Ashraf Jahangir Semnani

Ashraf Jahangir Semnani
Religion Islam
Other names Hazrat Syed Makhdoom Ashraf
Personal
Born 1287 (AH 709)
Semnan (in modern Iran)
Died 1386 (AH 28 Muharram 832H )
Kichhauchha
Senior posting
Based in Kichaucha, Northern India
Title Jahangir,Ghousul Alam, Mehboobe-Yazdani Auhaduddin
Period in office Late 12th century and early 13th century
Predecessor Alaul Haq Pandavi
Successor Abdur-Razzaq Nurul-Ain


Hazrat Makhdoom Sultan Syed Ashraf Jahangir Semnani (Urdu: سئد مقدم ﺁشرف)‎‎ (1287 – 1386 CE) [1][2][3] was a great Sufi saint of both the Chishti and Qadiri orders of Sufism. He was the disciple of the famous highly reverend saint of Bengal Hazrat Alaul Haq Pandavi. He established his own Silsila through his nephew and kalifa and Sajjada Nasheen Hazrat Syed Shah Abdur-Razzaq Nurul-Ain who is 11th direct descendant of Hazrat Abdul Qadir Jilani known as Qadiriyyah Chishtiya Ashrafiya. His Shrine is in Kichauccha Sharif Dist Ambedkar Nagar UP India. His URS (demise anniversary) is commemorated on 28th of the Islamic month of Muharram. He was greatly loved by his mother Bibi Khadija Begum.

Early life and education

Sayyad Makhdoom Ashraf was born in 708 A.H., in Semnan, Persia. His father Hadrat Sultan Sayyad Ibrahim Noor Bakshi rahmatullahi alayh governed the city for approximately 20 years. As well as being a highly noble and just ruler he was also a great scholar, theologian and Sufi. His mother Bibi Khadija Begum was also from the pedigree of distinguished and notable mystics and saints. She was a very religious and pious lady particularly renowned for her punctuality in tahajjud prayer.

Sayyad Makhdoom Ashraf started his education at the age of 4 years. God blessed him with immense ingenuity, intellect and knowledge. By the age of 7 he had already acquired and memorized the entire Qur'an al-kareem by heart with seven types of qirat, and excelled in the study of Qur'anic exegesis 'tafseer', narration and sciences of Hadith, Islamic law 'Fiqh' etc. At the age of 14 years he had mastered all the subjects including theology and philosophy, maturing into the most accomplished and proficient scholar. Amongst his notable teachers were His Eminence Mawlana Imad al-Din Tabrezi, Imam Abd'ullah Yafai at Makkah Mukarramah, Baba Mufrah (s/o the great Najm 'al-Din Kubra) at Iskandaria and Mawlana Ahmad Haqqani ridwanallahi ta'ala aly'him ajma'een. Hadrat Makhdoom Ashraf had overwhelmed even the great scholars and theologians from as far as Baghdad with his remarkable talent.

After the completion of his education Hadrat Sayyad Makhdoom Ashraf attributed a lot of his time in teaching. Amongst his pupils was his nephew Hadrat Sayyad Abdul Razzaq 'Noor al-Ayn' Jilani - 11th direct descendant of The Great Ghawth al-A'zam, Sayyad as-Shaykh Abd'al-Qadir al-Jilani.[4]

Ashraf Jahangir Semnani in Padmavat

The epic poem Padmavat is a mystical romance, written in 1540 by the famous Indian Hindi Sufi poet Malik Muhammad Jayasi. The two parts of the epic poem form a tale of mystical love that in terms of Sufi symbolism represents the voyage of the soul to God, the ideal state of union and the return to living in a transient world, full of conflict and deceit. In this poem Jayasi pays rich tributes to Hazrat Ashraf Jahangir Semnani as the legendary founding spiritual figure in whose branch of Sufism Jayasi took allegiance and also to his contemporary spiritual guide and other family members, who are the direct descendants of Hazrat Ashraf Jahangir Semnani. The description in 'Padmavat' mentions two lines of spiritual tutors and their predecessors. A central place is given to the praise in stanza 18 & 19 to Mir Syed Ashraf Jahangir Semnani.[5][6]

In his house there is one shining gem: it is Haji Shaikh who is full of good fortune. In his house there are two bright lights; God has created them to show the path. Shaikh Mubarak, who is like the full moon; Shaikh Kamal who is spotless in the world. These two are stable like the Pole Star; in this they even pass the mountains Meru and Kiskindha. God gave theme brilliance and beauty; he made them columns of the world. As two columns they prop up the whole earth; with their weights they stabilise the whole world. When someone has a vision [darshan] of them or touches their feet; his sins are taken away and his body becomes spotless.[7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]

External links

See also

References

  1. ↑ 'HAYATE SYED ASHRAF JAHANGIR SEMNANI' by Syed Waheed Ashraf published in 1974, India.
  2. ↑ ‘'MUQADDEMA-E- LATĀIF-E-ASHRAFI' Book in PERSIAN, Published by Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Vadodara, Gujarat, India
  3. ↑ Akhbarul Akhyar' By Abdal Haqq Muhaddith Dehlwi [d.1052H-1642 CE ]. A short biography of the prominent sufis of India have been mentioned in this book including that of Hazrat Syed Ashraf Jahangir Semnani
  4. ↑ Dehlvi, Sadia (2010). Sufism : The Heart of Islam. HerperCollins Publishers India. p. 171. ISBN 978-81-7223-816-2.
  5. ↑ Ernst, Carl W. & Lawrence, Bruce B. Sufi Martyrs of Love: The Chishti Order in South Asia and Beyond. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 1-4039-6026-7.
  6. ↑ ‘AN OVERVIEW OF SUFI LITERATURE IN THE SULTANATE PERIOD’ by Dr. Bruce B Lawrence, Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library, Patna.
  7. ↑ The Ruby in the Dust: Poetry and History of the Indian Padmavat by Sufi Poet Muhammad Jayasi by Thomas de Bruijn, AUP - Leiden University Press, 2012
  8. ↑ 'SOCIETY AND CULTURE IN MEDIEVAL INDIA, 1206-1556 A.D by Rashid, A. in 1969, publisher Firma K. L. Mukhopadhyay.
  9. ↑ 'LATAIFE ASHRAFI' BY Ashraf Jahngir Semnani, Compiled by Nizam Yemeni, Edited and annotated by Syed Waheed Ashraf and published in 2010, Publisher Makhdoom Syed Ashraf Jahangir Academy, 17 Kalyan Society, Outside Pani Gate, Baroda-390019, Gujarat, India .
  10. ↑ 'ZIKRE ASHRAF' by Maulana Syed Qadeer Ahmad Ashrafiul Jilani, Published 1974
  11. ↑ 'HISTORICAL DICTIONARY OF SUFISM by John Renard, The Scare Crow Press, Inc, 2005, ISBN 0-8108-5342-6, Page 222
  12. ↑ DICTIONARY OF INDO PERSIAN LITERATURE by Nabi Hadi, Abhinav Publications, New Delhi, 1995, Page 93
  13. ↑ ‘'MUQADDEMA-E- LATĀIF-E-ASHRAFI' Book in PERSIAN, Published by Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Vadodara, Gujarat, India
  14. ↑ BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF SUFIS: SOUTH ASIA by N. Hanif, Sarup & Sons, NewDelhi 2000, page 28
  15. ↑ THE RISE OF ISLAM AND THE BENGAL FRONTIER, 1204-1760 by Richard Maxwell Eaton, University of California Press, 1993, Page 71,
  16. ↑ THE THRONE CARRIER OF GOD: THE LIFE AND THOUGHT OF ALA'AD-DAWLA AS-SIMANI by Elias J Jamal , State University of NewYork Press, 1995.
  17. ↑ THE SUFI SAINTS OF INDIAN SUBCONTINENT by Zahurul Hasan Sharib, Munshi Ram Manohar Publishers, India, 2006, page 144.
  18. ↑ TASAWWUF by Syed Waheed Ashraf, Maktaba Jamia Ltd, Shamshad Market Aligarh 202002, Inida (2016)
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