Khwaja Enayetpuri(r) and his Legacy
What we know as Mozaddediya Tariqah of Sufism in the 20th century Bangladesh (born as an independent country in 1971 from the then West Pakistan) owes much to the great saint in Bangladesh named Shah Sufi Hazrat Mawlana Khwaja Yunus Ali (r), popularly known as Khwaja Enayetpuri(r), whose family lineage traced back to Baghdad but later on migrated to Delhi, India. Khwaja Enayetpuri(r), having reached the highest grade of theosophical, intuitional and spiritual speculation, preached his valuable Sufi teachings by representing four dominant and prominent Sufi orders—Naqshebandiya, Mozaddediya, Al-Qadiri, and Al-Chisti. It is hard to find any Sufi saint in the present day Bangladesh where a particular Sufi order, such as, solely Al-Qadiri, or solely Al-Chisti is taught or preached. The aforesaid Sufi orders are merged into one another in such a way in his teachings that none could differentiate what particular Sufi order he or she belongs to, rather they (the disciples) are known as the followers of four renowned Sufi orders taught and preached by the late Khwaja Enayetpuri(r).
Hazrat Mawlana Khwaja Yunus Ali, popularly known as Khwaja Enayetpuri(r), was born in 1886 at Enayetpur in the district of Sirajgonj, Bangladesh. He possessed a highly dignified lineage. His father, Khwaja Abdul Karim was known as a great Islamic scholar. He was greatly enlightened in the light of Sufism the germ of which is traced in the passages of the Qur’an.
Khwaja Enayetpuri(r) had passed 12 years by surrendering himself to the path of Allah under the guidance of his Sheikh Shah Sufi Syed Wazed Ali in Kolkata, India, with a view to achieving spiritual knowledge and right guidance for the welfare of the people regardless of castes and classes. Having studied a large number of religious scriptures for nearly two decades, the Sufi reached the culmination of the highest grade of theosophical, intuitional and spiritual speculation. He sought world peace and thus preached his valuable teachings representing four Tariqas (Orders)— Naqshebandiya, Mozaddediya, Al-Qadiri, and Al-Chishti. His teachings are highly respected and maintained by innumerable numbers of people in the Indian sub-continent, and every year on the occasion of the Urs (Annual celebration
commemorating the death of the saints) hundreds of thousands of people congregate at the shrine (mazar) from far and near to observe the day with due solemnity, paying tribute to the holy saint. The recitation of the Qur’an, prayer for blessings (milad-mahfil) and above all ‘Jikr-e Qulb’ mark the Urs program.
The mystic teachings of Enayetpuri(r) are keen and have been widely embraced by hundreds of thousands of his disciples. Fear, aspiration, shame, love and friendship with Allah—these five things should be remembered by all who wish to desire His (Allah) pity, said Enayetpuri(r). Since undergone a profound and purifying experience, he believed that there were four states of a saint—seclusion, devotion to knowledge, activities to attain knowledge, and finally preaching. A clear-hearted and true-tongued man, according to him, is like a saint who enjoys spiritual enlightenment in five states: Ebadat (regular prayers), zikr (remembrance), intimacy with God (uns), attainment of God’s compassion, and meditation of God (fiqr). He, as a matter of fact, aimed to ensure both the worldly and spiritual welfare of the people in order to eradicate all evil from the human life, emancipate the human Soul from faulty elements and throw some light on the path of a Mumin (true believer) that can bring more peace, more progress and more compassion of Allah in this transitory world.
At present there are numerous Al-Qadiri and Mozaddediya Khanqahs in Bangladesh, but the present leaders and the former heads of them are not, were not, so popular in teaching or preaching the original Sufi principles. As a result only a few followers can be traced as being recognised to be an exclusively Al-Qadiri or Mozaddediya follower. Khwaja Enayetpuri(r) in this regard was the most successful Sheikh in Bangladesh. He disseminated spiritual training thousands of his devotes some successful of whom have set up different Khanqahs in different places of the country. Some large ones are: The Enayetpur Darbar Sharif (the Khanqah of Khwaja Enayetpuri(r)), The Shambhuganj Darbar Sharif, The Biswa Zaker Manzil (The World Zaker Center), The Chandra Para Darbar Sharif, The Paradise Para Darbar Sharif, Murshidpur Darbar Sharif, and so on. Needless to say, so recognized and so venerated is the Enayetpur Darbar Sharif that almost all classes of people from the highest rank to the poor working class visit it to pay homage to the late Sheikh and to vow to God against all sinful attachments to the world. Situated around 130 KM away from National Parliament House of Dhaka and 22.5 KM from Jamuna Bridge linking Northern and Southern part of the country, Enayetpur Darbar Sharif is not only a meeting place of millions of the Sufis in Bangladesh, but also a center for Sufi studies for the scholars. Adjacent to the shrine of the late Khwaja Enayetpuri(r) stands a big mosque, built by the finance of the disciples, who overwhelmingly responded to the call of Hazrat Khwaja Kamal Uddin, the 3rd son of Khwaja Enayetpuri(r) and the present head of The Enayetpur Darbar Sharif. Hazrat Khwaja Kamal Uddin is an authentic authority on the Sufi teachings of the Naqshbandiya and the Mozaddediya tariqas. He succeeded as the Sufi Master his eldest brother Maulana Hazrat Khwaja Hasim Uddin and youngest Hazrat Khwaja Mozammel Huq, whom he assisted tirelessly to successfully run the
Khanqah in the right direction, upholding the basic Sufi teachings of Khwaja Enayetpuri(r). The monastery maintains a charity hospital in the locality by its own finance. The Khwaja Library contains a good collection of Sufi literature including some valuable publications of Khwaja Enayetpuri(r) and his sons. Although most of the disciples of the Enayetpur Darbar Sharif are from a lower middle class, there are also quite a good number of elite people, who financially help the Khanqah. The regular Sufi practice of zikr is performed in the monastery by the disciples, who gather at the Khanqah to pay their homage to the beloved Murshid.
A few yards away from the Darbar Sharif stands one of the largest medical college and hospital erected by Dr M.M. Amjad Hussain, one of the business magnets in Bangladesh and the 3rd son-in-law of Khwaja Enayetpuri(r).
Khwaja Yunus Ali Medical College & Hospital (KYAMCH), named in memory of Khwaja Enayetpuri, is the only private Medical College in Bangladesh where medical centers, college premise, student hostels and teachers and doctor’s residence are located in the same complex. The KYAMCH provides all modern health care and is equipped with fabulous modern medical facilities (http://www.kyamch.org/edu_kyamc.html).
As mentioned earlier, The Shambhuganj Darbar Sharif is one of the biggest and remarkable Sufi Khanqahs (monasteries) in Bangladesh. Founded and headed by the late Sufi Master Maulana Khwaja Muhammad Saifuddin, the second son of the late Khwaja Enayetpuri(r), this monastery successfully plays an important role in preaching Sufi teachings in Bangladesh. Every year on the occasion of the Urs, which is celebrated commemorating Khwaja Enayetpuri(r), hundreds of hundreds of devoted Sufis meet the Sufi Master. Born in 1933, Maulana Khwaja Saifuddin who was greatly inspired and influenced by his father, was so popular to the masses for the Sufi teachings on various aspects of the Naqshebandiya and the Mozaddediya orders that he had to establish a separate school (Khanqah) in 1963 at Shambhuganj, Mymensing, some 12 years after the death of Khwaja Enayetpuri(r) with a view to extending the Tariqa of his beloved father. Added to this Khanqah is the Mozaddediya Academy, financed by the contribution of the Murids (disciples), which is a renowned center for the studies of Sufi philosophy, contributed by the Sufi Master, Hazrat Moulana Khwaja Saifuddin, a prolific scholar on Sufism and a successful successor of Khwaja Enayetpuri(r). After the demise of the Master Hazrat Khwaja Saifuddin in 1995, his sons have taken over the responsibility of the khanqah. Pirzada Khwaja Muhammad Abdur Rab Khasru (BSc in Engineering) is the present head of this Khanqah.
Pirzada Khwaja Muhammad Badruddoza Haidar, the fourth son of Hazrat Khwaja Saifuddin left Shambhuganj, Mymensing, during the lifetime of his father and gained popularity among the poor rural people in an underprivileged village called Murshidpur, Sherpur, where he later established a Khanqah preaching the Sufi Tariqah of Khwaja Enayetpuri (his grandfather) and his father. Murshidpur Darbar Sharif is now one of the biggest meeting places of Sufi devotees from all strata of the society. 
But great is the Biswa Zaker Manzil which was established in Faridpur, Bangladesh, by the present Sufi Master Hazrat Maulana Hasmat Ullah, popularly known as the Pir of Atrashi, who is sometimes regarded as Khwaja Faridpuri. As the most successful Murid of Khwaja Enayetpuri(r), he is so popular in conveying the tariqah of his Master that he might have attained the best spiritual training from his Murshid after passing many years with him. Being aware of what the masses need for the development of moral life in the modern age of spiritual crisis on the Islamic soil in Bangladesh, the Pir of Atrashi has set up The Institute of Islamic Research and Culture in his Khanqah. The institute publishes a daily (The Daily Al-Mozadded) and a weekly (The Weekly Meghna) newspapers covering various Shari’a and Sufi teachings and practices—a great step in removing the common misunderstandings of the people about the nature of Sufi philosophy in Bangladesh. One of the notable publications of the institute is The Nasiyat, a collection of the Sufi lectures delivered by the Sufi Master, the Pir of Atrashi, published in 26 volumes in Bengali. Solvent financially, The Biswa Zaker Manzil plays a very important role in evangelizing the Sufi philosophy home and abroad (some of his followers live in the USA permanently). The biggest annual celebration is the Urs, commemorating to the memory of Khwaja Enayetpuri(r), on which thousands of thousands of Ashekans (devoted followers) from far and near gather at the monastery in order to pay tribute to their celebrated Sheikh by the leadership of the Pir of Atrashi. In addition, every weekend the monastery organizes Sufi meetings for zikr in which a good many followers take part, traveling from remote places by buses, cars, boats, etc.
The Chandra Para Darbar Sharif was founded in Faridpur by the late Sufi Master Maulana Sultan Ahmed, one of the renowned Murids of the late Khwaja Enayetpuri(r). Compared to other Khanqahs established by the followers of Khwaja Enayetpuri(r), Chandra Para Darbar Sharif is smaller, but well-respected by the common people for its erudite Master endowed with higher spiritual qualities. This Khanqah is led by Mr Qamruzzaman, who was placed in charge of the master when he was teen-aged. Like other Khanqahs, this Khanqah celebrates each year the Urs program in the memory of Khwaja Enayetpuri(r), though in recent years the present head is closely associated with Khwaja Mozammel Huq’s youngest son, Khwaja Tipu Sultan, who has set up a new khanqah known as Shyamolibag Khanqah Sharif in his house at Shyamoli, Dhaka, after the death of his father. Unlike his father, Mr Qamruzzaman of Chandrapara, Faridpur follows Shyamolibag Khanqah Sharif and celebrates Urs commemorating the death of Khwaja Mozammel Huq, whom he regards as his Murshid.
The last of our brief description of the Enayetpuri Sufi movements in Bangladesh beginning with the late Sufi Hazrat Khwaja Enayetpuri(r) is the Khanqah of the late Sufi Master Maulana Makim Uddin, who established the Paradise Para Darbar Sharif in Tangail. Like others, Maulana Makim Uddin was a devoted Murid of Khwaja Enayetpuri(r). It is believed that he reached the highest stage of spiritual plane towards the path of mysticism in Islam among all the disciples of Khwaja Enayetpuri(r). After the death of his father, Maulana Mahi Uddin became the Sufi Master of the Khanqah, followed by his son, Shah Malek Uddin, who regularly visits the Enayetpuri khanqah with prodigious offerings (nazr) as a token of his profound love for the present spiritual leader of the Enayetpuri Tariqa, Shah Sufi Hazrat Khwaja Kamal Uddin (present Sajjad Nishin). The successful leadership of the Master has influenced many poor and illiterate people in his locality to receive Sufi teachings from him, as the teachings of faqr (poverty) touched the right chord of the poverty-stricken followers in their Spiritual life. This Khanqah also observes the Urs program each year.
One of the programs which all of the aforesaid Khanqahs have in common is the celebration of the Urs program, commemorating the death anniversary of the Master of their Masters. On the occasion of the Urs at The Enayetpur Darbar Sharif, all the monasteries send their followers to Enayetpur with some financial support to make the program successful. A common phenomenon observed in all the monasteries is that the followers of the respective monasteries offer a vow in order to sacrifice something to their Sheikhs. This offer of vow is called manat or nazar, which is a sort of financial support. It has been closely observed that the followers of the monasteries tend to surrender themselves to their respective Pirs and visit them as frequently as they can with the offers of vow they make in accordance with their ability in their daily life in the hope that they will be bestowed with Allah’s blessings through their Murshids. A significant point is that the Sufi practice of all the monasteries is the same, that is, zikr, assisted with ghazals. The participants of zikr do not perform any other sama (sufi music), qawwali, or dance. The only music performed with the verbal zjkr is ghazal, written and sung with rhythm and melody but without any musical instrument, by the Zakers (performers of zikr) most of whom are, surprisingly speaking, illiterate. Surrounding the Pirs, the zakers start performing zikr, ‘La ilaha illa’ Llah’, or repeating the word ‘Allah’, with a very soft melody, and without interrupting it a group of three or four ghazal singers led by one head singer perform the ghazals, praising their Murshids, and the beauty and love of Allah. Although zikr is performed with fast tempo, it ends without any whirling dance, instrumental music, or hand-clapping. However zikr is followed by the monazat (supplication for blessings) to Allah which lasts sometimes an hour. In performing the supplication to Allah, the heads of the Khanqahs lead the monazat asking for Allah’s blessings for all people of the world in general, and all the Sufi saints in the past and present in particular. Sometimes special monazats are held asking for Allah’s blessings in critical situations of a country or a nation, for example, during drought, flood, or any ethnic conflict.
It may be pertinent to point out that although most of the disciples of the aforesaid Khanqahs are poor and illiterate; there are also some very rich and well-educated followers who equally visit the shrines and monasteries in Bangladesh. It is a fact that in Bangladesh Pirism is highly dignified to the followers, but it does not follow that the Perfect Pir (Murshid-e Kamil) misguides the generally illiterate Murids, although there are some fake people who are prone to misguide the common masses by disguising themselves as the Pirs; this makes the common people misunderstand about what Sufism is as a whole, and this is one of the reasons why Sufism from its origin till today had remained a controversial subject among the Muslim as well as non-Muslim worlds. The Sufi movements of Khwaja Enayetpuri(r) and all his Murids are completely beyond any controversy. There is not a single scandal raised against the Khanqah of Khwaja Enayetpuri(r), rather it has been highly venerated by all classes of people some of whom are elites, highest government officials, and even the heads of the states. As a token of respect to the holy memory of the spiritually celebrated saint, some government and non-government properties in Bangladesh have been named after the name of Khwaja Enayetpuri(r), for example, The Enayetpuri Ferry.
Although 90% Bangladeshi people are Muslims, not all of them follow Sufism. There are a considerable number of people who still do not believe in Sufism despite their faith in Islam and there still remains a wide gap between the fundamental Muslims and the Sufis in Bangladesh. The Jamaat-i-Islami (Bangladesh) is dead against the Sufi practices in Bangladesh. Its present and past heads and front leaders often deliver sermons against Pirism. The fanatics demand that Ahmadiyya Jamaat in Bangladesh be declared non-Muslims and their fanatic followers intermittently attack Ahmadiyya Mosques, costing innocent lives and leaving casualties. A fatal misunderstanding between the Wahavists and others seems to be that to believe in Sufism means to share Allah with the Sheikh or the Pir. This rests on their wrong ideology of Islam, as Sufism is the essence or heart of Islam. This tendency is maintained by some fundamental Muslims in Bangladesh. Apart from Islam, Bangladesh has embraced a lot of non-Muslim people who tend to show their respect to a Pir or Sheikh rather than a fundamental Muslim who believes only in Shari’a. The Khanqahs (monasteries) thus have been able to show the path of the non-Muslims who want to attain spiritual training from the Sheikhs. The Ulemas (jurists) and the Sufis do not force anybody to become converted into Islam; what they do through their teaching, as did Khwaja Enayetpuri(r), is a silent and spiritual revolution. Preaching Sufism in Bangladesh is a silent and spontaneous movement as the Sufis do not force anybody to become a Sufi. The true Sufis of Bangladesh are positively contributing to the establishment and maintenance of global peace through social cohesion and peaceful coexistence, required in the present context of the globe embroiled in unnecessary violence and blood-letting in the name of religion.
Professor Golam Dastagir