Luarisharif

Hazrat Sultan-ul-Aulia Khwaja Muhammad Zaman's (Q) forefathers belonged to Arabia. Following is the genealogy which shows his direct Lineage from Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddiq (RA) the first Caliph of Islam:

1. Hazrat Sultan-ul-Oliya Khwaja Muhammad Zaman (Q) s/o 2. Shaikh Haji Abdul Latif s/o 3. Shaikh Tayyaab s/o 4. Shaikh Ibrahim s/o 5. Shaikh Abdul Wahid s/o 6. Shaikh Abdul Latif Kalan s/o 7. Shaikh Ahmad s/o 8. Shaikh Baqa s/o 9. Shaikh Muhammad s/o 10. Shaikh Faqrullah s/o 11. Shaikh Abid s/o 12. Shaikh Abdullah s/o 13. Shaikh Taoos s/o 14. Shaikh Ali s/o 15. Shaikh Mustafa s/o 16. Shaikh Malik s/o 17. Muhammad s/o 18. Abul Hassan s/o 19. Muhammad s/o 20. Tayyar s/o 21. Abdul Bari s/o 22. Aziz s/o 23. Fazal s/o 24. Ali s/o 25. Ishaq s/o 26. Ibrahim Abi Bakr s/o 27. Qaim s/o 28. Ateeq s/o 29. Muhammad s/o 30. Abdul Rehman s/o 31. Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddiq (RA).

The 24th man of the above-mentioned line Ali bin Ishaq first arrived in Dibal (near Thatta in Sindh) circa 169 AH, or 786 AD. They lived in Thatta for about two-and-half centuries and probably, because of civil wars during the early reigns of Samaa dynasty, when Thatta reached the brim of ruination, they bode farewell to Sindh and the 21st man of the above line Abdul Bari bin Aziz moved to nearby state of Katchh circa 417 AH, or 1026 AD. The family returned to Sindh in 1071 AH and settled in old Luari Sharif, three miles from the present Luari Sharif.

Hazrat Sultan-ul-Oliya Khwaja Muhammad Zaman (Q) was born in old Luari on Ramazan 21, 1125 AH or October 9, 1713 AD. Since his early age, he was leaned towards religious education. He completed the recitation of Holy Qur'an under the guidance of his father Shaikh Haji Abdul Latif(Q). Then he moved to Thatta, where he got formal schooling. Here he met the famous Naqshbandi saint Shaikh Muhammad, known as Abul Massakeen(Q). Hazrat Abul Massakeen (Q) immediately admitted him to his circle of disciples and made him busy in meditation. After six months, Hazrat Sultan-ul-Oliya (Q) attained such a status that Hazrat Abul Massakeen (Q) allowed him to make his own disciples. A few years after the death of Hazrat Abul Massakeen (Q), he returned to old Luari Sharif and in 1150 AH, or 1741 AD shifted to the present Luari Sharif, where he established his own school of the Naqshbandia order and guided the people towards the divine destination, the entity of Allah.
For 38 years he remained the tutor and guide of the masses and led them on the path of Allah. He passed away on Zul Quad 4, 1188 AH or January 6, 1775 AD and was laid to rest in his chamber in Luari Sharif. He was succeeded by his able son Hazrat Mehboob-us-Samad Khwaja Gul Muhammad (Q), who later built a tomb over the grave of Hazrat Sultan-ul-Oliya (Q), which is known as Dargah Luari Sharif and famous all over the world for its contribution towards preaching of Islam.The message, which Hazrat Sultan-ul-Oliya (Q) gave to the world, is simple, which emphasises the human being not to be oblivious of cause of his creation ie, to worship Allah.
Hazrat Sultan-ul-Oliya (Q) was the greatest saint of deeper erudition, intense piety and very high spiritual attainments. He enjoyed pivotal position in the order of Naqshbandia in Sindh. His sublime religious attainments attracted a large number of followers from many parts of the Indo-Pak subcontinent and all around the globe. Besides, many spiritual elites and religious scholars, on account of extreme veneration they contained towards him, deemed it their sanctimonious duty to visit him and pay respects and homage to him and became his devotees, the prominent among them are:
Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai (RA), Makhdoom Abdul Rahim Girhori (RA), Hazrat Qazi Ahmad (RA), Khwaja Abu Talib (RA), Khwaja Essa Dashti (RA), Khwaja Sadhatura (RA) etc, etc.

 These saints were spiritually blessed by Hazrat Sultan-ul-Oliya (Q). They established their own monasteries from where a large number of people received bounties and the continuity of such beneficence still goes on.
From the aforesaid chosen men of distinction just one spiritual elite namely Hazrat Qazi Ahmad (RA) bestowed upon his following disciples so graciously that among them over 360 established their own Dargahs in Sindh, Punjab and other parts of India.

Luari Sharif town is situated in the South-East of Karachi, Pakistan (68°54' East, 29°33' North) at about a distance of 218 KM and about 11 KM from Badin (Sindh).


Comprising a few thousand residents, Luari Sharif was founded in 1738 AD (1150 AH) by Hazrat Sultan-ul-Oliya Khwaja Muhammad Zaman (Q). The main feature of the town is the mausoleum of Naqshbandi saints, surrounded by a fort and a centuries old lake.


About six centuries before the foundation of Luari Sharif, a famous saint of Suharwardi order of Islamic Sufiism Khwaja Bahauddin Zakaria Multani (RA) passed through this land barefooted. He gave the reason of his unusual care for the land to his companions: "I see the shower of Noor (divine light) upon this area, and I was bound to pay my respect to that divinity."


According to the research scholars the word Luari has three meanings:


1) Full of salt as the land around the town is mainly saline;


2) Full of love; and


3) Luari was the name of the lady to whom the land belonged