Hazrat Ishaan

Hazrat Ishaan Khawand Mahmud (1563 — 4 November 1642) was a Sunni Muslim Wali (Sufi saint) from Bukhara, Uzbekistan and descendant of Bahauddin Naqshband, the founder of the Naqshbandi Sufi order.

Biography

Spiritual journey Hazat Ishaan was granted permission from his father to study in a royal college and became an accomplished scholar. At 23, Ishaan received a letter to visit his father and to accompany him in his last days. Upon his father's death, he traveled to Wakhsh, where he became Shaykh al-Islam. While staying in Wakhsh, he came to know Khwaja Hajji. They met again in Balkh, where Hajji introduced him to his future master Khwaja Ishaq Dahbidi. He met Dahbidi again in Bokhara and became his disciple. After twelve years of training, Ishaan reached the level of a Sufi Shaykh in 1598. Dahbidi welcomed him, and upon hearing his advice, Ishaan travelled towards Lahore. Instead, he arrived in Srinagar, Kashmir. In Srinagar he attracted many people who later followed him. His fame reached across Central Asia.

Influence Khawand Mahmud attracted hundreds of thousands of disciples in what is now Afghanistan, especially in Kandahar, Kabul, and Herat. He sent disciples around Central Asia, and two were sent to Tibet. Mahmud had a significant influence over a long line of successors. Notable successors and descendants of Mahmud include his son Moinuddin Hadi Naqshband in Kashmir and Sayyid Mir Jan in Pakistan.

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