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The two brothers and the city's most-loved dargah
Two Qadiri Sayyids descended from Shah Raju Qattal of Baghdad's chain
The shrine known as Yousufain Sharif — "the two Yusufs" — at Nampally in central Hyderabad commemorates two brothers of Qadiri descent: Sayyid Shah Yousuf-uddin Husayni and Sayyid Shah Sharif-uddin Husayni, both of whom flourished in the eighteenth century during the early Asaf Jahi period. They descended through documented chain from Shah Raju Qattal of the previous century and through him to the Qadiri masters of Baghdad. Their scholarly training was conventional: hadith, tafsir, the Hanafi books, the Qadiri litanies.
A scholar and a khalifa
The elder precise in hadith, the younger the family's principal Sufi successor
Sayyid Shah Yousuf-uddin (whose dates are usually given as approximately 1668–1741) was the elder of the two. He served for some years as a teacher of religious sciences at Hyderabad and was reputed for the precision of his hadith narration. His brother Sayyid Shah Sharif-uddin, somewhat younger, was the principal khalifa of the family in Sufi matters. Both maintained an open hospice in Nampally and were honoured during their lives as among the leading scholars and saintly figures of the city.
The heart of Hyderabad's qawwali
A joint tomb that became the principal Sufi shrine of the city
The brothers were buried, by their own request, in the same enclosure. Their joint tomb became, over the next two centuries, the most-visited Sufi shrine of Hyderabad — surpassing even the older Qadiri tombs at Misri Gunj. The dargah of Yousufain Sharif at Nampally was developed in the nineteenth century and substantially rebuilt during the reign of the sixth Nizam Mahbub Ali Khan. It remains today the principal site of the city's qawwali tradition, of its 'urs gatherings on the brothers' joint death-anniversary, and of the daily congregations of pilgrims, scholars and householders.
Yousufain Sharif in dates
- c. 1668Sayyid Shah Yousuf-uddin Husayni born (dates approximately 1668–1741); his younger brother Sayyid Shah Sharif-uddin Husayni follows; both descend from Shah Raju Qattal (d. c. 1632) and through him to the Qadiri masters of Baghdad.
- c. late 17th c.Both brothers trained in the Qadiri-Sunni sciences: hadith, tafsir, Hanafi fiqh, and the Qadiri litanies characteristic of the Hyderabad branch of the order.
- c. early 18th c.Both brothers settle at Nampally in central Hyderabad and establish an open hospice; Yousuf-uddin teaches religious sciences and is reputed for the precision of his hadith narration.
- c. early 18th c.Sharif-uddin serves as the family's principal khalifa in Sufi matters; both are honoured during their lives as among the leading scholars and saintly figures of Hyderabad.
- c. 1724Asaf Jah I founds the Asaf Jahi state at Hyderabad; the brothers' hospice at Nampally becomes a spiritual anchor of the new capital.
- c. 1741Yousuf-uddin dies (approximately 1741); Sharif-uddin follows; both are buried in the same enclosure at Nampally at their own request.
- Post-1741The joint tomb grows over the next two centuries into the most-visited Sufi shrine of Hyderabad, surpassing even the older Qadiri tombs of Shah Raju at Misri Gunj.
- 19th c.The dargah of Yousufain Sharif at Nampally is substantially rebuilt and developed during the reign of the sixth Nizam Mahbub Ali Khan.
- OngoingThe dargah remains the principal site of Hyderabad's qawwali tradition; the annual 'urs on the brothers' joint death-anniversary draws pilgrims and scholars from across the region.