45 Facts About Ahmad Sirhindi

Ahmad Sirhindi was an Indian Islamic scholar, Hanafi jurist, and member of the Naqshbandi Sufi order who lived during the era of Mughal Empire.

Ahmad Sirhindi opposed heterodox movements within the Mughal court such as Din-i Ilahi, in support of more orthodox forms of Islamic Law.

Ahmad Sirhindi's act of preserving and urging the practice of Islamic orthodoxy has cemented his reputation by some followers as a Mujaddid, or a "reviver".

Ahmad Sirhindi received most of his early education from his father, 'Abd al-Ahad, his brother, Muhammad Sadiq and from a Lahore-based scholar Muhammad Tahir al-Lahuri.

Ahmad Sirhindi then studied in Sialkot, which had become an intellectual centre under the scholar Kamaluddin Kashmiri.

Ahmad Sirhindi eventually joined the Naqshbandi order through the Sufi missionary Khwaja Baqi Billah when he was 36 years old, and became a leading master of the order.

Ahmad Sirhindi's deputies traversed the Mughal Empire in order to popularize the order and eventually won favour with the Mughal court.

Ahmad Sirhindi underwent his first Hajj pilgrimage in 1598, after the death of his father.

Annemarie Schimmel recorded about 534 letters has been wrote by Ahmad Sirhindi regarding the subject of Syncretism.

Ahmad Sirhindi's efforts influenced Abul Fazl, protegee of emperor Akbar, to support Ahmad Sirhindi in an effort to convince Jahangir, successor of Akbar, to reverse the policies of Akbar of tolerating Hindus in Mughal court.

Later, during the reign of emperor Jahangir, Ahmad Sirhindi continued his religious discourses by writing a large number of letters to the nobles, particularly towards Shaikh Farid Murtaza Khan, a Mir Bakshi official, to convince the emperor about this religious issue.

Ahmad Sirhindi wrote a letter to Mughal Emperor Jahangir emphasizing that he is correcting the wrong path taken by his father, emperor Akbar.

At some point during the reign of Jahangir, Ahmad Sirhindi Sirhimdi sent many pupils for academic missionaries into various places, such as:.

However, Ahmad Sirhindi was imprisoned in 1622, suggested to be due to the jealousy of several nobles for his popularity, before being released again after spending one year in Gwalior prison and another three years in a prison within emperor Jahangir army entourage.

Ahmad Sirhindi likely stayed to accompany the emperor for three years before his death.

Ahmad Sirhindi continued to exercise influence over the Mughal court along with his son, Shaikh Masoom, who tutored the young prince Aurangzeb.

In general, Ahmad Sirhindi viewed that every ritual, such as the annual prophet anniversary, or any other practice which is not documented in Sunnah as forbidden in Islam.

Ahmad Sirhindi were recorded to defy the old tradition of Sujud or prostrating towards the ruler as he viewed this practice as Bid'ah.

Ahmad Sirhindi criticized the practices such as Raqs, or Sufi whirling.

The societal reforms of Mughal empire by Ahmad Sirhindi methodology has several targets which he aimed to convey.

Ahmad Sirhindi viewed that to reform the society, one must convey his thoughts towards 6 elements of society accordingly, such as:.

Meanwhile, Ahmad Sirhindi personally accepted the use of Ijtihad and Qiyas in Islamic Jurisprudence and defended the use of both.

Ahmad Sirhindi rejected the ideas of philosophy, particularly those rooted from Greek philosophy.

Furthermore, Ahmad Sirhindi criticize the method of interpretating the meaning of Quran with philosophy.

Ahmad Sirhindi view regarding some of teachings found in Ibn Arabi's teaching in Wahdat al-Wujud.

Ahmad Sirhindi argued that the doctrine of Ibn Arabi is incompatible with Islam.

Ahmad Sirhindi argued that forms of pantheism were components of Hinduism.

William C Chittick, an expert of Ibn 'Arabi biography, argued that Ahmad Sirhindi seems oblivious of Ibn 'Arabi doctrines, as the Imam insisted that Wahdat al Wujud were "inadequate expression" which should be supplanted by his concept of Wahdat as-Shuhud which Chittick claimed is just similar in essence.

Ahmad Sirhindi considered wahdat ash-shuhud to be superior to wahdat al-wujud, which he understood to be a preliminary step on the way to the Absolute Truth.

Ahmad Sirhindi wrote a treatise under the title "Radd-e-Rawafiz" to justify the execution of Shia nobles by Abdullah Khan Uzbek in Mashhad.

Ahmad Sirhindi argues that since the Shiite were cursing the first three Rashidun caliphs, Abu Bakr, Umar, and Uthman, and chastising the Wives of Muhammad, he advocated for the oppression towards Shiite and supported the destruction of their buildings and confiscating their properties.

Ahmad Sirhindi believed the Shia, Mahdawi, and the mystics were responsible for the decline of Sunni Muslim unity in India.

Ahmad Sirhindi had concerns about the spread of Sikhism in Punjab.

Ahmad Sirhindi even goes so far that in his book he branded such kind of Sufi who abandon Sharia as apostates.

However, Friedman in his other works claims Ahmad Sirhindi was primarily focusing on towards discourse of Sufism in mysticism instead.

Ahmad Sirhindi had originally declared the "reality of the Quran" and "the reality of the Kaaba" to be above the reality of Muhammad.

Ahmad Sirhindi responded to their criticism by stating that while the reality of Muhammad is superior to any creature, he is not meant to be worshipped through Sujud or prostrations, in contrast with Kaaba, which God commanded to be the direction of prostration or Qibla.

The shrine of Ahmad Sirhindi, known as Rauza Sharif, is located in Sirhind, Punjab, India.

Ahmet Ozel from Ataturk University has reported in his work on Diyanet Islam Ansiklopedisi, el-alemgiriyye, That some of Ahmad Sirhindi works were compiled in Fatawa 'Alamgiri.

Yohanan Friedmann has noted that according to many modern historians and thinkers, the puritanical thought of Ahmad Sirhindi has inspired the religious orthodoxy of emperor Aurangzeb.

Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi unfurled the flag of jihad precisely against this.

Gamal al-Banna instead opined that Ahmad Sirhindi was influencing Shah Waliullah Dehlawi in reviving the science of Hadith in northern India.

In field of Hadith scholarships, Ahmad Sirhindi wrote commentary or sharh of Sahih al-Tirmidhi.

Ahmad Sirhindi criticize the practice of Khalwa or ascetism by calling it as heresy, due to no arguments that showed that the early generations of Muslims practiced it.

Naqshbandi Sufis claim that Ahmad Sirhindi is descended from a long line of "spiritual masters" which were claimed by the order:.