ER.MOHAMMAD ASHRAF FAZILI
The Reshi movement flourished from the first half of the fifteenth century and the Shaikh Noor-ud-Din, commonly known as Nund Resh in Kashmir was responsible for its growth and popularity, aided by his four eminent disciples, Bam-ud-Din, Zain-ud-Din, Latif-ud-Din and Nasr-ud-Din. Shaikh Noor-ud-Din was born in Zul-Hajja, 779 AH/0 April 1378 AD. His birthplace was Kaimoh, where his father Salar Ganai, belonging to the tribe of watchmen lived. It is said that when the Shaikh was born, he would not take milk from his mother’s breast. Three days after his birth, Lalla, the celebrated Shavite ascetic of Kashmir happened to come by and spoke to the newly born baby: “You were not ashamed of being born; why are you ashamed to suck?” Thereupon the baby immediately started to take milk and Lalla thereafter continued to visit the home of the parents of Noor-ud-Din. After the death of their father, the brothers of Noor-ud-Din, Shesh and Kundar, are reported to have turned to a life of theft and robbery. When Noor-ud-Din grew older, they pressed him to share in their way of life, and Noor-ud-Din reluctantly agreed. However, the Shaikh proved an incompetent thief. His brothers, thinking that he might become a source of trouble, approached their mother and told her that he should leave them, as he was an ignorant fool. Their mother sent for him and said that if he considered stealing unlawful, he should take up some other means of earning his living. The Shaikh agreed and went with her to a weaver to become his apprentice. But the very first day the weaver lost his patience with him as he kept on asking questions about religion instead of attending his work. The weaver sent for Noor-ud-Din’s mother. She came and enquired what was wrong with him and why he did not get on with his work. The Shaikh replied: “No work in this world is easy. The tools of the weaver remind me that we all must leave this world. So, we should not set our hearts on worldly success. Our destiny is determined at our birth, we work in order to stay alive until the moment when the destiny must be fulfilled. If we do not worship, how shall we achieve freedom from the punishments of the grave?
According to Baba Nasib once the Prophet appeared to the Shaikh in a dream, addressed him by his Kashmiri name Nand, and bade him to do pious deeds and be worthy of his name. The vision drew the veil from his eyes, and he was increasingly drawn to the spiritual life. Baba Dawood Mishkati and Abdul Wahab say that while the Shaikh and his brothers were once trying to break into a house, Lalla, who happened to be there, cried to Noor-ud Din, “What will you get from this house? Go to a big house (i.e. God), you will get something theret.” On hearing this Noor-ud-Din, who was thirty years old at that time, immediately left his brothers and dug out a cave at the village of Kaimoh. Here for many years he performed his austere penances, withdrawing entirely from the life that surrounded him. Shaikh Noor-ud-Din was a great mystic, who had risen high above the courts, and the social and religious institutions of the time. His sayings, reveal that his conversion to spiritual life was not accidental, but out of conviction. According to Wahab, when Mir Muhammad, the son of Sayid Ali Hamadani heard about the virtues of Shaikh Noor-ud-Din, he went to see him. After being convinced of his spirituality, Mir accepted him as his disciple on his insistence. Thus Wahab, who was himself an adherent of the Kubravi order, seems to be bent on connecting the Rishis with that order. In fact there seems very little doubt that Noor-ud-Din developed his thought in his own atmosphere. Lalla, who had started a new Bhakti movement in Kashmir was a source of inspiration for Noor-ud-Din, though he did not become her disciple. Shaikh Noor-ud-Din distinguished himself among all the Muslim saints of Kashmir. Joanraja, the contemporary of the Sheikh, who rarely acknowledges the sanctity of any Muslim, describes him the greatest sage of the time. Shaikh did not concern himself with propagating the faith of Islam. He gave himself up to austere penances. For some time he subsisted upon wild vegetables, later on he gave these up and sustained life on one cup of milk daily. Finally, in his last years he is said to have reduced his diet to water alone. Shaikh Noor-ud-Din died on 26 Ramzan, 842 AH/12 March 1439 AD at the age of sixty three. He was buried with almost royal pomp at the village of Chrar; among the thousands of mourners was Sultan Zain-ul-Abidin. The simplicity and the purity of Shaikh Noor-ud-Din’s life has greatly impressed the people of Kashmir, who entertain the highest veneration for the saint to this day. It was, perhaps, to give the expression to popular sentiment that the Afghan Governor “Ata Mohammad Khan” (early fourteenth century), struck coins in the name of Shaikh Noor-ud-Din.
Shaikh Noor-ud-Din attracted a large number of people to his fold. Among his prominent disciples were Bam-ud-Din, Zain-ud-Din, Latif-ud-Din and Qiyam-ud-Din. There is no evidence that he gave a Khilafat-nama to any of his disciples or that he nominated any of them as his successor. But Sayid Ali, the author of Tarikh-i-Kashmir, calls the first four above mentioned disciples his Khalifas, and the later writers have followed the Sayid. Out of these Khalifas, the first three are alleged to have been born as Hindus and to have been converted to Islam by Noor-ud-Din. It is said thar Bam-ud-Din was a famous Brahmin, respected by many Kashmiri Hindus, residing in Bamzu, where he used to worship numerous idols. He is credited with having possessed remarkable miraculous powers, even as a Hindu. For example, he is reported to have bathed, daily at dawn, simultaneously at five different places in Kashmir. Chandanyar in the town of Vijabror, Shoryar and Khujyar (in Srinagar); Vular (40 miles north-west of Srinagar) and Khadanyar (in the town of Baramulla). It is said that when Nooud-Din heard about his reputation, he decided to visit him and convert him to Islam. When he went to see Bhuma Sadh (the Hindu name of Bam-ud-Din), he put rhe bloody skin of a newly slaughtered cow on his shoulders, Bhuma Sadh saw the Shaikh and was naturally annoyed. He asked the Shaikh to go away, and not to pollute the idols. Noor-ud-Din stayed, the Brahman asked him what he wanted. Noor-ud-Din replied: “I want you to become a Muslim,” and added that it was folly to worship idols carved out of stone by a mere man. To worship what one has created himself is a sign of ignorance. After a long discussion, the Brahman asked the Shaikh to provide the truth of Islam. The Shaikh addressed the idols, which at once gave tongue and Bhuma Sadh accepted Islam and was later named Bam-ud-Din, by the Shaikh. Another disciple of the Shaikh, Zain-ud-Din hailed from Kishtwar and his father who was a decendent of the rulers of that country, was killed by his enemies. Zain-ud-Din was quite young. According to Sayid Ali, Nasib, Mishkati, Wahhab, Mufti, Hasan and Miskin, when quite young Zain-ud-Din fell seriously ill and no medicine could cure him. His mother became anxious, meanwhile Noor-ud-Din appeared and told her that he would pray for the recovery of her son if she promised that they both would later come to Kashmir ans accept Islam. Azmi however asserts that Zain-ud-din came to Kashmir because of a Divine command and accepted Islam there at the hands of Noor-ud-Din.
….to be continued
The author is a former Chief Engineer
