Kashaf-ul-Mahjoob and Kashaf-ul-Asrar were the two important writings of Data Ganj Bakhsh and Sheikh Abul-Qasim was particularly mentioned in it with great respect.
Abu ’l-Ḥasan ʿAlī b. ʿUthmān b. ʿAlī al-Ghaznawī al-Jullābī al-Hujwīrī (c. 1009-1072/77), known as ʿAlī al-Hujwīrī or al-Hujwīrī (also spelt Hajweri, Hajveri, or Hajvery) for short, or reverentially as Shaykh Syed ʿAlī al-Hujwīrī or as Dātā Ganj Bakhsh by Muslims of the Indian subcontinent, was an 11th-century Ghaznian-Persian Sunni Muslim[4] mystic, theologian, and preacher who became famous for composing the Kashf al-maḥjūb (Unveiling of the Hidden), which is considered the "earliest formal treatise" on Sufism in Persian.[5] Ali Hujwiri is believed to have contributed "significantly" to the spread of Islam in South Asia through his preaching,[6] with one historian describing him as "one of the most important figures to have spread Islam in the Indian subcontinent."[7]
In the present day, Ali Hujwiri is venerated as the patron saint of Lahore, Pakistan by the traditional Sunni Muslims of the area.[8][9] He is, moreover, one of the most widely venerated saints in the entire Indian subcontinent,[10] and his tomb-shrine in Lahore, popularly known as Data Darbar, is one of the most frequented shrines in South Asia.[11] At present, it is Pakistan's largest shrine "in numbers of annual visitors and in the size of the shrine complex,"[12] and, having been nationalized in 1960, is managed today by the Department of Awqaf and Religious Affairs of the Punjab.[13] The mystic himself, meanwhile, continues to remain a "household name" in the daily Islam of both India and Pakistan.[14] In 2016, the Government of Pakistan declared 21 November to be a public holiday for the commemoration of the commencement of Ali Hujwiri's three-day death anniversary
Background
Ali Hujwiri was born in Ghazni, in present-day Afghanistan, in around 1009 to Uthman ibn Ali or Bu Ali. He is a direct descendant of Prophet Muhammad through his father who was a direct descendant of Al-Imam Hasan ibn Ali. His genealogical chain goes back eight generations to Ali.[16][17] According to the autobiographical information recorded in his own Kashf al-maḥjūb, it is evident that Ali Hujwiri travelled "widely through the Ghaznavid Empire and beyond, spending considerable time in Baghdad, Nishapur, and Damascus, where he met many of the pre-eminent Ṣūfīs of his time."[18] In matters of jurisprudence, he received training in the Hanafi rite of orthodox Sunni law under various teachers.[19] As for his Sufic training, he was linked through his teacher al-Khuttalī to al-Husrī, Abu Bakr Shibli (d. 946), and Junayd of Baghdad (d. 910).[20] For a short period of time, the mystic is believed to have lived in Iraq,[21] where he first became wealthy but late fell into debt.[22] His brief marriage during this period of time is said to have been unhappy.[23] Eventually, Ali Hujwiri settled in Lahore, where he died with the reputation of a renowned preacher and teacher.[24] His last few years, however, were not free of struggle, as he was imprisoned for some time for "the lack of the books he had left at Ghazni."[25] After his death, Ali Hujwiri was unanimously regarded as a great saint by popular acclaim.[26]
Views
Companions of Muḥammad
Abu Bakr
Ali Hujwiri described the first caliph of Islam Abu Bakr (d. 634) as "the Greatest Truthful,"[27] and deemed him "the leader (imām) of all the folk of this Path."[28] Eulogizing Abu Bakr's piety, Ali Hujwiri praised him for how "he gave away all his wealth and his clients, and clad himself in a woolen garment, and came to the Messenger Muhammad "[29] and stated elsewhere that he "is placed by the Sufi shaykhs at the head of those who have adopted the contemplative life."[30] In conclusion, Ali Hujwiri stated: "The whole sect of Sufis have made him their patron in stripping themselves of worldly things, in fixity, in eager desire for poverty, and in longing to renounce authority. He is the leader of the Muslims in general, and of the Sufis in particular.