KHAJA Mohammad TAHIR RAFIQI ASHAI R.A

One among the influential Suhrawardi Sufis of Kashmir during the sixteenth
century was Khwajah Tahir Rafiq ‘Asha’i, who was a contemporary of Makhdum
Shaykh Hamzah, the leading Suhrawardi Sufi of Kashmir. He was son of a cloth
merchant namely Khwajah Ibrahim ‘Asha’i, along with whom he often used to visit Lahore for the business purpose. Khwajah Tahir became a disciple of Shaykh ‘Abd al Shakur, a descendant of Baha al-Din Zakariyya Multani r.a . Having enlightened him with the guiding principles of the spiritual path, Shaykh ‘Abd al-Shakur bestowed him with
Ijazat Namah (formal permission to enrol disciples), a rosary and a Khirqa. Later on,
he received guidance in the Naqashbandi, Kubrawi and Qadiri orders as well.
Initially Khwajah Tahir used to carry the business of his father but later on
abandoned it and earned his livelihood by cultivation of land at Wanigam. He
travelled most parts of the valley and remained in seclusion for almost nine years. He had established close relations with his contemporary Sufi scholars like Shaykh Y’aqub Sarafi and Baba Dawud Khaki, the noted disciple of Makhdum Shaykh Hamzah. Owing to the antipathy of Suhrawardi’s against the Shiite traditions in the valley, most of the Suhrawardi Sufis had to face persecution and exile during the Shiite rule in Kashmir. Thus, while Kashmir was ruled by Y’aqub Shah Chak, the Shiite ruler (of Chak dynasty), he remained out of the city and returned only after the Mughals started to rule over Kashmir in 1586 C.E. Khwajah Tahir stayed with an eminent Brahman of Verinag namely Adar Suh, who finally embraced Islam. “^ He resided in the area known as Fatah Kadal in Srinagar, where he established a Khanqah, known as Khanqah-i Rafiqi, along with a Langar (Public charity kitchen).
Khwajah Tahir was an eminent and influential Suhrawardi Sufi, who was bestowed with great expertise in the spiritual knowledge. During his travels within the valley, he attempted to spread the Suhrawardi order and guided enormous number of people
in the spiritual path. He left behind a multitude of great Sufi scholars as his disciples, including Shaykh Musa Zahgir, Shaykh Mir ‘All, Mawlana Hasan Lankar, Shaykh Yusuf, Shaykh Muhammad Sharif etc. They kept the Suhrawardi chain of Khwaja Tahir alive for at least next two generations. Khwaja Tahir died in 1001 A.H / 1592- 93 C.E. and was entombed at Fatah Kadal in Srinagar.

IN PRAISE OF PIR-I-ROSHAN ZAMEER SULTAN-I-KHITA-I-KASHMIR (QS)

If every old and young person continues to write till the last day and if the pen writes hundreds of books likewise.

It is not possible to count his praises; he is the helper of the helpless disciples.

His name shines like the sun, he is the honored guide Hazrat Shaikh Hamza- the exalted.

He is the helper of the distressed and the abandoned persons and also a guide to the stranded and also to the sinners.

His mausoleum is a shelter to the defaulters and his resting place is superior to even the seven skies.

His name is repeated by the tongues round the clock, because he is the honored guide, Hazrat Shaikh Hamza the exalted.

He is the one who brought to life the dead horse, whose flesh too was eaten.

It is hoped that my dried heart, which has been thrown away by Shaitan and my self-desires,Shall be pulled out from the draught and refreshed by Shaikh Hamza, my great guide Hazrat Hamza-the exalted.

I will go weeping and wailing to his mausoleum and request, “O’ the exalted guide please help me out”.

I will say that your disciples have gone astray and each of them has run away from the prescribed path.

There is no place of peace for them other than that of your mausoleum, O’ the exalted guide help us out.

In your time you have cleared Kashmir from the rubbish of conflict, O’ the enlightened one.

This time please destroy the irreligious forces. May my body nerves become the laces of your shoes?

O’ my exalted guide, may my body and soul get sacrificed for you?

My neck carries a heavy load of my sins and a huge stock of my failings has got amassed.

I have commited all ill-deeds and with this worry I have sown seeds of thorns in my chest.

I repeatedly request in his honor, “O’ Shaikh Hamza Makhdum kindly help me out”.

Until this leader of friends of Allah intercedes for the forgiveness of my sins, I will not let go his garment in any manner and will continue to repeat in the morning and evening,

On his mausoleum, that Shaikh Hamza is an exalted and honored guide.

If the sky does not befriend me or will not love me and be faithful to me,If the world also behaves with me in a cruel manner, let it do and be harsh to me,I least bother about it as Shaikh Hamza the exalted guide will himself take care of me.

He who is wandering astray in the desert of his own crimes, why should he be cruel to the wounds of his worries?Even if my fate will not favor me, even then I have the hope that on a helpless and an abandoned being like me,With his mercy and kindness my exalted guide Shaikh Hamza shall have a helping attitude for me.

It is better for me that i stay in his mausoleum, how long shall I make noise like his dogs,I convert the dust of his path in to a garden by the tears of my eyes and do nothing other than reciting his name by heart,I repeat the name of Hazrat Shaikh Hamza the exalted guide in the morning and evening.

O’Allah when and how shall I see the shining sun like face of Hazrat Sultan by my bloody-red eyes?So that he comes and moves by brushing his garments on my head and have a view of my worried condition.

Then, makes me, to sip from the wine of esoteric knowledge (marifat) by his mecy Hazrat Shaikh Hamza Makhdum, the exalted guide.

O’ the disciple of his durbar, never be worried and do not engage yourself with this thought, Be free from the fear of worries and anger of the world, but be careful about him becoming angry, All your worries shall be removed by Hazrat Shaikh Hamza the exalted guide, so don’t worry.

O’ the beloved of Allah help me as I am overpowered by the oppressive forces and hard struggles.

O’ the king of the time, I have high hope in you, that you will hold my hand and you are the honest one, So that O’ the exalted guide Shaikh Hamza Makhdum, I close the dialogue on your august name.

On your door-step, the beseecher of justice, the helpless ‘Abd-ur-Rasool’ has come with the hope of acceptance. And he hopes that his purpose shall be served by bringing the intercession of the sons of Hazrat Fatima-zuhra (RA).(With all this) Hazrat Shaikh Hamza Makhdum, who is the great and honored one, shall bless us on all directions.

©Er.mohamad Ashraf fazili