Mir Sayyid Ali Hamadani

Mir Sayyid Ali Hamadani (Persian: میر سید علی همدانی‎‎; 22 October 1314 – 18 January 1385) was an Iranian scholar, poet and a Sufi Muslim saint of the Kubrawiya order. He was born in Hamadan, and was buried in Khatlan, Tajikistan. He was known as Shāh-e-Hamadān ("King of Hamadān"), Amīr-i Kabīr ("the Great Commander"), and Ali Sani ("second Ali").

Mir Sayyid Ali Hamadani

Quotes

• Mir Sayyid ‘Ali Hamadani (1314-1385) began to get Hindu temples demolished and the Hindus converted by reckless use of force throughout his sojourn in Kashmir...
  • Harsh Narain, Myths of Composite Culture and Equality of Religions (1990)

• Setting out this ‘covenant’, S.A.A. Rizvi writes: In emphasizing such a covenant, Saiyid ‘Ali was acting as an ‘alim and not as a sufi. Sultan Qutub’d-Din adopted Persian dress and divorced one of his wives whom he had illegally married earlier. Occasionally he attended congregational prayers led by the Saiyid on a platform built at the site of the Kali Mandir, which he himself had helped to destroy. The demolition of the temple contravened the covenant; probably the Brahmans had not allowed Saiyid ‘Ali’s followers to stay in the temple and the infringement was used as a pretext and later a precedent set by the Saiyid in Kashmir. Truly, an alim! Hamadani (AD 1314-85) was a famous Sufi and is regarded as their patron saint by Muslims in Kashmir. His renowned dargah in Srinagar stands on the site of a Kali temple which he helped destroy.
  • Arun Shourie - The World of Fatwas Or The Sharia in Action (2012, Harper Collins)

• To take one instance, Saiyid Ali Hamadani urged that the following ‘covenant’ be imposed on the Hindus:
  • They (the Hindus) will not build new idol temples.
  • They will not rebuild any existing temple which may have fallen into disrepair.
  • Muslim travellers will not be prevented from staying in temples.
  • Zimmis will courteously receive a Muslim wishing to attend their meetings.
  • They will not ride horses with saddle and bridle.
  • They will not possess swords, bows or arrows.
  • They will not openly practise their traditional customs amongst Muslims.
  • They will not mourn their dead loudly.....
  • Arun Shourie - The World of Fatwas Or The Sharia in Action (2012, Harper Collins)

• [Sayyid Ali Hamdani built his khanqah on the site of] ‘a small temple which was demolished... the credit of wiping out the vestiges of infidelity and heresy from the mirror of the conscience of the dwellers of these lands [goes to Sayyid Muhammad].
  • Baharistan-i-shahi. Pundit KN (1991) A Chronicle of Medieval Kashmir, (Translation), Firma KLM Pvt Ltd, Calcutta, p. 35-7 , as quoted in Khan, M. A. (2011). Islamic Jihad: A legacy of forced conversion, imperialism and slavery. ch 4