BUREWALA: Three-day Urs of Baba Haji Sher Muhammad Dewan Chawali, which started here on Sunday, is continued and the devotees from all over the country are attending the celebrations.
The holy shrine of Baba Haji Sher Dewan is located at Chak 317-EB on the Burewala-Sahuka Road and it is also known as Dewan Sahib but in the early days its name was Khatowal and it was very famous in the sub-continent and it is called first Dargah in the sub-continent. The great sufi preacher of Islam including Hazrat Baba Farid-ud-Din Masud Ganj Shakar and Makhdoom Allauddin Ahmad Sabir Kalyari were born here and Hazrat Bahuddin Zakariya Multani, Hazrat Syed Jalaluddin Shah Bukhari, Hazrat Usman Marvandi alias Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, Makhdoom Allauddin Ahmad Sabir Kalyari and Sikhism founder Baba Guru Nanak stayed at this shrine.
There is a well about half a kilometer away from the shrine of Haji Sher Dewan which is called "Khoi Baba Farid". It is said that Baba Farid meditated for twelve years hanging by a kachi tand (raw-yarn) in this well and achieved 'bhagti'. The well is still in use and water is cool and tasty. There is a high boundary around the well and there is a beautiful darbar of Guru Nanak.
Shrine of Hazrat Baba Haji Sher Dewan is famous for the patients of mental diseases and they are being chained here at the shrine for three consecutive days and nights and it is said that they got well in the end with the spiritual power. This act also received a lot of criticism from the health professionals but people's belief is still there. Kheer a sweet dish made with rice and milk is famous which is served among the people. Sultan Mahmood Ghaznavi first completed the shrine with the cost of Rs 50,000 rupees and Mughal emperor Jahnagir also renovated it during his tenure and later Dewan Mool Raj reconstructed the shrine with the touch of 17th and 19th century architecture. The three-day Urs of Hazrat Baba Haji Sher Muhammad Dewan is held every year on July 9.
Hazrat Baba Haji Sher Muhammad Dewan's name before embracing Islam was Rai Chawala and after embracing Islam he was named Sher Muhammad. According to the references available, Hazrat Baba Haji Sher Muhammad Dewan's father Raja Mahinpal was a follower of Buddhism and was chief of Rajpoot Lakkan tribe of Sindh and his one queen was from Chunian and Baba Haji Sher Muhammad was her son. Baba Haji Sher and his sister Kanganbars embraced Islam and their whole family became their enemy and they martyred Hazrat Baba Haji Sher on Ramadan-ul-Mubarak 27, 131 Hijri, when he was offering his prayers.
Baba Haji Sher Dewan embraced Islam when he was arrested in war between Waliey Sindh and Islamic forces. Hazrat Baba Haji Sher Muhammad Dewan also participated in the war and was detained and brought to Madina as a prisoner where he was very much touched by the preaching of the religion and embraced Islam at the hands of Hazrat Imam Hussain (RA) and got education from the different Sahaba-e-Ikram. Hazrat Baba Haji Sher spent some days at the shrine of Hazrat Awais Qarni (RA).
