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Muhammad Ghawth

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For the tennis player, see Ghaus Mohammad.

Muhammad Ghawth
Personal
Born
Muhammad Ghawth Gwaliyari

1500 (1500)
Gwalior, India
Died1562 (aged 61–62)
Gwalior
OccupationMaster of Suffism, author, musician
RelativesAttar of Nishapur (ancestor)
Senior posting
SuccessorAli Sher Bengali
Students
Muhammad Ghawth
MonumentsTomb of Mohammad Guaz (ASI N-MP-147)

Muhammad Ghawth (Ghouse,[1] Ghaus or Gwath[2][3]) Gwaliyari (1500–1562) was a 16th-century Sufi master of the Shattari order and Sufi saint, a musician,[4] and the author of Jawahir-i Khams (Arabic: al-Jawahir al-Khams, The Five Jewels). The book mentioning the life and miracles of Gaus named " Heaven's witness" was written by Kugle.[5]

Biography

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Muhammad Ghawth was born in Gwalior, India in 1500; the name Gwaliyari means "of Gwalior". One of his ancestors was Fariduddin Attar of Nishapur.[6] In the preface of al-Jawahir al-Khams, he states that he wrote the book when he was 25 years old. In 1549 he travelled to Gujarat, when he was 50 years old. He stayed in Ahmedabad for ten years where he founded Ek Toda Mosque and preached.[7]

Ghawth translated the Amrtakunda from Sanskrit to Persian as the Bahr al-Hayat (The Ocean of Life), introducing to Sufism a set of yoga practices. According to the scholar Carl W. Ernst, in this "translation", Ghawth intentionally reframed these practices with great subtlety to identify "points of contact between the terminologies of Yoga and Sufism".[8]

Ghawth died in Gwalior in 1562.[9] His followers believed that he ascended to heaven and from there was able to direct help down to them; and further, that he was the "axial saint, the pivot of the universe".[9][10]

"Among Ghawth's disciples is Fazl Allah Shattari (also known as Shah Fazl Shattari),[11] who wrote a biography[12] or monograph[13] in praise of his teacher.[13] Gwawth taught the Mughal Emperor Humayun.[14][15] Akbar's court musician Tansen was also familiar with Sufism.[4] Badusha, Abdul Qadir, Shahul Hamid Meeran sahib Ganjasavoy Ganja bakhsh Ganja makhfi of nagore Tamil Nadu and Wajihudden Haidar Ali Sani Hussaini Ulvi Gujrati is also one his important disciple. Muhammad Ghawth died in 1562 CE.[15] Ghawth's tomb, in Gwalior (a city in Madhya Pradesh in India), which was built in his honour by Akbar,[15] is a well-known tourist attraction and regarded as an excellent example of Mughal Architecture. Tansen was buried in Ghawth's tomb complex.[4]"

Tomb at Gwalior

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His tomb at Gwalior is famous of its stone lattices (jali) work.[16] The entire structure is enclosed on all sides by the elaborately and delicately carved stone lattice work.[17]

  • Ghawth's Jawahir al-Khams
    Ghawth's Jawahir al-Khams
  • Ghawth's tomb in Gwalior
    Ghawth's tomb in Gwalior
  • South-east view of tomb
    South-east view of tomb

Sufi saeed Ali Shah was the former caretaker of the shrine.[18]

Works

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  • Jawahir-i-Khamsa (The Five Jewels) which was later translated to Arabic, al-Jawahir al-Khams, by the Mecca-based Shattari teacher Sibghat Allah (d. 1606 CE).[8] In this book Gaus also mentioned about the special creatures known as "Muakkil" which comes under the control of sufis by special Islam chant.[19]
  • Bahr al-Hayat (The Ocean of Life), his translation and extension of Hawd al-Hayat (The Pool of Life), an Arabic translation of a lost Sanskrit text on yoga, the Amrtakunda.[20]

References

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  1. ^ Shattari
  2. ^ Idries Shah, The Sufis ISBN 0-86304-020-9 Octagon Press 1989 pp 335, 367
  3. ^ Idries Shah, Tales of the Dervishes ISBN 0-900860-47-2 Octagon Press 1993 pp 111-112
  4. ^ a b c Wade, Bonnie C. (1998). Imaging Sound: An Ethnomusicological Study of Music, Art, and Culture in Mughal India (Chicago Studies in Ethnomusicology). University of Chicago Press. pp. 113–115. ISBN 0-226-86840-0. See google book search.
  5. ^ A. Azfar, Moin. The millennial sovereign : sacred kingship and sainthood in Islam.
  6. ^ "Muḥammad G̲h̲awt̲h̲ Gwaliyārī". Encyclopaedia of Islam (2nd ed.). Brill. 24 April 2012. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
  7. ^ Achyut Yagnik (2 February 2011). Ahmedabad: From Royal city to Megacity. Penguin Books. p. 42. ISBN 978-81-8475-473-5.
  8. ^ a b Ernst, Carl W. (1996). "Sufism and Yoga according to Muhammad Ghawth" (PDF). Sufi. 29 (Spring 1996): 9–13. Archived from the original on 8 September 2008.
  9. ^ a b Kugle, Scott (July 2014). "Body Refined: The Eyes of Muhammad Ghawth". Sufis & Saints' Bodies. North Carolina University Press. pp. 123–180. doi:10.5149/9780807872772_kugle.10. ISBN 9780807830819.
  10. ^ Kugle, Scott A. (2003). "Heaven's Witness: The Uses and Abuses of Muḥammad Ghawth's Mystical Ascension". Journal of Islamic Studies. 14 (1, January 2003): 1–36. doi:10.1093/jis/14.1.1. JSTOR 26199837. PMC 4199356. PMID 25373148.
  11. ^ Ernst, Carl W. (1996). "Sufism and Yoga according to Muhammad Ghawth" (PDF). University of North Carolina. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 September 2008. Retrieved 5 August 2009. Reproduced from Sufi 29 (Spring 1996), pp 9-13.
  12. ^ Chopra, Dr. Pran Nath, ed. (1976). "Life and Letters Under the Mughals". Ashajanak Publications (New Delhi). Retrieved 5 August 2009. See Open library details.
  13. ^ a b Hadi, Nabi (1998). Dictionary of Indo-Persian literature. Abhinav Publications. pp. 178–179. ISBN 81-7017-311-6. See google book search.
  14. ^ Yasin, Mohammad (1988). Reading in Indian History. Atlantic Publishers & Distributors (New Delhi). p. 42. No ISBN. ASIN: B0006ERVCA.
  15. ^ a b c Hastings, James (author) and Selbie, John A. (editor) (2003). Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, Part 21. Kessinger Publishing, LLC. p. 69. ISBN 0-7661-3700-7. {{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) See google book search.
  16. ^ Makovicky, Emil; Makovicky, Nicolette M. (2017). "Nonperiodic Octagonal Patterns from a Jali Screen in the Mausoleum of Muhammad Ghaus in Gwalior and Their Periodic Relatives". Nexus Network Journal. 19: 101–120. doi:10.1007/s00004-016-0316-6.
  17. ^ Jaalis Lattice Screens of India, Asavari Mohdiwale, Smita Agrawal, JETIR May 2021, Volume 8, Issue 5
  18. ^ sufishattari website 2007.
  19. ^ Annals of Oriental Research - Volume 32, Part 1 - Page 63.
  20. ^ Ernst, Carl W. (2016). Chapter 8: Sufism and Yoga according to Muhammad Ghawth. Sage. pp. 121–129. ISBN 978-93-5150-964-6. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
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