Sayyid Muhammad Jaunpuri (; 9 September 1443 – 23 April 1505) was an Indian religious leader and the founder of the

Mahdavia The Mahdavi movement, also called Mahdavia or Mahdavism, is an Islamic movement founded by Syed Muhammad Jaunpuri in India in the late 15th century. Syed Muhammad claimed to be Mahdi at the holy city of Mecca, in front of the Kaaba in 1496, and ...

movement. He claimed to have been divinely appointed as the promised '' Mahdī'', in fulfillment of the Islamic prophecies regarding the end times. Hailing from Jaunpur, he traveled extensively throughout

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Arabia The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...

and Khorasan.

Early life

His first wife, Bibi Alahdadi, was the daughter of his uncle, Syed Jalaluddin. He married her in Jaunpur in 866H, when he was nineteen years old. Syed Muhammad and Alhadadi had two sons and two daughters together, Syed Mahmood Sani-e-Mahdi, Syed Ajmal, Syeda Khunza and Syeda Fatima.

Travels

He left Jaunpur along with his family and a group of followers. Migrating from place to place and gathering companions, that would later become the core of the

sect founded by him, until he reached Farah in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

Pilgrimage and claim to be the Mahdi

By the age of 53 he embarked on the

Hajj Hajj (; ; also spelled Hadj, Haj or Haji) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for capable Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetim ...

pilgrimage to

Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...

, where in 1496 (901 Hijri), after circumambulating the

Kaaba The Kaaba (), also spelled Kaba, Kabah or Kabah, sometimes referred to as al-Kaba al-Musharrafa (), is a stone building at the center of Islam's most important mosque and Holiest sites in Islam, holiest site, the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, Sa ...

, he declared that he was the Promised Mahdi and whoever believes in him is a Momin. After staying in Mecca for nearly seven or nine months, he returned to India where he proclaimed himself

Mahdi The Mahdi () is a figure in Islamic eschatology who is believed to appear at the Eschatology, End of Times to rid the world of evil and injustice. He is said to be a descendant of Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad, and will appear shortly before Jesu ...

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ), also spelled Amdavad (), is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 ...

and later at Badhli (near

Patan, Gujarat Patan () is the administrative seat of Patan district in the Indian state of Gujarat and is an administered municipality. It was the capital of Gujarat's Chavda dynasty, Chavda and Chaulukya dynasties in medieval times and is also known as An ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jaunpuri, Sayyid 1443 births 1505 deaths Mahdavi Indian Sufi saints Indian people of Arab descent People from Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh Self-declared mahdi