Syed Muhammad ibn Yousuf al-Hussaini (30 July 1321 − 1 November 1422), commonly known as Bande Nawaz or Gisu Daraz,[2] was a HanafiMaturidi scholar and Sufi saint from India of the Chishti Order.
Bande Nawaz was born in Delhi in 1321 to a Sayyid family[5] originally from Herat.[2] At the age of seven, he and his family arrived in Daulatabad in the Deccan after Delhi sultanMuhammad bin Tughlaq had declared the city to be the co-capital and called upon Muslims in Delhi to migrate there.[6]
In AH 735 (1334/1335), he returned to Delhi without his father, who had died in Daulatabad,[7] and soon began training under Nasiruddin Chiragh Dehlavi, the preeminent sheikh of the Chishti Order in the city.[2] During this time, he attained his sobriquet Gisu Daraz. The sheikh was aware of his imminent death, and believing in Bande Nawaz's worthiness and sanctity, passed down his prayer rug to him, making him his successor. In Delhi, Bande Nawaz rose to public prominence, assisting the population with his specialised knowledge and abilities.[8]
Migration to the Deccan
Bande Nawaz fled Delhi on 17 December 1398, at the age of 77, due to the threat of the advancing forces of Timur, who had recently launched an invasion of the Delhi Sultanate and was quickly approaching the city.[9] He first travelled to Gwalior, and ventured through modern-day Madhya Pradesh into Gujarat,[10] where he arrived at Khambhat in the summer of 1399. From Baroda,[11] he embarked in hope of returning to Daulatabad to pay homage to his father's tomb.[12] At the invitation of Taj ud-Din Firuz Shah, sultan of the Bahmani Kingdom, Bande Nawaz settled in the Bahmani capital Gulbarga[13] in AH 802 (1399/1400).[11]
While in Gulbarga, Bande Nawaz came into conflict with Firuz Shah, and the two's once-amicable relations diminished. The sultan was knowledgeable in the external sciences, and took issue at the sheikh's lack of experience in the matter, which led to a renouncement of support by the sultan.[14] Though the sheikh adhered to the metaphysical doctrine of waḥdat al-shuhūd, which went against scholar Ibn 'Arabi's teaching of waḥdat al-wujūd, the court grew suspicious of the sheikh's application of the scholar's allegedly heretical works, causing further tension. A dispatch sent to investigate Bande Nawaz's teachings himself became enthralled in the sheikh's word and entered adherence to him.[2][15] In 1407,[2] these quarrels caused the sheikh to involuntarily move his residence and hospice (khanaqah) away from its original location outside the fort's gate, which the sultan asserted was necessary to ensure the safety of the court. To Firuz Shah's outrage, Bande Nawaz endorsed the sultan's brother Ahmad, who had expressed substantial support for and venerated the sheikh, to be the royal successor rather than the sultan's son.[14][2]
Bande Nawaz continued his work in Gulbarga up until his death in 1422, one month after Firuz Shah had himself died and been succeeded by Ahmad.[16]
Works
Bande Nawaz wrote 195 books in Arabic, Persian and Urdu,[4] a rarity for people of his kind, who previously had not directly written their ideas.[2] He also composed a book on the Prophet of Islam titled Miraj-al Ashiqin for the instruction of the masses in Dakhni, a South Indian branch of the Urdu language. He was the first Sufi to use this vernacular which was elaborated upon by many other Sufi saints of South India in later centuries.[17] He wrote many treatises on the works of Ibn Arabi and Suhrawardi, which made the works of these scholars accessible to Indian scholars and played a major role in influencing later mystical thought.[18] Other books authored are Qaseeda Amali and Adaab-al-Mureedein.
His death anniversary (urs) takes place on 15, 16 and 17 Dhu al-Qadah at the Bande Nawaz mausoleum in Gulbarga,[4] built by Ahmad Shah after his accession.[2] Thousands of people from different religions gather to seek blessings.[4]
In popular culture
Indian Muslim social films revolving around the saint and his dargah have been made. These include: Sultan E Deccan: Banda Nawaz (1982) by Malik Anwar, Banda Nawaz (1988) by Saini.[19]
^Mystical Dimensions of Islam By Annemarie Schimmel, Pg 351
^Irfan Habib, S. (October 2002). "Book reviews and notices : M.T. ANSARI, ed., Secularism, Islam and modernity. Selected essays of Alam Khundmiri. New Delhi: Sage Publications, 2001. 308 pp. Notes, index. Rs. 250 (paperback)". Contributions to Indian Sociology. 36 (3): 568–570. doi:10.1177/006996670203600313. S2CID220847929.
