Ihsan Center – Islam From The Heart

Shaykh Abu Muhammad bin abi Ahmad [d. 411H/1020CE] ‘alayhi al-rahmah wa’l-ridwan

Khawaja Abu Muhammad bin Abi Ahmad [331- 411 H] aka Waliyud Deen aka Naasihud Deen was a renowned saint of the Chishti Order. He was a student and successor of Abu Ahmad Abdal [d.356H] and murshid [spiritual guide] of Abu Yusuf Bin Samaan [d.459H] who was also his sister’s son. He was born in the month of Muharram [331 Hijri-940 CE]. At the age of 7, he became a student of Abu Ahmad Abdal. He is also reported to have participated in the army of Sultan Mahmood Ghaznavi.

Shah Farhad was born in Delhi but grew up in Burhanpur in central India where his father was a governor. As a child, he got attached to the sufi mystic Dost Mohammed who initiated him in the Abul Ulai order, an offshoot of the Chishti order. The young Farhad became involved in the remembrance of God, and to the despair of his father, he gradually let go of his worldly existence. He stopped paying attention to clothes and food. He reached the state of baqa, continuance in God, and gained a reputation of purifying the souls of people by his glance alone. Shah Farhad later settled in Delhi where he acquired a large following among Delhiwallas, both Muslims and Hindus.

Khwaja Baqi Billah (1563-1603) was a Sufi saint from Kabul.

Founder of the Naqshbandia silsila in the Indian sub-continent, Hazrat Billah was born in 16th century Kabul. After wandering through cities like Samarkand, Balkh, Lahore and Multan, he settled in Delhi to spread the deen. Here he died; here he was buried making this burial ground a favorite among Delhi’s Muslims.