| Region: | Islamic scholar /Sufi |
| Mirzā Mazhar Jān-i Jānān | |
| School Tradition: | Islam, Hanafi, Maturidi, Sufi |
| Notable Ideas: | Acceptance of Hindus as Ahl-i Kitab, unflinching adherence to the Sunnah |
| Birth Date: | 11th Ramadan, 1111 A.H/ 13 March 1699 |
| Birth Place: | Mughal Empire |
| Death Date: | 10th Muharram, 1195 A.H/ 6 January 1781 (aged 81) |
| Influences: | Bahauddin Naqshband, Hazrat Ishaan, Ahmad Sirhindi, Abu Hanifa, Twelve Imams |
| Influenced: | Shah Ghulam Ali Dahlavi, Qadi Thanaullah Panipati, Shah Waliullah Dehlawi, Ibn Abidin, Sayyid Mir Jan |
Mirzā Mazhar Jān-i Jānān (Urdu: {{Nastaliq|مرزا مظہر جانِ جاناں), 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."[1] He was also known to his contemporaries as the sunnītarāsh, "Sunnicizer", for his absolute, unflinching commitment to and imitation of the Sunnah.[1]
He established the Naqshbandī suborder Mazhariyya Shamsiyya.
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.[2] Shaikh Muhammad Tahir Bakhshi notes his date of birth as 11th Ramadan 1111 AH. He was born into a noble family of Afghan 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:[3]
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.[3]
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.
Among his 'disciples' or Muridīn was the great Hanafī scholar, Qādī Thanāullāh Panipatī, who wrote a famous Tafsir of the Qur'an by the name Tafsir-i Mazharī, which he named after his teacher. Also in his spiritual lineage (silsila) came the great Hanafī jurist Imam Ibn 'Abidīn and the Qur'an exegete Allāma Alusī.
His Naqshbandī lineage came to be known as Mazhariyya Shamsiyya. Mazhar apparently authorized more disciples than any of his predecessors. He regularly corresponded with his deputies, and his letters form much of the basis of our knowledge about his life and ideas.[4]
He was succeeded by his khalifa (deputy) Abdullah alias Shah Ghulam Ali Dahlavi, who is considered Mujaddid of the 13th Islamic century by most Naqshbandi followers today. His tariqah spread to whole India and Middle East.
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:[5]
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.[6] Professor Friedmann, as well as Annemarie Schimmel and Itzchad Weismann, have all noted that Mirzā Mazhar was killed by a Shi'ite zealot.[1] [3] [4]
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.[7]
See main article: Naqshbandi-Haqqani Golden Chain and Naqshbandi Tahiri Golden Chain.
Mirza Mazhar belonged to the Mujaddidi order of Sufism, which is the main branch of Naqshbandi Sufi tariqah. His spiritual lineage goes through Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi, the Mujaddid of eleventh Hijri century.[8]
In Maqamat Mazhari, his foremost Khalifa and successor Shah Ghulam Ali Dahlwai writes short biographies of many of his Khulafa (deputies). Among them were:[9]