Imdadullah Muhajir Makki

**Imdadullah Muhajir Makki** (1817 – 1899) was an important Islamic teacher from India, connected to the Deobandi movement. He was also a Sufi saint who followed the Chishti way of Sufism.

Some of his important students were Muhammad Qasim Nanawtawi, Rashid Ahmad Gangohi, and Ashraf Ali Thanwi. During the Indian Rebellion of 1857, he led the Muslims in Thana Bhawan to fight against the British.

Imdadullah is also called A'la Hazrat in Persian.

## Name

His father gave him the name Imdad Hussain. But his teacher, Imam Sheikh Muhammad Ishaq Dehlawi, changed his name to Imdad Ilahi. Later, people called him Sheikh Imdadullah. His father's name was Hafiz Muhammad Amin. His family were good teachers, and his family line goes back to Umar ibn al-Khattab, a very important Muslim leader. He followed the Hanafi way of teaching and was also a leader in Sufi ways.

## Birth

He was born on Monday, 20/02/1233 AH (29/12/1817 CE) in a small town called Nanoteh, in Saharanpur. When he was three years old, he received blessings from Sayyid Ahmad ibn Irfan, before his passing.

## Education

He started by learning to read the Quran on his own. When he was 16, he traveled to Delhi with his teacher, Sheikh Mamluk Ali, to study more. After two years, he learned big books like Al-Mishkat from Sheikh Muhammad Qalandar Jalalabadi and Al-Husn Al-Haseen from Sheikh Abdul Rahim Nanotvi.

## Sufism

Before finishing all his studies, he wanted to know more about loving God, so he joined a special group of teachers. He met Sheikh Nasiruddin Naqshbandi, who was a student of Sheikh Muhammad Ishaq. Sheikh Nasiruddin gave him permission to follow the Sufi path after a short time.

He also read the Masnavi by Rumi, a book all about loving God. It made him want to learn even more from good teachers. One night, he saw the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) in a dream. The Prophet held his hand and passed it to Sheikh Noor Muhammad. He had never met Sheikh Noor Muhammad before, but when he woke up, he was confused. He spent many years looking for him. His teacher, Muhammad Qalandar, finally told him to go meet Sheikh Noor Muhammad. When he met him, he recognized him from the dream. He felt happy and fell in front of him. Sheikh Noor Muhammad said, “You really trust your dream, don’t you?” This made him trust his teacher even more. Sheikh Noor Muhammad was not very famous and mostly taught kids the Quran. Sheikh Imdadullah stayed with him, never missing any prayer for 30 years. After a little while, Sheikh Noor Muhammad gave him permission to teach.

## Hajj and death

He went to Hajj in 1261 AH. There he met Sheikh Ishaq, and then he returned to India. He spent time teaching people to love God and follow the ways of the Prophet. Later, he moved to Mecca to live quietly, praying and teaching students from all over the world. He died on Wednesday, 13/06/1317 AH (18/10/1899 CE) in Mecca. He was buried in Ma'la Cemetery, next to Sheikh Rahmatullah Kiranawi.

## Famous students

His students included well-known teachers like Sheikh Ashraf Ali Thanwi, Sheikh Rashid Gangohi, Sheikh Qasim Nanotvi (who founded Darul Uloom Deoband), Sheikh Khalil Saharanpuri (who explained Sunan Abi Dawood), and Sheikh Muhammad Ilyas Kandhlawi (who founded Tablighi Jamaat).