Traditional Muslim wrestling in Pakistan is in danger of fading away forever. 

With your support, Pakistan’s Goga Pehlwan Wrestling Club can uphold the noble sunnah of wrestling, practiced by the Prophets. 

We will purchase land for our arena, build an indoor training facility, feed our current wrestler roster, and help take in vulnerable youth off the streets.

Your generous donation can help breathe new life into the dying art of pehlwani once again.

The Goga Pehlwan Wrestling Club (GPWC) was started more than 100 years ago. Located right across the street from the iconic Mughal-era Badshahi Masjid complex, we train individuals in South Asia’s traditional mud wrestling sport, known as pehlwani or kushti. Historically, GPWC has been home turf for numerous famous pehlwans, several of whom are buried on-site.

Pehlwani was once a hugely popular sport all over South Asia, especially prior to partition. Thousands of akharas (mud wrestling arenas) dotted the region, and pehlwani competitions were patronized by many supporters and huge cheering audiences.

Over time, however, the situation changed for the worse. According to a 2013 article in Dawn:

"From 1954 to 1970, Pakistan won 18 wrestling gold medals in the Commonwealth Games, five at the Asian Games and a Bronze in the 1960 Olympics. There was gold at the Asian Games in 1986 and two in the 2010 Commonwealth Games, but apart from that, international victories have all but dried up."

But with your help, we believe we can set the stage for a huge comeback.

Video Interview: Urdu Point interview with champion Pehlwan Rashid Gujjar

We currently oversee 20 wrestlers that train with us multiple times a week in Lahore. Many of these young men hail come from difficult backgrounds—poverty, a lack of education, even drugs. But pehlwani has given them a renewed sense of purpose and grounding. The discipline of the sport requires that the body and mind be kept in pristine condition. The values of the sport, too, have their roots in a sense of honor, chivalry, and generosity as taught to us by the Prophets (more on this below!).

At present, we host 4 annual tournaments at the national level every year and compete in several regional competitions as well. Our wrestlers are extremely dedicated, always sticking to their training regimen regardless of extreme summer heat or barsat downpours.

With your support, we can help accomplish three near-term goals that will set us on the path towards reviving this endangered traditional sport.

1. The purchasing of land and the construction of an indoor training facility

In order for us to better accommodate our wrestlers, we are in dire need to purchase and renovate our present outdoor training area, which rests on approximately 4000 - 5000 square feet of property.

The main cost involved is the building of an indoor training facility that would be furnished with mats and other weight training equipment. Based on our calculations, we estimate that this will cost at least 3,000,000 PKR, equivalent to $20,000 USD. This will allow training to continue safely even during extreme weather conditions.  

2. Nutrition needs for our entire roster of wrestlers

To maintain peak performance, wrestlers must keep a close watch on their diet. An elite wrestler who trains daily requires 5000 PKR a day to maintain a healthy diet. We plan to provide all of our wrestlers with nuts, almonds, and protein shakes. This costs around $5000 USD per month.

3. Helping vulnerable youth

In the vicinity of our training arena, there are several drug-addicted youths who have approached us saying that they wish they could get off the streets and train with our burgeoning pehlwani community. However, poverty and addiction hold them back. With your support, GPWC would be able to train these youth, feed them a healthy diet, wean them off drugs and other sorts of mischief, while providing them with purpose and a wholesome environment. We want to provide these youth with a clean, disciplined, and pious lifestyle so that they can grow and thrive beyond their present unfortunate circumstances.

At present, we host 4 annual tournaments at the national level every year and compete in several regional competitions as well. Our wrestlers are extremely dedicated, always sticking to their training regimen regardless of extreme summer heat or barsāt downpours. We even continue to train even in the mubarak month of Ramadan. These days, rather than train in the mornings as we usually do, our wrestlers meet at the arena late at night, about 2 or 3 hours after iftari.

Help us keep the fight alive. Your support and prayers are our lifeline to this precious tradition.

Though many may not realize it, pehlwani actually has ancient origins, with roots in the noble sunnah of Prophets past.

First and foremost, we draw inspiration from our beloved Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and his blessed companions, who loved and enjoyed wrestling. In a famous story narrated by Ibn Kathir, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ challenged Quraysh's top wrestler, Rukana bin 'Abd Yazid to a series of matches, defeating him every time. Rukana, though at first skeptical of Islam, was so shocked and moved by the Prophet's ﷺ strength and generosity that he accepted his invitation to Islam. In another example, we have the famous example of Dawud (David) 'alayhi as-salam defeating Jalut (Goliath) in battle. And in another famous story that many of us know, Hazrat 'Ali, the Lion of God, once bested a mushrik in battle. In a fit of rage, his opponent spit on his face. 'Ali decided to walk away, for if he were to kill him in that moment, it would have been out of retribution, rather than for Allah's sake alone. It is not a stretch to say that wrestling is a sport loved by numerous prophets, as well as the awliyā’ and the righteous throughout Muslim history.

Wrestling would go on to have an influence across a number of Muslim cultures outside South Asia as well. In the Ottoman Empire, for example, and into modern day Turkey, there exists a traditional form of oil wrestling known as kirkpinar. There, wrestlers are called pehlvan—the same Persian word for wrestler that we use as well! Pehlvans were numerous throughout Ottoman lands, and they often trained in zurkhanehs (gyms) attached to tekkes (sufi lodges), where they connected their physical exertion to progressing on the spiritual path. And amazingly, in the 1950s, kirkpinar was at risk of dying out for a number of reasons. But the Turkish Wrestling Federation was formed and the sport was saved to such an extent that Turkish pehlvans are seeing a new golden age for their sport, and even competing in the Olympics.

It's precisely because we take such exemplars as our role models that we are different than from your average wrestlers. We don't fight out of a sense of rage or shallow machismo. We fight because it is the sunnah to demonstrate strength, confidence, and generosity of spirit. At GPWC, our mission is to build strong, disciplined, and devoted men. 

Help us keep the fight alive. Your support and prayers are our lifeline to this precious tradition.

We are working with the World Congress of Muslim Philanthropists as our fiscal sponsor, a US based 501(c)(3) charity that will allow us to fundraise online this Ramadan.

Please donate generously and share our cause to protect traditional competitive wrestling in Pakistan. If you have any questions or just want to be in touch with us, please send us an email at gpwclahore@gmail.com.