page_title: Muhammad Amjad
section_title: The Sufi path
hierarchical_section_title: Muhammad Amjad / The Sufi path
caption_attribution_description: English: A letter written by Sajjada Nashin Pir Sial Sharif Khawaja Zia ud Din in 1915 to Qazi Mian Muhammad Amjad asking him about the rare book 'Kihalastah al-Nisab', a treatise on the descendants of 'Ali Ibn Abi Talib', Alawi. This treatise also includes the descendants of Ali Ibn Abi Talib who migrated to other countries after the rise of Umayyad Caliphate.
context_page_description: Muhammad Amjad, was a legal scholar of Qur'an, Hadith, and the Hanafi school of Islamic law.
  He was an authority on Muslim jurisprudence. He was also a Sufi of the Chishti Order, and one of the few Sufis in South Asia who did not establish the 'Khanqah',"Darbar" or Astana 'Aliya and forbade his descendants not to establish Dargah after his death and made a will to bury him in the ordinary grave. He was against all the practices resulting in undue homage to the tombs and graves of Sufis and saints. He believed that Islam was corrupted by Sufism, pantheism, theology, philosophy and by all sorts of superstitious beliefs. Belonging to a qadi's family which had, since the 16th century, been prominent among the landed aristocracy of the Soon Valley, he adopted 'Faqr' and 'Darwayshi'.
context_section_description: As a Sufi, he was an authority on "Wahdt al Wujud", Sufism, and Muslim mysticism. The study of great Sufi, Ibn Arabi, and his masterpiece The Meccan Illuminations (Al-Futūḥāt al-Makkiyya) in 37 volumes was his specialisation. In his Anwar Shamsia, Maulvi Ameer Baksh says that he was an ardent reader of Ibn Arabi book The Meccan Illuminations (Al-Futūḥāt al-Makkiyya), and was an authority on his teaching. It was stated in "Hu al-Hameed" by Sahibzada Muhammad Masood Ahmad that once Pir Meher Ali Shah was unable to understand one point of Al-Futūḥāt al-Makkiyya, then qazi Mian Muhammad Amjad satisfied him by his interpretation. He acknowledged Ibn Arabi superiority in philosophy and spiritual insight, but he never followed him if he found him deviating from Sunnah.
  He used his knowledge of Islamic mysticism, Sufism and "Wahdt al Wujud" only for purely academic purposes and never allowed his devotees, followers and descendants to treat him as a Pir. Although, he was capable of creating a 'Khanqah', 'Darbar' a centre of Sufi mysticism, and though Shams-ud-Din Sialvi of Sial Sharif authorised him to do so,he did not created any 'Gadi' or 'Drabar', and also forbade his descendants to do this, as he was also a strong critic of Darbars and "family Gadi Nasheen". He also forbade his descendants not to establish Dargah after his death and made a will to bury him in the ordinary grave. After his death his elder son Qazi Mazhar Qayyum made every effort to stop the people from making Dargah of the grave of his father.
  He was a Sufi and Alim at the same time. In the words of Sarah F. D. Ansari, "Rigid distinctions have been drawn between ulama (plural of Alim) and sufis. They have been portrayed as antithetical, irreconcilable representatives of the same truth and consequently very different from the point of view of their relationships with governments of the day. As guardians of the Sharia, ulama were officially appointed as muftis and qazis to interpret and administer God's Law. They often came to rely on the state for their livelihood in the form of stipends and grants; they tended to become involved in worldly interests, which could lead them both to be distracted from essentially spiritual matters and to identify with the concerns of rulers rather than those of ordinary Muslims. Sufis, on the other hand, sought to gain knowledge of God in their hearts. By following the path, which meant observing various techniques of spiritual development, they aimed to obliterate self in unison with God. Because they placed greater emphasis on spiritual growth rather than on the letter of God's law, they were often able to reach out to people of other faiths, indeed to draw them towards Islam. For these reasons, and because they depended on the offerings of the pious rather than the gifts of kings, they often tended to stand aloof from state power and its representatives."
caption: A letter written by Sajjada Nashin Pir Sial Sharif Khawaja Zia ud Din to Qazi Mian Muhammad Amjad asking him about the rare book Kihalastah al-Nisab, a treatise written by Jamal ad-Din Hasan ibn Yusuf ibn 'Ali ibn Muthahhar al-Hilli on the descendants of 'Ali Ibn Abi Talib'. This treatise also includes the descendants of Ali Ibn Abi Talib who migrated to other countries after the rise of Umayyad Caliphate.
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