ʿALĪ MOTTAQĪ

 

ʿALĪ MOTTAQĪ, SHAIKH ʿALAʾ-AL-DĪN B. ḤOSĀM-AL-DĪN ʿABD AL-MĀLEK, a saint and Hadith scholar of India (885-975/1481-1567). Born at Borhanpur, he was first a pupil of Shah Bāǰen Češtī, though he received the Češtī investiture from Shah Bāǰen’s son, Shaikh ʿAbd-al-Ḥakīm. In Multan he became the pupil of Shaikh Ḥosām-al-dīn Moltānī Mottaqī. During the reign of Bahādoršāh (932-43/1525-36), he lived for a time at Ahmadabad but left the city when Bahādoršāh was defeated by Homāyūn in 941/1535. Finally migrating to Mecca and Medina in 953/1546, he lived there in the company of Shaikh Abu’l-Ḥasan Bakrī and Ebn Ḥaǰar Hayṯamī; from another Meccan resident, Shaikh Moḥammad Saḵāwī, he obtained the Qāderī and Šāḏelī investiture as well as further instruction in Hadith. ʿAlī Mottaqī commanded respect for his piety and learning not only from contemporary scholars but also from rulers: Both the Ottoman emperor Solaymān II (926-74/1520-66) and the Gujarat Sultan Maḥmūd III (943-61/1537-54) granted stipends for the pupils of his madrasa. ʿAlī Mottaqī was a prolific writer, mostly in Arabic. Zobayd Aḥmad lists eighteen of his extant works, including a major collection of Hadith, Kanz al-ʿommāl (8 vols., Hyderabad, 1312-13/1894-96). He inspired an Indian school of Hadith study that thrived for over 300 years and produced numerous outstanding scholars and saints. He died in Mecca (Ethé: Medina) on 1 Jomādā 1975/4 November 1567 and was buried at Maʿlāh outside the city.

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(M. Baqir)

Originally Published: December 15, 1985

Last Updated: August 1, 2011

This article is available in print.
Vol. I, Fasc. 8, pp. 869-870

Cite this entry:

M. Baqir, “ʿALĪ MOTTAQĪ,” Encyclopædia Iranica, I/8, pp. 869-870, available online at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ali-mottaqi-shaikh-ala-al-din-b(accessed on 30 December 2012).