Qalander       

It deems befitting that before highlighting the events of Qalander Baba Auliya's life and his wonder-working, we should explain the word  Qalander so that we could have an idea of his position so that the understanding of the events and happenings narrated therein could be focused upon  and properly comprehended.

Qalander is a person who has excelled in seeing things and advances stage by stage into the Being. He even rises above the Administrative System and witnesses the core of Oneness in detail       and after enjoying the Unity of the Being returns back without losing his grades and then reaches back into his humanly status, •so much so that his rise and fall becomes one and the same thing for him.. He witnesses part in the whole and sees the whole in the part and, then, after detaching himself from all this, plunges into a state of ecstasy.

Status of a Qalander is even higher than the loved ones because duality remains there even in that state, i.e. one is the loved one and the other is the loving. In Qalanderiyat there is no duality.

God has stated in the holy Quran; "Over their hands is the Hand of Allah," although it was the hand of Holy Prophet at the time of submission by the companions that was over the hands of his companions. This was the state of Unity with God and that there had been no duality left so God terms  his hand being His Hand.

Yet at another place it is stated, "0 Prophet!  The dust that thou threw was not you that threw the dust but it was God who threw the dust."

Here, too, God has declared an action of the Prophet being His action.

Qalanderi Order

Qalanderi Order started from Abdul Aziz Makki. (Some Sufis are of the view that it started from Zunnoon Misri.) He comes of the line of Prophet Saleh. When he come to know of the coming of the Holy Prophet (PBUH), he implored to God to let him see his age. God acceded to his request and granted him the opportunity of seeing             the age of Holy Prophet (PBUH) and he embraced Islam at the hands of Holy Prophet (PBUH) and he gave the name of Qalander. It is stated in the book "Munaqab-e-Qalanderiyat" that there was a place called ' Suffa' in Masjid-e-Nabvi, where devoted companions used to reside and were called Ashab­e-Suffa, Abdul Aziz Makki was one of those     companions of Holy Prophet (PBUH).

A person whom God blesses as Qalander become liberated from the constraints and limitations of Time and Space and all livings are subjugated to him and when people ask something from them they selflessly serve them because nature blesses them for the very same cause. It has been  stated about such people, "Indeed, I befriend my Servants and become their ears, eyes and tongue and then they hear, see and say things."

Introduction

Before narrating the life events of the Proclaimer of Reality, Founder Leader of Silsila-e­Azeemia, His divine Grace Hassan Ukhra Syed Mohammad Azeem. Burkhiya alis. Qalander Baba 'Auliya, we should shed some light upon his name so the readers could have an idea of his exalted status.

Hassan Ukhra is the title of His Divine Grace Qalander Baba Auliya that was conferred upon him by Holy Prophet (PBUH) in the Owasian Style.

Mohammad Azeem is the name that his parents gave him. He belongs to the progeny of Imam Hassan Askari therefore Syed is the family title,

Burkhiya is the pen name which he used as a  poet.

Qalander Baba Auliya is the name by which he is known and recognized in the angelic world and he is famous by the same in the public at large.

Birth

Qalander Baba Auliya (RA) was born in the town of Khorja, District Buland Shehr, Utter Pradesh, India in 1898 AD.

Education

He studied in a primary school of the town, where he was also made to learn the holy Quran. He was very intelligent and very well behaved. He used to pay attention to his studies and was very social with his class fellows and mates. For higher education he studied in a high school of Buland Shehr and then sought admission in Muslim University, Aligarh in intermediate.

Spiritual Training

During his stay in Aligarh he developed an aptitude towards mysticism and started spending much of his time with Maulana Kabli at his place in    a graveyard. He used to go there in the morning and would return late in the night.

In the mean while he happened to visit his maternal grandfather Tajjuddin Baba Auliya Nagpuri, who ordered him to stay with him. When his father came to know about this, he went to            Nagpur and requested Tajjuddin Baba to let him go to Aligarh to complete his education.

Tajuddin Baba said that if he studied anymore he would not be of any use to him. Like a kind father he tried to make his understand but              when he observed that his son was also inclined towards Sufism, he left saying, "I hope you know what you are doing."

Qalander Baba Auliya stayed with Nana Tajjuddin Baba Auliya Nagpuri for nine years and he imparted spiritual training to him. Few of numerous incidents and their explanation is given in his book, "Tazkira Tajjuddin Baba Auliya."

Family

Being mortals everyone has to pass away from this world. Qalander Baba Auliya's mother Saeeda Bibi passed away leaving behind 4 daughters and two sons during his stay with Tajjuddin Baba Auliya. Except one sister all his siblings were younger to him so he set himself to look after them. Seeing that it would be difficult for him to cater the needs of the younger sisters,  Tajjuddin Baba Auliya told him to marry the daughter of one of his followers. So he married and settled down in Dehli.

After the partition of the subcontinent he  migrated to Karachi with his father and the family   and started living in an old house, which he had on rent. After sometime Khan Bahadur Abdul Latif Commissioner Rehabilitation, who was an ardent devotee of Tajjuddin Baba Auliya, asked him to apply for allotment of a house but he did not pay any heed to it and continued living in the same old house.

Qalander Baba Auliya never used soap for washing his hands. He used to wash his hands with warm water till all the grease on hands was, gone and then would mop them with a towel. Thus, he would spent quite some time in washing his hands. He had appointed places for the things of common use and would mind if something was placed out of   its place.

There was a time when he was over-powered by enchanting engrossment. During that time he would mostly remained silent. During those times rarely his talks would grow incoherent. This period did not last longer.

During the teachings of Ilm-e-Ladunni and after that he never slept for more than 3 hours in a  day. He had complete control over his sleep: He         was also very careful in his diets. He would eat only two loaves of bread at the most in 24 hours.

Livelihood

After marriage he settled in. Delhi and worked as an editor for various magazines and poetry collections. His nights were spent with the famous poets and writers of the city who would flock around him and, during the day, Sufis and   people with a taste for Sufism would come to him and had discussions with him about Sufism.

After settling in Karachi he started working as an electrician on Lawrence Road. Gradually, when people came to know of him, he joined the daily Dawn (Urdu) as sub editor. After that he worked with the monthly Naqqad. He also worked as Editor of various magazines and wrote many serial stories under different names. A book was also published having the serial stories in it. It became so popular that it saw many editions.