i. Hazrat Abul Qasim Qashiri
His name was Abdul Kareem. He became famous as Qashiri because of the influence of an elder among his ancestors known as Qashir. His surname is Abul Qasim. He was born in Iran in 986 AD in a district Istawa near Nishapur. His father died in his childhood. Imam Qashiri got the basic education of religion and spirituality from his Shaikh Abu Ali Daqaq . Imam Daqaq was the figure of sincerity and love, and this sincerity drew Imam Qashiri the companionship of Imam Daqaq .
"Al-Taisir fi ilm al-Tafseer" and "Lataif al-Quran fi Tafsir al-Quran" are his prominent books in the field of Tafseer. AL-Takhbeer-fi-Ilm-ul-Tazkir-fi Ma'ani, Ism-Allah Ta'ala is his authoritative book on the names of the Almighty which is the biggest fact that the Sufis of the early centuries had hearts and minds full of religious knowledge and fear of Allah.He has collected hadiths on forty topics, which have a special place in terms of social reform. Hazrat Ali Hajveri says about Imam Qashiri in Kashf-ul-Mahjoob that he is the Imam of the later Sufis who was one and the highest in his time. He has a special attribute in every art. There are many scholarly works done by him.Hazrat Imam Qashiri , also received blessings from Imam Beyhaqi and Imam al- Haramain Juwini. The principles of Sufism and the characteristics of Sufis that he has described, the summary is that Sufism is not just reciting Zikr but a change in human thought that brings about such a revolution in the attributes and morals of a human being that a human being becomes a model of good morals and man becomes pure inwardly and outwardly, and this purity purifies the thoughts of man. Man should become a symbol of God-fearing and should never disobey Allah. Moreover, the negative thoughts and feelings like revenge, misery and greed get out of man.In Sufism, the piece of writing of Hazrat Imam Qashiri "Risala Qashiriyyah" is a short and comprehensive magazine, in which the beliefs of Sufism are described in all aspects of Sufism, after which the conditions of 83 Sufis are recorded.Imam Qashiri died in 1072 AD in Nishapur and he was buried by the side of Abu Ali Daqaq .
ii. Hazrat Sheikh Farid ud Din Attar
He was born in Nishapur, the city of Iran. His real name was Abu Hameed but he became famous by his pen name Farid Uddin. The title "Attar" was given to him due to his profession. He was skilled in making fragrances and medicines. Hundreds of people daily took medicine from his clinic.The most famous among his teachers is Mujadad Uddin Baghdadi . He gained expertise in various sciences and arts specially acquired expertise in knowledge of Kalam, philosophy, Quran and Hadith, jurisprudence, medicine and literature. He was a famous Persian poet. It is clear from his poems that he has visited different countries of the world, especially Egypt, Damascus, Makkah, Turkistan and India.
Tazkirat al-Awaliya, Pindnama and Mantaq al-Tir are his famous reformed books, the subject of which are the conditions of the saints, advice and Tassawuf. The famous Sufi Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi also received guidance from Sheikh Farid Uddin Attar , and the source of Maulana Rumi's poetry is the acquisition of knowledge from the Sheikh.In his famous book Tazkirat al-Awliya, the situations of approximately 96 saints have been described. The order of the topics that he has written in the Pand Nama is as follows: Hamd and Naat to the Messenger of Allah , the virtues of religious imams and mujtahids, obedience to divine orders instead of self, benefits of silence, avoidance of hypocrisy, morals, goodness, the benefits of sitting with the people of goodness, the causes of peace and well-being, the benefits of remembrance and the harms of anger, and considering life as a great blessing from Allah, as well as can be possible.If today's society adheres to these teachings, then individual and collective reforms will be done. And only with the company of these people of Allah, intrinsic benefits and results can be achieved.In 1221 AD, he was martyred at the age of 114 during the riots of the Tatars. His mausoleum is located in Nishapur.
iii. Hazrat Khwaja Nizamuddin Auliya Dehlavi
He is a well-known Sufi saint of the Chishtiya lineage in the Indian subcontinent. He was from the chain of the Ahl al-Bayt. His name was Muhammad Nizamuddin, father's name is Ahmed Bukhari. Sultan Awlia and Mehboob Elahi are famous titles. His ancestors migrated from Bukhara and settled in Badaiyun, where he was born in 1237. At the age of five, his father passed away. His father was the judge of Badaiyun. He came to Delhi at the age of fifteen . In Quran, Hadith and Fiqh, among the teachers, Allama Alauddin Usuli, Shamsuddin Khwarazmi and Kamaluddin Muhammad al-Zahed are notable names.At the age of 20 years, he pledged allegiance to the blessed hand of Baba Farid Elahi in Ajodhan (the present day Pakpattan Sharif) and received the teaching of six Paras (Sections of the Holy Quran). The Shaikh granted him the Kulah Chahar tarki, i.e. the four-cornered cap, which was basically a promise to give up four things. Abandonment of unlimited labor for the acquisition of worldly wealth and pleasures, abandonment of such fear of the Hereafter that overcomes fear of Lord, abandonment of excessive eating and sleeping, and abandonment of submission to the self.These things are still the distinguishing feature of the Chishtiyya chain and this is the essence of Islamic teachings. He came to Delhi upon the order of his Shaikh and started the service of people. His mausoleum is in Delhi. He used to instruct his followers to recite the Holy Quran in abundance. He had special access to the sciences of the Quran.He spent his entire life seeking knowledge, worship, austerity and struggle and training and reforming people. He was an example of piousness, piety, generosity, forgiveness, maturity and good character. There is an example of a person who was a strong opponent of Hazrat Nizam Uddin Awliya and used to speak ill of him, but when he died, Khwaja Nizam Uddin attended the funeral of that man and prayed that, O Allah, whatever this person did to me or spoke about me, I forgive him.
From the enclosures of Khawaja Nizam Uddin , there are clear self-analysis and spiritual signs. He says that if you get something, don't collect it, if you don't get it, don't worry, hope that Allah will surely give it to you. Do not harm anyone, do not borrow unnecessarily, give in return for injustice. If you do this, kings will come to your door. Poverty is a mercy of God. The night a poor man sleeps in hunger, that night is his night of ascension. Whatever amount you spend in the name of Allah, its never extravagancy but whatever you don't spend, its worse.Like every Sufi saint, he also served the creation of Allah Almighty and played an important role in improving the society of the subcontinent. A number of people used to eat daily from his food houses. To guide the people, they prepared personalities full of sincerity and piety.Among them, the names of Sheikh Naseeruddin Chirag Dehlavi , Ameer Khusro and Hazrat Ameer Hassan Sajzi are on top.Once a student came to Khawaja Nizam Uddin and explained his needs. At that time, he had nothing except an ox. He handed it over to the student and asked him to fulfil the religious knowledge requirements. He witnessed the eras of many kings like the family of Tughlaq and the family of Khilji. He also tried to correct them as much as possible. Rahat al-Qulub is his written effort, in which he has collected the philosophies of his Sheikh Kamil Baba Farid Uddin GanjShakar . "Afzal ul Fawaid" is his own collection of philosophies which is compiled by Hazrat Khawaja Ameer Khusro and 'Fawad al-Fawad' is his collection which was collected by Hazrat Ameer Hasan Sajzi . These collections are the essence of his teachings in which there is a detailed description of Shari'ah, Ibadat, virtue, the rights of Allah and the rights of the servants. He died in 1324 AD.This lesson has a guideline for us that if only the teachings of the saints are followed, then the hatred and ugliness of the society will end and it will become a place of peace and prosperity.
