Syed Muhammad Jaunpuri (Urdu: سید محمد جونپورى) (September 9, 1443 - April 23, 1505 AD, 14, Jamadi ul Awal 847- 23, Ziquada 910 Hijri) was an Indian religious figure who claimed to be Imam Mahdi and is revered as such by Mahdavia, Zikris and some other central Asian groups. Syed Muhammad was born in Jaunpur, traveled throughout India, Arabia and Khorasan, where he died at the town of Farah, Afghanistan at the age of 63.
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Syed Muhammad was a descendant of Prophet Muhammad, through his grandson Husayn bin Ali. His ancestors had migrated in to Indian sub-continent after moving from Baghdad earlier and then Isfahan. His grandfather Syed Osman came from Bukhara to Jaunpur on invitation from Sultan Ibrahim Sharqi. His father Syed Abdullah alias Syed Khan started his service as a military general and later served as an envoy of Jaunpur in the Court Delhi Sultanate, on the other hand his mother Amina was the sister of Qaiyyam Ul Mulk, who were Hasani Syed (Sayyid).
His lineage is as follows: Syed Muhammad Bin Syed Abdullah Bin Syed Osman Bin Syed Khizr Bin Syed Musa Bin Syed Qasim Bin Syed Najmuddin Bin Syed Abdullah Bin Syed Yusuf Bin Syed Yahya Bin Ameer Syed Jalaluddin Bin Ameer Syed Naimathullah Bin Syed Ismail Bin Musa al Kadhim Bin Jafar al Sadiq Bin Muhammad al Baqir Bin Zayn al-Abidin Bin Husayn Bin Ali Bin Abu talib Bin Abdul Muttalib.
He was born on Monday September 9, 1443 in Jaunpur. Both of his parents belonged to prosperous and honorable families of Jaunpur; his father, as said, held the title 'Syed Khan', a mark and a recognition of combination of high descent and affluence, granted by the Sharqia Kings.
Syed Mohammed was known for his intelligence as a child, having memorized the Qur'an at a young age of seven. He took an elementary religious education under Shaikh Daniyal who was a Sufi Shaikh of the Chisti order. The shaikh later on admitted the child into his school for religious studies. The child was very keen at studies and used to perform extraordinarily.
By 14 he was already being called 'Asad ul Ulema', Arabic for lion of the learned or metaphorically to say best of the scholars. That was in the city of Jaunpur of that day. Which is also remembered as Shiraz-e-Hind. Like Shiraz was then a center for scholars in Persia,[1] Jaunpur was the answer to it in India.
By 21 years of age he was hailed as 'Syed ul Aulia'; that is Arabic for - The Master (leader) of saints (spiritual saints, friends of God). This historical status of Syed Mohammad is an established fact recognized by many scholars of Islamic studies and historians, particularly those of Indian sub-continent.[2]
He would strictly adhere to the sunna of Prophet and accordingly the commandments in Qur'an. He is said to have observed extreme devotion and maximum trust in God, to the extent he never consumed even a penny from his parent's wealth after reaching adulthood, for the sake of religious piety.[3]
He left Jaunpur along with his family and a small group of followers. Migrating from place to place and gathering more companions the Mahdawiya group reached Farah in Afghanistan where he died and is buried.
By the age of 53 he embarked on the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, where in 1496 (901 Hijra), after circumambulating the Kaaba he announced that he was the Mahdi. He was generally ignored by the ulema of Mecca, and after staying in Mecca for nearly seven or nine months [4] he returned to India where he proclaimed himself to be the Mahdi at Ahmedabad and later at Badli (near Patan, Gujarat). The announcement at Bardli is taken by his followers as the ultimate claim. In that announcement he stated that people should investigate his life, and compare it with the commandments of Quran and the path of the prophet of Islam. He also stated that if after his claim was investigated and he is found to be wrong and blasphemous, they could kill him and await Judgement day. If they chose to not kill him, he stated, people should accept and follow him on the way to God, dropping their own innovations which had crept in to their belief and by abiding by the 'sunnah of prophet' strictly.
He also wrote letters to the kings and other central figures stating himself to be the Promised Mahdi and inviting to accept and follow. Some excerpts of the translations of his written invitations include:
Following these events the community of his followers was looked upon as separate sect. The courtiers and scholars at the courts of kings encouraged their kings to suppress to uprising ideology lest the kingdoms would be lost to the Mahdawis. The more optimistic ones among the learned approached him with their doubts and questions so as to test him and try the veracity of his statements.
Not that among his flock there were none from the people of grandeur stature. Rather, princes, lords, nobles, many had left their place and positions, migrated with him to fructify their strive to reach God. Highly talented, well learned, skilled performers as well as a layman constituted the disciple of his circle- DAIRA (Arabic: Circle) as it was in fact called.