Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki

Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki ( _ur. قطب الدین بختیار کاکی) was a renowned Muslim Sufi mystic, saint and scholar in the Chishti Order from Delhi, India. He was the disciple and khalifa (spiritual successor) of Moinuddin Chishti as head of the Chishti Order.

His most famous disciple and spiritual successor was Baba Farid, who in turn became the spiritual master of Delhi's noted Sufi saint, Nizamuddin Auliya, who himself was the Master of Amir Khusro and Nasiruddin Chirag-e-Delhi.

Left of the "Ajmere Gate" of the dargah, lies "Moti Masjid", a small mosque for private prayer built by Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah I (r. 1707-1712), an imitation of the much larger, Moti Masjid, built by his father, Aurangzeb inside the Red Fort of Delhi.

Biography

Khwaja "Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki" was born in 569 A.H. (1173 C.E.) in a town called "Aush" or Awash in Mawar-un-Nahar (Transoxania). According to his biography mentioned in, " Ain-i-Akbari ", written by Akbar’s vizier, Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak, he was the son of Kamalu'ddin Musa, whom he lost at a young age, and came from U´sh of Farghanah [ [http://persian.packhum.org/persian/main?url=pf%3Ffile%3D00702053%26ct%3D166 Kutbu'ddin Bakhtyar Kaki] "Ain-e-Akbari" by Abul Faza, English translation, by " H. Blochmann" and "Colonel H. S. Jarrett", 1873 – 1907. The Asiatic Society of Bengal, Calcutta., Volume III, Saints of India. (Awliyá-i-Hind), Page 363.] .

Khwaja Qutbuddin's original name was "Bakhtiyar" and later on he was given the title Qutbuddin. The name "Kaki" was attributed to him by virtue of a keramat(miracle) that emanated from him at a later stage of his life in Delhi [http://www.aulia-e-hind.com/dargah/delhi.htm#2 2. Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki] Sufi Saints of Delhi.] . He also belonged to the direct lineage of the Prophet Muhammad, descending from Hussain ibn Ali. "Khawaja Bakhtiyar Khaki" was one and half years old when his father died. His mother arranged for his education.

When Khawaja Moinuddin Chishti went to Isfahan, before his demise, he took oath of allegiance at his hands and received the khilafat and "Khirqah" from him. Thus, he was the first spiritual successor of Moinuddin Chishti. Thereafter, his spiritual master asked him to go to India and stay there.

"He had no parallel in abandoning the world and suffering poverty and hunger. He kept himself engrossed in the dhikr. Whenever someone came to him he would come back to his senses after a while and was then able to talk with him. After a very brief exchange he would show his inability to continue any longer and slipped into the same state of absorption once again." [ [http://muslim-canada.org/sufi/kaki.html Kaki] muslim-canada.org.]

He died on the 14th of Rabi-ul-Awwal 633 A.H. (27 November 1235 CE). The "dargah" (shrine) of "Qutbuddin Bakhityar Kaki" lies near Qutub Minar, in Mehrauli, Delhi.

Titles given to "Qutbuddin Bakhityar Kaki"

* Qutub-ul-Aqtaab
* Malik-ul-Mashaa'ikh
* Rais-us-Saalikin
* Siraj-ul-Auliya

Further reading

[http://persian.packhum.org/persian/main?url=pf%3Ffile%3D00702053%26ct%3D166 Kutbu'ddin Bakhtyar Kaki] "Ain-e-Akbari" by Abul Fazl, English translation, by " H. Blochmann" and "Colonel H. S. Jarrett", 1873 – 1907. The Asiatic Society of Bengal, Calcutta; Volume III, Saints of India. (Awliyá-i-Hind), Page 363.

ee also

*Sufism
*Chishti Order
*Moinuddin Chishti
*Baba Fareed

References

External links

* [http://www.aulia-e-hind.com/dargah/delhi.htm All Sufis Of Delhi, India and the whole World]
* [http://muslim-canada.org/sufi/kaki.html Biography of Bakhtiar Kaki]
* [http://www.hinduonnet.com/mp/2004/09/06/stories/2004090600510202.htm When Fakirs held sway] at "The Hindu".