Here is an excerpt from Ibn Batuta's travels, as described in
his Rihla (Arabic). Ibn Batuta was born in Morocco, travelled
widely through the known world of those times, walked through central
Asia, India , China and went back to Morocco. He came to India during the reign
of emperor Alauddin Khilji, was given a job as a Judge for a couple of years,
then went on with his travels.
As he described it in his memoirs, Rihla, after a few years in
India he decided to go to China. But he had heard about a Muslim saint, Shah
Jalal, and wanted to meet with him. So he walked to eastern India, and met Shah
Jalal in eastern Bengal. He found him living in a modest hut on top of a hill,
teaching and preaching Islam to the local population. He led a simple life, had
never married, ate rice and cow-milk and vegetables. Ibn Batuta stayed with him
several days and was very impressed by his simplicity and spirituality. But
what caught his eye was a woolen coat, embroidered beautifully, which Shah
Jalal wore. Ibn Batuta kept looking at it in adoration, and one day, Shah Jalal
smiled and told him he could have it. It was a gift Ibn Batuta loved most.
Anyway, after several days, Ibn Batuta
was going to leave, and Shah Jalal walked with him to the river ferry to see
him off. As Ibn Batuta was getting on the boat, Shah Jalal gave him a sealed
envelope, and said, "You are going to China; please visit Shan province,
and there is a Muslim Saint, Hazrat Burhanuddin, who is my friend. Please give
him this envelope." Fine, said Ibn
Batuta, and set off on the journey.
He went to China, and on the way to Shan province, he met a
local king, who invited him to stay with him for some days. So he stayed with
him and travelled with him in the countryside. One night as they were camping
in a village, a rival chieftain attacked them. There was a small skirmish, and everybody
, including Ibn Batuta was taken prisoner. Ibn Batuta pleaded with them saying, he was a
foreigner, he had nothing to do with local politics, he just got caught up in
this mess. The Chieftain on hearing this
agreed to let him go, but took the woolen coat from him. Ibn Batuta was very sad, because this was the
coat that Shah Jalal had presented to him, but what could he do?
Anyway, he got out and slowly made his
way to Shan province, and went looking for Sheikh Burhanuddin. After several days of travelling, he found his
location. He went to see him in the mosque. As he entered, he saw Burhanuddin sitting
among his desciples, wearing the woolen coat that was forcefully taken from
him, and among the disciples was the chieftain who had taken the coat from Ibn
Batuta. Suffice it to say, it was an unprecendented surprise.
Ibn Batuta paid his respects, and then pulled
out the envelope that Shah Jalal had given him and handed it over to
Burhanuddin. The sheikh opened the envelope and began to read the letter and
began laughing. Everybody was eager to
hear what the letter said, most curious was Ibn Batuta. The sheikh then began
reading aloud. Shah Jalal wrote, “Dear friend Burahnuddin, I have a nice woolen
jacket that I want to send to you. I am giving it to a courier, I know it will
change hands a couple of times on its way to you, but Inshallah it will reach
you. None of the carriers know about it. Saying this , Burhanuddin introduced
the chieftain to Ibn Batuta. The chieftain was a disciple of his, who brought
it to him as a gift.
Shah Jalal’s story of ‘karamat’ (miracles) does not end here. I give below a brief of my personal
miraculous journey to Shah Jalal’s Mausoleum in December 1970.
A Miraculous Journey to Shah Jalal[1]
It was Dec. 1970. I was on a month’s vacation with my family
from Karachi to Bangladesh. I happened to visit my aunt and uncle then living
in a suburb of Sylhet, taking care of Begam Khan Tea Estate, a Finlay Company
British enterprise. A couple of days before my departure from the Tea Estate to
Dhaka for taking a scheduled flight to Karachi, I saw a dream. Next morning, I
asked my aunt, “Is there any mausoleum of any Peer-Faqueer?” Surprised she asked, “Why, why are you asking
this question?” “Just tell me,” I
insisted. “Yes, we have a mausoleum of Shah Jalal in Sylhet.” “How can I go there if I want to?” I
asked. “Just go to local station, pick a
train to Sylhet, get a Rickshaw to take you to Mazar, just like that” she
said. “Tell me details of the way from
Railway Station to Mazar” I asked her. “The Rickshaw driver will take you from
station to Mazar thru. a rough-tough road with bumps and ditches and at one
place there is a high ramp where one has to help the rickshaw puller climbing
the ramp of the bridge. When you are close to Mazar, Rickshaw passes thru. a
narrow crowded lane with hawkers of sweets and flowers on both side of the
narrow lane. There is a big pond full of huge and aged tortoises close to the
stairs of the Mazar. You have to climb
up the Mazar and you reach the Mausoleum,” she pictured in detail. “what kind
of bricks or tiles have been used for the Mausoleum?” I asked.
Annoyed she yelled at me, “Why, why are you asking such questions?” I said “I tell you why, are the floors and
walls of the stairs and the building made of black and while square
tiles?” “Yes! Yes!” she yelled in surprise.
I told whatever descriptions she has made for the journey from Railway station
to Mazar, I had seen that scene in my dream last night.” “Now you must have to pay your respect and
attendance to Jalal Baba” she told me.
And the next day I had no difficulty reaching to the Mazar and paying my
regards and respect. I was watching my
whole dream resurrected with my open eye in day light. I have no justifications and sensible reasons
to prove to you this miraculous journey.
[1] Shah Jalal, born in 669 AH (1271 CE) at
Hadramaul, Yemen, is a celebrated Sufi
Muslim figure in Bengal. Makhdum Jalāl ad-Dīn bin Muhammad, he was named al-Mujarrad (probably for his lifelong celibacy)
and entitled Shaykh-ul-Mashāykh. Jalal's name is associated with the
Muslim conquest of north-eastern Bengal and the spread of Islam in Bangladesh through Sufism. He is
believed to come to Bengal with the army of Alauddin Khilji. He died in 746 AH (1347 CE) and was buried in Sylhet, formerly known
as Jalalabad. According to legend, one day his uncle,
Sheikh Kabir gave Shah Jalal a handful of soil and asked him to travel to India. He instructed him to choose to settle and propagate Islam in any place in India where the soil exactly matched that
which he gave him in smell and color. Shah
Jalal journeyed eastward and reached India, where he met many great scholars
and Sufi mystics. Ibn Batuta, the renowned traveler from Morocco met Shah Jalal in 1345 CE. The meeting
between Ibn Batuta and Shah Jalal is described in his Arabic travelogue, Rihla (The Journey). The exact date of his death
is unknown, but he is reported by Ibn Batuta to have died in 746 AH (1347 CE).
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