For a brief biography see HERE.
1️⃣”While the Mughal army was fighting desperately with the vast legions of Abdul Aziz Khan, King of Bukhara, the time for the evening prayer (zuhar) arrived. Disregarding the prohibitions of his officers, Aurangzib dismounted from his elephant, knelt down on the ground, and deliberately and peacefully went through all the ceremonies of the prayer, in full view of both the armies. Abdul Aziz on hearing of it cried out, ‘To fight with such a man is to ruin one’s self,’ and suspended the battle.” (Historical Essays by Jadunath Sarkar)
2️⃣”On the morning of Friday, the 20th February, 1707 / 28th Zil Qadah 1118, the Emperor (Aurangzeb) came out and went to his bed-room (khabgah) to perform his morning prayer, and engaged in Zikr of Allah’s names, and in spite of his being overcome by unconsciousness and difficulty of breathing, his fingers moved in counting the beads of the rosary and (his tongue) in repeating the phrase ‘La Ilaha Illa Allah’. When nearly one quarter of the day was over, in accordance with his own wish,—he used to say that it is a great boon to die on a Friday,—he passed away (the same Friday).” (Maasir-i-Alamgiri)
3️⃣”In his private chamber, he never reposed on a cushion (masnad). … The blessed month of Ramzan he spent in fasting (in the day-time), and to the very end of that month he used to remain busy up to midnight in performing the Sunnan prayer and the tarawih and in reciting the entire Quran in full congregation along with crowds of pious and learned men. … He never wore garments declared impure by the Shariah [such as robes of unmixed silk yarn], and not at all used vessels of gold or silver.” (Maasir-i-Alamgiri)
4️⃣Emperor Shah Jahan criticized the young Aurangzeb for being too humble with court officers.“ (Prince) Aurangzib replied, ‘… I am acting according to the Hadith narrated by Anas bin Malik, “Whosoever humbles himself, Allah bestows honour on him.” I consider wounding the hearts [of others] as the worst of sins and the most shameful of vices.” (Summarized from Jadunath Sarkar’s book)
5️⃣“As the Emperor (Aurangzeb) had no liking for pleasure, and his devotion to duty left him no time for festivity, he ordered that the chief musician Khush-hal Khan, Bisram Khan, Ras-bin, and others might come to the Court, but must not make music. Gradually (music) was entirely forbidden.”
(Maasir-i-Alamgiri)
6️⃣“As in former times the sacred Quranic creed (Kalimah) used to be stamped on gold and silver coins, and such coins were constantly touched with the hands and feet of men. Aurangzib said that it would be better to stamp some other words on coins (and the Kalimah was removed).” (Maasir-i-Alamgiri)
7️⃣“On Wednesday, the 19th March/ 10th Dhul-Hijjah, occurred the ‘Id-ul-Adha. The Emperor Aurangzeb went to the mosque for the two-fold prayers of ‘Id, accompanied by the four Princes… During the return journey a mad man coming up to the entourage flung a stick. It fell on the corner of the royal chair (takht) and fell on the Emperor’s knee. The guards arrested him. But Aurangzeb ordered him to be released without doing him any injury.” (Maasir-i-Alamgiri)
8️⃣“The Emperor (Aurangzeb) in order to obey the rules of the Shariah and to put down uncanonical innovations, ordered the removal of the two stone elephants of exactly the same size which had been made by skilful artisans and placed on the two side-posts of the fort, because of which the door was called Hatipul.”
(Maasir-i-Alamgiri)
9️⃣The Emperor Aurangzeb ordered the governors and officers of Allahabad and Oudh to find the men who were castrating young boys, arrest them in chains, and bring them to the Court. He also gave a strict order that no one should be allowed to continue this evil practice. (Maasir-i-Alamgiri)
🔟Prince Muhammad Azam Shah wanted (his father) Aurangzeb to take another man’s jagir (property) away and give it to him. He accused that man, Syed L’al, of bad behavior and tried to use that as a reason to get his land. But Aurangzeb refused to help his son in this matter. He said that, that land could not be taken from someone just because another person asked for it, even if that person was a prince. He also made it clear that his son and Syed L’al were equal as servants of the empire, and that he would not break justice for family advantage. (Summarized from Jadunath Sarkar’s book.)
1️⃣1️⃣Aurangzeb asking forgiveness from a poor old man…
When Aurangzeb’s camp arrived at Hasan Abdal, the palace officials blocked the water stream that powered an old man’s water-mill. This was not a small problem. The old man depended on that mill to earn his living, and local people depended on it to grind their flour. So the emperor’s arrival had quietly brought real hardship to a poor neighbor.
When Aurangzeb learned what had happened, he did not ignore it. He ordered the watercourse to be opened again so the water mill could work. But he did more than fix the problem. He sent food and gold to the old man, and with them he sent these words: “Convey my salam to the poor man and beg his pardon saying (on my behalf), You are my neighbour, and my arrival has caused you hardship. Pardon me.” (Maasir-i-Alamgiri)
The same account says the old man later received more help, including support for his daughter’s marriage, permission for another mill, and protection from taxes and harassment.
1️⃣2️⃣After defeating (his brother) Dara Shikoh, Aurangzeb justified Shah Jahan’s confinement by claiming that the emperor had effectively ceased to govern. He said that during Shah Jahan’s illness “the reins of power had dropped from your hands,” while Dara had seized arbitrary authority, so it was “lawful, politic, and just to overthrow his designs.” He also portrayed Dara as religiously unfit, saying he “had not even the resemblance of a Musalmaan,” which gave the struggle an Islamic tone. More broadly, Aurangzeb argued that “Sovereignty signifies protection of the people, not self indulgence and libertinism,” and that a true ruler must “govern his subjects with equity.” So his defense was not simply filial disobedience, but that Shah Jahan was kept under strict house arrest in Agra Fort because rule had collapsed, and Aurangzeb believed he had a duty to protect faith, justice, and the people. (Summarized, Rukaat-i-Alamgiri)
1️⃣3️⃣“He (Aurangzeb) ordered people to stop the long addresses in which they offered him many compliments and words of praise, and he was content with the Islamic greeting: ‘Peace be upon you, and the mercy of Allah, and His blessings.’” (Al-Imbrator Al-Moghuli Aurankzeb, tipyan.com)
1️⃣4️⃣“One of his fine distinctions was that he memorized the Noble Qur’an after ascending the throne. Some scholars marked the beginning of his memorization with the verse, ‘We shall make you recite, and you will not forget’ [al-A‘la 87:6], and its completion with the verse, ‘in a Preserved Tablet’ [al-Buruj 85:22].” (islamstory.com, Arabic article on Aurangzeb)
1️⃣5️⃣In the closing days of his life, Aurangzeb is remembered in Mughal-era sources as wishing to meet death without imperial display. A near-contemporary court chronicle records that after his death, “according to His Majesty’s last will,” he was buried in the courtyard of the tomb of Shaikh Zainuddin at Khuldabad, in a sepulchre prepared during his own lifetime. The same source emphasizes the plainness of the grave: a small red-stone platform, modest in size, with a hollow in the middle filled with earth in which fragrant herbs were planted.[From Maasir-i-Alamgiri] Another early source, in the tradition of Aurangzeb’s letters and testamentary instructions, states that he wished his burial to resemble that of a dervish (wandering Sufi worshipper), without pomp and unnecessary ceremony.[Rukaʿāt-i-ʿĀlamgīrī; or, Letters of Aurungzebe, trans. Jamshid H. Bilimoria ]
A related testamentary tradition, preserved in a Persian work ascribed to Hamid-ud-din Khan, adds the more personal detail that the expenses of his burial were to come not from royal magnificence but from money earned by his own pious labor. In that text, Aurangzeb says that four rupees and two annas from the price of caps sewn by him should be spent on his shroud, while three hundred and five rupees earned from copying the Qur’an should be distributed to faqirs on the day of his death. Taken together, these sources shaped the enduring anecdote that the emperor who ruled the largest Mughal empire wished in death for the humility of a faqir rather than the ceremony of a conqueror. [Ahkām-i-ʿĀlamgīrī (ascribed to Hamid-ud-din Khan), trans. Jadunath Sarkar as Anecdotes of Aurangzib, anecdote no. 8.].
(Compiled and summarised by Mohammed bin Thajammul Hussain Manna.)
Saheehus-Seerah 