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Sultan Bahu

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Sultan Bahu (ca 1628 - 1691) was a Muslim Sufi and saint of Pakistan, who founded the Sarwari Qadiri sufi order.

Like many other sufi saints of the Indian subcontinent, Sultan Bahu was also a prolific writer, with more than forty books on Sufism attributed to him. However, as the majority of his books deal with specialised subjects related to Islam and islamic mysticism, it is his Punjabi poetry that has generated popular appeal and made him a household name in the region. His poetic verses are sung in many genres of sufi music, including qawaalis and kaafis. Tradition has established a particular style of singing his couplets, which is not used in any other genre of sufi music. (Please see the External Links section for audio resources.)

The Mausoleum of Sultan Bahu is located in Garh Maharaja, Punjab, Pakistan. It is a popular and frequently-visited sufi shrine, and the annual festival is celebrated with the usual fervour, which is now a distinguishing feature of what is being called a 'shrine culture' of the Indian subcontinent.

Spiritual Genealogy / Tareeqa

Sultan Bahu belonged to the Qadiri sufi order, and later initiated his own offshoot, Sarwari Qadiri.

Sultan Bahu refers to Muhiyuddin Abdul Qadir Jilani as his spiritual Master in a number of his books and poetry, but it is obvious that this relationship must have existed purely in the spiritual domain, as Abdul Qadir Jilani died before the birth of Sultan Bahu. However, a majority of Sufi orders and saints maintain that Abdul Qadir Jilani has a special role in the mystic world and thus all orders and saints are always indebted to him directly or indirectly in some way.

Sultan Bahu's education began at the feet of his mother, Mai Rasti, who was herself a saintly woman, and has her own Mouselem in Shorkot, a village in the district of Jhang, Pakistan. She directed him to seek spiritual guidance from Sheikh Habibullah Qaderi. After some time, Sheikh Habibullah sent him to Delhi for further 'polishing' under the guidance of Sheikh Abdul Rehman al Qaderi. This did not take long, after which Sultan Bahu returned to his own, familiar surroundings.

The complete spiritual lineage (Silsila) of Sultan Bahu is as follows:

  • Sultan Bahu
  • Sayyid Abdur-Rahman
  • Sayyid Abdul Jalil
  • Sayyid Abdul Baqa
  • Sayyid Abdul Sattar
  • Sheikh Najmuddin
  • Sayyid Yahya Wali
  • Sayyid Abdul Jabbar
  • Sayyid Abdur Razzaq
  • Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jilani
  • Sheikh bu Saeed Al Mubarak
  • Sheikh bu Hassan
  • Abul Farrah Yusuf
  • Walid Abdul Wahid
  • Sheikh Shibli
  • Shaykh Junayd Baghdadi
  • Sari As Saqati
  • Maruf Karkhi
  • Daud Tai
  • Shah Habib Al Ajami
  • Khwaja Hassan Basri
  • Ali ibn Abi Talib
  • The Prophet, Muhammad

Genealogy

Sultan Bahu was of the progeny of Ali, cousin and son-in-law of the prophet Muhammad. His family is thus Hashimi, and his tribe Awan. The Awan tribe trace their ancestry to Ameer Shah, son of Qutub Shah.

After the incident of Karbala, the household of the prophet Muhammad had to migrate to other lands. Many of the descendants of the Prophet who lived in Egypt and nearby lands departed for Turkistan and Iran due to persecution at the hands of Hujjaj bin Yusuf Safaqi.

As time went by, they resettled in places such as Bukhara and Hamadhan in Turkistan, and Baghdad in Iraq. Some migrated to Khurasan and others to Herat in the mountainous regions of present day Afghanistan.

The ancestors of Sultan Bahu migrated and settled in India, and the father of Sultan Bahu, Bazid Muhammed, became an important titleholder at the court of the Mughal Emperors of India.

The complete genealogy of Sultan Bahu is as follows:

Sultan Bahu, Bazid Muhammed, Fatah Muhammed, Alla-Radatta, Muhammed Tameem, Muhammed Mannan, Mogila, Peera, Muhammed Sughra, Muhammed Noor, Sulla, Muhammed Baharie, Muhammed Jayoon, Muhammed Hargun, Noor Shah, Ameer Shah, Qutub Shah, Emmaan Shah, Husein Shah, Firoze Shah, Mahmud Shah, Fartak Shah, Nawaab Shah, Darrab Shah, Awhum Shah, Abeeq Shah, Ahmed Shah, Ameer Zubeir, Caliph Ali, Abu Talib, Abul Mutallib (Grandfather of Prophet Muhammad), *Hashim, *Abdul Munaf

Literary Works

The actual number of books written by Sultan Bahu is not certain. According to tradition, he is supposed to have authored over one hundred works and treatises. The following is a list of the important works of Sultan Bahu that still exist today, and can be traced back to him with credibility.

Nurul Huda, Risala-e-Roohi, Aql Baidaar, Mahq-ul-Fuqara, Qurb Daidaar, Aurang-Shaahi, Jami-il-Asraar, Taufiq-Hedaayat, Kaleed Tauheed, Ainul Faqr, Shamsul Arifeen, Magzane Faiz, Ameerul Quonain, Asrare Qaderi, Kaleed Jannat, Muhqamul Fuqara, Majaalis-tun Nabi, Muftahul Arifeen, Hujjatul Asraar, Jannatul Firdaus, Kash-ful Asraar, Risaala Ruhi Shareef, Abyaat Bahu (poetry), Muhabbatul Asraar, Ganjul Asraar, Dewaan Bahu, Panj Ganj, Fazlul Laqa, Jhook Sultany, Ameerul Mumineen

Of the above, Nurul Huda (Light of Guidance) and Risala-e-Roohi (Book of Soul) are the most popular, along with the poetry collection Abiyaate Bahu.

Notes

1. Muslims usually prepend the word Hazrat to the names of venerable persons as a mark of respect. Thus, this word may often appear before the names of Muslim personalities. However, this practice is not followed in this article, not for lack of courtesy and respect, but to maintain a neutral tone, in keeping with Wikipedia guidelines.

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