Sultan Bahu

Sultan Bahoo سلطان باہو
Shrine of Sultan Bahu
Born	17 January 1630
Died	1 March 1691
Other names	Sultan-ul-Arifeen
Ethnicity	Punjabi
Education	Marifat
Known for	Sufism, poetry, Sarwari Qadiri Sufi order
Religion	Islam

Sultan Bahu (also spelled Bahoo; Punjabi: سلطان باہو, ca 1630–1691) was a Sufi mystic, poet and scholar active mostly in the present-day Punjab province of Pakistan. He belonged to the Sufi order known as Qadiri, and the mystic tradition he started has been known as Sarwari Qadiri.

Little is known of Bahu's life, other than a hagiography written by a descendant of his seven generations later, entitled Manaqib-i Sultani.^[1] Sultan Bahu was born in Shorekot, Jhang in the current Punjab Province of Pakistan.^[2] More than forty books on Sufism are attributed to him, mostly in Persian, and largely dealing with specialised aspects of Islam and Islamic mysticism.^[3] However, it is his Punjabi poetry which had popular appeal and earned him lasting fame.^[1]:14 His verses are sung in many genres of Sufi music including qawwali and kafi, and tradition has established a unique style of singing his couplets.

Lineage

Sultan Bahu's lineage, like that of many famous personalities in Islam, is traced to Ali, the cousin and son in law of Muhammad, through the Awan tribe,^[1]:12 which claims to trace its ancestry to one Ameer Shah, son of Qutb Shah.^[4] The genealogy is traditionally presented as follows:^[5][6]

Education

Sultan Bahu's education began with his mother, Mai Rasti, herself a pious woman who has her own mausoleum in Shorkot. She told him to seek spiritual guidance from some Shah Habib Gilani whose shrine is found in the village of Baghdad Sharif, near Mian Channu, to this day.

Around 1668 Sultan Bahu moved to Delhi for further training under the guidance of Sheikh Abdul Rehman al-Qadri, but soon returned to Punjab where he spent the rest of his life.

Literary works

The actual number of books written by Sultan Bahu is not certain. According to tradition, he has authored over one hundred and forty works and treatises. The following is a list of the works that still exist today and can be traced back to Sultan Bahu with a degree of credibility.

Spiritual lineage

In his writings, Sultan Bahu refers to Abdul Qadir Jilani as his spiritual master, even though Jilani died long before the birth of Sultan Bahu. However, most Sufis maintain that Abdul Qadir Jilani has a special role in the mystic world and that all orders and saints are always indebted to him directly or indirectly in some way.^[7] Thus, whilst referring to Jilani's Qadiriyya tradition, Sultan Bahu has left an offshoot of his own which he named Sarwari Qadiri.

Bahu's Sarwari Qadiri tradition (or Sufi order) is similar in its overall philosophy to the Qadiri order. However, unlike many other Sufi orders, the Sarwari Qadiri tradition does not prescribe specific dress code, ascetic practices, breathing exercises, etc., and instead focuses on mental exercise, an important one being visualisation of the word الله (Allah, God) as written on own heart.

According to tradition, the lineage reaches Sultan Bahu as follows:

The tradition has been continued to this day by Sultan Bahu's successors.

Shrine

Shrine of Sultan Bahu near Jhang, Pakistan.

The shrine of Sultan Bahu, located in Garh Maharaja, Punjab,^[8] was originally built on his grave but has had to be moved twice when the Chenab River changed its course. It is a popular Sufi shrine, and the annual Urs festival commemorating his death is celebrated there with great fervour on the first Thursday of Jumada al-Thani month. People come from far off places to join the celebrations.^[9]

Sultan Bahu also used to hold an Urs to commemorate the martyrs of Karbala every year in Muharram from 1st till 10th. This tradition is still carried on. The Urs festival is also held during the month of Muharram. Every year, thousands of pilgrims visit the shrine during the first 10 days of Muharram, while in the last three days their number reaches to lacs. In this way, two big congregations are held every year, at his shrine, where thousands of people are benefited.^[10]

See also

• List of famous Sufis
• Sheikh Sarvari

References

Further reading

• Sultan Bahu: Life and Work

External links

• www.hazratsultanbahu.com
• www.sultan-bahoo.com