KARACHI: The city of Karachi is not known as a hub of spirituality. Though the metropolis has its fair share of houses of worship belonging to different creeds spread out across its urban sprawl, the breakneck speed at which the city moves — along with its ever-precarious law and order situation — hardly makes it congenial for spiritual pursuits.

However, while there are a number of Sufi shrines dotted across the city, there is one dargah on a hillock in Clifton that qualifies as the spiritual centre, the axis mundi of Karachi: that of Hazrat Abdullah Shah Ghazi.

And though the majesty of this spiritual place has been eclipsed slightly by the garish ‘modernisation’ sprouting up all around it, it maintains its pull over devotees, especially during the holy man’s annual urs (death anniversary), which falls between the 20th to the 22nd of Zilhaj.

On Monday, the first day of the Ghazi’s 1,285th urs, a steady stream of devotees was seen making a beeline for the dargah. Of course, the atmosphere of the mazaar has changed: the spiritual place has been dwarfed by the multistorey temples of mammon — some already built, others still in the construction phase — that now surround it.

In fact the whole dargah complex resembles a construction site. Where there was once a steep climb to the top of the hillock where the saint’s grave is located, now there is a winding path surrounded by scaffolding, tin and construction material.

As one entered the dargah complex, one encountered multiple layers of security and physical frisking. In fact, policemen and private security men outnumbered the malangs — another sad sign of the times.

Of course, such security protocols are very much required, as the Ghazi’s shrine was bombed by terrorists in 2010. While in previous years colourful banners, flags and fairy lights were the only things that stood out, now there were signs everywhere sending out an ominous but necessary message: people were being warned to keep an eye on suspicious persons and suspicious things.

Yet getting past the security checks, as one reached the top of the hillock there was the familiar and reassuring scent of burning incense sticks — overpowering almost — and rose petals mixed with the warm, humid seaside air.

Right outside the tomb, someone had put up the lineage of the Ghazi: according to the account in a work called Hayat-ut-Darain written by a certain Maulana Sibte Shabbar Zaidi, Abdullah Shah Ghazi was a fourth-generation descendent of Imam Hasan through his son Hasan Muthanna.

Within the tomb the auqaf employees politely urged devotees to keep moving, as people silently offered Fateha and paid their respects to this Sayed and Ghazi.

The face of the shrine is changing, with the ‘restoration’ being spearheaded by the standard-bearers of ‘development’. However, it is hoped that the powers that be prevent any further encroachment and changes to the character of the shrine.

In a city that has become notoriously known for lacking soul, the shrine of the Ghazi forms part of its living cultural and spiritual heritage, beloved by the dispossessed multitudes who flock to it.

Published in Dawn, October 6th , 2015

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