Syed Usman Marvandi, popularly known as Lal ShahbazQalandar, was a Sufi saint and religious-poet of present-day Pakistan and Afghanistan. He is highly regarded and respected by people of all religions because he preached religious tolerance among Muslims and Hindus. He was called Lal after his usual red attire and "Shahbaz" to denote a noble and divine spirit and "Qalandar" as he was a wandering holy man. The spiritual song "Dama Dam Mast Qalandar" glorifies Lal Shahbaz Qalandar's teachings, and the song is widely used in Pakistan, India, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. Originally written in the 13th century, the song has been sung by various singer since than, and is widely popular in the sub-continent.
Life
Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, son of Ibrahim Kabeeruddin, was born in Maiwand, today's Afghanistan. His ancestors had migrated from Baghdad, Iraq and settled in Mashhad, Iran before moving to Maiwand. He lived when the Ghaznavid and Ghurids ruled in the Indus region. Lal Shahbaz Qalandar was a Sunni Muslim. A contemporary of Rumi, he travelled around the Muslim world and settled in Sehwan, Sindh where he was eventually buried. There is evidence of his presence in Sindh in 1196 when he met Pir Haji Ismail Panhwar of Paat and he is believed to have arrived in Sehwan around 1251. There he established a meeting house, taught in the Fuqhai Islam Madarrsah and wrote his treatises Mizan-us-Surf, Kism-e-Doyum, Aqd and Zubdah. Lal Shahbaz lived a celibate life. In Multan, he met Baha-ud-din Zakariya of the Suhrawardiyya order, Baba Fariduddin Ganjshakar of the Chishtiyya and Syed Jalaluddin Bukhari. The friendship of these four became legendary, they were known as the Chahar Yar. According to some historians, the four friends visited various parts of Sindh, Punjab and southern part of India. Shahbaz became a profound scholar of religions, fluent in many languages including Pashto, Persian, Turkish, Arabic, Sindhi and Sanskrit. This was also the time period when Ghiyas ud din Balban ruled India. Following his death, Hindus within Sindh began to identify Lal Shahbaz Qalandar as an incarnation of their patron deity, Jhulelal. This connection was emphasized by the popular spiritual song Dama Dam Mast Qalandar which referred to him by the name Jhulelal. Over time, the Jhulelal has become a nickname for him, among both Hindu and Muslim Sindhis.
Shrine
The shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar was built by Feroz Shah Tughlaq in 1356, expanded by Mirza Jani Beg and his son Mirza Ghazi Beg of Tarkhan Dynasty, but was not completed until 1639, when Nawab Dindar Khan paved the courtyard with glazed tiles. The silver work on the gate, the balustrade around the tomb and the top of the dome was gifted by Mir Karam Ali Talpur of Talpur Dynasty. Later on the shrine was decorated with Sindhi 'kashi-tiles', mirror-work and a gold-plated door donated by the Shah of Iran, Reza Shah Pahlavi and installed by the late Prime Minister of Pakistan, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. The inner sanctum is about 100 square yards with a silver-canopied grave in the middle, according to Nadeem Wagan, Cutharo silver donated by Sardar Mahboob Ali Khan Wagan on one side of the marble floor is a row of about folding wooden stands, on which there is a set of copies of the Quran for devotees to read. On the other side, beside a bundle of incense, are rows of oil-lamps lighted by devotees. Thousands of devotees visit the tomb particularly every Thursday.
Lal Shahbaz's annual Urs, held on the 18 Sha'aban – the eighth month of the Muslim lunar calendar, brings more than two million pilgrims from all over Pakistan and abroad. On each morning of the three-day feast, the narrow lanes of Sehwan are packed with pilgrims, fakirs and devotees making their way to the shrine to commune with the saint, offer tributes and ask for their wishes. singing from 6am till 8am the next day. They invite bands of folk-singers from different regions each year.
The 2017 terrorist attack
On 16 February 2017, a group claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on the shrine which resulted in the deaths of 88 people. The following morning, the shrine's caretaker continued the daily tradition of ringing the shrine's bell at 3:30 A.M. and defiantly vowed that he would not be intimidated by the terrorists. Pakistani government and security forces have also launched a nationwide security crackdown and have recently killed 37 terrorists. The shrine's dhamaal, or meditative dancing ceremony, was resumed the very next evening following the attack.
