Syed Nimatullah Shah Qadri was the great Sufi saint of 16th century. Syed Nimatullah Shah Qadri came to Kashmir from Kharzam a place near Iran and Iraq border. The shrine of Syed Nimatullah Shah Qadri is decorated with papier mache which is done on the wall by the artisans of that time. Besides papier mache there is a Persian language inscriptions written on the walls of shrine.
Syed Nimatullah Shah Qadri, 1582A.D, who entered the valley during the rule of Chaks, 1561-1586.A.D, and firms the foundation of the Sufi order in the valley of Kashmir. He first settled down at Srinagar and his arrival opened the gates for the other Sufis to come and to disseminate the message of unity among the masses.
Being the Sufi of eminence, he attracted the attention of Kashmiri people in and outside the areas of Srinagar and enlightened the people of valley according to Islamic principles. Within a short period he succeeded in inculcating the sentiments of fraternity and equity, coupled with sense of service to humanity, in the followers, irrespective of race, community, caste, creed and color. He stressed on the need of the development of man with the purification of mind through prayer and meditation. In Kashmir valley his teachings helped in eradicating several social evils by advocating religious tolerance and the concept of oneness of Allah.
The traditional culture of Kashmir underwent great changes by his arrival in the valley; especially the language underwent tremendous changes, because he used to deliver the sermons in Persian language. Hence the language was already the court language during the Sultanate rule period. The Persian language acted as medium of intellectual traffic to attract people. As such not only conversion process was started by using the Persian, but also as a vehicle of communication for motivation towards Islam, and the medium in which the literature was available. He not only pulled down the language barriers, but also made Islamic tradition more comprehensible to common people.
He disseminated the message of oneness, because all powers are rested with Allah. The real essence is above human knowledge. From the point of view of its attributes, it is a substance with two accidents one is creator and another is creature, one is visible and another is invisible. One has to obey Allah and those who obey the command, are the real Muslims.
Syed Nimatullah gave prime importance to worship. Whatever creature has been given life by the grace of God exists only for the purpose of worshipping him. Whatever has the power to speak has duty to worship him. He strongly warned men to worship God from the moment they attained the age of reason. He always insisted upon people to follow the guide lines, and if one does not turn towards God in the vigour of youth how can one do so in old age. He regarded a man’s desires as his great enemy. The first duty of worship is to control ones desires. He condemned anger, pride and greed, the source of which, according to him, is selfish desires. The proud should be sent to hell where they will become soft, like iron in the fire, one cannot attain truth, if one does not give up anger, pride and greed .
He insisted upon people to follow the path of peace and harmony, pleaded for tolerance fellow feeling, love and affection among all sections of the society. The simplicity, love of mankind and sympathy with human sufferings appealed to the people of the other communities and many became his devotees.
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