Meher Ali Shah

Meher Ali Shah
Personal
Born	(1859-04-14)14 April 1859 Golra Sharif, British India (Present Day Pakistan)
Died	May 1937 (aged 78) Golra Sharif, British India
Religion	Islam, specifically the Chishti Sufi order
Senior posting
Based in	Golra Sharif
Predecessor	Hazrat Khawaja Shams-ud-din Sialvi
Successor	Pir Syed Ghulam Mohiyyud Din Gillani

Meher Ali Shah (Urdu: پیر مہر على شاه‎) (born 1 Ramadan 1275 A.H., i.e., 14 April 1859 in Golra Sharif, died in May 1937) was a Sufi scholar from Pakistan belonging to the Chishti order. He is known as a Hanafi scholar upholding the position of Abdul-Haqq Dehlavi, and a leader of the anti-Ahmadiyya movement. He wrote several books, most notably Saif e Chishtiyai ("The Sword of the Chishti Order"), a polemical work criticizing the Ahmadiyya Muslim movement of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad.

Works

1. Tahqiq-ul-Haq Fi Kalima-tul-Haq (The Truth about Kalima-tul-Haq)
2. Shamsul Hidayah
3. Saif-e-Chishtiya
4. I’la Kalimatillah Fi Bayan-e-Wa Ma Uhilla Bihi Legharillah
5. AlFatuhat-us-Samadiyyah (Divine Bounties)
6. Tasfiah Mabain Sunni Wa Shi’ah
7. Fatawa-e-Mehria
8. Mulfuzaat-e-Mehria (Sayings of Meher Ali Shah)

Sufi of the Chishti Order

Printed copy of a letter written in Urdu by philosopher Muhammad Iqbal to Shah requesting information about the "Ibn Arabi" concept of Space and Time.

Shah was a disciple and Khalifa of Shams-ud-din in the Silsila-e-Chishtia Nizamiyah. His biography, Meher-e-Muneer, records that he was also made a khalifa by Haji Imdadullah Muhaajir Makki, when he visited the latter in Mecca.

Mausoleum of Meher Ali Shah with Mosque of Golra Sharif

Supporter of Wahdat-ul-Wujood (The Unity of Existence)

Shah was a supporter of Ibn Arabi's ideology of Wahdat-ul-Wujood but he made a distinction between the creation and the creator (as did Ibn Arabi). He also wrote explaining the "Unity of Being" doctrine of Ibn Arabi.

Like his comrade Qazi Mian Muhammad Amjad, he was an authority on Ibn Arabi and his 37-volume masterpiece The Meccan Illuminations (Al-Futūḥāt al-Makkiyya).

In 1933, Shah was absorbed in his meditation and mystic trances. That year the philosopher Muhammad Iqbal had to give a lecture at Cambridge University on Ibn Arabi's concept of Space and Time. He wrote a letter to the Shah stating that now there was nobody in all of Hindustan whom he could consult in this matter, and requesting him to tell about Ibn Arabi's work. In this letter Iqbal stated with respect that he knew he was disturbing the Shah's meditations, but as his motive was the service of Islam, therefore he dared to ask him a question. The Shah however, due to his meditation and bad health, could not reply.

Honors

The Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University at Islamabad was named after Pir Mehr Ali Shah.