Samarkand. The second largest city in Uzbekistan and a center of Islamic research, education, culture, and art known worldwide. The word Samarkand is derived from the ancient Persian words “Asmara” meaning “Rock or Stone” and “Qand” meaning “Fortress”, Samarkand meaning “Rocky Fortress”. Samarkand is also known as the city of blue domes due to its abundance of domes, and this city is also important geographically and commercially. This city, which is approximately three thousand years old, has also been declared a world cultural heritage by the United Nations Organization department UNESCO in 2001. But the purpose of my visit (Mustayeen Khan) to Samarkand was not only academic, but also to visit the tombs, madrasas, and mosques and famous scholar’s shrines buried here.
Here, I would like to tell you about the experience of visiting the tomb of the great spiritual leader of the famous Naqshbandi order, Hazrat Khwaja Ubaidullah Ahrar, and the mosque and madrasa associated with him.
Khwaja Ubaidullah Ahrar is considered one of the religious Shaykh, 20th Shaykh of Naqshbandi Golden Chain and 11th Khwaja of “Khwajagan”. He was given the name Ubaidullah and the titles Khwaja, Nasiruddin and Ahrar. He was born in the village of “Baghistan” in Tashkent in the month of Ramadan 806 AH 1404. The elders had predicted in his childhood that he would be a great Islamic scholar. His forefathers from parentals side lineage to Hazart Abu Bakar Saddique R.A and from maternal side lineage to Hazart Umar Farooq R.A. He spent his early life in Baghistan, then at the request of Sultan Abu Saeed, he went to Samarkand and remained in Samarkand until his death. He traveled to Bukhara, Khorasan, Balkh, Shiberghan, Herat and many other areas to pursue education. He received training in the Naqashbandiyya spiritual training from Yaqub al-Charkhi and also took spiritual bayat (Spiritual Oath) from him.
Khwaja Ahrar played an important role for shaping Naqshbandi order emphases on inner purity and the importance of Zikr (Remembrance of God).
He did not do Peeri till his death, but has many Mureeds (Devotees). He spread Islam widely, especially the Uzbek tribes accepted Islam in large numbers. After the so many years Uzbek are the one who actually transfer this reading and spread this knowledge to the word.
The historically and culturally famous city of Samarkand dates back to the Islamic era. That is why many traces of Islamic architecture can still be seen in the archaeological sites of this city. The Islamic style can still be followed and seen in Samarkand today. The city was ruled by many rulers, starting with the Persians, then the Greeks, Chinese, Arabs, Mongols and finally the Turks. After that, it was also part of the Soviet Union. Timur era (also known as Tamerlane, Turco-Mongol founded Timurid Empire) greatly increased the development of this city and made it a magnificent and beautiful city, in addition to establishing many centers of knowledge and literature for education purposes.
According to historians, when Samarkand was established into a city, a leopard came down from the mountains to the city and roamed in the streets and some specific buildings of the city and finally went back to the mountains without harming anyone. After that, the inhabitants of Samarkand used to depict leopards, and the image of a leopard was also depicted on the flags of that period. Its images are still found today in the engravings of Samarkand’s buildings and on the local currency there, which is considered a symbol of the greatness and power of the people of Uzbek.
In today times, the modern Samarkand city is divided into two parts, old city is mostly including historical places, shops, mosques, and other private houses. Whereas, new city was developed during Soviet Union (Russia Empire) includes Government and administrative building, cultural building, and educational centers. Ibn-e-Battuta called this city the one of the finest and beautiful in the world.
In this city the Registan known as “Sandy Place” is the heart of the city. This square is also covered by 3 Madrasah’s (Schools), Ulugh Baig Madrasah, Sher-Dor Madrasah, and Tilya-Kori Madrasah. Other famous and known places are Bibi Khanym Mosque and Shah-i-Zinda.
The tomb of Khwaja Ahrar is situated in Khodzha Akhror Vali Street, located in the heart of the city. The old mosque is also located next to the shrine, now a day many of the peoples came for Friday Juma prayers, and also pay respect and tribute to Khwaja Ahrar to honor his contribution in Sufism. The Government also make a new mosque on the name of Khwaja Ahrar Vali Mosque.
A Khanqah of Khwaja Ahrar is also located near to its shrine where the disciples gathered for spiritual training. This place still attracts the Sufi practitioners and visitor’s who wanted to connect with spiritual atmosphere and following the teaching of Khwaja Ahrar
Here are some of the pics for the readers.
