Khwaja Ahrar

Nāṣir ad-Dīn ʿUbaydullāh ibn Maḥmūd ibn Shihāb ad-Dīn (1404–1490; Persian: ناصرالدین عبیدالله احرار) more popularly known as Khwaja Ahrar (Persian: خواجه احرار) was a Hanafi Maturidi member of the Golden Chain of the Naqshbandi Sufi spiritual order of Central Asia.[1] He was born in Samarkand, a Persian city in Central Asia,[2] to a Muslim family. He was born to Khwaja Mehmood Shashi bin Khwaja Shihabuddin. His forefathers had migrated from Baghdad, and his lineage was connected to Abu Bakr Siddique from his paternal side and Umar Farooq from the maternal side.[3][4] Khwaja Ahrar was deeply involved in the social, political and economics activities of Transaxonia. He was born into a relatively poor yet highly spiritual family and, at the age of maturity, he was probably the richest person in the kingdom.[5] He was a close associate of all the leading dervishes of the time. Maulana Abdur Rahman Jami was a disciple of his.[6][7] He learned and practiced the secrets of spirituality under his father and later under Khwaja Yaqub Charkhi.[8]

Khwaja Ahrar
Khwaja Ahrar, Mughal Empire Archives, British Museum
Personal
Born1404 (1404) AD
Samarkand, Uzbekistan
Died1490 (aged 85–86) AD
Samarkand, Uzbekistan
Senior posting
PredecessorYaqub al-Charkhi
SuccessorMuhammad Zahid Wakhshi
Arabic name
Personal (Ism)ʿUbaydullāh
عبيد الله
Patronymic (Nasab)ibn Maḥmūd ibn Shihāb ad-Dīn
بن محمود بن شهاب الدين
Epithet (Laqab)Aḥrār
أحرار
Nāṣir ad-Dīn
ناصر الدين
Toponymic (Nisba)at-Tūrānī
التوراني
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Birth and family

Khwaja's father was a farmer by profession who made the pilgrimage to Mecca. His paternal grandfather, Shahabuddin Shashi was also a farmer and trader. His maternal grandfather Khwaja Daud was the son of Khwaja Khawand Tahur who was an established Sufi mystic and the son of Umar Baghistani, a famous shaikh honoured by Bahauddin Naqshband.[9] His birth took place during the ramadan of 806 Hijri (March, 1404) in village near Tashkent called Baghistan.[10] His birth was accompanied by a number of miracles and many saints had predicted the coming of a saint.[11]

He had two sons, Khwaja Khwajgan and Khwaja Yahya.[12]

Education and learning

Initially, Ahrar studied in Tashkent[13] and was taught by his uncle, Ibrahim Shashi. In 1425, his uncle took him to Samarqand for his studies. He repetitively fell sick during studies, making him quit altogether, but his spiritual states developed until he once saw prophet Jesus in his dreams where he said "I will teach you." He interpreted this to mean he would receive religious knowledge but others disagreed and said it meant medical knowledge.

Khwaja Ahrar took his spiritual bayah (spiritual oath) from Yaqub al-Charkh. He had many disciples but the most famous was the Sufi poet Mawlana Abdur Rahman Jami. Maulana Jami wrote a book dedicated to Ahrar called Tuhfa tul Ahrar. Khwaja Ahrar is also mentioned in Jami's most famous work Yusuf and Zulekha.[14] Khwaja Ahrar is also known to have negotiated peace many times.[15] His spiritual disciples are recorded to have shown extremely high etiquette and morality in his presence.[16]

Business

After returning from Herat, at the age of 29, he completed his training. He bought a piece of cultivable land and began farming. His land produced a great deal of yield very fast. Within a decade, he owned many farming lands, businesses, Turkic baths, khanqahs, and was sending trading caravans to trade with China.[17] Historians contend he had become one of the richest men of Central Asia.[18] He used to spend most of his money on philanthropy. Most of his wealth was invested in Waqf (religious endowments) and was used for the needy.[19]

The height of Khwaja Ahrar's career coincided with the cultural efflorescence of Herat[20] during the reign of Sultan Husayn Bayqara. Many of his enemies accused him of amassing a large amount of wealth.[21] However, he always spent his wealth for the poor. Regardless he became a very rich man owning more 3500 acres of cultivable land at one time. He had many properties,[22] including mosques[23] and madrassas that were waqf.[24]

Influence on Mughal empire

A Timurid prince was the sultan of Samarqand at the time. Khwaja Ahrar met him to discuss the condition of the people. However, the chief aid of the sultan had no interest, so Khwaja Ahrar told him "I have been commanded by God and His messenger to come here". The sultan's aid still did not show any sign of talking and said the sultan was not concerned about the people. At this, the Khwaja wrote the name of the Sultan on the wall, erased it with his saliva, said "God will replace you with a King who is concerned for his people", and left. Some days later, as history records, Sultan Abu Sa'id Mirza, another Timurid King gathered his forces and attacked Samarqand. Sultan Abu Saeed later became the grandfather of Zahiruddin Muhammad Babur, the conqueror of India and founder of the Mughal Empire. This alliance of Abu Sa'id Mirza and Khwaja Ahrar lasted for decades and proved fruitful for the whole kingdom.[25]

Khwaja Ahrar also named Babur in his infancy as Zahiruddin Muhammad, literally 'Defender of Religion'.[26]

Death

Khwaja Ahrar passed away when he was 89 years old in Samarqand in 1490 (896 Hijri). His chronogram is خلدِ برین which was discovered by Ali Shernawai.[27] He left a huge fortune, and his family continued his preachings.

Khwaja Ahrar with Malwana Jami, Sufi poet
Khwaja Ahrar with Malwana Jami, Sufi poet. An imagined representation

Famous quotes

"Everyone enters through a different door; I entered this Spiritual Order through the door of service."[28]

"Love and follow Lovers. Then you will be like them and their love will reflect on you."[29]

"Sufism requires you to carry everyone’s burdens and not to put yours on anyone."[30]

References
  1. Nishapuri, Mir Abd al-Avval (2002). Malfuzat Ahrar. Markaz-i Našr-i Dānišgāhī. p. 208.
  2. Ṣafī, ʻAlī ibn Ḥusayn Kāshifī; Holland, Muhtar (2001). Beads of dew : from the source of life : histories of the Khwājagān, the masters of wisdom = Rashaḥāt 'ain al-ḥayāt. Al-Baz Publishing. p. 245. ISBN 1882216210. OCLC 70661671.
  3. Šayḫ, Mawlānā; Kawamoto, Masatomo (2004). Maqāmāt-i Ḫwāǧa Aḥrār : tad̲kira-i Ḫwāǧa Nāṣir ad-Dīn ʻUbaydallāh Aḥrār (806 tā 895 q). Muʼassasa-i Muṭālaʻāt-i Zabānhā wa Farhanghā-i Āsiyā wa Āfrīqā. p. 21. ISBN 4872978986. OCLC 727987567.
  4. Safi, Mawlana Ali ibn Husain (2001). Rashahat Ain al-Hayat. Translated by Holland, Muhtar. Al Baz.
  5. Algar, H. (2004-05-01). "Review: The Letters of Khwaja 'Ubayd Allah Ahrar and his Associates * Jo-Ann Gross, Asom Urunbaev: The Letters of Khwaja 'Ubayd Allah Ahrar and his Associates". Journal of Islamic Studies. 15 (2): 225. doi:10.1093/jis/15.2.224. ISSN 0955-2340.
  6. "The Development of the Naqshband". www.allamaiqbal.com. Retrieved 2019-02-11.
  7. "Aḥrār, Khvāja ʿUbaydallāh". doi:10.1163/1573-3912_ei3_com_23939. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  8. Ṣafī, ʻAlī ibn Ḥusayn Kāshifī; Holland, Muhtar (2001). Beads of dew : from the source of life : histories of the Khwājagān, the masters of wisdom = Rashaḥāt 'ain al-ḥayāt. Al-Baz Publishing. p. 250. ISBN 1882216210. OCLC 70661671.
  9. Ṣafī, ʻAlī ibn Ḥusayn Kāshifī; Holland, Muhtar (2001). Beads of dew : from the source of life : histories of the Khwājagān, the masters of wisdom = Rashaḥāt 'ain al-ḥayāt. Al-Baz Publishing. ISBN 1882216210. OCLC 70661671.
  10. صفی, مولانا. رسحات رعین الحیات.
  11. Ṣafī, ʻAlī ibn Ḥusayn Kāshifī; Holland, Muhtar (2001). Beads of dew : from the source of life : histories of the Khwājagān, the masters of wisdom = Rashaḥāt 'ain al-ḥayāt. Al-Baz Publishing. p. 245. ISBN 1882216210. OCLC 70661671.
  12. Šayḫ, Mawlānā; Kawamoto, Masatomo (2004). Maqāmāt-i Ḫwāǧa Aḥrār : tad̲kira-i Ḫwāǧa Nāṣir ad-Dīn ʻUbaydallāh Aḥrār (806 tā 895 q). Muʼassasa-i Muṭālaʻāt-i Zabānhā wa Farhanghā-i Āsiyā wa Āfrīqā. ISBN 4872978986. OCLC 727987567.
  13. Paul, Jürgen (November 1991). "Forming a Faction: The imāyat System of Khwaja Ahrar". International Journal of Middle East Studies. 23 (4): 533–548. doi:10.1017/s0020743800023400. ISSN 0020-7438. S2CID 162474574.
  14. Shadchehr, Farah Fatima Golparvaran (2008). "Abd Al-Rahman Jami: "Naqshbandi Sufi, Persian Poet". Ohio University: 3. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  15. Algar, H. (2004-05-01). "Review: The Letters of Khwaja 'Ubayd Allah Ahrar and his Associates * Jo-Ann Gross, Asom Urunbaev: The Letters of Khwaja 'Ubayd Allah Ahrar and his Associates". Journal of Islamic Studies. 15 (2): 224–226. doi:10.1093/jis/15.2.224. ISSN 0955-2340.
  16. Avery, Peter (June 1993). "Leonard Lewisohn (ed.): The legacy of mediaeval Persian Sufism. xiv, 434 pp. London and New York: Khaniqahi Nimatullahi Publications, 1992". Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. 56 (2): 250. doi:10.1017/s0041977x00005826. ISSN 0041-977X. S2CID 162493716.
  17. Gross, Jo-Ann., ed. (1994). Muslims in Central Asia expressions of identity and change. Duke University Press. ISBN 0822311879. OCLC 489867227.
  18. Gross, Jo‐Ann (January 1988). "The economic status of a Timurid Sufi Shaykh: a matter of conflict or perception?". Iranian Studies. 21 (1–2): 85. doi:10.1080/00210868808701710. ISSN 0021-0862.
  19. "NITLE Arab World Project". acc.teachmideast.org. Retrieved 2019-02-11.
  20. Manz, Beatrice Forbes (2007-03-01). Power, Politics and Religion in Timurid Iran. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781139462846.
  21. Gross, Jo‐Ann (January 1988). "The economic status of a Timurid Sufi Shaykh: a matter of conflict or perception?". Iranian Studies. 21 (1–2): 84–104. doi:10.1080/00210868808701710. ISSN 0021-0862.
  22. Malik, Jamal (1995-01-01). "Marc Gaborieau / Alexandre Popovic / Thierry Zarcone (eds.): Naqshbandis; Historical Developments and Present Situation of a Muslim Mystical Order. Istanbul: Institut Français d'Études Anatoliennes, 1990". Die Welt des Islams. 35 (1): 145–147. doi:10.1163/1570060952597914. ISSN 0043-2539.
  23. Afsaruddin, Asma (2001). "Windows on the House of Islam: Muslim Sources on Spirituality and Religious Life, edited by John Renard. 439 pages, maps, notes, appendices, index. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1998. $22.00 (Paper) ISBN 0-520-21086-7". Middle East Studies Association Bulletin. 35 (1): 71. doi:10.1017/s0026318400041602. ISSN 0026-3184. S2CID 164276278.
  24. Dahnhardt, T. (2001-05-01). "Naqshbandis in Western and Central Asia: Change and Continuity Edited by Elisabeth Ozdalga. Richmond: Curzon Press, 1999. Pp. 187. Price PB 16.00. 0-7007-1147-3". Journal of Islamic Studies. 12 (2): 195–197. doi:10.1093/jis/12.2.195. ISSN 0955-2340.
  25. ١٤٠٤-١٤٩٠م., احرار، عبيد الله بن محمود، (2002). The letters of Khwāja ʻUbayd Allāh Aḥrār and his associates. Brill. p. 14. ISBN 9004126031. OCLC 49312673.
  26. Noshahi, Arif (2005). خواجہ احرار. Lahore, Pakistan: پورب اکیڈمی.
  27. نوشاہی, عارف. خواجہ احرار. Islamabad: Poorab Academy.
  28. "Ubaydullah al-Ahrar, qaddasa-l-Lahu sirrah | The Naqshbandi Haqqani Sufi Order of America: Sufism and Spirituality". naqshbandi.org. Retrieved 2018-12-08.
  29. "Ubaydullah al-Ahrar, qaddasa-l-Lahu sirrah | The Naqshbandi Haqqani Sufi Order of America: Sufism and Spirituality". naqshbandi.org. Retrieved 2018-12-08.
  30. "Ubaydullah al-Ahrar, qaddasa-l-Lahu sirrah | The Naqshbandi Haqqani Sufi Order of America: Sufism and Spirituality". naqshbandi.org. Retrieved 2018-12-08.


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