Saint Maruf Karkhi
Tomb of Maruf al Karkhi in Bhagdad
Mystic, Preacher
Born	c. 750-60 C.E. Baghdad
Died	c. 815-20 C.E.
Honored in	Islam
Influences	Muhammad, Ali ibn Musa and Dawud Ta'i

Maruf Karkhi (Persian: معروف کرخی‎), known also by his full name Abu Mahfuz Maruf Ibn Firuz al-Karkhi, was a Sufi Saint who is a pivotal figure in Sufism. He came from a Christian background^[1] and the story of his conversion to Islam is one of the most famous in Islamic lore.

Biography[link]

Maruf was born in the district of Wasit or Karkh in Baghdad. His father's name was Firuz, which suggests that he was of Persian origin.^[2] His original religion is usually understood to have been Christian, which may mean that the Armenian Islamic preacher and mystic, Farqad Sabakhi, may have mentored Maruf Karkhi.^[3] Attar narrates in his Memorial of the Saints that Maruf converted to Islam at a young age at the hands of Ali ibn Musa, after rejecting all forms of polytheism. Tradition recounts that he immediately went and told his father and mother, who rejoiced at his decision and became Muslims themselves. After accepting Islam, Maruf became a student of Dawud Ta'i, and underwent a severe trial of his discipleship. Maruf, however, remained steadfast and proved himself so devout that his righteousness became locally famous.

Sufi tradition[link]

In Sufism, those of the order of Marufi are those connected to Maruf Karkhi. Maruf thus forms a penultimate link in what is known as the Golden Chain (silsilah) of Sufism, the initiation line which forms an unbroken chain to Muhammad. Maruf, being the freed slave and disciple of Ali ar-Ridha, formed part of that lineage, while at the same time maintaining the teachings of his master Dawud Ta'i and thus being his successor as well. Sufis venerate Maruf highly for the multiple spiritual chains which interlock in his teachings.^[4]

Osho mentions Maruf Karkhi as one of the Sufi masters and that hundreds of people became enlightened through him. Also that Maruf Karkhi developed many new devices and was really a religious man, not belonging to any orthodoxy, not belonging to any convention, not belonging to any tradition; homeless, without any roots; floating like a white cloud – absolute freedom in his being.^[5]

See also[link]

• Tadhkiratul Aulia by Sheikh Farid al-din attar.
• Qari Muhammad Muslehuddin Siddiqui
• Riaz Ahmed Gohar Shahi

Notes[link]

v t e Sufism and Tariqa Ideas Qutb Wali Abdal Fakir Dervish Tazkiah Baqaa Fanaa Haal Keramat Haqiqa Ihsan Irfan Kashf Lataif Manzil Marifa Nafs Noor Sufi cosmology Sufi metaphysics Sufi philosophy Sufi poetry Sufi psychology Sulook Yaqeen Silsila Practices Anasheed Dhikr Haḍra Muraqaba Qawwali Sama Whirling Ziyarat Sufi orders Azeemia Akbarī Alians Ba 'Alawī Bayramī Bektashī Chishtī Galibī Gulshanī Ḥurūfī Idrīsī Jelvetī Jerrahī Khalwatī Kubrāwī Madarī Malāmatī Mawlāwī Mourīdī Naqshbandī Naqshbandi Uwaisī Khalidiyya Nasuhī Ni'matullāhī Nuqtawī Qadirī Qalāndārī Rifa'ī Safāvī Shadhilī Suhrawardī Sunbulī Tijanī Ussakī Uwaisī Zahedī Notable early Sufi saints and mystics Abdul-Qadir Gilanī Abul-Khayr Ahmad Ghazālī Ahmed Yasāvī Al-Ghazālī Al-Hallaj al-Misrī Al-Qāsim al-Qunawī Amīr Kulal Ardabilī Ata Allah Attar Balım Sultan Baha ūd-Dīn Naqshband Bande Nawāz Baqī Billah Bastamī Bhita'ī Bulleh Shah Shah Waliullah Dehlāvī Farīd ūd-Dīn Fozail Gālib Gharīb Nawāz Ghujdawanī Ghulam Farīd Sheik Edebali Gül Baba Hajji Bayram Hajji Bektash Hazrat Mai Safoora Qadiriyya Haddad Hamadānī Hansvī Harabatī Baba Hasan Basri Mahmud Hudayī Hujwirī ibn ʿArabī Jābir ibn Hayyān Jahangasht Jamī Jan-e-Jānāān Jazoulī Junayd Baġdādī Kākī Kaliyarī Karkhī Kharaqanī Kubrā Nāimī Najib al-Suhrawardī Nasīmī Mansur Al-Hallaj Ni'matullāh Nizām ūd-Dīn Nurī Otman Baba Pir Sultan Qutb ūd-Dīn Haydār Rabbānī Rabia Basri Razī Rifa'ī Rukn-e-Alam Rūmī Ibrahim ibn Adham Saadī Salman al-Farisī Sanai Mevlana Halid-i Bagdadi Sarı Saltuk Semnanī Shadhilī Shahāb al-Dīn Suhrawardī Shams Tabrizī Shiblī Shirazī Sultan Walad Surkh Bukhari Taj al-Dīn Gilanī Umar al-Suhrawardī Uwais al-Qarni Yunus Emre Magtymguly Pyragy Zakariya Zarruq Notable modern Sufi saints Auliya Azeemi Nagpuri Meher Ali Sheikh Muhammad Uthman Sirajuddin Qadeer Piya Muhammad Maliki Gohar Shahi Tahir ul-Qadri Tahir Allauddin Taqi Usmani Abdal Hakim Murad Nazim Al-Haqqani Hisham Kabbani Nuh Keller Nooruddeen Durkee Abdalqadir as-Sufi Zaheen Ghulam Mustafa Reshad Feild Ahmad al-Alawi Ashraf Ali Thanvi Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Abd al-Rahman al-Shaghouri Omar Shah Haeri Raza Khan Syed Shujaat Pir Zulfiqar Abdullah Naqshbandi Sufi Barkat Ali Hafiz Qamaruddin Saheb Qibla Fultali Feisal Abdul Rauf Osman Nuri Topbaş Sufi studies Aguéli Almqvist Burckhardt Chittick Corbin Ernst Frager Guénon Hixon Lindbom Lings Nasr Schimmel Sells Shah Schuon Topics in Sufism Art Fiction History Music Poetry Shrines Texts Portal

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Shah Hussain
Born	Lahore Pakistan

Shah Hussain (1538–1599) was a Punjabi Sufi poet who is regarded as a Sufi saint. He was the son of Sheikh Usman, a weaver, and belonged to the Dhudha clan of Rajputs. He was born in Lahore (present-day Pakistan). He is considered a pioneer of the Kafi form of Punjabi poetry.

Shah Hussain's love for a Brahmin boy called "Madho" or "Madho Lal" is famous, and they are often referred to as a single person with the composite name of "Madho Lal Hussain". Madho's tomb lies next to Hussain's in the shrine.^[1]

His tomb and shrine lies in Baghbanpura, adjacent to the Shalimar Gardens. His Urs (annual death anniversary) is celebrated at his shrine every year during the "Mela Chiraghan" ("Festival of Lights").

Kafis of Shah Hussain[link]

Hussain's poetry consists entirely of short poems known as Kafis. A typical Hussain Kafi contains a refrain and some rhymed lines. The number of rhymed lines is usually between four and ten. Only occasionally is a longer form adopted. Hussain's Kafis are also composed for, and have been set to, music deriving from Punjabi folk music. Many of his Kafis are part of the traditional Qawwali repertoire. His poems have been performed as songs by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Abida Parveen and Noor Jehan, among others.

Here are three examples, which draw on the love story of Heer Ranjha:

<poem> Ni Mai menoon Khedeyan di gal naa aakh Ranjhan mera, main Ranjhan di, Khedeyan noon koodi jhak Lok janey Heer kamli hoi, Heeray da var chak </poem>

<poem> Do not talk of the Khedas to me, mother. I belong to Ranjha and he belongs to me. And the Khedas dream idle dreams. Let the people say, "Heer is crazy; she has given herself to a cowherd." </poem>

Another Kafi:

<poem> Sajjan bin raatan hoiyan whadiyaan Ranjha jogi, main jogiani, kamli kar kar sadiyaan Maas jhurey jhur pinjer hoya, kadken lagiyaan haddiyaan Main ayani niyoonh ki janan, birhon tannawan gadiyaan Kahe Husain faqeer sain da, larr tere main lagiyaan </poem>

<poem> The nights are long without my beloved. Since Ranjha became a jogi, I have scarcely been my old self; people everywhere call me crazy. My young flesh is all wrinkled, my bones are a creaking skeleton. I was too young to understand love; and now as the nights swell and merge into each other, I play host to that unkind guest - separation. </poem>

<poem> Main vi jaanaan jhok Ranjhan di, naal mere koi challey Pairan paindi, mintaan kardi, jaanaan tan peya ukkaley Neen vi dhoonghi, tilla purana, sheehan ney pattan malley Ranjhan yaar tabeeb sadhendha, main tan dard awalley Kahe Hussain faqeer namana, sain sunedha ghalley </poem>

<poem> I have to go to Ranjha's hut, will someone go with me? I have begged many to accompany me, but I had to set out alone. The river is deep, and the shaky bridge creaks. I am tortured by my wounds, but Ranjha my beloved is the doctor who can cure them. Only my beloved can bring me comfort. </poem>

See also[link]

• List of Punjabi language poets
• Qawwali

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Great Sufi Poets of The Punjab, by R. M. Chopra, Iran Society, Kolkata, 1999.

External links[link]

• Complete works of Shah Hussain in Shahmukhi
• Sufis - Wisdom against Violence - Madho Lal Hussain

v t e Sufism and Tariqa Ideas Qutb Wali Abdal Fakir Dervish Tazkiah Baqaa Fanaa Haal Keramat Haqiqa Ihsan Irfan Kashf Lataif Manzil Marifa Nafs Noor Sufi cosmology Sufi metaphysics Sufi philosophy Sufi poetry Sufi psychology Sulook Yaqeen Silsila Practices Anasheed Dhikr Haḍra Muraqaba Qawwali Sama Whirling Ziyarat Sufi orders Azeemia Akbarī Alians Ba 'Alawī Bayramī Bektashī Chishtī Galibī Gulshanī Ḥurūfī Idrīsī Jelvetī Jerrahī Khalwatī Kubrāwī Madarī Malāmatī Mawlāwī Mourīdī Naqshbandī Naqshbandi Uwaisī Khalidiyya Nasuhī Ni'matullāhī Nuqtawī Qadirī Qalāndārī Rifa'ī Safāvī Shadhilī Suhrawardī Sunbulī Tijanī Ussakī Uwaisī Zahedī Notable early Sufi saints and mystics Abdul-Qadir Gilanī Abul-Khayr Ahmad Ghazālī Ahmed Yasāvī Al-Ghazālī Al-Hallaj al-Misrī Al-Qāsim al-Qunawī Amīr Kulal Ardabilī Ata Allah Attar Balım Sultan Baha ūd-Dīn Naqshband Bande Nawāz Baqī Billah Bastamī Bhita'ī Bulleh Shah Shah Waliullah Dehlāvī Farīd ūd-Dīn Fozail Gālib Gharīb Nawāz Ghujdawanī Ghulam Farīd Sheik Edebali Gül Baba Hajji Bayram Hajji Bektash Hazrat Mai Safoora Qadiriyya Haddad Hamadānī Hansvī Harabatī Baba Hasan Basri Mahmud Hudayī Hujwirī ibn ʿArabī Jābir ibn Hayyān Jahangasht Jamī Jan-e-Jānāān Jazoulī Junayd Baġdādī Kākī Kaliyarī Karkhī Kharaqanī Kubrā Nāimī Najib al-Suhrawardī Nasīmī Mansur Al-Hallaj Ni'matullāh Nizām ūd-Dīn Nurī Otman Baba Pir Sultan Qutb ūd-Dīn Haydār Rabbānī Rabia Basri Razī Rifa'ī Rukn-e-Alam Rūmī Ibrahim ibn Adham Saadī Salman al-Farisī Sanai Mevlana Halid-i Bagdadi Sarı Saltuk Semnanī Shadhilī Shahāb al-Dīn Suhrawardī Shams Tabrizī Shiblī Shirazī Sultan Walad Surkh Bukhari Taj al-Dīn Gilanī Umar al-Suhrawardī Uwais al-Qarni Yunus Emre Magtymguly Pyragy Zakariya Zarruq Notable modern Sufi saints Auliya Azeemi Nagpuri Meher Ali Sheikh Muhammad Uthman Sirajuddin Qadeer Piya Muhammad Maliki Gohar Shahi Tahir ul-Qadri Tahir Allauddin Taqi Usmani Abdal Hakim Murad Nazim Al-Haqqani Hisham Kabbani Nuh Keller Nooruddeen Durkee Abdalqadir as-Sufi Zaheen Ghulam Mustafa Reshad Feild Ahmad al-Alawi Ashraf Ali Thanvi Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Abd al-Rahman al-Shaghouri Omar Shah Haeri Raza Khan Syed Shujaat Pir Zulfiqar Abdullah Naqshbandi Sufi Barkat Ali Hafiz Qamaruddin Saheb Qibla Fultali Feisal Abdul Rauf Osman Nuri Topbaş Sufi studies Aguéli Almqvist Burckhardt Chittick Corbin Ernst Frager Guénon Hixon Lindbom Lings Nasr Schimmel Sells Shah Schuon Topics in Sufism Art Fiction History Music Poetry Shrines Texts Portal

Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti
Dargah of Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer, India.
Religion	Islam
Other name(s)	Hazrat Khwaja Gharīb Nawāz
Personal
Born	1141 Khorasan (in modern Afghanistan) or Isfahan (in modern Iran)
Died	1230 Ajmer
Senior posting
Based in	Ajmer, Northern India
Title	غریب نواز Gharīb Nawāz، سُلطان الہند Sultan-ul-Hind (emperor of India) Shaikh, Khalifa
Period in office	Late 12th century and early 13th century
Predecessor	Usman Harooni
Successor	Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki

Sultan-ul-Hind, Moinuddin Chishti (Urdu/Persian: معین الدین چشتی‎) (Persian: چشتی‎ - Čištī) (Arabic: ششتى‎ - Shishti) was born in 1141 and died in 1230 CE. Also known as Gharīb Nawāz "Benefactor of the Poor" (غریب نواز), he is the most famous Sufi saint of the Chishti Order of the Indian Subcontinent. He introduced and established the order in South Asia. The initial spiritual chain or silsila of the Chishti order in India, comprising Moinuddin Chishti, Bakhtiyar Kaki, Baba Farid and Nizamuddin Auliya (each successive person being the disciple of the previous one), constitutes the great Sufi saints of Indian history.^[1]

Early life and background[link]

Moinuddin Chishtī is said to have been born in 536 A.H./1141 CE, in Chishti in Sistan region of Afghanistan.^[2] He was a Sayed, a descendant of Muhammad through Ja'far aṣ-Ṣādiq. He grew up in Persia. His parents died when he was only fifteen years old. He inherited a windmill and an orchard from his father. During his childhood, young Moinuddin was different from others and kept himself busy in prayers and meditation. Legend has it that once when he was watering his plants, a revered Sufi, Shaikh Ibrāhim Qundūzī (or Kunduzi) -- the name deriving from his birth place, Kunduz in Afghanistan -- came to his orchard. Young Moinuddin approached him and offered him some fruits. In return, Sheikh Ibrāhīm Qundūzī gave him a piece of bread and asked him to eat it. The Khwāja got enlightened and found himself in a strange world after eating the bread. After this he disposed of his property and other belongings and distributed the money to the poor. He renounced the world and left for Bukhara in search of knowledge and higher education.^[3]

He became the Murid (disciple) of Usman Harooni.

Journeys[link]

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Moinuddin Chishtī visited the seminaries of Samarkand and Bukhara and acquired religious learning at the feet of eminent scholars of his age. He visited nearly all the great centers of Muslim culture, and acquainted himself with almost every important trend in Muslim religious life in the Middle Ages. He became a disciple of the Chishtī saint 'Uthmān Hārūnī. They travelled the Middle East extensively together, including visits to Mecca and Medina.

Journey to India[link]

Moinuddin Chishtī turned towards India, reputedly after a dream in which Prophet Muhammad blessed him to do so. After a brief stay at Lahore, he reached Ajmer along with Sultan Shahāb-ud-Din Muhammad Ghori, and settled down there. In Ajmer, he attracted a substantial following, acquiring a great deal of respect amongst the residents of the city. Moinuddin Chishtī practiced the Sufi Sulh-e-Kul (peace to all) concept to promote understanding between Muslims and non-Muslims.

Establishing the Chishtī order in India[link]

The Chishtī order was founded by Abu Ishaq Shami (“the Syrian”) in Chisht, some 95 miles east of Herat in present-day western Afghanistan.^[4] Moinuddin Chishti established the order in India, in the city of Ajmer in North India.

Moinuddin Chishti apparently never wrote down his teachings in the form of a book, nor did his immediate disciples, but the central principles that became characteristics of the Chishtī order in India are based on his teachings and practices. They lay stress on renunciation of material goods; strict regime of self-discipline and personal prayer; participation in Samā' as a legitimate means to spiritual transformation; reliance on either cultivation or unsolicited offerings as means of basic subsistence; independence from rulers and the state, including rejection of monetary and land grants; generosity to others, particularly, through sharing of food and wealth, and tolerance and respect for religious differences.

He, in other words, interpreted religion in terms of human service and exhorted his disciples "to develop river-like generosity, sun-like affection and earth-like hospitality." The highest form of devotion, according to him, was "to redress the misery of those in distress – to fulfill the needs of the helpless and to feed the hungry."

It was during the reign of Emperor Akbar (1556–1605) that Ajmer emerged as one of the most important centers of pilgrimage in India. The Mughal Emperor undertook an unceremonial journey on foot to accomplish his wish to reach Ajmer. The Akbarnāmah records that the Emperor's interest first sparked when he heard some minstrels singing songs about the virtues of the Walī (Friend of God) who lay asleep in Ajmer.

Moinuddin Chishtī authored several books including Anīs al-Arwāḥ and Dalīl al-'Ārifīn, both of which deal with the Islamic code of living.

Quṭbuddīn Baktiyār Kākī (d. 1235) and Ḥamīduddīn Nagorī (d. 1276) were Moinuddin Chishtī's celebrated Khalīfas or successors who continued to transmit the teachings of their master through their disciples, leading to the widespread proliferation of the Chishtī Order in India.

Among Quṭbuddīn Baktiyār's prominent disciples was Farīduddīn Ganj-i-Shakar (d. 1265), whose dargāh is at Pakpattan, (Pakistan). Farīduddīn's most famous disciple was Nizāmuddīn Auliyā' (d. 1325) popularly referred to as Mahbūb-e-Ilāhī (God's beloved), whose dargāh is located in South Delhi.

From Delhi, disciples branched out to establish dargāhs in several regions of South Asia, from Sindh in the west to Bengal in the east, and the Deccan in the south. But from all the network of Chishtī dargāhs the Ajmer dargāh took on the special distinction of being the 'mother' dargah of them all.

Dargah Sharif[link]

Dargah of Moinuddin Chishti, Ajmer

Main article: Dargah Sharif

The dargah (shrine) of Chisti, known as Dargah Sharif or Ajmer Sharif is an international wakf (endowment), managed under the 'Dargah Khwaja Saheb Act, 1955' of Government of India. The Dargah Committee, appointed by the Government, manages donations, takes care of the maintenance of the shrine, and runs charitable institutions like dispensaries, and guest houses for the devotees.^[5] The dargah, which is visited by Muslim pilgrims as well as Hindus and Sikhs as a symbol of intercommunal harmony.

In popular culture[link]

His poetry in praise of Imam Hussein ibn Ali is well known, specially the following verse:

Shah Ast Hussein Badshah Ast Hussein

Ruler is Hussain, Emperor is Hussain

Deen Ast Hussein Deen Panah Ast Hussein

Faith is Hussain , guardian of faith is Hussain

Sar dad na daad dast dar dast e yazeed

Offered his head and not the hand to Yazid

Haqaaq e Binaa e Laa iLaha Ast Hussein

Indeed, Hussain is the foundation of La-ilah (the declaration that none but God is Absolute and Almighty)

A Bollywood movie Jodhaa Akbar (2008), directed by Ashutosh Gowariker, includes a qawwālī in praise of Moinuddin Chishti ("Khwāja Mērē Khwāja"). It depicts the Emperor Akbar being moved by the song to join the whirling-dervish-like dance that accompanies the song. The song is composed by A.R. Rahman.

Sufis of the Chishtī order[link]

He had more than one thousand khalīfas and hundreds of thousands of disciples. Sufis of different orders became his disciples and took ijāzah from him. Among the famous Sufis who trace their lineage to him are: Quṭbuddīn Bakhtiyār Kākī, Farīduddīn Mas'ūd, Nizāmuddīn Auliyā', Amir Khusrau, Muhammad Hussain-i Gisūdarāz Bandanawāz, Ashraf Jahāngīr Simnānī, Aṭā' Hussain Fānī and Shāh Jamāl Bābā Bahaya Aurangabadī.

Today, hundreds of thousands of people – Muslims, Hindus, Christians and others, from the Indian sub-continent, and from other parts of the world – assemble at his tomb on the occasion of his 'urs (death anniversary).

An outside view of the Maqbara

Spiritual lineage[link]

1. 'Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib
2. Al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī
3. 'Abdul Wāḥid Bin Zaid Abul Faḍl
4. Fuḍayll ibn 'Iyāḍ Bin Mas'ūd Bin Bishr al-Tamīmī
5. Ibrāhīm bin Adham
6. Ḥudhayfah al-Mar'ashī
7. Amīnuddīn Abū Ḥubayrah al-Baṣrī
8. Mumshād Dīnwarī

Start of the Chishtī Order:

1. Abū Isḥāq al-Shāmī
2. Abū Aḥmad Abdāl
3. Abū Muḥammad bin Abī Aḥmad
4. Abū Yūsuf bin Sam'ān al-Ḥusaynī
5. Maudūd Chishtī
6. Sharīf Zandānī
7. 'Uthmān Hārūnī
8. Moinuddin Chishti

Others buried in the Maqbara enclosure[link]

The famous Mughal generals Sheikh Mīr and Shāhnawāz Khān were buried in the enclosure of Moinuddin Chishtī's Maqbara after they died in the Battle of Deorai in 1659. Shāhnawāz Khān was the Emperor Aurangzeb's father-in-law.^[6]

See also[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Media related to Moinuddin Chishti at Wikimedia Commons

• Anees-ul-Arwah by Moinuddin Chishtī

v t e Sufism and Tariqa Ideas Qutb Wali Abdal Fakir Dervish Tazkiah Baqaa Fanaa Haal Keramat Haqiqa Ihsan Irfan Kashf Lataif Manzil Marifa Nafs Noor Sufi cosmology Sufi metaphysics Sufi philosophy Sufi poetry Sufi psychology Sulook Yaqeen Silsila Practices Anasheed Dhikr Haḍra Muraqaba Qawwali Sama Whirling Ziyarat Sufi orders Azeemia Akbarī Alians Ba 'Alawī Bayramī Bektashī Chishtī Galibī Gulshanī Ḥurūfī Idrīsī Jelvetī Jerrahī Khalwatī Kubrāwī Madarī Malāmatī Mawlāwī Mourīdī Naqshbandī Naqshbandi Uwaisī Khalidiyya Nasuhī Ni'matullāhī Nuqtawī Qadirī Qalāndārī Rifa'ī Safāvī Shadhilī Suhrawardī Sunbulī Tijanī Ussakī Uwaisī Zahedī Notable early Sufi saints and mystics Abdul-Qadir Gilanī Abul-Khayr Ahmad Ghazālī Ahmed Yasāvī Al-Ghazālī Al-Hallaj al-Misrī Al-Qāsim al-Qunawī Amīr Kulal Ardabilī Ata Allah Attar Balım Sultan Baha ūd-Dīn Naqshband Bande Nawāz Baqī Billah Bastamī Bhita'ī Bulleh Shah Shah Waliullah Dehlāvī Farīd ūd-Dīn Fozail Gālib Gharīb Nawāz Ghujdawanī Ghulam Farīd Sheik Edebali Gül Baba Hajji Bayram Hajji Bektash Hazrat Mai Safoora Qadiriyya Haddad Hamadānī Hansvī Harabatī Baba Hasan Basri Mahmud Hudayī Hujwirī ibn ʿArabī Jābir ibn Hayyān Jahangasht Jamī Jan-e-Jānāān Jazoulī Junayd Baġdādī Kākī Kaliyarī Karkhī Kharaqanī Kubrā Nāimī Najib al-Suhrawardī Nasīmī Mansur Al-Hallaj Ni'matullāh Nizām ūd-Dīn Nurī Otman Baba Pir Sultan Qutb ūd-Dīn Haydār Rabbānī Rabia Basri Razī Rifa'ī Rukn-e-Alam Rūmī Ibrahim ibn Adham Saadī Salman al-Farisī Sanai Mevlana Halid-i Bagdadi Sarı Saltuk Semnanī Shadhilī Shahāb al-Dīn Suhrawardī Shams Tabrizī Shiblī Shirazī Sultan Walad Surkh Bukhari Taj al-Dīn Gilanī Umar al-Suhrawardī Uwais al-Qarni Yunus Emre Magtymguly Pyragy Zakariya Zarruq Notable modern Sufi saints Auliya Azeemi Nagpuri Meher Ali Sheikh Muhammad Uthman Sirajuddin Qadeer Piya Muhammad Maliki Gohar Shahi Tahir ul-Qadri Tahir Allauddin Taqi Usmani Abdal Hakim Murad Nazim Al-Haqqani Hisham Kabbani Nuh Keller Nooruddeen Durkee Abdalqadir as-Sufi Zaheen Ghulam Mustafa Reshad Feild Ahmad al-Alawi Ashraf Ali Thanvi Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Abd al-Rahman al-Shaghouri Omar Shah Haeri Raza Khan Syed Shujaat Pir Zulfiqar Abdullah Naqshbandi Sufi Barkat Ali Hafiz Qamaruddin Saheb Qibla Fultali Feisal Abdul Rauf Osman Nuri Topbaş Sufi studies Aguéli Almqvist Burckhardt Chittick Corbin Ernst Frager Guénon Hixon Lindbom Lings Nasr Schimmel Sells Shah Schuon Topics in Sufism Art Fiction History Music Poetry Shrines Texts Portal

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (Punjabi: نصرت فتح علی خان (Shahmukhī)) (October 13, 1948 – August 16, 1997), a world-renowned Pakistani musician, was primarily a singer of Qawwali, the devotional music of the Sufis (a mystical tradition within Islam). Considered one of the greatest singers ever recorded, he possessed a six-octave vocal range^{[citation needed]} and could perform at a high level of intensity for several hours.^[1] Extending the 600-year old Qawwali tradition of his family, Khan is widely credited with introducing Sufi music to international audiences.^[2][3] He was popularly known as "Shahenshah-e-Qawwali", meaning "The King of Kings of Qawwali".^[4]

Born in Faisalabad, Pakistan, Khan had his first public performance at age of 16, at his father's chelum. He officially became the head of the family qawwali party in 1971, and was signed by Oriental Star Agencies (OSA), Birmingham, U.K., in the early 1980s. In subsequent years, Khan released movie scores and albums for various labels in Pakistan, Europe, Japan and the U.S. He engaged in collaborations and experiments with Western artists, becoming a well-known world music artist in the process. He toured extensively, performing in over 40 countries.^[5]

Biography[link]

Early life and career[link]

Khan was born on October 13, 1948 in the city of Lyallpur (now Faisalabad), Pakistan. He was the fifth child and first son of Fateh Ali Khan, a musicologist, vocalist, instrumentalist, and Qawwal. Khan's family, which included four older sisters and a younger brother, Farrukh Fateh Ali Khan, grew up in central Lyallpur. Initially, his father did not want Khan to follow the family's vocation. He had his heart set on Khan choosing a much more respectable career path and becoming a doctor, because he felt Qawwali artists had low social status. However, Khan showed such an aptitude for, and interest in, Qawwali that his father finally relented.^[6] Khan began by learning to play tabla alongside his father before progressing to learn Raag Vidya and Bol Bandish. He then went on to learn to sing within the classical framework of khayal. Khan's training with his father was cut short when his father died in 1964, leaving Khan's paternal uncles, Mubarak Ali Khan and Salamat Ali Khan, to complete his training. His first performance was at a traditional graveside ceremony for his father, known as chehlum, which took place forty days after his father's death.

In 1971, after the death of Mubarak Ali Khan, Khan became the official leader of the family Qawwali party and the party became known as Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Mujahid Mubarak Ali Khan & Party. Khan's first public performance as the leader of the Qawwali party was at a studio recording broadcast as part of an annual music festival organised by Radio Pakistan, known as Jashn-e-Baharan. Khan sang mainly in Urdu and Punjabi and occasionally in Persian, Braj Bhasha and Hindi. His first major hit in Pakistan was the song Haq Ali Ali, which was performed in a traditional style and with traditional instrumentation. The song featured restrained use of Khan's sargam improvisations.

In 1979, Khan married his first cousin, Naheed (the daughter of Fateh Ali Khan's brother, Salamat Ali Khan); they had one daughter, Nida.^[7]

Early in his career, Khan was signed up by Oriental Star Agencies in the U.K. to their Star Cassette Label. OSA sponsored regular concert tours by Khan to the U.K. from the early '80s onwards, and released much of this live material on cassette, CD, videotape and DVD.G

Later career[link]

In the 1992–93 academic year, Khan was a Visiting Artist in the Ethnomusicology department at the University of Washington, Seattle.^[8]

Khan teamed with Peter Gabriel on the soundtrack to The Last Temptation of Christ in 1985, with Canadian musician Michael Brook on the albums Mustt Mustt (1990) and Night Song (1996),^[9] and with Pearl Jam lead singer Eddie Vedder in 1995 on two songs for the soundtrack to Dead Man Walking. One of these songs ("The Long Road") was re-used on the soundtrack for Eat Pray Love in 2010. Khan also contributed to the soundtrack of Natural Born Killers. He composed the music for the 1994 film Bandit Queen in collaboration with Roger White.

Peter Gabriel's Real World label later released five albums of Khan's traditional Qawwali, together with some of his experimental work which included the albums Mustt Mustt and Star Rise. Khan provided vocals for The Prayer Cycle, which was put together by Jonathan Elias, but died before the vocals could be completed. Alanis Morissette was brought in to sing with his unfinished vocals. Khan also collabrated with Michael Brook to create music for the song "Sweet Pain" used in the movie Any Given Sunday. He also performed traditional Qawwali before international audiences at several WOMAD world music festivals and the single "Dam Mast Qalandar" was remixed by electronic trip hop group Massive Attack in 1998.

His album Intoxicated Spirit was nominated for a Grammy award in 1997 for best traditional folk album.

Khan contributed songs to, and performed in, several Pakistani films. Shortly before his death, he recorded a song each for two Bollywood films, Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya (in which he also sang the song onscreen) and Kachche Dhaage. He sang the title song of the film Dhadkan. He also sang "Saya bhi saath jab chhod jaye" for Sunny Deol's movie Dillagi. The song was released in 1999, two years after Khan's death.

Khan contributed the song "Gurus of Peace" to the album Vande Mataram, composed by A. R. Rahman, and released to celebrate the 50th anniversary of India's independence. Rahman, who was a big fan of Khan could not do further songs with him. As a tribute, Rahman later released an album titled Gurus of Peace, which featured "Allah Hoo" by Khan. Rahman's 2007 song "Tere Bina" was also done as a tribute to Khan.^[10]

After his death, the song "Solemn Prayer", on which Khan provided vocals, was used on the Peter Gabriel song "Signal to Noise" (on the album Up), and on the soundtrack to the Martin Scorsese film Gangs of New York.

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Khan Fateh Ali Khan holds the world record for the largest recorded output by a Qawwali artist—a total of 125 albums as of 2001.

Death[link]

Khan was taken ill with kidney and liver failure on August 11, 1997 in London, England, while on the way to Los Angeles in order to receive a kidney transplant. He died of a sudden cardiac arrest at Cromwell Hospital, London, on Saturday, August 16, 1997, aged 48.^[11] His body was returned to Faisalabad, Pakistan, and his funeral was attended by the public.

Composition of Nusrat's qawwali party[link]

The composition of Khan's ensemble, called a "party" (or "Humnawa" in Urdu), changed over its 26 years. Listed below is a snapshot of the party, circa 1983:

1. Mujahid Mubarak Ali Khan: Khan's first cousin, vocals
2. Farrukh Fateh Ali Khan: Khan's brother, vocals and lead harmonium
3. Rehmat Ali: vocals and second harmonium
4. Maqsood Hussain: vocals
5. Rahat Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan: Khan's nephew and pupil, vocals
6. Dildar Hussain: percussion
7. Majawar Abbas: mandolin and guitar/chorus, handclapping
8. Mohammed Iqbal Naqvi: secretary of the party, chorus, handclapping
9. Asad Ali: chorus, handclapping. Khan's cousin
10. Ghulam Farid: chorus, handclapping
11. Kaukab Ali: chorus, handclapping

The one significant member of the party who does not appear on this list is Atta Fareed. For many years, he alternated with Rehmat Ali on vocals and second harmonium. He is easily identifiable in videos since he plays the harmonium left-handed.

This snapshot is non-representative in one respect: harmoniums were usually the only instruments. Only rarely were instruments like mandolin or guitar used.

Awards and titles[link]

Khan is widely considered to be the most important qawwal in history.^[12][13] In 1987, Khan received the President of Pakistan’s Award for Pride of Performance for his contribution to Pakistani music.^[8][14] In 1995 he received the UNESCO Music Prize.^[15][16] In 1996 he was awarded Grand Prix des Amériques at Montreal World Film Festival for exceptional contribution to the art of cinema.^[17] In 2005, Khan was awarded the "Legends" award at the UK Asian Music Awards.^[18] Time magazine's issue of November 6, 2006, "60 Years of Asian Heroes", lists him as one of the top 12 artists and thinkers in the last 60 years.^[19] He also appeared on NPR's 50 Great Voices list in 2010.^[20] In August 2010 he was included in CNN's list of the twenty most iconic musicians from the past fifty years.^[21]

Many honorary titles were bestowed upon Khan during his 25-year music career. He was given the title of Ustad after performing classical music at a function in Lahore on his father's death anniversary.^[22]

Tributes, legacy and influence[link]

Alexandra A. Seno of Asiaweek wrote:^[23]

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's voice was otherworldly. For 25 years, his mystical songs transfixed millions. It was not long enough ... He performed qawali, which means wise or philosophical utterance, as nobody else of his generation did. His vocal range, talent for improvisation and sheer intensity were unsurpassed.

Jeff Buckley cited Khan as a major influence, saying of him "He's my Elvis", and performing the first few minutes of Khan's hit "Yeh Jo Halka Halka Suroor Hai" (including vocals) at live concerts.^[24][25] Many other artists have also cited Khan as an influence, such as A. R. Rahman,^[26] Sheila Chandra,^[27] and Alim Qasimov.^[28]

Paul Williams picked a concert performance by Khan for inclusion in his 2000 book The 20th Century's Greatest Hits: a 'top-40' list, in which he devotes a chapter each to what he considers the top 40 artistic achievements of the 20th century in any field (including art, movies, music, fiction, non-fiction, science-fiction).^[29]

In 2008, Khan was listed in 14th position in UGO's list of the best singers of all time.^[30]

In 2004, a tribute band called (Brooklyn Qawwali Party) (formerly Brook's Qawwali Party) was formed in New York City by percussionist Brook Martinez to perform the music of Khan. The 13-piece group still performs mostly instrumental jazz versions of Khan's qawwalis, using the instruments conventionally associated with jazz rather than those associated with qawwali.^[31]

Films[link]

Documentaries[link]

• Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan: le dernier prophète (1996). Directed by Jérôme de Missolz.
• Nusrat has Left the Building... But When? (1997). Directed by Farjad Nabi. (This 20-minute docudrama focuses on Khan's early career.)
• A Voice from Heaven (1999). Directed by Giuseppe Asaro. New York, NY: Winstar TV & Video. (This 75-minute documentary, available on VHS and DVD, provides an introduction to Khan's life and work.)
• Samandar Main Samandar (2007). A documentary aired on Geo TV detailing Khan's career.
• The King of Qawalli (2009). A short film aired on Dawn News about Khan's life and career.

Concert films[link]

• The JVC Video Anthology of World Music and Dance (1990). Video 14 (of 30) (South Asia IV). Produced by Ichikawa Katsumori; directed by Nakagawa Kunikiko and Ichihashi Yuji; in collaboration with the National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka. [Tokyo]: JVC, Victor Company of Japan; Cambridge, Massachusetts: distributed by Rounder Records. Features a studio performance by Khan and Party (two Urdu-language songs: a Hamd, and a Manqabat for Khwaja Mu`inuddin Chishti. Filmed in Tokyo, Japan, September 20, 1987, for Asian Traditional Performing Arts).
• Nusrat! Live at Meany (1998). Produced by the University of Washington. (87-minute recording of a January 23, 1993 concert at Meany Hall, University of Washington in Seattle, during Khan's residency at the Ethnomusicology Program there.)
• Live in Concert in the U.K. (DVD, vols. 1–17) [OSA]; recorded between 1983 and 1993; first thirteen listed below:
  • Live in Concert in UK (DVD vol. 1)
  • Live in Concert (DVD vol. 2)
  • Live in Concert (DVD vol. 3)
  • Live in UK (DVD vol. 4)
  • Live in UK (DVD vol. 5)
  • Live in Concert (DVD vol. 6)
  • Live in UK (DVD vol. 7)
  • Live in UK (DVD vol. 8)
  • Live in UK (DVD vol. 9)
  • Live in UK (DVD vol. 10)
  • Live in UK (DVD vol. 11)
  • Digbeth Birmingham 12 November 1983 (DVD vol. 12)
  • Digbeth 30 October 1983 (DVD vol. 13)
• Akhiyan Udeek Diyan (DVD) [Nupur Audio]
• Je Tun Rab Nu Manauna (DVD) [Nupur Audio]
• Yaadan Vicchre Sajan Diyan Aayiyan (DVD) [Nupur Audio]
• Rang-e-Nusrat (DVD, vols. 1–11) [Music Today]; recorded between 1983 and 1993 (same material as the OSA DVDs)
• VHS videotapes, vols. 1–21 [OSA]; recorded between 1983 and 1993 (same material as the OSA DVDs)
  • Luxor Cinema Birmingham (VHS vol. 1, 1979)
  • Digbeth Birmingham (VHS vol. 2, 1983)
  • St. Francis Hall Birmingham (VHS vol. 3, 1983)
  • Royal Oak Birmingham (VHS vol. 4, 1983)
  • Private Mehfil (Wallace Lawley Centre, Lozells Birmingham, November 1983) (VHS vol. 5)
  • Private Mehfil (VHS vol. 6, 1983)
  • Natraj Cinema Leicester (VHS vol. 7, 1983)
  • Live In Southall (VHS vol. 8)
  • Live In Bradford (VHS vol. 9, 1983)
  • Live In Birmingham (VHS vol. 10, 1985)
  • Allah Ditta Hall (VHS vol. 11, 1985)
  • Harrow Leisure Centre (VHS vol. 12)
  • University Of Aston (VHS vol. 13, 1988)
  • Aston University (VHS vol. 14, 1988)
  • WOMAD Festival Bracknell (VHS vol. 15, 1988)
  • Live In Paris (VHS vol. 16, 1988)
  • Poplar Civic Centre London (VHS vol. 17)
  • Imperial Hotel Birmingham (VHS vol. 18, 1985)
  • Slough Gurdawara (SHABADS) (VHS vol. 19)
  • Imran Khan Cancer Appeal (VHS vol. 20)
  • Town Hall Birmingham (VHS vol. 21, 1993)

See also[link]

• List of Pakistani musicians
• Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan albums

References[link]

Additional reading[link]

• Baud, Pierre-Alain. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, The Messenger of Qawwali. Editions Demi-Lune, 2008. (A biography of Nusrat)

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

• Article with brief 1993 interview (edwebproject.org)
• King of Qawali documentary on YouTube
• NPR Audio Report: Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan: The Voice Of Pakistan
• Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan at the Internet Movie Database

Taqi ad-Din Ahmad ibn Taymiyyah (January 22, 1263–1328 CE), full name: Taqī ad-Dīn Abu 'l-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥalīm ibn ʿAbd as-Salām Ibn Taymiya al-Ḥarrānī (Arabic: تقي الدين أبو العباس أحمد بن عبد السلام بن عبد الله ابن تيمية الحراني‎), was an Islamic scholar (alim), theologian and logician born in Harran, located in what is now Turkey, close to the Syrian border. He lived during the troubled times of the Mongol invasions. He was considered by his followers to be a member of the school founded by Ahmad ibn Hanbal and sought the return of Islam to what he viewed as earlier interpretations of the Qur'an and the Sunnah.

Biography[link]

Image of Ghazan Khan, a historical figure harshly rebuked by Ibn Taymiyyah, mainly due to his constant state of hostility towards the Mamluks of Egypt.

Ibn Taymiyyah witnessed conversions to Islam as a growing trend among many Mongols.

Ibn Taymiyya was born in 1263 at Harran into a well-known family of theologians and died in Damascus, Syria, outside of the Muslim cemetery. His grandfather, Abu al-Barkat Majd ad-deen ibn Taymiyyah al-Hanbali (d. 1255) was a reputable teacher of the Hanbali school of law. Likewise, the scholarly achievements of ibn Taymiyyah's father, Shihab al-deen 'Abd al-Haleem ibn Taymiyyah (d. 1284) were well known. Because of the Mongol invasion, ibn Taymiyyah's family moved to Damascus in 1268, which was then ruled by the Mamluks of Egypt. It was here that his father delivered sermons from the pulpit of the Umayyad Mosque, and ibn Taymiyyah followed in his footsteps by studying with the scholars of his time. Although some claim that he was of Kurdish origin there seems to be no evidence indicating such claim.^{[citation needed]}

Ibn Taymiyyah acquainted himself with the secular and religious sciences of his time. He devoted attention to Arabic literature and lexicography as well as studying mathematics and calligraphy.

As for the religious sciences, he studied jurisprudence from his father and became a representative of the Hanbali school of thought. Though he remained faithful throughout his life to that school, whose doctrines he had mastered, he also acquired a knowledge of the Islamic disciplines of the Qur'an and the Hadith. He also studied theology (kalam), philosophy, and Sufism.^[5] He was known for his refutations of the excesses of many Sufis, the Shia and the Christians. His student Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyya wrote the famous poem "O Christ-Worshipper" which examined the dogma of the Trinity propounded by many Christian sects.

His troubles with government began when he went with a delegation of ulama to talk to Ghazan Khan, the Khan of the Mongol Ilkhans in Iran, to stop his attack on the Muslims. It is reported that none of the ulama dared to say anything to the Khan except Ibn Taymiyyah who said:

"You claim that you are Muslim and you have with you Mu'adhdhins, Muftis, Imams and Shaykhs but you invaded us and reached our country for what? While your father and your grandfather, Hulagu were non-believers, they did not attack and they kept their promise. But you promised and broke your promise."^[6]

Ibn Taymiya was imprisoned several times for conflicting with the ijma of jurists and theologians of his day. He spent his last fifteen years in Damascus. The most famous of his students, Ibn Qayyim, was to share in Ibn Taymiyyah's renewed persecutions. From August 1320 to February 1321 Ibn Taymiyyah was imprisoned on orders from Cairo in the citadel of Damascus for supporting a doctrine that would curtail the ease with which a Muslim man could divorce his wife.

Death[link]

When he was ultimately banned from having any books, papers and pens during the latter stage of his final imprisonment, Ibn Taymiyyah devoted all of his time to worship and reciting the Qur'an.^[7] Ibn Taymiyyah died in prison on 22 Dhu al-Qi'dah, 728 AH (27 September 1328). Al-Bazzar says, 'Once the people had heard of his death, not a single person in Damascus who was able to attend the prayer and wanted to, remained until he appeared and took time out for it. As a result, the markets in Damascus were closed and all transactions of livelihood were stopped. Governors, heads, scholars, jurists came out. They say that none of the majority of the people failed to turn up, according to my knowledge - except three individuals; they were well known for their enmity for Ibn Taymiyyah and thus, hid away from the people out of fear for their lives."

Views[link]

God's attributes[link]

Ibn Taymiyyah rejected the recourse to kalam towards understanding the Asma Wa Sifat (Divine Names and Attributes of God) as that was not the precedence established by the salaf. He argued that the companions and the early generations didn't resort to philosophical explanations towards understanding the Divine Names and Attributes. He further argued that had salaf found any benefit in resorting to kalam they would have done it and encouraged it. Therefore, Ibn Taymiyyah was accused by his opponents that he was anthropomorphic in his stance towards Names and Attributes of God.

In fact, in his book Kitabul Wasitiyyah, Ibn Taymiyyah refutes the stance of the Mushabbihah (those who liken the creation with God: anthropomorphism) and those who deny, negate, and resort to allegorical/metaphorical interpretations of the Divine Names and Attributes. He contends that the methodology of the salaf is to take the middle path between the extremes of anthropomorphism and negation/distortion. He further states that salaf affirmed all the Names and Attributes of God without tashbih (establishing likeness), takyeef (speculating as to "how" they are manifested in the divine), ta'teel (negating/denying their apparent meaning) and without ta'weel (giving it secondary/symbolic meaning which is different from the apparent meaning).

Mongol invasion and other struggles[link]

What has been called Ibn Taymiyyah's "most famous" fatwā^[8] was issued against the Mongols (or Tatars), in the Mamluk's war. Ibn Taymiyyah declared that jihad upon the Mongols was not only permissible, but obligatory. He based this ruling his argument that the Mongols could not, in his opinion, be true Muslims despite the fact that they had converted to Sunni Islam because they ruled using what he considered 'man-made laws' (their traditional Yassa code) rather than Islamic law or Sharia. Because of this, he reasoned they were living in a state of jahiliyyah, or pre-Islamic pagan ignorance.^[9][10]

Apart from that, he led the resistance of the Mongol invasion of Damascus in 1300. In the years that followed, Ibn Taymiyyah was engaged in intensive polemic activity against:

1. the Kasrawan Shi'a in Lebanon,
2. the Rifa'i Sufi order,
3. the ittihadiyah school, a school that grew out of the teaching of Ibn Arabi, whose views were widely denounced as heretical^{[citation needed]}.

In 1306 Ibn Taymiyyah was imprisoned in the citadel of Cairo for eighteen months on the charge of anthropomorphism. He was incarcerated again in 1308 for several months.

In 2010 a group of Islamic Scholars in Mardin argued that Ibn Taymiyya's fatwa was misprinted into an order to "fight" the ruler who is not applying Islamic law, but rather it means to "treat".^[11] They have based their understanding on the original manuscript in the Zaheer Library, and the transmission by Ibn Taymiyya's student Ibn Muflih.^[12]

Madh'hab[link]

Ibn Taymiyyah censured the scholars for blindly conforming to the precedence of early jurists without any resort to the Qur'an and Sunnah. He contended that although juridical precedence has its place, blindly giving it authority without contextualization, sensitivity to societal changes, and evaluative mindset in light of the Qur'an and Sunnah can lead to ignorance and stagnancy in Islamic Law. Ibn Taymiyyah likened the extremism of Taqlid (blind conformity to juridical precedence or school of thought) to the practice of Jews and Christians who took their rabbis and ecclesiastic as gods besides God.

Ibn Taymiyyah held that much of the Islamic scholarship of his time had declined into modes that were inherently against the proper understanding of the Qur'an and the Sunnah. He strove to:

1. revive the Islamic faith's understanding of true adherence to Tawhid,
2. eradicate beliefs and customs that he held to be foreign to Islam, and
3. to rejuvenate correct Islamic thought and its related sciences.

Ibn Taymiyyah believed that the first three generations of Islam (Arabic: Salaf) – Muhammad, his companions, and the followers of the companions from the earliest generations of Muslims – were the best role models for Islamic life. Their practice, together with the Qur'an, constituted a seemingly infallible guide to life. Any deviation from their practice was viewed as bid‘ah, or innovation, and to be forbidden. He also praised and wrote a commentary on some of the speeches of Abdul-Qadir Gilani.^[13] He criticized the views and actions of the Rafaiyah.

Non-Muslims[link]

Ibn Taymiyyah strongly opposed borrowing from Christianity or other non-Muslim religions. In his text On the Necessity of the Straight Path (kitab iqtida al-sirat al-mustaqim) he preached that the beginning of Muslim life was the point at which "a perfect dissimilarity with the non-Muslims has been achieved." To this end he opposed the celebration of the observance of the birthday of the Islamic prophet Muhammad or the construction of mosques around the tombs of Sufi saints saying: "Many of them [the Muslims] do not even know of the Christian origins of these practices. Accursed be Christianity and its adherents!"^[14]

Intercession[link]

Opponents and critics of Ibn Taymiyyah claim that he rejected intercession completely as proved in Qur'an and Sunnah. However, his proponents argue citing evidence from his writings that the type of intercession Ibn Taymiyyah rejected was the type not sanctioned by the Qur'an or Sunnah and neither by the conduct of Salaf. In fact, Ibn Taymiya upheld that anyone who rejected the Intercession of Muhammad on the Day of Judgement had indeed disbelieved.^{[citation needed]} He also affirmed that God will allow the martyrs, scholars, memorizers of Qur'an, and angels to intercede on behalf of the believers on the Day of Judgement. However, what he condemned was asking them while they are no longer alive for their intercession since two conditions of Intercession are that God chooses the intercessor, and chooses the people on whose behalf intercession is possible. Therefore, God should be asked when intercession is sought.

Furthermore, Ibn Taymiyyah states that types of intercession that are legal are:

1. Intercession through the Names and Attributes of God,
2. Intercession through one's good deed,
3. Intercession through requesting the righteous people who are alive for dua. He further explains that on the day of Judgement, Muhammad and everyone else will be alive and therefore, their intercession can be sought just like in this world, people ask others to make a supplication for them. Ibn Taymiyyah rejected the notion that saints and prophets should be invoked for intercession while they have departed from this world.

Shrines[link]

Ibn Taymiyyah opposed giving any undue religious honors to shrines (even that of Jerusalem, the Al-Aqsa Mosque), to approach or rival in any way the Islamic sanctity of the two most holy mosques within Islam, Mecca (Masjid al-Haram) and Medina (Al-Masjid al-Nabawi).^[15]

Ibn Taymiyyah duly eulogized the Ghaznavid ruler, stating that:

He commanded that Ahlul Bidah be publicly cursed on the minbars, and as a result the Jahmiyyah, Rafida, Hulooliyah, Mu'tazilah, and Qadariyah were all publicly cursed, along with the Asharites.^[16]

Ibahah[link]

Muslim jurists have long held that the legal tradition initiated by the Qur'an includes a principle of permissibility, or Ibahah (Arabic إباحة), especially as applied to commercial transaction. "Nothing in them [voluntary transactions] is forbidden," said Ibn Taymiyyah, "unless God and His Messenger have decreed them to be forbidden." The idea is founded upon two verses in the Qur'an, 4:29 and 5:1.

Analogical reasoning[link]

Later, Ibn Taymiyyah argued against the certainty of syllogistic arguments and in favour of analogy (Qiyas). His argument is that concepts founded on induction are themselves not certain but only probable, and thus a syllogism based on such concepts is no more certain than an argument based on analogy. He further claimed that induction itself is founded on a process of analogy. His model of analogical reasoning was based on that of juridical arguments.^[17][18] This model of analogy has been used in the recent work of John F. Sowa.^[18]

Ibn Arabi[link]

Ibn Taymiyyah's views on Ibn Arabi, who (though a controversial figure) is often cited as the greatest master of the Islamic gnostic tradition and one of the most influential Islamic thinkers ever, are well-documented. In his book Friends of God and Friends of the Devil, Ibn Taymiyyah brands Ibn Arabi an unbeliever, citing passages from Ibn Arabi's Fusus al-Hikam (Bezels of Wisdom), claiming that they show that Ibn Arabi was a supporter of Pharaoh. In fact, the aforementioned passages are often misinterpreted or misunderstood, and Ibn Arabi makes abundantly clear in numerous works (amongst them, his Book of the Fabulous Gryphon of the West) that he considered Pharaoh a tyrant and an unbeliever. Ibn Taymiyyah's attacks on Ibn Arabi drew the ire of many Sufis and even led the famous Sufi and Islamic scholar Ibn 'Ata Allah al-Iskandari to devote a significant portion of the last years of his life writing refutations of Ibn Taymiyyah's attacks on Ibn Arabi.

Economic views[link]

He elaborated a circumstantial analysis of the market mechanism, with a theoretical insight unusual in his time. His discourses on the welfare advantages and disadvantages of market regulation and deregulation, have an almost contemporary ring to them.^[19]

Ibn Taymiyyah commenting on the power of supply and demand:

"If desire for goods increases while its availability decreases, its price rises. On the other hand, if availability of the good increases and the desire for it decreases, the price comes down."^[20]

Works[link]

Ibn Taymiyyah left a considerable body of work (350 works listed by his student Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyya^[21] and 500 by his student al-Dhahabi^[22]) that has been republished extensively in Syria, Egypt, Arabia, and India. Extant books and essays written by ibn Taymiyyah include:

• A Great Compilation of Fatwa—(Majmu al-Fatwa al-Kubra) This was collected centuries after his death, and contains several of the works mentioned below.
• Minhaj as-Sunnah an-Nabawiyyah—(The Pathway of as-Sunnah an-Nabawiyyah)—Volumes 1–4
• Al-Aqidah Al-Waasitiyyah—(The Creed to the People of Wāsiṭ, Iraq)
• Darʾ taʿāruḍ al-ʿaql wa al-naql (The rejection of the conflict between reason and revelation)—10 Volumes. Also called Al-Muwāfaqa ("harmony").
• Majmoo' al-Fatawa—(Compilation of Fatawa) Volumes 1–36
• al-Aqeedah Al-Hamawiyyah—(The Creed to the People of Hama, Syria)
• al-Asma wa's-Sifaat—(Allah's Names and Attributes) Volumes 1–2
• 'al-Iman—(Faith)
• al-Jawab as Sahih li man Baddala Din al-Masih (Literally, "The Correct Response to those who have Corrupted the Deen (Religion) of the Messiah"; A Muslim theologian's response to Christianity)—seven volumes, over a thousand pages.
• as-Sarim al-Maslul ‘ala Shatim ar-Rasul—The Drawn Sword against those who insult the Messenger. Written in response to an incident in which Ibn Taymiyyah heard a Christian insulting Muhammad. The book is well-known because he wrote it entirely by memory, while in jail, and quoting more than hundreds of references.^[23]
• Fatawa al-Kubra
• Fatawa al-Misriyyah
• ar-Radd 'ala al-Mantiqiyyin (Refutation of Greek Logicians)
• Naqd at-Ta'sis
• al-Uboodiyyah—(Subjection to God)
• Iqtida' as-Sirat al-Mustaqim'—(Following The Straight Path)
• al-Siyasa al-shar'iyya
• at-Tawassul wal-Waseela
• Sharh Futuh al-Ghayb—(Commentary on Revelations of the Unseen by Abdul-Qadir Gilani)

Some of his other works have been translated to English. They include:

• The Friends of Allah and the Friends of Shaytan
• Kitab al Iman: The Book of Faith
• Diseases of the Hearts and their Cures
• The Relief from Distress
• Fundamentals of Enjoining Good & Forbidding Evil
• The Concise Legacy
• The Goodly Word
• The Madinan Way
• Ibn Taymiyya against the Greek logicians
• Muslims Under Non-Muslim Rule

References[link]

Also:

• Kepel, Gilles – Muslim extremism in Egypt: The Prophet and pharaoh. With a new preface for 2003. Translated from French by Jon Rothschild. Berkeley & Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2003. See p. 194–199.
• Little, Donald P. – "Did Ibn Taymiyya have a screw loose?", Studia Islamica, 1975, Number 41, pp. 93–111.
• Makdisi, G. – "Ibn Taymiyya: A Sufi of the Qadiriya Order", American Journal of Arabic Studies, 1973
• Sivan, Emmanuel – Radical Islam: Medieval theology and modern politics. Enlarged edition. New Haven & London: Yale University Press, 1990. See p. 94–107.
• Michot, Yahya – Ibn Taymiyya: Muslims under non-Muslim Rule. Texts translated, annotated and presented in relation to six modern readings of the Mardin fatwa. Foreword by James Piscatori. Oxford & London: Interface Publications, 2006. ISBN 0-9554545-2-2.

External links[link]

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Wikisource has original text related to this article: Author:Ibn Taymiyyah

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• French website devoted to Ibn Taymiyya (His life and his works)
• Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
• Collection of internet articles/resources
• The Life, Struggles, Works and Impact of Shaikh ul-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah
• Refutation of Accusation Against Ibn Taymiyya by Abu Rumaysah
• Shaykh ul-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah's letters from prison
• Between Shaykul-Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah and Contemporary Takfiris On The Issue of Rebellion Against Tyranny and Injustice
• Diagram of teachers and students of Ibn Taymiyah
• Shia treatment on Ibn Taymiyyah