Bande Nawaz

Syed Muhammad ibn Yousuf al-Hussaini (7 August 1321 − 10 November 1422), commonly known as Khwaja Banda Nawaz Gesudaraz, was a Hanafi Maturidi scholar and Sufi saint from India of the Chishti Order.

Gaisu Daraz was a disciple and then successor of Sufi saint Nasiruddin Chiragh Dehlavi. When he moved to Daulatabad around 1400, owing to the attack of Timur on Delhi, he took the Chishti Order to South India. He finally settled down in Gulbarga, at the invitation of Bahmani Sultan, Taj ud-Din Firuz Shah.

In Delhi
Khwaja Banda Nawaz left Delhi on December 17, 1398, because the city was under siege by Timur and its fall was imminent.

Works
Bande Nawaz wrote 195 books in Arabic, Persian and Urdu. He also composed a book on the Prophet of Islam titled Miraj-al Ashiqin for the instruction of the masses in Dakhni, a South Indian branch of the Urdu language. He was the first Sufi to use this vernacular which was elaborated upon by many other Sufi saints of South India in later centuries. He wrote many treatises on the works on Ibn Arabi and Suhrawardi, which made the works of these scholars accessible to Indian scholars and played a major role in influencing later mystical thought. Other books authored are Qaseeda Amali and Adaab-al-Mureedein.

Urs
His death anniversary takes place on 15, 16 and 17 Dhu al-Qadah at the Bande Nawaz mausoleum in Gulbarga. Several hundred thousand people from different religions gather to seek blessings.

In popular culture
Indian Muslim social films revolving around the saint and his dargah have been made. These include: Sultan E Deccan: Banda Nawaz (1982) by Malik Anwar, Banda Nawaz (1988) by Saini.