Introduction

The founder of Al Qamar Publications was Ḥājī Shabbir Ahmad Ismail Lulat Raḥimahullāh who was born on 18 Jumādā al-Ūlā 1354, corresponding to 18 August 1935, in the village of Kapodra, Gujarat, India. He was the only child and was born into a righteous family. His parents had taken bayʿah at the hands of Ḥakīm al-Ummah Mawlānā Ashraf ʿAlī Thānwī Raḥimahullāh. His father was a learned and pious man who was greatly respected in the village. In Kapodra, Marḥūm Shabbīr Aḥmad Lulat was especially close to Ḥaḍrat Mawlānā ʿAbdullāh Kapodrawī Ṣāḥib Raḥimahullāh, who was his childhood friend and close associate until the latter’s demise.

After completing his secondary education in Gujarat, he travelled to Zambia (then Northern Rhodesia) in 1953 at the age of 18, together with Marḥūm Amīr Ṣāḥib Raḥimahullāh and a number of close friends. Following his marriage, he established a business in Lusaka and remained actively engaged in business until his retirement in 1999. During this period, he took bayʿah at the hands of Shaykh al-Ḥadīth Ḥaḍrat Mawlānā Muḥammad Zakariyyā Kandhlawī Ṣāḥib Raḥimahullāh (who passed away in 1982). He was also involved in numerous community initiatives, particularly within LMS and the LICEF School. In addition, he played an active role in inviting ʿUlamāʾ from various parts of the world for the benefit of the Zambian Muslim community.

After retirement, he devoted himself even more to dīnī efforts. Since his first Shaykh had passed away, he took bayʿah at the hands of Ḥaḍrat Mawlānā Muḥammad Qamaruz-Zamān Ṣāḥib Ḥafidhahullāh in 2000 and was subsequently blessed with the mantle of khilāfah by him in September 2004. Upon consultation with various ʿUlamāʾ, who highlighted the need to make Urdu literature accessible in English for the new generation, as well as the continuous reward (ṣadaqah jāriyah) attained through the dissemination of ʿilm by publishing dīnī books, he embarked upon the task of having the Urdu works of our Akābir translated into English by reliable Ulamā, and thereafter published for free distribution under Al Qamar Publications. Numerous books authored by Ḥaḍrat Mawlānā Qamar al-Zamān Ṣāḥib Dāmat Barakātuhum, Ḥaḍrat Mawlānā ʿAbdullāh Kapodrawī Ṣāḥib Raḥimahullāh, Ḥaḍrat Mawlānā Muḥammad Salīm Dhorat Ṣāḥib Dāmat Barakātuhum and other Ulamā are being translated and published for free distribution.

In later years, the need was recognised for an online platform through which these publications could be accessed easily. With the assistance of his close associate, brother Salim Mayet of Durban, South Africa, this website was established in 2015, from which thousands of readers across the globe continue to benefit from these valuable works.

Ḥājī Shabbir Ahmad Lulat breathed his last and departed for the eternal abode between Aṣr and Maghrib on 21 Ramaḍān 1447 / 11 March 2026 in Lusaka at the age of 90. May Allāh Taʿālā forgive any shortcomings on his part, accept all of his services and grant him the loftiest ranks in Jannah al-Firdaws. Āmīn.