Sultan-ul-Mashaikh, Mehboob-e-Ilahi, Hazrat Shaikh Khwaja Syed Muhammad
Nizamuddin Auliya (1238 - 3 April 1325) (
Urdu: حضرت شیخ خواجة سیّد محمد
نظام الدّین اولیاء), also known as Hazrat Nizamuddin, was a famous
Sufi saint of the
Chishti Order in the
Indian Subcontinent, an order that believed in drawing close to God through renunciation of the world and service to humanity. He is one of the great saints of the Chishti order in India.
Nizamuddin Auliya, like his predecessors, stressed upon the element of love as a means of realisation of God. For him his love of God implied a love of humanity. His vision of the world was marked by a highly evolved sense of secularity and kindness. It is claimed by the 14th century historiographer
Ziauddin Barani that his influence on the Muslims of Delhi was such that a paradigm shift was effected in their outlook towards worldly matters. People began to be inclined towards mysticism and prayers and remaining aloof from the world.