Religious Tolerance

By Staff reporter, *Shahbaz Qalandar’s Urs opens* - Samaa News - Pakistan
Sunday, August 1, 2010

Hyderabad: The 758th Urs celebrations of Sufi saint Hazrat Lal Shahbaz Qalandar are underway in Sehwan Sharif.

Sindh Aukaf Minister Abdul Haseeb has opened the Urs being attended by thousands of devotees, who gathered here from every nook and corner of the country to attend the annual celebrations.

The Lahore High Court has ordered the Railways authorities to run a special train to take the devotees to the Urs. Special arrangements have been put in place by the provincial government to facilitate the pilgrims. Lungar and Sabeels [free food and milk distribution] are easily accessible all around the shrine.

Hazrat Lal Shahbaz Qalandar (1177 - 1274), an Afghan Sufi saint, philosopher, poet, and qalandar, was born as Syed Usman Shah Marwandi.

He belonged to the Suhrawardiyya order of Sufis, and was close contemporary to Baha-ud-din Zakariya, Fariduddin Ganjshakar, Syed Jalaluddin Bukhari Surkh-posh of Uchch, and Shams Tabrizi.

He travelled around the Muslim world and had settled in Sehwan (Sindh, Pakistan) and was buried there.

He preached religious tolerance among Muslims and Hindus. Thousands of pilgrims visit his shrine every year, especially at the occasion of his Urs.