Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad - Paradigm of Leadership # 7 - Nizam al-Din Awliya (RA)

 Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad - Paradigm of Leadership - Nizam al-Din Awliya (RA)

Readings from the works of Nizam ad-Din Awliya and his biographies give us a glimpse into the transformative nature of his gatherings. He embraced humanity in all its difference, and in this session, Shaykh Abdal Hakim reflects that was through this simple, loving, and effective teaching that the subcontinent submitted to Islam.

This talk was delivered on May 11, 2019 at Cambridge Muslim College

YouTube Lecture Link : https://youtu.be/Slgk6mL4ef8

The Life and Times of Shaikh Nizam-u'd-Din Auliya - Khaliq Ahmad Nizami

https://www.exoticindiaart.com/book/details/life-and-times-of-shaikh-nizam-u-d-din-auliya-NAG644/?currency=USD&gclid=Cj0KCQjwppSEBhCGARIsANIs4p5kT9Jdjf61ueLLotThZKt-qtlpT8cMh0WHkxGRNo-ZIaIT033E0tsaAs1SEALw_wcB

"Few saints in the long and chequered history of medieval India had such impact on the life and thought of their contemporaries as Shaikh Nizarn-u’d-din Auliya (1244-1325). For more than half a century, his khanqah in Delhi was a rendezvous for people drawn from different backgrounds-villagers and townsfolk, men and women, scholars and illiterates, rich and poor. The Shaikh had taken upon himself the stupendous task, of showing people the way to God and inspiring them with that faith and confidence in Him which sustained them in their life struggles. Toynbee thought that ‘the practical test of a religion, always and everywhere, is its success or failure in helping human souls to respond to the challenges of suffering and sin.’ By that measure, Shaikh Nizam-u’d-din Auliya’srole in the religious history of South Asia was of immense significance. For him ‘bringing happiness to the human heart’ was the essence of religion. Amir Khusrau, one of his many famous students, and one who realized the measure of his achievement in reorienting religious attitudes in that period, called him ‘healer of the heart (tabib-i-dil), His life story, in fact, forms a fascinating chapter in the history of the philanthropic effort of man to reduce the woe and worry of his fellow human beings. Ibn Battuta has referred to a trust which was created in Damascus to bring solace to broken hearts.” Shaikh Nizarn-u’d-din Auliya’s own life became a trust of this type"

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nizamuddin_Auliya

Nizam Ad-Din Awliya: Morals for the Heart - Bruce Lawrence 

https://www.amazon.com/Nizam-Ad-Din-Awliya-Classics-Spirituality/dp/0809104512

The first and foremost representative of a literary genre that attained great popularity among South Asian Sufis, Fawa'id al-Fu'ad or Morals for the Heart, contains the conversations of a major Indian saint, Shaykh Nizam ad-din Awliya (d. 1325). Though recorded by a poet-disciple Amir Hasan, they were edited by the saint himself, and reflect his chaste, understated tone. In its style Morals for the Heart exemplifies the virtue of Persian prose as a didactic instrument. It communicates the numerous skills, the diverse moods, and the remarkable sensibilities of its austere subject. It captures the spirit of Shaykh Nizam ad-din's towering presence, his absolute loyalty to his spiritual master, his taste for poetry and music, and his empathy with the sufferings of others. We see him crying and laughing and praying. Passionate in his quest for God, he has left in Morals for the Heart a spiritual legacy that still animates and satisfies others who never knew him. Here Muslims discover one more treasure from their pre-modern past. Here non-Muslims encounter an Islam that brings peace and spiritual insight. Here all humanity is stilled by the saga of a Muslim exemplar who enshrined sacrifice and love as the highest goals of human existence when framed by faith in God.