Sayyid Muhammad Qanauji was a
Sufi scholar who was chaplain to the Mughal emperor
Shah Jahan (1592–1666) and teacher of his son, the emperor
Aurangzeb (1618–1707).
Life
Mir
''Mir'' (russian: Мир, ; ) was a space station that operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, operated by the Soviet Union and later by Russia. ''Mir'' was the first modular space station and was assembled in orbit from 1986 to&n ...
Sayyid Muhammad Qanauji was the chaplain of the Mughal emperor
Shah Jahan (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
Aurangzeb (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'', 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'', 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
Muhammad Sultan was 5th son of Abdurashid Khan and became Khan of Yarkent Khanate from 1592-1609 after the death of his elder brother Abdul Karim Khan. He was the ruler who arranged Jesuit Bento de Goes' Caravan, sent by the third Mughal empero ...
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'' for the four provinces of the
Deccan
The large Deccan Plateau in southern India is located between the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats, and is loosely defined as the peninsular region between these ranges that is south of the Narmada river. To the north, it is bounded by the ...
.
Sharif Khan replaced Qazi Muhammad Husain, who had died.
References
Sources
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Indian Sufi religious leaders
17th-century Indian people
Mughal Empire people