Sadia Dehlvi - The Sufi Courtyard: Dargahs Of Delhi

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The Sufi Courtyard

DARGAHS OF DELHI

SADIA DEHLVI

To
my friend Khushwant
who has touched so many lives with his
guidance, humility, generosity and compassion.

In the name of Allah
Most Compassionate Most Gracious

Hazrat e Dilli kanaf deen o daar
Jannat adan ast ke abaad baad

Delhi, the protector of faith and of the world!
It is a garden of paradise and so, may it flourish!

Amir Khusrau

Contents

Zeenat Kauser, my mother with our Sufi Master, Shah Muhammad Farooq Rahmani

Prophet Muhammad said, I swear by the God who controls my life, He loves those who awaken the love of Him amongst the people. Another Prophetic tradition affirms, The ink of the scholar is more sacred than the blood of the martyr. These words sustained my efforts through the years that it has taken to complete this book. I thank Allah, Prophet Muhammad and the Sufis, praying they accept this book and forgive its failings.

This work is part of a personal spiritual quest to understand the lives and teachings of the Sufis. I thank my mother, Zeenat Kauser for stressing the importance of documenting the dargahs of Delhi, our beloved city and inspiring me to spread the message of the Sufis.

I thank my spiritual Master, Shah Muhammad Farooq Rahmani. Although he passed on in 1983, I feel blessed and guided by his presence in my heart.

Special thanks to Arjun Prasad, Omar Adam Khan, Mayank Austen Soofi, and my son Arman Ali Reza for their wonderful photographs, that make this book as much theirs as mine.

My immense gratitude to my brothers Faheem and Vaseem, sister-in-law Himani, nephews Farhad and Farooq for their unconditional love. I thank my spiritual mentors, Hafiz Abdul Qudoos Aghai from the dargah of Hazrat Shah Farhad, Syed Salman Chishty of Ajmer Sharif and Haji Ghulam Qutubudin of Jais for their continued prayers and support.

I thank V.K. Karthika and Natasha Puri of HarperCollins for accompanying me on this journey.

An archival image of Hazrat Nizamuddin dargah complex
Image courtesy: Aga Khan Trust for Culture

O my Lord! Advance me in knowledge.

The Quran, 20:114

I love Delhi, the city of my birth. I pray that Delhi will be my burial ground, for my ancestors lie in the bosom of its sacred earth. Centuries ago, they performed their ablutions with the waters of the Jamuna and embraced Islam at the hands of a Sufi at the embankment of the river. Most importantly, my beloved Sufis lived in Delhi and chose the city as their final resting ground.

Delhis history encompasses various emperors and their royal citadels. Its landscape is dotted with their tombs but rarely is a candle lit in their remembrance. At dargahs, however, candles come alive, holy scriptures are recited, the poor are fed and devotees continue to seek the blessings of those blessed by God. These Sufis, friends of God, are the true heirs of Prophet Muhammad , and Delhi their courtyard. In the hearts of their ashiqs , lovers, Delhi gleams almost as sacred as the cities of Makkah and Madinah. Devotees of the Auliya Allah , friends of Allah, popularly called Sufis, believe that heavenly showers of Nur , Divine Light, constantly pour over the city of Delhi.

The earliest references to Delhi are found in the epic Mahabharata, which mentions a city called Indraprastha, built in 1400 bc and ruled by the Pandavas. It is believed to be somewhere between the sites of Purana Qila and Humayuns Tomb. Delhi is said to have been ruined and rebuilt at least seven times. The earlier cities include Indraprastha, Lal Kot, Siri, Jahanpanah, Tughlakabad, Ferozabad, Dinpanah and Shahjahanabad.

While Delhis kings were writing the political destiny of the region, Sufi scholars of the city were engrossed in keeping the torch of knowledge alight at their khanqahs , hospices. Here, they taught compassion, brotherhood and harmony, guiding people in their spiritual quest. Sufis spread their enlightened message, stressing the importance of character and the establishment of peace. During political upheavals, Sufis helped heal the mental anguish of Delhis citizens. Their legacy is an authentic understanding of Islam which preaches cultural sensitivity and inter-religious cooperation while never abandoning spiritual pursuit.

I have tried exploring the spiritual legacy of Delhi, an important centre of Sufism on the world stage during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Delhi offered refuge to innumerable Sufis subjected to torment and massacre during the Mongol invasions of Central Asia. At the time, the city of Baghdad was acclaimed as the centre of Islamic studies. The thirteenth century witnessed the Mongols making Islam the victim of their barbarism. Thousands of people were massacred, and mosques, libraries, schools and universities destroyed. The famed mosques of Bukhara, Baghdad and Samarqand fell victim to Mongol terror; many were turned into stables.

The desire to live peacefully led a large number of poets, scholars, artisans and religious people to settle in and around Delhi. They brought with them their institutions, skills, religious and literary traditions, which fused with local traditions and resulted in a uniquely Indian Islamic culture.

Historians and ordinary citizens began referring to Delhi as Hazrat e Dilli, Dilli Sharif, Dar ul Auliya , Home of Allahs Friends; Bait ul Fuqura , Home of the Faqirs; Baghdad e Hind , Baghdad of Hindustan; Qubbat ul Islam , Dome of Islam; Khurd e Makkah , Little Makkah. Writers and poets praised the citys venerated status. The poet mystic Amir Khusraus verses describe the beauty of the city which he called, the twin sister of Paradise and a true copy of the Divine Throne on the face of the earth.

Blessings and prayers for Delhi and its people can be found in the prayer manuals of the Sufis. Juveni, a historian in Shahjehans court, wrote of Delhis glory in his book, Kalmatus Sadiqeen: There is no doubting Delhis spirituality and the whole of Delhi is as sacred as a mosque. The first comprehensive written account on the subject, Juvenis book records the lives and teachings of over a thousand Sufis.

Three of the first five leading Sufi masters of the Chishti order lived in Delhi, affirming the sanctity of the city. Delhi remained the centre of Muslim rule for centuries, the narrow, legalistic interpretation of Islam by state jurists overshadowed by an inclusive understanding of Islam as taught by the Sufis.

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