Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya (1238-1325)
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He is one of the great saints of the Chishti
order in India. He was preceded by Hazrat Fariduddin Ganjshakar, Hazrat Kaki,
and Hazrat Moinuddin Chishti. In that sense, they constitute the initial
spiritual chain, or Silsila, of the Chisti order, widely prevalent in the
subcontinent.
Nizamuddin Auliya, like his predecessors,
preached the gospel of love as a means of realising God. For him, his love of
God implied a love of humanity. His vision of the world was marked by a highly
evolved sense of secularity and kindness
He was born in Badyun, Utter Pradesh, and came
to Delhi with his mother, Bibi Zulekha, at the age of 5 after the death of his
father. He has also been mentioned in Ain-i-Akbari. He became a disciple of
Hazrat Farid Gajshakar and also his successor. Many of his disciples achieved
spiritual height, including Shaikh Nasiruddin Muhammad Chirag-e-Delhi, Amir
Khusro, noted scholar and musician, and the royal poet of the Delhi Sultanate.
One of the kings of the Delhi sultanate during Nizamuddin Auliya's lifetime was
Qutb-ud-Din Mubarak Shah, the last ruler of the Khilji dynasty. Legend has it
that disrespect for Nizamuddin Auliya caused the king's death, and Qutb-ud-din
Mubarak Shah used to assemble all the leading figures and famous personalities
of Delhi in his court every weekend. Once a courtier complained to him that
Nizamudin Auliya never came to court. The king declared: "Order him in my
name to come to my weekend gathering; else he will be hanged." When
Nizamuddin Auliya's follower, Amir Khusrau, related this to his master, he
disregard the message and did not even answer. As the weekend approached, his
disciples became worried for his life. One day before the weekend, Nizamuddin
Auliya went to the grave of his mother and came back looking unperturbed,
telling his disciples to go home and sleep as usual. The next morning, everyone
was very tense and worried, but Zizamudin remained unperturbed. Soon after, word
came that there had been a palace rebellion and that the king had been brutally
murdered.
Nizamuddin Auluya was an unrivalled Sufi of his
time among all existing Sufi orders; many of his contemporaries were
undoubtedly powerful spiritual leaders, but he was the most famous of
all.During his roughly 70-year Sufi career, he witnessed the reigns of seven
Delhi sultans.He was highly revered by the kings.
The Chisti order branched out with Nizamudddin
Auliya to form the Chisti Nizami order. A parallel branch that started with
Alauddin Sabir Kaliyari and another disciple, Baba Farid, was the Chisti Sabiri
branch. People started adding Nizami gracefully after their names. He
spiritually made many great Sufis amongst his students, descendants, and the
Sufis of the Nizami order.
