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TheMahdavi movement, also calledMahdavia orMahdavism, is an Islamic movement founded bySyed Muhammad Jaunpuri inIndia in the late 15th century. Syed Muhammad claimed to beMahdi at the holy city ofMecca, in front of theKaaba in 1496, and is revered as such by the Mahdavia community.
Mahdavis are followers of Syed Muhammad Jaunpuri who declared himself to be the Mahdi.[1]
The Mahdavis had strictly adhere to theFive Pillars of Islam,Sunnah, andSharia, while having high respect and reverence for the House of Muhammad and his immediate progeny (Ahl-e-Bayt), theRashidun Caliphs, and the Companions of Muhammad (Sahaba).[citation needed]
Mahdavis also respect all four schools of Islamic jurisprudence, but widely follow traditions similar to Hanafi jurisprudence.[citation needed]
They offer prayers five times a day led by theirMurshids, or spiritual guides; fast duringRamadan; offer special thanks onDuganaLailat-al-Qadr past midnight between 26 and 27 Ramadan; performHajj; and payZakat. They also attach great significance toZikr (remembrance of Allah), after dawnFajr prayers, and in the evening afterAsr prayer.
Syed Muhammad was disturbed by the spiritual and moral degradation of Muslims. He preached a message of non-materialism and spirituality.[1]
Mahdavis follow the seven obligations of sainthood, known asFaraiz-e-Vilayat-e-Muhammadiya. These obligations are: rejection of material lust (Tark-e-Dunya),[2] quest for divine vision (Talab-e-Deedar-e-Ilahi), company of truthfuls and renunciants (Sohbat-e-Sadiqeen), migration (Hijrah) from place to place to avoid materialist lust,[1] retreat and solitude (Uzlat-az-Khalq), resignation to the will of God (Tawakkul),[1] Remembrance of God (Zikr-e-Ilahi)[1] and distributing tithe (Ushr). Followers of Jaunpuri strictly follow some of these obligations in their day-to-day life. Most of them initiate renunciation in the advanced stage of their lives, after getting retirement from the jobs or by handing over business to their heirs. Their renunciation is in any way not related to celibacy, because almost all of them get married.[citation needed]
Mahdavi community centers are known asDa'iras.[1] Mahdavis engaged in extensive missionary activity.[1]
Mohammad Jaunpuri declared himself to be the Mahdi, and as such a "Caliph of Allah." He claimed to teach the true inner meaning of theQur'an and strictly adhere to theSunnah ofMuhammad. Jaunpuri's declaration was ignored by theUlema ofMecca, but after he repeated his declaration inAhmedabad,Gujarat, he gained a group of followers and established a line of caliphs who led the movement after his death.[citation needed]
After Jaunpuri's demise in 1505, the Mahdavi movement went through a militant phase, lasting during the reign of the first five Mahdavi caliphs. The movement was persecuted under the SultanMuzaffar Shah II (r. 1511–1526) ofGujarat Sultanate.
The second Mahdavi caliph,Bandagi Miyan Syed Khundmir and hisFukhra disciples (the persons who renounce the world and keep remembering Allah withZikr), faced organised persecution by the regime of Muzaffar at the behest of his court-appointed Mullas and was killed in 1523 along with hundreds of unarmed and peaceful disciples.Syed Khundmir's tomb is located in the town ofChampaner in thePanchmahal district of the western Indian stateGujarat, where thousands of seekers and followers, from different parts of India and other countries, arrive to pay tribute.
After the 1799siege of Seringapatam, the British government invited the Mahdavis to re-settle inMysore.[3]
Anjuman-e-Mahdavia is a Mahdavia community center inHyderabad, Telangana, India, established in 1902.L. K. A. Iyer in 1930 reports the existence of a community of "Mahdavia Musalmans" in MysoreDonabaghatta,Channapatna,Kirugavalu. There is a village named Donabaghatta in Karnataka. Large groups of Mahdavis resided inGujarat,Rajasthan,Maharashtra,Tamil Nadu,Karnataka-Bengaluru, etc. The 1962 Gazette of Karnataka State has recorded the Mahadavia Sect of Islam in the state. Mahdavis of Gujarat state mostly lives in Tai Wada area inVadodara district along with majority Sunni Muslims. They also have a small presence inBharuch.[4][5][6]
A Mahdavi center in northChicago at (N Western Ave) was established by a group of South Asian immigrants in January 2016.[7][8]
