BAHAWALNAGAR - Khawaja Noor Muhammad Maharvi (RA) is one of those saints who made strenuous efforts to spread Islam in the Subcontinent and did not give in to numerous hardships they faced in this way.
He was born on Ramazan 14 in 1730AC in Chotala near Mahar Sharif, Chishtian district of Bahawalnagar. On his birth, he was named ‘Bahbal’ but later renamed as Noor Muhammad by his Murshid or religious teacher Hazrat Muhibun Nabi. He became Hafiz - a person who learns the whole Quran by heart - from a seminary of Dera Ghazi Khan. He then moved to Lahore to quench his thirst for knowledge. Later, he became a Mureed or mystic disciple of Maulana Fakhruddin Muhibbun Nabi (RA).
Initially, his teacher assigned him a Wazifa to read and he acted upon the advice for years. Finally, he began to notice positive changes in him. Khawaja Imam Baksh Maharvi in ‘Qibla-e-Alam Gulshan! -e- Abrar’ writes that his teacher’s special attention towards him irritated the other disciples. They one day said to the teacher, “O Hazrat! Do you know that this Punjabi belongs to the tribe of famous lover Mirza Kharal whom Sahiban (a beautiful girl) eloped with?” He replied, “That Punjabi took away the heart of only one girl, My Punjabi will take away the hearts of millions of people.” The author further narrates that after the departure of Qibla-e-Alam to Mahar Sharif from Delhi, Maulana Fakharuddin was used to remembering him.
In the company of his Murshid, Qibla-e-Alam once visited the shrine of Hazrat Baba Farid Ganj-e-Shakar (RA). He had been offering every Friday prayers in Pakpattan for 17 years.
But at his old age, he started offering Friday prayers at the mosque of Hazrat Baba Taj Sarwar, the grandson of Baba Sahib.
He was buried in Basti Taj Sarwar which is now known as Chishtian Sharif. His Urs is held from Zilhaj 1 to Zilhaj 3 every year at Mahar Sharif Chishtian. A large number of devotees across the country swarm his shrine to observe his anniversary.