Sheikh Ahmad Zainuddin Makhdoom bin Sheikh Muhammad Al Gazzali (

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

: شيخ احمد زين الدين بن شيخ محمد غزالي المليباري; Ahmad Zayn al-Din ibn Muhammad al-Ghazāli al-Malibári), grandson of Sheikh Zainuddin Makhdoom I, was the writer, orator, historian, jurisprudent and spiritual leader and widely known as Zainuddin Makhdoom Second or Zaniudeen Makhdoom Al Sageer (زين الدين المخدوم الصغير) whose family originated from

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the north and Oman to the northeast and ...

. He inherited the legacy of his grandfather and was installed as the Chief

Qadi A qāḍī ( ar, قاضي, Qāḍī; otherwise transliterated as qazi, cadi, kadi, or kazi) is the magistrate or judge of a '' sharīʿa'' court, who also exercises extrajudicial functions such as mediation, guardianship over orphans and mino ...

(judge) in the locality of

Ponnani Ponnani () is a municipality in Ponnani Taluk, Malappuram District, in the state of Kerala, India. It serves as the administrative center of the Taluk and Block Panchayat of the same name. It is situated at the estuary of Bharatappuzha (Ri ...

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South Ca ...

, India, as well as appointed as the Chief Müderris (head teacher) in the historic Ponnani Dars at Ponnani Jum'ah Masjid, that buit by Zainuddin Makhdoom I.

Early life

He was born to the Makdoom family in the early months of Hijra 938 (c. 1531 CE) at Chombal, near Mahe, and received religious instruction under the supervision of his grandfather. He completed his primary education under his father Muhammed Gazzali and his uncle Abdul Azeez Bin Sheikh Makhdoom Al Avval ( عبد العزيز بن شيخ مخدوم الآول) and left for Makah for further study. He performed the

Haj The Hajj (; ar, حَجّ '; sometimes also spelled Hadj, Hadji or Haj in English) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for Muslims that must be carried o ...

and settled there for ten years imbibing Islamic knowledge from exponents of Islamic law and other branches of knowledge. He received the guidance of famous scholars such as Al Hafiz Shihabuddeen bin Al Hajr Al Haithemi (الحافظ شهاب الدين بن الحجر الهيتمي), Grand Mufti of Haramain (chief jurisprudent of Makah and Madina) and commentator in Hadeeth and

Fiqh ''Fiqh'' (; ar, فقه ) is Islamic jurisprudence. Muhammad-> Companions-> Followers-> Fiqh. The commands and prohibitions chosen by God were revealed through the agency of the Prophet in both the Quran and the Sunnah (words, deeds, and e ...

, Izzuddeen bin Abdul Azeez al Zamzami (عز الدين بن عبد العزيز الزمزمي), Shiekh Abdul Rahman bin Ziyad (شيخ عبد الرحمن بن زياد) and Sayyid Abdul Rahman Al Safwi (سيد عبد الرحمن الصفوي). He gained the Tassawwuf (Sufi spiritual knowledge) from Kutub Zaban Zain Ul Arifeen Muhammed Bin Sheikh Ul Arif Abu Hasan Al Bakri (قطب الزمان زين العارفين محمد بن شيخ العارف ابو حسن البكري) and was honored with eleven Khirkath (خرقة), symbol of grade in Tareeqath. Within a short period he was hailed as the Sheikh of Qadriya Tareeqath.

In the field of service

After the decade-long stay in Makkah, he returned to

and took charge as chief Mufti in the grand Masjid of

, a position he occupied for thirty-six years. A historian recorded that his mentor Ibn Hajar Hithami had come to Ponnani and stayed there for a short period. It is said that the famous lamp made of stone, presented by Ibn Hajar Hithami, is still kept in Ponnani Dars.

As the freedom fighter

He did not limit himself to work as a cleric, but made many significant intervention in the political arena, keeping warm relations with the major political figures in that period. He lived during the regime of

Akbar Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar (25 October 1542 – 27 October 1605), popularly known as Akbar the Great ( fa, ), and also as Akbar I (), was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Hum ...

of the

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...

and had a good relationship with Sultan Ali Adil Shah I, Sultan of

Bijapur Bijapur, officially known as Vijayapura, is the district headquarters of Bijapur district of the Karnataka state of India. It is also the headquarters for Bijapur Taluk. Bijapur city is well known for its historical monuments of architectural i ...

, as well as the

Zamorin of Calicut The Samoothiri (Anglicised as Zamorin; Malayalam: , Arabic: ''Sāmuri'', Portuguese: ''Samorim'', Dutch: ''Samorijn'', Chinese: ''Shamitihsi''Ma Huan's Ying-yai Sheng-lan: 'The Overall Survey of the Ocean's Shores' 433 Translated and Edited ...

. He was a strident advocate of freedom struggles against the imperialist power of Portugal, and motivated the youth to take part in the special army of Zamorin to defend against them. In his masterpiece ''Tufathul Mujahideen Fi Akhbar ul Burthugalin'', he narrated the brutality of the Portuguese on the Malabar soil with special reference to their anti-Muslim stance. He used to instil in Muslim youth the necessity of holy war and the inevitability of military action against the Portuguese. In the aforementioned text, he motivated them by exuding the endless promises of the Almighty for those who waged war against them, and boosted their morale by leading their mind to the sweet memories of the

golden age of Islam The Islamic Golden Age was a period of cultural, economic, and scientific flourishing in the history of Islam, traditionally dated from the 8th century to the 14th century. This period is traditionally understood to have begun during the reign ...

Books by Makhdoom II

He was known for his unique command in writing in variety of subjects which includes jurisprudence, history, spirituality as well as other subjects which were distinct from other writers. The following table gives an overview of his works.

Demise

He died of natural causes in 1583 and was laid to rest in Mahe Kunjhippalli. His khabar lies under a tree in his native Champal.

Early life

In the field of service

As the freedom fighter

Books by Makhdoom II

Demise

References

Further reading