Shah Jalal

Shah Jalal (Persian: شاه جلال‎; Bengali: শাহ জালাল full name:Yamanī Shāh Jalāl ad-Dīn al-Mujarrad) is a celebrated Sufi Muslim figure in Bengal. Jalal's name is associated with the Muslim conquest of north-eastern Bengal and the spread of Islam in Bangladesh through Sufism. He was buried in Sylhet, Bangladesh, formerly known as Jalalabad, while the country's main airport is named in his honour.

Early life and education

Born Makhdum Jalāl ad-Dīn bin Muhammad, he was named al-Mujarrad (probably for his lifelong celibacy or performing of prayers in solitary milieu) and entitled Shaykh-ul-Mashāykh (Great Scholar). Shah Jalal's date and place of birth is not certain. Various traditions and historical documents differ. A number of scholars have claimed that he was born in 1271 CE in Konya in modern day Turkey (then in the Sultanate of Rum) and later moved to Yemen either as a child or adult while the majority believe he was born in a village called Kaninah in Hadhramaut, Yemen. He was the son of a Muslim cleric, who was a contemporary of the Persian poet and Sufi mystic, Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi. Shah Jalal was educated and raised by his maternal uncle Syed Ahmed Kabir in Mecca. He excelled in his studies and became a Hafiz there, increasing proficiency in Islamic theology (Aqidah). He achieved spiritual perfection (Kamaliyyah) after 30 years of study, practice and meditation.

Travel to India

According to legend, one day his uncle, Sheikh Kabir gave Shah Jalal a handful of soil and asked him to travel to India. He instructed him to choose to settle and propagate Islam in any place in India where the soil exactly matched that which he gave him in smell and color. Shah Jalal journeyed eastward and reached India in c. 1300, where he met many great scholars and Sufi mystics.

Later life

During the later stages of his life, Shah Jalal devoted himself to propagating Islam. Under his guidance, thousands of Hindus and Buddhists converted to Islam. Shah Jalal became so renowned that the famous traveller Ibn Battuta, then in Chittagong, made a one-month journey through the mountains of Kamaru near Sylhet to meet him. On his way to Sylhet, Ibn Batuta was greeted by several of Shah Jalal's disciples who had come to assist him on his journey many days before he had arrived. At the meeting in 1345 CE, Ibn Batuta noted that Shah Jalal was tall and lean, fair in complexion and lived by the mosque in a cave, where his only item of value was a goat he kept for milk, butter, and yogurt. He observed that the companions of the Shah Jalal were foreign and known for their strength and bravery. He also mentions that many people would visit the Shah to seek guidance.

The meeting between Ibn Batuta and Shah Jalal is described in his Arabic travelogue, Rihla (The Journey). Amir Khusrau also gives an account of Shah Jalal's conquest of Sylhet in his book Afdalul Hawaade. Even today in Hadramaut, Yemen, Shah Jalal's name is established in folklore.