ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>AHMAD SHAIKH (1564-1624)</TITLE> <style type="text/css"> .BODY { background-color: #EAF1F7; background-image: url('images/gtbh.jpg'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: fixed; background-position: center; color: #0066CC;} .C1{text-align: justify;color: #0066CC;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .BIB{text-align: center;color: #000099;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .CONT{text-align: right;color: #FF0000;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} </style><META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="AHMAD,SHAI"> <META http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"></HEAD> <BODY class="BODY" oncontextmenu="return false" ondragstart="return false" onselectstart="return false"> <FONT ALIGN="JUSTIFY" FACE="Tahoma"> <p class="C1">&#65279AHMAD, SHAI<u>KH</u> (1564-1624), celebrated Muslim thinker and theologian of the Naqshband&#299 S&#363f&#299 order, was born on 26 May 1564 at Sirhind in present-day Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257 district of the Punjab. He received his early education at the hands of his father, Shai<u>kh</u> 'Abd al-Ahad, and later studied at Si&#257lko&#7789, now in Pakistan. About the year AD 1599, he met <u>Kh</u>w&#257j&#257 Muhammad al-B&#257k&#299 bi-Allah, who initiated him into the Naqshband&#299 order. Shai<u>kh</u> Ahmad soon became a leading figure in that school and wrote numerous letters and treatises on many fine points of the S&#363f&#299 doctrine such as the concepts of prophecy (<i>nubuwwah</i>) and sainthood (<i>wal&#257yah</i>) and the relationship between <i>shar&#299'ah</i>, i. e. religious law, and <i>tar&#299qah</i>, the mystic path. He disapproved of Emperor Akbar's liberal approach to religion and wanted the rulers to reimpose <i>jizyah</i>, a special toll tax on Hindus, not only to suppress them but also to humiliate them. Basic to his philosophy was the idea that the State should be controlled by <i>shar&#299'ah</i>, the Islamic law, which was not to be modified to suit changing circumstances. He was also against the pantheistic and liberal views of other S&#363f&#299 sects. He thus antagonized not only the Hindus but also an influential section of the Muslims. Emperor Jah&#257&#7749g&#299r, in order to placate the public sentiment, imprisoned him in 1619 in the Gw&#257l&#299or Fort. He was, however, released after a year. The next four years Shai<u>kh</u> Ahmad spent at the imperial court. He died on 30 November 1624 at Sirhind where his tomb still stands and attracts pilgrims from all over India and abroad.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Shai<u>kh</u> Ahmad Sirhind&#299, the most prominent figure of the Naqshband&#299 order in India, has been given the honorific title of <i>Mujaddid-i-Alf-i-S&#257n&#299, </i> the renewer of the second millennium (of Islamic era). The collection of his letters entitled <i>Makt&#363b&#257t-i-Im&#257m-i-Rabb&#257n&#299</i> (lit. epistles of the divine prelate) has been hailed as a landmark in the development of Muslim religious thought in India. His works and interpretations had a deep influence on Emperor Aura&#7749gz&#299b and his State policy. One who derived the most satisfaction from the execution of Gur&#363 Arjan under Emperor Jah&#257&#7749g&#299r's orders in 1606 was Shai<u>kh</u> Ahmad Sirhind&#299. In his letter as quoted at No. 193, in his <i>Makt&#363b&#257t, </i> he gave expression to his sense of jubilation over "the execution of the accursed <i>k&#257fir</i> of Goindv&#257l. "</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Abbott, Freeland, <i>Islam and Pakistan</i>. New York, 1968<BR> <li class="C1"> Friedmann, Yohanan, <i>Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi</i>. London, 1971<BR> <li class="C1"> Gupta, Hari Ram, <i>History of the Sikhs</i>, vol. I. Delhi, 1973<BR> <li class="C1"> Harbans Singh, <i>The Heritage of the Sikhs</i>. Delhi, 1983<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Yohanan Friedmann<br></p><BR> </font> <img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""> </HTML></BODY>