The mausoleum Khoja Ali Romitani (Azizon)

Bukhara, a city located at the crossroads of history and legends. The birthplace of the seven pirs (teachers) of Sufism, and the founding place of one of the most famous orders of Sufism, Khajagan. Each of the seven pirs made an invaluable contribution to the development and formation of the Khajagan Order and Sufism in general. 

The fourth of the seven pirs of Bukhara – Khoja Ali Romitani was born in 1191 in the village of Kurgon, 20 km from Bukhara. All his life he earned the craft of a weaver, which he mastered perfectly. He was a spiritual authority of the Khadjagan Sufi school, a great master of wisdom, and his contemporaries described him as a man with high spiritual qualities and principles, possessing incredible charisma. Like the names of other Bukhara feasts, the name of Khoja Ali Romitani is shrouded in legends. According to one of them, Ali Romitani had the gift of healing and could heal even a terminally ill person. At the same time, he always emphasized that he did it not at the request of people, but by the decree of the God.

According to another legend, Ali Romitani was such a highly spiritual and sympathetic person that God always fulfilled his wishes immediately, but the ascetic Sufi had no other desires except bread and water for the day. According to this legend, guests came to Ali Romitani one evening, and he did not even have bread to treat them with hospitality. He prayed to God about this, and immediately after that, a bread maker knocked on his house with fresh bread in his hands. 

In the people, Khoja Ali Romitani was nicknamed “Azizon” for his wisdom, which translates as the venerable sheikh. 

Khoja Azizon was a disciple of the great Khoja Mahmud Anjir Fagnavi, the head of the Khajagan preceding him. Before his death, Mahmud Fagnavi appointed Khoja Azizon as the head of the Khajagan and handed over all his disciples to him. As the head of the order, Khoja Azizon wrote the work “Risolai Azizon”, in which he described the path of a true Sufi. 

A supporter of loud dhikr, he told his students that one should begin to remember God with the tongue, and finish with the heart. Another of his statements reads: “Take care of yourself in two types of actions: when you talk and when you eat.” 

According to the testimonies of some contemporaries, Khoja Azizon was assigned the title of a wish performer. It was said that he could understand the thoughts and desires of his students without words, as well as answer all their questions even before they asked them. 

After the Mongol invasion, Bukhara was destroyed, and the followers of the Khajagan Order under the leadership of Khoja Azizon helped to restore the city. It was then that the Mongols began to consider Sufis as miracle workers and preferred them to orthodox-minded religious communities. And thanks to the wisdom of Khoja Azizon, the Mongols converted to Islam.

The fame of Khoja Azizon's knowledge, wisdom and enlightenment quickly spread throughout Central Asia and reached Damascus and Konya. Students of the Khajagan Order were invited to teach in other cities on the territory of modern Uzbekistan and beyond. Khoja Azizon was visited by four caliphs: Hajjah Muhammad Kolohduz, Hajjah Muhammad Hallaj Balkhi, Hajjah Muhammad Bawardi and Hajjah Muhammad Bobo as Samosi. The last of them later became the fifth feast of Bukhara and headed the Khajagan Order after Khoja Ali Romitani.

Ali Romitani led an ascetic lifestyle until his last days, engaged in weaving and, contrary to the persuasions of his students, flatly refused to leave his modest home in order to change it to a more comfortable one. As a true ascetic, he married late. In his marriage, he had two sons, and both continued their father's work. The venerable sheikh died in 1321 at the age of 126 and was buried in Khorezm. Later, his remains were moved to the village of Saribuston, which is located in Bukhara. 

A brick mausoleum of an ascetic appearance was erected over his grave, which is located on an elevation. The mausoleum is one-domed, square in shape, built of burnt brick. Inside, the visitor will find three tombstones: Khoja Azizon’s and two of his disciples. At the mausoleum there is a pillar with the outlines of a five-pointed finger on the top and a triangular flag, which is installed at the burial of holy people so that they can be identified from afar. Traditionally, there is a mosque with aivans, a large water reservoir and a well next to the mausoleum. You can climb the steps to the mausoleum, but you can see it from afar, as it seems to float in the air due to the peculiarities of its location. The memorial complex was restored and landscaped during the years of independence.

The mausoleum is a popular pilgrimage route for both tourists of Uzbekistan and Muslims around the world.