Haroon Rashid Bhat
In the garden of saints with a special reference to Kashmir, the status of Mabubul Alam Sheikh-Ul-Alam RA is like the flower whose fragrance is eternal Sheik Hamza MukdoomRA was born In the 3rd year of the reign of Sultan Mohammad Shah( from the Zainul Abideen Family) that is 900 Hijiri as recorded by Khaja Mohammad Azam Dadmeri in the book Tawariki Azmi. Your birthplace is Tujar Shrief. Your date of birth is 900 Hijiri. Because of his personal qualities, and an inner urge to study, he approached Srinagar city. Since childhood, you have a natural inclination towards good Tasawuf, Saluk, your maximum time speeding in Reyazed for which you had already permission. In addition to it he got guidance when he was in sleep or sometimes when he was alive because of this very reason he had been associated with Owasi Silsila (lineage) In Tawariki Hassan, the writer mentions the same in the following way. Your father chose your name as Hamza ( lion).
Sheik Sahab and other’s wrote in their books that Hazrat Makdoom SahabRA was the Madarzad Wali ( Inn born saint) soon after his birth, one godly person narrated his dream that he saw the Prophet Mohammad PBUH and the group of His companions sitting around Him which also included a boy. Prophet Mohammad PBUH was showing His love and affection toward that boy, kissed his forehead, then prayed in favor of him when enquiring about the boy, Mohammad said that he was the son of Usman Raina in real meaning he is my son, indicates that he is man aboded with unlimited spiritual knowledge and every poise Muslim is my son so, of his qualities, he called him as his son. All the historians are unanimous on this point that there was a great impact on two families one was the Suraj Bansi family lineage, and the other was Chader Bansi family. One of the people from these two families took allegiance to the hand of Bulbul Shah and he became a Muslim.
Historian recorded the episode of his life that goes like this. At the time when you were sucking milk from your mother Maryam. One day She felt that milk was not oozing out from her and could not full fill the requirement of his son( Makdoom SahibRA) then they searched for a milk mother from the nearby village who did not suck her nipple, and everyone got puzzled about how the kid will survive without taking milk, even you did not taste a drop of milk, there was no sign on his face so far his health was a concern, everyone got astonished, later on, it confirmed that the woman who was supposed to give her milk was attended without out seeking permission from her husband. His father sends him to the Maktab in his ancestral village. Once he was playing instead of going to elementary school (Maktab) his father happened to come by, grew angry, and beat him so severely that he fell ill. From the day he pledged that he would never play with his grandfather Zaiti-Rena. He went to see Fatah Ullah (son of Hazrat Baba IsmailRA) the spiritual teacher of the Rena tribe, and learned the Qu’Oran for a year in the monastery at Shamsi-Chak, he was enrolled in the seminary of Baba Ismail Kubrawi, as a student, for higher studies. He studied Jurisprudence, Tradition, Logic, Philosophy, Ethics, and Mysticism. Sheikh Hamza Makhdoom(R.A) came to Srinagar where he was nurtured and raised in Higher Spiritual states. Sultan-Ul-Arifeen says, “I was directed to say the Daroods, mention of the names, and prayers because of His kindness, and whenever I sluggish in the conduct I was reprimanded. “Hard work and painstaking prayers in the early youth made him old before time” Hazrat Sultan-Ul- Arifeen (R.A), Sheikh Hamza MakhdoomRA was also a follower of the Kubrawi tradition. He, in his early childhood, learned at the feet of his father. Later on, on his migration to Srinagar, he was tutored by Sheikh Fathaullh, the son of Shaikh Ismail KubrawiRA who had established Daru Shifa near Kohi Maraan. Moulana LutufullahRA was also one of his teachers. Then he moved to the Khanqah of Shams Chak. He learned the Quran, Fiqh, Hadith, allied science, and Suifstic traditions and was also conversant with some works of Mir Sayyid Ali Hamdani. He got an initiation to the Suharwardi Silsilah at the hands of Sayyid Jallaud Din (1308-84) of Uchh, popularly known as Makhdum Jahaniyan-i-Jahan.
Right from his childhood, he was all through virtuous and dedicated his life to the cause of Islam. He was instrumental in reforming hundreds and thousands of Muslims. He offered the nectar of Maurfat to all those who thronged his spiritual abode. Various authors have mentioned the life story of Hazrat Makdoom SahabRA but there is a particular written record of his life in the book Qasidul Wa Al Murideen consisting of 363 verses in Persian written by Baba Dawood KhakhiRA. Hazrat KahkhiRA has framed another book out of these verses and commonly known as Datural Salekeen in which Hazrat mentioned the biography of Makdoom SahabRA and also mentioned his spiritual status. This is certainly an ocean of knowledge so far as the way of Tasawuf and Saluk is concerned. His greatest contribution was that he instructed the people to forsake superstitions and Un-Islamic activities through his speech and actions. It was at his hands that a number of his disciples were raised to prominence in the Sufistic circles. These include the illustrious Sufis Sheikh Daud KhakiRA, Mir Hyder TulmuliRA, Khawaj Hasan QariRA, Khawaja IshaqRA Qari, Mulla Ahmad ChagliRA, Moulana JamiA, Feroz GanaiRA, Mohammad Ali RainaRA, Baba Hardi RishiRA, Mir Mohammad AfzalRA, Bayezid ShumnagiRA, Shaikh Roopa RishiRa. Sheikh Hamza Makhdoom (R.A) emphasized the importance of the continuous recitation of Zikhr so much so that he regarded it as a panacea for the troubles of the heart. This noble soul breathed his last in 984 Hijra (1585 AD). Sultan Ali Shah Chak, the ruler of Kashmir is said to have attended his funeral prayer while it was led by Sheikh Tahir Rafiqi and it included contemporary scholars and Sufis like Sheikh Yaqub Sarfi. As per the instructions of the saint, he was laid to rest at Kohi Maran, the center of spiritual emancipation established by him. Nearly fifteen years after his departure, Akbar, the Mughal king, built a shrine there which was reconstructed during the Afghan rule by Atta Mohammad Khan around 1821 AD. As a mark of respect, Atta Mohammad Khan stuck the coins bearing the names of Sheikh Nur-Ud-Din-RishiRA and Sheikh Hamza MakhdoomRA. This is probably the unique instance in history when the coins have been stuck bearing the names of saints. This is also indicative of the reverence and the popularity the saints commanded among the people and also of the rulers.
Haroon Rashid Bhat is a teacher and columnist , can be reached at minamharoon123@gmail.com
