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Meeting
With Khawaja Qutubuddin
During this tour, when he visited the famous city of Asfahan, he met
Sheikh Mohammed Asfahani. The 14-year old Qutubuddin Bakhtiyear
Awashi (born 569 AH) was in search of a Murshid (Master) in those
days and was thinking of approaching Sheikh Mohammed in this matter
but, in the meantime he came across Hazrat Khawaja Muinuddin who
read in him a very promising spiritual career and accepted him as a
'mureed'. Khawaja Qutubuddin accompanied him on his tour in 583 AH
and later on was initiated as Khawaja Sahib's Khalifa in 586 AH as
the result of the 'Bahsharat' (prophesy in dream) from the Holy
Prophet of Islam at the early age of 17. Khawaja Qutubuddin was a
born saint in as much as he had learnt half of the Holy Quran by
God's grace while he was still in his mother's womb and used to
recite it.
Visits
To Mecca And Medina
During this tour (583-585 AH), Khawaja Muinuddin visited several
other places including Mecca, performed Haj and offered incessant
prayers for sometime there. One day he heard a 'Nida' declaring, "O
Muinuddin, we are pleased with you; you may ask anything you like."
The Khawaja Sahib replied, "O Almighty God, I only pray for the
grace of your pardon of Muinuddin's 'Silsila' of mureeds". The 'Nida'
answered, "O Muinuddin, you are our beloved devotee, we shall pardon
your 'mureeds ' and also others who became so in your 'silsila' upto
Qayamat (the Day-of-Reckoning).
Prophetic Direction
To Go To Ajmer
Khawaja Muinuddin then went to Medina. There also he remained in
devotion for a long time. One night he had a 'Basharat' (prophetic
dream) from the Holy Prophet who said, "O Muinuddin you are the
promoter of our religion. We give India under your charge where
darkness prevails. Go to Ajmer. With your presence, the darkness
shall disappear and Islam shall shine. Allah will help you. "Khawaja
Muinuddin was much pleased at this 'Basharat' but wondered about the
geographical situation of Ajmer. In another spiritual communion with
the Holy Prophet, he was however shown a map with the exact position
of Ajmer with its surrounding hills and the fort.
Resuming his
journey the Khawaja Sahib visited Khirqan and Sheikh Abul Hasan
Khirqani and then Astrabad where he met Shiekh Naasiruddin Astrabadi.
He then left for Herat where he stayed
at the tomb of Hazrat Abdulla Ansari for some time
Yadgar
Mohammad's Conversion
When his reputation attracted large number of people in Herat he
moved on to Sabzawar in Afghanistan. The governor of this place,
named Yadgar Mohammed, was a very cruel and haughty ruler. He was a
Baatani and did not recognise or respect the first 3 Caliphs of
Islam, neither had he any regard for Sufi dervishes and holy
personalities. He owned a fine garden in the suburbs of the town.
Hazrat Khawaja Sahib was tired, so he went into the garden for a
little rest and, after having a bath in hauz' (a small reservoir of
water), engaged himself in the study of the Holy Quaran.
At this time
news of the expected arrival of Yadgar Mohammed perturbed the
attendant of Khawaja Sahib. Apprehending insult of trespass at the
hands of the haughty governor he approached his master and informed,
" Sir, the owner of this garden is coming; I think, we should move
out lest he may insult your honour for trespass in his garden." The
Khawaja Sahib merely smiled and said, "If you are so afraid, you may
go and sit under that tree and watch the scene of Allah's wonder.
"Immediately after this, Yadgar's servants appeared on the scene and
started sweeping and carpeting of the place for their master's
reception. Due to the extraordinary saintly dignity and awe of
Khawaja Sahib, they could not however dare to ask him to get out. In
the meantime, Yadgar Mohammed arrived at the scene with his retinue.
When he saw
Khawaja Muinuddin there, he got wild and vehemently rebuked his
servants, "Why did you allow this 'fakir' here and did not turn him
out of my garden?" On hearing this, the Khawaja Sahib simply raised
his eyes (from the Holy Quran which he was reading) towards Yadgar
Mohammed and the next moment the proud and haughty governor shivered
like a cane and fell down unconscious on the ground. His servants
and retinue were thunder struck by this incident and begged Khawaja
Sahib to forgive their master for his impertinent behaviour. Upon
this the Khawaja Sahib asked his attendant to get some water from
the 'hauz' and sprinkle the same on Yadgar Mohammed's face.
The next moment
he regained consciousness and knelt down at the feel of the saint
apologetically. The Khawaja Sahib then delivered a brief sermon of
advice to him and his people who repented shamefully for their past
sins and wrong convictions. He reminded Yadgar Mohammed that it was
highly contradictory and shameful to be a believer of the Holy
Prophet on the one hand and to disobey and flout his commands and
the Islamic principles on the other. Yadgar Mohammed offered prayers
in lieu of his 'tauba' (repentance) and pledged strict abstinence
for future. He wanted to give all his vast wealth to Khawaja Sahib,
but it was contemptuously refused. He was however advised to
distribute it among the poor and the needy which he did promptly. He
divorced his many wives, freed all his slaves and renouncing the
world, became one of the ardent devotees of
Hazrat Khawaja Moinuddin Chishti.
In Ghazni
From Balakh, Khawaja Muinuddin is reported to have gone to Ghazni at
a time when none could have dared to enter that city due to the
terrible turmoil and disturbances that prevailed there consequent
upon the fall of Sultan Mahmud's power and the rise of that of the
Ghauris. The city was dangerously ablaze and life was unsafe on
account of the general massacre, arson and loot. But Khawaja
Muinuddin was too big to be afraid of such dangers. If he was afraid
of anything on earth he was afraid of the Almighty God alone. In
Ghazni he met Hazrat Shamsul-Aarifin Sheikh Abdul Waahid and stayed
with him for some time. In the tone and temper of this horrible time
in Ghazni, the Khawaja Sahib applied his healing balm of
spiritualism to the wounds of the afflicted which was the supreme
need of the hour.
Entry In India
It was in the year of grace, 587 AH or 1191 AD that Khawaja
Muinuddin Chishti entered India and proceeded to Delhi via Fort
Shaadman, Multan, Lahore and Samana (a town of the old Patiala
state). At Lahore he stayed for 40 days at the shrine of Hazrat Data
Ganj Baksh, a great saint who had come to India before Khawaja Sahib
and enjoyed considerable respect and popularity in the Punjab. While
leaving Lahore, Hazrat Khawaja Muinuddin offered the following
Persian couplet in appreciation of this great saint:
"Ganj
bakhsh-e-faize-e-Alam mazhar-e-nur-e-khuda. Naaqisan ra pir-e-kamil Kaamilaan raa naakhuda. "
(Ganj Baksh is a radiant ray of
Divinity and a bestower of the treasure of divine knowledge for the
salvation of mankind. To the unworthy he is a supreme guide or
murshid but to the supreme guides or murshids themselves he is a
superlative guide like the captain of a ship.)
Warning
of Raja Prithviraj's Mother
Mother of Raja Prithviraj Chauhan, who ruled Ajmer and Delhi at that
time, had warned her son 12 years ago by her astrological knowledge
that a 'fakir' would enter his kingdom from the North one day and
destroy it if he would not be wise enough to respect him and
compromise with him. The Raja had therefore, deputed intelligent
spies all over the North-Western frontier to watch the expected
fakir with a view to foil his entry and finish him before he could
do any mischief. When Khawaja Sahib reached Samana (a town of the
old Patiala state), the spies were shrewd enough to recognise him
and wanted to harm him by intrigue. They invited him to stay with
them as their guest and accept their hospitality. But a 'Basharat'
from the Holy Prophet warned him not to trust them but to continue
his journey toward Ajmer.
Courageoues Entry In Delhi
A great political event coincided with the journey of Hazrat Khawaja
Sahib from Lahore to Delhi. On the decline of Sultan Mahmud's reign
in Ghazni, Sultan Ghiyasuddin Ghauri and his brother Shahabuddin
Ghauri had assumed power and captured Lahore from the last Ghazni
governor Khusro Shah. Before returning to his capital, Shahabuddin
Ghauri was however challenged (after he had captured Bhatinda) by
and suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of Raja Prithviraj
Chauhan of Ajmer in the first battle of Trawri or Tarain (40 miles
from Delhi) in 587 A H or 1191 AD. He escaped miraculously with his
wounds by the help of a faithful Khilji slave who carried him safe
on his horseback from the battlefield.
The Khawaja
Sahib on his journey to Delhi met some Khilji and Pathan sepoys-remnants
of Shahabuddin Ghauri's defeated army-who warned the saint not to
venture his entry into Delhi at such a dangerous time. But it has
always been proved, he was too big for such a warning and despite
all natural prejudice against Muslims in such atmosphere he
continued his journey courageously towards Delhi.
Entity & Conversions In Delhi
It can be easily surmised that the Khawaja Sahib's entry in Delhi,
under such a prejudiced atmosphere must have taxed his and his few
followers courage and perseverance to the utmost capacity specially
faith in Allah. And indeed nothing could disturb or prevent him and
his resolute mission even when his appearance actually infuriated
the inhabitants of Delhi. A citizen’s deputation approached Khandey
Rao, the cousin of Raja Prithviraj and governor of Delhi under his
regime and easily obtained these orders for the immediate expulsion
of Khawaja Sahib and his few companions from Delhi. But whosoever
went to execute the order he was so irresistibly over powered and
subdued by the great saint's magnetic personality and affectionate
demeanour that he was on the contrary, obliged to listen to Khawaja
Sahib's sermon and embrace Islam instead of evicting him from the
site. This was the great saint's first miracle on the soil of India
which killed all the prejudice against his religion surprisingly and
converted the same into a deep affection and reverence for him. As
this news went round the city, people began to flock around him in
ever-increasing number and embraced Islam unhesitatingly. When
sufficient seed of Islamic faith was thus scattered in the soil of
Delhi the Khawaja Sahib deputed Khawaja Qutubuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki
(his beloved Khalifa) to carry on the good work there and himself
proceeded to Ajmer.
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