Religion:Hazrat Ishaan (Title)

Short description: Imām of Naqshbandi Sufi Islam

Hazrat Ishaan (Persian: حضرت ایشان‎; also transliterated as Hazrat Ishaan and Hasrat Eshan) is a title held by the Imām of the House of Hazrat Ishaan, who simultaneously is the spiritual head of the Naqshbandi Sufi Order and the Sayyids. All Hazrat Ishaans claim descent from Muhammad, last prophet of Islam, through Hasan al Askari, Sayyid Abdul Qadir Gilani and Bahauddin Naqshband.

Title

According to Yasin Qasvari, a scholar of the Naqshbandi Sufi order, Hazrat Ishaan is an honorific title used by The Khan of Bokhara Abdullah Khan bin Iskander and Moghul Emperor Akbar to address Khwaja Khawand Mahmud (1563-1642), the contemporary supreme leader of the Naqshbandi Sufi Order. Qasvari and David William Damrel, Professor of Religious studies in South Carolina and Pluralism Project Affiliate at Harvard University furthermore mention that both monarchs were spiritual followers of Hazrat Ishaan, as it is believed that he saved Abdullah Khan II during an accident while hunting and prayed for Akbar to get a son.

Hazrat is a common Pakistani, Iranian, and honorific Arabic title used to honour a person. It literally denotes and translates to "presence, appearance.

Scholars attending a programm about Hazrat Ishaan I at 92 News mention that "Ishaan" is derived from the persian term "Shaan" meaning exalted, holy or blessed by God.

Thus Hazrat Ishaan is to be translated as "One with the exalted Presence".

History

In regards to his popularity in the Moghul court, Khwaja Khawand Mahmud Hazrat Ishaan´s I son Sayyid Moinuddin Hadi Naqshband married the daughter of Emperor Jahangir, bestowing royality on him. Sayyid Moinuddin´s grandson in turn also married the daughter of Aurangzeb. Hazrat Ishaan IX then married an Afghan princess, descending from Shah Ashraf Hotak, whose daughter married the Afghan Musahiban Prince Abdul Khalek Khan, who was a pioneer of Afghan Modern Science, becoming the permanent Ambassador of Afghanistan to the United Nation, cousin and right hand person of Prince Muhammad Daoud Khan, both descending from the Afghan King Sultan Muhammad Khan.

When Hazrat Ishaan I migrated to Kashmir, he was welcomed as their spiritual patron saint, supported by the Moghul emperors. Until today his descendants are highly esteemed in the Ziyarat Naqshband Saheb. After a Shiite rebellion against Hazrat Ishaan, he was evacuated by Shah Jahan to migrate to Lahore. There Shah Jahan has constructed a palace for him, which is his present Mausoleum in Begumpura.

List of Hazrat Ishaans

• Hazrat Ishaan I: H.H. Khwaja Khawand Mahmud (1563-1642)
• Hazrat Ishaan II: H.I.H. Prince Sayyid Moinuddin (d. 1674)
• Hazrat Ishaan III: H.I.H. Prince Sayyid Nizamuddin
• Hazrat Ishaan IV: H.I.H. Prince Sayyid Nooruddin (1675-1743)
• Hazrat Ishaan V: H.I.H. Prince Sayyid Kamaluddin (d.1774)
• Hazrat Ishaan VI: H.I.H. Prince Sayyid Mohyuddin
• Hazrat Ishaan VII: H.H. Sayyid Hasan
• Hazrat Ishaan VIII: H.H. Shah Sayyid Mir Jan (1800-1901) holding the title together with his little brothers H.H. Prince Mir Sayyid Mahmud Agha und H.H. Prince Sayyid Mir Fazlullah Agha
• Hazrat Ishaan IX: H.H. Prince Sayyid Mir Muhammad Jan (1900-1955)
• Hazrat Ishaan X: H.H. Prince Sayyid Assadullah (b. 1950)
• Hazrat Ishaan XI: H.E. Prince Sayyid Mustafa Sadat (b. 1976)
• Hazrat Ishaan XII: H.E. Prince Sayyid Raphael Dakik (b. 1998, nephew of Sayyid Mustafa)

See also

• Naqshbandiyya
• Golden Chain
• Sufism
• Moghul Empire
• Hazrat Ishaan
• Sayyid Moinuddin Hadi Naqshband
• Sayyid Mir Jan

Further reading

• David Damrel, Forgotten Grace: Khwaja Khawand Mahmud in Central Asia and Moghul India
• Muhammad Yasin Qasvari, Genealogical archive of the House of Hazrat Ishaan