HAZRAT MUJADID ALF

SANI
SHEIKH AHMED SIRHINDI
LECTURE 1
 General Information
• Name: Sheikh Ahmed Sirhindi commonly known as Mujadid Alf Sani
• Father: Sheikh Abd-al-Ahad ------- Chishtiya and Suhurwardiya order
• Era: 16th century (during king Akbar’s reign)
• Born: June 26, 1564 Sirhind
• Issues: Challenged Akhbar on his Din-i-Ellahi
• Follower: Khawaja Baqi Billah of Naqshbandi order
• Disciple: Naqshbandi order
• Education: Holy Quran, Hadith, Tafsir and Maqul (philosophy)
• Book: Isbat-un-Nabuwwat (Affirmation of Prophethood)
 Cont….
• He was a great Muslim saint and mystic
• He challenged the might of Akbar, the great Mughal king emperor, to
re-establish the glory of Islam which had been gravely threatened by
the anti Islamic trends of Akbar
• He travelled from place to place to get benefit from the renowned
scholars
• During his travelling he met the leading lights of Akbar’s court Abu-al-
Fazl and Faizi
• Both were inspired by him and tried to draw him into the court of
Akbar
• Connection with the celebrated brothers did not prolonged because
of the Abu-al-Fazl’s un-Islamic trends
 Cont…
• He received spiritual training from Baqi Billah who encouraged him to
utilize his tremendous spiritual gifts by freeing of his creative qualities
• Baqi Billah bestowed khilafat on Sheikh Ahmed soon after he joined
his discipleship
• Baqi Billah was greatly impressed by his mystical qualities and wrote
about him, “Sheikh Ahmed is an individual from Sirhind, rich in
knowledge and vigorous in action. I associated him for few days and
found truly marvelous things in his spiritual life. He will turn into
light which will illuminate the world”
 Social Conditions of India
• Before he began his reform movement Muslim society was ridden
with un-Islamic practices and trends
• Under the Hindu influence, a firm and widespread belief in Karamaat
(miracles of the saints) had developed in the society which greatly
misguided the innocent people
• In Sufism many means of developing magical and supernatural
powers, alien to Islam had been developed
• Mystics and Sufis openly denied the authenticity of sharia by
declaring sharia as superficial and external
• They proudly manifested their indifference towards sunnah
Cont…
• The ulema and theologians ceased to refer to the Quran and Hadith in
their commentaries and considered jurisprudence as the only religious
knowledge
• By these trends religious spirit excessively weakened and gave rise to
the juristic view of Islam
• Akbar has no learning towards Islamic principles and promoted
Hinduism by marrying Hindu ladies
• Allow free access to the Rajputs and Hindus in his court
• Appointed Hindu Rajputs on higher civil and military positions
• Introduction of Din-i-Ellahi by Akbar gave attempt to distort Islam
• The impact of Din-i-Ellahi greatly affected the Muslims belief and split
Muslim society into many factions
Sheikh Ahmed’s Effort to Purge Muslim Society of
Atheist Values
• He took the responsibility to purify the Muslim society of un-Islamic
tendencies by sending several his disciples in all directions to preach
true Islam
• He asked his all disciples to emphasis on Ittibat-i-Islam and
commandments of Sharia in their preaching
• The work was vigorously pursed in India and other neighboring
Muslim countries. He also began a correspondence with the
prominent scholars of all Muslim countries and put a great stress on
the Ittibat-i-Sunnah
• He was greatly opposed to the atheism and openly denounced un-
Islamic society
 Cont…
• He worked very hard to restore the original teachings of Islam and
emphasized on the concept of Tauheed
• He exposed the fallacy of Din-i-Ellahi and told Muslims to spend their
lives according to the principle of Islam
• He declared that mysticism without Shariat was misleading and
denounced those ulama who had questioned the authority of Sharia
• He initiated the leading nobles near the emperor into his discipleship
and through them exerted an influence to bring about a change in the
life of the court
• He was able to enlist Abdur Rahim Khan-e-Khana, Khan-i-Azam Mirza
Aziz and Mufti Sardar Jehan, the most influential personalities of
Akbar’s era into his discipleship
Cont…
• He also persuaded the great men of Jahangir’s period to take an oath
of Allegiance at Sheikh Ahmad’s hand
• In the time of Jahangir, Sheikh Ahmad was successful to a greater
extent to extract a serious undertaking from the Muslims that they
would not obey any orders unacceptable to Islam
• Sheikh Ahmad persuaded the Muslims to adopt simple life in the light
of Islam and Sunnah
• He revealed the importance of Namaz and Fasting
• His efforts contributed a great deal towards the popularity of Islam in
the sub-continent
 Sheikh Ahmad’s Letters and his
• His letters are known asImprisonment
Muktuba-e-Imam Rabbani
• He adopted an effective method of persuasion by writing letters to the
leading nobles of the royal court
• His letters reminding the nobles about their duties towards state and
Islam
• He also dealt with matters other than religious revival in his letters
which drew him into serious difficulties
• Asaf Jah, the Prime Minister of Jahangir’s court alerted Jahangir of the
mounting popularity of Sheikh Ahmad by inciting the Emperor that his
anti-Hindu views were creating unrest in the country
• He then summoned by the Emperor to his court and explain his
statement
Cont…
• He appeared in the royal court in a highly dignified manner and
explained his statement in a courageous style
• Someone pointed Jahangir that he didn’t performed “Prostration”
when he asked to perform Sajdah, he refused by saying that Sejdah is
only for the Almighty Allah
• On his blunt reply Jahangir ordered him to be imprisoned in the Fort
of Gawalior
• During his imprisonment he didn’t stop preaching Islam
• After two years, Jahangir feeling repentful and released him by giving
a dress of honor and 1000 rupees for his expense
• Jahangir also give him option to go to Sirhind or remained in the royal
court, he preferred to stay in royal court to preach his views
 Sheikh Ahmad and Two-Nation Concept
• In order to popularize Islam several Muslim reformers and revivers
adopted a liberal point of view in their preaching so that a large
number of people could attracted towards Islam
• However, they were successful to a great extent but at the same time
this liberal approach gave rise to the concept of joint nationalism
• This trend proved injurious to the separate and distinct image of
Muslims
• Sheikh Ahmad concluded that if Muslims were not alerted against this
attitude they will be doomed forever as a nation
• To put an end to the growing trend of joint nationalism, he openly
negated the philosophy of Wahdat-ul-Wajud.
Cont…
• He was a loyal advocate of the separateness of the Muslims and
desired to maintain the distinctive image of the Muslim nationalism
• For that he adopted a very strict attitude against Hindus
• He firmly believed in Two-Nation Theory
• He was in favor of maintaining the differences between Hindus and
Muslims
• He wanted Jizya to be imposed on Hindus and demanded the
destruction of Hindu temples
Wahdat-ul-Wajud and Wahdat-ul-Shahud
• The philosophy of Wahdat-ul-Wajud was presented by some Sufis of
Akbar’s time
• They believed that the entire universe is the symbol of Almighty Allah and a
source of revelation of Allah’s sovereignty
• The advocates of Wahdat-ul-Wajud believed that there was no living
difference between the man and his creator and both individual and God
are not separated from each other
• They also believed that every particle of the universe represented the
presence of God and therefore, the worship of God’s creature amounted to
the worship of God
• Shiekh Ahmad openly negated this philosophy and declared it against the
principle of Islam
• He then presented Wahdat-ul-Shahud which meant that the Creator and
creatures were two different and separate entities
 The Influence of Sheikh Ahmad’s Effort
• The effort of Sheikh Ahmad to purify the religious and practical life of
the Muslims left and fast impact on the history of Muslim India
• Allama Iqbal considered him as the spiritual guardian of the Muslims
of India
• His movement for the cause of Islam gave a new life to the Muslims
and is regarded as the call back to Muhammad, which left far-
reaching impact in religious and practical fields
• He drew a distinction between Islam and atheism
• He considerably prevailed upon Jahangir to alter his religious view and
abandon his father’s religious policies
• Under his influence, Jahangir ordered Khutaba to be recited and cow
slaughter to be carried out as required by Islamic principles
Cont…

• Jahangir also agreed to the construction of a big mosque on the