| Hazrat
Shah Kalimullah Jehanabaad (rahmatullahi alaihi) occupies
a very prominent place in the history of Islam and the Chishtia
silsila. The golden era of the Chishtia silsila ended with
the passing of Khwaja Nasirudeen Chiragh Dehlawi (rahmatullahi
alaihi); for though his successors such as Hazrat Kamaludeen
(rahmatullahi alaihi) carried on his work ably, the saints
of the silsila became outnumbered by numerous false sufis
who claimed the rank of sainthood to try and emulate the great
power, reverence and influence that the Chishtia order held.
Thus despite the utmost attempts of the true mashaaikh, the
lofty principles and noble aims of the Chishtia silsila became
drowned in a sea of false mystics searching only to increase
their own prestige, and their popularity dwindled. It was
Shah Kalimullah Jehanabaad (rahmatullahi alaihi) who was responsible
for revitalising and restoring the silsila to its former glory.
He recreated the infrastructure of the organisation, and reasserted
its primary aims as they had been in the time of Khwaja Moinudeen
Chishti (rahmatullahi alaihi) and his great successors, which
were the propagation of Islam and Sufism.
Shah
Kalimullah (rahmatullahi alaihi) was born on the 24th Jamaad-us-Saani
1060 AH to a noble and well-renowned family of artisans,
mathematicians and engineers. His lineage is directly linked
to H Abu Bakr Siddiq (rahmatullahi alaihi). His father had
been specifically invited to Delhi by the Emperor Shah Jehan
to oversee the construction of the Taj Mahal. Hazrat Shah
Kalimullah (rahmatullahi alaihi) once remarked that "my
family's task was to build palaces and edifices; my responsibility
is to build a nation, and the hearts of a people."
He studied religious knowledge under such great ulema as
Shaikh Burhani and Shaikh Abu Waida al-Hindi, the uncle
of Hazrat Shah Waliullah (rahmatullahi alaihi ajma'een).
Along with his families knowledge of mathematics, engineering,
astronomy, philosophy and poetry, he was thus afforded an
education of unparalleled breadth and depth.
The
story of his attraction to Sufism is an interesting one.
After becoming a learned alim he fell head over heels in
love with a very beautiful girl. So enraptured was he by
her that he passed his days in a madness of unrequited love,
and wandered eventually into the company of a great majzoob.
The majzoob made dua for him to Allah, and the very next
day Shah Kalimullah (rahmatullahi alaihi) found his love
returned by the girl. However, at that very moment, Shah
Kalimullah (rahmatullahi alaihi) realised how limited his
love for this mortal being was, and how much greater and
deeper his love for the inner, eternal beauty of the majzoob
was. Immediately he returned to the majzoob and begged to
study under him. But the saint, realising that Shah Kalimullah
(rahmatullahi alaihi) was already burning up with Allah's
love, replied that all he had was fire; rather Shah Kalimullah
(rahmatullahi alaihi) should go to Shaykh Yahya Madini (rahmatullahi
alaihi), for he was a sea of knowledge who would be able
to cool his fire and guide him along the path. So inspired
was Shah Kalimullah (rahmatullahi alaihi) by this statement
that he immediately left for Madinatul Munawwarah. Coming
into the company of Shaykh Yahya Madini (rahmatullahi alaihi),
he realised that there was another, deeper aspect of Islam
that even he, a learned professor of deen, knew nothing
of. Accepted as a mureed, he underwent strict trials and
mujahedas for six years before being given the Khalifa-e-azam
of Shaykh Yahya Madini (rahmatullahi alaihi). Then he was
ordered to return to India and given the heavy task of restoring
the Chishtia silsila in India to its former greatness.
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Arriving
in Delhi, he founded not only a famous Darul Uloom, but
also a great Khanqah near the Jaami Mosque which his family
had built. This khanqah was to become the nerve centre of
a revitalised Chistiyya silsila as it once again blossomed
and sent its seedlings out over India. His aim in life was
to propagate the deen of Islam, and his university served
this end very well. Not only did people receive outward
knowledge of deen and sciences such as mathematics and astronomy,
but also the inward knowledge of sufism. From here missionaries
were sent out across the whole of India, such as for example
his khalifa Khwaja Nizamudeen Aurungabaadi (rahmatullahi
alaihi).
Hazrat
Shah Kalimullah (rahmatullahi alaihi) lived a life of complete
tawakkul or reliance in Allah. His manner and teachings,
both outward and inward, were exactly in accordance with
the sunnah of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (sallallahu alaihi
wasallam). He renewed the original principles of Khwaja
Moinudeen Chishti (rahmatullahi alaihi) of never accepting
gifts or having anything to do with the rulers of the time,
a practice that had slipped into disuse after Khwaja Nasirudeen
Chiragh (rahmatullahi alaihi). Such was the power of his
holy presence that even the King of Delhi used to be awestruck
by him, and never spoke in his company without permission.
From his khanqah in Delhi, Shah Kalimullah (rahmatullahi
alaihi) would organise the Chishtia silsila across India
via a great network of missionaries and khulafa. In this
way the great internal cohesion that was the hallmark of
the Golden Era of the Chishtis was re-established. He was
so adamant about the pre-eminence of propagating Islam that
he ordered every mureed of his to make it their aim in life
to spread the religion. He wished to ensure that all men
and women entered and progressed in Islam through love,
rather than by any compulsion.
Shah
Kalimullah (rahmatullahi alaihi) wrote many books in his
time as well which have been received by international acclaim.
Among these were a tafseer or commentary on the Holy Quran
and books of hadith. His most famous work, Kashkhol e Kaleemi,
is regarded by the mashaaikh of past and present as the
foremost work on the training of a spiritual disciple. Ruqqa,
another book of his, prepares a beginner to enter the path
to Allah. Shah Kalimullah (rahmatullahi alaihi) saw no difference
between men and women on the spiritual path, training and
urging both genders equally to propagate Islam amongst others
of their sex. He stressed that women are the mothers of
the nation, and that they were the first and most important
teachers of their children.
Shah
Kalimullah (rahmatullahi alaihi) passed away at the age
of 79 after a lifetime spent in the propagation of Islam.
He left behind twenty khulafa, all of whom became great
walis of their times. Because of his great services to Islam
and sufism he has rightly been called the Reviver of Islam
in India. So influential were his teachings and methods
of propagation that they have been copied and referred to
by all the shaikhs from his time onwards. Khwaja Habib Ali
Shah used to keep copies of Kashkhol-e-Kaleemi with him
all the time, and used the great wali's methods in his own
great Khanqah in Hyderabad. May Allah give us the ability
to follow the practice of this great shaikh and servant
of Islam with our actions, thoughts and hearts.
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