Mir Shams-ud-Din Araqi

Mir Shams-ud-Din Muhammad Araqi (1440–1515) (Urdu: میر شمس الدین عراقی ‎), also known as Mir Syed Muhammad Musavi Isfahani or Mir Shams-ud-din Muhammad Iraqi, was an Iranian Sufi Muslim saint. He was part of the order of Twelver Shia Sufis in Jammu and Kashmir who greatly influenced the social fabric of the Kashmir Valley and its surrounding regions.

Quotes about Mir Shams-ud-Din Araqi

• Tarikh-i-Hasan Khuiihami notes of the conversion of Hindus to Islam by Shamsud-Din Iraqi that ‘twenty-four thousand Hindu families were converted to Iraqi’s faith by force and compulsion (qahran wa jabran).’
  • Baharistan-i-shahi Pundit KN (1991) A Chronicle of Medieval Kashmir, (Translation), Firma KLM Pvt Ltd, Calcutta, p. 105-6 , as quoted in Khan, M. A. (2011). Islamic Jihad: A legacy of forced conversion, imperialism and slavery. ch 4

• One of the major commands of Amir Shamsud-Din Muhammad Iraqi carried out by him (Kaji Chak) was the massacre of the infidels and polytheists of this land.
  • Baharistan-i-shahi Pundit KN (1991) A Chronicle of Medieval Kashmir, (Translation), Firma KLM Pvt Ltd, Calcutta, p. 116 , as quoted in Khan, M. A. (2011). Islamic Jihad: A legacy of forced conversion, imperialism and slavery. ch 4

• Tarikh-i-Kashmir, a historical account of Kashmir written by Haidar Malik Chadurah, who served in Sultan Yusuf Shah’s Court (1579–86), records: ‘Sheikh Shams-ud-Din reached Kashmir. He began destroying the places of worship and the temples of the Hindus and made an effort to achieve the objectives.’
  • Chadurah HM (1991) Tarikh-Kashmir, ed. & trans. Razia Bano, Delhi, p. 102–03 quoted in Khan, M. A. (2011). Islamic Jihad: A legacy of forced conversion, imperialism and slavery.

• Fath Shãh ascended the throne in AH 894 (AD 1488-89)… In those days Mîr Shams, a disciple of Shãh Qãsim Anwar, reached Kashmir and people became his devotees. All endowments, imlãk, places of worship and temples were entrusted to his disciples. His Sûfîs used to destroy temples and no one could stop them…
  • Sultãn Fath Shãh of Kashmir (AD 1489-1499 and 1505-1516) Kashmir . in Nizamuddin Ahmad : Tabqãt-i-Akharî, in :S.A.A. Rizvi included in Uttar Taimûr Kãlîna Bhãrata, Aligarh 1959, Vol. II. p. 527

• “…Baba Ûchah Ganai went for circumambulation of the two harms (Mecca and Medina)… in search of the perfect guide (Pir-i-Kamil). He prayed to God (to help) him when he heard a voice from the unknown that the ‘perfect guide’ was in Kashmir himself… Hazrat Shaikh, Baba Ûchah Ganai… returned to Kashmir… All of a sudden his eyes fell upon a place of worship, the temples of the Hindus. He smiled; when the devotees asked the cause of (his smile) he replied that the destruction and demolition of these places of worship and the destruction of the idols will take place at the hand of the high horn Shaikh Shams-ud-Din Irraqi. He will soon be coming from Iraq and shall turn the temples completely desolate, and most of the misled people will accept the path of guidance and Islam… So as was ordained Shaikh Shams-ud-Din reached Kashmir. He began destroying the places of worship and the temples of the Hindus and made an effort to achieve the objectives.”297
  • About Sufi Mir Shamsu’d-Din Iraqi in Kashmir , Tarikh-Kashmir, edited and translated into English by Razia Bano, Delhi, 1991, p. 102-3

Tohfatu'l-Ahbab

Muḥammad, A. K., & Pandit, K. N. (2009). A Muslim missionary in mediaeval Kashmir: Being the English translation of Tohfatu'l-ahbab. New Delhi: Voice of India.

• Amir Shamsof truthuíd-Din Araki mad a firm resolve to give a crushing defeat to the enemies of the people and the opponents of the religion of Islam in this land of mischief- mongers, and a hotbed of corrupt people. He determined to raise high the banner of Islam, demolish the customs and traditions of idol-worshippers, and eradicate all symptoms of infidelity and ignorance (about Islamic religion) from the misguided people of this land.
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• Verdict (Futwa)
  Shamsuíd-Din Araki fully understood the phenomenon of infidelity, heresy, apostasy and zandaqa (proselytizing) of the people of this (Kashmir) land. He found that none from the lowest to the highest in this land was free from defilement and irreligiosity. Thus some of the ëulema and theologians of those times, who were above fault in their faith, piety and austerity, like Maulana Baseer, Qadi Muhammad Qudsi and others, enquired of Araki for a decree regarding the treatment to be meted out to the proselytes who had defied the principles of Islam. Many learned men, including the above- mentioned theologians, said with one voice that an injunction (futwa) be issued saying that the proselytes and renegades were directed by the Mohammedan law (sharia) to return to the Islamic fold. They should abide by the tenets of Islam; by doing so they will succeed in attaining the aim of their life. And if they do not do so, then the only other way is to put them to sword. No excuse will be entertained thereto nor will the poll tax (jizya) be accepted from them (for continuing as non-Muslims. They have only two options: either to accept Islam or death). With the help and support of Malik Musa Raina, Shamsuíd- Din Araki issued a decree that groups of infidels, worshippers of idols and the rest of people of other communities return to the fold of Islam, abandon proselytizing and heresy, give up all innovations and aberrations of the customary dark and ignorant ways and recite the kelima once again for the renewal of their faith in Islam. They should strengthen and rejuvenate their faith, and make their intentions clean. This order was promulgated throughout Kashmir whose lands extended from the borders of Maraj to those of the extremes of Kamaraj. People should give up customs of polytheists for good. They should be bold and strong and uphold Islamic faith and community and the law of the Prophet and ensure its full growth so that with their individual efforts the banner of Islamic faith is raised to the sky.
  • page 236

• Qadi Muhammad Qudsi composed an excellent mathnawi (ballad) in praise of Shamsuíd-Din Araki in which he has given the details of demolition of the temple, turning it into a mosque, and the efforts of the spiritual leader (Araki) in demolishing the temples. He has also recorded all that Araki had permitted him to do. The mathnavi is recorded here so that readers might enjoy it and send prayers for the soul of the Qadi. God Almighty bless his soul!
  Pre-Islamic Kashmir
  
  Kashmir in earlier times
  Had no tradition except that of infidelity
  For idol- houses and lots of idols
  It was famous among lands and climes.
  On all sides along the road stood a temple (kalisa) with a strong encirclement
  Of idol houses, along the road side existed Fireñtemples
  By every temple there were wicked persons
  Except them, there existed no other group of people
  But idols, idol worshipper and idol maker
  Each side (corner) was made of solid stone
  A large variety of colourful stone idols therein
  Every community was of threadñbearers
  Crowds of them everywhere by the road
  Would flock to the temple
  For merry-making and for pilgrimage
  After Shah-i-Hamadan
  Then owing to dissensions among communities
  Islam met with weakness day after day
  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
  Nobody cared to promulgate religious law
  Commandments of religion met with decay
  Infidelity of olden days was revived
  The bright sun of religious law illuminated it
  Once again, according to the prevalent custom
  Foundations of fire-temples and temples laid
  Islam got mixed up with infidelity
  Fundamentals of religion got disjointed.
  Monks and heretics with their wooden gong
  Sent flattering words high in the sky
  The groups of dissemblers
  Supported and agreed with heresy
  Wherever was found a shrewd and wise man
  He shared the heresy of a polytheist
  Together stood the idol house and hospice
  And a mosque and a temple
  If a husband offered namaz (prayer)
  His wife deliberated with the devil
  If a father proceeded to some mosque
  The son made full efforts to stick to heresy
  Despite the learned of the times
  Were always there amidst the people
  Each dignified and experienced
  Having read each manuscript repeatedly
  Yet not aware of the basics of faith
  Nobody was on the path of essence of faith
  . . . .. . . . . ?
  No body ever cared for religion
  They all had adopted the path of falsehood
  They remained unmindful of real task
  In the pursuit of perishable riches
  They were oblivious of perennial torture
  Arakiís arrival and achievements
  He raised the banner of faith high in the sky
  He effaced all idol houses and idols
  Within the confines of Kashmir territory
  Temples that had been erected
  He demolished them wholly with Godís grace
  He brought a new dispensation in the country
  He uprooted traces of temples wherever they were
  And laid the plan for a mosque instead
  Wherever he demolished a prayer house
  In short in this ancient valley
  With the efforts of this spiritual guide
  Every idol house that was laid waste
  Became the site for a hospice
  Today instead of each fire-temple
  There is either a garden or a paradise
  Demolition of Islampur idol house
  A temple in that land of infidels
  Was the object of their circumambulation
  From ancient times, nay from antiquity.
  This was the place where people
  Of opposite faith lay prostrate in front of idols
  At this place three times in a year
  Came together men and women of Kashmir
  Be they young or old in years
  Staunchly bound to the tradition of idolatry
  Some groups for fun and merry-making
  Used to come there regularly
  Nobody initiated discarding this custom.
  From the calendar brought by the revealed Prophet
  Passed nine hundred and thirteen years
  With Hindu community and crowds of kafirs
  There ensued a fighting for that place
  That supporter of faith and of truthful community
  Against the forces of rank heretics
  A great jihadfor the sake of Truth
  At which warriors would give three cheers
  For the propagation of the law of Islam
  He fought battles against the people of idols
  That with the grace of God the Great Cause
  The religious preceptor was so victorious
  Even the intellect failed to comprehend
  As it proved that small numbers shall prevail
  He uprooted the foundations of idol-worshippers
  He laid waste the whole structure of atheism
  He ordered construction of a building at that site
  Elegant, adorned and attractive
  But since this land from the very beginning
  Was defiled enormously by infidelity
  It asked definitely for purification
  By the decree of the Powerful Creator
  There came a flood and washed the earth
  And purified it absolutely of heretical impurity
  Thus it got a good washing and cleaning
  That no trace of infidelity was left in it
  
  • 247-50

• When Shamsuíd-Din Araki arrived in this land and demolished the temples of infidels and polytheists, the rulers of the time and the nobles entrusted him with the trusteeship of the Hamadaniyyeh hospice. The first thing he did was to expel the corrupt and faithless heretics from the complex.
  • 263-4