Description

LINEAGE

Baba Farīd (R.A) lineage of Chishti Order started from Hazrat Ali (R.A), cousin and son-in-law of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) to Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki (R.A).

 

LIFE

Baba Farīd (R.A) was brought into the world in 1175 (571 AH) in Kothewal, 10 km from Multan in the Punjab area, to Jamāl-ud-dīn Suleimān and Maryam Bibi (Qarsum Bibi), the daughter of Wajīh-ud-dīn Khojendī.

He was a Sunni Muslim and was one of the initial architects of the Chishti Sufi order. Baba Farīd (R.A) got his initial instruction at Multan. There he met his educator Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki (R.A), who was going through Multan on his way from Baghdad to Delhi.

When his schooling finished, he moved to Delhi, where he took in the Islamic precept from Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki (R.A). He later moved to Hansi, Haryana. When Quṭbuddin Bakhtiar Kāki (R.A) left the worldly affairs in 1235, Farīd left Hansi and turned into his otherworldly replacement. He then moved to Pakpattan, Pakistan.

 

TEACHING

According to Hazrat Baba Farid (R.A), a Sufi must possess the following:

• He must forget himself and the world in the love and devotion of Allah.
• He must overlook the faults of others however serious.
• He must close his eyes, i.e., he must not look towards things declared haram (forbidden) in Islam.
• He must become deaf also so that he may not hear all things undesirable.
• He must become dumb too so that he may not be able to speak about things that must not be spoken about.
• He must cut off his legs i.e., he must act lame so that he may not be able to move himself to comply with his Nafs-e-Ammara which tries to take him to undesirable places.

Regarding these qualities, Hazrat Baba Farid says:

“If any of these qualities are absent from the character of a dervish, then he is a mere liar and hypocrite, A dervish who aspires to acquire worldly wealth and honour is not a dervish; he is a cheat who brings only disgrace to the noble Order of dervishes.”

“Toleration and forbearance”, the saint says,” should be the salt of a dervish’s life, even if a naked sword were put upon his head, he should be forgivingly happy and should never curse the persecutor.”

According to Baba Farid (R.A), “Tasawwuf, is a code of man’s moral and religious life and conduct. Although a Sufi is cut off from the world, he never curses or looks down upon its affairs, i.e., he has neither love nor hatred for the world.”

Regarding contentment, Hazrat Baba Farid says:

“He is a wise and brave man who, in all his worldly affairs, depends upon the will and pleasure of God and remains patient and content under each and every circumstance. A content person must have faith in the love, fear, and mercy of God. It will save him from sin and enable him to win the blessings of God.”

Baba Farid emphasizes that “a mureed must hold his Pir-o-Murshid in the highest reverence”. He says, “Seven days in the service and company of a Pir-o-Murshid are equal to 700 years of devotion.” He adds that “a Sufi dies when he gives up his devotion and ‘zikr’ and he lives when he is engrossed in them.”

 

MIRACLES

One day a mureed named Mohammed Shah came to Hazrat Baba Farid (R.A) in a most disturbed state of mind. When Baba Farid (R.A) enquired the reason, Mohammed Shah said that his brother was most dangerously ill and that he had left him in the state of a coma, only to come and plead to Hazrat Baba Farid’s (R.A) for his blessing. Baba Farid (R.A) said: “Your brother is healthy; you are worrying about nothing.” When Mohammed Shah rushed back to his home, he was amazed to see his brother sitting and talking and, in fact, eating his food as if he had never been ill.

One day some poor people came from Arabia to see Hazrat Baba Farid (R.A) and told him that they were strangers to the land and were on a journey, but they had spent all their money before their journey’s end. Hazrat Baba Farid (R.A) gave them some dried dates which were lying in front of him at the moment and said: “Take them and go; your journey shall be completed by the grace of God.” These persons were very disappointed with such an apparently “cheap gift” from a saint like Hazrat Baba Farid (R.A). After going out of the Khanqah, they wanted to throw the dates away. But just as they were thinking so, the dates, to their great amazement, turned into gold. Regretting their miscalculation, these persons went away happily, uttering heartfelt gratitude and prayers for Baba Farid (R.A).

According to Rahat-ul-Quloob, one day an old lady came to Hazrat Baba Farid (R.A) and as she wept, she said: “Holy saint, my only son disappeared from my home 20 years ago. I do not know if he is alive or dead, but his separation from me has made me half dead.” This story moved Hazrat Baba Farid (R.A) and he went into Muraqba (spiritual contemplation). After a little while, he told the lady: “Go, your son has come home.” The old lady went back hastily and while she was still on the way, she met her son. Both the mother and the son went home. The lady then enquired about the whereabouts of her son who said: “I was 1500 miles away from here. Today, suddenly I felt a deep impulse to meet you though I had no hope of this at all. As I was standing at the bank of a river, a venerable face appeared before me suddenly and enquired about the reason for my despondency. When I explained my trouble, he said: “Suppose if you reach your home?” But I did not trust him. He asked me to close my eyes and place my hand in his hand which I did rather half-heartedly. When I opened my eyes after a while, I found myself here.”

Once Hazrat Baba Farid (R.A), was traveling to Baghdad in the company of Hazrat Khwaja Bahauddin Zakariya (R.A) of Multan and some other dervishes. On the way into the jungle, Hazrat Bahauddin (R.A) was bitten by a snake on his foot. He swooned with the terrible pain and there was no time to obtain ‘Tiryaq’, an efficacious remedy for snakebite in Iraq. Hazrat Baba Farid (R.A) picked up a fistful of dust and recited ‘Bismillah Shariff’ (In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate) smeared the dust on the foot of Khwaja Bahauddin (R.A). By the grace of God, the snake’s poisonous effect disappeared and Khwaja Bahauddin (R.A) quickly recovered.

 

LEGACY

One of Baba Farid’s (R.A) most significant commitments to Punjabi writing was his advancement of the language for scholarly purposes. Whereas Sanskrit, Arabic, Turkish and Persian had truly been viewed as the dialects of the learned and utilized in ascetic communities, Punjabi was by and large thought to be a less refined society language. By utilizing Punjabi as the language of verse, Baba Farid (R.A) laid the reason for vernacular Punjabi writing that would be grown later.

The city of Faridkot bears his name. As indicated by legend, Baba Farid (R.A) halted by the city, at that point named Mokhalpūr, and sat in disconnection for forty days close to the stronghold of King Mokhal. The lord was supposed to be so dazzled by his quality that he named the city after Baba Farid (R.A), which today is known as Tilla Baba Farid. The celebration Baba Sheik Farad Agman Purb Mela’ is commended in September every year from (21–23 Sep, for 3 days), recognizing his appearance around there. Ajodhan was likewise renamed as Farid’s ‘Pak Pattan’, signifying ‘Blessed Ferry’; today it is for the most part called Pak Pattan Sharif.

The Mazar is located in the city of Pakpattan and was first constructed under the supervision of Hazrat Khawaja Nizamuddin Auliya (R.A). The shrine is now made entirely of marble. It is open all day and night and it is visited by thousands from all walks of life. Charity food known as Langar is distributed during the day.

Baba Farid’s small tomb is made of white marble with two doors, one facing east and called the Nuri Darwaza (Gate of Light) and the second facing north called Bahishti Darwaza (Gate of Paradise). There is also a long-covered corridor. Inside the tomb are two white marbled graves, one belonging to Baba Farid and the other belonging to his elder son.

Every year, Hazrat Baba Farid’s (R.A) Urs (death anniversary) is celebrated for six days in the first Islamic month of Muharram, in Pakpattan. The Bahishti Darwaza (Gate of Paradise) is opened only once a year, on the 5th and 6th of Muharram, during the time of the Urs, and is washed by rose water before the opening ceremony. Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims and visitors from all over the country and world come to pay homage to the great saint.

 

LOCATION