Pir Shah Abdul Haq Gilani passes away
Pir Shah Abdul Haq Gilani, the Sajjada Nasheen of Golra Sharif Dargah, passed away on Thursday. He was 94-years-old. He was laid to rest in the presence of thousands of followers and locals. Akbar Pir Syed Moinulhaq Gilani, Shah’s son, led his funeral prayers. Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Planning Minister Asad Umar were among those who attended the funeral prayers. A source of spiritual inspiration for Muslims of the subcontinent, Shah had been ill for an extended period. His father, Pir Syed Ghulam Mohiyyudin, was a religious scholar and eminent spiritual leader and was affectionately known as “Babu Ji”. He was the only child of Pir Mehr Ali Shah and had founded the Aiwan-e-Mehr Ali Shah Trust to spread the teachings and intellectual heritage of his father. The township of Golra is situated in the foothills of the Margalla Hills at a distance of about 17.7 kilometres from Rawalpindi and in the centre of Sector E-11. When Pir Mehr Ali Shah decided to settle in Golra, it served as the headquarters of the then Sikh sub-divisional officer. The area has seen the rule of Afghans, but on the death of Ahmad Shah Abdali, Ranjit Singh, the Afghan-appointed governor of Punjab, declared his independence and annexed the Golra area also into his domain.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 31st, 2020.