Mir Sayyid Ali Hamadani

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Mir Sayyid Ali Hamadani (Persian: میر سید علی همدانی‎; c. 1314–1384 CE) was an Iranian scholar, poet and a Sufi Muslim saint of the Kubrawiya order. He was born in Hamadan, Iran and preached Islam in Central and South Asia as he travelled to practice Sufism. He died in Khatlan, Tajikistan in 1384 CE, aged 69–70. Hamadani was also addressed honorifically throughout his life as the Shāh-e-Hamadān ("King of Hamadan"), Amīr-i Kabīr ("the Great Commander"), and Ali Sani ("second Ali").^[1]

Early life[]

The title "Sayyid" indicates that he was a descendant of Prophet Muhammad, possibly from both sides of his family.^[2]

Hamadani spent his early years under the tutelage of Ala ud-Daula Simnani, a famous Kubrawiya saint from Semnan, Iran. Despite his teacher's opposition to Ibn Arabi's explication of the wahdat al-wujud ("unity of existence"), Hamadani wrote Risala-i-Wujudiyya, a tract in defense of that doctrine, as well as two commentaries on Fusus al-Hikam, Ibn Arabi's work on Al-Insān al-Kāmil. Hamadani is credited with introducing the philosophy of Ibn-Arabi to South Asia.^[3]

Travels[]

Sayyid Ali Hamadani traveled widely and preached Islam in different parts of the world^{[4][page needed]} such as Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, China, Syria, and Turkestan.^{[5][page needed][clarification needed]}

Mausoleum of Mir Sayyid Ali Hamadani in Kulob, Tajikistan

In 1372, he came into conflict with Timur and so moved to Kashmir along with 700 sayyids and followers during the reign of king Shib ud-Din. He had already sent two of his followers: Syed Taj ud-din Semnani and Mir Syed Hasan Semnani, to take stock of the situation. Shibu'd-din became a follower of Mir Syed Hasan Semnani and so Hamadani was welcomed in Kashmir by the king and his heir apparent Qutub ud-Din. At that time, the Kashmiri ruler was at war with Firuz Shah Tughlaq, the Sultan of Delhi, but Hamdani brokered a peace. Hamdani stayed in Kashmir for six months. After Sharaf-ud-Din Abdul Rehman Bulbul Shah, he was the second important Muslim to visit Kashmir. Hamadani went to Mecca, and then returned to Kashmir in 1379/80 CE, during the reign of Qutub ud-Din, and spent a year spreading Islam in Kashmir, before returning to Turkestan via Ladakh in 1381/82 CE. He returned to Kashmir for the third time in 1383/84 CE with the intention of staying for a longer period but had to return earlier owing to illness. Hamadani died on his way back to Central Asia at a site close to the present day town of Mansehra in North-West Pakistan.^[6] His body was carried by his disciples to Kulob, Tajikistan, where his shrine is located.^[3]

Influence[]

Hamadani started organised efforts to convert Kashmir to Islam. Hamadani is regarded as having brought various crafts and industries from Iran into Kashmir; it is said that he brought 700 Syed's with him to the country.^{[3][7][better source needed]} The growth of the textile industry in Kashmir increased its demand for fine wool, which in turn meant that Kashmiri Muslim groups settled in Ladakh,^{[clarification needed]} bringing with them crafts such as minting^{[clarification needed]} and writing.^[8]

Hamadani wrote a book on politics, governance and social behaviour, called the Zakhirat ul-Muluk^[9][10]

Works[]

One manuscript (Raza Library, Rampur, 764; copied 929/1523) contains eleven works ascribed to Hamadani (whose silsila runs to Naw'i Khabushani; the manuscript contains two documents associated with him).^[11]

• Risalah Nooriyah is a tract on contemplation
• Risalah Maktubaat is a collection of Hamadani's letters
• Dur Mu’rifati Surat wa Sirat-i-Insaan, discusses the bodily and moral features of man
• Dur Haqaa’iki Tawbah, deals with the nature of penitence
• Hallil Nususi allal Fusus, is a commentary on Ibn Arabi’s Fusus-ul-Hikam
• Sharhi Qasidah Khamriyah Fariziyah, is a commentary on the wine qasidah of who died in 786 A.H. =1385 A.C.
• Risalatul Istalahaat, is a treatise on Sufic terms and expressions
• ilmul Qiyafah or Risalah-i qiyafah is an essay on physiognomy. A copy of this exists in the United States National Library of Medicine.
• Dah Qa’idah gives ten rules of contemplative life
• Kitabul Mawdah Fil Qurba gathers traditions on affection among relatives
• Kitabus Sab’ina Fi Fadha’il Amiril Mu’minin, gives the seventy virtues of Ali.
• Arba’ina Amiriyah is forty traditions on man's future life
• Rawdhtul Firdaws is an extract of a larger work entitled Manazilus Saaliqin, which is on Sufi-ism
• Awraad-ul-Fatehah gives a conception of the unity of God and His attributes
• Chehl Asraar (Forty Secrets), is a collection of forty poems in praise of Allah and Muhammad
• Zakhirat-ul-Muluk a treatise on political ethics and the rules of good government

Syed Abdur-Rehman Hamdani in his book Salar-e-Ajjam lists 68 books and 23 pamphlets by Sayyid Ali Hamadani.^[12]

References[]

Bibliography[]

• John Renard 2005: Historical Dictionary of Sufism (Historical Dictionaries of Religions, Philosophies and Movements, 58), ISBN 0810853426