Mirza Mazhar Jan-e-Janaan

• Name — Mirzā Mazhar Jān-i Jānān • Creed — Maturidi • Born — 11th Ramadan, 1111 A.H/ 13 March 1699 • Birthplace — Mughal Empire • Died — 10th Muharram, 1195 A.H/ 6 January 1781 (aged 81) • Influences — Bahauddin Naqshband, Ahmad Sirhindi • Influenced — Shah Ghulam Ali Dehlavi, Qadi Thanaullah Panipati, Shah Waliullah Dehlawi, Ibn Abidin, Mahmud al-Alusi • Religion — Islam • Jurisprudence — Hanafi • Tariqa — Naqshbandi • Denomination — Sunni • Occupation — Islamic scholar, Sufi Sufis Mirzā Mazhar Jān-i Jānān, also known by his laqab Shamsuddīn Habībullāh (13 March 1699 – 6 January 1781), was a renowned Hanafi Maturidi Naqshbandī Sufi poet of Delhi, distinguished as one of the "four pillars of Urdu poetry." He was also known to his contemporaries as the sunnītarāsh, "Sunnicizer", for his absolute, unflinching commitment to and imitation of the Sunnah.

The date of birth is variously given as 1111 or 1113 A.H, and it took place in Kālā Bāgh, Mālwa, according to one source, while according to another source he was born in Agra. Shaikh Muhammad Tahir Bakhshi notes his date of birth as 11th Ramadan 1111 AH. He was born into a noble family of Alvi Syed Awan parentage that served in the administration of the Mughals. His father Mirzā Jān was employed in the army of the mighty Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. Following a custom according to which the Emperor had the right to name the sons of his officers, Aurangzeb is reported to have said: "A son is the soul of his father. Since the name of his father is Mirzā Jān, the name of the son will be Jān-i Jānān." His early religious instruction was entrusted to hājjī Afzal Siyālkōtī (hadith) and hāfiz Abd al-Rasūl Dihlawī (Qur'an). At the age of 18, he joined the Naqshbandī order under Nūr Muhammad Bada'ūni, who was closely connected to the teachings of Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindī, and completed his studies in four years. He was also initiated in the Qādirī, Chishtī and Suhrawardī orders. In his prime, Mazhar was advised to write poetry in Urdu rather than Persian as the days of the latter language were said to be numbered in India. Besides authoring poetry and polemics, Mazhar also wrote a large number of letters relating to Sufi thought and practice.

Mirzā Mazhar was shot and seriously injured on the 7th of Muharram, of the year 1195 AH/1780 CE. The author of Āb-i Ḥayāt writes: The author of Āb-i Ḥayāt, a determined Shi'a, has been suspected of indulging in partisan religious bias. Professor Frances Pritchett has noted that the latter account of the death of Mirzā Mazhar in Āb-i Ḥayāt is a deliberate distortion. Professor Friedmann, as well as Annemarie Schimmel and Itzchad Weismann, have all noted that Mirzā Mazhar was killed by a Shi'ite zealot. Most of his Urdu biographers have also written that he was killed by a gunshot by a Shi'ite on 7th Muharram, and he died on 10th Muharram 1195 AH. • Illustration — Tomb of Mirza Mazhar Jan-e-Janaan

Mirza Mazhar belonged to the Mujaddidi sect of Sufism, which is a main branch of Naqshbandi Sufi Tariqa. His spiritual lineage goes through Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi, the Mujaddid of eleventh Hijri century.

In Maqamat Mazhari, his foremost Khalifa and successor Shah Ghulam Ali Dahlwai writes short biographies of many of his Khulafa (deputies). Among them were: • Qadi Thanaullah Panipati, author of Tafsir Mazhari and other notable Islamic books, descendant of Usman the third caliph of Islam • Mawlana FadalUllah, elder brother of Qadi Thanaullah Panipati • Mawlana AhmadUllah, eldest son of Qadi Thanaullah Panipati, famous for his braveness and fighting skills • Wife of Qadi Thanaullah Panipati • Shah NaimUllah Bahraichi Naqshbandi author of Mamoolaat-e- Mazhariya, Basharaat-e- Mazhariya (Hand written copy in British Museum India office London. • Shah Abdul Ghani Mujadidi • Maulvi Kalim Faruqi, scholar of Hadith and founder of the Maulvi family in Sylhet • Illustration — (Mausoleum)