( 405 )

CBrEBR IX

THE SHAI1ARIYA ORDER AND I I S SAINTS

The S h a t t a r iy a o rd e r was founded by Shaikh

i b d u l l a h Shat t a r x , th e son of Hussjata-ud-Din who

m ig ra ted t o I n d ia from I r a n and s tay ed a t Jawnpur.

In re sp o n se t o th e i n v i t a t i o n o f S u l ta n Ib rah im S h a r ^ i ,

th e k ing of Malwa ( 9t h C entury) he went t h e r e and chose

t o s e t t l e t h e r e up to t h e end o f h is l i f e (A .H .809/1

A#D« 1406) .

Muhammad Ghavrth G aw aliya ri was th e f i r s t s a i n t

o f t h i s o rd e r t o come t o G u ja ra t f o r th e p ro p a g a t io n

o f h i s o rd e r . He was a descendan t of th e famous s a i n t- - { 6

Shaikh F a r id -u d -D in A t t a r , h i s f u l l name b e in g Abul

Mu'Hi y ad I^hammad b in K h a tlr -u d -D in b in Bayazid b in

F a r id -u d -D in A t t a r . Some say that" h is g r e a t grand

f a t h e r Muin-ud-Din Q a t t a l came to In d ia and d ied at

Jawnpur. Muhammad Ghawth was born i n A*H. 906 (A.D.1500)

a t G aw a lia r . He was a p u p i l o f s h a ik h 3uhur-ud-D in

1, Nawab Shamsam-ud-Dawla Shah Nawaz Khan- Ma‘s i r - u l - u m r a , p .5 8 3 .

( 406 )

H a d jd j i Hudur and be longed t o th e S h a t t e r jya s e c t o f

S u f i s . He and h i s e i g h t b r o t h e r s were d i s c i p l e s ofan d k h a l i f a

S ha ikh Hamid, K h a l i f a of Shah Qazan, t h e d i s c i p l e / o f

t h e founder^Sha ikh Abdullah S h a t t a r i . A f te r l e a d in g

a s o l i t a r y l i f e f o r more t h a n t h i r t e e n y e a r s i n t h e

Vmountains of C u n a r , Muhammad Ghawth came t o Ahmadabad

( G u j a r a t ) where a p o p u la r s a i n t and sc h o la r^ S h a ik h'1

W aj ih -u d -S ln G u j a r a t i became h i s d i s c i p l e * He e s t a b l i -

shed a khanqala i n Ahmadabad which was pu t i n charge of

h is d i s c i p l e Shaikh Wajih-ud-Hin G u j a r a t i . He t h e n9

went t o Agra i n A.H. 966 (A,D. 1553) and was t r e a t e d

w i th high r e g a rd by Smperor Akbar. S u b seq u en t ly he

r e t u r n e d t o Gwaliyar where he d ied i n A,H» 970 (A*D«

1562) . Humayun i s a l s o s a id t o have been a f a i t h f u l2

f o l lo w e r of Muhammad Ghawth. '1 * *

Muhammad Ghawth was t h e au tho r o f s e v e r a l S u f i< *

works , , t h e most p o p u la r of which i s Jawahir- i -Khamsa

..ftyoutfcif— <fv&>---------------------------- —1 .^ K h az ih a fc -u l -A s f iy a , p.96q.__ ^ _2 . Sha ikh &bdul Qadir Badsyuni- Mutakhabut-Tawarikh,

■p.27Q.

{407}

i n Arabic which he completed i n iUH.956 (A.1.1549)

and which he su b s e q u e n t ly ren d e red i n t o P e r s i a n with

a d d i t i o n a l improvements. H is o th e r works are fe g i ld -

i -M a k h iz in , B ahr-u l -H ayat and Mfirajnama. I t i s r e l a t e d

t h a t h i s e c s t a t i c say in g s i n M^rajhama were condemned

by t h e Ulama of G u ja ra t who p a s se d o rd e r s f o r h is

e x e c u t io n but t h a t he was saved by t h e t im e ly i n t e r v e n -_1

t i o n o f Shaikh l a j i h - u d - l i n G u j a r a t i .

. The s a i n t s o f t h e s e c t a f f i r m t h a t i t i s a

wastage o f t im e t o a t t e n d t o t h e n e g a t iv e i n t h e 2

muraqiba f o r i t i s a n e g a t io n of a n o n en v i ty . There i s

n o th in g l i k e s e l f - e f f a c e m e n t ; t h e r e i s no th ing except

MI am I«; Tawhid means u n d e rs t a n d in g one, s a y in g one,

s e e in g one and be ing one; I am one and t h e r e i s no

/ ' ' ' - / p a r t n e r w i th God; t h e r e i s n e i t h e r mujahadah a g a in s t

i _ , i _ > » _ '1 naf s 1 nor i s t h e r e Fana nor Fana-ul-Fa.na; f o r Fan a

r e q u i r e s two p e r s o n a l i t i e s , one t o be a n n i h i l a t e d and

1« Maiylavd Muhammad Ghawth- A khbar-u l-A khyar , p*236.2 . L i t ; M e d i ta t i o n .

( 4 0 8 )

t h e o th e r i n which t h a t one i s t o be a n n i h i l a t e d . So

i t i s opposed t o 'Tawhld*. They f u r t h e r a f f i r m Tawhid

and observe t h e 1 2 D h a t ' with i t s ' S i f a t ' i n a l l s t a g e s* * #

and t a j a l l i y j r t « They adopt *muj8hfida, and say^ " c o n s id e r

i t < jyour nafs i n t h e way of Fans and 'God's i n t h e way o f1

%. f 4 f <baqa: your nafs i n t h e way of ubudiyyat and His i n

_ 2' t h e way o f Rububiyyat . T h e y do not a t t a c h t h e i r ' h e a r t s

t o any w or ld ly t h i n g s . They remain away from w o r ld ly

p l e a s u r e s and v i c e s . They do not wish f o r an y th in g

except God. They r e s i g n th e m se lv e s t o t h e w i l l of t n e 3

Almighty.

1 . l i t : S e r v a n t s h ip .2 . l i t : R u l e r s h i p . '3» Mau/lam Muhammad'Gauth- A khbar-u l-A khyar, p«199j

F a z l Ahmad- A&hkar-wa-Abrar , p »163.» • ** ’

f

(409)

SAIHCS H l i BURI3£D IN AHMADABAD

SAYYAD AHMAD SHM WAJIfl-UD-DIN 4 LAW I GUJARATI

sHAITARI

Sayyad Ahmad, b e t t e r known as Shah W ejlh-

ud-D in was born on Muharram 22 A.H. 910 (A* *D«1504)■1

a t Muhammadabad. At th e ti-me of h is b i r t h he was

found to be la u g h in g . He d id not suck th e m ilk o f2

h i s m other b e fo re she had her b a th . His f a t h e r ,3

h a s r u l l ih b in Im ad-ud-D in was th e descendan t o f

Imam M uham m ad-ul-Javid. His g r e a t grand f a t h e r. i,

Sayyad B aha-ud-D in l e f t Mecca w ith h i s son#M uin-ud-

3)In f o r G u ja ra t t o obey th e o rd e r ox P rophet Muhammad

re c e iv e d i n h is dream* and reach ed Anhilwad P a t ta n .

1 » I t i s now known as Ohampaner. I t i s s i tu a te d i n th e D i s t r i c t of PanchmahalS I t was fo u n d ed wby S u l ta n Mahmud Begada and was named a f t e r h im -iM ir Gulam*Ali *Azad M a sir-u l-K ira ra , p .196 (M s). (3

2 . Sayyad Yahya b in Sayyad H usain ‘A la v i-K a sh fru l- W ajlh (MS); Maui laud Muhammad Saheb- Hidayax^-ul- H an afiy a , p .3 8 7 .

3 . He .was bo rn in K aro l a t a d is ta n c e o f fo u r m ile s from Ahmadabad. He m arried B a c h ib ib i , t h e d au g h te r of Miyan S h ihab -ud -D ln b in Maw/lana Mahmud,. He d ied le a v in g beh ind him s ix s o n s , v iz :S h ah W ajih-ud-D in , Z a h lr-u d -D ln , Na jm -ud-D in , B aha-ud-D in , Q azi Muhammad and Qazi B urhan-ud-D in . He l i e s b u rie d a t Knanpur in Ahmadabad-fSayyad im am -ud-D in-!T arikh-i-A w liya,p*758 . "3

( 410)

During th e r e i g n of Mahmud Begada Sayyad

M uin-ud-Din’s son Sayyad Imaai-ud-Din, t h e g rand

f h t h e r of Sayyad Ahmad went to Champaner and e s t a b l i ­

shed h im se lf t h e r e . He was a p p o in ted th e Qazi o f th e

p l a c e .

S u l ta n M uzaffar Halim (A*H.917,'A.D*1511-

A.H.932/ A.D.1526) i n v i t e d him t o Ahmadabad and made

arrangem en ts f o r h i s r e s id e n c e i n th e v i c i n i t y of h i s 1

p a la c e . There Sayyad Ahmad, i . e . Shah » a j ih -u d -D in

committed t o memory th e holy Quran. At t h a t tim e he

was aged seven . He s tu d ie d d i f f e r e n t s u b je c t s under

d i f f e r e n t le a rn e d men, e .g . t h e g e n e r a l e d u c a t io n

under Sayyad Sharas-ud-Din, th e H ad ith under Shaikh

< - - 2Abdul Barakat Bambani “Abbasi* Logic and p h i lo so p h y

.3under K hatib Abul F a£ l G-aaruni and some r e l i g i o u s

4s u b je c t s under h i s u n c le , Bada Abu-l-Qasim.

T. Sayyad ‘Abdul-M alik b in Sayyad .Muhammad- "~M a lfu z - i -K a b lr l 'u r f M isbah-ul-Alam (MS).

2. As Shah W ajlh-ud-D in h im se lf s a i d about him -w _ --M a lik Ahmad b in M alik Muhammad A lhF aruq i- K hu laaa t-u l-? ,’a j l i r {MS). ___ _

3 . He was known as MauO-a-i-Muhaqqaq.- Sayyad Yahyah b in Sayyad Husain AlaWL-C”K a sh fa % l- la j ih (MS).

4* Who was h i s m o the r’ s b ro th e r - /M a u la v i SayyadImim-ud-Din Ahmad S aK eb-B arakat-u l-A w liya , p»85 .7

Having not been s a t i s f i e d w ith th e knowledge

t h a t he had a c q u ire d t h e r e , he approached t h e s a i n t1

Sayyad K ab ir-ud -D in and ex p re ssed h i s d e s i re t o be

h i s d i s c i p l e . She Sayyad acceded t o h i s r e q u e s t and

a rra n g ed t o g iv e him i n s t r u c t i o n th ro u g h MautLana Imad- 2

ua-D in Tarftmx who happened t o be i n Ahmadabad a t t h a t

t im e . Even t h i s arrangem ent could not quench Sayyad

Ahmad's t h i r s t of knowledge and he r e v e a le d t h i s m a t te r

f r a n k - h e a r t e d ly b e fo re Sayyad K ab ir-u d -D in . Per chance ,(

S ha ikh Muhammad Gauth , happened t o come to Ahmadaba'd

d u r in g th o se very d a y s . On account o f h i s h e r e t i c a l

-

a c t i v i t i e s th e ulamas headed by Shaikh A li M uttaq i3

A nsarl r o s e i n o p p o s i t io n a g a in s t him. U l t im a te ly ,A

t h e m a t te r reached th e s ta g e of s e e k in g a Fatwa f o r .

( 411)

1. He was a descendan t o f t h e g re a t ^ u f i Salman F a r s i . He l i e s b u r ie d i n Asawal, a l o c a l i t y i n Ahmadabad-

£ ‘Abdul-M alik ^ lavsi- Aerasnamah (M s ) . j 2# V ide, p . ^ ij _ ,3 - He was t h e son of Husiam-ud-Din b in Abdul—M alik.

His a n c e s to r s l iv e d i n Jawnpur. He was born i n Burhanpur and imbibed th e s p i r i t u a l knowledge from h i s f a t h e r . He went t o Mecca i n A.H.953 (A..D.1546) where he di.edt i n A.H.957(A*D*1551,} • He was bu ried t h e r e - lM i r z a ‘A ll Muhammadkhan-Mirat-i-AhmadI,p ,82;. F a z l Ahmad- Adhkar-w a-A brar, p .403

4s I t i s a r e l i g i o u s command which can be g iv en by th e r e l i g i o u s head and le a rn e d men.

(4 1 2 )

for hi a execution. When i t was put before Sultan 1

Mahmud Shah III ( A.35*153 6-^4) for hi a signature, the

la t te r referred the matter to Shah Wajlh-ud-Din who

accordingly approached Shaikh Muhammad Gawth with the

fatw a. Having a sight of his face , he was so enamoured

of him that he tore in to pieces the fatw a, and exclaimed

»^ li Muttaqii you have no knowledge of the attainments

o f the Shaikh3*. Thereafter he accepted Shaikh Muhammad2 < X '

^Gawth as his preceptor. The la tte r was ummi and Shah

Wajlh-ud-Din was very learned. So somebody enquired of

him why he agreed to be th e d isc ip le of an i l l i t e r a t e

fe llo w . The Shah to ld in reply that he did not mind_4

the matter as the Prophet, to o , Was 'ummx.y

1 .The Sultan gave th e sa in t a t i t l e of Malik-al-Muhaddi^ as he was unique in the knowledge o f Hadith -iT Dr B .i-I. Tirm izi- The Contribution of Gujarat to .Arabic language & Literature (Ph.D. Thesis ) . 3

2 . Mirza ‘All Muhammad- Mirat-i-Ahmadx, p »0-33* Shah Yifajih-ud-Dln- Shajra-i-Shaikh Ahmad Khattu(MS)4. Mir^a Muhammad Hasan &li Muhammad- KhatimaM - j —

Mirat-i-Ahmadi, p . 68 .5 •« S«yyaet-¥ahfah-b±n-&eyyad-Huaain-A3:»-%i—Xashf-ul-

Waj-ife— *

( 413 )

Shah Wa«jih-ud~Din fo l low ed t h e p r i n c i p l e s of

t h e Maghribiya o rd e r as w e l l as of t h e C h i s h t iy a o r d e r .

For t h e former he was connected with Shaikh Ahmad

Khat tu G-anj Bakhsh and f o r t h e l a t t e r w i th Shah Qazan^ 1 ,

G h i s h t I .

j /He founded a madrasa i n A*H.933 (A.D. ISJlb )

f o r which th e e x p e n d i tu re of t h e c o n s t r u c t i o n of t h e

b u i l d i n g was d e f ra y ed by one o f h i s f o i l owe &S named 2

Sadiq. Khan. A very b ig l i b r a r y was a t t a c h e d t o i t . I t3

c o n ta in e d m an u sc r ip ts o f works w r i t t e n by p u p i l s

t h e r e o f e i t h e r d u r in g t h e course of t h e i r s t u d i e s4

or a f t e r th e com ple t ion the reo f - .

1» Sayyad Yahyah b i n Sayyad Husain ^ l a m - f K a s h f -u l-wa j l h (MB) 3

2. He belonged t o Khurasan where h i s f a t h e r was th e g o v e rn o r . He m igra ted t o In d ia and se rved Bairam Khan. He d ied i n A.H. 1005(A. 1 .159?) and was b u r ied i n Dholpur. He a l s o b u i l t t h e mausoleum of th e s a i n t a f t e r h i s death-LBayyed (Abdul-Malik b i n Sayyad Muhammad M a l f u z - i - K a b l r l (MS). 1

3 . 2 here i s a m anuscr ip t o f t h e Qur7a“h w r i t t e n by th e s a i n t ’ s son i n an ornamented s t y l e f o r th e same l i b r a r y i n t h e P l r Muhammad Sh&h l i b r a r y of Ahmadabad.

4 . I h e ‘m adrasa ’'''and t h e l i b r a r y were d e s t ro y ed i n t h ed i s o r d e r c r e a t e d i n A«H» 1197 (A»P./7^^ )

( 414 )

Shah l a j i h - u d - D l n h im se l f worked i n i t as a

t e a c h e r and t a u g h t l o g i c , p h i lo s o p h y , f i q h , had i t h,

geom etry , astronomy and th e i n t e r p r e t a t i o n s o f t h e

iv e r s e s o f t h e Quran.

He was ve ry r e g u l a r i n a t t e n d a n c e , e . g . even

t h e ve ry next morning of h i s m a r r i a g e , he absen ted

h im s e l f from t h e J a lv a ceremony i n o rd e r t o a t t e n d

. ' 1t h e r® d r a s a and resume h i s d u t i e s of t e a c h i n g . On

only o th e r f o u r o c ca s io n s he was absen t i n i t -w h en

he was a r r e s t e d on a charge o f keeping w i th h i m s e l f2

a t r a i t o r s ' - go ld and o th e r v a lu a b le things^. BJhen

Humayun (A.H*940/A.D.t534) was i n Ahmadabad, he went

t o meet him i n resp o n se t o h i s i n v i t a t i o n . f$hen h i s

p r e c e p t or, Muhammad Gauth was at Broach, he went t o

pay a holy v i s i t t o h i on. and when he was s e n t by S u l t a n

Muhammad I I t o e x ten d an i n v i t a t i o n to h i s p r e c e p t o r

a t I d a r t o come t o Ahmadabad. When t h e i n f i r m i t y of

1* MaUiavli Muhammad Gauth b i n Hasan b in Musa S h a t t a r l - c>> Atkar-w^-Abrar , p „ 4 0 ^ ‘ f

Sayyad Abdul_Malik b in Sayyad Muhammad Alaud- M a l f u z - i - K a b l r l (MS) .

2. Muhammad b i n tlmar A g i f i - 3 a f a r - u l - w a l a Ba Muzaffar- u l - w a l a , p .11*

(415)

t h e age made him h e l p l e s s , P rophet Muhammad i n h is

dream s a i d , ’"Oh, Shah W aglh-ud-Din, you need not

t >

worry; I always a t te n d your raa d ra sa .M A f te r th e

d e c l a r a t i o n o f th e dream h i s l e s s o n s began t o be known1

as BDars-i-Muhamtnadirt . Most of th e s tu d e n ts o f th e

4 m a d ra sa 'tu rn e d out t o be r e l i g i o u s t e a c h e r s and th e y

sp read up th ro u g h -o u t t h e co u n try t o p ro p ag a te th e

work of t h e i r p re c e p t o r . .Shah Muhammad F a S lu l la h

B urhanpuri had a*raadrasa/ i n Burhanpur; #Abdul-Q adir

Baghdadi and Kamal-ud-Din “Abbasi e s t a b l i s h e d t h e i r

<madrasa> a t U j ja in ; s i m i l a r l y , Sfrsh A bdullah and

Mafculana Z ia u l l a h b in Muhammad Gauth Gwaliory s e t t l e d '

i n Agra and Mauilana Muhammad Uthman a t Khandesh and2

*Allama Muhammad S h a r i f i n Madina and th e y had t h e i r

m adrasas t h e r e ; and Mauilana Hasan Bambani, Mauilana

^Abdul-iGanl Jatwnpuri ^Abbaei, MauiL ana Abdul Aziz K h a lid i

and Shaikh Abdul Hadi from amongst them tu rn e d out t o

be eminent m u s ic ia n s .

1 , l i t «wThe le s s o n of_Prophet Muhammad'^f^ayyad Im5m-ud- d in b in Ahmad M u ft i - T a r ik h - i - A w l iy a , p.366^}

2* M alik Ahmad b in_M alik Muhammad Al f a r u q l - K h u la s a t r u l - w a j lh (MS);‘A bdul-H ai- Yad-i-Ayyaoi, p .

(416 )

The s a i n t l e f t t h i s world i n t h e morning of

S a tu rd ay 29 , S a f a r A»H.99'd (A.D.1589) and l i e s b u r ied

a t Khanpur i n Ahmadabid.

His mausoleum was b u i l t by Nawab M ustafa khan1

who was th e subtedar (A*H*933/A.D,l532j o f G uja ra t*

•Saint Shah W ajih-ud-D in was a poe t as w e l l as

p r o s e - w r i t e r . A f te r becom ing f r e e from t h e t e a c h in g

work t h e sa ir r t devoted h i s tim e t o t®s w r i t in g works.

L _ JThere a re t h i r t y two r i s a l a s on th e s u b je c t of on ly th e

2H adith w r i t t e n by him. His K i t a b - i - 2 a r i r i , t h e f i r s t

£

o f h i s c o m p o s it io n s i s on t h e A rab ic grammar w r i t t e n

i n A.H.925 (A .D .1520) a t t h e age o f 15 y e a r s . ,

Most of h i s works a re com m entariesf some of2 _

which a re i g h a r h - i - l r s h a d , H ash iya-i-B a id ftau lI , H ashiya-

x -F avaid z ia f iya , Hashiya S h a r a h - i - K a l im a t - u l - a e n , Sharh-

i-J im -i-JaJhannuraa , K a lid - i-M a k h az in - i-G -a u th u - l-A w liy a ,

3 ,B isa la -i-H aq iqa t-u l-M uham raad iya on A rab ic grammar,

1 . Shaikh S bdu l Q id ir B adayuni-M untakhabut-faw drikh , p .293 ; Khwaja h izam -u d -D in -T ab q a t- i-A k b ari , p .480; Mirza Muhammad A lx Xhan-Khatimah-Mirat-i-Ahmadx ,p*45» S ha ikh Muhammad I k r ant-Rud-i-Kafel&ar, p .2 4 5 .

2* There i s a MS w ith Sayyad Manzuru-l-Haqq. H usainI P i r (Alavdi, a de scen d an t o f th e s a i n t l i v i n g i n A s to d ia , a l o c a l i t y i n Ahmadabad. I t i s i n xhe s a i n t ' s own hand,

3 . There Is a Ms t h e r e o f i n P i r Muhammad Shah L ib ra ry , A&madabad.

' . - - " .1 H a s h iy a - i - A s f a h a n i , S ha rh -i-M aqaaid and S h a r h - i -Q u tb l ,

He wrfit'e i n P e r s ia n a work e n t i t l e d Awrad-wa-z • _ 2

Ma a luraat - i-Hadfir a t A llama Shah W ajih-ud-Dxn ^Alavd which

c o n ta in s a d m o n it io n s t o h i s d i s c i p l e s l i k e ’’D on 't e a t

t o o much; d o n ' t speak to o much, d o n ' t mix to o much w ith

p eo p le : when you h e a r th e vo ice o f somebody, you

remember t h a t God i s h e a r in g i t and when you see

som eth ing , you remember t h a t God i s se e in g i t ; and when

som ething s t r i k e s t o your h e a r t , you remember t h a t God 3

i s knowing i t »2

His well-known work Q ha jra - i-H ad f tra t Makhdum4

Shaikh Ahmad T a r iq a - i - S h a h VJa j ih -u d -D in i s on t h e

s u b je c t of fundam en ta l p r i n c i p l e s of th e M aghribiya o rder

and i t a l s o in c lu d e s t h e journey of Shaikh Akmad K hattut •.

t o Mecca.

(417)

1. Mir Gulara *Ali Azad- M a as ir-u l-K iram , p . 196.2 . A P e r s i a n MS copy i s i n t h e B i r Muhammad Shah

L ib ra ry , Ahmadabad.3* These a re t h e t h r e e main p r i n c i p l e s of t h e S h a t t a r iy a

o rd e r .4 . The A rab ic MS copy o f _ th i s book xs xn Exr Muhammad

Shah L ib r a r y , Ahmadabad*

(413)

The sa in t was also a poet and composed verses

in Persian under t h e nom-de~plume rtWajhin . Following

are some of his verses:

c?f.? / >' J>

^ L " -

's s>>t ‘ a*>

y i r ^ J > Cl o j m > _

He was a very witty^and could ex-temp or xously

give a proper rep ly b e f i t t i n g the occasion* Once a man

came to him and spoke:C ^\ ty />b t r ' 1 *->

< ( ^ ) lLj ' ^ A -+>j> I jt j - * 1 J

He r e to r t e d :. i f

s > y J j < J Cp t? )->

1. Sayyad Yahyail b in Sayyad Husain Alam- Kaahf-ul-Wadih_(M3)j Myan &bdul Granx- Bahr-ul-Haqaiq (M3)

(419)

His Hindi Verses a r e :

cy i J sjy ^ ^ - ' / o ^ u

Shah A bdul lah , h i s son succeeded him. He was

a l s o a well-known s a i n t . He d ied on Muharram 5 ,

A.H.1017 (A.D.I6O9) at Ahmadabad and l i e s bu r ied near2

t h e tomb of h i s f a t he r *

Some p e o p le had so much t r u s t i n him t h a t t h e y

d e p o s i t e d w i th him a l l t h e i r v a l u a b l e s . And on account

o f t h e same r e a s o n , he h im s e l f was en ta n g le d i n a

c a la m i ty i n A»H.9cs1 (A.D. 1514). A female inmate o f

h i s convent f e l l xn love w i th a po o r Mughal of t h e

s t r e e t . One day she b u r s t out t h e s e c r e t of t h e house

t o him. That f e l lo w t o s a t i s f y h i s greed t o g e t money,

brought t h e m a t te r t o Mir A la -ud-D ib , t h e p o l i c e o f f i c e r

o f t h e c i t y on c o n d i t i o n of h i s h a v in g h a l f t h e sh a re

o f what he would f i n d . A cco rd in g ly , t h e p o l i c e o f f i c e r

made a s e a r c h i n t h e convent and found s e v e r a l v a lu a b le

1, My an (Abdul Ga'ni- Bahr-ul-Haqaiq. (MS) ~2. Sayyad Imam-ud-Din- B a rk a t -u l -A w l iy a , p . 9 6 .

( 420 )

th ings . On charge of t h e f t , he arrested the sa in t and

dragged him from the horse-hack. When the horse ran,

th e sa in t had t o run and in thtrt condition when he

was produced at the court , people followed him there*

Many nobles l ike Mir Sayyad Miran Bukhari, Mirza Muqim

Sayyad Jlv and Ahu Turab Shirazi who were there stood

up to respect t h e saint* Mir Sayyad Miranji went near

the sa in t and sat by (h is s ide. When the Qazi asked the

s a in t , wDid you now know t h e order tha t no robber

should be helped nor should he be given any she l te r ,

nor his things should be kept as dep o s i t .”

fhe sa in t said in reply, **I had no knowledge

of the o r d e r S e c o n d l y , i t i s the re l ig ious order

tha t no personal matter of a person should be given

out by anybody and th e things given as a deposit must

be preserved. She Qazi was pleased to hear trie reply I

andacquitted the s a in t ,/

I t i s said tha t in a short period a f t e r t h i s- C ^ x

ev'e nt Mir ila-ud-Din who did th i s fa l se inves t iga t ion ,

was sentenced by t h e same magistrate and th e l a t t e r

(4 2 1 )

1was k i l l e d by h i s r i v a l r e l a t i v e s .

shah 'ali jiv ganvihari '

« - . _2Shah A l l J i v , b e t t e r known as Ganvdhani was

b o rn on Sunday n ig h t i n A.H. 8 9 9 (A*D. 1§95) i n3

Ahmadabad*

He r e c e i v e d h is e d u c a t io n as w e l l as k h i rq a

from h i s f a t h e r Sayyad Ibrahim b in Shah Musttftfa

- - * - Hab’i b - u l - l a h who belonged t o t h e R i f a i y a order*

When -gayyad Muhammad Gauth G w a l i a r i happened t o4

be i n Ahmadabad, he heard some p e o p le s i n g a song

_ <T - —

composed by Shah A l i J iv ; he l i k e d t h e v e r s e s ve ry

t ~ _

1* Muhammad b in Umar A a i f i - S a fa r -u l -w a la H Ba M uzaffar- ul-walaty , p * 1 2 *

2. l i t .The owner of a v i l l a g e - MaOJlam Abu lu r a bMuhammad- Mahbubzee Almannan 1 a d h k i r - i - A w l i y a - i - • Da.ccan , p .4 9 1 . He i s a l s o known as M ashuq-u l - lah - S h a j r a - i - R i f a i y a (MS).

3* S h a j r a - i - R i f a i y a (MS). I t i s sa id t h a t when Shah ‘i l l N u r - u l - l a h was b o rn , t h e whole room became i l l u m i n a t e d . His f a t h e r Sayyad ^Vbdur-Rahim p r e d i c t e d t h a t among h i s descendance , there would be a man named Ibrah im woo would a t t a i n t h e p o s i t i o n of t h e Qutb i n h i a old age and h i s son , Shah ^ l i would t u r n out t o be a_ g r e a t s a i n t and would be c a l l e d Qutb-ul-AcitSb - [ s h a h A l i J i v - In t ik h a b J a w a h i r - u l - Asrar (MS) .-p

( 4 2 2 )

very much and enqu ired as .to who composed th o s e verses-.

& -On being t o l d t h a t t h e y were from t h e pen of Shah A l l

J i v , he s a i d , M t s ^

and proceeded t o meet t h e p o e t . He was w e l l r e c e iv e d by

him and b o th he ld d i s c u s s i o n on r e l i g i o u s s u b j e c t s .

Sayyad Muhammad belonged t o t h e S h a t t a r i y a Order. He\

wanted Shah *Ali J i v t o embrace h i s o rder and so he wrote

a l e t t e r t o him, shah i l l J i v s e n t t h e fo l lo w in g r e p l y

i n th e G-ujari d i a l e c t ' .

<J i f 1 2'HJJ| V s/ ^' < y* > / ^ ’ c

{J?l Cdj>U ^ ,jjJL ^ ^ / o f f of.

The s a i n t d ied on Jam id i -u l -a w w al 14, A.H. 972

(A»D. 1565) and l i e s b u r i e d a t Ra ikhar near Khamasa Gate 2

i n Ahraadabid.

The s a i n t founded ' a monastery and worked- as a

t - > i « ^raaulavi i n th e mdrasa a t t a c h e d t o i t . He a l s o p reached

Is lam i n v i l l a g e s round .about Ahmadabad.

1, Ikbduar-Rashid Lala Modud G h i s h t i - Mukhbir-ul-Awliya (Ms)2 . - cAbdur~.Rashid l a l a Modud Ohishtx-. Mukhbir~ul-Awliya (MS)

MatyLavti. Abu Turab Muhammad- Mahbubsee Almanln- Tadhk ixa- i -A w liya- i - l s& ccan , p.4-9 2* 'v

(423)

The saint was a great poet in the Gujari dialect

and composed th e Dxwan in A* H. 9?>1 {A*D, 1564) e n t i t l e d' . 1

Ja w a h ir -u l - i s ra r .i

k. £He had his talcallus Shah .Ali J iv , The followingA >

are th e ’verses from i t .

> iXai'i .t 3* ~s

L. O -^C X ^

r /*- j ) >>>*; / / ■ /

■* IXaT*-?*, / A•*1 '- J ’ lsJ fcj£- > t—s* 1£j ili Lv <, | q (jit*'

yi

u- > UaJ 3 <--» \ 1 S " i" * ' b ^ hSiS**- £ L*Ll °>y j / c

v c 1/jP.. cshii? Li t L CJ i t y 'x ^s'

>/ ' * v , A1 *^ i c r '? ( ^ . > - - - T y j ^J>/s

1 . The manuscript is in M r Muhammad Shah Library,iihmadabad *

( 424 )

SHAIKH MUHAMMAD HAI BARAHNASAR

shaikh Muhammad, b e t t e r known as Bmhnasari_

was born at Ahmadabad. He studied th e Quran and the

Hadith under shaikh Sadr-ud-Din ©bakir who was a* • • \ t

well-known learned man of th e time- He committed to

memory th e whole o f th e Quran-

When he Became young he went to Gwalior in

order to imbibe the- s p i r i t u a l knowledge from Sayyad

Muhammad Gwauth Gwaliory. After g e t t in g his object/tA.Ut’vl

f u l f i l l e d and^received th e khirqa from the s a in t , he

re tu rned to Ahmadabad. On the way he stopped fo r some

days at Malwa and passed some tim e in company of Shaikh

Habib ^ha ttaT i who was the d is c ip le of -Sayyad Muhammad

Gauth Gwaliory.

He lived in Ahmadabad t i l l h is death. He l i e s1

buried in Saula'tkhana, a lo c a l i ty in Ahmadabad*

1, Maulaud Muhammad Gauth- Adhkir-wa-Abrar,p*486*

(425)

3 A l l A3 MUHAMMAD 'aL A II SHASTMI

■Sayyad Muhammad *Alawi waa born i n A.H. 1012

(A*D,1$04) i n Ahmadabad. His f a t h e r .Sayyad *Abdur_

Rahman was t h e g r e a t - g r a n d - s o n of t h e well-known

s a i n t ?Shah f a j ih - u d - D in j^lawi ( d . A*H.998/A.B».1589).» _ •

He s tu d ie d t h e Quran, t h e f i q h , t h e h a d i th and

such o th e r r e l i g i o u s s u b je c t s under th e g r e a t c a re

o f t h e r e p u te d s a i n t , Shaikh Muhammad O h ig h ti (a .A .H .

. . . ‘ ) C j1040/A.D*1651)« He re c e iv e d h is k h irq a and t h e k h i l a f a t

o f th e S h a t t a r iy a o rd e r from Shah Abdul-if/ahld b in

- - c - L I

Shah ¥ a j ih -u d -D ih A law i, He worked as th e pesh-lmam i n

t h e mosque noadays known as Shah W ajih-ud-D in mosque

s i t u a t e d a t Khanpur i n Ahmadabad, and as t h e m au la^ i

i n th e madrasa a t ta c h e d t o i t * About h is d e a th , i t i s

s a i d t h a t he had gone t o pay a ho ly v i s i t t o h i s ,

p r e c e p to r l i v i n g in S h ih p u r , n e ig h b o u r in g l o c a l i t y .

As soon as h i s eyes f e l l on th e l a t t e r , t h e c o n d i t io n

of e c s ta s y s e iz e d him . He rem ained unconscious t i l l

h i s s o u l l e f t h i s m o r ta l body on Raj jab 13,1072

(A«B* 1662). He l i e s b u r ie d i n th e Khanpur Chakla

( 426)

(Myanwada) o u ts id e th e s h r in e of Shah l a j i h - u d - D in

A-Lawi.

The s a i n t was a v o ra c io u s r e a d e r and used t o/

devo te h i s spare tim e . to r e a d in g and w r i t i n g . He

w rote a work e n t i t l e d B a h r -u l -A s ra r on th e s u b je c t 1

of Sufism .

1 , Abdur-.Rashid La la Modud C h i s h t i - M ukhbir-u l-A w liya (MS)

(427)

SHAIKH SIR 3HATTARI

Shaikh P i r was th e son of Shaikh J a l a l C 'n ish ti

o f Champaner. He a c q u ire d h i s e a r ly e d u c a t io n from

h i s grand f a t h e r as w e l l as h i s f a t h e r bo th of whom

were t h e le a rn e d men o f t h e t im e . He was r e g u l a r in

carrying" out h i s d a i l y d u t i e s and ac ted up t o h i s

f a t h e r ' s w ords, "My son! c o n tin u e to read t h e Qur’an

< > v >and keep t h e body pure by wueiu or Tayammum t h a t had ■

done a l l good t o our a n c e s t o r s , "

He came a c ro s s Shaikh Muhammad G-auth w ith whom

he s e t t l e d i n Ahmadabad. She l a t t e r bestowed upon him \

t h e k h i r q a ♦ He t r a v e l l e d f a r and wide and a f t e r

p e rfo rm in g t h e p i lg r im a g e t o Mecca, v i s i t e d th e tomb

of Prophet Muhammad i n Madina,

The s a i n t d ied i n Ahmadabad and was b u r ie d a t

Ahmadpur, a lo c a l i t y ou tsid e th e rampart w a ll o f th e 1

c i t y . The d a te of h i s b i r t h as w e l l as t h a t of h i s

d e a th i s not a v a i la b le *

1* Mirza Muhamma£ Hasan *Ali Muhammad Khan - E h a tim a - i-M ira t- i -A h m a d i , p»63*

( 4 2 8 )

SHAIKH: MIR MOHAMAD BIN KHALIL SHAT {PARI

Shaikh Nur Muhammad f e t t e r known a s Hurrah was

bo rn in Champaner s i t u a t e d i n th e Panchmahal D i s t r i c t .

The d a te o f h is b i r t h i s not known. He belonged t o th e

Bohra ooiamunity and was a businessm an up to s ix y e a r s .

He l iv e d th e l i f e o f p i e t y and contentm ent* When Shaikh

Muhammad Gauth G w aliory happened t o p a s s th ro u g h

Ghampaner on h is way to Ahmadabad, he saw Shaikh Mur

Nlhammad s i t t i n g in h is shop . He. was im pressed w ith t h e

p e r s o n a l i ty of th e l a t t e r and so approached him . He

to o k h is hand in h i s own and s a id , “Come on w ith me,

ypu a re be stowed upon th e t i t l e of S ha ikh N u ru llah by

God and now you shou ld g iv e up a l l w o rld ly c o n c e rn s ,81

F o rth w ith Shaikh N u ru llah l e f t h i s b u s in e s s and

renounced a l l . He accom panied th e s a in t t o Ahmadab'ad.

S haikh Muhammad Gwauth e s ta b l is h e d a convent in th e

c i t y a t D au la tkhana near R aipu r Darwaja and S haikh

IhJruliah conducted minute and d e ta ile d study o f Sufism .

When Shaikh Muhammad l e f t Ahmadabad, he handed over th e

charge o f the convent t o Shaikh N uru llah who l iv e d in1

i t t i l l h is d e a th . He l i e s b u r ie d o u ts id e th e c o n v en t,. 1 , Maivlavi Muhammad G auth- A d h k ar-w a-A b rar,p ,4 9 0 *