Mir Imtiyaz Aafreen
History bears witness to the fact that Sufis have played a vibrant and significant role in conveying the message of Islam to different corners of the world. We can find numerous examples in the world history where they played a great role in the propagation of Islamic faith. Professor T. W. Arnold in his masterpiece “The Preaching of Islam” collected many sources from different parts of the world and stated that Sufis played an outstanding role in spreading the message of Islam. The Sufis were not only saintly figures but also the men of action and they benefitted the mankind with their courteous and generous behavior. In the Indian subcontinent, they worked as outstanding spiritual masters of their times and worked on cordial social interactions with people from other faiths. They were triumphant in spreading their faith because they refused to impose their beliefs on non-Muslims. Their places of worship (khanqahs) provided protection to the wanderers and destitutes. As far as Kashmir is concerned, the Sufi who transformed the destiny of the people is none other than Shah E Hamadan Mir Syed Ali Hamdani (RA) who is commonly known as Amir Kabir i.e., the great leader. Shah Hamadan (RA) invited the people of Kashmir towards Islam in a beautiful manner. People responded to his invitation wholeheartedly as they were deeply moved by his spiritual stature. This invitation to Islam was unique in the sense that he did not come here alone but brought with him a large number of preachers, artisans and artists to lay the foundation of a ‘New Kashmir’ in which spiritual sustenance and material prosperity flourished at the same time. He impacted the region to such an extent that the marks of this revolution are found in every sphere of life in Kashmir today.
Down the ages, a good number of eminent personalities from different fields have acknowledged his contribution in one way or the other and they have unanimously called him, ‘Mohsin e Kashmir’ i.e., the benefactor of Kashmir.
- Syed Makhdum Ashraf Jehangir Simnani (d.1386 AD)
“I benefited so much from his (i.e. Shah Hamadan’s) company that I cannot describe it in words. He was just like a splendid sun and I was with him like a dust particle.” (Lataif-i-Ashrafi) - Nund Reshi Sheikh Nooruddin Noorani (d.1438 AD)
“Prophet Muhammad (SAW) is the supreme king who, on account of his intercession, will take his ummah to paradise in the hereafter. Nund Reshi would submit a request to Shah Hamadan, to take him to heaven in his company in view of his special position in the eyes of the Prophet (SAW).” (Kuliyat-i-Sheikh ul Aalam) - Maulana Jami (d. 1492 AD)
“He (Shah Hamadan) was a master of the outward and esoteric aspects of the religion. His works are famous in the circles of those having interest in esoteric sciences.” (Nafhat-ul-Uns) - Sheikh Yaqub Sarfi Kashmiri (d. 1594 AD)
“(Shah Hamdan) is the Second Ali (in knowing the mysteries of Shariyah and Tariqah) and is the great master in this field. He is the namesake of Hazrat Ali and is also from his progeny. When this pioneer of the truth came [to Kashmir], it was as if Hazrat Ali Murtaza himself had come. Shah Hamdan is the leader of the gnostics and the head of all the saints. Since Hazrat Ali is the gate of the prophetic knowledge, Shah Hamdan is the gatekeeper of that gate. All praises to Allah that we have got such a great leader and he is our guide in the path of love and loyalty.” (Kuliyat-i-Sarfi) - Imam Shah Waliullah Dehlavi (d. 1762 AD)
“The perfect researcher of the mysteries of God, Ali Thani, Mir Syed Ali Hamadani collected these ‘Awrad’ [collected in ‘Awrad-i-Fathiyya’] ie, (remembrances) from 1400 great saints…if the virtues and blessings of these ‘Awrad’ are explained, we’ll fall short of words as Shah Hamadan traveled the whole world three times [in order to collect these ‘Awrad’.” (Al-Intibah fi Salasil-i-Auliya) - Allama Iqbal (d. 1938 AD)
“That leader of the leaders
That envoy from Persia
Whose hand is the architect of the destiny of nations.
Imam Ghazali himself learned the lesson of ‘God is He’ [from his ancestors]
and drew meditation and thought from his stock.
That lord of the Paradise-like land,
Advisor alike to the chief, the saint and the Kings.
To the region that liberal handed master
Gave knowledge, craft, culture and religion.
That man created a miniature Iran
With rare and heart-ravishing arts;
With one glance he unravels a hundred knots-
Rise, and let his arrow transfix your heart.”
(Javednama) - Walter Lawrence (d.1940 AD)
“The saint who has exercised the most
direct influence on the religion of Kashmir was Mir Saiyad Ali of Hamadan, who visited the valley in the time of Kutb-ud-Din and practically established Islam in the valley. He is known as Amir-i-Kabir, Shah-i-Hamadan, and Ali Sani, and the Hindus say that he received his inspiration from a Hindu lady, Lalishri, who was an incarnation of a goddess. The Musalmans deny this, but they hold her name in great respect, and speak of her as Lai Dedi…His mosque, the Shah-i-Hamadan in Srinagar, is one of the most sacred places in Kashmir, and is a worthy memorial of a man who in his time exerted an enormous influence over the country.” (The Valley of Kashmir) - Sheikh Muhammad Ikram (d.1973 AD)
“Amir Kabir Syed Hamdani came to Kashmir from Iran. He was a great scholar and his status is very high as far as the spiritual history of the Islamic world is concerned. He had both majesty (jalal) and beauty (jamal) in his personality. Apart from having a great spiritual and religious insight, he had an outstanding administrative ability. With his efforts and with the support of his comrades Islam was firmly established in Kashmir. (Aab-i-Kauthar) - Allama Qasim Shah Bukhari Kashmiri (d.1999 AD)
“If you look at the life and character of Mir Syed Ali Hamadani, in piety and purity, he is unparalleled. Study hundreds of his books, you will find him the perfect follower of the Prophet, the champion of ‘tariqah’ ‘haqeeqah’ and ‘marifah’…he was an epitome of the great qualities. There were no excellent manners and morals that he did not follow. It was as a result of these outstanding virtues that he achieved success in a very short duration of time what the other preachers could not accomplish in a hundred years.
(Anfas-i-Qudsiyya) - Allama Syed Abul Hasan Ali Nadvi (d. 2000 AD)
“Mir Syed Ali Hamdani was a pious person, a perfect saint, a lover of God, a lover of the Prophet (SAW), a seeker of God, familiar with the ways of the religion, and he had such a great missionary zeal for Islam that millions of people were guided by him towards Islam. The driving force behind this outstanding zeal was the concept of Tawheed i.e., the Oneness of God. It needs to remember that Syed Ali Hamdani did not conquer the people with a sword, rather, he conquered it with, sincerity, compassion, spirituality and love. Once I said the same thing in a gathering of the Arabs that can we gauge the greatness of this person who visited the place thrice and converted the entire region to Islam.” (Tohfa-e-Kashmir) - PNK Bamzai (d.2007)
“Syed Ali Hamdani was a versatile genius, a great saint and a scholar. He wrote profusely on Sufism and elucidated several earlier works on the subject. Although a great authority on theology and philosophy, he did not disdain to write on such varied secular subjects as jurisprudence, political science, and the science of physiognomy. Author of a more than a hundred works on logic , ethics and other subjects in prose, Syed Ali also wrote Persian poetry of no mean order. His odes are naturally Sufistic and his mystical poems illustrate his broad humanistic outlook on life and religion.” (Culture and political History of Kashmir) - Maulana Wahiduddin Khan (d. 2021 AD)
“Mir Syed Ali Hamdani holds the position of the spiritual founder of Kashmir. The Muslims of Kashmir generally call him Amir Kabir (the great leader). The present religious ideology of Kashmir is largely the result of his dawah efforts, for the people of Kashmir followed his mission to the fullest extent.” (The Dawn Over Kashmir)
Mir Imtiyaz Aafreen can be reached at imtiyazaafreen@gmail.com
