The Shrine of Meher Ali Shah is a 20th-century
Sufi shrine that serves as the tomb of the Peer
Meher Ali Shah
Meher Ali Shah ( ur, پیر مہر على شاه; 14 April 1859 – May 1937), was a Sufi scholar and a mystic Punjabi poet from Punjab, British India (present-day Pakistan) belonging to the Chishti order. He is known as a Hanafi scholar lea ...
, an early 20th-century Sufi scholar of the
Chisti
The Chishtī Order ( fa, ''chishtī'') is a tariqa, an order or school within the mystic Sufi tradition of Sunni Islam. The Chishti Order is known for its emphasis on love, tolerance, and openness. It began with Abu Ishaq Shami in Chisht, a ...
order, who was also a leader of the anti-
Ahmadiya movement. The shrine is located within the
Islamabad Capital Territory
The Islamabad Capital Territory ( ur, , translit=Vafāqī Dār-alhakūmat) is the only federal territory of Pakistan. Located between the provinces of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, it includes the country's capital city of Islamabad. The terr ...
, in the village of
Golra Sharif
Golra Sharif ( ur, ) is a town situated near the Margalla Hills in the Islamabad Capital Territory, Pakistan, at about above sea level, from the ancient city of Taxila. It is known for the Mausoleum of Meher Ali Shah that yearly attracts thous ...
.
Nowadays, Golra Sharif is widely known for one of its custodians (
Sajjada nashin
The ''Sajjāda nashīn'' ( fa, سجاده نشین; lit. "ne whosits t aprayer mat") is a term of Persian origin, used chiefly within the Sufi traditions of South Asia referring to the successor or hereditary administrator of a Sufi master who ...
)
Pir Syed Naseer Uddin Naseer Gilani. The shrine's longest-serving Sajjada nashin was Peer Syed Shah Abdul Haq Gilani, the younger son of
Babuji, who took care of the shrine for approximately 46 years (from 1974 to his death in July 2020). Presently, the shrine is managed by the
heirs
Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Officia ...
of both,
Syed Ghulam Moinuddin Gilani and Syed Shah Abdul Haq Gilani.
Location
The mausoleum is situated in the village of
Golra Sharif
Golra Sharif ( ur, ) is a town situated near the Margalla Hills in the Islamabad Capital Territory, Pakistan, at about above sea level, from the ancient city of Taxila. It is known for the Mausoleum of Meher Ali Shah that yearly attracts thous ...
,
foothills of Margalla in
Sector E-11, in the
Islamabad Capital Territory
The Islamabad Capital Territory ( ur, , translit=Vafāqī Dār-alhakūmat) is the only federal territory of Pakistan. Located between the provinces of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, it includes the country's capital city of Islamabad. The terr ...
. The shrine is situated an altitude of about above sea level.
Construction
Peer Mehr Ali Shah died on 11 May 1937
and was succeeded by Babuji. The construction of the mausoleum took nearly twenty years to be fully completed. For this purpose, marble was brought from the Makrana mines in
Jodhpur State
Kingdom of Marwar, also known as the Jodhpur State under the British, was a kingdom in the Marwar region from 1226 to 1818 and a princely state under British rule from 1818 to 1947. It was established in Pali by Rao Siha, possibly a m ...
.
See also
*
List of cultural heritage sites in Islamabad Capital Territory
*
List of cultural heritage sites in Pakistan
Pakistan, Pakistan's cultural heritage includes Archaeological sites in Pakistan, archaeological sites, stupas, List of forts in Pakistan, forts, List of mausolea and shrines in Pakistan, shrines, tombs, buildings, residences, monuments, and place ...
*
List of mausolea and shrines in Pakistan
*
Syed Ghulam Mohiyyuddin Gilani
*
Syed Ghulam Moinuddin Gilani
References
External links
The Shrine's official website''Mehr-e-Munir'' by Dr Muhammad Fadil Khan
{{Cultural heritage sites in Islamabad Capital Territory , state=expanded
Sufi shrines in Pakistan
Mausoleums in Pakistan
Sufism in Islamabad
Cultural heritage sites in Islamabad
Shrines in Pakistan