SHEIKH-UL-ALAM HAZRAT-NOOR-UDDIN WALI
Sheikh Noor-ud- din Wali, also known as
NUND Rishi , was a famous Kashmiri saint who belonged to the Rishi order. He
was born in 1377 CE, corresponding to 779 Hijri and he died at the age of 63
years in the year of 1440 CE or 842 Hijri .
Place of Birth
People generally
believe that he was born at KEMOH KULGAM
but his poetic works do not corroborate it and assert that his place of birth
was KHI-JOGIPURA in the kulgam tehsil . From both sides (Mother and Father) he
came down from the royal family of KISHTWAR which descended from Mahraja
Vikramajit .Sheikh – ul-Alam himself , mentions his lineage in his verse:
“My father and Mother
belong to the SANZ FAMILY . Ogra sanz and his son Durpita sanz were my
ancestors .His son Zanga sanz who was killed in a battle succeeded Durpita sanz
.He left behind a son: HAMBAR SANZ .the later had two sons : SALAR and SALU .
I AM THE SON OF SALAR SANZ”. Some hold
that Sheikh- ul-Alma’s father Salar Sanz paid allegiance to YASMIN RISHI
,embraced ISLAM ,and assumed the name SHEIKH SALAR but the Sheikh contradicts
the tradition in his verses . His
father’s spiritual guide and teacher were SYED HUSAIN SAMNANI .
Sheikh-ul-Alma’s mother was’ SIDRAH’ who was en-trusted to be brought up by the
village CHOWKIDAR according to the custom .Her parents died in the meantime and
the Chowkidar married her away to a young man of the village who died in a
short while . After this on the advice of YASMIN RISHI or SYED HUSAIN SAMNANI
She was remarried to the neo-Muslim , SHEIKH SALAR UDDIN.
His Early Life
Symptoms at the time of
his birth : Averse to taking milk for the first three days ,the first feed of
milk on Lalla Arifa’s breasts and reforming his step brothers . Drawing
copiously from Syed Husain Samnani and Mir Muhammad Hamdani ,great and perfect
saints of his time indicated that he would attain the lofty Sainthood in
future.
Sheikh-ul-Alam and Rishiyat
Reshi is a person who
immerses himself into the Divine Self . prior to the advent of Islam in Kashmir
the rishis enjoyed great influence on the life of the people . The early
preachers of Islam followed the conduct and manners of the Yogis and Rishis in
the propagation of the religion .The reason being that inspite of their
embracing Islam ,they still followed ways and practices of their former times
and the lay men wished to see the holy –men in the models of Rishis. The
preachers who came from outside , were the Syed’s and nearer to the rulers
whereas the Muslim rishis were natives of Kashmir . The collisions resulted in
the progress of the Rishiyat or in order to propagate Islam they had to rely on
the Rishiyat extensively. With him the Rishiyat transformed into a movement and
he looked for such captains as to spread Islam in Kashmir .He contacted all men
of intelligence ,power , and character and impressed them with his spiritual
powers ,revelations , miracles and discussions and won them over for the
mission. His folloers came to be known as Rishis . BABA BAM UDDIN ,BABA ZAM
UDDIN ,BABA NASIR UDDIN and BABA PAYAM UDDIN were the rishis of the RISHIYAT
MOVEMENT .He not only limited it to the men only but extended it to women also
. This included SHINGA BIBI , SHYAN BIBI , BAHET BIBI , DIH BIBI , DATTA BIBI and SALAR BIBI ,both younger and elder ones .
Spiritual heirs of the Sheikh-ul-Islam of the Rishiyat movement to mention a
few, were : SANGRAMA GUNAI , SANGRAMA VED , BABA-QUTAB-UDDIN , BABA-QAYAM-UDDIN
, MAULANA-MANK-NAYAK, SOZAN RISHI ,
KHATI RISHI, LACHCHAM RISHI I , MACHCHI RISHI II , ROYA RISHI , SIDRAH RISHI ,
BAB-YAZD-RISHI , BABA-GULAB-RISHI,
SIDH-SHER-KANTH , BABA-BADAR-UDDIN , BABA-SADR-UDDIN , and RISHI .
Propagation of Islam
In the manner of the
Rishis of Kashmir , he propagated Islam , spoke to the people in the Kashmiri
language as against the Persian , the foregin preachers spoke to and for the
reason their reach was limited . Besides , he employed verse as an effective
instrument , which popularized Islam among the common people , and the Rishiyat
emerged as people’s movement .
Travels
He severely practiced
meditation in a cave for twelve years and lived on vegetation from the woods;
spent sometimes on travels , and then went to live in isolation at VICHARNAAG
.Later , he travelled about Kashmir , reached VARGAM , and lastly came to CHARE SHARIF to spend the remaining period of
his life . Here he met Mir Muhammad Hamdani , and after some discussion
received the letter of guidance from him.
The poetry
He was a great poet and
had a flair for prosody , used similes , metaphors , hyperbolas and other forms
of expression , rich and effective with aplomb . To express Islamic philosophy
and ideals through poetic forms is an art effectively practiced by poets like
Sheikh Sa ‘ adi and Iqbal only . Sheikh-ul-Alam stands equal to them in it .
Muhammad Asad Ullah wani regards it the holy QURAN in the Kashmiri language
similar to Maulana Jalal Uddin’s Roomi’s masnavi , the Quran in Persian.
His personality
Sheikh-ul-Alam left a
deep effect on the people from his speeches and actions and indirectly moved
the other mystic-saints not belonging to the Rishiyat order . The cultural and
social life of Kashmir bears his imprint . He was the precursor of the mystic
poets of Kashmir who drew heavily from him . His couplets are very popular with
the people even today .
Books
Rishi-Nama and Noor-Nama are collections
of his teachings and anecdotes .
Death
The year of his death similar to the
year of birth is a matter of dispute with the chroniclers and biographers . It
varies from 808 Hijri to 820 Hijri to 825 Hijri and 842 Hijri but the year 842
Hijri(1438 AD) is probable . His tomb stands at CHARE-SHARIF in the district of
Budgam in Kashmir and draws large crowds .
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