Wajīh al-Dīn ʿAlawī Gujarātī was born in Ahmedabad in 1504 into a family of Sufi scholars and jurists, who were patronised by the sultans of Gujarat.

In 1528 he founded the ʿAlawī Madrasa which was Ahmedbad's most notable Islamic learning center for over a century and a half.

When it came to Islamic sectarianism, he professed "total peace", and opposed discrimination against the Mahdawi movement.

[1] The tomb dedicated to him was built by his disciple Syed Murtuza Khan Bukhari, the eleventh (1606-1609) governor of Ahmedabad during reign of Jahangir.

The nearby mosque was built by Wajihuddin's grandson Shaikh Haidar, which was visited by Jahangir in 1608.