Biography

This biography has taken from the article written by Dr. Sultan Shah and personally confirmend and amend by A. R. Luthers Wife, Son and daughters.

Biography

Shaykh Abdur Rauf  Luther  was born in 1916 in Sialkot District. He was born to a Sikh/Hindu family and his Hindu name was Munshi Ram.

He embraced Islam at the age of 16. There was a invisible power which pulled him to the boundaries of Islam. The person who blessed him with the initial head start of his Islamic journey was a garner who happens to be a saint. He gave him some words to recite while keeping his feet in the Canal water so he did it for 40 days. After it, the gardener said “now you have been declared successful” (2)
He passed his matriculation in 1913. At the declaration of his successful result he took sweet to that very same saint gardener who ate it merely n said “the real result will appear  after 2 years. I am happy that you have passed that examination as well, May Allah bless you” (3)

Shaykh Abdur Rauf Luther  studies at various institutions. He got his early education at Jallundur in the East Punjab (India). Then he studied at government College Hoshiarpur and later on he got admission at Sadiq Egerton College Bahawalpur and passed his F.Sc. Examination. According to Dr Sahibzada Anwar Ahmad Bugwi, Munshi Ram was a student at S.E. College Bahawalpur during 1933-1934.
Sahibzada Abdul Ghafoor Bugwi was his class fellow. Both started attending the Dars-e-Quran by Prof. Muhammad Afzal of the College. He “A.R. Luther” once visited Bhera with hi friend Abdul Ghafoor Bugwi and met his father Muhammad Yahya Bugwi before his conversion to islam(4) .

School  to school, College to college,
As my future could acknowledge,
From place to place I knowledge traced,
Then, all alone, islam embraced (5)

He personally didn’t mention when and where he accepted Islam, but Dr anwar Ahmad Bugwi mentioned it was in the hand of Maulana Muhammad Yahya Bugwi and his name was given after Maulanas dead son Abdur Rauf.(6)

After F.Sc he went to Taunsa Shafif. There in his dreams a saint guide him to go to Sial Sharif to meet Hazrat Khawaja Qamar ud Din Sialwi. So he went to there Khwaja sahib was much pleased to see him as he were aware of his coming. After 2 months khwaja sahib instructed him to move to bhera (District Sargodha) to start his religious journey after a month there his father, brother, uncle and some religious leaders of Hindu, Sikh, and Christian communities approached the Maulana and asked him to hand him over to them to take him Lahore. (7)

According to Dr Bugwi, His father was a Lawyer and president of Indian National Congress of his area and his brother was a doctor at Civil Hospital Daska (Sialkot) who after partition served as a Civil Surgeon in Delhi.(8) They reached Bhera and come to the mosque. He met Maulana Zahoor Ahmad Bugwi (1900-1945) who was brother of Maulana Yahya Bugwi and requested to meet his son. Maulana Zahoor Bugwi talked to his brother and permission was granted for meeting only in the presence of a guard to ensure his security. His father tried his best but he refused to go back to non muslim family. Finally it was decided that a open discussion will be held and both parties have to prove their point if Abdur Rauf loses he will go back and if he wins his family should accept Islam. Maulana was feared because he was new to Islam. But his conviction was strong and his faith in Allah. Very next day dialogue was held and he explained them the religion of Islam with the reference to the personality of Holy Prophet PBUH. He replied every question with the strong religious points and counter question them which they unable to answer. On seventh day he gave a resume of six days discussion and they were convinced that Islam is the true religion and their religions were not the standard of Islam.(10).

He then asked them to embraced Islam but they start making lame excuses. One thing that his father told him was the Islam is really true religion but the people some mullah’s miss using it and that’s the biggest reason of people to not coming to this religion. Now they did not dare to ask Maulana about his return. So they returned in failure.(11)

The father of Abdur Rauf tried his best to incite trouble. The hindu newspaper like “Milap” and “Partab” published statements by him that his son was forcibly converted to Islam. Sahibzada Abdul Ghafoor Bugwi published reply of his baseless charges in daily  “Zamindar” and “Siyasat” Lahore. Abdul Rauf on the other hand didn’t care about anything.(12) He totlay devoted his life to Islam and it his only blood relation.

Abandoned every thing for God,
I was on voyage to my lord.

After some time he returned to Sial Sharif. He served khwaja Qamar-ul-Dinfor nine months (1906-1981). In his time with khwaja sahib he asked many time to teach him to recite Holy quran. But he remain quiet. Once during Ramadan, Maulana asked him to open holy Quran and listen to Maulana as he recite from his memory cause he was Hafiz e Quran. The only time was enough for him.the only lesson that the Maulana gave him has been described by him as.
“Love of the Holy prophet is most essential and I should care to rear it in my heart.”

Khawaja Muhammad Qamar-ul-Din Sialwi was sa religious scholar and a famous mystic of Chishtia silsilah (order). He once made Abdur Rauf to sit in front of him and asked him to look into his eyes. He did not know what happened but certainly felt something pouring in his heart. Thereafter, he repeated the same lesson from eyes to eyes and eyes to heart.that was the end of his lesson. Then kawaka Sahib asked him to returned to Lahore and continue his studies. (13)

Abdur Rauf was a poet of English language. It seems that he had studied the poetry of great English poets Like Shelley Keats, Wordsworth, Byron, Shakespeare, Milton and Chaucer that helped him to become a good poet of this language. As he said

To me is Shelly dear fiend,
And think of nature, heaven blend,
Keats and Byron, Wordsworth, Shakespear,
Helping me and Milton, Chaucer.
About his poetry, he has composed the fllowing couplet;
Rhyme and rhyme which I have cover’d,
Composed I poems when over-powered (14)

He served in army for sometime and fought in the World War, he passed the Pakistan civil sevices examination and serves in the information department, Government of Pakistan and retired as assistant Director. He also worked as secretary censor board of Pakistan.

In servitude my life was hired,
Until with honour I retired;
Serving Army and the Civil,
Now I keep my dainty vigil. (15)

September 2, 1988 was the tragic day when he was assassinated by unidentified young man. It was so happened that 2 young persons came to his house situated inside Bhati Gate a day before. Both asked him why he had blasphemed the Holy Prophet(PBUH) in his book. Shaykh Sahib responded in negative and clarified, “ that is another Luther who has done this thing” later on they expressed their desire to buy his book entitled “Muhammad; Wisdom of Life” but they could no do so due to shortage of money. They promised to come on next day. One of them cam on 2nd September , 1988 and attacked him with dagger and wounded seven times on his heart the boy was sighted by her daughter. But wasn’t aware what had he done. He taken to the hospital and died in the Hospital. (16)

He composed many versus especially on sufism. “Epic of Faith” is actually first versified biography in English. Other versified biographies includes “Cradle to Cross, Jesus Christ”, “Lotus of Love, Lord Buddha” and “Ali the Divine Inspired Soul”



1. Luther A. Rauf, epic of Faith, Muhammad, Love of Gracious God (Lahore:Dilshad Sons Publishers, 1981) p.4

2  Luther A. Rauf, Mohammad, The Effulgent-self of the Self-Effulgent Allah (Lahore:Nur-I-riasat Publication, 1984) p.5

3. Ibid

4. Bugwi, Anwar Ahmad, Sahibzada Dr, Tadhkar-e-Bugwiyyah (Bhera: Markazi majlis hizab. Al-Ansar, 2004) vol11; p.330-31

5. Luther, A. Rauf, Epic of Faith, p.4

6. Bugwi, Anwar Ahmad, Sahibzada Dr, Tadhkar-e-Bugwiyyah (Bhera: Markazi majlis hizab. Al-Ansar, 2004) vol11; p.330-31

7. Luther A. Rauf, Mohammad, The Effulgent-self of the Self-Effulgent Allah (Lahore:Nur-I-riasat Publication, 1984) p.6

8. Bugwi, Anwar Ahmad, Sahibzada Dr, Tadhkar-e-Bugwiyyah (Bhera: Markazi majlis hizab. Al-Ansar, 2004) vol11; p.330-31

9. Dr sultan Shah met A. Rauf’s son Javaid in the same house where he was assassinated along with his friends Raja Rasheed mahmood, editor monthly “Nat” Lahore

10. Luther A. Rauf, Mohammad, The Effulgent-self of the Self-Effulgent Allah (Lahore:Nur-I-riasat Publication, 1984) p.6

11. Ibid, p.14

12. Bugwi, Anwar Ahmad, Sahibzada Dr, Tadhkar-e-Bugwiyyah (Bhera: Markazi majlis hizab. Al-Ansar, 2004) vol11; p.330-31

13. Luther A. Rauf, Mohammad, The Effulgent-self of the Self-Effulgent Allah (Lahore:Nur-I-riasat Publication, 1984) p.14

14. Luther A. Rauf, epic of Faith, Muhammad, Love of Gracious God (Lahore:Dilshad Sons Publishers, 1981) p.4

15. Ibid.