5. (SBU) Gillani married in 1979 and has five children, including triplet sons. His eldest son, Syed Abdul Qadir Gillani attended Cambridge University and unsuccessfully contested the February 2008 parliamentary elections for a seat from Multan. Qadir also is engaged to the granddaughter of Pir Sahib Pagaro, who is president of the PML-Functional and a Sindhi spiritual and political leader. Gillani is related to a number of other influential Pakistani politicians. His father-in-law, Pir Israr Hussain Shah was a politically and religiously influential Sindhi leader who was a Sindhi senator from 1991 to 1998.