From Baghdad to Hyderabad: The Overlooked Legacy of Hazrat Shah Shibli

By Rehan Ahmed Khan, New Age Islam 2 September 2025 Hazrat Shah Shibli’s legacy spans Baghdad and Hyderabad, with two distinct saints often confused. While the Baghdadi mystic influenced Sufism, Hyderabad’s shrine now suffers neglect and misuse. Once a revered spiritual centre, it urgently requires preservation and respectful remembrance. Main Points: 1. Hazrat Shah Shibli is the name of two different saints Abu Bakr ash-Shibli of Baghdad and Shah Shibli of Hyderabad. 2. The Baghdadi Shibli was the disciple of Junayd, renowned for asceticism. 3. Shibli settled in Hyderabad during Qutb Shahi times. 4. His maqbara is located in Kumharwadi. 5. He was once famous, now forgotten and the Heritage preservation at urgent need. ---- Introduction Hyderabad, a city famous for its syncretic culture and tradition runs deep, has hundreds of Sufi shrines reflecting centuries of religious devotion. One such shrine is the shrine of Hazrat Shah Shibli, sitting on a hillock at Kumharwadi. But within its weathered walls is a complicated story of two saints—Abu Bakr ash-Shibli of Baghdad, the renowned 10th-century mystic, and the Hazrat Shah Shibli of Hyderabad, a 17th-century Deccan Sufi. Although frequently mistaken for each other, their biographies represent different spiritual paths that created communities across boundaries. Today, however, the Hyderabad shrine teeters on the brink of collapse, provoking dire questions about the preservation of heritage, memory, and the respect for sacred sites. Abu Bakr ash-Shibli: The Baghdadi Mystic The name Hazrat Shah Shibli is most famously associated with Abu Bakr ash-Shibli, a 10th-century Sufi saint of Baghdad and disciple of the revered Junayd al-Baghdadi. Known for his extreme self-discipline and spiritual asceticism, Shibli’s journey from a high-ranking officer under the Caliph to a humble seeker of divine truth is etched into Sufi lore. Junayd, seeing the promise of his disciple, put him through years of humbling disciplines selling salt in the marketplace, begging bread, entreating forgiveness from those he had offended. Upon the completion of almost a decade of such spiritual testing, Junayd gave khilafat to Shibli, proclaiming him a genuine heir in the Sufi tradition. Shibli’s teachings stressed the pursuit of the Named (God) rather than merely the Name (invocations). His love for God was so intense that contemporaries sometimes considered him mad; he endured chains, whippings, and imprisonment, yet emerged unshaken in devotion. He passed away in Baghdad, where his tomb remains a site of pilgrimage. The Deccani Hazrat Shah Shibli: A Distinct Legacy Centuries after, there was another saint with the same name who appeared in the Deccan. This Hazrat Shah Shibli of Hyderabad was supposedly Persian by origin hailing from Khurasan region of Iran, who migrated during the time of Sultan Mohammed Quli Qutb Shah (988–1020 Hijri). He was allegedly the son of Hazrat Tajuddin Abdul Razzaq Qaderi and a spiritual heir of Hazrat Shaikh Abdul Qadir Jilani, as per local tradition. Located on the hill that is now known as Shah Shibli Hills, he spent his life in solitude and spiritual disciplines, such as the severe Chilla-Nashini forty days of contemplation with no food, meant to purify the mind of the worldly distractions. His presence attracted both the masses and nobility, and tales of his miraculous intercessions continue to do the rounds among the believers. Hazrat Shah Shibli died on 3rd Safar, 1050 Hijri (1639 AD), and was interred at the exact location where he had lived. His tomb, in its original form made of black marble though presently whitewashed by years of lime washing, rests in the shadow of a tamarind tree. Architecture, Surroundings, and Decline The shrine complex formerly demanded respect and worship. The mountain encompasses: -The Main Tomb: The place where Hazrat Shah Shibli and his wife were buried. -Chilla Room: Small cave on the north-eastern side where the saint spent his forty-day meditations. -A Small Mosque: Closed and deserted now. -Cemetery: Surrounds 16 graves, including his descendants'. Most of the surrounding wall is today damaged, and the approaches to the tomb are neglected. The once-sanctified soil is now, in recent years, used by anti-social elements as a rendezvous. Travellers, even in the daytime, have reported theft and intimidation. From Urs to Abandonment In the earlier decades, Hazrat's Urs (death anniversary) were held with pomp and people flocked to Hyderabad from everywhere. The local potters (Kumhars), whose settlements cover the hillside, used to reside on land which was traditionally owned by the shrine. Custodians would receive Nazrana (offerings) from inhabitants in lieu of land use. Nowadays, such celebrations no longer exist. The shrine, bereft of routine maintenance, is now a symbol of city neglect, its religious significance overpowered by crime and decay. Heritage and the Call for Preservation The instance of the two Hazrat Shah Shiblis, one a light of traditional Baghdad and the other a saint of the Golconda Sultanate, points to the repeated difficulty in South Asian history: the fusion of separate individuals beneath a common name, resulting in fuzzy identities in popular memory. The Hyderabad shrine is more than a remnant of a saint's existence; it is a tribute to the Deccan's age-old tradition of religious hospitality, where saints from foreign lands found refuge and left behind lasting legacies. Left unchecked structural revamp, protection from encroachment, and citizen-led conservation the shrine threatens to be lost, remembered only in broken oral traditions. As Abu Bakr ash-Shibli of Baghdad once said: "Go for the Named, not the Name." Maybe the same holds true for Hyderabad's civic officials and heritage lovers: to see beyond the crumbling stones and behold the sacred heritage they signify. Conclusion The tale of Hazrat Shah Shibli be it in Baghdad or Hyderabad is one of devotion, sacrifice, and pursuit of divine reality. Although the Baghdadi saint is forever immortalized in Sufi literature, the Hyderabad shrine remains a forgotten symbol of a once-vibrant religious heritage. The decaying celebrations of his Urs, the ruined mosque, and the criminal exploitation of the shrine grounds testify to how quickly history can be lost if not safeguarded. To remember Hazrat Shah Shibli is to uphold not only a saint's shrine but also Hyderabad's legacy of tolerance, mysticism, and spiritual determination. Left unacted upon, this shrine stands to be lost to neglect and deterioration a priceless chapter of the city's cultural history erased.. ---- Rehan Ahmed Khan is an Independent Research scholar specialising Muslim Personalities and Communal Harmony. URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islamic-personalities/baghdad-hyderabad-legacy-hazrat-shah-shibli/d/136686 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism