Tribute to Shah-e-
Hamdan
Remembering a great sufi saint for his
exemplary personality
The Valley of Kashmir
had a good number of those Muslims with some of them on high positions in the
eleventh century. The Saints and Sufis began to make their presence in the
valley while traveling thousands of miles with the sole mission of preaching
Islam. It is stated that the first Saint who entered the valley was the
Suhrawadi saint, Syed Abdul Rahman Shariefu’Din Suhrawardi who was later
popularly known as Syed Bulbul Shah (RA). He was instrumental in making the conversion
of the Buddhist ruler of Kashmir Rinchana (1320- 1323) to Islam which concreted
the power of the Muslims in the Valley.
The year 1384 is a golden and historical year in the history of Kashmir because it was in this year that the great Saint and Sufi religious scholar, prolific and versatile writer and missionary and traveler for the cause of Islam, Mir Syed Ali Hamdani ( RA) popularly known as Amir-i-Kabir and Shah-i-Hamdan, Bani-e-Islam, Bani-e-Musalman and Ali-e- Thani, accompanied by thousands of followers and disciples blessed the land of Kashmir by his presence to spread Allah –o- Akbar every where in Kashmir and put an end to idol worship and inspire the people with the true spirit of Islam. Mir Syed Ali Hamdani (RA) was born on Monday, 12th of Rajjab, 714 A.H. (1314 A.D.) at Hamdan in Persia. His father’s name was Syed Shihab- ud- Din, an Allavi Syed and an important official in Hamdan. He memorized the whole Quran (Hafiz-i-Quran) in his early boyhood and studied Islamic theology and learnt and educated himself with the learning of Tasawuff under the supervision of his maternal uncle Syed Ala-ud-Din. Later, he became the spiritual disciple of Sheikh Sharaf –ud- Din who advised him to complete his education by extensive travels to foreign lands. As a result of this, Mir Syed Ali (RA) undertook many travels which covered a period of twenty one years and remained and enjoyed the company of many mystics and divine personages of the age. He traveled around the world three times and interacted with one thousand and four hundred saints. He authored two books, Zakirat-ul-Maluk and Ghayatul-Makan, which contain an account of his experiences and ideas. The first book emphasizes upon the principles which ought to be the guidelines of a Muslim ruler. In the second book, he stresses that the people absorbed in materialistic and worldly pursuits can not carry the difficult task of being a Sufi.
The great Saint adopted the policy of winning and motivating the ruler and his nobles to accept Islam as their way of life because he was of the firm belief that the common masses followed the conduct and culture of their rulers and he also preferred to convert the people to Islam in the City or Shahr because the cities played a great role for the social change. Mir Syed Ali Hamdani converted a colossal number of people in the Valley. It is found that he did not only bring the Sultan and his nobles like Magrays,Ganaies, and Chandans into frontiers of Islam but he also succeeded in motivating the great Guru of Kali Mandir, Srinagar and his thousands of followers to embrace Islam. His moral and spiritual influence played a great role in changing the demographic character of Kashmir and he was successful in declining the Brahmincal influence and made a large number of Hindus belonging to different castes to embrace Islam and it is revealed that he was able to convert thirty seven thousand people. His influence on the Kashmiri society was due to his accessibility to all and unique qualities which attracted the attention of everybody including the Hindus. He was a symbol of equality, justice and unity and his Khanqah was open for everybody from the King to the poorest in the society. His introducing the tradition of Zikir of Aurad-i-Fathiya had the aim to synthesize the different sections and classes of the society. The Valley of Kashmir is indebted to the great saint for cleaning it from idol worship and blessing it with the gift of Islam.
The year 1384 is a golden and historical year in the history of Kashmir because it was in this year that the great Saint and Sufi religious scholar, prolific and versatile writer and missionary and traveler for the cause of Islam, Mir Syed Ali Hamdani ( RA) popularly known as Amir-i-Kabir and Shah-i-Hamdan, Bani-e-Islam, Bani-e-Musalman and Ali-e- Thani, accompanied by thousands of followers and disciples blessed the land of Kashmir by his presence to spread Allah –o- Akbar every where in Kashmir and put an end to idol worship and inspire the people with the true spirit of Islam. Mir Syed Ali Hamdani (RA) was born on Monday, 12th of Rajjab, 714 A.H. (1314 A.D.) at Hamdan in Persia. His father’s name was Syed Shihab- ud- Din, an Allavi Syed and an important official in Hamdan. He memorized the whole Quran (Hafiz-i-Quran) in his early boyhood and studied Islamic theology and learnt and educated himself with the learning of Tasawuff under the supervision of his maternal uncle Syed Ala-ud-Din. Later, he became the spiritual disciple of Sheikh Sharaf –ud- Din who advised him to complete his education by extensive travels to foreign lands. As a result of this, Mir Syed Ali (RA) undertook many travels which covered a period of twenty one years and remained and enjoyed the company of many mystics and divine personages of the age. He traveled around the world three times and interacted with one thousand and four hundred saints. He authored two books, Zakirat-ul-Maluk and Ghayatul-Makan, which contain an account of his experiences and ideas. The first book emphasizes upon the principles which ought to be the guidelines of a Muslim ruler. In the second book, he stresses that the people absorbed in materialistic and worldly pursuits can not carry the difficult task of being a Sufi.
The great Saint adopted the policy of winning and motivating the ruler and his nobles to accept Islam as their way of life because he was of the firm belief that the common masses followed the conduct and culture of their rulers and he also preferred to convert the people to Islam in the City or Shahr because the cities played a great role for the social change. Mir Syed Ali Hamdani converted a colossal number of people in the Valley. It is found that he did not only bring the Sultan and his nobles like Magrays,Ganaies, and Chandans into frontiers of Islam but he also succeeded in motivating the great Guru of Kali Mandir, Srinagar and his thousands of followers to embrace Islam. His moral and spiritual influence played a great role in changing the demographic character of Kashmir and he was successful in declining the Brahmincal influence and made a large number of Hindus belonging to different castes to embrace Islam and it is revealed that he was able to convert thirty seven thousand people. His influence on the Kashmiri society was due to his accessibility to all and unique qualities which attracted the attention of everybody including the Hindus. He was a symbol of equality, justice and unity and his Khanqah was open for everybody from the King to the poorest in the society. His introducing the tradition of Zikir of Aurad-i-Fathiya had the aim to synthesize the different sections and classes of the society. The Valley of Kashmir is indebted to the great saint for cleaning it from idol worship and blessing it with the gift of Islam.
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