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7/31/2019 Haji Imdadullah Muhajir Makki RA
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The Great and Splendid Gnostic: Shaykh Imdad
Allah al-Faruqi al-ThanawiMarch 8, 2009An original Deoband.org articleBy 'Allama Sayyid 'Abd al-Hay ibn Fakhr al-Din al-HasaniTranslated by Ismaeel Nakhuda[Also known as Haji Imdadullah Muhajir Makki]
The Shaykh, the Great and Splendid Gnostic (Arif), the Migrant to the blessed city of Makkah Imdad
Allah ibn Muhammad Amin al- Umari al-Thanawi was from amongst the saints, spiritual travellers (saliks)
and gnostics. Tongues are united in praising and exalting him.
He was born on Monday when there were eight days left till the end of Safar in the year 1233AH in the
village of Nanautah in the district of Saharanpur. He studied the books of Persian, as was the norm. He
studied Al-Hisn al-Hasinand Al-Mathnawi al-Manawiunder Mawlana Qalandar Baksh al-Jalalabadi, who
had studied Al-Mathnawiunder Mufti Ilahi Baksh al-Kandehlawi. He then travelled to Delhi and remainedin the company of Shaykh Nasir al-Din al-Shafii, the mujahid,and studied tasawwufunder him. After his
martyrdom, he returned to Thana Bhawan and remained there for some time. He then went to Lohari and
stayed in the company of Shaykh Nur Muhammad al-Janjhanawi and studied tasawwufunder him.Allah
Most High opened for him the doors ofmarifa (gnosis) and made him from amongst the ulama who are
grounded in knowledge. At the orders of his shaykhhe proceeded to spiritually guide and instruct people.
[The Muslims and the people of the country revolted against the English in the year 1274AH. A group
of'ulama, the pious and the people of zeal from amongst the Muslims arose in the districts of Saharanpur
and Muzaffarnagar, and announced war against the English. They selected Shaykh Imdad Allah as
theiramir(leader). The two sides came to war on the plain of Shamli, a village in the district of
Muzaffarnagar, where Hafiz Muhammad Damin was martyred. The wheel turned against the Muslims and
the feet of the English became firm. They were ruthless with anyone accused of participating in the revolt,
the earth became narrow for the passionate and practicing 'ulama, and the field of activity in India
became restricted. Some of them spent time hiding and in secrecy; others were forced to migrate (hijra)
and abandon the land. Shaykh Imdad Allah chose to migrate to Makka al-Mukarrama. He entered the
blessed city in the year 1276AH and settled down there. His first place of residence was the Al-Safa area
of Makkah, after which he moved to the Harat al-Bab area where he remained for the rest of his life and
met his Lord.
For a long time he lived in great hardship, poverty and destitution, as was the condition of the saints of
the earlier times; he bore patience in search of reward and was content with the condition that Allah had
decided for him until He brought him relief and replaced hardship with ease, and the Earth came to him in
spite of its submissively. He remained preoccupied with spiritual struggle (mujahadat) and worship, and
with heart and soul he would be attentive towards Allah. He would constantly remain in dhikrand
meditation, and his heart and interior overflowed with knowledge and light. He himself remained patientand on the threshold of worship. He would always humble himself in front of people, and was high-
aspiring and noble. He would honour knowledge and the 'ulama, and revere the Shari'atand the Sunna,
until Allah embedded his love in the hearts of His slaves, and, so, the hearts of the great 'ulamaand the
revered shaykhsbecame attached to him and benefited from him, and seekers ofma'rifaand
yaqinheaded towards him from distant lands. Allah blessed his method oftarbiyya(spiritual training) and
histariqawhose light spread to faraway countries. He renewed the Chishti-Sabri tariqa, and great
'ulamaand learned individuals became affiliated to it and entered it.] Through him, Allah benefited many
people whose numbers cannot be enumerated. The greatest of them is Shaykh Qasim (al-Nanotwi),
7/31/2019 Haji Imdadullah Muhajir Makki RA
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