Fariduddin Ganjshakar

Fariduddin GanjshakarFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Farīduddīn Mas'ūd Ganjshakar (Punjabiਹਜ਼ਰਤ ਬਾਬਾ ਫ਼ਰੀਦੁਦ੍ਦੀਨ ਮਸੂਦ ਗੰਜਸ਼ਕਰ (Gurmukhi)حضرت بابا فرید الدّین مسعود گنج شکر (Shahmukhi)) (1173–1266)[1][2] or (1188 (584 Hijri) - May 7, 1280 (679 Hijri)),[3][4] commonly known as Baba Farid (Punjabi: بابا فرید (Shahmukhi), ਬਾਬਾ ਫ਼ਰੀਦ (Gurmukhi)), was a 12th-century Sufi preacher and saint of the Chishti Order of South Asia.[1]
Fariduddin Ganjshakar is generally recognized as the first major poet of the Punjabi language,[3]and is considered one of the pivotal saints of the Punjab region. Revered by Muslims andHindus, he is considered one of the fifteen Sikh bhagats, and selections from his work are included in the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh sacred scripture.[5]


Bābā Farīd was born in 1173 or 1188 AD (584 Hijri) at Kothewal village, 10 km from Multan in the Punjab region of the Chauhan dynasty in what is now Pakistan, to Jamāl-ud-dīn Suleimān and Maryam Bībī (Qarsum Bībī), daughter of Sheikh Wajīh-ud-dīn Khojendī.[6] He was a descendant of the Farrūkhzād, known as Jamāl-ud-Dawlah, a Persian (Tajik) king of eastern Khorasan.[7]
He was the grandson of Sheikh Shu'aib, who was the grandson of Farrukh Shah Kabuli, the king of Kabuland Ghazna. When Farrukh Shāh Kābulī was killed by the Mongol hordes invading Kabul, Farīd’s grandfather, Shaykh Shu'aib, left Afghanistan and settled in the Punjab in 1125.[8]
Farīd’s genealogy is a source of dispute, as some trace his ancestors back to al-Husayn while others trace his lineage back to the second Caliph Umar ibn Khattab. Baba Farid's ancestors came from Kufa, while Abdullah ibn Umar died during the Hajj and was buried in Makkah. The family tree of Baba Fareed traces through Abu Ishaq Ibrahim bin Adham, whose ancestors came from Kufa.
Fariduddin Ganjshakar was born in the city of Balkh. His nickname was Abu Ishaq. Khwajah Fudhail Bin Iyadh had conferred the mantle of Khilaafate to him. Besides being the Khalifah of Hadhrat Fudhail, he was also the Khalifah of Khwajah Imran Ibn Musa, Khwajah Imam Baqir, Khwajah Shaikh Mansur Salmi and Khwajah Uwais Qarni."[9]
Bābā Farīd received his early education at Multan, which had become a centre for education; it was here that he met his murshid (master), Quṭbuddīn Bakhtiyār Kākī, a noted Sufi saint, who was passing through Multan, from Baghdad on his way to Delhi.[7] Upon completing his education, Farīd left for Sistan andKandahar and went to Mecca for the Hajj pilgrimage at the age of 16.
Once his education was over, he shifted to Delhi, where he learned the doctrine of his master, Quṭbuddīn Bakhtiyār Kākī. He later moved to HansiHaryana.[4][10] When Quṭbuddīn Bakhtiyār Kākī died in 1235, Farīd left Hansi and became his spiritual successor, but he settled in Ajodhan[11] (the present PakpattanPakistan) instead of Delhi. On his way to Ajodhan, while passing through Faridkot, he met the 20-year-old Nizāmuddīn, who went on to become his disciple, and later his successor (khalīfah).
Bābā Farīd married Hazabara, daughter of Sulṭān Nasīruddīn Maḥmūd. The great Arab traveller Ibn Baṭūṭah visited him. He says that he was the spiritual guide of the King of India, and that the King had given him the village of Ajodhan. He also says that Shaikh Farīduddīn, as he calls him, was so careful about purity that if his clothes touched those of another person he would wash them. He also met Bābā Farīd's two sons. His shrine (darbār) is in Dera Pindi, and his epitaph reads, "There is only one Farīd, though many spring forth from the bud of the flower".


On October 25, 2010, a bomb exploded outside the gates of the shrine, killing six people.[20][21]

[edit]Death Anniversary/Urs
