Cyclone hits Karachi, India – War with Ghazi deepens!

 This article is a sequel of “Cyclone vs Karachi saint”

According to the Indian meteorological Department (IMD), the cyclone made landfall in the vicinity of Karachi but according to the New York Times “cyclone swept over Karachi”. If this is true then Abdullah Shah Ghazi lost the war with cyclones many many years ago.

Who was Abdullah Shah Ghazi?

In reality no one knows the truth about this saint but there are two  famous version of his history;

Great-grandson of the Prophet

According to the first version, Abdullah Shah Ghazi was born in Medina, Saudi Arabia in 720 AD. He was the great-grandson of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) from the lineage of Hasan Ibne Ali Ibne Abu Talib. He was the son of Muhammad al-Nafs al-Zakiyya. The growing popularity of Ghazi caused a great threat to the Ummayyad dynasty, who were known for their hatred of Banu Hashim (tribe of Holy Prophet PBUH). Ghazi settled near the coast of Sindh (present-day Karachi) in 760 to save his life from the Ummayyad. He brought with him a large number of horses from Khvarvaran (modern-day Iraq). The Ummayyad dynasty send a large army to hunt for Ghazi in Sindh. One day when the dynasty found him they killed him but Ghazi fought with them till his last breath and was given the title of Ghazi (Victorious).

This version is not popular among the other Muslim nations. In fact they do not even know about Ghazi, he is only popular in Pakistan, not even in India. So I doubt if this is true or not?

Spiritual man near the sea

According to the second version, Abdullah Shah Ghazi was a religious man who used to live over the hill in the sea. Ghazi was always busy in his prayers, a small fishing community also used to live near that hill. One day, fishermen sensed a storm coming their way thus they decided to ask Ghazi to pray to God for their safety. Abdullah Shah Ghazi spend the entire night praying to God and the next morning the storm was nowhere to be seen.

This version used to be popular among the fishing community of Pakistan. But according to the history of Karachi, fishing activity started around 1400 AD. So who were those fishermen in 700 AD as in that time Karachi was a deserted area?

Hindu-Muslim wars in the Sub continent

According to third version the real name of Abdullah Shah was General Abdullah bin Nabhan. Who along with another senior commander, Badil bin Tuhafa, had launched a military expedition against the local ruler, Raja Dahir, who was seen as encouraging pirates to raid Arab shipping. The war is generally attributed to being triggered by a noble woman who wrote to the then Governor of Basra, Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, that she had been kidnapped by the men of Raja Dahir. Therefore a young commander, Muhammad Bin Qasim was sent to rescue the woman. He successfully defeated the Raja and recused the woman but the remaining of Raja intercepted Ghazi and his small army over a sea hill. Ghazi was not afraid to fight thus he fought till his last breath and was buried over the hill was his war attire in 773 AD.

Muhammad bin Qasim was a part of Ummayyad dynasty, which according to the first version were enemy of Ghazi and according to the third version Muhammad bin Qasim and Ghazi were part of the Ummayyad dynasty. So this version could not be true.

In the end

We might never ever find the true origins of Abdullah Shah Ghazi so its best to just agree with the present-history of this saint because as time passes and we human beings enter a new era, the past histories will be changed and keep on altering just like we ourselves are changing. Here are some of the magics of Ghazi related to cyclones;

A category-3 major hurricane was 100 km away from Karachi in 1999 but it moved to Thatta (Coastal town in Sindh). Cyclone Yemyin was 50 km away from Karachi in June 2007 but it just like thousand other storms in the history of Karachi moved towards Balochistan. From 1902 to 2010, no cyclone has ever hit Karachi. Who ever Ghazi was, he really did some magic to this crisis hit mega metropolis.