The Mystic Path of Shaikh Bahauddin Zakariya

Abstract

Shaikh Bahauddin Zakariya (1182-1262) laid the foundation of the Suhrawardi order in Multan, which played a significant role in the socio cultural history of north-western India. His ancestors had migrated from Mecca and settled in Multan. His father Shaikh Wajihuddin was married to the daughter of Maulana Husamuddin Tirmizi, who had migrated to Punjab in the wake of the Mongol invasions. Bahauddin Zakariya was born at Kot Karor, a village near Multan. While still a young boy, he memorized the Quran and learnt to recite it in seven styles of recitation. During a long stay in the famous centres of education – Khurasan, Bukhara, Madina and Palestine- he studied the traditional subjects