Imam e Rabbani Shaykh Ahmad Faruqi Sirhindi -r-

Compiled by: Mufti and Abd al Majid Khatam Sharif Date: 29/01/15 Page 1 of 15

In the name of Allah, most Kind most Merciful

Khatam Sharif

In honour of the venerable

Imam e Rabbani

RasulAllah said, Indeed, Allah will send in this nation at the beginning or the end of the century, every

100 years, someone who will renew and resurrect the din.

Introduction

When Allah Almighty created the bodily form of Rasul Allah , He did not discard the

excess clay, but He used it to make the forms of select saints from Rasul Allahs nation.

These saints are high in rank and have a close connection with Rasul Allah due to them

sharing some of his form. They share that DNA of Rasul Allah and it is for this reason,

their temperament and thought process is identical to Rasul Allah . All Awliya are extra

ordinary, however, even amongst them, there are those who are, the elite of the elite.

Imam e Rabbani is amongst this elite group of saints. Through his teachings and life, it is

apparent that he is a true reflection of the Prophet himself. This is an indication of how

close he was to the Prophet . One of his biographers, Hadrat Badr Uddin narrates,

You could sense that each and every action of our master, Imam e Rabbani was based

upon the action of Rasul Allah . It was as if he was in the presence of Rasul Allah and

was observing him and then doing that action. Even the smallest of gestures he did was

based on the Sunnah.

Imam e Rabbani was the elite of the Awliya of this Ummah, and what he was granted in

terms of Divine favours, is difficult to put into words. He surpassed many other scholars

and Awliya in acquisition of knowledge and spiritual ranks. He achieved this through strict

adherence of the Sunnah and by upholding the commands of Allah Almighty.

For him there was no separation between Allah Almighty and His Prophet . Following the

Prophet was in every way following Allah Almighty. There was no duality as far as he was

concerned, unlike others who thought otherwise. A saint was asked what they thought of the

Prophet , to which the reply was, I have no room in my heart for anyone other than Allah.

According to Imam e Rabbani , to love and obey the Prophet in essence is to love and

obey Allah Almighty. On one occasion, Hadrat Umar said to Rasul Allah , that he was

dearer to him than his family and wealth. Rasul Allah corrected him, No, by Him in


Whose Hand my soul is, (you will not have complete faith) till I am dearer to you than your

own self. Hadrat Umar then confirmed that he was now dearer to him than himself and

so his faith was complete; by loving Rasul Allah more than himself.

It is only through loving Rasul Allah a believer can in reality love Allah Almighty

Himself. Many people do not realise that attaining the love of Rasul Allah is no trivial

matter; it is the highest of ranks. Imam e Rabbani alludes to how much he strived to

achieve this spiritual rank;

There was a time period in my life when I felt an immense pain which would not go away.

When I reflected upon my life, I prayed to Allah Almighty for what He had granted me.

To any outsider, it would have seemed nothing was missing in my life. I had been granted

lineage of a very noble family, tracing my roots to Hadrat Umar . I had very pious parents

and had received spiritual training from my father, Shaykh Makhdum . I was also a very

knowledgeable scholar and had been granted a profound understanding on matters of fiqh. I

was married and had children. It would seem I had everything.

However, I realised what was missing in my life and I was full of remorse as it was my

greatest regret in life. For what I longed for, more than anything was to be in the presence of

Rasul Allah .

This immense pain I felt was only vanquished when I met my beloved master, Khawaja Baqi

Billah . To be in the company of Khwaja Baqi Billah was like being in the presence of

Rasul Allah .

This time period in the life of Imam e Rabbani was similar to the state of Mawlana Jalal

al-Din Rumi , when he uttered, 'I am missing something, I need Shams in my life'.

If the master is just a name and the murid has little or no passion towards him, then very little

progress is made as the relationship of the Sahaba (companions) with Rasul Allah was

based on love. It was due to this love, that no matter what the situation, the companions

made sacrifices, giving up their homes and families.

There any many who lack passion towards their spiritual masters and are not able to make

sacrifices for their master as logic always intervenes with what do I get out of it?

These thoughts that consume the mind are due to a lack of love as intellect does nothing but

ask questions, whereas love does not ask questions. Those people who do not have love for

their master, are not consistent with their awrads, and therefore cannot progress.

The Awliya deem the lives they have led prior to meeting their masters, worthless. They

count their lives from the day they met their masters, saying, Through life we all have

something we love, but it is only when the beloved is your master, that you are on the path.

This relationship with the master does not apply on rationale because the Sahaba who

accepted Rasul Allah as their master and gave up everything for him; and did so because

of love.

The masters pray, O my shaykh, you are my passion. You are the purpose of my existence.

If I didnt have you in my life then my life would not be worth living.


Imam e Rabbani explained, Love for the master is important as he is the spiritual key in

the process where people can connect to the spirituality of Rasul Allah . The masters do

not make claims that they are like Rasul Allah , but as they take on his mannerisms, they

become the connection for people to become connected to Rasul Allah .

They are the reminder of Rasul Allah and this was what I felt after meeting and becoming

associated with Khwaja Baqi Billah .

Background

Imam e Rabbanis full name is Abul Baraqat Badrudin Ahmed Faruqi Sirhindi . He is

the descendent of Hadrat Umar Faruq about whom Rasul Allah has said, truth (haqq)

is on the tip of Umars tongue, and on another occasion, the heart of Umar is so strong in

faith that the devil runs away from his shadow.

The lineage then moves through the eldest son of Hadrat Umar , Hadrat Abdullah bin

Umar who was renowned for his absolute focus on observing the Sunnah. One day he

was travelling on a journey and suddenly stopped to rest with his camel under a tree. After a

short while he mounted his camel and continued with the remainder of his journey.

This confused the people who had accompanied him and he was asked, what is the point of

making the animal rest only for a short while and then carrying on the journey yourself.

Hadrat Abdullah bin Umar replied, Once I was travelling with Rasul Allah , when he

came to this particular tree, he sat his animal under this tree and then continued with his

journey. I am fulfilling that Sunnah.

Imam e Rabbanis ancestors migrated from Madinah Sharif to Kabul, and then later some

members of his family moved to Punjab, including Baba Farid Uddin Ganj e Shakar . One

of the ancestors, Imam Rafi Uddin was a very pious individual who was requested by the

King to move to a place named Sirhind (lions den). The place was a jungle area and was

given this name due to being a dangerous place. Whenever the king would send his

entourage there, they would be looted by bandits, so he had decided the solution was to

build a city in this area and Imam Rafi Uddin was to supervise this.

Work began in earnest for a city to be built in this jungle; however anything that was

constructed in the day would mysteriously be destroyed in the night. This puzzled Imam Rafi

Uddin and so he sought advice from his Suhrawardi Shaykh. The master mentioned that

it is likely one of the workers is a wali who has been forced to work there, and he should find

him and the problem will be resolved.

Imam Rafi Uddin located the wali and explained the purpose behind building a city in the

area. The wali noticed a luminous light glowing from the forehead of Imam Rafi Uddin and

immediately agreed to willingly work on the project. A city was eventually built in Sirhind and

Imam Rafi Uddin settled there with his family and had earned the respect of the rulers

and locals alike.

Shaykh Makhdum

The grandfather of Imam e Rabbani was called Zayn ul Abidin and his father was

called Shaykh Abdul Ahad . The local people fondly referred to him as Shaykh Makhdum


meaning master. He had nisbat in the Chistiya and Qadriya silsila but predominantly he

followed the Chistiya. In the Chistiya spiritual lineage, his Grandmaster was Shaykh Abd al-

Qadus and his direct master was Shaykh Rukn al-Din . He also had nisbat in the

Qadriya silsila from Shaykh Ibrahim Muin al Hasan ul Husayni al Qadri .

At a young age, Shaykh Makhdum was travelling in a particular area, when a local lady

stopped him and approached him. She mentioned she had noticed he was a pious person

and that would he consider her proposal of marriage to her sister, who was a very pious

lady. Shaykh Makhdum explained he was a traveller and had very little money, but the

lady still persisted and eventually the blessed marriage took place.

Imam e Rabbani was the fourth of seven sons of Shaykh Makhdum and he was

named Ahmad. He was born on a Friday, 4th Shawwal 971 AH. His father had a dream prior

to his birth in which the earth was in darkness and wild beast roamed freely. A man on a

throne emerged and the darkness was repelled and the beasts sacrificed before him. A

Quranic ayah was being read aloud; And say, the truth has come, and falsehood has been

removed. Indeed, falsehood is to be removed. A local saint interpreted the dream for

Shaykh to mean that he will have a son who will remove darkness from the world by placing

reforms in place.

As a child, Imam e Rabbani fell ill and his mother who was a pious lady feared for her

child. Imam e Rabbani was taken to a local Qadri master who reassured the parents that

the child will not only survive this fever, but foretold that the child was destined to achieve a

great rank.

Shaykh Makhdum would often tell his son stories about his Shaykh and his

Grandmasters, and so his first school of education was not the madrassa but his home.

Later he studied in Sialkot under Mullah Kamal ud Din Kashmiri and he received ijazah in

hadith from Mawlana Yaqub Kashmiri .

Imam e Rabbanis brothers were all pious and spiritual people. In the works of Imam e

Rabbani there are some letters he has written as advice to two of his younger brothers,

Hadrat Masood and Hadrat Moudodi . He was the most prominent amongst his

brothers and very obedient towards his father. This made him the dearest to Shaykh

Makhdum and so he earned many blessings and gained immense knowledge at his

fathers feet.

In later life, Imam e Rabbani would often narrate stories his father had told him and

mention stories about Shaykh Jalal , his fathers best friend. He would often be moved to

tears when he related stories, as he was on one occasion when he mentioned the passing

away of Shaykh Jalal , saying Shaykh Jalal was restless, and people asked him what

was bothering him. He said, the people came into existence to end up in non-existence. We

all desire to live forever but to do what? What have we done so far that we need to live

forever? Nothing! Our existence is to pass into non-existence.

One day Shaykh Makhdum was sat with Shaykh Jamal , and a solider walked through

the door, dressed in his army uniform. Shaykh Jamal started asking him about the army

and the King. The questioning angered the soldier who said, I came in here because I saw

lights from your lodge, I came to take some benefit not be quizzed about dunya.


Shaykh Makhdum remained silent during the conversation, but felt this soldier was a

spiritual person. When the soldier left, Shaykh Makhdum followed him and asked him

about who he was. The soldier mentioned he had moved to the local neighbourhood and

was a Qadri Shaykh, his name was Shaykh Kamal and he was a descendant of Shaykh

Abd al-Qadr Gilani . They both became close friends and Shaykh Kamal along with his

family would often come to stay in Sirhind.

Shaykh Kamal in his discourses would explain subtle matters of spirituality that would

leave Shaykh Makhdum in awe. Matters would unravel themselves and things thought

not possible would become apparent, such was his spirituality. Shaykh Makhdum would

say if you look with the insight and inner vision in the silsila Qadriyya then there has been no

greater Shaykh after Shaykh Abd al-Qadir Gilani than Shaykh Kamal . He had a very

unique station and personality.

Imam e Rabbani met the grandson of Shaykh Kamal , Shaykh Sikandar and

benefitted from his company. Imam e Rabbani had great respect for Shaykh Sikandar

and once remarked, it is possible for you to look at the sun but you cannot look at the face

of Shaykh Sikandar such was the power and majesty of these people.

Shaykh Sikandar passed on the cloak of his great ancestor Shaykh Abd al-Qadir Gilani

to Imam e Rabbani , and said, We have a family trust that has been passed from all

our family because Shaykh Abd al-Qadir Gilani said to our ancestors that I give you this

cloak which is for Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi . We have had it in our possession but we dont

want to give it because this is priceless to us, however we have been told again and again

that it is not for you, and so we must pass this onto you.

Shaykh Makhdum was a man of great integrity, and lived his life in accordance with the

Sunnah, following the path of Azeema, making no concessions. He would dress and wear

footwear in line with the Sunnah.

Shaykh Makhdum was an author who wrote many religious texts. He was aware of the

Naqshbandi path but as it was not predominant in India he had never met a Naqshbandi

Shaykh. He mentioned his own attraction to the path in his writings, saying, We have read

the books of the Naqshbandi masters and are aware of their practices and their secrets. We

have always desired to meet one of the Masters, so we can benefit from their anwaar (divine

lights).

Imam e Rabbani narrated that his father mentioned in his book that on the spiritual path

one must be careful of what one eats. The source of that food must be halal, and the state of

the people who cook that food should be good. This was also the practice of Shah e

Naqshband , he would not touch food that had been prepared in anger as there was no

blessing in such food.

When Shaykh Makhdum passed away in 1007 Hijri, he was in his eighties and Imam e

Rabbani was at his fathers deathbed. Shaykh Makhdum said, The truth is what the

grandmaster has said. Imam e Rabbani assumed the grandmaster his father was

referring to was Shaykh Ibn Arabi but his father corrected him, saying, I am referring to

Shaykh Abd al-Qudus , my grandmaster.


Imam e Rabbani narrated the advice he was given by his father at this time, Have a

good relationship and have love for the Ahl ul Bayt, it has a great role in a person

safeguarding their faith at the time of their death.

The last words of Shaykh Makhdum were, Praise be to Allah, I have lived in His love and

I die in His love.

Once Shaykh Makhdum met a darwish who narrated the following, I once went past an

area and saw a very beautiful lady. Immediately, I felt attracted towards her and at that

moment she veiled herself. I looked at myself and I had adopted her reflection such was the

impact of attachment in that one moment.

Shaykh Makhdum understood that the darwish was expressing that if the impact of one

moment of attachment was such, what would happen to a murid if he had such attachment

to his master. Although the murid does not commence his journey on the spiritual path

resembling his Shaykh, once his focus moves away from himself and he becomes

completely absorbed in his Shaykh, he begins to embody the characteristics of his master

and resembles him in outer appearance.

His master

The master of Imam e Rabbani was Muhammad Baqi, who was later known as Khwaja

Baqi Billah . He was born in 1554 in Kabul, Afghanistan and it was more than mere

coincidence that Imam e Rabbani himself was also born in the same year.

He was from a very pious family, his father was a learned man who passed away early on

and his mother was a very pious lady who would stay with him throughout her life. From a

young age as Khwaja Baqi Billah had a longing which made him so restless that he would

go away for months and months into forests and jungles. This longing was his attraction

towards Allah Almighty and had such jazbah that he never saw anything else in his life, but

his Lord.

His mother worried about him as he would disappear for long periods of time, she pleaded

with Allah Almighty, O Allah, give him what he is seeking or else take me away. I cannot see

him suffer so much.

Whenever anyone mentioned a holy person, Khwaja Baqi Billah would go to do ziyara, sit

in their company and benefit from them. He travelled to many countries including India,

Central Asia, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. Whilst he was in Kashmir, he was instructed to

meet a Shaykh in Kashmir. However he could not locate this Shaykh and the only

information he found out was that there was a sitar maker who had the same name. Khwaja

Baqi Billah visited the sitar maker and realised he was a hidden master and observed him

being totally focused on stringing a musical instrument.

After the sitar maker had finished for the day, Khwaja Baqi Billah met him with great

respect, and then asked, Master, the job you do requires one hundred percent focus, such

that you cannot even be negligent for a second or else the string would break. I have not

seen you sit and focus on Allah yet I have been told you are the person who has the closest

connection with Him. The Shaykh replied, My son, not for one second is my heart absent


from Him. Whatever I am doing, I am never forgetful of Him. And this is the state you have to

attain.

Khwaja Baqi Billah continued with his journey to many countries and although he had met

many holy people, he felt very restless as he had not achieved his goal of finding a master.

He had developed a spiritual connection with the Khwajagan masters, Shah e Naqshband

and Khwaja Ahrar who would often come to him in visions and give him instructions.

One day, Khwaja Baqi Billah heard a voice coming from one of the Khwajagan masters,

saying O son our eyes are looking towards you. He understood this meant that the master

was waiting for him, so he made his way to visit Khwaja Imkangi . Within a few days,

Khwaja Imkangi gave him full permission and authority to give ijaza for tariqat. The

Shaykh sensed the other murids jealousy over the new arrivals rapid progression. He

explained to them, Khwaja Baqi Billah has come fully ready and without any desires. All I

am doing is polishing him.

Khwaja Imkangi instructed him to go to India where at that particular time period; the

Naqshbandiya path was not popular. Khwaja Baqi Billah had such humility that he said,

Master, I am a useless person. What good am I here, or in India?

Following this, Khawaja Baqi Billah had a dream which he later narrated to his master; A

beautiful parrot came and I desired that it would sit on my hand. The parrot flew towards me

and sat on my hand. I put a sugar cube inside its mouth and then in return the parrot put a

sugar cube inside my mouth.

Khwaja Imkangi stated, This is good news, the parrot is a bird of India, so this means

your mission is in India. Giving the sugar cube to the parrot is a sign that you will train a very

capable and gifted individual. The parrot giving sugar back to you means that this individual

will be of such calibre that you will also benefit through him. Do not delay; pack your bags

and go find that parrot in India, he is waiting for you and requires you to nurture him to

perfection.

Khwaja Baqi Billah left his homeland and travelled to Lahore, hoping that he would

receive an indication about where he was to go from there. One day he visited an intoxicated

darwish, a majdhub who was known for being harsh towards anyone who visited him.

Khwaja Baqi Billah began to visit the majdhub daily, and noticed that he would be harsh

to everyone else but was not rude towards him. Eventually, the majdhub gave him an

indication that he needed to travel to Delhi, where there was no Naqshbandi presence at that

time.

Whilst Khwaja Baqi Billah was in Lahore there was a famine and whenever food was

presented to Khwaja Baqi Billah , he would say I cannot eat when so many people are

hungry, give it to the people who are hungry.

Whilst travelling from Lahore to Delhi, Khwaja Baqi Billah passed Sirhind. He had spiritual

information that the Qutub of the time was from this area, but despite making enquires he

was not able to locate who it was and so continued on with his journey. Regarding this

incident, Imam Rabbani commented that on that day his father had gone out of Sirhind,

otherwise it was likely that Shaykh Makhdum and Khwaja Baqi Billah would have met.


Khwaja Baqi Billah was in his mid-thirties when he came and settled in Delhi and what he

would go on to accomplish in such a short time, is beyond belief. Within three years of

staying in Delhi, he had converted some of the most prominent people in the Mughal Empire

to the Naqshbandi path.

And this was despite having such humility, that if somebody came to him to take bayat, he

would say, Why come to me? The people would say we have heard you are a Shaykh, and

he would reply, I have heard a lot of things but there are many other people, when you find

a Shaykh, tell me and I will come with you.

It was Khwaja Baqi Billahs practice to hide his inner state, when people visited him and

mentioned they had dreamt about him, he would reply, You must be mistaken, it must have

been someone else; I am a useless person. Another time, a person visited Khwaja Baqi

Billah travelling from Agra seeking bayat. Khwaja Baqi Billah said, I am a seeker

myself, do I look like a Shaykh? I am not what you think I am. You think highly of me but I

am nothing. Keep on looking.

One day, a local mithai maker noticed a group of people had come to visit Khawaja Baqi

Billah . It was well known that although Khwaja Baqi Billah had prominent government

officials as followers, he would not take anything from them and he had no worldly

possessions of his own. The mithai maker quickly made some food and brought it to the

door of Khawaja Baqi Billah . This act pleased Khawaja Baqi Billah immensely and

gained his pleasure as it may have been a small act but it was done with sincere intention

and thoughtfulness. With this one act of selflessness, the mithai maker was able to assure

his betterment here and hereafter.

This characteristic was evident in the family of Imam e Rabbani , including his ancestor,

Baba Farid who served his master, Hadrat Qutubdin Bakhtiar Kaki in Delhi. One day,

Baba Farid was sent to get some items from the bazaar. Unusually Baba Farid took a

very long time, so when he eventually returned, his master queried about the delay. He said,

Master, the reason was that when I reached the bazaar, was there, there was an

announcement made, that a wali has come and if you do his ziyarat, see him, you will be

granted Paradise. Everyone ran off to the Shaykh.

Hadrat Qutubdin asked, Farid do you not want paradise? Why did you not go and do

ziyarat? Baba Farid said, We have been told by Rasul Allah that you will be with the

one you love, so we are with you master. Wherever you go, we will be with you, nowhere

else. Indeed, Paradise is the lot of the pious and those that love them will be with them.

Khwaja Baqi Billah led a very simple life, and lived in very simple surroundings. He would

eat whatever was available and followed the way of Shah e Naqshband who would not

eat food that was prepared by an angry person. Khwaja Baqi Billah had settled in Delhi

along with his mother. He was married and was blessed with two sons, Hadrat Abdullah

and Hadrat Ubayd Ullah . His mother used to look after the followers who would come to

visit him. She was a very pious lady and although she was old she would supervise the

kitchen taking immense care in the preparation and serving of food.

One day Khwaja Baqi Billah said to some of his followers, It is time we gave our dear

mother a rest and gave this duty to supervise the kitchen to somebody else. When his


mother was told about this, she started crying and said to her son, Why are you punishing

me by taking this blessed activity to serve food away. As long as I am alive, do not stop me.

He would often visit the shrine of the Grand Shaykh of the Chistiyya, Khwaja Qutub al Din

Bakhtiar Kaki who was the khalifa of Khwaja Gharib Nawaz . One day he was sat at

the shrine seeking blessings from Khwaja Qutub al Din , with the following words, A

darwish has come to your door, please give him some offerings.

Khwaja Qutub al Din appeared to him in a vision and said, When our master, Khwaja

Gharib Nawaz stayed with Grandshaykh Khwaja Yusuf Hamadani he was granted

blessings. I grant you what was granted to my Shaykh from your Shaykh.

On one occasion, the khadims of Khwaja Qutub al Din Bakhtiar Kaki were aware that

Khwaja Baqi Billah was coming to the shrine, so they decided to welcome and honour

him with a raised platform. A malang came and began to complain that about why these

arrangements were being made. The khadims explained they were anticipating the arrival of

a pious guest and at that precise moment Khwaja Baqi Billah arrived.

The malang looked at Khwaja Baqi Billah and in a patronising tone said, Are you the one

they are doing all this for? Khwaja Baqi Billah replied, I am not worthy of anything. I

have not told them to do this, it was their own inspiration. The malang began to swear and

curse Khwaja Baqi Billah which angered the followers.

Khwaja Baqi Billah did not retaliate in any way to the ill-mannered treatment but politely

approached the malang, wiped the sweat from his forehead and offered an apology for the

inconvenience and finally gave him money.

This was the subtle nature of Khwaja Baqi Billah , to do khidmat e halq, service for people.

It was his practice to offer his horse to help the weak or a person carrying a heavy load.

However, if approaching a populated area, he would disguise his good deed by mounting

the horse and saying farewell to the person he had helped. This was to ensure that people

within the vicinity did not become aware of the help he had just given.

He would give tarbiyyah in a very subtle way. One of his murids from China would take six

months to travel to meet him, to take just one lesson, and then return home which would

take him another six months. He would instruct the murids to sit down and focus on the heart

and say the holy name, Allah. He explained, It is the purpose of the other turak to negate,

then affirm; but the purpose is to affirm There is no God but Allah. People today do not

have the capacity to go through such rigid disciplines, so it is necessary to make it simple so

they can progress without hardship.

One day, a senior murid of Khwaja Baqi Billah , Hussam Uddin , reported a sinful

neighbour of his for being a nuisance and so he was arrested by the local authorities. When

Khwaja Baqi Billah found out, he summoned this murid and said, Why did you report this

man? You must be such a righteous person that you see the sin of others. We have not

reached your stage. We have never noticed any sinful act of his. This incident illustrates

that it was the practice of Khwaja Baqi Billah to do kasur e deed (looking for faults within

oneself) before pointing the blame at others.


It is mentioned that physically Khwaja Baqi Billah was very feeble in appearance;

however he had a very strong spiritual presence. One day, as the imam was giving the

khutbah, he looked at Khwaja Baqi Billah and fell off the pulpit; another imam had to

complete the khutbah. Another time, as he was passing through a village that was

predominantly occupied with Hindus, the villagers commented, looking at him reminded us

of God. Imam e Rabbani explained that Khwaja Baqi Billah was always in the Divine

Presence, and if he looked at someone, he left an impact on people.

A close murid mentions, I was in the chamber of Khwaja Baqi Billah and noticed his shirt

was open and his turban was undone. I had never seen him like this and asked my master

what was the problem. He said I have been bombarded by Divine Grace, but this is not what

I want, I want Him.

One day Khwaja Baqi Billah was praying, when a loud echo came from his heart. The

echo shocked the people around him and Khwaja Baqi Billah quickly went into his

chamber. He later explained to a murid, I was in prayer and my soul wanted to leave the

body and enter the Divine Presence. I went up and up through the heavens and was told it is

not the time so go back; the echo was the pain I was feeling.

Once when Khwaja Baqi Billah was passing by an orchard, he stopped and offered two

rakats prayers. After he had finished praying, he looked up and saw that there was dust on

his clothes. He said, This place has attachment to us, when I pass away then bury me

here.

Khwaja Baqi Billah alluded to his death when he spoke about an event that would come

to pass. He did not directly name himself but mentioned a darwish in the Naqshbandi order

will pass away. He passed away at the age of forty, and had in a period of four years firmly

established the Naqshbandi path in India which has continued to grow since that time.

The Reformer

Normally it is very difficult to get reliable information on the life of a Sufi master, however the

life story of Imam e Rabbani was written by two of his immediate followers during his

lifetime. The works include a description of his daily practice, from getting up at tahajjud,

making wudu, what he prayed during the day and his daily wird throughout the day.

During his fathers life time Imam e Rabbani had desired to go to Hajj but had delayed

this and stayed in Sirhind, due to condition of his father. After his father had passed away,

Imam e Rabbani made intention to go Hajj. He left Sirhind and travelled to Delhi, with the

intention to move on to Bombay, where he could then travel via sea to the port in Yemen.

When he arrived in Delhi, he did not know anyone there apart from a friend, Shaykh Hassan

who had studied with him in Kashmir. They had both studied at a madrassa called Mullah

Kamal Uddin Kashmiri, in the Kashmiri muhalla, located in present day Sialkot, Pakistan

where Allama Iqbals family are also buried.

Shaykh Hassan had become a murid of Khwaja Baqi Billah and would often talk about

his master. A desire to meet his friends master grew within Imam e Rabbani and so one

day at the request of his friend, they set out to meet Khwaja Baqi Billah .


Like his father, Imam e Rabbani had also up to this point never had any interaction with

the Naqshbandiya silsila. His main interactions had been with the Chishti, Qadri and

Kubrawiyya orders but he did have love for the Naqshbandiya silsila and was well informed

of their principles and the great masters of that path.

When Imam e Rabbani met Khawaja Baqi Billah , he was content and thanked Allah

Almighty that he had found his master and understood the concept of being a true murid as

being the one who desires to be like his Shaykh. The prayers of Imam e Rabbani to thank

Allah Almighty for what he had been granted was to be expected, but it was unusual to hear

Khawaja Baqi Billah constantly being thankful to Allah Almighty for the arrival of Imam e

Rabbani . The reason for the prayers of Khawaja Baqi Billah was that he realised he

had found his Indian parrot, the parrot he had dreamt about.

Imam e Rabbani was the murad, the follower of extraordinary ability that a master prays

for. This was based on the noble Sunnah as Hadrat Umar was the murad, of Rasul Allah

, and he prayed to Allah Almighty to make Hadrat Umar Muslim and strengthen Islam

through him. Khawaja Baqi Billah praised and thanked Allah for sending him such a

calibre murid.

It is a testament to Imam e Rabbanis high rank that his master, Khwaja Baqi Billah

wrote the following to one of his acquaintances about him;

A person called Shaykh Ahmad from Sirhind has come to us. He is very knowledgeable

person and a strong person in terms of spirituality. He has stayed in the company of this

humble servant. We have seen wondrous things in him. It seems as if he is a lamp from

which the world will be illuminated.

Praise be to God his states are complete and perfect, and based on reality. I have met his

brothers and his children, and they are all pious and learned people. They are all pearls,

they have great potential, and his sons who are infants are secrets of God. They are like that

special tree mentioned in the Quran, shejra tul tayba, the roots are in Earth but the branches

reach out to heaven. They have wonderful hearts. May Allah nurture their potential.

And he has been given authorisation and sent back to his home town, Sirhind; and I have

handed over the whole group of my followers to him.

Imam e Rabbani was not expecting this turn of events and humbly declined when the

offer of authorization was given. Just like his master, he also practiced kasur e deed, and

said, Master I am a useless person, how can I look after them?

With reservation, Imam e Rabbani accepted the duty after his master said, You are not

asking for anything, we are giving this to you so accept as it is bad manners to doubt

because then you will doubt the people who are giving you that power.

So in his lifetime, Khawaja Baqi Billah handed over all his followers to Imam e Rabbani

for supervision. Imam e Rabbani accepted the duty and returned to Sirhind, to teach

and guide people to tariqah. In all Imam e Rabbani went to see Khwaja Baqi Billah

three times, staying each time for a period of a few months. Each time the murid would

relate his experiences and the master would give further instructions. On the third visit to

Delhi, the master had already passed away when he arrived. He took charge of the khanqah


and appointed people to perform certain duties including the welfare of the family of his

master. He took it upon himself to educate the masters two sons who went on to become

esteemed scholars.

One day after having prayed fajr, an overwhelming feeling came over him that humbled him

and made him feel like the most useless person on Earth. As he humbled himself further

through kasur e deed, Divine robes adorned him, one after another. The more he humbled

further, the more Divine Grace favoured him with majestic robes.

Though Imam e Rabbani had permissions in seven orders, he gave preference to the

Naqshbandi order, where spiritual progress is dependent on the observance of the Shariah,

He took utmost care in following the Shariah, and advised his companions to strictly follow

the Sunnah and study matters of fiqh with great care.

Even though he was an expert in matters of fiqh he always carried the leading books of fiqh

with him, whether at home or travelling. If the Jurists disagreed about a matter, whether it

was permissible or not, he would avoid such an act; thus completely leaving what is

ambiguous. He would say, Whatever little I have achieved has been through following the

Sunnah, there is no greater excellence than following the Sunnah.

A wali one commented, Sufism was a reality without a name, but now it is a name without a

reality. This was the situation during the lifetime of Imam e Rabbani , where religion had

become corrupted by scholars who had made reforms that were not permitted by Shariah,

just to please the rulers of the Mughal Dynasty. Many forbidden things were justified as it

was the order of the emperor Akbar. Imam e Rabbani was unafraid of the strength of the

emperor; he refuted such practices and so began to make enemies within the emperors

court.

When Akbars son, Jahangir took over, he continued many of the bad practices, including

the custom that whoever entered the court had to prostate to the emperor. Imam e Rabbani

rejected this practice and corrupt scholars began to give fatwas against him. This was a

very difficult period for the true scholars and many had migrated to Makkah sharif and

Madinah sharif in dismay at the situation in India. However, Imam Rabbani had been

instructed his role was to be the reformer; he had to remain here.

He was arrested by government officials and taken to the emperors court. The cronies

within the emperors court were aware he would not prostrate to the emperor, so they had a

special door made which was very low in height. Imam e Rabbani was instructed to enter

through this door, and it was thought as he would have to bow his head a little to enter, that

will be sufficient to accept he has acknowledged prostrating in front of the emperor.

However, Imam e Rabbani put his foot in first, displaying the sole of his feet to the

emperor. This angered the people in court and they ordered him to prostrate, but he

responded, It is forbidden in Islam, so I will not do it!

Jahanghir called upon Imam e Rabbani to explain the charges levelled against him. As

Imam e Rabbani had refused to bow upon the entering the Kings court, Jahanghir out of

spite had him imprisoned even though he was satisfied with Imam e Rabbanis defence of

the charges.


Imam e Rabbani bore the sufferings of imprisonment with patience and dignity; after all

he knew all that had happened was with the will of Allah Almighty and he used his time to

gain further closeness to Him. He continued with his work in prison with the same vigour as

he had done outside. Impressed by his characteristics and teachings, hundreds of non-

Muslim convicts embraced Islam and became his murids. Imam e Rabbani said, Allah

Almighty has sent us here like he sent Prophet Yusuf and through that many people were

guided.

There were many followers of Imam e Rabbani who were very high ranking officials in the

government, and they were awaiting the order to rebel against the emperor. However, Imam

e Rabbani did not agree to any such rebellion, explaining our mission is not to replace the

emperor, it is only to stop those things which are against the noble Shariah.

A year later Jahanghir set Imam e Rabbani free because Rasul Allah came to him in a

dream and said, I am angry with you because you have imprisoned one of my beloved

followers. Jahanghir considered Imam e Rabbani a threat to the state and was unsure to

whom Rasul Allah was referring to. However, he was quickly told his name and so he

freed Imam e Rabbani . Jahanghir apologised for his actions and honoured him with a

robe, returned his property and offered him a thousand rupees. He gave him the option to

return home or stay with him in the camp.

Surprisingly Imam e Rabbani decided to stay; this is what he had initially intended; to be

able to influence the King and his officials for the betterment of Islam. He had various

sessions with Jahanghir which seem to have had an impact because he reversed earlier un-

Islamic laws that had been implemented. He showed more zeal towards Islamic governance,

rebuilt previously destroyed mosques and encouraged Arabic and Islamic teaching.

At one point he became so sincere that Imam e Rabbani said to him If on the Day of

Judgment Allah Almighty forgives us and grants us paradise, we will not step into paradise

without you. He was touched by this because he expected him to be bitter due to his

actions, however these are the qualities of the holy people; they do not hold grudges or

vendettas because they understand Rasul Allah saying, I swear by Him in whose hand is

Muhammads life, the most beloved person to Allah is the one who loves Him and loves

His servants, and guides other people to become Allahs friends.

During these travels Imam e Rabbani was also accompanied by his two sons, however,

Imam e Rabbani became more and more withdrawn. They were hurt by their father

withdrawing from everyone but further saddened when their father at that time at the age of

53, foretold them of his death at the age of 63. Imam e Rabbani was pleased with this

because Rasul Allah and three of his Caliphs, Hadrat Abu Bakr , Hadrat Umar and

Hadrat Ali had shared the same age. He called both his sons; Hadrat Muhammad Said

and Hadrat Muhammad Masum and said to them, I dont have any interest in worldly

matters anymore; I want to be with my Lord. So I want to prepare for my Akhirah.

After spending three years in the camp of Jahanghir, Imam e Rabbani returned to Sirhind

Sharif where he reduced his commitments and devoted himself to dhikr and prayer. One

night he had an asthma attack which was far severe than what he normally experienced.

Whilst asleep, Shaykh Abd-al Qadr Gilani appeared in a dream and advised him to give

commentary on a poem of his, and then Allah Almighty will cure him. However, he had a


great desire to meet his Lord that he did not wished to be cured. He did though recover and

began to go to the mosque again. One day some of the close companions asked, master,

why have you cut off from us? Imam e Rabbani explained to them, This is not the time

for me to associate with anything else but Allah; I am in His presence.

Imam e Rabbani later remarked to one murid, In two months we will not be sleeping in

this apartment.' The murid initially assumed he would move to another apartment in the

complex but later realised this was a reference to his demise.

One of his sons asked him, 'Father why are you becoming so cold to us, why can you not

see our pain, we do not want to see you departed from us.' Imam e Rabbani replied, The

Lord has greater love for you than me, if I stay alive and give you love and compassion, your

Lord has greater love for you so do not think like that. His compassion and love for you will

increase when I am gone. When I die my compassion and love for you will not be gone, it

will continue and increase when I am gone.

During this time he also said, Any perfection that was capable for a non-Prophet, through

the blessings of Rasul Allah I have been granted it.

In the last week of his life, he summoned his sons and transmitted spiritual things to their

hearts. Their message was to hold firmly to the way of Rasul Allah , this was his lifetime,

this was his message. He said, follow the sunnah in my burial and bury me in an unknown

area.

A person came and narrated a dream that he had seen a tree, which was lush and full of

fruits, reaching to the skies with thousands of people sat under its shade. Then a storm

came and the tree fell and the people began to cry. The followers took that dream as a sign

that Imam e Rabbanis death is imminent.

A day before they passed away, they called the people who used to serve them, and said, I

have given you a lot of trouble, please forgive me. It is just one more night of hard work.

The next day, Friday 23rd Safar 1034 AH, aged 63 at 10 am in the morning, he

made wudu and lied down on his right side and peacefully passed from this world to meet

his Lord. His last form of worship was the nafls he had prayed at that time. When people

came to give the ghusl, they saw that his hands were folded in the same manner as in

prayer. Whilst washing his body, they moved the hands to wash underneath and the hands

themselves returned to the same posture. His body was tender and soft, allowing for

the ghusl to be performed with ease.

His eldest son, Hadrat Muhammad Sadiq had passed away during his lifetime and was

buried near the mosque. His sons decided to bury their father next to their brother.

Rasul Allah said, ' as you live, you die'. This is a reflection of a life he lived for Allah

Almightys sake by following in full, the example of RasulAllah and so in death it is also a

reflection of that beautiful life.

Al Fatiha


Khatam Sharif dedicated to Imam e Rabbani which Hadrat Sahib used to give to

sangis, many people read this for immense blessings.

It is a source of great blessing to read the Khatam Sharif of Hadrat Mujaddid Alf Thani

and send him the merit, the Khatam is as follows:

Durud Sharif 100 times

La hawla wala quwata illah billah 500 times

Durud Sharif 100 times

Read Surah Fatiha, send blessings to Rasul Allah , the Khwajagan masters, especially

Imam e Rabbani and then at the end do the same, and any need you have, you ask for

the sake of Imam e Rabbani .

Al Fatiha

Imam e Rabbani Shaykh Ahmad Faruqi Sirhindi -r-

Documents

Transcript of Imam e Rabbani Shaykh Ahmad Faruqi Sirhindi -r-