Sultan Sikander Butshikan 'Breaker of Idols'

This is part of a series extolling the memory of great Islamic heroes and champions of Tawhid in history, the likes of Sayyid Ahmad Barelwi, his minister Shah Isma’il of Delhi (both were martyred at the Battle of Balakot); Mujaddid Alf Thani, i.e., Ahmad Sirhindi known as Imam Rabbani, a Naqshbandi spiritual reformer who influenced the Mughal emperor Aurangzaib; Shaikh-ul-Qur’an Mawlana Ghulamullah Khan; Shaikh Muhammad bin Abdul Wahhab of Uyayna.

In this entry we will briefly mention Sikander known as Butshikan (lit. ‘idol-breaker’) a great Muslim ruler of the Shah Miri dynasty in Kashmir. He reigned from 1389 to 1413 C.E. He was influenced by the Sufi saint Hadrat Mir Muhammad Hamadani, son of Hadrat Sayyid Ali Hamadani. During his reign, many idol-worshiping temples of the Hindus were destroyed. Thus this great Islamic hero was a warrior-king of Tawhid and mighty champion of Islam with the spirit of the ancient King Hezekiah. Sayyid Ali Hamadani, known as ‘Amir-i-Kabir’ and ‘Shah-i-Hamadan’, a great mystic and preacher instrumental in the spread of Islam among the Hindus of Kashmir, was influenced by the great Kubrawi Sufi and spiritual reformer, Hadrat Alaa-ud-Dawla Simnani (rahimahullah). The latter opposed the innovated doctrine of Ibn Arabi known as Wahdat-ul-Wujud and emphasized a return to Sunni orthodoxy and a moderated Sufism that was compliant with the Shari’a.