“Abdul Gaffar Ganie (RA) continues to be remembered not for worldly possessions but for the richness of his piety and humanity”.
When we deliberate on the strong moral basis of our Kashmiri society, it is an admitted fact that our local Sufi Saint, God fearing people played a pivotal role in shaping the strong moral base of our society. Let me give a brief introduction of one such God fearing personality of our locality who was very famous among locals for his simple living and kindness. His name was Abdul. Gaffar Ganie-RA. He was a very generous and God-fearing person. Since my childhood, I have been listening to the stories of his fame. To date, while discussing his life, not a single person from the locality attributes any negatives to his life. He was endowed with spiritual understanding from an early age. He attained spiritual highness through supererogatory prayer, spending hours in meditation, in the state of invocation --dhikr under the guidance of his spiritual Master/ Murshid, namely Ghulam Nabi Bhat-RA from Shalimar. People of New Theed fondly remember him as a true faith healer. As this entire area is surrounded by the dense forests of Dachigam, the locality often faced incidents attributed to supernatural influences, particularly affecting infants and young children. In such moments, families turned to Abdul Gaffar Ganie (RA) for comfort and healing. Through simple remedies — blessed clay grits, drops of water recited upon with Quranic verses, or at times even his cane made of wood and rubber — he brought solace and hope to many distressed households. He had a straightforward life. He was earning his livelihood by providing human resources/labor to the contractors. He undertook a few construction works. As the contractor, his works included the construction work- building the boundary walls of the Shrine of Sheik Youqb RA at Sonwar, Srinagar was one of the grand works he had done during his professional career. Later he left that profession for good. He insisted that people follow the path of peace and harmony, and pleaded for tolerance fellow feeling, love, and affection among all sections of society. Although his date of birth and date of death were not formally recorded — as such traditions were uncommon in those times — his memory continues to live in the hearts of his people. His blessed grave lies in his ancestral graveyard at New Theed, Srinagar, where locals still visit to pay their respects. He left no written legacy, yet his life itself became a book of faith, simplicity, and compassion. His silent teachings — of humility, love, and service — became lessons stronger than words. To the people of his locality, he was more than a faith-healer; he was a symbol of reassurance, reminding them that the strength of faith is greater than the weight of fear. Such personalities remain timeless because their impact is not measured by dates or monuments, but by the way they touch lives and inspire hearts. Abdul Gaffar Ganie (RA) continues to be remembered not for worldly possessions but for the richness of his piety and humanity. As the saying goes. The true saints are those whose remembrance turns hearts towards God.
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