encouragement and my beloved mother who made my education possible. I also dedicate this work to my father S. AR. Hakim al-Hussaini al-Qadiri Razvi who influenced me in the Qadiri Tariqat and Imam Ahle Sunnat Imam Ahmad Raza Khan Qadiri (may his soul be sanctified) - which I am just beginning to understand.
I am also deeply indebted to: my Spiritual Guide Hazrat Maulana Muhammad Ibrahim Khushtar Siddiqui Qadiri Razvi (may Allah be pleased with him) for his guidance, constant prayers, patience and who gave me his blessed permission to present the Society on the Internet; and to Sayyida Amatul Qadeer (beloved wife of our Pir) who is like a 'spiritual mother' to us.
Also dedicated to:
Grandparents [father's side] : Sayyid Abdul Qadir Hakim al-Hussaini al-Qadiri Razvi, who was the first person in Surat [India], to take bayat at the hands of Imam Ahmad Raza Khan Qadiri (may Allah be pleased with him); and my grandmother Hajji Rukayya Hakim [born in District 6, Cape Town, buried Surat, India]. According to Hazrat Maulana Ibrahim Khushtar, the original Sayyid Hakim genealogy/hereditary [family-tree] was compiled by Imam Ahmad Raza Khan Qadiri (may Allah be pleased with him).
Grandparents [mother's side] : Zubeir and Aisha Usmani [alias, Zubeir Sayed] who was the first 'non-white' owner and founder-patron of a printing and publishing house in the 'apartheid' regime, called the 'Muslim News' in Cape Town. My grandfather met Maulana Abdul Aleem Siddiqui Qadiri (may Allah be pleased with him) during his annual visits to South Africa, and through his blessings used the 'Muslim News' to propagate the true teachings of Islam throughout Africa.
S. Z. Hakim al-Hussaini Qadiri Razvi
Web Project Manager
Las Vegas, USA
2000
