Makhdoom Sahib and His Gham-e-Ishq-e-Ilahi—The Pain Of Divine Love That Can Heal Humanity In Kashmir!

By Ghulam Rasool Dehlvi, New Age Islam 6 June 2024 Aie Aatish-e-Furqat Dil Ha Kebab Karda Sailab-e-Ishtiyaqat Jaan Ha Kharab Karda! (O the fire of separation! You have turned my heart into a painful piece of flesh like roasted meat/ Kebab. O flood of desires, you have spoiled my life!) ----- Makhdoom Salih ---- Recently, I paid a long-cherished visit to the Astana (shrine) of Kashmir’s prominent Rishi-Sufi mystic Hazrat Hamza Makhdoom—popularly known as Makhdoom Sahib—and sometimes also venerated as Sultan-ul-A’rifin (king of the Realised Ones). He is greatly revered in the Valley as the “Beloved of the World'' (Mahbub-ul-A’alam). His shrine exhumed deep serenity and solace that overwhelmed me on a Friday after the Juma’a prayer followed by a congregational traditional Kashmiri Zikr/Dhikr and Salawaat-O-Salaam. Hazrat Hamza Makhdoom R.A was, as a matter of fact, the main proponent of the prominent Central Asian Sufi Silsila or Order in Kashmir—Suhrawardiyya. Originally, he belonged to the local historical Chandravanshi Rajput family of the Kashmir region. Born in a village near Sopore in Baramulla district, he spent his childhood in the ancient Kashmiri mystical milieu and was deeply inspired by the profound influence, teachings and traditions of the previous Rishi-Sufi Masters such as Nund Rishi Nooruddin Noorani commonly known as Sheikhul Aalamin Jammu and Kashmir. In the footsteps of Nund Rishi and Shah-e-Hamdan Ameer Kabir Hazrat Meer Ali Hamadani, Hamza Makhdoom RA also initiated a spiritual hospice (Khanqah) in the graceful valley which took care of the poor and the destitute in terms of their spiritual and material needs. His shrine is on top of the Hari Parbat (Koh-e-Maran), commanding a majestic view of the most beautiful part of Srinagar. The Spiritual King of Kashmir and the 16th century Sufi Sage of the undivided Valley Hazrat Hamza Makhdoom—popularly known as Makhdoom Sahib—affectionately called “Mahbub-ul-A’alam” (Beloved of the World) is greatly revered today by both Kashmiri Muslims and non-Muslims (mainly Kashmiri Pundits) alike, precisely because of his deeper personal relationship with the Divine and the pain of separation in this worldly life that he endured in this Eternal, Ultimate and Unconditional Love—Ishq-e-Haqiqi. Historians tell us that Hazrat Hamza Makhdoom’s family consisted of the descendants of Kangra’s Rajput rulers, through Ramchandra — the commander-in-chief in the army of Raja Suhadev, the last Hindu ruler of Kashmir, and minister in the court of Rinchen Shah, the Buddhist ruler who became first ‘Muslim king of Kashmir’. Hazrat Hamza Makhdoom’s spiritual genealogy as well as his family lineage can be traced back to an intellectual legacy (Werasat) and an ethics-based spirituality (Tariqat). In his early childhood, his father Usman Raina, himself an acclaimed A’alim (scholar) taught him and then enrolled him in a local Maktab at his village. Later, his grandfather, Reti Raina, took him to Srinagar, where he studied the classical Islamic sciences — Quran, Hadith, Kalam (philosophy), Fiqh (jurisprudence) and Tasawwuf or Sufism at Dar al-Shifa in Srinagar. Over there, the young Hamza Makhdoom acquired the classical knowledge and esoteric experience accumulated from the 14 different Sufi branches. However, towards his later life, he was immensely immersed in the Suhrawardi Silsila (Sufi order) and thus he introduced a newer spiritual tradition in the same Sufi Order in Kashmir popularly known as “Silsila Mahbubiyya” which is named after his lofty title or Laqab (epithet) “Mahbub-ul-A’alam (Beloved of the World). This is precisely why I look up to Hazrat Hamza Makhdoom R.A as the first of his kind Suhrawardi saint in the Valley. Significantly, Hamza Makhdoom RA also strengthened the common grounds for spiritual coexistence between the Hindu-Rishi and Muslim-Sufi traditions in Kashmir. More notably, Hamza Makhdoom laid greater emphasis on his perennial spiritual practice Zikr-e-Qalb (inward divine remembrance and invocations of Allah). He did not like the idea of outward flaunting of Zikr as it was prevailing in his times in Kashmir’s neo-Sufi society and, therefore, he exhorted Sufi Sim’a or the mystical music of Kashmiri origin only within the prescribed limits. Tellingly, he is also known for questioning the prevailing social customs and several superstitions like the blind faith in ghosts and the misplaced veneration and fear of the spirits (Muwakkils). Similarly, he did not reconcile with the idea of non-Suhrawardi orders about the seclusion and renunciation of worldly life. He strongly believed in the Prophetic tradition of “La Rahbaniyyah Fil Islam” (There is no asceticism in Islam) and therefore he contested it on solid theological grounds. Once, he asserted that even spiritual seclusion or renunciation does not imply going naked or forsaking worldly responsibilities. His idea of renunciation or detachment from the world (Tark-e-Dunya) was one in which a seeker becomes more sincere on his/her path to the extent that he/she doesn’t allow worldly and material affluences and mundane matters to turn into an obstacle in their path towards the ultimate destination and spiritual liberation. Hamza Makhdoom RA was one of the rarest Rishi-Sufis in the Valley who were sociable and accessible to one and all. Prior to him, the Sufi mystics in the Valley did not like to create noticeable social connections with the commoners. But Hamza Makhdoom established a stronger social Sufi network at all levels. No wonder then, he became “Mahbub-ul-A’alam” (Beloved of the World) in the truest sense of the meaning. It is quite astonishing to note that Hazrat Hamza Makhdoom RA left this temporary world for his eternal heavenly abode at the young age of only 35 years while he had lost all his teeth, and most of his hair had turned white. He would reportedly say in his Kashmiri Vakhya/Kalaam as translated below: “Gham-e-Ishq-e-Ilahi—the pain of divine love has turned me old” Today, once again, Kashmir needs to nurture this divine pain to heal the wounds of its war-torn people, especially when a growing section of the society including youth, children and women are away from the deep-rooted Rishi-Sufism. On the contrary, they are plagued with the scourges of drug addiction, emotional and psychological setbacks and mental health issues caused by the various complex situations and strenuous factors. Faced with these serious setbacks, the current Kashmiri generation has adopted a dangerous route to vent out their pent-up anger and frustrations—drug addiction. Regrettably, the influx of drugs into the region is an attempt to corrupt and degenerate the Kashmiri youth at the hands of drug peddlers, who will subsequently destabilise Kashmir through illicit means, and will further fuel the fire of narco-terrorism coming from across the borders. At this critical juncture, if anything can save the new Kashmiri Generation and provide the real panacea for their ills, it is the pain of divine love as enunciated by Hamza Makhdoom RA. It is in the Rishi-Sufi mystical tradition of the valley itself where the solution lies to this acute problem. Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi rightly said: “In problem lies the solution”. It has been relayed in “Dastoor-us-Salikeen” (Constitution of the Seekers): One day Makhdoom Sahib was in his hospice (Khanqah). All of sudden, he emerged out of his room and walked along a mountain where a man of white beard appeared on his face with a noble-looking group of Awliya-e-Kiram who welcomed him and introduced him to Sheikh Najmuddin Kubrawi (R.A)—the founder of Silsilah Kubrawiyah in Central Asia who hailed from Khwarezm. Thus, besides being a Suhrawardi-Sufi sage, Hamza Makhdoom was also initiated into the Sufi order and the principles of Kubrawiyah-Hamadaniyah which prevailed in the valley of Kashmir. It was founded by Hazrat Mir Sayed Ali Hamadani (R.A.), popularly known as Shah-e-Hamadan (king of Hamadan) and Ameer-e- Kabir. As a prominent proponent of Silsilah Kubrawiyah, Shah-e-Hamdan travelled to various parts of the world around three times mainly in Central, West and South Asia. He met and interacted with around 1400 Sufi Divines of his days who granted him Ijazah (special spiritual permission to guide others on the path). Reportedly, Shah-e-Hamadan stayed in Srinagar in 783/1381 but in 785/1384 he went back to Central Asia in Khatlan, a province of Tajikistan today where he is buried. It was Sultan-Ul- Arifeen Hazrat Hamza Makhdoom (R.A) who preserved and promulgated the Silsilah Kubrawiyah-Hamadaniyah along with the Suhrawardi-Sufi Order in Kashmir. Besides his holy shrine, I have also seen the grave of Baba Dawood Khaki (R.A)— the most favourite disciple of Hamza Makhdoom (R.A) who is known as “Imam-e-Azam Abu Hanifa of Kashmir” as he mastered Fiqh-e-Hanafi, the most tolerant school of Islamic jurisprudence which he promoted in the valley. Dawood Khaki writes that Hazrat Hamza Makhdoom (R.A) was bestowed with the divine illuminations of Khashaf-i-Quloob (opening of the hearts), Khashaf-i-Quboor (opening of the graves) and Khashaf-i-Israr (Opening of the Secrets). Hazrat Hamza Makhdoom finally met his Lord in the Hijri year984 during the reign of Sultan Ali Shah Kochak. Thousands of Hindu-Muslim Kashmiris throng the shrine of this Rishi-Sufi Sage in Srinagar. ------ A Regular Columnist with Newageislam.com, Ghulam Rasool Dehlvi is an Indo-Islamic scholar, Sufi poet and English-Arabic-Urdu-Hindi writer with a background in a leading Sufi Islamic seminary in India. He is currently serving as Head of International Affairs at Voice for Peace & Justice, Jammu & Kashmir. URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islamic-personalities/makhdoom-gham-ishq-ilahi-divine-love-humanity-kashmir/d/132457 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism