Sheikh Noor-ud-din Wali - Biography

Biography

Shaikh Nur-ud-din was born in a village called Qaimoh (old name Katimusha),( which is 60 km South east of Srinagar, in 779 A.H. = 1377 A.C, on the day of the Eid al-Adha. His father's name was Shaikh Salar-ud-din his mother Sadra, was called Sadra Moji or Sadra Deddi. In Kashmir, Moji means 'mother' and Deddi denotes 'elderly.' Both the parents were well known for their piety. It was a period when Kashmir was ruled by the sultans Qutub-ud-Din, Sikandar, Ali Shah, and Zain-ul-Abidin.

When Nur-ud-din grew up, his stepbrothers began to trouble him. They were rogues, while he was saintly. Once or twice he accompanied them to find work but felt that he could not be happy with them. He was then apprenticed to a couple of traders, one after the other. There, too, he felt disgusted with the ways of the world, and, deciding upon renunciation, retired to caves for meditation at the age of thirty. It is said that he lived for twelve years in the wilderness. Hence, perhaps, kaimuh is given the derivation of kai-wan (or ban, a forest) in rustic belief. The actual cave of contemplation is shown in kaimuh and is about 10 feet deep. In his last days, the saint sustained life on one cup of milk daily. Finally, he reduced himself to water alone, and died at the age of 63, in the reign of sultan Zain-ul-Abidin, in 842 A. H. = 1438 A.C. Shams-ul-Arifin or 'the sun of the pious' is the chronogram which gives the date of his death. The Sultan accompanied his bier to the grave. The burial prayers were led by a great divine or 'Alim of the age, Makhdum Baba Usman Uchchap Ganai. The tomb of Shaikh Nur-ud-din at Charari Sharief, a small town perched on a dry bare hill, 20 miles south west of Srinagar, is visited by thousands of people to the present day.

During his lifetime, he witnessed a gradual cultural and religious transformation of the people of the valley, from Hinduism to Islam. Various historical events helped to shape his mind in such a manner that he produced some works of philosophy, in his own manner of verses and poetry.

Sheikh ul-Alam was deeply affected by such events and this is apparent in a majority of his verses.

The biggest event that occurred in the Sheikh's childhood was the coming of another Muslim preacher, Amir Kabir Mir Syed Hamadani, to Kashmir. Shah Hamadan, as he was popularly called, came to Kashmir in September 1372 CE, 1379 CE and the third time in the year 1383 CE.

Shaikh Nur-ud-din- appears to have married Zai Ded from Dadasara, Tral, Pulwama( her father Akber-u-Din(RA) and two brothers "Kamal-u-din" and "Jamal-u-din" are buried at Dadasara Tral, people of the area visited their shrine for "Dua" to fulfil their needs ) and had two sons and one daughter. On the death of the children, Zai Ded also renounced the world, and became a hermit. She was buried at Kaimuh on her death.

The simplicity and purity of Shaikh Nur-ud-din's life have deeply impressed the Kashmiri who entertains the highest veneration for the saint. In fact, the Afghan governor, Ata Muhammad Khan, gave, as it were, expression to public sentiment when coins were struck by him in the name of Shaikh Nur-ud-din in 1223-25 A.H. (1808-10 CE). No other saint perhaps in human history has ever had coins struck in his honour.