Ali al-Hujwiri

Al-Hujwiri is venerated as the primary saint of Lahore, Pakistan by the Sufis of the area and his tomb-shrine, known as the Data Darbar, is one of the most frequented shrines in South Asia.

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.He migrated to Punjab from Afghanistan and brought the light of Islam to a land where majority of the people were Hindus.

[8] Ali Hujwiri described the first caliph of Islam Abu Bakr (r. 632–634) as "the Greatest Truthful,"[9] and deemed him "the leader (imām) of all the folk of this Path.

"[9] 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 "[10] and stated elsewhere that he "is placed by the Sufi shaykhs at the head of those who have adopted the contemplative life.

"[11] In conclusion, Ali Hujwiri stated: "The whole sect of Sufis has made him their patron in stripping themselvesan of worldly things, in fixity, in an eager desire for poverty, and in longing to renounce authority.

"[12] Al-Hujwiri described the second caliph of Islam Umar (r. 634–644) as one "specially distinguished by sagacity and resolution,"[12] and said that "the Sufis make him their model in wearing a patched garment and rigorously performing the duties of religion.

"[15] Ali Hujwiri described Jafar al-Sadiq (d. 765), the great-grandson of Husayn, as one "celebrated among the Sufi shaykhs for the subtlety of discourse and his acquaintance with spiritual truths.

"[16] Regarding the grandson of Husayn, Muhammad al-Baqir (d. 733), Ali Hujwiri stated: "He was distinguished for his knowledge of the abstruse science and for his subtle indications as to the meaning of the Quran.

[21] According to Ali Hujwiri, purely secular dancing "has no foundation either in the religious law of Islam or in the path of Sufism, because all reasonable men agree that it is a diversion when it is in earnest, and an impropriety when it is in jest".

[22] As for the legitimate ecstatic experiences of some Sufis, whose bodies convulsed when their "heart [throbbed] with exhilaration and rapture" on account of their intense love of God,[22] Ali Hujwiri declared that these movements only outwardly resembled dancing and opined that "those who call it 'dancing' are utterly wrong.

[25] As such, he stated: "You must know that the principle and foundation of Sufism and Knowledge of God rests on sainthood, the reality of which is unanimously affirmed by all the teachers, though every one has expressed himself in a different language.

"[25] Elsewhere, he said: "God has saints whom He has specially distinguished by His Friendship and whom He has chosen to be the governors of His Kingdom and has marked out to manifest by His Actions and has peculiarly favored with diverse kinds of miracles and has purged of natural corruptions and has delivered from subjection to their lower soul and passion, so that all their thoughts are of Him and their intimacy is with Him alone.

Reynold Alleyne Nicholson provided a short list of Ali Hujwiri's writings (all of which are lost aside from the Kashf al-maḥjūb), which included, amongst others, the following unpreserved works: Of other books written by Sheikh Ali Hujwiri: Mu'in al-Din Chishti stayed at al-Hujwiri's mausoleum and quoted a tribute to him as a narration; گنج بخش فیضِ عالَم مظہرِ نورِ خدا ناقصاں را پیرِ کامل ، کاملاں را راہنما Ganj Bakhsh-e-Faiz-e-Alam Mazhar-e-Nur-e-Khuda, Na Qasaan-ra Pir-i Kamil, Kamilaan-ra Rahnuma.