Saviours Of Islamic Spirit volume 02

383 Pages·2012·10.42 MB·English

Academy of
Islamic Research and Publications
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SAVIOURS OF ISLAMIC SPIRIT
Volume II
Abul Hasan All Nadwi
Edited and Translated by
(Late) Muhiuddin Ahmad
Academy of
Islamic Research and P u b lic a tio n s
Lucknow (India)
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All right reserved in favour of ;
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Academy of i ■ j ■?.
Islamic Research and Publications
P. O. Bos 119, Tagore Mit|, Nadwa, Lucknow
(India)
Series No. g 7
English : 3rd Edition 1997
Price Rs. 90.00
Printed at the Lucknow Publishing House
3 7, Cantonment Road,
Lucknow - 226001 (INDIA)
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F O R E W O R D
I am glad to present the second volume of the Saviours of
Islamic Spirit before the readers. The first volume of the book
covered the revivalist endeavours made during the first six
centuries of the Islamic era, from Caliph ‘Umar ibn Abdul
Aziz to Maulana Jalal ud-dln Rumi. In this voiume the
biographical accounts, thoughts and achievements of three
luminaries of the eighth century after Hijrah are sought to be
presented.
In the Urdu version of this book, the second volume had
to be exclusively devoted to Sheikh-ul-Islam Ibn Taimiyah
because his splendid achievements in the intellectual and
religious fields were quite extensive and varied. It is not at al)
extravagant to see the reverberating influence of Ibn
Taimiyah’s thought in the generations succeeding him. Of late,
the more intelligent and educated section of the Muslims has
shown even greater interest in the works and researches of Ibn
Taimiyah. However, I considered it appropriate to include in
the present volume the accounts of two more personalities, dealt
with in the third part of its Urdu version, since all the three
belong to the eighth century. These luminaries of Islam—
Sheikh-ul-Islam Hafiz Ibn Taimiyah, Sultan-ul-Aulia Khwaja
Nizam ud-dln Aulla and MakhdOm-ul-Mulk Sheikh Sharaf ud-
dln Yahya Maneri—differ not only in time and space but also
in their temperaments, efforts and achievements; yet, one would
see a significant similarity of common ideal for which they all
worked throughout their lives. .All of them fought against
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internal deterioration caused by ignorance of the masses, pro­
tested against external encroachments of alien thought and
customs and called a halt to the decadence of Muslim society
by summoning it back to the original purity and order of Islam.
Their techniques differed according to their circumstances and
needs of the time, but they all tried to re-create the true bonds
of relationship between the believer and the Supreme Being.
It has to be borne in mind, in this context, that by the
middle of the eighth century the centre1 of Islamic religious and
intellectual activities had shifted itself to India where a power­
ful Muslim power had been firmly established. Simultaneously,
the ravages of the Mongols had destroyed all traces of culture
and civilization from Turkistan and Persia, in the east, to Syria
and borders of Egypt, in the west, and extinquished the lamp of
Abbasid Caliphate for ever. For several hundred years to
come, India had to assume the educational and intellectual and
and religious and spiritual leadership of the world of Islam. A
historian has thus inevitably to turn his attention to this new
centre of Islam. It is for this reason that a portion of this
volume and one or two subsequent volumes, whenever they are
written, would have to be devoted to the revivalist movement
in this country.
The reader will find in this volume a new religious dimension
of Islam revealed by Makhdum Sheikh Sharaf ud-dln Yahya
Maneri. This is the inner and esoteric dimension of Islam,
with its own peculiar concepts, imageries and modes of
expression, experienced in a new environment and set forth not
in Arabic but in Persian, which hsid by then become the cultural
lingua-franca of Turkistan, Persia and India. Mohi ud-din
Ahmad must have found it difficult to render this portion in
English, but, as fr.r as I have been able to see, he has acquitted
himself well of this onerous task. The difficult‘nature of. his
undertaking will be realised by those who have had to describe
essentially eastern religious experiences in a foreign language
like English.
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V
With this brief prologue, I place this volume in the hands
of my readers. I hope that they would welcome it as enthu­
siastically as they had received the earlier part of the book.
Lucknow, Abul Hasan All Nadwl
Shawwal 14, 1334
October 31, 1974 .
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TRANSLITERATION
The dashes to mark the long vowels : a as. in far; 0 as in
loose : l as in mean have been retained, leaving other conven­
tional signs. Two more signs c and 5 representing the Arabic
ain and hamza have also been retained. The sounds of K and
dj used in the Encyclopaedia of Islam have been replaced by q
and j respectively, which are now in common use. Where the
two consonants—ch, dh, gh, kh, sh, and th have been used, these
are to be sounded together, as, for example, ch in ‘church’, sh in
‘ship’ and th in ‘think’. The sound of gh resembles gz as in
‘exact’, that of kh is like ch in Scottish loch or the German ach
and dh gives the sound th in ‘father’. Wherever the two
consonants are desired to give their own sounds separately, an
apostrophe has been inserted in between as, for example, in
Ad'ham, Is’haq, etc.
However, where any proper noun is in common use in
English or its pronunciation is generally known to the English-
speaking people no signs have been used.
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CONTENTS
Pagts
!• Sheikh-ul-Islam Hafiz Ibn Taimiyah
I. • Muslim World in the Seventh Century ... 3
II. Early Life 19
III. Trials and Tribulations 26
IV. Character and Achievements 61
V. Reformative Endeavour 73
VI. Criticism of Philosophy and Dialectics 93
VII. Refutation of Christianity and Shicaism ... 117
VIII. Rejuvenation of Religious Thought in
Islam 138
2. Sultan-ul-Mashaikh Khwaja Nizam ud-din Aulia
I. The Chishtiyah Order in India 147
II. Life Sketch of Khwaja Nizam ud-dln
Aulia 166
III. Character and Achievements 202
IV. Natural Affection 211
V. Learning and Spirituality 220
VI. Blessings and Benignity 228
VII. Religious and Moral Revival 238
3. Makhdum-ul-Mulk Sheikh Sharf ud-din Yahya
Maneri
I. From Birth to Adulthood ... 257
II. The Firdausiyah Order ... 262
III. Life of Self-Discipline ... 268
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viii
Pages
IV. Character and Deportment ... 275
V. On the Deathbed ... 288
VI. Makhdum’s Letters ... 296
VII. God, the Absolute Reality ... 303
VIII. Dignity of Man ... 314
IX. Intuitive Insight ... 323
X. Defence of Faith ... 331
Bibliography ... 342
Chronological Table ... 350
Glossary ... 357
Index ... 369
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SHEIKH-UL-ISLAM
H A F I Z I BN T A I M I Y A H
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