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of the most intriguing figures in the book is that of the Haji
Baba Ratan of Bhatinda in Punjab. Hindus, Muslims
and Sikhs all claim him to be their own despite his strong Muslim
connections. According to one legend he was a companion of the
Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and lived for over 700 years. The first
references to Haji Ratan in Islamic literature date back to
twelfth century. Several Hadith collectors traveled from as
far as Andalusia and Central Asia to collect the supposed traditions
from him. Abu Marwan Andalusi, a Spanish Muslim chronicler,
visited Haji Ratan and penned an interesting sketch of him.
‘When he arrived at the Baba’s monastery, he was taken
aback to see an ancient, wrinkled man, his cheeks covered with
hair ‘as white as cotton’. The Baba addressed him
in a language he could not understand, claiming, as was later
translated for him, that he was present in Medina during the
famed Battle of the Trench…At that time, he said, he was
just fourteen years old. When the Prophet saw him laboring at
the trenches, he blessed him with a long life.’
While
on his way to Talwandi Sabo Guru Gobind Singh camped here for
the night outside the mausoleum of the Muslim saint Haji Rattan.
The tomb keepers tried to dissuade the Guru from sleeping here
with the excuse that the place was haunted. Since the Guru neither
believed in tombs or ghosts he spent the night here to show
the people that such superstitions were not followed by Sikhs.
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DARGAH
OF BABA SALAR PIR : The Dargah of Baba Salar Pir is
situated in old Sirhind near Das Nami Akhara. It is held in
great esteem by people of Sirhind and surrounding area. Baba
Salar Pir is said to be the contemporary of Guru Gobind Singh.
He was well known for his spiritual powers and performance of
miracles. It is believed that he could make a wall move through
his spiritual power.
In
the month of July, a big fair is held here for six days and
food is served to the people. Wrestling bouts and muscial performances
by eminent singers are held. A large number of people pay homage
to their Pir for fulfillment of their cherished desires.
RAUZA
SHARIF : On
the Sirhind-Bassi Pathana Road, near Gurudwara Fatehgarh Sahib
is the magnificent RAUZA OR DARGAH of Shaikh Ahmad Faruqi
Sirhindi, popularly known as Mujaddid, Alf-Isfani who lived
in the times of Akbar and Jahangir from 1563 to 1624. The Shaikh
is held in high esteem and is considered by Sunni Muslims. Every
year, thousands of pilgrims from various parts of India, Pakistan,
Afghanistan, Bangla Desh and other Muslim countries visit this
place to participate in the celebrations, known as Urs of Shaikh
Ahmad Sirhindi. The date of annual celebrations vary from year
to year. Every year, these celebrations precede by ten days
than the previous year. By the side of the Rauza are the tombs
of the Afghan Ruler, Shah Zaman and his Queen.
Imam-e-Rabbani
Shaykh Ahmad al-Farooqi Sirhindi
Hazrat Mujaddid Alif Saani(rah)
Shaykh Ahmad al-Farooqi Sirhindi son of Makhdoom Sheikh Abdul
Ahad, scholar as well an activist of the Farouqi Chistia Order,
decedent of Umar Farouqi, Second Caliph, with twenty eight links
in the chain, was born on the day of 'Ashura, the 10th of Muharram
in the year 971 H., in the village of Sirhind near the city
of Lahore in present-day India. Sirhindi's shrine is located
in Sirhind, India and is referred to as "Rauza Sharif"..
It is said that the territory of Sirhind was a dense forest
abound with lions so named as Sher-e-Hind which when mutilated
became Sirhind.
He received his knowledge and education through his father and
through many shaikhs in his time. He made progress in three
tariqats: Suhrawardiyya, Qadiriyya, and Chistiyya. He was given
permission to train followers in all three tariqats at the age
of 17 years. He was busy in spreading the teachings of these
tariqats and in guiding his followers, yet he felt that something
was missing in himself and he was continuously searching for
it. He felt an interest in the Naqshbandi Sufi Order, because
he could see by means of the secrets of the other three tariqats
that it was the best and highest. His spiritual progress eventually
brought him to the presence of the Ghawth and Qutb of his time,
ash-Shaikh Muhammad al-Baqi, who had been sent from Samarqand
to India by the order of his shaikh, Muhammad al-Amkanaki. He
took the Naqshbandi Order from the shaikh and stayed with him
for two months and some days, until Sayyidina Muhammad al-Baqi
opened to his heart the secret of this tariqat and gave him
authorization to train his murids in the Order.
With the intention of proceeding on the Haj pilgrimage, he set
out from Sirhind to Delhi and stayed with Maulana Hasan Kashmiri
and from him heard of the virtues of Khawaja Baqi Billah. This
aroused in him an intense wish to see him. When he saw, he was
delighted, gave up the idea of the pilgrimage and engaged in
spiritual training under the guidance of Khawaja Baqi Billah
for three months. Hazrat Khawaja Baqi - Billah was so much impressed
with the spiritual powers of the Mujaddid that he also awarded
him the robe of his heir.
On his return from Delhi to Sirhind he drew a detailed and extensive
programme for the moral and spiritual awakening of the people
along with introduced teaching and sermonizing. Not much time
had elapsed that he was again called to Delhi and received two
letters one after the other at short intervals. He went there.
Hazrat Khawaja made him guardian of his children. This was their
last meeting. After this the Mujaddid returned to Sirhind. Hazrat
Baqi-Billah passed away in the meantime. The Mujaddid was in
Lahore. When news reached him, he set out to Delhi immediately,
paid homage to him at his grave and stayed for a short period
of time.
During the reign of Akbar, in the tenth century Hijri, Islam
was passing through a lean period; was under seige of blasphemy,
atheism, and irreligious. Akbar was providing state patronage
to Deen-e-Ilahi and was practicing un-Islamic rites. Fire, trees,
and water were worshipped. At this juncture. Islam needed a
fearless believer to defend it against the onslaught. He did
not permit the opportunist scholars and the misguided emperor
to garner strength and kept the torch of truth burning in such
trying times.
Sirhindi's World view
Sirhindi's worldview focused on the idea that ontologically,
the prophethood is far greater than closeness with Allah. He
believed that Sufi ideas which centered around spiritual growth
beyond the material world, while exhibiting key concepts, fell
short of encompassing Islam as a whole. Sirhindi, still accepting
and using these ideas of walayat, or closeness with Allah, focused
on a much more human understanding and reality by focusing on
following the sunnah of Muhammad (SAWS) and his companions.
His influence went so far as implementing jurisprudence in the
Islamic world by emphasizing the Shariah and fiqh, integrating
both into Indian Muslim government and society. This was accomplished
through his 536 letters collectively entitled Collected Letters
or Maktubat, to the Mughal rulers conveying his ideas.
Sayings
Abu
Dawud related an authentic hadith that the Prophet, upon whom
be Allah peace and blessings, said, 'Allah will send at the
beginning of every century someone by whom the religion will
be revived,' but there is a difference between the Reviver of
the Century and the Reviver of the Millennium. It is like the
difference between one hundred and one thousand." In a
vision, the Prophet gave me good tidings: 'You are going to
be a spiritual inheritor and Allah is going to give you the
authority to intercede on behalf of hundreds of thousands on
the Day of Judgment.' He bestowed on me with his holy hand the
authority to guide people, and he said to me, 'Never before
have I given that authority to guide people.' Allah unveiled
to me the Secrets of the Unique Oneness and He poured into my
heart all kinds of Spiritual Knowledge and its refinement. He
unveiled to me the Secrets of the ayats of Qur'an so that I
found beneath every letter of the Qur'an an ocean of knowledge
all pointing to the High Essence of Allah Almighty and Exalted.
If I were to reveal one word of the meaning of it they would
cut off my head, as they did to Hallaj and to Ibn 'Arabi. This
is the meaning of the hadith of the Prophet , in Bukhari, narrated
by Abu Huraira (r), "The Prophet poured into my heart two
kinds of knowledge, one of which I have revealed and another
which if I were to reveal they would cut my throat.
Works
: His works are his letters written to many of his contemporaries
known as Maktubaat.
"Moving to Allah is a vertical movement from the lower
stations to the higher stations; until the movement surpasses
time and space and all the states dissolve into what is called
the Necessary Knowledge (cilm ul-wajib) of Allah. This is also
called Annihilation (fana').
"Moving in Allah is the stage in which the seeker moves
from the station of Names and Attributes to a state which neither
word nor sign can describe. This is the State of Existence in
Allah called Baqa.
"Moving from Allah is the stage in which the seeker returns
from the heavenly world to the world of cause and effect, descending
from the highest station of knowledge to the lowest. Here he
forgets Allah by Allah, and he knows Allah with Allah, and he
returns from Allah to Allah. This is called the State of the
Farthest and the Nearest.
"Moving in things is a movement within creation. This involves
knowing intimately all elements and states in this world after
having vanished in Annihilation. Here the seeker can achieve
the State of Guidance, which is the state of the prophets and
the people following the footsteps of the Prophet . It brings
the Divine Knowledge into the world of creation in order to
establish Guidance.
Hazrat Mujaddid Alif Sa'ani was a great writer but his letter
proved more popular than his books. These letters translated
in Urdu, not only express his opinion on various issues but
are also fine pieces of language and style. Besides them following
are some of the titles of his books:
Mobada-o-Ma'ad.
Ma'arife-ladqiya.
Makashifaat-e-ghebia.
Sharah Rubaeyat-e-Hazrat Khawaja Baqi-Billah.
Risala-Telilia.
Risala Isbat-ul-Nabuwwat.
Risala Basilsila-e-Aha'dis.
One day a man told him that his relative was grievously ill
and requested to pray for him. He hesitated a little and said
it was not proper to pray for health to the deceased. Hearing
this he went out crying and when he reached his village he found
his relative dead and the people were crying.
He died on 9 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1079 Hijri.
Hazrat Sayed Shah Fazle Rehma Gunjmuradabadi(rah) a great sufi
saint belogs to the family of Hazrat Mujadid Alif Sani(rah),
You can read the whole biography of Hazrat Sayed Shah Fazle
Rehma Gunjmuradabadi(rah) at this link http://www.aulia-e-hind.com/dargah/GunjMuradabad.htm
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