Sayyid Muhammad Qanauji was a

Sufi Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, ...

scholar who was chaplain to the Mughal emperor

Shah Jahan Shihab-ud-Din Muhammad Khurram (5 January 1592 – 22 January 1666), better known by his regnal name Shah Jahan I (; ), was the fifth emperor of the Mughal Empire, reigning from January 1628 until July 1658. Under his emperorship, the Mugha ...

(1592–1666) and teacher of his son, the emperor

Aurangzeb Muhi al-Din Muhammad (; – 3 March 1707), commonly known as ( fa, , lit=Ornament of the Throne) and by his regnal title Alamgir ( fa, , translit=ʿĀlamgīr, lit=Conqueror of the World), was the sixth emperor of the Mughal Empire, ruling ...

(1618–1707).

Life

Mir Sayyid Muhammad Qanauji was the chaplain of the Mughal emperor

(1592–1666). Sayyid Qanquji and Sayyid Fazil attended Shah Jahan during the last seven years of his life, when Shah Jahan was imprisoned in the fort at Akbarabad. Sayyid and the emperor's eldest daughter Jahanara were present with Shah Jahan during his last days, providing spiritual comfort and nursing. When the emperor knew he was dying, he praised Sayyid for his faithful service and asked if there was any way he could reward him. Sayyid asked him to forgive his son

(1618–1707), and the emperor reluctantly agreed. After Shah Jahan's death Sayyid Muhammad helped prepare the body for burial, which was done with little ceremony since Aurangzeb had not ordered a state funeral. Sayyid Qannauji taught Aurangzeb, and a letter written for him in Arabic by Aurangzeb has survived. Even after Aurangzeb ascended the throne, he would meet with Sayyid three times a week. Sayyid was a disciple of

Muhibullah Allahabadi Shaykh (or Shah) Muhibullah Allahabadi, or Muhibb ullah Ilahabadi ( ur, محب اللہ الہ آبادی; मुहिबउल्लाह इलाहाबादी 1587–30 July 1648) was a Sufi scholar who was active in Allahabad in northe ...

. It is said that Aurangzeb summoned Sayyid and asked him to explain how some of Muhibbullah's statements could be reconciled with ''

Sharia Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the H ...

'', or he would burn Muhibullah's writings. Sayyid replied that he could only explain Muhibullah's words when he reached a similar spiritual status, which was far above his present condition. He also said that the emperor had enough fire in his kitchen and did not have to use a poor man's fire. Sayyid Qannauji is said to have collaborated with another of Aurangzeb's tutors, Mulla Abu'l Wa-iz, in compiling the ''

Fatawa-e-Alamgiri Fatawa 'Alamgiri, also known as Al-Fatawa al-'Alamgiriyya ( ar, الفتاوى العالمگيرية) or Al-Fatawa al-Hindiyya ( ar, الفتاوى الهندية), is a 17th-century sharia based compilation on statecraft, general ethics, milita ...

'', a manual of Islamic jurisprudence the emperor commissioned in the late 1660s. Sayyid was deputy to Qazi Abdul Wahhab in marrying Aurangzeb 's son Prince Azam on 21 December 1668. He was a witness to the marriage of Prince Muhammad Sultan on 16 December 1672. Aurangzib appointed Sayyid Sharif Khan, son of Sayyid Qannauji, the ''Karori-i ganj'' (censor) of the imperial camp and collector of ''

jizya Jizya ( ar, جِزْيَة / ) is a per capita yearly taxation historically levied in the form of financial charge on dhimmis, that is, permanent Kafir, non-Muslim subjects of a state governed by Sharia, Islamic law. The jizya tax has been unde ...

'' for the four provinces of the Deccan. Sharif Khan replaced Qazi Muhammad Husain, who had died.

References

Sources

* * * * * * * * * {{refend Indian Sufi religious leaders 17th-century Indian people Mughal Empire people