Life & Times of Shaykh Nizam ud-Din Auliya

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The Life & Times of Shaykh Nizam ud-Din Auliya,
[A5] Hardback - 238 pages,
by Khaliq Ahmad Nizami,
Published by Oxford University, Pakistan.

Description :

One of the most charismatic personalities of South Asia, Shaykh Nizam-u'd-din Auliya, may Allah be pleased with him, was leader of the premier Chishtiya order in Delhi from 1244-1325. A scholar and a mystic he left a lasting impression on the life and thought, not only of his contemporaries, but also of subsequent generations.

Renowned historian Khaliq Nizami provides here an account of the saint's legacy and spiritual quest that displays documentary history at its best.

Khaliq Nizami brings alive the story of the saint's life, from his birth into an immigrant Muslim family; his childhood as a fatherless boy; his growing up years in Delhi; to his work spread over sixty years.

Arguably the most popular saint of the Delhi Sultanate, the Shaykh's role in the history of South Asia was of immense significance. The author judiciously sifts fact from fiction, through careful critical reading of records of conversation (malfuzat), biographical accounts (tazkirabs), letters, and early medieval manuscripts including the Qiwam-i'l-'Aqa'id used for the first time here to reconstruct the Shaykh's life.

In the current milieu debate rages over whether politics and religion can ever be fully separate and how identities exist and transform within these realms. This new edition with a detailed foreword by Bruce B. Lawrence is an informative and absorbing read.

Table of Contents :

---Relations,
---Foreword by Bruce B. Lawrence,
---Preface,
---Introduction.

---[1]. Birth and Family,
---[2]. Life in Badayun : Struggle of an Orphan,
---[3]. Early Struggle in Delhi : Academic Laurels amid Poverty,
---[4]. At the Feet of Shaykh Farid Ganj-i-Shakar,
---[5]. At the Head of the Chishti Order in India,
---[6]. Khanqah Life,
---[7]. Routine and Schedule,
---[8]. Last Illness and Death,
---[9]. Moral and Spiritual Teachings,
---[10]. Attitude towards the Sultans and the State,
---[11]. Relations with Non-Muslims,
---[12]. The Man,
---[13]. The Scholar,
---[14]. The Mystic,
---[15]. His Family,
---[16]. His Khalifahs,
---[17]. Evaluation.

---Index.

Author information :

The Late Khaliq Ahmed Nizami, may Allah have mercy upon him, was a Professor of History at Aligarh Muslim University. He was a Chishti, and renowned author of numerous Sufi books on the Friends of God, (Awliya-Allah)!

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