Shah Ali Baghdadi

Shāh ʿAlī al-Baghdādī (–1480) was a 15th-century Muslim missionary and Sufi saint based in the Faridpur and Dhaka regions of Bengal.

Life Ali al-Baghdadi was born in to Mufti Fakhruddin in Baghdad, Abbasid Caliphate. He was a descendant of Sultan Ali, allegedly a son of Muhammad al-Jawad and younger brother of Ali al-Hadi.

At the age of twenty, he travelled to the Delhi Sultanate with forty to one hundred companions in 838 AH (1434 CE). Eventually, he entered the Sultanate of Bengal during the reign of Sultan Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah. The Sultan gifted him with 12,000 bighas of land in Dholsamudra, Faridpur and he settled in the qasba of Girdah. The presence of Sufi saints such as Shah Ali Baghdadi, his brother-in-law Shah Husayn Tegh-Burhana and companions Haji Saaduddin and Shah Muhammad Goraz led to the area being named as Miran-i-Girdah in their honour. However, according to a book preserved in his mausoleum, he died in 1577 AD. His son and successor, Khwaja Ahsanullah, contributed towards the renovation of the shrine and establishment of a musafir-khana (guest-house).

Legacy

The Shah Ali Thana was founded in 2005, and includes the ward of Shah Ali Nagar.

A mosque in Girdah Locally called Gayabi Mosque contains an ancient relic chamber set up by Shah Ali Baghdadi. These include his wooden plate, turban, prayer mat and tasbih (made out of fish bone).

His nephew, Shah Syed Habibullah Maddan-e-Khoda (son of Shah Husayn Tegh-Burhana), settled in the village of Banamalidia, Madhukhali, Faridpur (where he is buried). Among his notable descendants are Barrister Syed Qumrul Islam Mohammad Salehuddin who was elected MNA from Faridpur 2 in 1970, MCA in 1972 elected MP of Bangladesh Parliament in 1973 from Faridpur 3 & Founder of Bangladesh Justice Party. Baghdadi's son Syed Shah Usman settled in Dasar, Madaripur in 1504, on tiger-back. From his descendants is businessman and politician Syed Abul Hossain.