With Love to the Muslims of the World — Page 15
15 to him. His followers, if any, were ordered to be be- headed. 6 th Century Hijra Hadrat ‘Abdul-Q a dir J i l a n i , who became known as the Sult a n of Sufi s was also denounced as a heretic and an apostate by more than 200 ulema. 7 th Century Hijra Sheikh ‘Abul H asan Sh a zl i and Sheikh ‘Az i z Bin ‘Abdus- Sal a m were both notable Sufi saints and authors. Yet they were declared heretics. Ni za m-ud-D i n Auliy a ’, the sultan of saints of Indian fame, was also branded as a heretic. Imam Ibn-e-Taimiyyah was a highly distinguished scholar, who was imprisoned for a long time in Egypt and was tortured. He died in prison. Shams Tabreiz was a noble saint of his time and was the mentor of many who became famous saints later. He was skinned alive. Jal a l-ud-D i n R umi , famous Sufi saint and author of the well-known Mathnaw i , was declared an apostate, along with his followers. 8 th Century Hijra Those dubbed as ‘heretics’ in this century were two important personages: one was Imam Ibn-e-Qayyim, who was imprisoned, humiliated, lashed and tortured. The other was Sufi T a j-ud-D i n Sibk i , who was also harassed by the mullahs.