Imam Rabbani

The Mujaddid of the Second Millennium: Imam Rabbani (Quddisa Sirruhu)

 Part 1

Imam Rabbani (quddisa sirruhu) attracted attention at an early age with his brilliance, robust memory, and mature behavior, far beyond his age. When he was not even twenty years old, he had reached such a level of proficiency in Islamic knowledge that he was giving lectures in every branch of Islamic sciences and wrote books in Arabic and Persian. By authoring books and advising everyone he could reach, he tried to save people from bid'ah and heresy and called them to sirat al-mustaqim (the straight path). He fought against the scholars who distorted the religion and were instrumental in Akbar Shah's corruption.

It was the second half of the 16th century in India, and Akbar Shah’s reign over the Mughal Empire was at its height. India was virtually a mosaic of religions; Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Magians, Christians, Jews, and many other small faith groups lived in this vast region.

Akbar Shah, who belonged to a Muslim family, turned to the heresy of uniting all religions, especially to subordinate the sizeable Hindu population under his reign. With the support of some so-called scholars who sacrificed their knowledge for personal gains, he decided to fabricate a new religion called “Din-i Ilahi.”

Akbar Shah and his inner circle claimed that Islam, which had been around for a thousand years since it was first revealed, had become obsolete and could not meet the needs of the time. They considered wahy (revelation) irrational, claimed that the leadership of prophets was no longer needed, and considered the verses of the Qur’an and hadiths invalid. They wanted to combine various principles from existing religions that they deemed favorable and create a hybrid, artificial religion through the amalgamation of miscellaneous belief systems.

As a result, Muslims were confused, their faith was damaged, and they were led astray from istiqamah. The haram and halal had been largely forgotten, and worship had been abandoned. Sufism was also rapidly moving away from the shariah line, with Hindu beliefs blending into the practices maintained by Sufis, blurring the lines between real tasawwuf and factitious, esoteric fabrication. The seemingly extraordinary feats of istidraj, which were falsely believed to be kashf and karamah, were prioritized over wahy and istiqamah; bid'ahs (unlawful, despised innovations) were multiplying, and the akhirah was being denied. There was an absolute cacophony of beliefs and ideas projected and propagated across the entire society, and people did not know who or what to believe. Islam was facing a terrible danger of corruption after a thousand years.

See the wondrous ways of fate

Yet Islam was the last religion, the last refuge of humanity. The Owner of this religion was assuredly going to preserve it as a work of His mercy and would not allow Islam to be twisted, marred, or degraded. In fact, while some people in the Indian peninsula were trying to use religion as a tool for their nafs, divine providence had long since restored Islam to its purest form in Mawarannahr with pious scholars and Sufis such as Imam al-Maturidi, Imam Bukhari, and Bahauddin Naqshband. It was now time for that purity to flow into the Indian lands, find a special kind of seed there, and make it flourish. It was divine providence that entrusted the task of reviving Islam to Ahmad Sirhindi and prepared the necessary conditions for his upbringing. He would later come to be known as Imam Rabbani, from the descendants of Umar bin Khattab (radiyallahu anh), so that he could distinguish the truth from falsehood with his superior quality as the rectifier of errors in the beliefs and practices of Muslims.

Born in 1563 in the city of Sirhind in the Punjab province of India, and known as “Sirhindi” because he was born in the city of Sirhind and “Faruqi” because he was a descendant of Umar bin Khattab (radiyallahu anh). This great wali, scholar, mujtahid, and mujaddid (one who renews and rejuvenates Islam)was going to be known as Imam Rabbani and become the renewer of Islam in the second millennium, that is, the “mujaddid alf thani.”

Imam Rabbani Shaykh Ahmad Faruqi Sirhindi (quddisa sirruhu) received the first stage of his education from his father, Shaykh Abdulahad. The latter was a scholar, a select, virtuous person, and a Sufi. After completing his hifz at his father's side, he studied disciplines such as hadith, fiqh, tafsir, kalam, philosophy, and logic from the most renowned scholars of his time. He stood out with his brilliance, robust memory, and mature behavior far beyond his years. When he was not even twenty years old, he had reached such a level of proficiency in Islamic knowledge that he was giving lectures in every branch of Islamic sciences and wrote books in Arabic and Persian. This young mujtahid, whose fame soon reached all over India, decided to go to Agra, the center of the sultanate, because the disturbances had started there and had to be dealt with where they originated. In Agra, he contended with the scholars who were instrumental in Akbar Shah's corruption. By authoring books and preaching to everyone he could reach, he tried to save people from bid'ah and heresy and called them to sirat al-mustaqim, the straight path of Islam.

He returned to Sirhind at the insistence of his father, who was getting old by this time. It was as if his father, Shaykh Abdulahad, wanted his son to lack nothing before his death. After a strict tasawwuf education, he made him complete his sayr wa suluk. He educated him with the basic sources of tasawwuf and gave him ijazah from the Qadiriyyah, Suhrawardiyyah, and Chishtiyyah orders. His time on this earth came to an end before he could train him for the Naqshbandiyyah ijazah.

The meeting of two seas

After his father’s death, Imam Rabbani (quddisa sirruhu) traveled from Sirhind to Delhi intending to perform pilgrimage. There, he heard praise from people of knowledge and wisdom  for a Naqshi shaykh who had come from Bukhara and settled in Delhi. He had always been inclined towards Naqshbandiyyah. His father, Shaykh Abdulahad, who had frequently told him about the great Sufis of this path with resounding enthusiasm, had not been able to put the final touches on his son's heart and polish this already dazzling gem to perfection due to his life’s end. Now a new opportunity had presented itself to Imam Rabbani. A master jeweler hailing from the center of this distinguished line of work, Shaykh Baqi Billah was in Delhi and very close to him. With the excitement of one who had found their lifelong dream, he ran to the shaykh’sdargah.

Shaykh Muayyadu’d-din Baqi Billah (quddisa sirruhu) was already waiting for him. He had been sent to Delhi by Haja Muhammad Amkanaki (quddisa sirruhu) to raise “the Sun of Sirhind.” Shaykh Baqi Billah was one of the great Uwaysi Naqshi murshids. After benefiting from many murshids of his time, he became a disciple of Bahauddin Naqshband (quddisa sirruhu) in his dream. 

Once again, in a dream, with a spiritual sign from Haja Ubaydullah Ahrar (quddisa sirruhu), he went to Haja Muhammad Amkanaki (quddisa sirruhu) and conversed with him for three days in a state of khalwah. It was in this state that he received the instruction: He was to go to India and hand over the uncompromising line of Naqshbandiyyah, which had always been and always would be true to shariah, to a noble, eminent wali who would be sent to him when the time came. First, he stayed in Lahore for a year. Then he moved his dargah to Delhi. When he was about to complete three years of teaching there, the expected disciple arrived. Shaykh Baqi Billah immediately recognized Imam Rabbani as he stepped over the threshold of the dargah. He was the long-awaited sun of Sirhind that would bring spring back to the garden of Islam, and it was impossible not to recognize the sun when it was shining so bright. He welcomed him, standing with a smiling face, and sat him down with compliments. Shaykh Baqi Billah and Imam Rabbani were so respectful to each other that the Sufis around them could not decide which of them was the disciple and which the murshid because they did not yet know that the two seas had met. Delhi was now “Majmau’l-Bahrain,” the place where the two seas met, and the believers’ hearts, which had withered and died, would be revived and submerged into the sea of wahdah (oneness).

Such a glorious sun

During this first meeting in Delhi, Imam Rabbani stayed in Shaykh Baqi Billah's dargah for two and a half months. In such a brief period, he learned the ways and manners of the tariqah, dhikr-i hafi, the silent dhikr performed as a staple of the Naqshbandi tariqah, and received the Naqshbandi nisbah. In a letter he wrote to his sons after his shaykh's death, he described those times as the most blissful of his life by saying, “By connecting to Baqi Billah, I encountered unexplainable manifestations; I gained many lights of divine origin with states transcending colors and attributes.”

He returned to Sirhind, but the spiritual zest he found in his shaykh'sdargah soon drew him back to Delhi. He visited his murshid a second time. Again, they had a long halvah, and on his return, Shaykh Baqi Billah said, “You have received the full ijazah of our path. Go and establish the ring of guidance in your hometown.” He gave him the khilafah and ijazah cardigan himself. He was now authorized to train disciples. The shaykh even sent some of his distinguished caliphs and disciples with him, referring them to Imam al Rabbani.

Shaykh Baqi Billah waited with longing for Imam Rabbani’s third visit. He felt as if this would be their last meeting, but his heart was at ease. He had completed his mission in a brief two years, albeit at specific intervals. He walked a long distance with his disciples to meet him on this third visit so that everyone would understand Imam Rabbani’s greatness, his high rank, and value. For this reason, he never withheld his compliments from him from the beginning, relaying the depth of Imam Rabbani’s knowledge and rapid progression through the ranks of tasawwuf. This distinguished disciple, who was more or less the same age as his mentor, had never compromised his manners in his presence despite such evident esteem afforded to him. When his shaykh would turn to him and say something, he would turn pale and begin to tremble. When Shaykh Baqi Billah, who met him on the road and embraced him with affection, turned to his disciples and said, “Do not incline to anyone else but this one!” he was in such a state again.

On the other hand, some of the shaykh’s disciples were hesitant. It was a severe test to follow another shaykh while their master was still alive. Shaykh Baqi Billah said, “Ahmad Sirhindi is such a sun that thousands of stars like me become invisible in his light.” In this way, he was showing the humility of the great murshids and pointing to Imam Rabbani’s place among the awliya of Allah.

Spring is coming to the garden of Islam

When the great imam started his duties of guidance and da’wah in Sirhind, he had some spiritual experiences for the first time. He reported these to Shaykh Baqi Billah by letter, and in reply, he received the good news that he had been rewarded with divine favors and had reached a high position. He went to Lahore on the instructions of his shaykh. Scholars and shaykhs in the neighborhood rushed to him. Many of his disciples, who would later serve as caliphs, became his followers in Lahore. It was also here that he received news of his shaykh's death. On his way, without stopping in his hometown Sirhind, he went to Delhi and visited the grave of Baqi Billah. From then on, he would repeat this grave visit yearly during his irshad activities in Sirhind.

This period of time, when Imam Rabbani became a Naqshi, started to teach, his followers gradually multiplied, and his master passed away, coincided with the period when Akbar Shah was running rampant and trying to spread a fabricated religion. However, the esteemed imam was now a respected murshid whose knowledge and wisdom were not in doubt. He sent a message to Akbar Shah. He said, “The Shah has rebelled against Allah and His Messenger. Should this continue, his kingdom, power, might, and army will be destroyed by a calamity. Let him repent and follow Allah and His Messenger. Otherwise, let him wait for the wrath of Allah!”

Partly because of this threat, partly due to the indoctrination of the imam's followers in high positions in the palace, and partly because of a dream he had, Akbar Shah eased his insistence on heresy. But he did not fully enter the path of Allah and His Messenger. Shortly after Imam Rabbani's warning, he fell ill and became unable to speak. A fight for the throne broke out between his sons, and one of them, Selim Jahangir, seized the sultanate. Jahangir Shah did not like his father's practices. The imam's job seemed to be getting a little easier.

And so it was. During the reign of Jahangir Shah, Imam Rabbani's followers and disciples multiplied with fifteen years of uninterrupted guidance in Sirhind. With their concentrated efforts, the aqidah of Ahlu’s-Sunnah was revived in every corner of India. Shaykh Baqi Billah’s glad tidings had come true, and spring had come to the garden of Islam.

In addition to India, the imam sent his most distinguished caliphs to Turkestan, Khorasan, Hijaz, Yemen, Anatolia, and Damascus and was instrumental in guiding the people there. From then on, the ulama and shaykhs were also on their way, and people from all over the world came to Sirhind to benefit from Imam Rabbani’s lectures. The congregation became so large that even the dignitaries and politicians of the time had difficulty visiting the imam due to the overwhelming crowd. (To be continued)

Ali Yurtgezen