Hadhrat Khwāja Mawlānā Muhammad Amkanakī quddisa sirruhu was born around 918 AH (1512/1513 CE). He lived in Amkana, a small town near Samarqand (now Uzbekistan).
He received spiritual training in the Naqshbandi tariqah from his father Mawlānā Durwish Muhammad quddisa sirruhu. He remained steadfast on his father’s path for about thirty years, and tried to hide his spiritual mastership from the people. However, he started training pupils when he was commanded to do so, and led numerous seekers to the highest stages of the Sufi path.
He married the daughter of Hadhrat Khwāja Sābir, and from her he had a son called Hadhrat Khwāja Abul-Qāsim quddisa sirruhu.
Hadhrat Khwāja Amkanagi quddisa sirruhu met his lord on 22nd Sha’aban 1008 AH (8/9 March 1600 CE) at the age of 90 years. He was buried in his hometown Amkana (Uzbekistan), where his noble shrine became a place of pilgrimage by the seekers and other Muslims.
Khwāja Abul-Qāsim
Hadhrat Khwāja Abul-Qāsim quddisa sirruhu was the son of Khwāja Amkanagi and learned the Sufi path from his father, and after his demise, he continued to benefit the seekers in the spiritual way.
Hadhrat Khwāja Bāqi Billāh quddisa sirruhu wrote a letter to this noble son of his master in which he expressed utmost humility and servantship. Imām Rabbāni Shaykh Ahmad Fāruqi Sirhindi radiyAllāhu anhu also wrote letters to Khwāja Abul-Qāsim, which are included as letter 168 and 180 in the first volume of the Maktubāt.
He passed away in 1022 AH at the age of 39 years and was buried besides his father in Amkana.
Deputies
Hadhrat Khwāja Muhammad Amkanagī quddisa sirruhu had many qualified and perfected deputies. Some of them chose to become shaykhs and trained their pupils in the Sufi path, others preferred to remain obscure from the people. A few of those noble deputies are the following.
- Hadhrat Khwāja Muhammad Bāqī Billāh quddisa sirruhu
- Hadhrat Khwāja Abul-Qāsim quddisa sirruhu, his son (d. 1022 AH)
- Hadhrat Khwāja Sābir quddisa sirruhu (d. 1034 AH)
- Hadhrat Khwāja Muhammad Yahyā quddisa sirruhu, son of Khwāja Sābir (mentioned above)
Khwāja Amkanagi had many qualified murids who had traversed the Sufi path to the sublime spiritual stations. Among them was his son-in-law Khwāja Ahmad alias Khwāja Amal quddisa sirruhu, who traveled to India and died in 1020 AH in or around Gujarat.
The next in the Naqshbandī Mujaddidī Tāhirī spiritual golden chain is Khwāja Muhammad Bāqī Billāh Dihlawī.
References
- Hadhrāt al-Quds, by Shaykh Badr ad-Dīn Sirhindī
- Nismāt al-Quds, by Khwāja Muhammad Hāshim Kishmī. Urdu translation by Sayyid Mahboob Hasan Wāstī, published from Lahore in 1410 AH.