Naqshbandi

Hazrat Khwāja Imām Muhammad Ma’sūm Fārūqī Sirhindī Naqshbandī (1007-1079 AH) was the third son and successor of Mujaddid Alf-e-Sānī Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindī (971-1034 AH), may Allah be pleased with them both.

He was born in 1007 AH (1598/1599 C.E) in Sirhind (India).

At the age of 11, his father took him as a murid and trained him in tarīqat.

Hazrat Khwaja used to say that all my prayers, whether Fard or Nawāfil, are offered over the Arsh.

This great sun of guidance left this mortal world on Saturday 9th Rabī al-Awwal 1079 AH (16/17 August 1668). In the night before this sad day, a voice was heard in every house of Sirhind that tomorrow morning the Qayyūm of this time will depart from this mortal world to the eternal place.

Deputies and descendants

According to an authentic narration, Imam Ma’sūm had about nine hundred thousand direct disciples and seven thousand of them were authorized as deputies in the Sufi Path. Many names of his deputies are found in various sources. All six of his sons received deputyship from him and were among his chief deputies.

From the great number of deputies, ten are known to be the greatest and more prominent than others. These include his six exalted sons, two from his noble family, and two others. Following is the list of his deputies that are known from authentic sources. The top ten are the most dignified deputies.

1. Hadhrat Khwāja Muhammad Sibghat-Allāh Sirhindī (1033-1122 AH), his eldest son
2. Hadhrat Khwāja Muhammad Naqshband, alias Hujjat-Allāh (1034-1115 AH), his 2nd son
3. Hadhrat Khwāja Muhammad Ubaid-Allāh (1038-1083 AH), his 3rd son
4. Hadhrat Khwāja Muhammad Ashraf (1043-1118 AH), his 4th son
5. Hadhrat Khwāja Muhammad Saif ad-Dīn (1049-1096 AH), his 5th son
6. Hadhrat Khwāja Muhammad Siddīq (1059-1131 AH), his 6th son
7. Hadhrat Khwāja Abul-Qāsim Sirhindī (1055-1082 AH), son of Khwaja Sibghat-Allāh (his grandson)
8. Hadhrat Khwāja Abd al-Ahad alias Hadhrat Wahdat (d.1126 AH), son of Khwāja Muhammad Sa’īd son of Imām Rabbānī (his nephew)
9. Hadhrat Khwāja Muhammad Hanīf Kābulī (d. 1078 AH)
10. Hadhrat Khwāja Muhammad Siddīq Pishāwarī (d. 1092 AH), son of Khwaja Abd al-Ghafur Samarqandi who was a deputy of Imam Rabbani
11. Hadhrat Hāfiz Muhammad Muhsin Dihlawī
12. Hadhrat Mīrzā Amān-Allāh Burhānpurī
13. Hadhrat Shaykh Abul-Muzaffar Burhānpurī
14. Hadhrat Shaykh Muhammad Alīm Jalālābādī, buried in Shahjahanpur, India
15. Hadhrat Shaykh Muftī Muhammad Bāqir Lāhorī (d. 1109 AH)
16. Hadhrat Mirzā Ubaid-Allāh Beg
17. Hadhrat Mawlānā Hasan Alī Pishāwarī
18. Hadhrat Mawlānā Mūsā Bhattī-Kothī (d. 1123 AH)
19. Hadhrat Mawlānā Badr ad-Dīn Sultānpurī
20. Hadhrat Mawlānā Hāfiz Abd al-Karīm Tūhānī
21. Hadhrat Shaykh Bāyazīd Sahāranpurī, son of Shaykh Badī’ ad-Dīn Sahāranpurī who was deputy of Imām Rabbānī
22. Hadhrat Hājī Habīb-Allāh Hisārī Bukhārī (d. 1110 AH), buried in Bukhārā, Uzbekistan
23. Hadhrat Shaykh Muhammad Murād Kashmīrī Shāmī (d.1125 AH), buried in Jerusalem, Palestine
24. Ḥaḍrat Makhdūm Ādam Thattvī Sindhī (Thattā, Sindh)
25. Hadhrat Sayyid Yūsuf Gardezī Multānī (d. 1090 AH), buried in Multan, Pakistan
26. Hadhrat Mīr Sharf ad-Dīn Husain Lāhorī (d. 1103 AH), buried in Lahore, Pakistan. His wife was also authorized by Imam Muhammad Ma’sum to hold dhikr circles for women.
27. Hadhrat Shaykh Anwar Nūrsarāī
28. Hadhrat Shaykh Husain Mansūr Jālandharī
29. Hadhrat Akhund Mawlānā Sijāwal Sirhindī
30. Hadhrat Mīr Rif’at Beg Gurzdār
31. Hadhrat Shaykh Pīr Dihlawī, buried in Delhi
32. Hadhrat Shāh Husain Ushāq Aurangābādī (d. 1109 AH)
33. Hadhrat Khwāja Abd as-Samad Kābulī (d. 1108 AH)
34. Hadhrat Shaykh Abd al-Karīm Kābulī (d. 1114 AH), buried in Kabul, Afghanistan
35. Hadhrat Shaykh Qāsim Kābulī
36. Hadhrat Mawlānā Muhammad Amīn Hāfizābādī
37. Hadhrat Shaykh Atā’-Allāh Sūratī, buried in Aurangābād, India
38. Hadhrat Shaykh Nūr Muhammad Sūratī
39. Hadhrat Hāfiz Muhsin Siyālkotī
40. Hadhrat Hāfiz Muhammad Sharīf Lāhorī
41. Hadhrat Hājī Amān-Allāh Lāhorī (d. 1110 AH), buried in Lahore, Pakistan
42. Hadhrat Shaykh Muhammad Fārūq Lāhorī
43. Hadhrat Shaykh Muhammad Ārif Lāhorī
44. Hadhrat Mawlānā Muhammad Amīn Bukhārī Pishāwarī
45. Hadhrat Shaykh Hājī Salīm Balkhī
46. Hadhrat Shaykh Hājī Muhammad Āshūr Bukhārī (d. 1107 AH), buried in Delhi, India
47. Hadhrat Shaykh Hāfiz Muhammad Sādiq Kābulī, buried in Sirhind, India
48. Hadhrat Shaykh Nazar Beg Samarqandī
49. Hadhrat Sayyid Isrā’īl Dihlawī
50. Hadhrat Khwāja Māh Dihlawī son of Khwāja Abd ar-Rahmān Naqshbandī
51. Hadhrat Mīr Ghazanfar Dihlawī
52. Hadhrat Mīr Ārif, grandson of Mīr Muhammad Nu’mān
53. Hadhrat Mīr Abd al-Fattāh, son of Mīr Muhammad Nu’mān
54. Hadhrat Shaykh Muhammad Jān, son of Mīr Muhammad Nu’mān
55. Hadhrat Mawlānā Jān Muhammad Warsakī
56. Hadhrat Mīr Ammād Harvī al-Husainī
57. Hadhrat Mīr Sharf ad-Dīn Husain, son of Mīr Ammād al-Husainī
58. Hadhrat Mīr Mufākhir Husain, son of Mīr Ammād al-Husainī
59. Hadhrat Mīr Muzaffar Husain
60. Hadhrat Mīr Muhammad Zamān Rāsikh (d. 1107 AH), grandson of Mīr Ammād al-Husainī
61. Hadhrat Khwāja Muhammad Sharīf Bukhārī
62. Hadhrat Khwāja Abd al-Latīf Bukhārī, brother of Khwāja Muhammad Sharīf Bukhārī
63. Hadhrat Sūfī Pāindah Muhammad Kābulī
64. Hadhrat Mawlānā Pāindah Muhammad Kābulī, a great poet and author of Majma’ al-Bahrain
65. Hadhrat Sūfī Abd ar-Raūf Kābulī
66. Hadhrat Mīr Māh Arab
67. Hadhrat Sūfī Sa’d-Allāh Kābulī
68. Hadhrat Shaykh Muhammad Abd al-Khāliq Bangālī
69. Hadhrat Shaykh Rahīmdād Afghān
70. Hadhrat Shaykh Ghulām Muhammad Afghān
71. Hadhrat Shaykh Hājī Khān Afghān
72. Hadhrat Shaykh Ahmad Khān Afghān
73. Hadhrat Hāfiz Shahāb ad-Dīn
74. Hadhrat Khwāja Abd al-Latīf Pishāwarī
75. Hadhrat Sūfī Dost Muhammad Beg Pishāwarī
76. Hadhrat Mīr Alī Murād Sirhindī
77. Hadhrat Shaykh Mīr Muhammad Khāfī
78. Hadhrat Shaykh Shāh Khwājah Tirmidhī
79. Hadhrat Shaykh Asad-Allāh Afghān
80. Hadhrat Khwāja Muhammad Fārūq son of Khwaja Abd al-Ghafur Samarqandi
81. Hadhrat Mawlānā Jamāl ad-Dīn
82. Hadhrat Mawlānā Muhammad Afzal
83. Hadhrat Shaykh Hājī Husain
84. Hadhrat Sūfī Nūr Beg
85. Hadhrat Mawlānā Qāsim Rūparī
86. Hadhrat Mawlānā Faiz Muhammad Fateh-ābādī
87. Hadhrat Miyān Dinār (a third-gender servant of Mughal emperor Shāhjahān)
88. Hadhrat Shaykh Muhammad Yār alias Khudā Parast Khān (d. 1123 AH)
89. Hadhrat Mawlānā Qul Ahmad Turk, moved to the Haramain Sharīfain
90. Hadhrat Mawlānā Muhammad Yūsuf the Muazzin
91. Hadhrat Mīr Muhammad Ma’sūm Sirhindī
92. Hadhrat Khwāja Muhammad Mu’min Jazbī
93. Hadhrat Shaykh Hājī Muhammad Jān Tāliqānī
94. Hadhrat Mawlānā Mu’min Beg Burhānpurī
95. Hadhrat Mīr Mughal Kābulī
96. Hadhrat Shaykh Mu’min Beg Kābulī
97. Hadhrat Mawlānā Khwāja Musāfir
98. Hadhrat Shaykh Abd al-Hamīd Burhānpurī
99. Hadhrat Mawlānā Muhammad Kāshif
100. Hadhrat Mawlānā Muhammad Sharīf Kābulī
101. Hadhrat Mawlānā Muhammad Hakīm Bukhārī
102. Hadhrat Makhdūm Kabīr Muhammad Thattvī (Thattā, Sindh)
103. Hadhrat Shaykh Ibrāhīm Bakrī
104. Hadhrat Shaykh Nūr-Allāh Lāhorī
105. Hadhrat Shaykh Muhammad Hakīm Bukhārī
106. Hadhrat Mawlānā Hasan Dihlawī
107. Hadhrat Sūfī Abd ar-Rahmān
108. Hadhrat Shaykh Abd al-Latīf Lashkarkhānī
109. Hadhrat Shāh Fat’h-Allāh, shaykh of Khwāja Abd ar-Rasūl Siddīqī Ahmadābādī who was the shaykh of Makhdūm Abul-Hasan Dāhirī Sindhi, a famous scholar of Sindh (Yanābī’, by Makhdūm Abul-Hasan Dāhirī)
110. Hadhrat Sayyid Zain al-Ābidīn Yamanī Muhaddith Madanī
111. Hadhrat Shaykh Umar Shāfi’ī Yamanī
112. Hadhrat Khwāja Muhammad Sādiq Bukhārī
113. Hadhrat Mawlānā Abd-Allāh Hijāzī
114. Hadhrat Mawlānā Shaykh Abd ar-Rahmān al-Qarāsmānī
115. Hadhrat Mawlana Shaykh Alī Yamanī
116. Hadhrat Mawlana Shaykh Abū Turāb
117. Hadhrat Shaykh Abd-Allāh Maghribī Sūfī

Islamic rule in India

Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb Alamgir (1027-1118 AH) was his murid since his princehood, and continued to be a true lover and disciple of the Imam. After the Imam’s demise in 1079 AH, he remained loyal and sincere follower of the noble sons of Imam, who were then the greatest masters of the Mujaddidi order.

Imam Masoom not only trained Aurangzeb in the Mujaddidi Sufi path, he also took great care to provide Shariah guidance to the king in matters of the state. It was because of this spiritual and religious guidance that Aurangzeb governed the greater India with Shariah rule and banned non-Islamic practices such as music. Khwaja Saifuddin, the fifth son of Imam Masoom, was sent to accompany the king in Delhi and to instruct him to follow Shariah in the day-to-day matters of the court. The emperor not only obeyed the instructions of this great Khwaja, he also received spiritual training from him for which he thanked Imam Ma’soom in a letter.

Many other kings from Central Asia were direct disciples of Hazrat Khwaja Muhammad Masoom. The number of Nawabs and other local rulers who were among his sincere followers is countless.

Writings

Maktubat sharif (Farsi), collection of letters compiled in three volumes. vol-1,vol-2, vol-3

Urdu translation of Maktubat by Sayyid Zawwar Hussain Shah, vol-1, vol-2, vol-3

Arabic translation of selected letters

Bengali translation of selected letters, translated by Anisur Rahman, published by Hakimabad Khanka-e-Mozaddedia

English translation of selected letters, available for purchase online

Risalah Masoomiyah (with Sindhi translation, in handwriting), a collection of daily supplications from Sunnah. The original Farsi text is still unavailable in digital format.

Hasanāt-ul-Haramain (Farsi with Urdu translation), collection of spiritual visions (Mushāhidāt) of Imam Muhammad Masoom during his Hajj journey. Written by his son Khwaja Muhammad Ubaydullah Sirhindi. Translated in Urdu by Muhammad Iqbal Mujaddidi.

The next in the Naqshbandī Mujaddidī Tāhirī spiritual golden chain is Shaykh Muhammad Saif ad-Dīn Sirhindī.

References

1. Umdat al-Maqāmāt (Persian) by Khwāja Muhammad Fadhl-Allāh Sirhindī Mujaddidī, First Edition, pp. 339-341
2. Yanābī’ al-Hayāt al-Abadiyah, by Makhdūm Abul-Hasan Dāhirī Naqshbandī

Photo gallery

Here are a few pictures of his noble shrine in Sirhind (India). His mausoleum is built separate from that of his father. His tomb also holds other graves of his sons and grandsons.

Shrine of Khwaja Muhammad Masoom Faruqi Sirhindi, in Sirhind (India)

Shrine of Imam Muhammad Masoom Sirhindi, the frontside

Backside of the tomb of Imam Muhammad Masoom Sirhindi

Dome over the shrine of Imam Muhammad Masoom Sirhindi

The illuminated grave of Khwaja Muhammad Masoom Sirhindi. This is the false grave open to visitors and devotees. The real grave lies underground and is locked.

The noble grave of Khwaja Muhammad Masoom Sirhindi in the center. Graves of his sons are in the sides. Actual graves are underground and these are symbolic graves for visitors.

Another view of the noble grave

Beautiful view of the sacred grave of Imam Muhammad Masoom Sirhindi

Another picture of the illuminated grave of Khwaja Muhammad Masoom Sirhindi

A beautiful side view of the blessed grave of Khwaja Muhammad Masoom Sirhindi

Ceiling of the tomb decorated with Mughal era designs

Following are the title pages of his Maktubat sharif and other writings.

Title of the Urdu translation of first volume of the Maktubat of Khwaja Muhammad Masoom Sirhindi, translated by Sayyid Zawwar Hussain Shah

Title of the Urdu translation of the second volume of Maktubat of Khwaja Muhammad Masoom Sirhindi, translated by Sayyid Zawwar Hussain Shah

Title of Urdu translation of the third volume of Maktubat of Khwaja Muhammad Masoom Sirhindi, translated by Sayyid Zawwar Hussain Shah

A previously unpublished letter of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb to Khwaja Muhammad Masoom Sirhindi (from volume 4 of Maqāmāt Ma’sūmī, translated by Muhammad Iqbal Mujaddidi, published in 2004 by Zia-ul-Quran Publications Lahore)