Mehboobe Ilahi Nizamuddin Aulia

[nizamuddin]

I have posted this article to remind everyone it was the urs of this great Chistia saint and wali'Allah yesterday the 18th of Rabi ul Akhir.

"In Allah's garden you gather roses,
Being drunk with divine mysteries:
Hazrat Mehboob-e-Elahi -- the beloved of Allah,
O, how I long for the attar of your company'


Hazrat Nizamuddin Awlia (d. 1325 A.D.) represents in many ways the pinnacle of the Chishti Order of the Sufis. Hazrat Baba Farid, his spiritual guide, said to him on appointing him as his successor: "Be like a big tree, so that Allah's creation, the human beings in their vast multitudes, may find rest and solace under your shadow."

This partly explains why he admitted so many (according to some, including Barani, too many) men into the Chishti order as his disciples. Another reason has been clearly formulated in this way: "History, nonetheless, bears out the wisdom of his open-ended policy . . . To far-flung areas of Uttar Pradesh, Rajastan, Gujarat, Bihar, Bengal and the Deccan, Hazrat Nizamuddin Awlia sent able disciples well versed in the Chishti practices, yet sensitive to the needs of the local populace."

With regard to the Sufi path, Hazrat Nizamuddin Awlia taught the following: "For a dervish, three things are necessary. They all begin with an 'ain' (an Arabic letter), i.e., Ishq (love), Aql (intelligence) and Ilm (knowledge). Let us discuss these three qualities one by one.

Sufism is, in its essence, the way of love. Love is considered to be a spiritual alchemy by means of which the baser qualities of a human being are transformed into higher ones. In this respect it suffices to say that Hazrat Nizamuddin Awlia is known as Mehboob-e-Elahi, the beloved of Allah. Of course the spiritual status of a beloved is much higher than that of a lover.

'Intelligence' changed in the hands of Hazrat Nizamuddin Awlia into wisdom. His wisdom manifested itself in the shape of service to humanity. About him it has been said: "He was not a miracle-monger of the ordinary sort. He never flew in the air or walked on water with dry and motionless feet. His greatness was the greatness of a loving heart; his miracles were the miracles of a deeply sympathetic soul. He could read a man's inner heart by a glance at his face and spoke the words that brought consolation to a tortured heart."

About 'knowledge', the third faculty of a dervish, it can be said that Hazrat Nizamuddin Awlia was one of the greatest scholars of his day. He wanted to become a Qazi, but gave it all up in his pursuit of inner knowledge. After becoming a Murid (spiritual disciple) of Hazrat Baba Farid, he lived in extremely poor circumstances. Seeing him, a former friend expressed great surprise as he remembered Hazrat Nizamuddin Awlia as one who had begun a very promising career as a scholar. When Hazrat Nizamuddin Awlia told all of this to Hazrat Baba Farid, his murshid (spiritual guide) suggested that he should recite the following couplet to his friend:

You are not my fellow traveller.
Tread your own path
May you be affluent.
And I downtrodden.

Then Hazrat Baba Farid ordered him to take a tray of food from the kitchen and carry it on his head to his friend. After doing so, he recited the verse. This deeply moved his friend. One day, someone told a story of a certain saint who expired while slowly repeating the name of Allah. The eyes of Hazrat Nizamuddin Awlia, who was listening to this story, filled with tears and he recited this quatrain:

I come running to the end of Your street,
Tears are washing and washing my cheek.
Union with You -- what else can I seek?
My soul I surrender as Your name I repeat.

[sunni slave]

I come running to the end of Your street,
Tears are washing and washing my cheek.
Union with You -- what else can I seek?
My soul I surrender as Your name I repeat.

There is no more ibadah valuable than loving the Awliya Allah

[sunniboy]

Beholding your appearance, Oh Nijaam
I offer myself in sacrifice.
Amongst all the girls, my scarf is the most soiled,
Look, the girls are laughing at me.
This spring, please dye my scarf for me,
Oh Nijaam, protect my honour.
In the name of Ganj-e Shakar (Nizamuddin Aulia's pir),
Protect my honour, Oh beloved Nijaam.
Qutub and Farid have come in the wedding procession,
And Khusro is the loving bride, Oh Nijaam.
Some have to fight with the mother-in-law,
While some with sisters-in-law,
But I have you for support, Oh Nijaam.




Hey, I’ve just had an affair with my darling,
Don’t care what the neighbourhood girls say;
Just had an affair with my darling.
Oh, his beautiful face, charming like an idol,
I’ve just made a place in the bottom of his heart.
I, Khusro, give my life to Nizamuddin in sacrifice,
I’ve just had him call me his most favourite disciple;
Don’t care what the neighbourhood girls say,
Just had an affair with my darling.



What a glow everywhere I see, Oh mother, what a glow;
I’ve found the beloved, yes I found him,
In my courtyard;
I have found my pir Nizamuddin Aulia.
I roamed around the entire world,
looking for an ideal beloved;
And finally this face has enchanted my heart.
The whole world has been opened for me,
Never seen a glow like this before.
Whenever I see now, he is with me,
Oh beloved, please dye me in yourself;
Dye me in the colour of the spring, beloved;
What a glow, Oh, what a glow.

[Qadiri Ashrafi]

Subhanallah - outstanding verses. Shows the true nature and piety of this great wali-Allah.

Hadrat Nizamuddin Awlia (Rahmatullahi alaihi) in Fawaid-ul-Fuad[17] : "None can be converted to Islam either by sword or by dialogue; but good character is more effective than sword or dialogue. Before converting someone it is most essential that one must first be a real Muslim."

[Walid]

Most of us become followers of a Sheikh in the hope of achieving the station of an Awliya. However, we are seldom aware of the determination, commitment, self sacrifice, pedigree and qualities required to become an Awliya. Most of us live in dreamland, thinking that we have achieved some great spiritual station, when in reality we are far far away from our goal. And this realisation only dawns on us when we reflect on the lives of those who have really reached their heavenly station. To illustrate this point we have chosen to write about the life of the great Sufi Saint Khwaja Nizamuddin Awliya (radi Allahu anhu), who is one of the main pillars of the Chishti Sufi Order and a prime example of 'What it takes to be an Awliya'.

Khwaja Nizamuddin is the patron saint of Delhi and a large suburb of Delhi with its own railway station is named after him. He was a splendid holy man before whose humble majesty even the glory of the greatest Kings paled into nothingness. The family of Khwaja Nizamuddin migrated from Bukhara to Badun in the reign of Sultan Shamsuddin. He was born in 636 Hijri/1258AD in that small village of India which was then the famous centre of Sayyads who belonged to the family of the Prophet Muhammad(Salla Allahu alaihi wa Sallam).

The father of Khwaja Nizamuddin, Maulana Sayyad Ahmed (radi Allahu anhu), was a great scholar of his times, but he passed away when the boy was not yet 5 years old, and the burden of his up bringing fell upon his mother. She was a poor women who earned her living by spinning cotton. For days on end they had to do without food. When Khwaja Nizamuddin was 16 years old he was considered among the top most scholars of his times. His mother invited all the scholars of the day and garlanded her son with the cotton flowers span and woven by her own hands. Thereafter Khwaja Nizamuddin came to Delhi with his mother and sister to pursue his search for higher knowledge. By now he was initiated in the Chishti Sufi Order by the great Sheikh Baba Farid Ganji Shakar (radi Allahu anhu). Later on in life Khwaja Nizamuddin became the successor of Baba Farid and the head of the Chishti Sufi Order.

When Khwaja Nizamuddin came to Delhi, Sultan Ghayzauddin Balban was the King of the country. Avoiding the crowded atmosphere of the city, Khwaja Nizamuddin set up his humble house three miles away from the city, which today is a flourishing suburb. But his reputation spread far and wide throughout the country. He regularly kept fasts and spent the nights in prayerful vigils. Thousands of people came to pay their respects to him.

Khwaja Nizamuddin established a vast community kitchen and thousands of needy and greedy people dinned there regularly. The poor and handicapped also got stipends from his house. The ambassadors of foreign countries where his guests for months at a time.

After all the diners had departed from the kitchen, Khwaja Nizamuddin would take his simple food alone. It consisted of rough grains and boiled vegetables. He served delicious dishes to others but did not take them himself. He used to say "When thousands of people are lying hungry on the roads, how can Nizamuddin take excellent food and forget this wretched populace?" On winter nights he used to pray "Allah protect these wretched folk from your ordeals!" He was always restless and suffered for their sake. The generosity of Khwaja Nizamuddin was so great, that the treasury of a King could not bear it. He was never short of money and he spent much more than the total gifts received from friends and followers.

[Walid]

Once, when Sultan Shamsuddin sent Khwaja Nizamuddin a bag of gold coins, a saintly acrobat was sitting close to him. The fakir said to him jokingly: "Baba half the money belongs to me." "Why half?" said Khwaja Nizamuddin. "You take the lot." So saying he handed over the entire bag of gold to the acrobat. One person named Chajju was a sworn enemy of Khwaja Nizamuddin and used the foulest language against him. Nevertheless, Khwaja Nizamuddin gave him some money everyday as charity. Finally the man stopped abusing and asked for a parting gift. "You ask for your rights," Khwaja Nizamuddin said to him; "Why have you forgotten my rights?" The Khwaja regarded being abused by this man as his right!

Khwaja Nizamuddin permitted the poorest inhabitants of Delhi to enter his private apartments by day or by night and demand any help they desired without let or hindrance. On the contrary, no King could enter his presence without formalities and without taking a proper appointment. He strongly disliked the intimacy of the rich and the mighty. Such was his awe and majesty that the greatest Kings trembled at his threshold. When Jalaluddin Khilji became the King of Delhi he tried his best to have an audience with his holiness; but he was never granted permission.

When King Alauddin Khilji died, his third son Qutbuddin Mubarak blinded one Khizer Khan, a disciple of Khwaja Nizamuddin, and ordered Khwaja Nizamuddin to appear in his presence by a certain date, with orders that he should be handcuff and produced in his presence; but before the arrival of the appointed day, King Mubarak Shah was himself assassinated by his favourite courtier Khasru Khan, who then became the King of Delhi.

Ghayasuddin Tughluq was inimical to Khwaja Nizamuddin and when he was returning from a military campaign in Bangladesh, he sent word that the saint should leave Delhi before his arrival. Khwaja Nizamuddin wrote to him "Hanuz Delhi door ast" (Delhi is far of yet). When the King sent the same message again the saint sent him back the same reply. The King wrote to him several times on route to Delhi and got back the same reply.

On arrival in the precincts of Delhi, the King held a splendid banquet three miles away from the capital to demonstrate his joy of home coming; but the tented palace in which he was staying fell down and the King perished under it. Some historians believe, that the, heir apartment Muhammad Tughluq deliberately built such a flimsy tent to capture the throne. Others believe that it was struck by lightning. In short, whenever the Kings came into confrontation with Khwaja Nizamuddin, they were destroyed. Those who were devoted to him were blessed and won greatness and glory. There were many famous Awliya who were disciples of Khwaja Nizamuddin and among them was Sheikh Assamuddin Multani.

Once Sheikh Assamuddin was passing on the road when his blanket fell down from his shoulders but he was not at all aware of his loss. When he had gone a distance, a man shouted at the Sheikh, "Sheikh! Sheikh! your blanket has fallen down." But Sheikh Assam did not take notice of the man. The man kept on shouting in the hope that the Sheikh would hear him, but the Sheikh took no notice. Finally the man brought the blanket to the Sheikh and exclaimed, "O Sheikh why didn't you listen to me?" The Sheikh replied, "You were calling upon a Sheikh, but I am not a Sheikh. I am only a beggar!"

The secret message that Khwaja Nizamuddin gave Sheikh Assam was this "Renounce the world! Renounce the world! Renounce the world!" These, then, are the qualities of an Awliya. Ask yourself if you came even close to such high qualities. And if not, why then the pride, haughtiness and the inner claim?



The basic truth is that until and unless Allah decides on a matter, we can not, by your weak efforts, claim any positions. Remember, if you wish to be something and you must first became nothing !



May Allah forgive us and guide us through our beloved Sheikhs, to the path of reality in reality. Ameen.