Ihsan Center – Islam From The Heart

Amir Khusro : Ab’ul Hasan Yāmīn al-Dīn Khusro (1253-1325 CE), better known as Amir Khusro Dehlavi or Amir Khusraw Balkhi in Afghanistan and Iran (in Persian ), is one of the iconic figures in the cultural history of the Indian subcontinent. A Sufi mystic and a spiritual disciple of Nizamuddin Auliya of Delhi, Amir Khusro (or Khusrau or Khusraw) was not only one of India’s greatest poets, he is also credited with being the founder of both Hindustani classical music and Qawwali (the devotional music of the Sufis). He was born of a Turkish father, Saif Ad-din, and an Indian mother, in India. (from the Aulia e Hind website)

Shaikh Sharafuddeen Bu Ali Qalandar Panipati (1209-1324 CE, born at Ganja, Azerbaijan) was a Sufi saint of the Chishti Order who lived in India. His dargah (mausoleum) in the town of Panipat is a place of pilgrimage.

His real name was Shaykh Sharfuddin but he is famous by the title Bu-Ali Shah. His father, Shaykh Fakhar Uddin was a great scholar and saint of his time. He completed his studies at an early age and subsequently taught near the Qutub Minar in Delhi for 20 years.

Rana Safvi, a teacher-turned-author on premodern India, seeks to combat misinformation and historical revisionism by offering ‘accessible’ accounts of the country’s complex, oft-misinterpreted history.

Source: India’s Muslim, multi-faith past in focus through one woman’s quest to combat ‘altered history’ | South China Morning Post