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Born Khwaja Shamsuddin Ansari
on October 17, 1927 in Siharanpur, U.P., India into a radical Sunni cleric
household; young Shamsuddin saw firsthand the superficiality of the legalistic
outward religion. Growing up he had several encounters that provoked his interests
in the esoteric religion. At the young age of twenty, he set out on the quest
of finding a true murshid (Sufi Master). That nine-year journey took him from
his native city to places like the Patiala State, India and then to Lahore and
then to Sadiqabad, Pakistan. Finally in Karachi, he arrived at the doorsteps of
the Syed Muhammad Azeem a.k.a. Qalandar Baba Awliya (1896-1979), founder of the
Sufi Order of Azeemia and grandson of the famous Indian Sufi, Baba Tajuddin of
Nagpur (1852?-1929).
The next fourteen years under
his tutelage saw the transformation of this undereducated and functionally
illiterate person into the author of around a dozen books and several articles
on parapsychology, telepathy, and spirituality. In 1962, Shaykh Azeemi started
writing articles on spirituality in various Pakistani newspapers and
magazines. The most famous of them was his advice column Roohani Daak, in Urdu
Daily Jung. People from all walks of life and faith would write to him for his
advice on their problems. On average, Shaykh Azeemi received 3,000 nails it
day. Because of its huge success, a monthly magazine Roohani Digest was
launched in 1978. Shaykh Azeemi is the Editor in Chief of the magazine, which
now has its own website www.roohanidigest.com.
In 1979 before his physical death, Qalandar Baba Awliya designated Shavkh
Azeemi as the Patriarch of the Sufi Order of Azeemia.
What sets this Sufi Order apart
from most of the other Orders is that it is available to people from all the
faiths. Hence, it number of Shaykh Azeemi's students are Hindus, Christians and
Zoroastrian as well as members of other faiths. The main headquarters of the
Sufi Order of Azeemia is its convent (khanqah) at Surjani Town, subdivision of
Karachi, where Shaykh Azeemi still receives and gives free advice to people
daily. The convent holds weekly Muraqaba
sessions as well as training classes and hangar.
Since 2001, Shaykh Azeemi has
delegated most of his editorial responsibilities to his eldest son and
shaykh-designate Mr. Waqar Yousuf Azeemi. Mr. Waqar Yousuf Azeemi, himself an
author, was recently elected the Finance-Secretary of the prestigious All-Pakistan
Newspaper Society (APNS), an organization credited with upholding and striving
for the freedom of the press in that country.
— Syed Shahzad Reaz
KHWAJA SHAMS-UD-DEEN AZEEMI
In the current information age, the very question of what Man
is, and to what extent his abilities
go, has gained prominence. Metaphysical knowledge tells us
that Man is not just a mass of muscles and bones but in fact is a living
universe or microcosm (a'lam asghar) itself. His life is primarily relying on
information. As a matter of fact his life is nothing but a collection of
thoughts and imagination. His every movement is influenced by information and
thoughts. Every human achievement is circled around the unseen world of
cognition, imagination and creative thoughts. By giving new meaning to this
idea, Man creates and invents new things out of nothing.
