Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi was the most prominent saint of Naqshbandi Sufi silsila (order), one of the orders into which Sufis were organized. Chishti, Qadaria, Suhrawardy and Mawlawi are the other silsilas.
Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi was a disciple of Khwaja Baqi Billah, a
pioneer of Naqshbandiah silsilah in India.
Also known as Mujaddid-i Alf-i Thani, Shaikh Ahmed Sirhindi
was born in 1564 at Sirhind (currently in the Fatehgarh Sahib district of
Punjab). He died in 1624 at Sarhind where his shrine, known as Rauza Sharif, is located.
Ahmad Sirhindi disapproved of the religious syncretism of
Mughal emperor Akbar. Known for his orthodoxy and anti-Shia views, he was
opposed to the Akbar’s religious views.
A notable work of Sirhindi is Maktubat-e-Imam Rabbani in
which he has referred to the execution of Guru Arjan Dev, the fifth Sikh
Guru.
He had hailed the execution of Guru Arjan Dev, who was
executed by orders of fourth Mughal Emperor Jahangir, who ruled from 1605 to
1627. Guru Arjan Dev was charged with treason because he had given shelter to
Prince Khusrau at Tarn Taran, who had rebelled against his father Jahangir for
the Mughal throne.
Sirhindi was sent by Jahangir to the fort of Gwalior in 1619
for a brief period of imprisonment. According to Jahangir, the reason for this
imprisonment was Sirhindi’s arrogance and rudeness.
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the first education minister of
free India, eulogised Sirhindi as the defender of Islam and criticised Akbar’s
religious policy.
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