Khawaja Muhammad Qamar Ud Din Sialvi (1906–1981) known as Shaykh-ul-Islam was a Pakistani Islamic scholar, religious leader and politician. He was a Waliullah (Sufi saint) of the Chishti Sufi order; his Sufi convent (zawyah) is located in the village of Sial Sharif.
He was also the founder of the Sunni Barelvi political party Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan (representing the Ulama of the Ahl-e-Sunnah Wa-al-Jamaa’ah denomination in Pakistan) and became its president in 1970.He is also credited for being one of the foremost and staunchest supporters of the movement for the creation of Pakistan.
Khwaja Qamaruddin Sialvi was born on 24 Jumada al-awwal 1324 A.H. (7 July 1906), in Sial Sharif in the Punjab Province of British India. He was the eldest son of Zia-ud-din Sialvi. He was familiar with the Quran by the age of nine. He received his religious education at several institutions, including ones in Mecca and Ajmer.
When his age was four years, four months and ten days, Khawaja Diya’ al-Din enrolled him to memorise the Qur’an in the class of Hafiz Karim Bakhsh. He very quickly memorised the Qur’an in a short span of time. Following that, capable teachers taught him Persian and Arabic etymology and syntax with much joy and hardwork and this capable student accepted all that he was taught with much joy and enthusiasm.
When he was very young and was reading the Kanz al-Daqa’iq, during this time he wrote a commentary on a difficult issue within the Kanz al-Daqa’iq in the Arabic language. After seeing it, great learned scholars were left amazed. This written piece caused a greater sense of enhancing the education and upbringing of this student in the heart of his father; Khawaja Diya’ al-Din.
As a result, he looked towards a distinguished scholar from the Khayr Abadi family of knowledge and wisdom, Maulana Mu’in al-Din Ajmayri. At that time, he was the principal teacher at Madrasa ‘Uthmaniyya Dar al-Khayr in Ajmayr (India) and so for some time, Khawaja Diya’ al-Din sent his beloved son to Ajmayr in pursuit of education. Later on, Maulana Ajmayri was brought from Ajmayr to Siyal and Khawaja Qamar al-Din continued acquiring knowledge from him. A student of Maulana Ajmayri, Maulana Muhammad Husayn,
also began teaching in Siyal at Dar al-‘Ulum Diya’ Shams al-Islam. Khawaja Qamar al-Din studied philosophy and logic with one of the leading masters of the Khayarabadi tradition, Maulana Muhammad Din Budhwi, who was considered unparalleled in his age in the rational sciences as well as in many other subjects. Khawaja Qamar al-Din completed these various sciences and disciplines from these learned scholars. He also completed the Dawra Hadith with Maulana Ajmayri, who consequently bestowed the sanad and ijaza of hadith narration to him.
