Submitted to: Mr Asif P Studies

Role of Sufis

Submitted by: NC M Waqar Azeem Te 48 B

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Role of Sufis in Sub-Continent

Mystic interpretation of Islamic life within the bonds of religious orthodoxy is known as Sufism. The Islam spread in India with the exertion and example of Muslim scholars and Sufis (mystics), who journeyed from one end to the other end of land and courted innumerable hardships and dangers in their endeavor to spread the light of truth. The penetration of Islam in sub-continent accelerated in 13th century, basically due to establishment of Muslim Delhi sultanate by Mohammad Ghori in 1192. This enabled Muslim scholars and traders to travel freely throughout India under the protection of the political authorities. Hence, the Muslim scholars and Sufis played very important role in spreading Islam in the sub-continent region. The two very important and early fraternities which settled in India were Suharwardiyah and Chishtiah. The detail of these great Sufis of Islam and their work is described as follows:

Khwaja Moeen-ud-din Chishti

In the sub-continent, by far the most outstanding among the great Sufi shaykhs was Khwaja Moeenuddin Chishti of Ajmer. Indeed, he is generally accepted as the fountainhead of Islamic spiritual movements in India and Pakistan. The Khwaja was born in Sajistan in Central Asia in the year 1139. Orphaned at the young age of twelve, he traveled to Samarqand and received his early education in that great center of learning. He was a Hafiz e Quran at age of fifteen and had mastered the Arabic, Farsi and Turkish languages. He then traveled to Neshapur where he became a disciple of Khwaja Uthman Chishti. After receiving his training in the methodology of the Chistiya Order for seven years, Khwaja Moeenuddin was inducted into that Order. From Neshapur, he traveled to Baghdad where he met the towering personages of the age including Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jeelani, Shaykh Ziauddin Suhrawardi, Khwaja Awhaduddin Kirmani and Khwaja Abu Saeed Tabrizi. In Isfahan, he met Khwaja Qutbuddin, who became his disciple and later his successor in Delhi. From Isfahan, Khwaja Moeenuddin traveled to Ghazna, Lahore and Multan where he mastered Sanskrit and Hindi so that he could communicate with the local people.

Efforts
It was about this time that Muhammed Ghori defeated Prithvi Raj Chauhan at the Battle of Tarain (1192) and added Delhi and Ajmer to the Ghori Sultanate. Khwaja Moeenuddin moved from Multan to Delhi and then to Ajmer, which had been the capital of the Chauhan dynasty. This town in the Rajasthan desert became the fountainhead of a Sufi movement that touched every corner of India and Pakistan. Thousands embraced Islam through his efforts. Millions did so through the efforts of his disciples. Three of his disciples themselves became towering personages of renown and occupy an important place in the hierarchy of the great Sufis. These were Khwaja Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Khaki (after whom the Qutub Minar of Delhi is named), Shaykh Hameeduddin Naguri and Baba Fareed Ganj of Lahore.
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Khwaja Moeenuddin was a poet of renown. Over 10,000 couplets in Farsi are ascribed to him. He was a prolific writer, but most of his writings have been lost. He died in 1236, adored, venerated and extolled. If there is one person to whom belongs the credit for introducing Islam to India and Pakistan and of building the largest Islamic community in the world today, it was Khwaja Moeenuddin Chishti of Ajmer.

Khawaja Qutub-ud-Din Bakhtiar Kaki

Khawaja Qutub-ud-din Bakhtiyar Kaki Rehmatullah-elaihi was the chief Khalifa of Hazrat Khawaja Moinuddin Chisti. He was born in 1111AD or 569 Hijri at Aush in Iraq. Khawaja Qutub-ud-din Bakhtiyar Kaki was a great devotee and mystic. He had no parallel in abandoning the world and facing poverty and hunger. He kept himself engrossed in the remembrance of Allah. Whenever someone came to him he would show his inability to continue any longer and slipped into the same state again. Hazrat Khawaja Bakhtiyar Kaaki (May mercy of Allah be upon him) was one and half year old when his father passed away. Khawaja Qutubuddeen Bakhtiyar Kaaki learned 15 chapters of the Holy Quran from his mother and his mother arranged further education and training for him.

Efforts
When Hazrat Khawaja Moeen-ud-deen Chishti came to Isphahan he took oath of allegiance on his hands. Thereafter his master asked him to go to India and stay there. Following this order he came to Delhi and stayed there. It was the period of Sultan Shamsuddin Altamash. Attracted by his spiritual prowess and charitable attitude, a large number of people started visiting him daily. He started initiating disciples on the spiritual path as well. He died on the 14th of Rabi-ul-Awwal 633 A.H. (1235 CE). The tomb of Qutbuddin Bakhityar Kaki (Q.S) lies near Qutub Minar at old Delhi, India.

Hazrat Ali Hajveri (DATA Sahib)

Hazrat Abu Al Hassan Ali Hajveri also known as Data Ganj Bukhsh was born in Ghazni, Afghanistan in 990 AD. He was a Persian Sufi and scholar during the 11th century. He significantly contributed to the spreading of Islam in South Asia. He completed his earlier education in Ghazni by memorizing the Holy Quran, and then studied Arabic, Farsi, Hadith, Fiqah and Philosophy. At that time, Ghazni was the center of education in Central Asia, and it was the realm of the famous Afghan ruler, Sultan Mahmood Ghaznavi. After completing worldly education, Hazrat Ali Hajveri rehmatullah alaih began to seek spiritual enlightenment. He travelled to many places for this purpose, and finally became a disciple (mureed) of Hazrat Abul Fazal Mohammad bin Khatli alaih rehman from the Junaidiya Sufi Order, who lived in Syria. In Syria, Hazrat Ali Hajveri rehmatullah alaih started his spiritual education
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under the guidance of Hazrat Abul Fazal rehmatullah alaih. He slept less, ate less, performed tough contemplations & meditation. Then he travelled to many countries & places like Iran, Iraq, Syria, Turkey, Arabia, Azerbaijan etc. where he met many Sufi saints & dervishes. His spiritual teacher (murshid), Hazrat Abul Fazal rehmatullah alaih ordered him to go to Lahore to preach the spiritual teachings of Islam. He said: "Hazrat Shah Hussain Zanjani rehmatullah alaih is already there for this purpose. Why is it that I should also be sent there?" Hazrat Abul Fazal rehmatullah alaih said: "It's none of your business, just go to Lahore." So he left Syria & went to Ghazni. From Ghazni, he went to Peshawar & then to Lahore, in 1041 A.D (431 A.H). At reaching Lahore he came to know that Hazrat Shah Hussain had died.

Efforts
He wrote the following books: Minhaj-ud-Din Asrar-ul-Khiraqq wa'l-ma'unat Kitab-i-Fana-o-baqa Kitab-al-Bayan-li-ahl-al-iyan Bahr-ul-Qulub Al-Riayat li-huquq Allah He started to preach Islam & build a mosque there in Lahore after death of Hazrat Shah Hussain Rehmatullah. He died in 1077 AD and lies buried in Lahore where a shrine has been built.

Hazrat Fared-ud-Din Masood Ganjshakar

Hazrat Fared-ud-Din Masood Ganjshakar who is commonly known as BABA FARED was a Sufi preacher and saint of Chishtiah order, in 12th century. He was born in a village of Multan, named Kothewal in 1173. He is considered as first major poet of Punjabi language and a central religious saint in Punjab region. He is also included in fifteen Sikh Bhagats and selections of his work are also included in Sikhs sacred scripture GURU GARANTH SAHIB. He received his early education in Multan and there he met his murshid Khwaja Qutub-ud-din Bakhtiyar Kaki, who was on his way to Baghdad through Multan. Baba Fared left Multan for Sistan and Kandahar and he performed Hajj at age of 16.

Efforts
Baba Fared moved to Ajodhan, which is now known as Pakpattan after the death of his master Hazrat Qutub-ud-Din Bakhtiyar. He changed this place into a great center of Sufi thoughts. People from all over the India and Middle East would come to see him. Baba Fareds teachings are in form of Punjabi poetry. He conveyed his teachings through his poetry and spread message of Islam. Baba Fared never accepted money even as gift. He died of pneumonia in 1266. His shrine is located at Pakpattan.

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Khwaja Syed Muhammad Nizam-ud-Din Auliya

Hazrat Sheikh Syed Muhammad Nizam-ud-Din Auliya also known as Hazrat Nizam-ud-Din was born on 3rd April, 1238 in Badayun, Utter Pradesh. He was a Sufi saint of Chishtiah order in sub-continent. His predecessors were Khwaja Moeen-ud-Din Chishti, Khwaja Qutub-ud-Din Bakhtiyar Kaki and Khwaja Ghulam Fared. At the age of five, after the death of his father, Ahmad Badayuni, he came to Delhi with his mother, Bibi Zulekha. At the age of 20, he went to Ajodhan (present Pakpattan), and became a disciple of Khwaja Fared-ud-Din. He didnt stay at Ajodhan but returned to Delhi and continued his theological studies. But he visited Ajodhan each year and spent month of Ramadan in presence of Baba Fared. It was his third visit when Baba Fared made him his successor and when he reached back Delhi, he was informed of Baba Fareds death.

Efforts
Nizam-ud-din Auliya, like his predecessors, stressed upon the element of love as a means of realization of God. For him his love of God implied a love of humanity. His vision of the world was marked by a highly evolved sense of secularity and kindness. The teachings of Nizam-ud-Din Auliya had such great effects on the people of Delhi that even a historian Zia-ud-Din Barani writes that his influence on the Muslims of Delhi was such that a paradigm shift was effected in their outlook towards worldly matters. People began to be inclined towards mysticism and prayers and remaining aloof from the world. He built his Khanqah at Ghiyaspur, a place where people from all walks of life were fed, where he imparted spiritual education to others and he had his own quarters. Before long, the Khanqah became a place thronged with all kinds of people, rich and poor alike. His teachings changed the lives of people of Delhi. Many of his disciples who achieved spiritual height include Sheikh Nasiruddin Muhammad Chirag-e-Delhi and Amir Khusro, noted scholar/musician, and the royal poet of the Delhi Sultanate. He died on the morning of 3 April 1325. And lies buried in Delhi.

Others
There were many others, than those described above in detail. These included Khwaja Uthman Chishti, Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jilani, Sheikh Zia-ud-Din Suherwardi, Sheikh Hameed-ud-Din Naguri, Miyan Pir and many others. These Sufis and scholars spent whole of their lives in the path of acquiring and preaching Islam. The spread of Islam sub-continent only became possible because of their untiring efforts, and endless struggles. We are proud to say ourselves as Muslims and followers of one ALLAH, because of these great torch bearers of Islam. May Allah rest their souls in Jannah and shower His blessings on their shrines.

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References
www.sufiblog.com www.myasa.net www.google.com www.wikipedia.com www.historyofislam.com

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