501 - 750 HIJRI
Short Biographies [3] d. 501 - 750 H
ABU HAMID AL-GHAZALI [d.505 H - 1111 CE]
QADI IYAD AL-YAHSUBI [d.544 H - 1149 CE]
SHAYKH ABD'AL-QADIR AL-JILANI [d.561 H - 1166 CE]
IMAM IBN AL-'ASAKIR [d.571 H - 1175 CE]
ABD 'AL-KHALIQ AL-GHUJDAWANI [d.575 H - 1179 CE]
SAYYAD AHMAD AR-RIFA'I [d.578 H - 1183 CE]
ABU MADYAN SHU'AYB AL-ANSARI [d.595 H - 1198 CE]
FAKHR AL-DIN AL-RAZI [d.606 H - 1209 CE]
FARID AL-DIN ATTAR [d.617 H - 1221 CE]
NAJM AL-DIN AL-KUBRA [d.618 H - 1221 CE]
MUIN AL-DIN HASAN CHISTI AJMERI [d.627 H - 1230 CE]
SUHRAWARDI SHIHAB' al-DIN UMAR [d.632H - 1234 CE]
QUTB AL-DIN BAKHTIYAR KAKI [d.633 H - 1235 CE]
IBN AL-FARID, UMAR [d.633 H - 1235 CE]
IBN AL-'ARABI, MUHIY AL-DIN [d.637 H - 1240 CE]
SHAMS 'AL-TABRIZI [d.645 H - 1248 CE]
ALI AHMAD SABIR AL-KALYARI [d.650 H - 1253 CE]
SHADHILI, ABU AL-HASAN 'ALI [d.655 H - 1258 CE]
FARID AL-DIN MAS'UD GANJ-I-SHAKAR [d.663 H - 1265 CE]
BAHA AL-DIN ZAKARIYA MULTANI [d.665 H - 1267 CE]
MAWLANA JALAL AL-DIN RUME [d.672 H - 1273 CE]
BADAWI, AL-SAYYAD AHMAD [d.675 H - 1275 CE]
IMAM AL-NAWAWI [d.677 H - 1278 CE]
SADI, MUSHARRIF AL-DIN [d.689 H - 1291 CE]
IBN ATA' ALLAH AL-ISKANDARI [d.708 H - 1309 CE]
NIZAM AL-DIN AWLIYA [d.725 H - 1325 CE]
AMIR AL-KHUSRO [d.725 H - 1325 CE]
SIMNANI, SHAYKH ALA AL-DAWLA [d.737 H - 1336 CE]
MAHMUD AL-SHABISTARI [d.740 H - 1340 CE ]
SHAMS AL-DIN AL-DHAHABI [d.748 H - 1348 CE]
plenty more to come
Abu Hamid al-Ghazali
Al-Ghazzali, Abu Hamid al- [d.505H - 1111CE] 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l-ridwan
Influential Ash'ari Theologian, jurist & Sufi. Born in Khurasan, he studied theology & law. While teaching law at Nizamiyya College in Baghdad, he suffered a spiritual crisis, withdrew from public life & spent eleven years in travel & Sufi studies. Best known work is Ihyaa 'ulum al-din [Revival of religious sciences], an attempt to integrate theology & law, ethics & mysticism. Other important works include al-munqidh min al-dalal [Delivery from error], a spiritual guide book & Tahafut al-falasafah [Destruction of the Philosophers], an effort to debunk philosophy. His vast learning, systematic thought & lucid style continue to ensure a wide audience.
Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad, Abu Hamid al-Tusi al-Ghazzali [or al-Ghazali] al-Shafi'i (450-505), "the Proof of Islam" (Hujjat al-Islam), "Ornament of the Faith," "Gatherer of the Multifarious Sciences," "Great Siddiq," absolute mujtahid, a major Shafiii jurist, heresiographer and debater, expert in the principles of doctrine and those of jurisprudence. Shaykh Yusuf al-Qaradawi stated that, like iUmar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz and al-Shafi'i for their respective times, al-Ghazzali is unanimously considered the Renewer of the Fifth Islamic Century. Ibn al-Subki writes: "He came at a time when people stood in direr need of replies against the philosophers than the darkest night stands in need of the light of the moon and stars." Among his teachers in law, debate, and principles: Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Radhakani in Tus, Abu Nasr al-Isma'ili in Jurjan, and Imam al-Haramayn Abu al-Ma'ali al-Juwayni in Naysabur, from where he departed to Baghdad after the latter’s death. Ibn 'Asakir also mentions that al-Ghazzali took al-Bukhari's Sahih from Abu Sahl Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Hafsi. Among his other shaykhs in hadith were Nasr ibn 'Ali ibn Ahmad al-Hakimi al-Tusi, 'Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Khawari, Muhammad ibn Yahya ibn Muhammad al-Suja'i al-Zawzani, the hadith master Abu al-Fityan 'Umar ibn Abi al-Hasan al-Ru'asi al-Dahistani, and Nasr ibn Ibrahim al-Maqdisi. Among his shaykhs in tasawwuf were al-Fadl ibn Muhammad ibn 'Ali al-Farmadi al-Tusi – one of Abu al-Qasim al-Qushayri's students – and Yusuf al-Sajjaj.
On his way back from Jurjan to Tus al-Ghazzali was robbed by highwaymen. When they left him he followed them but was told: "Leave us or you will die." He replied: "I ask you for Allah’ sake to only return to me my notes, for they are of no use to you." The robber asked him: "What are those notes?" He said: "Books in that satchel, for the sake of which I left my country in order to hear, write, and obtain their knowledge." The robber laughed and said: "How can you claim that you obtained their knowledge when we took it away from you and left you devoid of knowl-edge!" Then he gave an order and the satchel was returned to him. Al-Ghazzali said: "This man’s utterance was divinely inspired (hadha mustantaqun): Allah caused him to say this in order to guide me. When I reached Tus I worked for three years until I had memorized all that I had written down."
Al-Ghazzali came to Baghdad in 484 and began a prestigious career of teaching, giving fatwa, and authoring books in nearly all the Islamic sciences of his day. His skill in refuting opponents was unparalleled except by his superlative godwariness, which led him to abandon his teaching position at the Nizamiyya school four years later, deputizing his brother Ahmad, famous for his preaching, to replace him. Upon completion of pilgrimage to Makkah al-Ghazzali headed for Damascus, then al-Qudus, then Damascus again where he remained for several years, taking up the ascetic life with the words: "We sought after knowledge for other than Allahta'ala's sake, but He refused that it be for anything other than Him."
He came out of seclusion in 499 and travelled to Cairo, Iskandariyya and other places, finally returning to Baghdad where he taught his magnum opus Ihya' 'Ulum al-Din until his death in nearby Tus, occupying the remainder of his time with devotions, Qur'an recitations, prayer and fasting, and the company of Sufis. Ibn al-Jawzi narrated in al-Thabat 'Inda al-Mamat ("Firmness at the Time of Death") from al-Ghazzali's brother Ahmad: "On Monday [14 Jumada al-Akhira] at the time of the dawn prayer my brother Abu Hamid made his ablution, prayed, then said: ‘Bring me my shroud.' He took it, kissed it and put it on his eyes, saying: 'We hear and obey in readiness to enter the King’s presence.' Then he stretched his legs, facing the Qibla, and died before sunrise – may Allah sanctify his soul!" It is related that al-Shadhili saw a dream in which the Prophet Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam pointed out al-Ghazzali to Musa alaihi asalam and 'Isa alaihi asalam asking them: "Is there such a wise scholar in your communities?" to which they replied no.
Further reading: http://www.sunnah.org/history/Scholars/imam_alghazali.htm
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Qadi Iyad al-Yahsubi
Imam Abu'l-Fadl 'Iyad ibn Musa ibn 'Iyad al-Yahsubi [d.544H - 1149CE] 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l-ridwan
Qadi Iyad, Imam and Hafidh.[d.544H/1149CE] Qadi 'Iyad was a Faqih (jurist) and Qadi(judge) in the Maliki Madhhab (Islamic school of jurisprudence). He was born near Gibraltar in 1083CE.
He was the author of many Islamic works in the various areas but is known for his book 'Ash-Shifa bi ta'rif huquq al-Mustafa' (Healing by the recognition of the Rights of the Chosen one)- often called simply 'Ash-Shifa'. It is perhaps the most frequently used and commented upon handbook in which the Beloved Prophet Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam's life, his qualities and his miracles are described in every detail. This work was so highly admired throughout the Muslim world that it soon acquired a sanctity of its own for it is said:
"If Ash-Shifa is found in a house, this house will not suffer any harm...when a sick person reads it or it is recited to him, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, will restore his health."
Read : Chapter 1 Ash Shifa by Qadi Iyad
Translated by Aisha Bewley
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al-Ghawth al-Adham
Jilani, 'Abd al-Qadir al-Ghawth al-Adham [d.561H - 1166CE] 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l-ridwan
Born in Jilan, Persia. Shaykh Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani was a Sufi master and Sayyad(descendant of the Final Messenger, the Most Beloved Prophet Muhammad-Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam) from both his father and mother, (al Hasani, w'al Husayni).
His contribution and renown in the sciences of Sufism and Sharia was so immense that he became known as the spiritual pole of his time, al-Ghawth al A'zam (the "Supreme Helper" or the "Mightiest Succor"). His writings were similar to those ofal-Ghazali in that they dealt with both the fundamentals of Islam and the mystical experience of Sufism. Studied Hanbali jurisprudence in Baghdad. Spent twenty-five years as a wandering ascetic in the deserts of Iraq. Became a popular teacher with his own Sufi school & centre. Most universally popular Wali Allah & revered man after the salf as-salihin. Recognised as the patron & founder of theQadiri order. Has a reputation for theological soundness that has led others to claim his work as the basis for their own insights & experiences.
ON TASAWWUF Shaykh 'Abd al-Qadir al-Gilani (d. 561 AH)
The eminent one among the great saints, nicknamed al-Ghawth al-a'zam or the Arch-helper, he is also an eminent jurist of the Hanbali school. His ties to the Shafi'i school and to Imam Abu Hanifa have been mentioned. He was the disciple of eminent saints, such as Abu al-Khayr Hammad ibn Muslim al-Dabbas (d. 525) and Khwaja Abu Yusuf al-Hamadani (d. 535), second in line after Abu al-Hasan al-Kharqani (al-Harawi al-Ansari's shaykh) in the early Naqshbandi chain of authority.
The most famous of Shaykh 'Abd al-Qadir's works are:
Due to his standing in the Hanbali school, 'Abd al-Qadir was held in great respect by Ibn Taymiyya, who gives him alone the title "my Shaykh" (shaykhuna) in his entire Fatawa, while he reserves the title "my Imam" (imamuna) to Ahmad ibn Hanbal. He frequently cites Gilani and his shaykh al-Dabbas as among the best examples of latter-time Sufis.
Shaykh 'Abd al-Qadir's karamat or miracles are too many to number. One of them consisted in the gift of guidance which was manifest in his speech and through which untold thousands entered Islam or repented. Al-Shattanawfi in Bahjat al-asrar mentions many of his miracles, each time giving a chain of transmission. Ibn Taymiyya took these reports to satisfy the criteria of authenticity, but his student al-Dhahabi, while claiming general belief in 'Abd al-Qadir's miracles, nevertheless affirms disbelief in many of them. We have already seen this trait of al-Dhahabi in his doubting of the sound report of Imam Ahmad's admiration of al-Muhasibi. These are his words about Gilani in Siyar a'lam al-nubala':
[#893] al-Shaykh 'Abd al-Qadir (Al-Jilani): The shaykh, the imam, the scholar, the zahid, the knower, the exemplar, Shaykh Al-Islam, the distinguished one among the Awliya... the Hanbali, the Shaykh of Baghdad... I say: There is no one among the great shaykhs who has more spiritual states and miracles (karamat) than Shaykh 'Abd al-Qadir, but a lot of it is untrue and some of those things are impossible.
The following account of Gilani's first encounter with al-Hamadani is related by Haytami in his Fatawa hadithiyya:
Abu Sa'id 'Abd Allah ibn Abi 'Asrun (d. 585), the Imam of the School of Shafi'i, said: "When I began a search for religious knowledge I kept company with my friend, Ibn al-Saqa, who was a student in the Nizamiyya School, and it was our custom to visit the pious. We heard that there was in Baghdad a man named Yusuf al-Hamadani who was known as al-Ghawth, and that he was able to appear whenever he liked and was able to disappear whenever he liked. So I decided to visit him along with Ibn al-Saqa and Shaykh 'Abd al-Qadir al-Gilani, who was a young man at that time. Ibn al-Saqa said, "When we visit Shaykh Yusuf al-Hamadani I am going to ask him a question the answer to which he will not know." I said: "I am also going to ask him a question and I want to see what he is going to say." Shaykh 'Abd al-Qadir al-Gilani said: "O Allah, protect me from asking a saint like Yusuf Hamadani a question, but I will go into his presence asking for hisbaraka -- blessing -- and divine knowledge."
"We entered his association. He kept himself veiled from us and we did not see him until after some time. He looked at Ibn al-Saqa angrily and said, without having been informed of his name: "O Ibn al-Saqa, how dare you ask me a question when your intention is to confound me? Your question is this and your answer is this!" Then he said: "I am seeing the fire of disbelief burning in your heart." He looked at me and said, "O 'Abd Allah, are you asking me a question and awaiting my answer? Your question is this and your answer is this. Let the people be sad for you because they are losing as a result of your disrespect for me." Then he looked at Shaykh 'Abd al-Qadir al-Gilani, made him sit next to him, and showed him honour. He said: "O 'Abd al-Qadir, you have satisfied Allah and His Prophet with your proper respect for me. I see you in the future sitting on the highest place in Baghdad and speaking and guiding people and saying to them that your feet are on the neck of every wali! And I almost see before me every wali of your time giving you precedence because of your great station and honour."
Ibn Abi 'Asrun continues, "'Abd al-Qadir's fame became widespread and all that Shaykh al-Hamadani said about him came to pass. There came a time when he did say, "My feet are on the necks of all the awliya," and he was a reference and a beacon guiding all people in his time to their destinations.
The fate of Ibn al-Saqa was something else. He was brilliant in his knowledge of the divine Law. He preceded all the scholars in his time. He used to debate with the scholars of his time and overcome them, until the caliph called him to his association. One day the calif sent him as a messenger to the King of Byzantium, who in his turn called all his priests and the scholars of the Christian religion to debate with him. Ibn al-Saqa was able to defeat all of them in debate. They were helpless to give answers in his presence. He was giving answers to them that made them look like children and mere students in his presence.
His brilliance made the King of Byzantium so fascinated with him that he invited him to his private family meeting. There he saw the daughter of the King. He immediately fell in love with her, and he asked her father, the King, for her hand in marriage. She refused except on condition that he accept her religion. He did, leaving Islam and accepting the Christian religion of the princess. After his marriage he became seriously ill. They threw him out of the palace. He became a town beggar, asking everyone for food, yet no one would provide for him. Darkness had come over his face.
One day he saw someone that had known him before. That person relates: "I asked him, What happened to you?" He replied: "There was a temptation and I fell into it." The man asked him: "Do you remember anything from the Noble Qur'an?" He replied: "I only remember rubbama yawaddu al-ladhina kafaru law kanu muslimin -- "Again and again will those who disbelieve wish that they were Muslims" (15:2)."
He was trembling as if he was giving up his last breath. I turned him towards the Ka'ba, but he kept turning towards the East. Then I turned him back towards the Ka'aba, but he turned himself to the East. I turned him a third time, but he turned himself to the East. Then as his soul was passing from him, he said, "O Allah, that is the result of my disrespect to Your saint, Yusuf al-Hamadani."Ibn Abi 'Asrun continues: "I went to Damascus and the king there, Nur al-Din al-Shahid, put me in control of the religious department, and I accepted. As a result, dunya entered from every side: provision, sustenance, fame, money, position for the rest of my life. That is what the ghawth Yusuf al-Hamadani had predicted for me."1
1 al-Haytami, Fatawa hadithiyya 315-316.
Source of ref: www.sunnah.org
FURTHER EXTENSIVE READING HERE: AL GHAWTH AL A'ZAM
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Imam Ibn 'Asakir
Imam Ibn 'Asakir al-Dimashqi al-Shafi'i al-Ash'ari [d.571H] 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l-ridwan
'Ali ibn al-Hasan ibn Hibat Allah ibn 'Abd Allah, Thiqat al-Din, Abu al-Qasim, known as Ibn 'Asakir al-Dimashqi al-Shafi'i al-Ash'ari [d.571H - 1175CE], the imam of hadith masters in his time and historian of Damascus.
Ibn al-Najjar said: "He is the imam of hadith scholars in his time and the chief leader in memorization, meticulous verification, thorough knowledge in the sciences of hadith, trustworthiness, nobility, and excellence in writing and beautiful recitation. He is the seal of this science."
Born in a family imbued with knowledge, he began his scholarly training at the age of six, attending the fiqh gatherings of his older brother Sa'in al-Din Hibat Allah ibn al-Hasan (d. 563) and learned Arabic and grammar at the hand of his maternal grandfather Abu al-Mufaddal al-Qurashi. Two of his uncles and one of his brothers were successively in charge of the head judgeship in Damascus, Abu al-Ma'ali Muhammad ibn Yahya ibn 'Ali al-Qurashi (d. 537), Abu al-Makarim Sultan ibn Yahya (d. 530), and Muhammad ibn al-Hasan.
By the time Ibn 'Asakir reached puberty he already possessed hadith certifications from the scholars of Damascus, Baghdad, and Khurasan. At age twenty, after his father died, he travelled around the Islamic world in pursuit of hadith narrations and performed pilgrimage, returning to Damascus and travelling again on and off between 519 and 533, "alone but for the Godwariness he took as his companion," hearing hadith from 1,300 male shaykhs and 80-odd female shaykhas in Baghdad, Makkah, Madinah, Asbahan, Naysabur, Marw, Tibriz, Mihana, Bayhaq, Khusrujird, Bistam, Herat, Azerbaijan, Kufa, Hamadhan, Ray, Zanjan, Bushanj, Sarkhas, Simnan, Jarbadhqan, Mawsil and elsewhere.
After 533 he sat teaching hadith in a corner of the Umayyad mosque in Damascus, then in the Dar al-Sunna school (subsequenty renamed Dar al-Hadith) built for him by al-Malik al-'Adil Nur al-Din Mahmud ibn Zanki. He shunned all kinds of material possessions and turned down the office of head preacher, concentrating on teaching, writing, and worshipping. His most famous student was the sultan Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi, who attended his funeral behind the imam al-Qutb al-Naysaburi.
Ibn 'Asakir was buried at the Bab al-Saghir cemetary, next to his father, near the grave of the Caliph Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan.
Ibn 'Asakir authored over a hundred books and epistles and narrated under five hundred hadith lessons. Among his larger works :
1. Tarikh Dimasqh in eighty volumes.1 Ibn Khallikan said that it contains, like al-Tabari's Tarikh al-Rusul wa al-Muluk, several books that can be read independently.
2. Al-Muwafaqat 'ala Shuyukh al-A'imma al-Thiqat in seventy-two volumes.
3. 'Awali Malik ibn Anas and its Dhayl in fifty volumes.
4. Ghara'ib Malik in ten volumes.
5. Al-Mu'jam listing only the names of his shaykhs, in twelve volumes.
6. Manaqib al-Shubban in fifteen volumes.
7. Books of "Immense Merits": Fada'il Ashab al-Hadith in eleven volumes, Fadl al-Jumu'a, Fadl Quraysh, Fada'il al-Siddiq, Fada'il Makka, Fada'il al-Madina, Fada'il Bayt al-Muqaddas, Fada'il 'Ashura', Fada'il al-Muharram, Fada'il Sha'ban.
8. Al-Ishraf 'ala Ma'rifa al-Atraf.
9. Akhbar al-Awza'i.
10. Al-Musalsalat.
11. Al-Suba'iyyat in seven volumes, listing narrations with chains containing only seven narrators up to the Prophet -- Allah bless and greet him --.
12. Tabyin Kadhib al-Muftari Fima Nusiba ila Abi al-Hasan al-Ash'ari, a defense of al-Ash'ari and his school which he divided into the following sections :
a) Genealogy of Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari
b) Prophetic hadiths that pertain to him
c) Al-Ash'ari's renown for knowledge
d) His renown for piety and worship
e) His struggle against innovations and their proponents
f) Dreams that indicate his high standing
g) Five generations of his students2
h) Those who attacked al-Ash'ari and his students
He concluded the book with the following lines of poetry:
I have chosen a doctrine that in no way resembles innovation But which successors faithfully took from predecessors. Those who are impartial declare my doctrine sound While those who criticize it have abandoned impartiality.
13. Yawm al-Mazid in three volumes.
14. Bayan al-Wahm wa al-Takhlit fi Hadith al-Atit ("The Exposition of Error and Confusion in the Narration of the [Throne's] Groaning").3
15. Arba'un Hadithan fi al-Jihad.
16. Arba'un Hadithan 'an Arba'ina Shaykhan min Arba'ina Madina.
Ibn 'Asakir defined hadith in the following verse of poetry :
It explains the Book, and the Prophet only spoke on behalf of His Lord.
Ibn 'Asakir's son, Baha' al-Din al-Qasim ibn 'Ali, said :
My father was assiduous in congregational prayer and recitation of the Qur'an. He used to recite it once a week, concluding it on the day of Jum'a, and once a day in Ramadan at which time he entered seclusion (i'tikaf) at the Eastern minaret. He performed many supererogatory prayers, devotions, and invocations. He would spend the nights before the two 'ids awake in prayer and supplications. He used to take account of himself for every passing moment.
Ibn al-Subki relates that the hadith master al-Mundhiri asked his shaykh Abu al-Hasan 'Ali ibn al-Mufaddal al-Maqdisi: "Which of these four contemporary hadith masters is the greatest?" He said: "Name them." Al-Mundhiri said: "Ibn 'Asakir and Ibn Nasir?" He replied: "Ibn 'Asakir." Al-Mundhiri went on: "Ibn 'Asakir and Abu al-'Ala' [al-Hasan ibn Ahmad ibn al-Hasan al-Hamadhani]?" He said: "Ibn 'Asakir." Al-Mundhiri went on: "Ibn 'Asakir and al-Silafi?" Al-Maqdisi said: "Al-Silafi (is) our shaykh. Al-Silafi (is) our shaykh."4
Ibn Sasra narrated: "I used to rehearse with him the names of the masters he had met. One day I said to him: 'I believe that our master never saw anyone like himself?' He replied: 'Do not say that. Allah said: {Therefore justify not yourselves} (53:32).' I replied: 'He also said: {Therefore of the bounty of your Lord be your discourse} (93:11).' He replied: 'In that case yes, if someone were to say that my eyes never saw my like, he would be correct.'" Al-Khatib Abu al-Fadl ibn Abi Nasr al-Tusi said: "We do not know anyone who truly deserves the title of hadith master in our time other than him." Al-Dhahabi said: "I do not believe that Ibn 'Asakir ever met anyone of his level in his entire life." Ibn al-Subki added: "Nor anyone near his level."
Main sources: al-Dhahabi, Siyar A'lam al-Nubala' 15:254-262 #5129; Ibn al-Subki, Tabaqat al-Shafi'iyya al-Kubra 7:215-223 #918.
NOTES
1] Dar al-Fikr in Damascus has published seventy of them to date in mid-1999.
2] Translated at www.sunnah.org/aqida/tabyin_kadhib.htm
3] See section entitled The "Groaning of the Throne" (p. 248).'
4] This could mean either that he considered al-Silafi the greater master, or that he implicitly admitted Ibn 'Asakir's superiority but expressed it in terms of the student's requisite adab with his teacher. Ibn al-Subki noted that Ibn al-Sam'ani was superior to all of them except Ibn 'Asakir, but that he was in far-off Merv, whereas the rest were in or near Egypt and Sham.
Blessings and peace on the Prophet, his Family, and all his Companions.
copyright As-Sunna Foundation of Americatop
Abd'al-Khaliq al-Ghujdawani
Abd' al-Khaliq al-Ghujdawani [d.575 H / 1179 CE] 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l-ridwan
Abdul Khaliq was born in Ghujdawan, a town near Bukhara in present-day Uzbekistan. There he lived and passed his life and was buried. He was a descendant of Imam Malik Radi Allahu anhu. In his childhood he studied the Qur'an and its tafsir (exegesis), 'ilm al-Hadith (the study of Prophetic Traditions), the sciences of the Arabic language, and Jurisprudence with Shaikh Sadruddin. After mastering Shari'a (the legal sciences) he moved on to jihad an-nafs(spiritual struggle), until he reached a high station of purity. He then moved to Damascus, where he established a school from which many students graduated. Each became a master of fiqh and hadith as well as spirituality, both in the regions of Central Asia as well as in the Middle East.
He was known as the Shaykh of Miracles, One Who Shone Like the Sun, and he was the Master of the high stations of spirituality of his time. He was a Perfect Knower ('arif kamil)in sufism and accomplished in asceticism. He is considered the Fountainhead of this Honorable Sufi Order and the Wellspring of the Khwajagan (Masters of Central Asia). His father was Shaikh 'Abdul Jamil, one of the most famous scholars in Byzantine times in both external and internal knowledge. His mother was a princess, the daughter of the king of Seljuk Anatolia.
The author of the book al-Hada'iq al-Wardiyya tells us how he reached his high station within the Golden Chain: "He met Hadrat Khidr alayhis asalam and accompanied him. He took from him heavenly knowledge and added it to the spiritual knowledge he had obtained from his shaykh, Yusuf al-Hamadani.
"One day when he was reading the Qur'an in the presence of Shaykh Sadruddin, he came upon the following ayat:
"Call unto your Sustainer humbly, and in the secrecy of your hearts. Verily, He loves not those who transgress the bounds of what is right" [7:55].
This ayat prompted him to inquire of Shaykh Sadruddin about the reality of silent Dhikr and its method. Abdul Khaliq put his question thus: "In loud dhikr you have to use your tongue and people might listen to you and see you, whereas in the silent dhikr of the heart Shaytan might listen to you and hear you, since the Prophet Peace & Blessings of Allah upon him said in his holy hadith: 'Satan moves freely in the veins and arteries of the Sons of Adam.' What, then, O my Shaykh Sadruddin, is the reality of 'Call in the secrecy of your hearts?' His shaykh replied, 'O my son, this is a hidden, heavenly knowledge, and I wish that Allah Exalted and Almighty send you one of his saints to inspire on your tongue and in your heart the reality of secret dhikr.'
"From that time Shaykh Abdul Khaliq al-Ghujdawani waited for that prayer to be fulfilled. One day he met Khidr alayhis asalam who told him, 'Now, my son, I have permission from the Prophet Peace & Blessings of Allah upon him to inspire on your tongue and in your heart the hidden dhikr with its numbers.' He ordered him to submerge himself under water and to begin making dhikr in his heart (LA ILAHA ILLALLAH MUHAMMADUN RASUL ALLAH). He did this form of dhikr every day, until the Light of the Divine, the Wisdom of the Divine, the Love of the Divine and the Attraction of the Divine were opened to his heart. Because of those gifts people began to be drawn to Abdul Khaliq and sought to follow in his footsteps, and he took them to follow in the footsteps of the Prophet Peace & Blessings of Allah upon him.
"He was the first one in this honorable Sufi Order to use the 'Silent Dhikr' and he was considered the master of that form of Dhikr. When his spiritual shaykh, al-Ghawth ar-Rabbani, Yusuf al-Hamadani, came to Bukhara, he spent his time in serving him. He said about him, 'When I became 22 years of age, Shaikh Yusuf al-Hamadani ordered Khidr to keep raising me and to keep an eye on me until my death.'"
Shaykh Muhammad Parsa, a friend and biographer of Shah Naqshband, said in his bookFaslul-Kitab, that the method of Khwaja Abdul Khaliq al-Ghujdawani in dhikr and the teachings of his Eight Principles were embraced and hailed by all 40 tariqats as the way of truth and loyalty, the way of consciousness in following the Sunnah the Prophet, by leaving innovation and by scrupulously opposing low desires. Because of that he became the Master of his time and the First in this line of spirituality.
His reputation as an accomplished spiritual Master became widespread. Visitors used to flock to see him from every land. He gathered around him the loyal and sincere murids that he was training and teaching. In this regard, he wrote a letter to his son, al-Qalb al-Mubarak Shaykh Awliya al-Kabir, to specify the conduct of followers of this Order. It says:
"O my son, I urge you to acquire knowledge and righteous conduct and the fear of Allah. Follow the steps of the pious Salaf(early generation). Hold fast to the Sunnah of the Prophet Peace & Blessings of Allah upon him, and keep company with sincere believers. Read jurisprudence and life-history of the ProphetPeace & Blessings of Allah upon him and Quranic exegesis. Avoid ignorant charlatans, and keep the prayer in congregation. Beware of fame and its danger. Be among the ordinary people and do not seek positions. Don't enter into friendship with kings and their children nor with the innovators. Keep silent, don't eat excessively and don't sleep excessively. Run away from people as you would run from lions. Keep seclusion. Eat lawful food and leave doubtful actions except in dire necessity. Keep away from love of the lower world because it might fascinate you. Don't laugh too much, because too much laughter will be the death of the heart. Don't humiliate anyone. Don't praise yourself. Don't argue with people. Don't ask anyone except Allah. Don't ask anyone to serve you. Serve your shaykhs with your money and power and don't criticize their actions. Anyone who criticizes them will not be safe, because he doesn't understand them. Make your deeds sincere by intending them only for Allah. Pray to Him with humbleness. Make your business jurisprudence, your mosque your house, and your Friend your Lord."
'Abdul Khaliq al-Ghujdawani had four khalifs. The first was Shaykh Ahmad as-Siddiq, originally from Bukhara. The second was Kabir al-Awliya ("the Greatest of Saints"), Shaykh Arif Awliya al-Kabir (q). Originally from Bukhara, he was a great scholar in both external and internal Sciences. The third khalif was Shaikh Sulaiman al-Kirmani (q). The fourth khalif was 'Arif ar-Riwakri (q). It is to this fourth khalif that Abdul Khaliq (q) passed the Secret of the Golden Chain before he died on the 12th of Rabi'ul-Awwal 575 H.
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Ahmed ar Rifai
Shaykh as-Sayyad Ahmed ar Rifai [d. 578H -1183CE] 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l-ridwan
Shaykh as-Sayyad Ahmed ar Rifai was born in the first half of Rajab in the Muslim year of 512 H. (1119 CE) on a Thursday. His birthplace was in the town of Ummu Abeyde in the township of Beta in the province of Basra, Iraq. He passed away on Thursday 22nd Jamadi al-Awwal 578 H. (1183 CE.), in the town of Wasit, in Basra, Iraq. His father was Sayyad Ali Abu'l Hasan. His mother was Fatima ul-Anseri bint Yahya Nijjeri. His Shaykh was Aleyyul Wasiti. His maternal uncle, who helped raise him, was Shaykh Mansur Rabbani.
Ahmed ar Rifai Radi Allahu anhu descended from the Beloved Messenger of Allah Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa 'aalihi wa Sallam from both his father's and mother's sides by blood.Before Ahmed ar Rifai's birth, his maternal uncle, a famous Shaykh, Mansur Rabbani, had 'seen' the Beloved Messenger of Allah Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa 'aalihi wa Sallam and was told that his sister would have a male child who would be famous and be known by the name "Rifa'i." Ahmed ar Rifai showed ability and wisdom beyond his age when he began his education under Shaykh Vasiti upon the instructions of his uncle. He acquired a high maqam by explaining the book of the Shafi school called "Tanbih."
Many miracles occurred through Ahmed ar Rifai Radi Allahu anhu. One of the most widely known is the one that give him the name "Ebul alemeyin" (the Father of Two Banners). In the year 555 A.H., when he was 43 years old, Hz. Rifa'i went on hajj. He didn't wear the usual traveling clothes of sayyads (the relatives of the Prophet, Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa 'aalihi wa Sallam, could be recognized by their clothes). There is a certain section of the Beloved Prophet Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa 'aalihi wa Sallam's tomb in Medina that only blood relatives of the Prophet Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa 'aalihi wa Sallam may enter. The guard at the door would not allow him in, as he wanted to know the proof that Ahmed ar Rifai was related to the Prophet Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa 'aalihi wa Sallam. Ahmed ar Rifai was sad and yelled towards our Prophet Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa 'aalihi wa Sallam's tomb, "As-salaamu alaykum, ya jeddi (Peace be on you, my ancestor)." Our Prophet Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa 'aalihi wa Sallam answered, saying "Walaykum salaam, ya waladi (And peace be on you, my son)." Muhammad's (saws) hand came out of the tomb and our Pir kissed the Prophet Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa 'aalihi wa Sallam's hand. When people saw this miracle, they went into a state of wajd (ecstasy) and began stabbing themselves with their swords and knives. When the ecstasy passed, there were people lying all over the floor covered with blood, so Ahmed ar Rifai returned them to their normal health. After that, our Pir was famous for possessing this gift.
One day somebody asked Ghawth al A'zam Shaykh Sayyadina as-Shaykh Abd 'al-Qadir al-JilaniRadi Allahu anhu (who was Ahmed ar Rifai's cousin) "Ya Hadrat, what is love?" Ghawth al A'zam Radi Allahu anhu told the person to go ask this question to Sayyad Ahmed ar Rifai. After sending Ghawth al A'zam Radi Allahu anhu's salaams to Ahmed ar Rifai, he asked, "What is love?" When Ahmed ar Rifai heard this question, he stood up, saying, "Love is fire, love is fire." He began whirling until he passed into the unseen and disappeared. When the person saw this, he was disturbed because he didn't understand what was happening. At that moment, the spiritual presence of Ghawth al A'zam Radi Allahu anhu appeared and told him to look for the spot where his brother Ahmed ar Rifai Radi Allahu anhu had vanished, and to pour rosewater on that spot. The person did this and within a couple of moments, Sayyad Ahmed ar Rifai re-appeared, whirling in the exact same place. When the man went back to Baghdad, he visited Ghawth al A'zam Radi Allahu anhu who asked him, "Did you see love? My brother Sayyad Rifa'i has reached stations that many walis have not been able to reach." Sayyad Ahmed ar Rifai Radi Allahu anhu also deeply loved and respected Ghawth al A'zam Shaykh Sayyadina as-Shaykh Abd 'al-Qadir al-Jilani Radi Allahu anhu and told his students that whoever visited Baghdad without visiting al Ghawth al A'zam Radi Allahu anhu's tomb would not be welcome by Allah or by them.
SOURCE : QADIRI RIFAI SUFI ORDER
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Abu Madyan Shu'ayb
Abu Madyan Shu'ayb ibn al-Husayn al-Ansari, [d.595H :1198CE] 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l ridwan
Abu Madyan Shu'ayb ibn al-Husayn al-Ansari, 1115/16-1198, poet, teacher and Sufi mystic, was born in the town of Cantillana near Seville in Muslim Spain and is buried at al-Ubbad outside the city of Tlemcen in Western Algeria. After spending many years of his life learning from the most famous Sufis of Morocco, he settled in the Algerian city of Bijaya, where he spread his particular brand of orthodox mysticism to Sufi adepts and the general public alike. Called 'Shaykh of Shaykhs' and 'the Nurturer', al-Ghawth, by his contemporaries, Abu Madyan was the most influential Sufi of the formative period of mysticism in North Africa and had a profound influence on the eventual Qadiri and Shadhili Sufi traditions.
The Career of Abu Madyan
The man who was to become the most influential figure of the developmental period of North African Sufism, Abu Madyan Shu'ayb ibn al-Husayn al-Ansari, who was called by later biographers the 'Shaykh of Shaykhs, Imam of the Ascetics and the Pious, Lord of the Gnostics, and Exemplar of the Seekers', and who remains known to posterity as 'Abu Madyan the Nurturer� (al-Ghawth), entered the world in inauspicious circumstances. Born around the year 509/1115-16 at the fortress of Cantillana in the region of Seville (Ishbiliya) in Muslim Spain, the future shaykh was orphaned early in life by the unexpected death of his father and suffered cruel treatment and exploitation at the hands of his elder brothers. Fortunately, Abu Madyan's own account of the often difficult, formative period of his intellectual development is available to the modem student of Sufism via the efforts of a near contemporary, the Moroccan biographer Abu Ya'qub Yusuf ibn Yahya at-Tadili (d. 627/1229-30), who reproduced many of the shaykh's autobiographical comments in his Kitab al-tashawwuf ila rijal at-tasawwuf, written a short time after the latter�s death:
I was an orphan in al-Andalus. My brothers made me a shepherd for their flocks, but whenever I saw someone praying or reciting [the Qur'an], it pleased me. I would come near to him and found a sadness in my soul because I had not memorized anything from the Qur'an and did not know how to pray. So I resolved to run away in order to learn how to read and pray.
I ran away, but my brother caught up with me, spear in hand, and said, 'By God, if you do not return I will kill you!' So I returned and remained for a short time. Then I strengthened my resolve to flee by night. I slipped away at night and took another road [from that which I had originally followed]. My brother [again] caught up with me after sunrise. He drew his sword against me and said, 'By God, I will kill you and be rid of you!' Then he raised his sword over me in order to strike me. I parried him with a piece of wood that was in my hand and his sword broke and flew into pieces. When he saw [what had happened] he said to me, 'Oh my brother, go wherever you wish'.
Upon leaving the region of Seville, the young Abu Madyan travelled south for three or four days, until he reached a hillock near the sea, upon which he found a tent. An old man (shaykh), wearing nothing except what was necessary to cover his nakedness, emerged from the tent and walked toward him. Thinking that the younger man was a captive who had fled from a Christian raiding parry, he asked Abu Madyan about his situation. When told of the young man�s desire to learn the fundamentals of Islam, the shaykh allowed him to remain in his company for a few days.
Then he took a rope, tied a nail to its end, threw it into the sea, and pulled out a fish, which he cooked so that I could eat it. I stayed with him for three days, and whenever I was hungry he would throw that rope and nail into the sea and pull out a fish. Then he would cook it and I would eat it. After [three days had passed] he said to me, 'I see that you covet honor (amr). Return to the city, for God is not [properly] worshipped except with knowledge.'
Heeding his ascetic companion's advice, Abu Madyan returned to Seville, from whence he proceeded to Jerez (Sharish) and Algeciras (al-Jazira al-Khadra'). From Algeciras he crossed the Straits of Gibraltar to Tangier (Tanja) and went from there to Ceuta (Sabta), where he labored for a time in the employ of local fishermen. Impatient to gain the knowledge he so earnestly desired, with the little money he had earned Abu Madyan next traveled to Marrakesh (Marrakush), then the rapidly growing capital of the Almoravid state.
Upon arriving in Marrakesh, Abu Madyan was recruited by these mercenaries and drafted into the regiment of Andalusians that was charged with defending the Almoravid capital. The shaykh apparently suffered further exploitation during the period of his military service, for he mentions that other, more experienced soldiers would regularly steal his wages, leaving him only a little with which to provide for his needs. Finally, someone said to him, �If you want to devote yourself to religion, go to the city of Fez (Fas).'
So I turned toward [Fez] and attached myself to its mosque-university (the famous Jami' al-Qarawiyyin), where I learned to make the ablution and the prayer and sat in the study circles of legists andhadith specialists. I retained nothing of their words, however, until I sat at the feet of a shaykh whose words were retained firmly within my heart. I asked whom he was and was told, 'Abu'l-Hasan [Ali] ibn Hirzihim'. [I went to this shaykh] and told him that I could memorize only what I had learned from him alone and he said to me, 'These [others] speak with parts of their tongues, but their words are not worthy [even] to call the prayer. Since I seek [only] God with my words, they come from the heart and enter the heart.'
The Islamic Texts Society 2002-2005
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Fakhr al-Din al-Razi
Imam Fakhr al-Din al-Razi [d. 606H - 1209CE] 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l ridwanFakhr-al-Din Abu-Abd-Allah Muhammad Ibn Umar ibn al-Hasan ibn al-Husayn al-Razi, also known as Fakhr al-Din al-Razi [606 AH/1209 CE] was a well-known Persian theologian andphilosopher. Born in Rayy, Persia (Iran), just south of present-day Tehran [1]
He was born in a Shafi'ite and Ash'arite family. His father was Diya al-Din 'Umar who taught him Islamic religious sciences before he went to study with other Muslim savants. Al-Razi travelled to many places such as Bukhara, Khwarazm and Transoxiana and held discussions with local savants. Al-Razi was a prolific and encyclopedic writer and scholar based on his more than sixty complete works. He was a philosopher, historian, mathematician, astronomer, physician, theologian and exegesist. Al-Razi's works on theology and on Kalam include the books al-Arba'in fi Usul al-Din and al-Mas'il al-Khamsun fi Usul al-Din. In his al-Arba'in fi Usul al-Din, al-Razi presented forty issues in the principles of religion, such as religious cosmology, theology, ethics, prophecy, eschatology and imamate. Meanwhile, al-Masa'il al-Khamsun fi Usul al-Din is a more brief presentation of similar themes or topics.
A Shafi'i scholar of genius and a Mujtahid Imam in tenets of faith, he was among the foremost figures of his time in mastery of the rational and traditional Islamic sciences, and preserved the religion of Ahl al-Sunna from the deviations of the Mu'tazilites, Shiites, Anthropomorphist, and other aberrant sects of his era by authoring a number of brilliant works that came to enjoy a wide readership among his contemporaries and have remained popular with scholars to this day. His thirty-two-volume Qur'anic exegesis Mafatih al-ghayb[The keys of the unseen] is one of the most famous of his works, though he also wrote on tenets of belief, heresiology, fundamentals of Islamic law and faith, scholastic theology, rhetoric, geometry, and poetry in Arabic and Persian, in both of which he was a preacher of considerable eloquence. His efforts to purify Islam from the heresies of anthropomorphist reached the point that when unable to answer his arguments against them, they resorted to writing ugly remarks and insinuations on scraps of paper and attaching them to the pulpit (Minbar) from which he gave the Friday sermon. He arrived one day and read one of these, and then spoke to those present in an impassioned voice, saying:
"This piece of paper says that my son does such and such. If it is true, he is but a youth and I hope he will repent. It also says that my wife does such and such. If it is true, she is a faithless woman. And it says that my servant does such and such. Servants are wont to commit every wrong, except for those Allah protects. But on none of these scraps of paper - and may Allah be praised -is it written that my son says Allah is a corporeal body, or that he likens Him to created things, or that my wife believes that, or my servant - So which of the two groups is closer to guidance?[1]
Regarding Tasawwuf :
He wrote in his I'tiqadat firaq al-muslimin wa al-mushrikin:
The summary of what the Sufis say is that the way to the knowledge of Allah is self-purification and renunciation of material attachments, and this is an excellent way... Sufis are a folk who work with reflection and the detaching of the self from materialistic trappings. They strive in order that their inner being be solely occupied with the remembrance of Allah in all of their occupations and their actions, and they are characterized by the perfection of their manners in dealing with Allah. Verily these are the best of all the sects of human beings.2
Quotes:
The world is a garden, whose gardener is the state;
The state is the sultan whose guardian is the Law;
The Law is a policy, which is protected by the kingdom;
The kingdom is a city, brought into being by the army;
The army is made secure by wealth;
Wealth is gathered from the subjects;
The subjects are made servents by justice;
Justice is the axis of the prosperity of the world.
-Jami' al-'ulum
NOTES:
He travelled to Khawarzim and Khurasan, and finally to Herat, Afghanistan, where he died in 1210 [1]
Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, I'tiqadat firaq al-muslimin p. 72-73. [2]
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Attar, Farid al-Din
Attar, Farid al-Din [d.617H - 1221CE] 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l-ridwan
Great Persian Sufi Poet. Born in Nishapur, North Eastern Iran. Known for Sufi epic poems narrating the souls progression to inner perfection, as well as couplet poems, the most famous of which is the Simurgh. Wrote a widely read Sufi hagiography. His stories uphold the idea that the release of the soul is attainable in life by eliminating the self, that the universal soul is found within. Notable for lively presentations full of anecdotes & didactic digressions.
There is little information on the formative life of the poet other than he was the son of a prosperous pharmacist and that he received an excellent education in medicine, Arabic, and theosophy at a madrasah attached to the shrine of Imam Reza at Mashhad. According to his own Mosibat Nameh (Book of Afflictions), as a youth, he worked in his father's pharmacy where he prepared drugs and attended patients. Upon his father's death, he became the owner of his own store.
Work in the pharmacy was difficult for young 'Attar. People from all walks of life visited the shop and shared their troubles with him. Their poverty, it seems, impacted the young poet the most. One day, it is related, an unsightly fakir visited the shop. The way he marveled at the opulence of the store made 'Attar uneasy; he ordered the fakir to leave. Looking the owner and the well-stocked shop over, the fakir said, "I have no difficulty with this, pointing to his ragged cloak, to leave; but you, how are you, with all this, planning to leave!" Thefakir's response affected 'Attar deeply. He pondered the fakir's reply for many days and, eventually, decided to give up his shop and join the circle of Shaykh Rukn al-Din Akkaf of the Kubraviyyah order. His new life was one of travel and exploration, very much like thefakir who had inspired him. For a long time, he traveled to Ray, Kufa, Makkah, Damascus, Turkistan, and India, meeting with Sufi shaykhs, learning about the tariqah, and experiencing life in the khanqahs.
When finally he felt he had achieved what he had been seeking in travel, 'Attar returned to Nishapur, settled, and reopened his pharmacy. He also began to contribute to the promotion of Sufi thought. Called Tadhkirat al-Auliya (Memorial of the Saints), 'Attar's initial contribution to his new world contains all the verses and sayings of Sufi saints who, up to that time, had not penned a biography of their own. Regarding the poetic output of 'Attar there are conflicting reports both with respect to the number of books that he might have written and the number of distichs he might have composed. For instance, Reza Gholikhan Hedayat reports the number of books to be 190 and the number of distichs to be 100,000. Firdowsi's Shahname contains only 60,000 bayts. Another tradition puts the number of books to be the same as the number of the Surahs (verses) of the Qur'an, i.e., 114. More realistic studies consider the number of his books to have been between 9 to 12 volumes.
'Attar's works fall within three categories. First are those works in which mysticism is in perfect balance with a finished, story-teller's art. The second group are those in which a pantheistic zeal gains the upper hand over literary interest. The third are those in which the aging poet idolizes the saint Ali. During this period there is no trace of ordered thoughts and descriptive skills. One of 'Attar's major poetic works is called Asrar Nameh (Book of Secrets) about Sufi ideas. This is the work that the aged Shaykh gave Maulana Jalal al-Din Rumi when Rumi's family stayed over at Nishapur on its way to Konya, Turkey. Another major contribution of 'Attar is the Elahi Nameh (Divine Book), about zuhd or asceticism. But foremost among 'Attar's works is his Manteq al-Tayr (Conference of the Birds) in which he makes extensive use of Al-Ghazali's Risala on Birds as well as a treatise by the Ikhvan al-Safa (the Brothers of Serenity) on the same topic.
He was beheaded by the invading Mongol army in 1221 (Common Era). His tomb at Shadyakh is visited by many.
SOURCE: by Iraj Bashiri
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Najm al-Din Kubra
Shaykh Najm al-Din Kubra [d. 618H/1221CE] 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l-ridwan
Abu al-Jannab Ahmad ibn 'Umar ibn Muhammad ibn 'Abd Allah al-Khiwaqi al-Khwarazmi, known as Najm al-Din Kubra alayhir rahman was the founder of the the Kubrawiya Sufi Order--originating, like the Yasawiya, in Central Asia. Najm al-Din Kubra alayhir rahmanwas known as the "saint-producing (lit. "sculpting or chiseling") shaykh" (shaykh-e vali tarash), since a number of his disciples became great shaykhs themselves. Although originally from Khiva, located today in western Uzbekistan, he moved nearby to the capital city, Khwarazm. Shaykh Najm al-Din was killed defending Khwarazm, which was completely destroyed during the Mongol holocaust. Today, his tomb is in the town of Konya Urgench, which was built in the area of the ruins of Khwarazm. Apparently, he is known there as Kebir Ata. Konya Urgench is located in Turkmenistan and is about an hour's drive over the border from the city of Nukus in the Karakalpak region of Uzbekistan. (If you intend to visit Shaykh Najm al-Din's shrine from Uzbekistan, you must have a Turkmen visa--if you are not Uzbek.)
Source: www.uga.edu/islam/Sufism.html
Najm al-Din Kubra and the Kubrawiyyah Order [by Atosa Aria Abedini]
Five to seven hundred years after the Hijrat of the Prophet Muhammad Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam, the Muslim world experienced an extremely turbulent period. However, Sufism blossomed and spread its roots even further. Between 550-700 A.H. the twelfth and thirteenth centuries , the chaotic disruption of the Mongol invasion reached as far as Baghdad and destroyed the caliphate along with numerous concurrent disasters. Regardless, the faithful Muslim saints and scholars flourished at a greater rate than previously recorded. Many Sufi Orders were founded in this period; and those who had dissipated were once again revived.
Among the saintly scholars, Najm al-Din Kubra, founder of the Kubrawiyyah Order, began teaching in Khwarazm; a region in NW Uzbekistan, which, in the past, was part of the great Persian Empire, under the rule of Cyres, the Great. The Kubrawiyyah Order soon expanded its wings and spread its teachings to Persia, Afghanistan, India and China. The Kubrawiyyah, throughout their long history, produced masters of great stature who taught and produced numerous, elaborate writings and doctrines of the Sufis. In 540/1145, in Khwarazm, South of the Aral Sea, Abu'l-Jannab Najm al-Din ibn Umar al-Kubra was born. From a very young age, he displayed a surpassing intelligence. In school he received the nickname Kubra, which literally means "the greatest." It is the abbreviated form of the Qur'anic phrase al-tammat al-Kubra, "the Greatest Calamity"(LXXIX: 34, Noble Qur'an).
After completing his studies in Islamic religious sciences, Najm al-Din left his birthplace to pursue studies in other lands. He went to Persia to study the science of the Hadith then onto Egypt. In his early thirties, his thirst for esoteric matters attracted him to the Suhrawardiyyah order, where he was initiated by Shaykh Ruzbihan al-Wazzan al-Misri. According to Shaykh Kubra's writings, it is known that he had at least one profoundly moving spiritual experience in his childhood. Some believe that Najm al-Din's direction in spirituality may have been greatly affected by Baba Faraj Tabrizi due to his impressive mannerisms and advice to pursue the esoteric sciences.
His first experience as a salek was in Dizful, in western Persia, under the supervision of Ismail al-Qasri. After a short while, Ismail advised him to become an apprentice with Ammar ibn Yasir al-Bidlisi, who was a disciple of Abu'l-Najib al-Suhrawardi. After the passing of his teacher, Shaykh Ammar, Najm al-Din returned to Egypt where Shaykh al-Misri helped him to continue his training until he was permitted to instruct disciples of his own. While under the instruction of Shaykh al-Misri, he married his master's daughter. Upon receiving permission to teach, he was instructed to return to his birthplace, Khwarasm.
Najm al-Din returned to Khwarazm sometime between 582/1185 and 586/ 1190 where he remained the rest of his life, devoting himself to the spiritual path and to teaching disciples. Although he had few disciples, he earned an epithet for his success rate of producing masters of high stature. The epithet was: Wali-tarash, "Sculptor of Saints." He wrote a number of discourses; Fawa'ih al-jamal wa fawatih al-jalal (Aromas of Beauty and Preambles of Majesty), being the most important of his works. In this text he included records of his personal, visionary experiences and guidance for practicing the path; a detailed theory of the Sufi path for initiates.
After a fruitful, spiritual life, Najm al-Din passed away in Urgench, near Khwarazm, in the year 618/1221, during the Mongol invasion. He was offered protection if he had accepted to take refuge with the Mongols; instead, he chose to fight and defend the City for it would result in a glorified martyr's death in battle.
All schools of Sufism are known for their strict rules and discipline of the self and the Kubrawiyyah's methods were not different from the rest. As a Sufi master, Najm al-Din insisted on certain prerequisites before he would consider anyone as a potential salek (student). In order to be considered as a candidate and accepted as a student, one was required to have solid knowledge of Islamic laws and Islamic theological doctrines. The disciplinary rules of the school are eight principles of Junayd (third/ninth centuries). A salek must constantly observe the following:
1. Ritual purity (wudu, a process of cleansing prior to prayer),
2. Fasting,
3. Silence,
4. Seclusion,
5. Innvocation or recollection of Allah, using the formula La Ilaha Illa Allah (zikr),
6. Heart to heart connection with his/her Sheikh at all times,
7. Impure thoughts and impulses are to be put aside as they occur,
8. Surrender him/herself to the will of Allah and never refuse or question what Allah has imposed upon him.
In addition to the mentioned eight rules, Najm al-Din also highly recommended two additional rules: moderation in eating and drinking when breaking a fast, and maintaining a bare minimum of sleep.Shaykh Kubra's description and theory of the Sufi path was that the journey towards Allah was none but an inward journey. He believed that whatever Allah put in the macrocosm, also existed within every individual on the microcosmic level.
"Know that the lower soul, the devil, and the angels are realities that are not external to you. You are they. So, too, Heaven, Earth and the Divine throne are not located outside of you; nor are Paradise, Hell, Life, or death." VXVII:32, Noble Qur'an.
He often told people to pray because Allah is praiseworthy; not for fear of hell or in wishing for paradise.
source
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Muin al-Din Chishti
Chishti, Muin al-Din Hasan Khawaja Ajmeri [d.627H -1230CE] 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l-ridwan
The main personality of the Chishti Sufi order, the most important & widespread Sufi order in India. Born in Sistan [Sijistan] & died in Ajmer. Came to India in 1193 after travelling in Khurasan & Baghdad. His tomb in Ajmer is one of the most popular shrines in north-western India, visited by Muslims, Sikhs, Hindus & Christians alike.
FURTHER EXTENSIVE READING: SILSILA CHISTIYA | KHAWAJA MUIN 'AL-DIN CHISTI
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Shihab al-Din 'Umar Suhrawardi
Shaykh Shihab 'al-din Abu Hafs Umar Abd 'Allah Suhrawardi [d.632H-1234CE] 'alayhir al-rahmah wa'l ridwan
Hadrat Shaykh Shihab al-Din Umar Suhrawardi 'alayhir rahman is officially recognised as the founder of this great Suhrawardiyya Sufi order. It is an order which still has many adherents today. Shihab al-Din Umar claimed descent from Sayyadina Abu Bakr Radi Allahu ta'ala anhu and after acquiring support of the then caliph, attracted sufis from all over the world to hear him teach. It is said that he went on pilgrimage each year to Makkah and al-Madinah. He had also met and conversed with Sayyadina Ghawth al-A'dham; 'Abd' al-Qadir al-Jilani Radi Allahu ta'ala anhu.
Shaykh as-Sayyad Muhammad Nizam al-Din Shah Bikhari 'alayhir rahman of the Silsila 'aaliya 'Qadiriya, Barkatiya, Nooriya, Rizviya' order says he regularly made deedar (saw in a dream) the Beloved Messeneger of Allah (Peace and Blessings upon him) on various occasions, and he attained great blessings from the Exalted court of the Prophet (Peace and Blessings upon him). He also said he made ziyaarat [paid homage & respect] of Ghawth al-A'dham Radi Allahu ta'ala anhu. He personally states;
I often made ziyaarat of Ghawth al-A'dham Radi Allahu ta'ala anhu, but I never saw him alone. I always saw him with Hadrat Shaykh Shihab al-Din Umar SuhrawardiRadi Allahu ta'ala anhu, and during conversations, I also saw that Shaykh Shihab al-Din Umar Radi Allahu ta'ala anhu followed the manner of al-Ghawth al-A'dham Radi Allahu ta'ala anhu. I also never saw Shaykh Shihab al-Din Umar Radi Allahu ta'ala anhu speaking in these dreams, and I was worried about this. I thus asked my father about this, and he said, 'There is nothing to be worried about. The Ahl al-Kashf refer to al-Ghawth al-A'dham Radi Allahu ta'ala anhu 'Zul Jinnahain' (One with two shoulders [deputies]). The deputy on his right is Hadrat Shaykh Shihab al-Din Umar SuhrawardiRadi Allahu ta'ala anhu and the deputy on his left is Shaykh al-Akbar Muhiy'yudeen Ibn Arabi Radi Allahu ta'ala anhu. In this time, you are more engrossed in obedience of the shari'ah and understanding the laws of shari'ah. It is for this reason that you are seeing Shaykh Shihab al-Din Umar Radi Allahu ta'ala anhu with al-Ghawth al-A'dhamRadi Allahu ta'ala anhu.[1]
Amongst Shaykh Shihab al-Din Umar's disciples were the famous poets Shaykh Saidi and Kamal al-Din Isma'il al-'Isfahani Radi Allahu ta'ala anhum. Shaykh Shihab al-Din Umar Suhrawardi 'alayhir rahman is also the author of the celebrated 'Awarif al-ma'arif, an excellent text of 'irfan and Sufism.
This books explains Shaykh al-Suhrawardî's sufi theology and its importance to the training of sufi disciples. His careful analysis of mystical ideas of self-annihilation, sufi exercises (dhikr), proper moral conduct (adab), and other areas that stressed the complete obedience to Islamic law and to the customs of the Prophet will reflect a sufi master's intention to ensure his sufi path reflected the truest and purest form of faith.[2]
We do not want anyone to get confused with Shihab al-Din Yahya al-Suhrawardi (1153/5-1191) who was called "the Master of Oriental Theosophy", and founder of the Ishraqi or "Illumination" School. Yahya al-Suhrawardi was the most controversial of three celebrated mystics who lived at the same time and bore the same place-name - Suhraward, in northwest Iran, near Azerbaijan. His contemporary Shaykh Shihab al-Din 'Umar b. 'Abd Allah Suhrawardi (1144-1234CE) kept his head by being a model of orthodox moderation, and enjoyed the patronage of Caliphs and princes. . Shihab al-Din's teacher was his uncle Abu Najb Suhrawardi (d.1168), rector of the Nizamiya academy and an authority on Hadith.
FURTHER READING : SILSILA AL SUHRAWARDIYA
[1] Source; Silsila aaliya qadiriya, barkatiya, nooriya, rizviya
[2] Source; Fons Vitae Books
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Bakhtiyar al Kaki
Hadrat Khawaja Qutb al-Din Bakhtiyar al Kaki [d.633H -1235CE] 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l-ridwan
Khawaja Qutb al-Din Bakhtiyar Kaki alaihir rahmah was born in 569 A.H. in a town called "Aush" or Awash in Mawar-un-Nahar (Transoxania). Khwaja Qutbuddin'salaihir rahmah original name was "Bakhtiyar" but his title was "Qutbuddin". The name "Kaki" to his name was attributed to him by virtue of a miracle that emanated from him at a later stage of his life in Delhi. He was the first spiritual successor of Hadrat Khawaja Mu'in al-Din Chishti alaihir rahmah. Hadrat Khawaja Bakhtiyar Kaki alaihir rahmah used to offer 95 Rakaats of Salaah during the 24 hours of day and night, along with 3 000 'Durood Shareefs' every night upon the soul of the Beloved Prophet May Allah shower His Mercy upon him. He had no parallel in abandoning the world and suffering poverty and hunger. He kept himself engrossed in the remembrance of Allah.
It is stated that once in an assembly of Sama (Qawwali) he happened to hear a verse of Hadrat Ahmad Jam with the meaning: "Those who are killed with the dagger of surrender and pleasure get a new life from the Unseen." Hadrat Khwaja Bakhtiyar Kaki alaihir rahmah was so much absorbed in and inspired with this verse that from that day on he kept on reciting it in a state of unconsciousness and gave his life in the same state. He remained in this state of Wajd for 3 consecutive days and expired on the 4th day. He passed away on the 14th of Rabi-ul-Awwal 633 A.H. The Mazaar Shareef [shrine] of Hadrat Khwaja Qutbuddin Bakhityar Kaki alaihir rahmah lies near Qutb Minar at old Delhi, India.
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Ibn al-Farid, Umar
Ibn al-Farid, Umar [d.633H -1235CE] 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l-ridwan
Celebrated Arab poet, mystic and Wali Allah. Composed quatrains [ruba'iyat], love poems [ghazals] & odes [qasidas] expressing a mystical view of life in which all of existence reveals the beauty & love of Allah. Most famous are his al-khamriyyah[Wine ode], praising love & the beloved & the Nazm al-suluk [Poem of the Sufi way], an ode of 760 verses detailing the mystic's ascent to enlightenment. Today remains venerated as a Wali Allah [saint] in Cairo, Egypt.
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Ibn al-'Arabi
Shaykh al Akbar : Muhammad Ibn al-'Arabi, Muhiy al-Din [d.637H -1240CE] 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l-ridwan
Muhammad ibn 'Ali ibn Muhammad ibn al-'Arabi, Abu Bakr Muhyi al-Din al-Hatimi al-Ta'i al-Andalusi al-Mursi al-Dimashqi, known as Ibn 'Arabi to differentiate him from Abu Bakr Ibn al-'Arabi the Maliki jurist. A scholar of Arabic letters at first, then tafsir and tasawwuf, nicknamed 'al-Qushayri' and 'Sultan al-'Arifin' in his time for his pre-eminence in tasawwuf, known in his lifetime for his devoutness to worship, asceticism, and generosity, Ibn 'Arabi was praised by al-Munawi as "a righteous friend of Allah and a faithful scholar of knowledge" (waliyyun salihun wa 'alimun nasih), by Ibn 'Imad al-Hanbali as "the absolute mujtahidwithout doubt," and by al-Fayruzabadi as "the Imam of the People of Shari'a both in knowledge and in legacy, the educator of the People of the Way in practice and in knowledge, and the shaykh of the shaykhs of the People of Truth through spiritual experience (dhawq) and understanding."1
His Teachers
He travelled East and West in the study of hadith, taking knowledge from over a thousand shaykhs, among them Abu al-Hasan ibn Hudhayl, Muhammad ibn Khalaf al-Lakhmi, Ibn Zarqun, Abu al-Walid al-Hadrami, al-Silafi, 'Abd al-Haqq al-Ishbili, Ibn 'Asakir, Ibn al-Jawzi, and Ibn Bushkuwal.His principal shaykhs in tasawwuf were Abu Madyan al-Maghribi, Jamal al-Din Yunus ibn Yahya al-Qassar, Abu 'Abd Allah al-Tamimi al-Fasi, Abu al-Hasan ibn Jami', and al-Khidr alayhis asalam.2
He became known first as al-Shaykh al-Kabir ("The Great Shaykh") then al-Shaykh al-Akbar ("The Greatest Shaykh") with specific reference to the sciences of tasawwuf in which he authored hundreds of books.3
His Doctrine ('Aqida)
His greatest and best-known is his last work, al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya ("The Meccan Conquests") which begins with a statement of doctrine - translated in forthcoming posts - about which al-Safadi said:
"I saw that from beginning to end it consists in the doctrine of ABU AL-HASAN AL-ASHARIwithout any difference whatsoever."4
His Rank of Mujtahid Mutlaq
In jurisprudence Ibn 'Arabi is often said to follow the Zahiri school, but this is incorrect since he himself denies it, as quoted by Ibn 'Imad from Ibn 'Arabi's two poems al-Ra'iyya and al-Nuniyya, which state respectively:
Laqad harrama al-Rahmanu taqlida Malikin
wa Ahmada wa al-Nu'mani wa al-kulli fa'dhuru
The Merciful forbade me to imitate Malik, Ahmad,
Al-Nu'man [Abu Hanifa] and others, therefore pardon me.
Lastu mimman yaqulu qala Ibnu Hazmin
la wa la Ahmadu wa la al-Nu'manu
I am not of those who say: "Ibn Hazm said"-
Certainly not! Nor "Ahmad said" nor "al-Nu'man said."5
Some of Ibn 'Arabi's Sayings
It is remarkable that there were very few contemporaries of Ibn 'Arabi among his accusers, although he travelled and taught all over the Islamic world and, as Ibn Hajar stated, "he made his mark in every country that he entered"15 while his admirers among the authorities of Islam lived both in his own lifetime and later. Among the Shaykh's sayings:
- "Whoever is truthful in something and pursues it diligently will obtain it sooner or later; if he does not obtain it in this world, he will obtain it in the next; and whoever dies before victory shall be elevated to the level of his diligence."
- "The knower of Allah knows through eyesight (basar) what others know through insight (basira), and - he knows through insight what virtually no-one knows. Despite this, he does not feel secure from the harm of his ego towards himself; how then could he ever feel secure from what His Lord has foreordained for him?"
- "The knower's declaration to his student:
'Take from me this science which you can find nowhere else,' does not detract from the knower's level, nor do other similar declarations that appear to be self-eulogy, because his intention is only to encourage the student to receive it."
- "The discourse of the knower is in the image of the listener according to the latter's powers, readiness, weakness, and inner reservations."
- "If you find it complicated to answer someone's question, do not answer it, for his container is already full and does not have room for the answer."
- "The ignorant one does not see his ignorance as he basks in its darkness; nor does the knowledgeable one see his own knowledge, for he basks in its light."
- "Whoever asks for a proof for Allah's oneness, a donkey knows more than him."
His Tarjuman al-Ashwaq ("The Interpreter of Desires") is a masterpiece of Arabic poetry translated in many languages. The following poem to the Ka'ba is taken from the Futuhat.a
1. In the Place of refuge my heart sought refuge,
shot with enmity's arrows.
2. O Mercy of Allah for His slaves, Allah placed His trust
in you among all inanimate forms.
3. O House of my Lord, O light of my heart,
O coolness of my eyes,b O my heart within,
4. O true secret of the heart of existence,
my sacred trust, my purest love!
5. O direction from which I turn from every quarter and valley,
6. From subsistence in the Real, then from the height,
from self-extinction, then from the depths!
7. O Ka`ba of Allah, O my life,
O path of good fortune, O my guidance,
8. In you has Allah placed every safety
from the fear of disaster upon the Return.
9. In you does the noble Station flourish,
in you are found the fortunes of Allah's slaves.
10. In you is the Right Hand that my sin has draped
in the robe of blackness.c
11. Multazam is in you - he who clings to love for it,
will be saved on the Day of Mutual Cries.d
12. Souls passed away longing for Her,
in the pain of longing and distant separation.
13. In sorrow at their news she has put on
the garment of mourning.e
14. Allah sheds His light on her court,
and something of His light appears in the heart.
15. None sees it but the sorrowful
whose eyes are dark from lack of sleep.
16. He circumambulates seven times after seven,
from the beginning of night until the call to prayer.
17. Hostage to endless sadness, he is never seen
but bound to effort.
18. I heard him call upon Allah and say, beside the Black
Stone: "O my heart!
19. Our night has quickly passed,
but the goal of my love has not passed!"
Ibn 'Imad said: "He died - may Allah have mercy on him! - in the house of the Qadi Muhyi al-Din ibn al-Zaki and was taken to Qasyun [Damascus] and buried in the noble mound, one of the groves of Paradise, and Allah knows best."16
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Shams-e-Tabrizi
Mawlana Shams-e-Tabrizi [d.645H - 1248CE] 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l-ridwan
Shams-e-Tabrizi was an Iranian Sufi mystic born in the city of Tabriz in Iranian Azerbaijan. He is responsible for initiating Mawlana Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rume, usually known as Rumi in the West, into Islamic mysticism, and is immortalized by Rumi's poetry collection Diwan-e Shams-e Tabriz-i ("The Works of Shams of Tabriz"). Shams lived together with Mawlana Rume in Konya, in present-day Turkey, for several years, and is also known to have travelled to Damascus in present-day Syria.
After several years with Mawlana Rume, Mawlana Shams vanished from the pages of history quite suddenly. Although it is not known what became of him after his departure from Rumi, his gravesite is in a remote region of the Karakorams in Northern Pakistan at a place called Ziarat not far from the village of Shimshall. Rumi's love for Shams, and his bereavement at his death, found expression in an outpouring of lyrical poems. Rumi himself left Konya and went out searching for Shams, journeying as far as Damascus before realizing that Shams and himself were, in fact, "one and the same"
As the years passed, Rumi attributed more and more of his own poetry to Shams as a sign of love for his departed friend and master. Indeed, it quickly becomes clear in reading Mawlana Rume that Shams-e-Tabrizi was elevated to a symbol of God's love for mankind, and that Shams was a sun ("Shams" is Arabic for "sun") shining the Light of God on Rumi.
ME & RUMI [AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SHAMS-E-TABRIZI]
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Sabir Kalyari
Makhdoom Ala 'al-Din Ali Ahmad Sabir Kalyari [d.650H -1253CE] 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l-ridwan
Hadrat Ala'ud-din Ali Ahmed Sabir alaihir rahmah was born on the 19th of Rabi-ul-Awwal 592 H. at Herat in Afghanistan. He was the great grandson of AL GHAWTH AL ADHAM, Shaykh Abd'al Qadir al-Jilani Radi Allahu ta'ala anhu and the maternal nephew of Hadrat Baba Farid al-Din alaihir rahmah. While Hadrat Sabir Paakalaihir rahmah was still in his mother's womb, Sayyiduna Rasullulah Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa 'aalihi wa Sallam appeared in her dream and commanded her to name the child "Ahmed." Likewise, after some time, the fourth Caliph of Islam, Sayyadina Hadrat Ali Radi Allahu ta'ala anhu, appeared in his mother's dream and command her to name her child "Ali." Due to both these commands, he was named Ali Ahmed. Some of the first words he spoke as a toddler were "La Moujuda Ill-Allah" meaning "There is nothing present but Allah." At the age of 7, he adopted regular fasting and Tahajjud Salaah. When his mother insisted upon him not to perform such Mujahedas (spiritual striving) he simply said, "My dear mother, I can't help it. I wish to burn myself in the devotion of Allah. I really enjoy this life." Hadrat Sabir Paak alaihir rahmah was then initiated as a mureed by Hadrat Baba Farid alaihir rahmah in the Chistiya Silsila. Hadrat Baba Farid alaihir rahmah once said: "The knowledge of my chest was given to Shaykh Nizam al-Din alaihir rahmah while the knowledge of my heart enriched Shaykh Ali Ahmed Sabir alaihir rahmah."
Hadrat Sabir Paak's alaihir rahmah Mazaar Shareef was built after 200 years by Hadrat Qutb-e-A'lam Abd 'al-Qudoos Gangohi alaihir rahmah, and ever since, people have been visiting in their droves.
FURTHER IN-DEPTH READING:
KHAWAJA SABIR KALYARI | CHISTIYA SHAYKHS
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Abu al Hasan Shadhili
Shadhili, Abu al-Hasan 'Ali ibn 'Abdu' Allah ibn 'Abdu'l-Jabbar [d.656H/1258CE] 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l-ridwan
Shaykh Abu al Hasan Shadhili alayhir rahman, who, on his father's side, descended from the Fatimid-Hasanid line, and on his mother's side from the Fatimid-Husaynid line. He was born in Morocco, and educated in Tunis and Morocco. He was the Founder the Shadhili Sufi order, combining formal scholarship with mystical exercises. The opposition of establishment Tunisian 'ulama to his preaching led him to move to Alexandria, Egypt, in 1244, where he gathered students & followers, founded a zawiyah [Sufi lodge] & created the distinctive organisation, devotional activities & social life of the order. He avoided close relations with the government. Passed down popular prayers & Sufi terms. The movement he inspired is one of the oldest Sufi tariqahs & became the most important in North Africa.
Abu al-Hasan Shadhili alayhir rahman was one of the great saints of the community, he said about tasawwuf:
He who dies without having entered into this knowledge of ours dies insisting upon his grave sins (kaba'ir) without realizing it.1
He was born in the year 593 A.H./1196 C.E., in the mountain village of Ghumara in the Rif area of the northern Atlas mountains of the Maghrib. The Berber tribe to which he belonged had virtually separated itself from the rest of the Maghrib by refusing to accept the Religion of Islam, which was otherwise universally followed in this region. SHAYKH ABU MADYAN had tried to teach and guide this tribe to the Truth, but they had preferred to live in their state of spiritual ignorance.
After Abu'l as-Hasan spent a period of time with his murshid; Shaykh 'Abdu's-Salam ibn Mashish alayhir rahman, he was ordered by his shaykh 'Abdu as-Salam to proceed to Ifriqiya, now known as Tunisia, where he should settle in the village of Shadhila until Allah would send His Order for him to move to the city of Tunis, where he would meet with certain difficulty and opposition. He was told nevertheless that he should remain in Tunis, until the coming of an event which would permit him to leave this city and to travel to the East where, as his Master said,
"You will become the Qutb of your time."
Shaykh Abu'l as-Hasan alayhir rahman set out for the village of Shadhila, between Qayrawan and Tunis where, rather than looking for a place to lodge, he retreated to a cave on the mountain of Jabal Zaghwan, accompanied by his spiritual brother and companion, 'Abdullah ibn Salama al-Habibi alayhir rahman, where they spent 40 days in total seclusion and supplication.
Shaykh Abu al-Hasan Shadhili alayhir rahman died in Egypt, 656 Hijri - 1258 Common Era. His shrine is at Humaythra near the Red sea.
Extracts from & further reading : Sidi Muhammad Press
111 In Ibn 'Ajiba, Iqaz al-himam p. 8.
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Baba Farid al-Din Mas'ud
Farid al-Din Mas'ud Ganj-i-Shakar [d.663H - 1265CE] 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l-ridwan
Also known as Baba Farid. A seminal personality in the medieval Indian mystical tradition, the Sufi Wali Allah [saint] and poet consolidated the Chishti order and his verses elevated Punjabi to a literary status. Numerous Punjabi tribes attribute their conversion to him and his shrine in Ajodhan [presently Paak-pattan, Pakistan] is a major pilgrimage centre.
FURTHER READING ON BABA FARID GANJ-I SHAKAR
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Baha-ud-Din Zakariya
Abu Muhammad Baha al-Din Zakariya Multani [d.665 - 1267 CE] 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l-ridwan
Hadrat Shaykh Baha-al-Din Zakariya (Persian: بہاؤ الدین زکریا ) was a Sufi of the Suhrawardiyya order (tariqa). His full name was al-Shaykh al-Kabir Baha-ud-Din Abu Muhammad Zakaria al-Qurayshi al-Asadi al Hashmi.
Shaykh Baha al-Din Zakariya known as 'Bahawal Haq' was born at Kot Kehror, a town of the Layyah District near Multan, Punjab, Pakistan, around 1170 Common Era. His grand father Shah Kamal al-Din Ali Shah Qurayshi al Hashmi arrived in Multan from Makkah en route to Khwarizm where he stayed for a short while. Shaykh Baha al-Din was from the descendents of Asad Ibn Hashim the maternal grandfather of Hadrat Ali ibn Abi Talib Radi Allahu anhu.
In Tariqat he was the disciple of Renowned Sufi Master Shaykh Shahab al-Din SuhrawardiRadi Allahu anhu who awarded him Khilafat only after 17 days of stay at his Khanqaah in Baghdad.
For fifteen years he went from place to place to preach Islam and after his wanderings 'Bahawal Haq' settled in Multan in 1222. One of his famous disciples is Hadrat Lal Shah Baz Qalander Radi Allahu anhu [d.650].
Shah baz Qalandar (Sayyad Uthman) was seen as a controversial figure by some, because he was a majzub wali. He would put on red clothes and was often found in a state of spiritual ecstasy. This offended the orthodox ulema of the time. Qazi Qutb al-Din Kashfi, a prominent alim, gave a fatwa [religious edict) against Sayyad Uthman, who was staying in a village near Multan. He was furious when he heard about this fatwa and travelled to Multan with his followers to avenge the dishonour. At the time, Shaykh Baha al-Din Zakariya Multani was presiding over the seat of spiritual guidance and enlightenment and his circle of disciples included scholars and sages. When he learnt of Sayyad Uthman and the cause of his anger, Shaykh Baha al-Din, managed to calm him down.
Humbled by Shaykh Baha al-Din, he said: ''O personification of the light, I beg your pardon. I was in the wrong. I had come to take revenge from an alim of your city, but I have myself become your prisoner. Don't keep me waiting for long and accept my submission and bai't.'' Shaykh Baha al-Din embraced him and included him in his circle of Rushd-wo-Hidayat (spiritual guidance and enlightenment). Shaykh Baha al-Din is reported to have addressed Uthman with the name 'Lal Shahbaz' and since then, he has been known by this name.
According to Hadrat Makhdoom Ashraf Semnani,
''Qalandar is one who has severed connections with the world. He should be an expert of shariat (law) and tariqat (way) and should be immersed in the ocean of existence.” Uthman had all these qualities, which is why he is known as “Qalandar''.
Shaykh Baha-al-Din Zakariya died in 1267 CE and his mausoleum is located near the main gate of the Multan Fort. (Some reports say that the Shaykh died on the 7th of Safar - 661/21 December 1262).
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Mawlana Rumi
Mawlana Rumi, Jalal al-Din al- [d.672H - 1273CE] 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l-ridwan
Born in Balkh [in modern Afghanistan] but lived in Konya, Anatolia [Turkey]. Initially followed existing Sufi paths but became a visionary ecstatic in 1244 after being inspired on a new path of aesthetic & emotional Sufism, which developed into the Mawlawi [Mevlevi] order after his death. Taught that the Master of the Way was to serve as a medium between Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala & humanity. Sought identification of the human self with divine being. Wrote more than seventy thousand verses of Persian poetry in ordinary language, expressing the experience of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala's presence in creation & inspiring joy in the listener; common themes are the trials of separation from the Beloved & the joys of union with Him. Most famous poem is Mathnawi, a compilation of spiritual outbursts, anecdotal ruminations & parables expressed in poetic form.
FURTHER READING & POETRY
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Badawi, al-Sayyad Ahmad
Badawi, al-Sayyad Ahmad [d.675H - 1276CE] 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l-ridwan
Morrocan-born founder of Ahmadi Sufi order, one of the four largest in Egypt. Influenced by Shaykh AHMAD AR-RIFA'Y & Shaykh 'ABD' AL-QADIR AL-JILANI and their Sufi orders. Received a vision instructing him to go to Egypt, where he won many followers & reputedly worked miracles. Fought against the Crusaders. The annual celebration of his birth [mawlid] is among the most popular feasts in Egypt. By the early nineteenth century, three feasts were being held in his honour, coinciding with the agricultural cycle of the Nile Delta. The shrine and Mosque built over his tomb are popular sites for devotees.
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al-Nawawi
Abu Zakariyya Yahya Ibn Sharaf al-Nawawi [d.677H - 1278CE] 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l-ridwan
He was popularly known as al-Nawawi or Imam Nawawi. He studied in Damascus from the age of 18 and after making the Hajj in 1253 he settled there as a private scholar. In 1267 he succeeded Abu Shama as professor of hadith at the Ashrafiyya school in the city. He died at Nawa at a relatively young age, having never married.
Imam Nawawi Rahmatullahi alaih was one of the great Sufi scholars, strictest latter-time hadith masters, and most meticulous of jurists, Shaykh al-Islam Imam Muhyiddin Yahya ibn Sharaf al-Nawawi is with al-Rafi'i the principal reference of the late Shafi'i school. His books remain authoritative in the methodology of the law, in Qur'an commentary, and in hadith. His commentary of Sahih Muslim is second only to Ibn Hajar's commentary of Sahih Bukhari. Allah gave his famous compilation of Forty Hadiths more circulation and fame than possibly any other book of hadith, large or small, and has allowed Nawawi to be of immense benefit to the Community of Islam.
Imam Nawawi Rahmatullahi alaih was considered a Sufi and a saint, as is evident from the titles of some of his works and that of Sakhawi's biography entitledTarjamat shaykh al-islam, qutb al-awliya' al-kiram, faqih al-anam, muhyi al-sunna wa mumit al-bid'a Abi Zakariyya Muhyi al-Din al-Nawawi (The biography of the Shaykh of Islam, the Pole of Noble Saints, the Jurist of Mankind, the Reviver of the Sunna and the Slayer of Innovation... al-Nawawi).
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Muslih al Sadi
Sadi, Musharrif al-Din Muslih [d.689H - 1291CE] 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l-ridwan
Persian Sufi poet. Lived & wrote in Shiraz. A member of the 'Suhrawardi tariqah', he is best known for spiritual & moral teachings. He travelled throughout the Islamic world as a Sufi dervish. His two major works, Bustan [The Orchard] &Ghulistan [The (Flower) Garden], are characterised by garden & floral imagery in the context of scriptural admonitions to live a moral life. Known as a master of the Persian language.
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Ibn Ata' Allah al Iskandari
Abu al-Fadl Ibn Ata' Allah al Iskandari, Ahmad ibn Muhammad [d.709H/1309CE] 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l-ridwan
Ibn Ata' Allah al-Iskandari was born in Alexandria, Egypt, as his family tree (nisbah) indicates, about the middle of the seventh [AH] /thirteenth [CE] century. His family were renowned Maliki scholars from the Banu Judham tribe, originally from Arabia. His grandfather, Abd al-Karim (d. 612 AH/1216 CE) had distinguished himself as an expert in Fiqh, usul (principles of jurisprudence), and Arabic, having studied under the famous Abu'l-Hasan al-Abyari.
Ibn Ata' Allah was one of the great sufi Imams who was also known as a muhaddith, preacher, and Maliki jurist, Ibn 'Ata Allah al-Iskandari (d. 709) is the author of 'al-Hikam' (Aphorisms), 'Miftah al-falah' (The key to success), 'al-Qasd al-mujarrad fi ma'rifat al-ism al-mufrad' (The pure goal concerning knowledge of the Unique Name), 'Taj al-'arus al-hawi li tadhhib al-nufus' (The bride's crown containing the discipline of souls), 'Unwan al-tawfiq fi adab al-tariq' (The sign of success concerning the discipline of the path), the biographical al-Lata'if fi manaqib Abi al-'Abbas al-Mursi wa shaykhihi Abi al-Hasan' (The subtle blessings in the saintly lives of Abu al-'Abbas al-Mursi and his master ABU AL-HASAN AL-SHADILI), and others.Initially Ibn Ata'Allah was not so drawn to the Sufi path, preferring to concentrate his energies on jurisprudence. Yet, in spite of his early antipathies, he did become a disciple of Shaykh Abu 'l-Abbas al-Mursi, (d. 686/1288). As his most important and principal work, the Hikam, attests, he had become a Sufi master in his own right, and was already a shaykh when al-Mursi died. He was Abu al-'Abbas al-Mursi's (d. 686) student and the second successor of the Sufi founder, Imam Abu al-Hasan al- Shadhili.
As the third Shaykh of the Shadhili Sufi order Ibn 'Ata Allah, was responsible for systemising the orders doctrines & recording the biographies of its founder, Shaykh Abu al-Hasan and his successor, Shaykh Abu al-Abbas al-Mursi. He is the author of the first systematic treatise ondhikr. His compilation of aphorisms [hikam; sing. Hikmah] made the order very popular & his work has been referred to as the last Sufi karamat performed on the banks of the Nile.
Ibn 'Ata' Allah alayhir rahman was one of those who confronted IBN TAYMIYYA for his excesses in attacking those of the Sufis with whom he disagreed.
What he said to Ibn Taymiyya regarding SHAYKH IBN AL 'ARABI ;
"Ibn 'Arabi was one of the greatest of the jurists who followed the school of Dawud al-Zahiri after Ibn Hazm al-Andalusi, who is close to your methodology in Islamic law, O Hanbalis! But although Ibn 'Arabi was a Zahiri (i.e. a literalist in matters of Islamic law), the method he applied to understand ultimate reality (al-haqiqa) was to search out the hidden, spiritual meaning (tariq al-batin), that is, to purify the inward self (tathir al-batin).
What he said to Ibn Taymiyya regarding tawassul;
Is there any true believer who believes that there is someone who can reward him for his good deeds and punish him for his bad ones other than Allah? Besides this, we must consider that there are expressions which should not be taken just in their literal sense. This is not because of fear of associating a partner with Allah and in order to block the means to idolatry. For whoever seeks help from the Prophet only seeks his power of intercession with Allah as when you yourself say: "This food satisfies my appetite." Does the food itself satisfy your appetite? Or is it the case that it is Allah who satisfies your appetite through the food?
As for your statement that Allah has forbidden Muslims to call upon anyone other than Himself in seeking help, have you actually seen any Muslim calling on someone other than Allah? The verse you cite from the Qur'an was revealed concerning the idolaters and those who used to call on their false gods and ignore Allah. Whereas, the only way Muslims seek the help of the Prophet is in the sense of tawassul or seeking a means, by virtue of the privilege he has received from Allah (bi haqqihi 'inda Allah), andtashaffu' or seeking intercession, by virtue of the power of intercession which Allah has bestowed on him.
As for your pronouncement that istighatha or seeking help is forbidden in the Shari'abecause it can lead to idolatry, if this is the case, then we ought also to prohibit grapes because they are means to making wine, and to castrate unmarried men because not to do so leaves in the world a means to commit fornication and adultery."
What he said regarding IMAM AL-GHAZALI;
"al-Ghazali was equally an Imam both in Shari'a and tasawwuf. He treated legal rulings, the Sunnah, and the Shari'a with the spirit of the Sufi. And by applying this method he was able to revive the religious sciences. We know that tasawwufrecognizes that what is sullied has no part in religion and that cleanliness has the character of faith. The true and sincere sufi must cultivate in his heart the faith recognized by the Ahl al-Sunnah.
Ibn 'Ata' Allah taught at both the al-Azhar Mosque and the Mansuriyyah Madrasah in Cairo as well as privately to his disciples. However, it is not known where his Zawiyah was located.
Shaykh Ibn 'Ata' Allah died at around sixty years of age in the middle of Jumada II 709 H/November 1309 CE. As befitting an eminent and learned teacher, he died in the Mansuriyyah Madrasah. His funeral procession was witnessed by hundreds of people and he was buried in the Qarafah Cemetery in Cairo in what is today called the 'City of the Dead', at the foot of Jabal al-Muqattam. His tomb became famous as the site of homage, visitation, prayer, and miraculous occurrences. To this day this is still the case.
This pious and extraordinary contemplative figure left behind a spiritual legacy no less impressive than those of his own beloved Shaykh, and the eminent founder Shaykh Abu'l-Hasan ash-Shadhili. All the biographers refer to Ibn 'Ata Allah with illustrious titles and reverence and mention how marvellously he spoke and how uplifting his words were. In spite of the fact that he followed the Maliki madhbab, the Shafi'is laid claim to him, most probably because some of his earlier teachers had been Shafi'i scholars, not to mention some of his students.
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Nidam al-Din Awliya
Hadrat Khawaja Nizam al-Din Awliya, Mehboob-e-Elahi [d.725H - 1325CE]'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l-ridwan
Shaykh Nizam al-Din represents in many ways the pinnacle of the Chishti Order of the Sufis. After becoming a disciple of Hadrat BABA FARID AL-DIN GANJ-I SHAKAR, his spiritual guide he relinquished his desire to become a qadi (muslim judge) and lived in abject poverty in seeking the truth with regard to the Sufi path. Hadrat Nizam al-Din Awliya is also known as Mehboob-e-Elahi, the beloved of Allah. He is laid to rest Delhi, India.
FURTHER IN-DEPTH READING: NIZAM AL-DIN AWLIYA | CHISTIYA SHAYKHS
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Amir Khusro
Abul Hasan Yamin al-Din Khusro [d.725H - 1325CE] 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l-ridwan
Abul Hasan Yamin al-Din Khusro (1253-1325 CE), better known as Amir Khusro Dehlavi (in Persian language history), is one of the iconic figures in the cultural history of the Indian subcontinent. A Sufi mystic and a spiritual disciple of NIZAM AL-DIN AWLIYA of Delhi, Amir Khusro (or Khusrau or Khusraw) was not only one of India's greatest poets, he is also credited with being the founder of both the hindi classical poetry and Qawwali (the devotional music of the Sufis). He was born of a Turkish father, Saif al-Din, and an Indian mother, in India.
FURTHER READING : AMIR KHUSRO
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Ala al-Dawlah Simnani
Shaykh Abul Mukarram'Ala al-Dawlah Simnani,[d.737H - 1336CE] 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l-ridwan
Shaykh Abul-Mukarram Rukn al-din Ala-ud-Dawlah Ahmad Bin Muhammad Bin Ahmad Biabanki Semnani Rahmatullahi alayh is one of the great Sufi philosophers and poets of his time. He came from a large and affluent family who come from the province of Biabank, Semnan in Iran. During his youth he was under the rule of the local militia and later on was involved as a government personnel. Suddenly he left all that behind, slept little, ate little and spoke little and learned the Qur'an and spent most of his time in worship and became a member of the Kubrawi Sufi order; which maintained that strict adherence to the Qur'an al kareem and Islamic law was the basis of the Sufi path.
Shaykh Semnani wrote many treatises and his '40 Sessions' [chahel majlis] are amongst the most well known. The Vastness of Human Heart is one extract from such a session :
These kings who boast about pittance i.e. pompous & grandiose setup of their rule over the little city or province that was captured with deviance and tricks, and they conduct themselves with such arrogance & grandeur that is beyond comparison. These miserable creatures do not comprehend the measure of the Lord�s Dominion and they do not comprehend the vastness of the human heart! (Semnani then continues with the known measurements of the earth and Sun at the time and concludes that 360 planet earths fit within the Sun. Not a bad estimate for a little man in a village hundreds of years ago)
If 360 planet earths fit within the Sun, then how can these petty kings boast about the size of their kingdoms!? Now add to Sun & 360 earths, fantastic cosmos and the estimate would be even more minute: Like a ball in a desert or a seed in an ocean and this entire cosmos compared to the Lord�s Throne like a ring in a desert. Messenger of Allah Peace Be Upon Him has mentioned that all the above that was mentioned next to the human heart is like a seed in a desert or less i.e. the human heart is far vaster that anything we can imagine or anything we can observe : ''So blessed be Allah, the best to create'' (Qur'an [23:14]). (Shebly said, ''Anyone that can grasp even a bit of the Tawhid (Divine Oneness) cannot grasp the rest, due to its immense weight'' and some other time he said, ''Even if someone grasped a bit of Tawhid (Divine Oneness) it is as though carrying the entire earth & cosmos on eyelashes''. That is why Allah forbids killing people because each human being is a fantastic creature within the heart though to our ignorant eyes look like some skin on few bones!)
Allah has created all hearts vast as such. But some people struggled with much effort thus entering that fantastically large realm of human heart and some others added even more veils to cover the path to this vastness and their minds cannot even fathom any passageway to this enormous space of the heart. Allah Almighty in every place has shown me the nature of this situation (without words).
Hark! Yaa Muslim! Yaa Sufi! Follow not, obey not the desires of your heart for world conquest and call it the religion or spirituality, follow who reminds you of the Divine Sublime Beloved understand the Tariq (Path) of obtaining Halal (Lawful) livelihood and deliver your children to the beginnings of the Tariqat (Path to the Divine) and invite not people & their children to death & destruction.
Source: Untired With Loving
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al-Shabistari
Sa'd al-Din Mahmud al-Shabistari [d.740H/1340CE ] 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l-ridwan
Mahmud al-Shabistari was born at Shabistar, near Tabriz, around the year 1250 Common Era,he was one of the great Sufi poets of the 8TH Century [Hijri] / 14th Century [CE]. He is famous for writing the Gulshan e Raz, or Secret Rose Garden, as a reply to questions put forth by a Sufi doctor of Herat named Dmir Sayyad Husayni. Very little is known of Mahmud Shabistari's actual life. He also wrote beside the Gulshan e Raz two treatises on Sufism called Haqq al Yakin and Risala e Shadid. We learn he had a very favourite disciple called Shaykh Ibrahim. The Gulshan e Raz was introduced into Europe by two travellers in 1700CE. Later, copies of the poem were found in several European libraries.
Like RUMI, Shabistari lived in turbulent times. This period was aften frought with dangers, in particular the Mongol invasions brought much devastation. However Shabistari was able to write much poetry and synthesise much of the Sufi wisdom. He had a style similar to IBN ARABIand expressed Sufi philosophy in a moving and simple language. As David Fieldler says of Shabistari
" Shabistari possessed a unique genius for summarizing the profound and often complex teachings of Sufism in a beautiful, aphoristic, and concise fashion, which often leaves the reader speechless when the deeper meanings of his verse are grasped. "
Shabistari's poetry was inspired by his own mystical experiences. In a style unique to himself he expressed the universal truths and experiences shared by other the Sufi Poets; Rumi, Hafiz, Ibn Arabi, Attar and Rabia al Basri .
Shabistari was a devoted Sufi but at the same time was not constrained by any social or religious ideology. In accordance with Sufi philosophy Shabistari taught that there are many ways to reach the common goal. - "The Paths are many the goal is one."
In the writings of Shabistari we can feel the universal vision of one who has transcended the limitations of the human mind. With Shabistari we can be inspired by a poet who is pointing us towards the universal consciousness.
"I" and "you" are but the lattices,
in the niches of a lamp,
through which the One Light shines.
"I" and "you" are the veil
between heaven and earth;
lift this veil and you will see
no longer the bonds of sects and creeds.
When "I" and "you" do not exist,
what is mosque, what is synagogue?
What is the Temple of Fire?
- Shabistari
The value of Shabistari's work was recognized almost immediately. Many commentaries on the work by other Sufi mystics soon began to appear. The Secret Rose Garden quickly was regarded as one of the central works of Sufism by some sufi followers.
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Shams al-Din al-Dhahabi
Muhammad Abu 'Abdullah Shams al-Din al-Dhahabi al Shafi'i [d. 748H - 1348CE] 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l-ridwan
Al-Dhahabi [1274-1348CE] the great Shafi'i hadith master (hafiz) and historian of Islam, the imam, Shaykh al-Islam, head of hadith masters, perspicuous critic and expert examiner of the hadith, encyclopedic historian and biographer, and foremost authority in the canonical readings of the Qur'an. Born in Damascus where his family lived from the time of his grandfather 'Uthman, he sometimes identified himself as Ibn al-Dhahabi - son of the goldsmith - in reference to his father's profession. He began his study of hadith at age eighteen, travelling from Damascus to Ba'labak, Hims, Hama, Aleppo, Tripoli, Nabulus, al-Ramla, Cairo, Iskandariyya, al-Qudus, Hijaz, and elsewhere to thirty different locations, after which he returned to Damascus where he taught and authored many works and achieved world renown. He lost his sight two years before he died, leaving three children: his eldest daughter Amat al-'Aziz and his two sons 'Abd Allah and Abu Hurayra 'Abd al-Rahman. The latter taught the hadith masters Ibn Nasir al-Din al-Dimashqi and Ibn Hajar, to whom he transmitted several works authored or narrated by his father.
His student TAJ AL-DIN AL-SUBKI said:
Our time was graced with four hadith masters: al-Mizzi, al-Birzali, al-Dhahabi, and my father the Shaykh and Imam [Taqi al-Din al-Subki]. As for our shaykh Abu 'Abd Allah, he is an ocean without peer, a treasure and refuge in time of difficulty, the imam of the living on record, the gold of our time in spirit and letter, the shaykh of narrator-discreditation and narrator-commendation (al-jarh wa al-ta'dil)... and the one who trained us in this science and brought us out into the scholarly throng - may Allah reward him greatly!
Another student of his, Salah al-Din al-Safadi, said:
I read before him many of his works and did not find in him the rigidity(jumud) of hadith scholars nor the denseness (kawdana) of transmitters. Rather, he is highly perspicuous and proficient in the sayings of the scholars and the schools of the imams of the Salaf and authorities in doctrine. What most pleased me is the care he shows, in his works, not to mention a hadith except he states whether it suffers from any weakness in its content or chain of transmission or one of its narrators. I did not see others show the same care in what they cite.
The "Commander of the Believers in Hadith" (Amir al-Mu'minin fi al-Hadith), Shaykh al-Islam IBN HAJAR AL-ASQALANI said of him:
"He was the most prolific of the scholars of his time. People yearned to obtain his books, travelling to him for that purpose and circulating them through reading, copying, and audition." "He is among those who have total mastery in the field of narrator-criticism."
He authored nearly a hundred works, some of them of considerable size:
Ahmad ibn al-Mun'im related to us... [with his chain of transmission] from Ibn 'Umar that the latter disliked to touch the Prophet's - Allah bless and greet him - grave. I say: He disliked it because he considered it disrespect. Ahmad ibn Hanbal was asked about touching the Prophet's - Allah bless and greet him - grave and kissing it and he saw nothing wrong with it. His son 'Abd Allah related this from him. If it is asked: "Why did the Companions not do this?" We reply: "Because they saw him with their very eyes when he was alive, enjoyed his presence directly, kissed his very hand, nearly fought each other over the remnants of his ablution water, shared his purified hair on the day of the greater Pilgrimage, and even if he spat it would virtually not fall except in someone's hand so that he could pass it over his face. Since we have not had the tremendous fortune of sharing in this, we throw ourselves on his grave as a mark of commitment, reverence, and acceptance, even to kiss it. Do you not see what Thabit al-Bunani did when he kissed the hand of Anas ibn Malik and placed it on his face saying: "This is the hand that touched the hand of Allah's Messenger"? Muslims are not moved to these matters except by their excessive love for the Prophet - Allah bless and greet him -, as they are ordered to love Allah and the Prophet -- Allah bless and greet him -- more than their own lives, their children, all human beings, their property, and Paradise and its maidens. There are even some believers that love Abu Bakr and 'Umar more than themselves...
Al-Dhahabi defined knowledge in Islam (al-'ilm) as "Not the profusion of narration, but a light which Allah casts into the heart. Its condition is followership (ittiba') and the flight away from egotism (hawa) and innovation."
At the mention of al-Harawi al-Ansari's Sufi manual Manazil al-Sa'irin in the Siyaral-Dhahabi exclaims:
How beautiful was the tasawwuf of the Companions and Successors! They did not probe those phantasms and whisperings of the mind but worshipped Allah, humbling themselves and relying upon Him, in great awe and fear of Him, fiercely combating His enemies, hastening to obey Him, staying away from idle speech. Allah guides whomever He wills to the straight path.
Main sources;
Ibn al-Subki, Tabaqat al-Shafi'iyya al-Kubra 9:100-106 #1306; Sa'd, Safahat fi Tarjima al-Hafiz al-Dhahabi.
Extracts By Shaykh Gibril F. Haddad
Also read the letter Al-Dhahabi wrote to his disgraced teacher Ibn Taymiya
ABU HAMID AL-GHAZALI [d.505 H - 1111 CE]
QADI IYAD AL-YAHSUBI [d.544 H - 1149 CE]
SHAYKH ABD'AL-QADIR AL-JILANI [d.561 H - 1166 CE]
IMAM IBN AL-'ASAKIR [d.571 H - 1175 CE]
ABD 'AL-KHALIQ AL-GHUJDAWANI [d.575 H - 1179 CE]
SAYYAD AHMAD AR-RIFA'I [d.578 H - 1183 CE]
ABU MADYAN SHU'AYB AL-ANSARI [d.595 H - 1198 CE]
FAKHR AL-DIN AL-RAZI [d.606 H - 1209 CE]
FARID AL-DIN ATTAR [d.617 H - 1221 CE]
NAJM AL-DIN AL-KUBRA [d.618 H - 1221 CE]
MUIN AL-DIN HASAN CHISTI AJMERI [d.627 H - 1230 CE]
SUHRAWARDI SHIHAB' al-DIN UMAR [d.632H - 1234 CE]
QUTB AL-DIN BAKHTIYAR KAKI [d.633 H - 1235 CE]
IBN AL-FARID, UMAR [d.633 H - 1235 CE]
IBN AL-'ARABI, MUHIY AL-DIN [d.637 H - 1240 CE]
SHAMS 'AL-TABRIZI [d.645 H - 1248 CE]
ALI AHMAD SABIR AL-KALYARI [d.650 H - 1253 CE]
SHADHILI, ABU AL-HASAN 'ALI [d.655 H - 1258 CE]
FARID AL-DIN MAS'UD GANJ-I-SHAKAR [d.663 H - 1265 CE]
BAHA AL-DIN ZAKARIYA MULTANI [d.665 H - 1267 CE]
MAWLANA JALAL AL-DIN RUME [d.672 H - 1273 CE]
BADAWI, AL-SAYYAD AHMAD [d.675 H - 1275 CE]
IMAM AL-NAWAWI [d.677 H - 1278 CE]
SADI, MUSHARRIF AL-DIN [d.689 H - 1291 CE]
IBN ATA' ALLAH AL-ISKANDARI [d.708 H - 1309 CE]
NIZAM AL-DIN AWLIYA [d.725 H - 1325 CE]
AMIR AL-KHUSRO [d.725 H - 1325 CE]
SIMNANI, SHAYKH ALA AL-DAWLA [d.737 H - 1336 CE]
MAHMUD AL-SHABISTARI [d.740 H - 1340 CE ]
SHAMS AL-DIN AL-DHAHABI [d.748 H - 1348 CE]
plenty more to come
Abu Hamid al-Ghazali
Al-Ghazzali, Abu Hamid al- [d.505H - 1111CE] 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l-ridwan
Influential Ash'ari Theologian, jurist & Sufi. Born in Khurasan, he studied theology & law. While teaching law at Nizamiyya College in Baghdad, he suffered a spiritual crisis, withdrew from public life & spent eleven years in travel & Sufi studies. Best known work is Ihyaa 'ulum al-din [Revival of religious sciences], an attempt to integrate theology & law, ethics & mysticism. Other important works include al-munqidh min al-dalal [Delivery from error], a spiritual guide book & Tahafut al-falasafah [Destruction of the Philosophers], an effort to debunk philosophy. His vast learning, systematic thought & lucid style continue to ensure a wide audience.
Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad, Abu Hamid al-Tusi al-Ghazzali [or al-Ghazali] al-Shafi'i (450-505), "the Proof of Islam" (Hujjat al-Islam), "Ornament of the Faith," "Gatherer of the Multifarious Sciences," "Great Siddiq," absolute mujtahid, a major Shafiii jurist, heresiographer and debater, expert in the principles of doctrine and those of jurisprudence. Shaykh Yusuf al-Qaradawi stated that, like iUmar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz and al-Shafi'i for their respective times, al-Ghazzali is unanimously considered the Renewer of the Fifth Islamic Century. Ibn al-Subki writes: "He came at a time when people stood in direr need of replies against the philosophers than the darkest night stands in need of the light of the moon and stars." Among his teachers in law, debate, and principles: Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Radhakani in Tus, Abu Nasr al-Isma'ili in Jurjan, and Imam al-Haramayn Abu al-Ma'ali al-Juwayni in Naysabur, from where he departed to Baghdad after the latter’s death. Ibn 'Asakir also mentions that al-Ghazzali took al-Bukhari's Sahih from Abu Sahl Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Hafsi. Among his other shaykhs in hadith were Nasr ibn 'Ali ibn Ahmad al-Hakimi al-Tusi, 'Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Khawari, Muhammad ibn Yahya ibn Muhammad al-Suja'i al-Zawzani, the hadith master Abu al-Fityan 'Umar ibn Abi al-Hasan al-Ru'asi al-Dahistani, and Nasr ibn Ibrahim al-Maqdisi. Among his shaykhs in tasawwuf were al-Fadl ibn Muhammad ibn 'Ali al-Farmadi al-Tusi – one of Abu al-Qasim al-Qushayri's students – and Yusuf al-Sajjaj.
On his way back from Jurjan to Tus al-Ghazzali was robbed by highwaymen. When they left him he followed them but was told: "Leave us or you will die." He replied: "I ask you for Allah’ sake to only return to me my notes, for they are of no use to you." The robber asked him: "What are those notes?" He said: "Books in that satchel, for the sake of which I left my country in order to hear, write, and obtain their knowledge." The robber laughed and said: "How can you claim that you obtained their knowledge when we took it away from you and left you devoid of knowl-edge!" Then he gave an order and the satchel was returned to him. Al-Ghazzali said: "This man’s utterance was divinely inspired (hadha mustantaqun): Allah caused him to say this in order to guide me. When I reached Tus I worked for three years until I had memorized all that I had written down."
Al-Ghazzali came to Baghdad in 484 and began a prestigious career of teaching, giving fatwa, and authoring books in nearly all the Islamic sciences of his day. His skill in refuting opponents was unparalleled except by his superlative godwariness, which led him to abandon his teaching position at the Nizamiyya school four years later, deputizing his brother Ahmad, famous for his preaching, to replace him. Upon completion of pilgrimage to Makkah al-Ghazzali headed for Damascus, then al-Qudus, then Damascus again where he remained for several years, taking up the ascetic life with the words: "We sought after knowledge for other than Allahta'ala's sake, but He refused that it be for anything other than Him."
He came out of seclusion in 499 and travelled to Cairo, Iskandariyya and other places, finally returning to Baghdad where he taught his magnum opus Ihya' 'Ulum al-Din until his death in nearby Tus, occupying the remainder of his time with devotions, Qur'an recitations, prayer and fasting, and the company of Sufis. Ibn al-Jawzi narrated in al-Thabat 'Inda al-Mamat ("Firmness at the Time of Death") from al-Ghazzali's brother Ahmad: "On Monday [14 Jumada al-Akhira] at the time of the dawn prayer my brother Abu Hamid made his ablution, prayed, then said: ‘Bring me my shroud.' He took it, kissed it and put it on his eyes, saying: 'We hear and obey in readiness to enter the King’s presence.' Then he stretched his legs, facing the Qibla, and died before sunrise – may Allah sanctify his soul!" It is related that al-Shadhili saw a dream in which the Prophet Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam pointed out al-Ghazzali to Musa alaihi asalam and 'Isa alaihi asalam asking them: "Is there such a wise scholar in your communities?" to which they replied no.
Further reading: http://www.sunnah.org/history/Scholars/imam_alghazali.htm
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Qadi Iyad al-Yahsubi
Imam Abu'l-Fadl 'Iyad ibn Musa ibn 'Iyad al-Yahsubi [d.544H - 1149CE] 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l-ridwan
Qadi Iyad, Imam and Hafidh.[d.544H/1149CE] Qadi 'Iyad was a Faqih (jurist) and Qadi(judge) in the Maliki Madhhab (Islamic school of jurisprudence). He was born near Gibraltar in 1083CE.
He was the author of many Islamic works in the various areas but is known for his book 'Ash-Shifa bi ta'rif huquq al-Mustafa' (Healing by the recognition of the Rights of the Chosen one)- often called simply 'Ash-Shifa'. It is perhaps the most frequently used and commented upon handbook in which the Beloved Prophet Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam's life, his qualities and his miracles are described in every detail. This work was so highly admired throughout the Muslim world that it soon acquired a sanctity of its own for it is said:
"If Ash-Shifa is found in a house, this house will not suffer any harm...when a sick person reads it or it is recited to him, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, will restore his health."
Read : Chapter 1 Ash Shifa by Qadi Iyad
Translated by Aisha Bewley
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al-Ghawth al-Adham
Jilani, 'Abd al-Qadir al-Ghawth al-Adham [d.561H - 1166CE] 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l-ridwan
Born in Jilan, Persia. Shaykh Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani was a Sufi master and Sayyad(descendant of the Final Messenger, the Most Beloved Prophet Muhammad-Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam) from both his father and mother, (al Hasani, w'al Husayni).
His contribution and renown in the sciences of Sufism and Sharia was so immense that he became known as the spiritual pole of his time, al-Ghawth al A'zam (the "Supreme Helper" or the "Mightiest Succor"). His writings were similar to those ofal-Ghazali in that they dealt with both the fundamentals of Islam and the mystical experience of Sufism. Studied Hanbali jurisprudence in Baghdad. Spent twenty-five years as a wandering ascetic in the deserts of Iraq. Became a popular teacher with his own Sufi school & centre. Most universally popular Wali Allah & revered man after the salf as-salihin. Recognised as the patron & founder of theQadiri order. Has a reputation for theological soundness that has led others to claim his work as the basis for their own insights & experiences.
ON TASAWWUF Shaykh 'Abd al-Qadir al-Gilani (d. 561 AH)
The eminent one among the great saints, nicknamed al-Ghawth al-a'zam or the Arch-helper, he is also an eminent jurist of the Hanbali school. His ties to the Shafi'i school and to Imam Abu Hanifa have been mentioned. He was the disciple of eminent saints, such as Abu al-Khayr Hammad ibn Muslim al-Dabbas (d. 525) and Khwaja Abu Yusuf al-Hamadani (d. 535), second in line after Abu al-Hasan al-Kharqani (al-Harawi al-Ansari's shaykh) in the early Naqshbandi chain of authority.
The most famous of Shaykh 'Abd al-Qadir's works are:
- al-Ghunya li talibi tariq al-haqq (Sufficient provision for seekers of the path of truth); it is one of the most concise presentations of the madhhab of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal ever written, including the sound teaching of Ahl al-Sunna on 'aqida and tasawwuf.
- al-Fath al-rabbani (The Lord's opening), a collection of sermons for the student and the teacher in the Sufi path and all those attracted to perfection; true to its title, this book brings its reader immense profit and spiritual increase.
- Futuh al-ghayb (Openings to the unseen), another collection of sermons more advanced than the previous one, and just as priceless. Both have been translated into English;
Due to his standing in the Hanbali school, 'Abd al-Qadir was held in great respect by Ibn Taymiyya, who gives him alone the title "my Shaykh" (shaykhuna) in his entire Fatawa, while he reserves the title "my Imam" (imamuna) to Ahmad ibn Hanbal. He frequently cites Gilani and his shaykh al-Dabbas as among the best examples of latter-time Sufis.
Shaykh 'Abd al-Qadir's karamat or miracles are too many to number. One of them consisted in the gift of guidance which was manifest in his speech and through which untold thousands entered Islam or repented. Al-Shattanawfi in Bahjat al-asrar mentions many of his miracles, each time giving a chain of transmission. Ibn Taymiyya took these reports to satisfy the criteria of authenticity, but his student al-Dhahabi, while claiming general belief in 'Abd al-Qadir's miracles, nevertheless affirms disbelief in many of them. We have already seen this trait of al-Dhahabi in his doubting of the sound report of Imam Ahmad's admiration of al-Muhasibi. These are his words about Gilani in Siyar a'lam al-nubala':
[#893] al-Shaykh 'Abd al-Qadir (Al-Jilani): The shaykh, the imam, the scholar, the zahid, the knower, the exemplar, Shaykh Al-Islam, the distinguished one among the Awliya... the Hanbali, the Shaykh of Baghdad... I say: There is no one among the great shaykhs who has more spiritual states and miracles (karamat) than Shaykh 'Abd al-Qadir, but a lot of it is untrue and some of those things are impossible.
The following account of Gilani's first encounter with al-Hamadani is related by Haytami in his Fatawa hadithiyya:
Abu Sa'id 'Abd Allah ibn Abi 'Asrun (d. 585), the Imam of the School of Shafi'i, said: "When I began a search for religious knowledge I kept company with my friend, Ibn al-Saqa, who was a student in the Nizamiyya School, and it was our custom to visit the pious. We heard that there was in Baghdad a man named Yusuf al-Hamadani who was known as al-Ghawth, and that he was able to appear whenever he liked and was able to disappear whenever he liked. So I decided to visit him along with Ibn al-Saqa and Shaykh 'Abd al-Qadir al-Gilani, who was a young man at that time. Ibn al-Saqa said, "When we visit Shaykh Yusuf al-Hamadani I am going to ask him a question the answer to which he will not know." I said: "I am also going to ask him a question and I want to see what he is going to say." Shaykh 'Abd al-Qadir al-Gilani said: "O Allah, protect me from asking a saint like Yusuf Hamadani a question, but I will go into his presence asking for hisbaraka -- blessing -- and divine knowledge."
"We entered his association. He kept himself veiled from us and we did not see him until after some time. He looked at Ibn al-Saqa angrily and said, without having been informed of his name: "O Ibn al-Saqa, how dare you ask me a question when your intention is to confound me? Your question is this and your answer is this!" Then he said: "I am seeing the fire of disbelief burning in your heart." He looked at me and said, "O 'Abd Allah, are you asking me a question and awaiting my answer? Your question is this and your answer is this. Let the people be sad for you because they are losing as a result of your disrespect for me." Then he looked at Shaykh 'Abd al-Qadir al-Gilani, made him sit next to him, and showed him honour. He said: "O 'Abd al-Qadir, you have satisfied Allah and His Prophet with your proper respect for me. I see you in the future sitting on the highest place in Baghdad and speaking and guiding people and saying to them that your feet are on the neck of every wali! And I almost see before me every wali of your time giving you precedence because of your great station and honour."
Ibn Abi 'Asrun continues, "'Abd al-Qadir's fame became widespread and all that Shaykh al-Hamadani said about him came to pass. There came a time when he did say, "My feet are on the necks of all the awliya," and he was a reference and a beacon guiding all people in his time to their destinations.
The fate of Ibn al-Saqa was something else. He was brilliant in his knowledge of the divine Law. He preceded all the scholars in his time. He used to debate with the scholars of his time and overcome them, until the caliph called him to his association. One day the calif sent him as a messenger to the King of Byzantium, who in his turn called all his priests and the scholars of the Christian religion to debate with him. Ibn al-Saqa was able to defeat all of them in debate. They were helpless to give answers in his presence. He was giving answers to them that made them look like children and mere students in his presence.
His brilliance made the King of Byzantium so fascinated with him that he invited him to his private family meeting. There he saw the daughter of the King. He immediately fell in love with her, and he asked her father, the King, for her hand in marriage. She refused except on condition that he accept her religion. He did, leaving Islam and accepting the Christian religion of the princess. After his marriage he became seriously ill. They threw him out of the palace. He became a town beggar, asking everyone for food, yet no one would provide for him. Darkness had come over his face.
One day he saw someone that had known him before. That person relates: "I asked him, What happened to you?" He replied: "There was a temptation and I fell into it." The man asked him: "Do you remember anything from the Noble Qur'an?" He replied: "I only remember rubbama yawaddu al-ladhina kafaru law kanu muslimin -- "Again and again will those who disbelieve wish that they were Muslims" (15:2)."
He was trembling as if he was giving up his last breath. I turned him towards the Ka'ba, but he kept turning towards the East. Then I turned him back towards the Ka'aba, but he turned himself to the East. I turned him a third time, but he turned himself to the East. Then as his soul was passing from him, he said, "O Allah, that is the result of my disrespect to Your saint, Yusuf al-Hamadani."Ibn Abi 'Asrun continues: "I went to Damascus and the king there, Nur al-Din al-Shahid, put me in control of the religious department, and I accepted. As a result, dunya entered from every side: provision, sustenance, fame, money, position for the rest of my life. That is what the ghawth Yusuf al-Hamadani had predicted for me."1
1 al-Haytami, Fatawa hadithiyya 315-316.
Source of ref: www.sunnah.org
FURTHER EXTENSIVE READING HERE: AL GHAWTH AL A'ZAM
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Imam Ibn 'Asakir
Imam Ibn 'Asakir al-Dimashqi al-Shafi'i al-Ash'ari [d.571H] 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l-ridwan
'Ali ibn al-Hasan ibn Hibat Allah ibn 'Abd Allah, Thiqat al-Din, Abu al-Qasim, known as Ibn 'Asakir al-Dimashqi al-Shafi'i al-Ash'ari [d.571H - 1175CE], the imam of hadith masters in his time and historian of Damascus.
Ibn al-Najjar said: "He is the imam of hadith scholars in his time and the chief leader in memorization, meticulous verification, thorough knowledge in the sciences of hadith, trustworthiness, nobility, and excellence in writing and beautiful recitation. He is the seal of this science."
Born in a family imbued with knowledge, he began his scholarly training at the age of six, attending the fiqh gatherings of his older brother Sa'in al-Din Hibat Allah ibn al-Hasan (d. 563) and learned Arabic and grammar at the hand of his maternal grandfather Abu al-Mufaddal al-Qurashi. Two of his uncles and one of his brothers were successively in charge of the head judgeship in Damascus, Abu al-Ma'ali Muhammad ibn Yahya ibn 'Ali al-Qurashi (d. 537), Abu al-Makarim Sultan ibn Yahya (d. 530), and Muhammad ibn al-Hasan.
By the time Ibn 'Asakir reached puberty he already possessed hadith certifications from the scholars of Damascus, Baghdad, and Khurasan. At age twenty, after his father died, he travelled around the Islamic world in pursuit of hadith narrations and performed pilgrimage, returning to Damascus and travelling again on and off between 519 and 533, "alone but for the Godwariness he took as his companion," hearing hadith from 1,300 male shaykhs and 80-odd female shaykhas in Baghdad, Makkah, Madinah, Asbahan, Naysabur, Marw, Tibriz, Mihana, Bayhaq, Khusrujird, Bistam, Herat, Azerbaijan, Kufa, Hamadhan, Ray, Zanjan, Bushanj, Sarkhas, Simnan, Jarbadhqan, Mawsil and elsewhere.
After 533 he sat teaching hadith in a corner of the Umayyad mosque in Damascus, then in the Dar al-Sunna school (subsequenty renamed Dar al-Hadith) built for him by al-Malik al-'Adil Nur al-Din Mahmud ibn Zanki. He shunned all kinds of material possessions and turned down the office of head preacher, concentrating on teaching, writing, and worshipping. His most famous student was the sultan Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi, who attended his funeral behind the imam al-Qutb al-Naysaburi.
Ibn 'Asakir was buried at the Bab al-Saghir cemetary, next to his father, near the grave of the Caliph Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan.
Ibn 'Asakir authored over a hundred books and epistles and narrated under five hundred hadith lessons. Among his larger works :
1. Tarikh Dimasqh in eighty volumes.1 Ibn Khallikan said that it contains, like al-Tabari's Tarikh al-Rusul wa al-Muluk, several books that can be read independently.
2. Al-Muwafaqat 'ala Shuyukh al-A'imma al-Thiqat in seventy-two volumes.
3. 'Awali Malik ibn Anas and its Dhayl in fifty volumes.
4. Ghara'ib Malik in ten volumes.
5. Al-Mu'jam listing only the names of his shaykhs, in twelve volumes.
6. Manaqib al-Shubban in fifteen volumes.
7. Books of "Immense Merits": Fada'il Ashab al-Hadith in eleven volumes, Fadl al-Jumu'a, Fadl Quraysh, Fada'il al-Siddiq, Fada'il Makka, Fada'il al-Madina, Fada'il Bayt al-Muqaddas, Fada'il 'Ashura', Fada'il al-Muharram, Fada'il Sha'ban.
8. Al-Ishraf 'ala Ma'rifa al-Atraf.
9. Akhbar al-Awza'i.
10. Al-Musalsalat.
11. Al-Suba'iyyat in seven volumes, listing narrations with chains containing only seven narrators up to the Prophet -- Allah bless and greet him --.
12. Tabyin Kadhib al-Muftari Fima Nusiba ila Abi al-Hasan al-Ash'ari, a defense of al-Ash'ari and his school which he divided into the following sections :
a) Genealogy of Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari
b) Prophetic hadiths that pertain to him
c) Al-Ash'ari's renown for knowledge
d) His renown for piety and worship
e) His struggle against innovations and their proponents
f) Dreams that indicate his high standing
g) Five generations of his students2
h) Those who attacked al-Ash'ari and his students
He concluded the book with the following lines of poetry:
I have chosen a doctrine that in no way resembles innovation But which successors faithfully took from predecessors. Those who are impartial declare my doctrine sound While those who criticize it have abandoned impartiality.
13. Yawm al-Mazid in three volumes.
14. Bayan al-Wahm wa al-Takhlit fi Hadith al-Atit ("The Exposition of Error and Confusion in the Narration of the [Throne's] Groaning").3
15. Arba'un Hadithan fi al-Jihad.
16. Arba'un Hadithan 'an Arba'ina Shaykhan min Arba'ina Madina.
Ibn 'Asakir defined hadith in the following verse of poetry :
It explains the Book, and the Prophet only spoke on behalf of His Lord.
Ibn 'Asakir's son, Baha' al-Din al-Qasim ibn 'Ali, said :
My father was assiduous in congregational prayer and recitation of the Qur'an. He used to recite it once a week, concluding it on the day of Jum'a, and once a day in Ramadan at which time he entered seclusion (i'tikaf) at the Eastern minaret. He performed many supererogatory prayers, devotions, and invocations. He would spend the nights before the two 'ids awake in prayer and supplications. He used to take account of himself for every passing moment.
Ibn al-Subki relates that the hadith master al-Mundhiri asked his shaykh Abu al-Hasan 'Ali ibn al-Mufaddal al-Maqdisi: "Which of these four contemporary hadith masters is the greatest?" He said: "Name them." Al-Mundhiri said: "Ibn 'Asakir and Ibn Nasir?" He replied: "Ibn 'Asakir." Al-Mundhiri went on: "Ibn 'Asakir and Abu al-'Ala' [al-Hasan ibn Ahmad ibn al-Hasan al-Hamadhani]?" He said: "Ibn 'Asakir." Al-Mundhiri went on: "Ibn 'Asakir and al-Silafi?" Al-Maqdisi said: "Al-Silafi (is) our shaykh. Al-Silafi (is) our shaykh."4
Ibn Sasra narrated: "I used to rehearse with him the names of the masters he had met. One day I said to him: 'I believe that our master never saw anyone like himself?' He replied: 'Do not say that. Allah said: {Therefore justify not yourselves} (53:32).' I replied: 'He also said: {Therefore of the bounty of your Lord be your discourse} (93:11).' He replied: 'In that case yes, if someone were to say that my eyes never saw my like, he would be correct.'" Al-Khatib Abu al-Fadl ibn Abi Nasr al-Tusi said: "We do not know anyone who truly deserves the title of hadith master in our time other than him." Al-Dhahabi said: "I do not believe that Ibn 'Asakir ever met anyone of his level in his entire life." Ibn al-Subki added: "Nor anyone near his level."
Main sources: al-Dhahabi, Siyar A'lam al-Nubala' 15:254-262 #5129; Ibn al-Subki, Tabaqat al-Shafi'iyya al-Kubra 7:215-223 #918.
NOTES
1] Dar al-Fikr in Damascus has published seventy of them to date in mid-1999.
2] Translated at www.sunnah.org/aqida/tabyin_kadhib.htm
3] See section entitled The "Groaning of the Throne" (p. 248).'
4] This could mean either that he considered al-Silafi the greater master, or that he implicitly admitted Ibn 'Asakir's superiority but expressed it in terms of the student's requisite adab with his teacher. Ibn al-Subki noted that Ibn al-Sam'ani was superior to all of them except Ibn 'Asakir, but that he was in far-off Merv, whereas the rest were in or near Egypt and Sham.
Blessings and peace on the Prophet, his Family, and all his Companions.
copyright As-Sunna Foundation of Americatop
Abd'al-Khaliq al-Ghujdawani
Abd' al-Khaliq al-Ghujdawani [d.575 H / 1179 CE] 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l-ridwan
Abdul Khaliq was born in Ghujdawan, a town near Bukhara in present-day Uzbekistan. There he lived and passed his life and was buried. He was a descendant of Imam Malik Radi Allahu anhu. In his childhood he studied the Qur'an and its tafsir (exegesis), 'ilm al-Hadith (the study of Prophetic Traditions), the sciences of the Arabic language, and Jurisprudence with Shaikh Sadruddin. After mastering Shari'a (the legal sciences) he moved on to jihad an-nafs(spiritual struggle), until he reached a high station of purity. He then moved to Damascus, where he established a school from which many students graduated. Each became a master of fiqh and hadith as well as spirituality, both in the regions of Central Asia as well as in the Middle East.
He was known as the Shaykh of Miracles, One Who Shone Like the Sun, and he was the Master of the high stations of spirituality of his time. He was a Perfect Knower ('arif kamil)in sufism and accomplished in asceticism. He is considered the Fountainhead of this Honorable Sufi Order and the Wellspring of the Khwajagan (Masters of Central Asia). His father was Shaikh 'Abdul Jamil, one of the most famous scholars in Byzantine times in both external and internal knowledge. His mother was a princess, the daughter of the king of Seljuk Anatolia.
The author of the book al-Hada'iq al-Wardiyya tells us how he reached his high station within the Golden Chain: "He met Hadrat Khidr alayhis asalam and accompanied him. He took from him heavenly knowledge and added it to the spiritual knowledge he had obtained from his shaykh, Yusuf al-Hamadani.
"One day when he was reading the Qur'an in the presence of Shaykh Sadruddin, he came upon the following ayat:
"Call unto your Sustainer humbly, and in the secrecy of your hearts. Verily, He loves not those who transgress the bounds of what is right" [7:55].
This ayat prompted him to inquire of Shaykh Sadruddin about the reality of silent Dhikr and its method. Abdul Khaliq put his question thus: "In loud dhikr you have to use your tongue and people might listen to you and see you, whereas in the silent dhikr of the heart Shaytan might listen to you and hear you, since the Prophet Peace & Blessings of Allah upon him said in his holy hadith: 'Satan moves freely in the veins and arteries of the Sons of Adam.' What, then, O my Shaykh Sadruddin, is the reality of 'Call in the secrecy of your hearts?' His shaykh replied, 'O my son, this is a hidden, heavenly knowledge, and I wish that Allah Exalted and Almighty send you one of his saints to inspire on your tongue and in your heart the reality of secret dhikr.'
"From that time Shaykh Abdul Khaliq al-Ghujdawani waited for that prayer to be fulfilled. One day he met Khidr alayhis asalam who told him, 'Now, my son, I have permission from the Prophet Peace & Blessings of Allah upon him to inspire on your tongue and in your heart the hidden dhikr with its numbers.' He ordered him to submerge himself under water and to begin making dhikr in his heart (LA ILAHA ILLALLAH MUHAMMADUN RASUL ALLAH). He did this form of dhikr every day, until the Light of the Divine, the Wisdom of the Divine, the Love of the Divine and the Attraction of the Divine were opened to his heart. Because of those gifts people began to be drawn to Abdul Khaliq and sought to follow in his footsteps, and he took them to follow in the footsteps of the Prophet Peace & Blessings of Allah upon him.
"He was the first one in this honorable Sufi Order to use the 'Silent Dhikr' and he was considered the master of that form of Dhikr. When his spiritual shaykh, al-Ghawth ar-Rabbani, Yusuf al-Hamadani, came to Bukhara, he spent his time in serving him. He said about him, 'When I became 22 years of age, Shaikh Yusuf al-Hamadani ordered Khidr to keep raising me and to keep an eye on me until my death.'"
Shaykh Muhammad Parsa, a friend and biographer of Shah Naqshband, said in his bookFaslul-Kitab, that the method of Khwaja Abdul Khaliq al-Ghujdawani in dhikr and the teachings of his Eight Principles were embraced and hailed by all 40 tariqats as the way of truth and loyalty, the way of consciousness in following the Sunnah the Prophet, by leaving innovation and by scrupulously opposing low desires. Because of that he became the Master of his time and the First in this line of spirituality.
His reputation as an accomplished spiritual Master became widespread. Visitors used to flock to see him from every land. He gathered around him the loyal and sincere murids that he was training and teaching. In this regard, he wrote a letter to his son, al-Qalb al-Mubarak Shaykh Awliya al-Kabir, to specify the conduct of followers of this Order. It says:
"O my son, I urge you to acquire knowledge and righteous conduct and the fear of Allah. Follow the steps of the pious Salaf(early generation). Hold fast to the Sunnah of the Prophet Peace & Blessings of Allah upon him, and keep company with sincere believers. Read jurisprudence and life-history of the ProphetPeace & Blessings of Allah upon him and Quranic exegesis. Avoid ignorant charlatans, and keep the prayer in congregation. Beware of fame and its danger. Be among the ordinary people and do not seek positions. Don't enter into friendship with kings and their children nor with the innovators. Keep silent, don't eat excessively and don't sleep excessively. Run away from people as you would run from lions. Keep seclusion. Eat lawful food and leave doubtful actions except in dire necessity. Keep away from love of the lower world because it might fascinate you. Don't laugh too much, because too much laughter will be the death of the heart. Don't humiliate anyone. Don't praise yourself. Don't argue with people. Don't ask anyone except Allah. Don't ask anyone to serve you. Serve your shaykhs with your money and power and don't criticize their actions. Anyone who criticizes them will not be safe, because he doesn't understand them. Make your deeds sincere by intending them only for Allah. Pray to Him with humbleness. Make your business jurisprudence, your mosque your house, and your Friend your Lord."
'Abdul Khaliq al-Ghujdawani had four khalifs. The first was Shaykh Ahmad as-Siddiq, originally from Bukhara. The second was Kabir al-Awliya ("the Greatest of Saints"), Shaykh Arif Awliya al-Kabir (q). Originally from Bukhara, he was a great scholar in both external and internal Sciences. The third khalif was Shaikh Sulaiman al-Kirmani (q). The fourth khalif was 'Arif ar-Riwakri (q). It is to this fourth khalif that Abdul Khaliq (q) passed the Secret of the Golden Chain before he died on the 12th of Rabi'ul-Awwal 575 H.
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Ahmed ar Rifai
Shaykh as-Sayyad Ahmed ar Rifai [d. 578H -1183CE] 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l-ridwan
Shaykh as-Sayyad Ahmed ar Rifai was born in the first half of Rajab in the Muslim year of 512 H. (1119 CE) on a Thursday. His birthplace was in the town of Ummu Abeyde in the township of Beta in the province of Basra, Iraq. He passed away on Thursday 22nd Jamadi al-Awwal 578 H. (1183 CE.), in the town of Wasit, in Basra, Iraq. His father was Sayyad Ali Abu'l Hasan. His mother was Fatima ul-Anseri bint Yahya Nijjeri. His Shaykh was Aleyyul Wasiti. His maternal uncle, who helped raise him, was Shaykh Mansur Rabbani.
Ahmed ar Rifai Radi Allahu anhu descended from the Beloved Messenger of Allah Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa 'aalihi wa Sallam from both his father's and mother's sides by blood.Before Ahmed ar Rifai's birth, his maternal uncle, a famous Shaykh, Mansur Rabbani, had 'seen' the Beloved Messenger of Allah Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa 'aalihi wa Sallam and was told that his sister would have a male child who would be famous and be known by the name "Rifa'i." Ahmed ar Rifai showed ability and wisdom beyond his age when he began his education under Shaykh Vasiti upon the instructions of his uncle. He acquired a high maqam by explaining the book of the Shafi school called "Tanbih."
Many miracles occurred through Ahmed ar Rifai Radi Allahu anhu. One of the most widely known is the one that give him the name "Ebul alemeyin" (the Father of Two Banners). In the year 555 A.H., when he was 43 years old, Hz. Rifa'i went on hajj. He didn't wear the usual traveling clothes of sayyads (the relatives of the Prophet, Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa 'aalihi wa Sallam, could be recognized by their clothes). There is a certain section of the Beloved Prophet Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa 'aalihi wa Sallam's tomb in Medina that only blood relatives of the Prophet Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa 'aalihi wa Sallam may enter. The guard at the door would not allow him in, as he wanted to know the proof that Ahmed ar Rifai was related to the Prophet Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa 'aalihi wa Sallam. Ahmed ar Rifai was sad and yelled towards our Prophet Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa 'aalihi wa Sallam's tomb, "As-salaamu alaykum, ya jeddi (Peace be on you, my ancestor)." Our Prophet Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa 'aalihi wa Sallam answered, saying "Walaykum salaam, ya waladi (And peace be on you, my son)." Muhammad's (saws) hand came out of the tomb and our Pir kissed the Prophet Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa 'aalihi wa Sallam's hand. When people saw this miracle, they went into a state of wajd (ecstasy) and began stabbing themselves with their swords and knives. When the ecstasy passed, there were people lying all over the floor covered with blood, so Ahmed ar Rifai returned them to their normal health. After that, our Pir was famous for possessing this gift.
One day somebody asked Ghawth al A'zam Shaykh Sayyadina as-Shaykh Abd 'al-Qadir al-JilaniRadi Allahu anhu (who was Ahmed ar Rifai's cousin) "Ya Hadrat, what is love?" Ghawth al A'zam Radi Allahu anhu told the person to go ask this question to Sayyad Ahmed ar Rifai. After sending Ghawth al A'zam Radi Allahu anhu's salaams to Ahmed ar Rifai, he asked, "What is love?" When Ahmed ar Rifai heard this question, he stood up, saying, "Love is fire, love is fire." He began whirling until he passed into the unseen and disappeared. When the person saw this, he was disturbed because he didn't understand what was happening. At that moment, the spiritual presence of Ghawth al A'zam Radi Allahu anhu appeared and told him to look for the spot where his brother Ahmed ar Rifai Radi Allahu anhu had vanished, and to pour rosewater on that spot. The person did this and within a couple of moments, Sayyad Ahmed ar Rifai re-appeared, whirling in the exact same place. When the man went back to Baghdad, he visited Ghawth al A'zam Radi Allahu anhu who asked him, "Did you see love? My brother Sayyad Rifa'i has reached stations that many walis have not been able to reach." Sayyad Ahmed ar Rifai Radi Allahu anhu also deeply loved and respected Ghawth al A'zam Shaykh Sayyadina as-Shaykh Abd 'al-Qadir al-Jilani Radi Allahu anhu and told his students that whoever visited Baghdad without visiting al Ghawth al A'zam Radi Allahu anhu's tomb would not be welcome by Allah or by them.
SOURCE : QADIRI RIFAI SUFI ORDER
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Abu Madyan Shu'ayb
Abu Madyan Shu'ayb ibn al-Husayn al-Ansari, [d.595H :1198CE] 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l ridwan
Abu Madyan Shu'ayb ibn al-Husayn al-Ansari, 1115/16-1198, poet, teacher and Sufi mystic, was born in the town of Cantillana near Seville in Muslim Spain and is buried at al-Ubbad outside the city of Tlemcen in Western Algeria. After spending many years of his life learning from the most famous Sufis of Morocco, he settled in the Algerian city of Bijaya, where he spread his particular brand of orthodox mysticism to Sufi adepts and the general public alike. Called 'Shaykh of Shaykhs' and 'the Nurturer', al-Ghawth, by his contemporaries, Abu Madyan was the most influential Sufi of the formative period of mysticism in North Africa and had a profound influence on the eventual Qadiri and Shadhili Sufi traditions.
The Career of Abu Madyan
The man who was to become the most influential figure of the developmental period of North African Sufism, Abu Madyan Shu'ayb ibn al-Husayn al-Ansari, who was called by later biographers the 'Shaykh of Shaykhs, Imam of the Ascetics and the Pious, Lord of the Gnostics, and Exemplar of the Seekers', and who remains known to posterity as 'Abu Madyan the Nurturer� (al-Ghawth), entered the world in inauspicious circumstances. Born around the year 509/1115-16 at the fortress of Cantillana in the region of Seville (Ishbiliya) in Muslim Spain, the future shaykh was orphaned early in life by the unexpected death of his father and suffered cruel treatment and exploitation at the hands of his elder brothers. Fortunately, Abu Madyan's own account of the often difficult, formative period of his intellectual development is available to the modem student of Sufism via the efforts of a near contemporary, the Moroccan biographer Abu Ya'qub Yusuf ibn Yahya at-Tadili (d. 627/1229-30), who reproduced many of the shaykh's autobiographical comments in his Kitab al-tashawwuf ila rijal at-tasawwuf, written a short time after the latter�s death:
I was an orphan in al-Andalus. My brothers made me a shepherd for their flocks, but whenever I saw someone praying or reciting [the Qur'an], it pleased me. I would come near to him and found a sadness in my soul because I had not memorized anything from the Qur'an and did not know how to pray. So I resolved to run away in order to learn how to read and pray.
I ran away, but my brother caught up with me, spear in hand, and said, 'By God, if you do not return I will kill you!' So I returned and remained for a short time. Then I strengthened my resolve to flee by night. I slipped away at night and took another road [from that which I had originally followed]. My brother [again] caught up with me after sunrise. He drew his sword against me and said, 'By God, I will kill you and be rid of you!' Then he raised his sword over me in order to strike me. I parried him with a piece of wood that was in my hand and his sword broke and flew into pieces. When he saw [what had happened] he said to me, 'Oh my brother, go wherever you wish'.
Upon leaving the region of Seville, the young Abu Madyan travelled south for three or four days, until he reached a hillock near the sea, upon which he found a tent. An old man (shaykh), wearing nothing except what was necessary to cover his nakedness, emerged from the tent and walked toward him. Thinking that the younger man was a captive who had fled from a Christian raiding parry, he asked Abu Madyan about his situation. When told of the young man�s desire to learn the fundamentals of Islam, the shaykh allowed him to remain in his company for a few days.
Then he took a rope, tied a nail to its end, threw it into the sea, and pulled out a fish, which he cooked so that I could eat it. I stayed with him for three days, and whenever I was hungry he would throw that rope and nail into the sea and pull out a fish. Then he would cook it and I would eat it. After [three days had passed] he said to me, 'I see that you covet honor (amr). Return to the city, for God is not [properly] worshipped except with knowledge.'
Heeding his ascetic companion's advice, Abu Madyan returned to Seville, from whence he proceeded to Jerez (Sharish) and Algeciras (al-Jazira al-Khadra'). From Algeciras he crossed the Straits of Gibraltar to Tangier (Tanja) and went from there to Ceuta (Sabta), where he labored for a time in the employ of local fishermen. Impatient to gain the knowledge he so earnestly desired, with the little money he had earned Abu Madyan next traveled to Marrakesh (Marrakush), then the rapidly growing capital of the Almoravid state.
Upon arriving in Marrakesh, Abu Madyan was recruited by these mercenaries and drafted into the regiment of Andalusians that was charged with defending the Almoravid capital. The shaykh apparently suffered further exploitation during the period of his military service, for he mentions that other, more experienced soldiers would regularly steal his wages, leaving him only a little with which to provide for his needs. Finally, someone said to him, �If you want to devote yourself to religion, go to the city of Fez (Fas).'
So I turned toward [Fez] and attached myself to its mosque-university (the famous Jami' al-Qarawiyyin), where I learned to make the ablution and the prayer and sat in the study circles of legists andhadith specialists. I retained nothing of their words, however, until I sat at the feet of a shaykh whose words were retained firmly within my heart. I asked whom he was and was told, 'Abu'l-Hasan [Ali] ibn Hirzihim'. [I went to this shaykh] and told him that I could memorize only what I had learned from him alone and he said to me, 'These [others] speak with parts of their tongues, but their words are not worthy [even] to call the prayer. Since I seek [only] God with my words, they come from the heart and enter the heart.'
The Islamic Texts Society 2002-2005
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Fakhr al-Din al-Razi
Imam Fakhr al-Din al-Razi [d. 606H - 1209CE] 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l ridwanFakhr-al-Din Abu-Abd-Allah Muhammad Ibn Umar ibn al-Hasan ibn al-Husayn al-Razi, also known as Fakhr al-Din al-Razi [606 AH/1209 CE] was a well-known Persian theologian andphilosopher. Born in Rayy, Persia (Iran), just south of present-day Tehran [1]
He was born in a Shafi'ite and Ash'arite family. His father was Diya al-Din 'Umar who taught him Islamic religious sciences before he went to study with other Muslim savants. Al-Razi travelled to many places such as Bukhara, Khwarazm and Transoxiana and held discussions with local savants. Al-Razi was a prolific and encyclopedic writer and scholar based on his more than sixty complete works. He was a philosopher, historian, mathematician, astronomer, physician, theologian and exegesist. Al-Razi's works on theology and on Kalam include the books al-Arba'in fi Usul al-Din and al-Mas'il al-Khamsun fi Usul al-Din. In his al-Arba'in fi Usul al-Din, al-Razi presented forty issues in the principles of religion, such as religious cosmology, theology, ethics, prophecy, eschatology and imamate. Meanwhile, al-Masa'il al-Khamsun fi Usul al-Din is a more brief presentation of similar themes or topics.
A Shafi'i scholar of genius and a Mujtahid Imam in tenets of faith, he was among the foremost figures of his time in mastery of the rational and traditional Islamic sciences, and preserved the religion of Ahl al-Sunna from the deviations of the Mu'tazilites, Shiites, Anthropomorphist, and other aberrant sects of his era by authoring a number of brilliant works that came to enjoy a wide readership among his contemporaries and have remained popular with scholars to this day. His thirty-two-volume Qur'anic exegesis Mafatih al-ghayb[The keys of the unseen] is one of the most famous of his works, though he also wrote on tenets of belief, heresiology, fundamentals of Islamic law and faith, scholastic theology, rhetoric, geometry, and poetry in Arabic and Persian, in both of which he was a preacher of considerable eloquence. His efforts to purify Islam from the heresies of anthropomorphist reached the point that when unable to answer his arguments against them, they resorted to writing ugly remarks and insinuations on scraps of paper and attaching them to the pulpit (Minbar) from which he gave the Friday sermon. He arrived one day and read one of these, and then spoke to those present in an impassioned voice, saying:
"This piece of paper says that my son does such and such. If it is true, he is but a youth and I hope he will repent. It also says that my wife does such and such. If it is true, she is a faithless woman. And it says that my servant does such and such. Servants are wont to commit every wrong, except for those Allah protects. But on none of these scraps of paper - and may Allah be praised -is it written that my son says Allah is a corporeal body, or that he likens Him to created things, or that my wife believes that, or my servant - So which of the two groups is closer to guidance?[1]
Regarding Tasawwuf :
He wrote in his I'tiqadat firaq al-muslimin wa al-mushrikin:
The summary of what the Sufis say is that the way to the knowledge of Allah is self-purification and renunciation of material attachments, and this is an excellent way... Sufis are a folk who work with reflection and the detaching of the self from materialistic trappings. They strive in order that their inner being be solely occupied with the remembrance of Allah in all of their occupations and their actions, and they are characterized by the perfection of their manners in dealing with Allah. Verily these are the best of all the sects of human beings.2
Quotes:
The world is a garden, whose gardener is the state;
The state is the sultan whose guardian is the Law;
The Law is a policy, which is protected by the kingdom;
The kingdom is a city, brought into being by the army;
The army is made secure by wealth;
Wealth is gathered from the subjects;
The subjects are made servents by justice;
Justice is the axis of the prosperity of the world.
-Jami' al-'ulum
NOTES:
He travelled to Khawarzim and Khurasan, and finally to Herat, Afghanistan, where he died in 1210 [1]
Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, I'tiqadat firaq al-muslimin p. 72-73. [2]
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Attar, Farid al-Din
Attar, Farid al-Din [d.617H - 1221CE] 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l-ridwan
Great Persian Sufi Poet. Born in Nishapur, North Eastern Iran. Known for Sufi epic poems narrating the souls progression to inner perfection, as well as couplet poems, the most famous of which is the Simurgh. Wrote a widely read Sufi hagiography. His stories uphold the idea that the release of the soul is attainable in life by eliminating the self, that the universal soul is found within. Notable for lively presentations full of anecdotes & didactic digressions.
There is little information on the formative life of the poet other than he was the son of a prosperous pharmacist and that he received an excellent education in medicine, Arabic, and theosophy at a madrasah attached to the shrine of Imam Reza at Mashhad. According to his own Mosibat Nameh (Book of Afflictions), as a youth, he worked in his father's pharmacy where he prepared drugs and attended patients. Upon his father's death, he became the owner of his own store.
Work in the pharmacy was difficult for young 'Attar. People from all walks of life visited the shop and shared their troubles with him. Their poverty, it seems, impacted the young poet the most. One day, it is related, an unsightly fakir visited the shop. The way he marveled at the opulence of the store made 'Attar uneasy; he ordered the fakir to leave. Looking the owner and the well-stocked shop over, the fakir said, "I have no difficulty with this, pointing to his ragged cloak, to leave; but you, how are you, with all this, planning to leave!" Thefakir's response affected 'Attar deeply. He pondered the fakir's reply for many days and, eventually, decided to give up his shop and join the circle of Shaykh Rukn al-Din Akkaf of the Kubraviyyah order. His new life was one of travel and exploration, very much like thefakir who had inspired him. For a long time, he traveled to Ray, Kufa, Makkah, Damascus, Turkistan, and India, meeting with Sufi shaykhs, learning about the tariqah, and experiencing life in the khanqahs.
When finally he felt he had achieved what he had been seeking in travel, 'Attar returned to Nishapur, settled, and reopened his pharmacy. He also began to contribute to the promotion of Sufi thought. Called Tadhkirat al-Auliya (Memorial of the Saints), 'Attar's initial contribution to his new world contains all the verses and sayings of Sufi saints who, up to that time, had not penned a biography of their own. Regarding the poetic output of 'Attar there are conflicting reports both with respect to the number of books that he might have written and the number of distichs he might have composed. For instance, Reza Gholikhan Hedayat reports the number of books to be 190 and the number of distichs to be 100,000. Firdowsi's Shahname contains only 60,000 bayts. Another tradition puts the number of books to be the same as the number of the Surahs (verses) of the Qur'an, i.e., 114. More realistic studies consider the number of his books to have been between 9 to 12 volumes.
'Attar's works fall within three categories. First are those works in which mysticism is in perfect balance with a finished, story-teller's art. The second group are those in which a pantheistic zeal gains the upper hand over literary interest. The third are those in which the aging poet idolizes the saint Ali. During this period there is no trace of ordered thoughts and descriptive skills. One of 'Attar's major poetic works is called Asrar Nameh (Book of Secrets) about Sufi ideas. This is the work that the aged Shaykh gave Maulana Jalal al-Din Rumi when Rumi's family stayed over at Nishapur on its way to Konya, Turkey. Another major contribution of 'Attar is the Elahi Nameh (Divine Book), about zuhd or asceticism. But foremost among 'Attar's works is his Manteq al-Tayr (Conference of the Birds) in which he makes extensive use of Al-Ghazali's Risala on Birds as well as a treatise by the Ikhvan al-Safa (the Brothers of Serenity) on the same topic.
He was beheaded by the invading Mongol army in 1221 (Common Era). His tomb at Shadyakh is visited by many.
SOURCE: by Iraj Bashiri
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Najm al-Din Kubra
Shaykh Najm al-Din Kubra [d. 618H/1221CE] 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l-ridwan
Abu al-Jannab Ahmad ibn 'Umar ibn Muhammad ibn 'Abd Allah al-Khiwaqi al-Khwarazmi, known as Najm al-Din Kubra alayhir rahman was the founder of the the Kubrawiya Sufi Order--originating, like the Yasawiya, in Central Asia. Najm al-Din Kubra alayhir rahmanwas known as the "saint-producing (lit. "sculpting or chiseling") shaykh" (shaykh-e vali tarash), since a number of his disciples became great shaykhs themselves. Although originally from Khiva, located today in western Uzbekistan, he moved nearby to the capital city, Khwarazm. Shaykh Najm al-Din was killed defending Khwarazm, which was completely destroyed during the Mongol holocaust. Today, his tomb is in the town of Konya Urgench, which was built in the area of the ruins of Khwarazm. Apparently, he is known there as Kebir Ata. Konya Urgench is located in Turkmenistan and is about an hour's drive over the border from the city of Nukus in the Karakalpak region of Uzbekistan. (If you intend to visit Shaykh Najm al-Din's shrine from Uzbekistan, you must have a Turkmen visa--if you are not Uzbek.)
Source: www.uga.edu/islam/Sufism.html
Najm al-Din Kubra and the Kubrawiyyah Order [by Atosa Aria Abedini]
Five to seven hundred years after the Hijrat of the Prophet Muhammad Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam, the Muslim world experienced an extremely turbulent period. However, Sufism blossomed and spread its roots even further. Between 550-700 A.H. the twelfth and thirteenth centuries , the chaotic disruption of the Mongol invasion reached as far as Baghdad and destroyed the caliphate along with numerous concurrent disasters. Regardless, the faithful Muslim saints and scholars flourished at a greater rate than previously recorded. Many Sufi Orders were founded in this period; and those who had dissipated were once again revived.
Among the saintly scholars, Najm al-Din Kubra, founder of the Kubrawiyyah Order, began teaching in Khwarazm; a region in NW Uzbekistan, which, in the past, was part of the great Persian Empire, under the rule of Cyres, the Great. The Kubrawiyyah Order soon expanded its wings and spread its teachings to Persia, Afghanistan, India and China. The Kubrawiyyah, throughout their long history, produced masters of great stature who taught and produced numerous, elaborate writings and doctrines of the Sufis. In 540/1145, in Khwarazm, South of the Aral Sea, Abu'l-Jannab Najm al-Din ibn Umar al-Kubra was born. From a very young age, he displayed a surpassing intelligence. In school he received the nickname Kubra, which literally means "the greatest." It is the abbreviated form of the Qur'anic phrase al-tammat al-Kubra, "the Greatest Calamity"(LXXIX: 34, Noble Qur'an).
After completing his studies in Islamic religious sciences, Najm al-Din left his birthplace to pursue studies in other lands. He went to Persia to study the science of the Hadith then onto Egypt. In his early thirties, his thirst for esoteric matters attracted him to the Suhrawardiyyah order, where he was initiated by Shaykh Ruzbihan al-Wazzan al-Misri. According to Shaykh Kubra's writings, it is known that he had at least one profoundly moving spiritual experience in his childhood. Some believe that Najm al-Din's direction in spirituality may have been greatly affected by Baba Faraj Tabrizi due to his impressive mannerisms and advice to pursue the esoteric sciences.
His first experience as a salek was in Dizful, in western Persia, under the supervision of Ismail al-Qasri. After a short while, Ismail advised him to become an apprentice with Ammar ibn Yasir al-Bidlisi, who was a disciple of Abu'l-Najib al-Suhrawardi. After the passing of his teacher, Shaykh Ammar, Najm al-Din returned to Egypt where Shaykh al-Misri helped him to continue his training until he was permitted to instruct disciples of his own. While under the instruction of Shaykh al-Misri, he married his master's daughter. Upon receiving permission to teach, he was instructed to return to his birthplace, Khwarasm.
Najm al-Din returned to Khwarazm sometime between 582/1185 and 586/ 1190 where he remained the rest of his life, devoting himself to the spiritual path and to teaching disciples. Although he had few disciples, he earned an epithet for his success rate of producing masters of high stature. The epithet was: Wali-tarash, "Sculptor of Saints." He wrote a number of discourses; Fawa'ih al-jamal wa fawatih al-jalal (Aromas of Beauty and Preambles of Majesty), being the most important of his works. In this text he included records of his personal, visionary experiences and guidance for practicing the path; a detailed theory of the Sufi path for initiates.
After a fruitful, spiritual life, Najm al-Din passed away in Urgench, near Khwarazm, in the year 618/1221, during the Mongol invasion. He was offered protection if he had accepted to take refuge with the Mongols; instead, he chose to fight and defend the City for it would result in a glorified martyr's death in battle.
All schools of Sufism are known for their strict rules and discipline of the self and the Kubrawiyyah's methods were not different from the rest. As a Sufi master, Najm al-Din insisted on certain prerequisites before he would consider anyone as a potential salek (student). In order to be considered as a candidate and accepted as a student, one was required to have solid knowledge of Islamic laws and Islamic theological doctrines. The disciplinary rules of the school are eight principles of Junayd (third/ninth centuries). A salek must constantly observe the following:
1. Ritual purity (wudu, a process of cleansing prior to prayer),
2. Fasting,
3. Silence,
4. Seclusion,
5. Innvocation or recollection of Allah, using the formula La Ilaha Illa Allah (zikr),
6. Heart to heart connection with his/her Sheikh at all times,
7. Impure thoughts and impulses are to be put aside as they occur,
8. Surrender him/herself to the will of Allah and never refuse or question what Allah has imposed upon him.
In addition to the mentioned eight rules, Najm al-Din also highly recommended two additional rules: moderation in eating and drinking when breaking a fast, and maintaining a bare minimum of sleep.Shaykh Kubra's description and theory of the Sufi path was that the journey towards Allah was none but an inward journey. He believed that whatever Allah put in the macrocosm, also existed within every individual on the microcosmic level.
"Know that the lower soul, the devil, and the angels are realities that are not external to you. You are they. So, too, Heaven, Earth and the Divine throne are not located outside of you; nor are Paradise, Hell, Life, or death." VXVII:32, Noble Qur'an.
He often told people to pray because Allah is praiseworthy; not for fear of hell or in wishing for paradise.
source
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Muin al-Din Chishti
Chishti, Muin al-Din Hasan Khawaja Ajmeri [d.627H -1230CE] 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l-ridwan
The main personality of the Chishti Sufi order, the most important & widespread Sufi order in India. Born in Sistan [Sijistan] & died in Ajmer. Came to India in 1193 after travelling in Khurasan & Baghdad. His tomb in Ajmer is one of the most popular shrines in north-western India, visited by Muslims, Sikhs, Hindus & Christians alike.
FURTHER EXTENSIVE READING: SILSILA CHISTIYA | KHAWAJA MUIN 'AL-DIN CHISTI
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Shihab al-Din 'Umar Suhrawardi
Shaykh Shihab 'al-din Abu Hafs Umar Abd 'Allah Suhrawardi [d.632H-1234CE] 'alayhir al-rahmah wa'l ridwan
Hadrat Shaykh Shihab al-Din Umar Suhrawardi 'alayhir rahman is officially recognised as the founder of this great Suhrawardiyya Sufi order. It is an order which still has many adherents today. Shihab al-Din Umar claimed descent from Sayyadina Abu Bakr Radi Allahu ta'ala anhu and after acquiring support of the then caliph, attracted sufis from all over the world to hear him teach. It is said that he went on pilgrimage each year to Makkah and al-Madinah. He had also met and conversed with Sayyadina Ghawth al-A'dham; 'Abd' al-Qadir al-Jilani Radi Allahu ta'ala anhu.
Shaykh as-Sayyad Muhammad Nizam al-Din Shah Bikhari 'alayhir rahman of the Silsila 'aaliya 'Qadiriya, Barkatiya, Nooriya, Rizviya' order says he regularly made deedar (saw in a dream) the Beloved Messeneger of Allah (Peace and Blessings upon him) on various occasions, and he attained great blessings from the Exalted court of the Prophet (Peace and Blessings upon him). He also said he made ziyaarat [paid homage & respect] of Ghawth al-A'dham Radi Allahu ta'ala anhu. He personally states;
I often made ziyaarat of Ghawth al-A'dham Radi Allahu ta'ala anhu, but I never saw him alone. I always saw him with Hadrat Shaykh Shihab al-Din Umar SuhrawardiRadi Allahu ta'ala anhu, and during conversations, I also saw that Shaykh Shihab al-Din Umar Radi Allahu ta'ala anhu followed the manner of al-Ghawth al-A'dham Radi Allahu ta'ala anhu. I also never saw Shaykh Shihab al-Din Umar Radi Allahu ta'ala anhu speaking in these dreams, and I was worried about this. I thus asked my father about this, and he said, 'There is nothing to be worried about. The Ahl al-Kashf refer to al-Ghawth al-A'dham Radi Allahu ta'ala anhu 'Zul Jinnahain' (One with two shoulders [deputies]). The deputy on his right is Hadrat Shaykh Shihab al-Din Umar SuhrawardiRadi Allahu ta'ala anhu and the deputy on his left is Shaykh al-Akbar Muhiy'yudeen Ibn Arabi Radi Allahu ta'ala anhu. In this time, you are more engrossed in obedience of the shari'ah and understanding the laws of shari'ah. It is for this reason that you are seeing Shaykh Shihab al-Din Umar Radi Allahu ta'ala anhu with al-Ghawth al-A'dhamRadi Allahu ta'ala anhu.[1]
Amongst Shaykh Shihab al-Din Umar's disciples were the famous poets Shaykh Saidi and Kamal al-Din Isma'il al-'Isfahani Radi Allahu ta'ala anhum. Shaykh Shihab al-Din Umar Suhrawardi 'alayhir rahman is also the author of the celebrated 'Awarif al-ma'arif, an excellent text of 'irfan and Sufism.
This books explains Shaykh al-Suhrawardî's sufi theology and its importance to the training of sufi disciples. His careful analysis of mystical ideas of self-annihilation, sufi exercises (dhikr), proper moral conduct (adab), and other areas that stressed the complete obedience to Islamic law and to the customs of the Prophet will reflect a sufi master's intention to ensure his sufi path reflected the truest and purest form of faith.[2]
We do not want anyone to get confused with Shihab al-Din Yahya al-Suhrawardi (1153/5-1191) who was called "the Master of Oriental Theosophy", and founder of the Ishraqi or "Illumination" School. Yahya al-Suhrawardi was the most controversial of three celebrated mystics who lived at the same time and bore the same place-name - Suhraward, in northwest Iran, near Azerbaijan. His contemporary Shaykh Shihab al-Din 'Umar b. 'Abd Allah Suhrawardi (1144-1234CE) kept his head by being a model of orthodox moderation, and enjoyed the patronage of Caliphs and princes. . Shihab al-Din's teacher was his uncle Abu Najb Suhrawardi (d.1168), rector of the Nizamiya academy and an authority on Hadith.
FURTHER READING : SILSILA AL SUHRAWARDIYA
[1] Source; Silsila aaliya qadiriya, barkatiya, nooriya, rizviya
[2] Source; Fons Vitae Books
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Bakhtiyar al Kaki
Hadrat Khawaja Qutb al-Din Bakhtiyar al Kaki [d.633H -1235CE] 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l-ridwan
Khawaja Qutb al-Din Bakhtiyar Kaki alaihir rahmah was born in 569 A.H. in a town called "Aush" or Awash in Mawar-un-Nahar (Transoxania). Khwaja Qutbuddin'salaihir rahmah original name was "Bakhtiyar" but his title was "Qutbuddin". The name "Kaki" to his name was attributed to him by virtue of a miracle that emanated from him at a later stage of his life in Delhi. He was the first spiritual successor of Hadrat Khawaja Mu'in al-Din Chishti alaihir rahmah. Hadrat Khawaja Bakhtiyar Kaki alaihir rahmah used to offer 95 Rakaats of Salaah during the 24 hours of day and night, along with 3 000 'Durood Shareefs' every night upon the soul of the Beloved Prophet May Allah shower His Mercy upon him. He had no parallel in abandoning the world and suffering poverty and hunger. He kept himself engrossed in the remembrance of Allah.
It is stated that once in an assembly of Sama (Qawwali) he happened to hear a verse of Hadrat Ahmad Jam with the meaning: "Those who are killed with the dagger of surrender and pleasure get a new life from the Unseen." Hadrat Khwaja Bakhtiyar Kaki alaihir rahmah was so much absorbed in and inspired with this verse that from that day on he kept on reciting it in a state of unconsciousness and gave his life in the same state. He remained in this state of Wajd for 3 consecutive days and expired on the 4th day. He passed away on the 14th of Rabi-ul-Awwal 633 A.H. The Mazaar Shareef [shrine] of Hadrat Khwaja Qutbuddin Bakhityar Kaki alaihir rahmah lies near Qutb Minar at old Delhi, India.
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Ibn al-Farid, Umar
Ibn al-Farid, Umar [d.633H -1235CE] 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l-ridwan
Celebrated Arab poet, mystic and Wali Allah. Composed quatrains [ruba'iyat], love poems [ghazals] & odes [qasidas] expressing a mystical view of life in which all of existence reveals the beauty & love of Allah. Most famous are his al-khamriyyah[Wine ode], praising love & the beloved & the Nazm al-suluk [Poem of the Sufi way], an ode of 760 verses detailing the mystic's ascent to enlightenment. Today remains venerated as a Wali Allah [saint] in Cairo, Egypt.
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Ibn al-'Arabi
Shaykh al Akbar : Muhammad Ibn al-'Arabi, Muhiy al-Din [d.637H -1240CE] 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l-ridwan
Muhammad ibn 'Ali ibn Muhammad ibn al-'Arabi, Abu Bakr Muhyi al-Din al-Hatimi al-Ta'i al-Andalusi al-Mursi al-Dimashqi, known as Ibn 'Arabi to differentiate him from Abu Bakr Ibn al-'Arabi the Maliki jurist. A scholar of Arabic letters at first, then tafsir and tasawwuf, nicknamed 'al-Qushayri' and 'Sultan al-'Arifin' in his time for his pre-eminence in tasawwuf, known in his lifetime for his devoutness to worship, asceticism, and generosity, Ibn 'Arabi was praised by al-Munawi as "a righteous friend of Allah and a faithful scholar of knowledge" (waliyyun salihun wa 'alimun nasih), by Ibn 'Imad al-Hanbali as "the absolute mujtahidwithout doubt," and by al-Fayruzabadi as "the Imam of the People of Shari'a both in knowledge and in legacy, the educator of the People of the Way in practice and in knowledge, and the shaykh of the shaykhs of the People of Truth through spiritual experience (dhawq) and understanding."1
His Teachers
He travelled East and West in the study of hadith, taking knowledge from over a thousand shaykhs, among them Abu al-Hasan ibn Hudhayl, Muhammad ibn Khalaf al-Lakhmi, Ibn Zarqun, Abu al-Walid al-Hadrami, al-Silafi, 'Abd al-Haqq al-Ishbili, Ibn 'Asakir, Ibn al-Jawzi, and Ibn Bushkuwal.His principal shaykhs in tasawwuf were Abu Madyan al-Maghribi, Jamal al-Din Yunus ibn Yahya al-Qassar, Abu 'Abd Allah al-Tamimi al-Fasi, Abu al-Hasan ibn Jami', and al-Khidr alayhis asalam.2
He became known first as al-Shaykh al-Kabir ("The Great Shaykh") then al-Shaykh al-Akbar ("The Greatest Shaykh") with specific reference to the sciences of tasawwuf in which he authored hundreds of books.3
His Doctrine ('Aqida)
His greatest and best-known is his last work, al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya ("The Meccan Conquests") which begins with a statement of doctrine - translated in forthcoming posts - about which al-Safadi said:
"I saw that from beginning to end it consists in the doctrine of ABU AL-HASAN AL-ASHARIwithout any difference whatsoever."4
His Rank of Mujtahid Mutlaq
In jurisprudence Ibn 'Arabi is often said to follow the Zahiri school, but this is incorrect since he himself denies it, as quoted by Ibn 'Imad from Ibn 'Arabi's two poems al-Ra'iyya and al-Nuniyya, which state respectively:
Laqad harrama al-Rahmanu taqlida Malikin
wa Ahmada wa al-Nu'mani wa al-kulli fa'dhuru
The Merciful forbade me to imitate Malik, Ahmad,
Al-Nu'man [Abu Hanifa] and others, therefore pardon me.
Lastu mimman yaqulu qala Ibnu Hazmin
la wa la Ahmadu wa la al-Nu'manu
I am not of those who say: "Ibn Hazm said"-
Certainly not! Nor "Ahmad said" nor "al-Nu'man said."5
Some of Ibn 'Arabi's Sayings
It is remarkable that there were very few contemporaries of Ibn 'Arabi among his accusers, although he travelled and taught all over the Islamic world and, as Ibn Hajar stated, "he made his mark in every country that he entered"15 while his admirers among the authorities of Islam lived both in his own lifetime and later. Among the Shaykh's sayings:
- "Whoever is truthful in something and pursues it diligently will obtain it sooner or later; if he does not obtain it in this world, he will obtain it in the next; and whoever dies before victory shall be elevated to the level of his diligence."
- "The knower of Allah knows through eyesight (basar) what others know through insight (basira), and - he knows through insight what virtually no-one knows. Despite this, he does not feel secure from the harm of his ego towards himself; how then could he ever feel secure from what His Lord has foreordained for him?"
- "The knower's declaration to his student:
'Take from me this science which you can find nowhere else,' does not detract from the knower's level, nor do other similar declarations that appear to be self-eulogy, because his intention is only to encourage the student to receive it."
- "The discourse of the knower is in the image of the listener according to the latter's powers, readiness, weakness, and inner reservations."
- "If you find it complicated to answer someone's question, do not answer it, for his container is already full and does not have room for the answer."
- "The ignorant one does not see his ignorance as he basks in its darkness; nor does the knowledgeable one see his own knowledge, for he basks in its light."
- "Whoever asks for a proof for Allah's oneness, a donkey knows more than him."
His Tarjuman al-Ashwaq ("The Interpreter of Desires") is a masterpiece of Arabic poetry translated in many languages. The following poem to the Ka'ba is taken from the Futuhat.a
1. In the Place of refuge my heart sought refuge,
shot with enmity's arrows.
2. O Mercy of Allah for His slaves, Allah placed His trust
in you among all inanimate forms.
3. O House of my Lord, O light of my heart,
O coolness of my eyes,b O my heart within,
4. O true secret of the heart of existence,
my sacred trust, my purest love!
5. O direction from which I turn from every quarter and valley,
6. From subsistence in the Real, then from the height,
from self-extinction, then from the depths!
7. O Ka`ba of Allah, O my life,
O path of good fortune, O my guidance,
8. In you has Allah placed every safety
from the fear of disaster upon the Return.
9. In you does the noble Station flourish,
in you are found the fortunes of Allah's slaves.
10. In you is the Right Hand that my sin has draped
in the robe of blackness.c
11. Multazam is in you - he who clings to love for it,
will be saved on the Day of Mutual Cries.d
12. Souls passed away longing for Her,
in the pain of longing and distant separation.
13. In sorrow at their news she has put on
the garment of mourning.e
14. Allah sheds His light on her court,
and something of His light appears in the heart.
15. None sees it but the sorrowful
whose eyes are dark from lack of sleep.
16. He circumambulates seven times after seven,
from the beginning of night until the call to prayer.
17. Hostage to endless sadness, he is never seen
but bound to effort.
18. I heard him call upon Allah and say, beside the Black
Stone: "O my heart!
19. Our night has quickly passed,
but the goal of my love has not passed!"
Ibn 'Imad said: "He died - may Allah have mercy on him! - in the house of the Qadi Muhyi al-Din ibn al-Zaki and was taken to Qasyun [Damascus] and buried in the noble mound, one of the groves of Paradise, and Allah knows best."16
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Shams-e-Tabrizi
Mawlana Shams-e-Tabrizi [d.645H - 1248CE] 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l-ridwan
Shams-e-Tabrizi was an Iranian Sufi mystic born in the city of Tabriz in Iranian Azerbaijan. He is responsible for initiating Mawlana Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rume, usually known as Rumi in the West, into Islamic mysticism, and is immortalized by Rumi's poetry collection Diwan-e Shams-e Tabriz-i ("The Works of Shams of Tabriz"). Shams lived together with Mawlana Rume in Konya, in present-day Turkey, for several years, and is also known to have travelled to Damascus in present-day Syria.
After several years with Mawlana Rume, Mawlana Shams vanished from the pages of history quite suddenly. Although it is not known what became of him after his departure from Rumi, his gravesite is in a remote region of the Karakorams in Northern Pakistan at a place called Ziarat not far from the village of Shimshall. Rumi's love for Shams, and his bereavement at his death, found expression in an outpouring of lyrical poems. Rumi himself left Konya and went out searching for Shams, journeying as far as Damascus before realizing that Shams and himself were, in fact, "one and the same"
As the years passed, Rumi attributed more and more of his own poetry to Shams as a sign of love for his departed friend and master. Indeed, it quickly becomes clear in reading Mawlana Rume that Shams-e-Tabrizi was elevated to a symbol of God's love for mankind, and that Shams was a sun ("Shams" is Arabic for "sun") shining the Light of God on Rumi.
ME & RUMI [AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SHAMS-E-TABRIZI]
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Sabir Kalyari
Makhdoom Ala 'al-Din Ali Ahmad Sabir Kalyari [d.650H -1253CE] 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l-ridwan
Hadrat Ala'ud-din Ali Ahmed Sabir alaihir rahmah was born on the 19th of Rabi-ul-Awwal 592 H. at Herat in Afghanistan. He was the great grandson of AL GHAWTH AL ADHAM, Shaykh Abd'al Qadir al-Jilani Radi Allahu ta'ala anhu and the maternal nephew of Hadrat Baba Farid al-Din alaihir rahmah. While Hadrat Sabir Paakalaihir rahmah was still in his mother's womb, Sayyiduna Rasullulah Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa 'aalihi wa Sallam appeared in her dream and commanded her to name the child "Ahmed." Likewise, after some time, the fourth Caliph of Islam, Sayyadina Hadrat Ali Radi Allahu ta'ala anhu, appeared in his mother's dream and command her to name her child "Ali." Due to both these commands, he was named Ali Ahmed. Some of the first words he spoke as a toddler were "La Moujuda Ill-Allah" meaning "There is nothing present but Allah." At the age of 7, he adopted regular fasting and Tahajjud Salaah. When his mother insisted upon him not to perform such Mujahedas (spiritual striving) he simply said, "My dear mother, I can't help it. I wish to burn myself in the devotion of Allah. I really enjoy this life." Hadrat Sabir Paak alaihir rahmah was then initiated as a mureed by Hadrat Baba Farid alaihir rahmah in the Chistiya Silsila. Hadrat Baba Farid alaihir rahmah once said: "The knowledge of my chest was given to Shaykh Nizam al-Din alaihir rahmah while the knowledge of my heart enriched Shaykh Ali Ahmed Sabir alaihir rahmah."
Hadrat Sabir Paak's alaihir rahmah Mazaar Shareef was built after 200 years by Hadrat Qutb-e-A'lam Abd 'al-Qudoos Gangohi alaihir rahmah, and ever since, people have been visiting in their droves.
FURTHER IN-DEPTH READING:
KHAWAJA SABIR KALYARI | CHISTIYA SHAYKHS
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Abu al Hasan Shadhili
Shadhili, Abu al-Hasan 'Ali ibn 'Abdu' Allah ibn 'Abdu'l-Jabbar [d.656H/1258CE] 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l-ridwan
Shaykh Abu al Hasan Shadhili alayhir rahman, who, on his father's side, descended from the Fatimid-Hasanid line, and on his mother's side from the Fatimid-Husaynid line. He was born in Morocco, and educated in Tunis and Morocco. He was the Founder the Shadhili Sufi order, combining formal scholarship with mystical exercises. The opposition of establishment Tunisian 'ulama to his preaching led him to move to Alexandria, Egypt, in 1244, where he gathered students & followers, founded a zawiyah [Sufi lodge] & created the distinctive organisation, devotional activities & social life of the order. He avoided close relations with the government. Passed down popular prayers & Sufi terms. The movement he inspired is one of the oldest Sufi tariqahs & became the most important in North Africa.
Abu al-Hasan Shadhili alayhir rahman was one of the great saints of the community, he said about tasawwuf:
He who dies without having entered into this knowledge of ours dies insisting upon his grave sins (kaba'ir) without realizing it.1
He was born in the year 593 A.H./1196 C.E., in the mountain village of Ghumara in the Rif area of the northern Atlas mountains of the Maghrib. The Berber tribe to which he belonged had virtually separated itself from the rest of the Maghrib by refusing to accept the Religion of Islam, which was otherwise universally followed in this region. SHAYKH ABU MADYAN had tried to teach and guide this tribe to the Truth, but they had preferred to live in their state of spiritual ignorance.
After Abu'l as-Hasan spent a period of time with his murshid; Shaykh 'Abdu's-Salam ibn Mashish alayhir rahman, he was ordered by his shaykh 'Abdu as-Salam to proceed to Ifriqiya, now known as Tunisia, where he should settle in the village of Shadhila until Allah would send His Order for him to move to the city of Tunis, where he would meet with certain difficulty and opposition. He was told nevertheless that he should remain in Tunis, until the coming of an event which would permit him to leave this city and to travel to the East where, as his Master said,
"You will become the Qutb of your time."
Shaykh Abu'l as-Hasan alayhir rahman set out for the village of Shadhila, between Qayrawan and Tunis where, rather than looking for a place to lodge, he retreated to a cave on the mountain of Jabal Zaghwan, accompanied by his spiritual brother and companion, 'Abdullah ibn Salama al-Habibi alayhir rahman, where they spent 40 days in total seclusion and supplication.
Shaykh Abu al-Hasan Shadhili alayhir rahman died in Egypt, 656 Hijri - 1258 Common Era. His shrine is at Humaythra near the Red sea.
Extracts from & further reading : Sidi Muhammad Press
111 In Ibn 'Ajiba, Iqaz al-himam p. 8.
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Baba Farid al-Din Mas'ud
Farid al-Din Mas'ud Ganj-i-Shakar [d.663H - 1265CE] 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l-ridwan
Also known as Baba Farid. A seminal personality in the medieval Indian mystical tradition, the Sufi Wali Allah [saint] and poet consolidated the Chishti order and his verses elevated Punjabi to a literary status. Numerous Punjabi tribes attribute their conversion to him and his shrine in Ajodhan [presently Paak-pattan, Pakistan] is a major pilgrimage centre.
FURTHER READING ON BABA FARID GANJ-I SHAKAR
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Baha-ud-Din Zakariya
Abu Muhammad Baha al-Din Zakariya Multani [d.665 - 1267 CE] 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l-ridwan
Hadrat Shaykh Baha-al-Din Zakariya (Persian: بہاؤ الدین زکریا ) was a Sufi of the Suhrawardiyya order (tariqa). His full name was al-Shaykh al-Kabir Baha-ud-Din Abu Muhammad Zakaria al-Qurayshi al-Asadi al Hashmi.
Shaykh Baha al-Din Zakariya known as 'Bahawal Haq' was born at Kot Kehror, a town of the Layyah District near Multan, Punjab, Pakistan, around 1170 Common Era. His grand father Shah Kamal al-Din Ali Shah Qurayshi al Hashmi arrived in Multan from Makkah en route to Khwarizm where he stayed for a short while. Shaykh Baha al-Din was from the descendents of Asad Ibn Hashim the maternal grandfather of Hadrat Ali ibn Abi Talib Radi Allahu anhu.
In Tariqat he was the disciple of Renowned Sufi Master Shaykh Shahab al-Din SuhrawardiRadi Allahu anhu who awarded him Khilafat only after 17 days of stay at his Khanqaah in Baghdad.
For fifteen years he went from place to place to preach Islam and after his wanderings 'Bahawal Haq' settled in Multan in 1222. One of his famous disciples is Hadrat Lal Shah Baz Qalander Radi Allahu anhu [d.650].
Shah baz Qalandar (Sayyad Uthman) was seen as a controversial figure by some, because he was a majzub wali. He would put on red clothes and was often found in a state of spiritual ecstasy. This offended the orthodox ulema of the time. Qazi Qutb al-Din Kashfi, a prominent alim, gave a fatwa [religious edict) against Sayyad Uthman, who was staying in a village near Multan. He was furious when he heard about this fatwa and travelled to Multan with his followers to avenge the dishonour. At the time, Shaykh Baha al-Din Zakariya Multani was presiding over the seat of spiritual guidance and enlightenment and his circle of disciples included scholars and sages. When he learnt of Sayyad Uthman and the cause of his anger, Shaykh Baha al-Din, managed to calm him down.
Humbled by Shaykh Baha al-Din, he said: ''O personification of the light, I beg your pardon. I was in the wrong. I had come to take revenge from an alim of your city, but I have myself become your prisoner. Don't keep me waiting for long and accept my submission and bai't.'' Shaykh Baha al-Din embraced him and included him in his circle of Rushd-wo-Hidayat (spiritual guidance and enlightenment). Shaykh Baha al-Din is reported to have addressed Uthman with the name 'Lal Shahbaz' and since then, he has been known by this name.
According to Hadrat Makhdoom Ashraf Semnani,
''Qalandar is one who has severed connections with the world. He should be an expert of shariat (law) and tariqat (way) and should be immersed in the ocean of existence.” Uthman had all these qualities, which is why he is known as “Qalandar''.
Shaykh Baha-al-Din Zakariya died in 1267 CE and his mausoleum is located near the main gate of the Multan Fort. (Some reports say that the Shaykh died on the 7th of Safar - 661/21 December 1262).
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Mawlana Rumi
Mawlana Rumi, Jalal al-Din al- [d.672H - 1273CE] 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l-ridwan
Born in Balkh [in modern Afghanistan] but lived in Konya, Anatolia [Turkey]. Initially followed existing Sufi paths but became a visionary ecstatic in 1244 after being inspired on a new path of aesthetic & emotional Sufism, which developed into the Mawlawi [Mevlevi] order after his death. Taught that the Master of the Way was to serve as a medium between Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala & humanity. Sought identification of the human self with divine being. Wrote more than seventy thousand verses of Persian poetry in ordinary language, expressing the experience of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala's presence in creation & inspiring joy in the listener; common themes are the trials of separation from the Beloved & the joys of union with Him. Most famous poem is Mathnawi, a compilation of spiritual outbursts, anecdotal ruminations & parables expressed in poetic form.
FURTHER READING & POETRY
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Badawi, al-Sayyad Ahmad
Badawi, al-Sayyad Ahmad [d.675H - 1276CE] 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l-ridwan
Morrocan-born founder of Ahmadi Sufi order, one of the four largest in Egypt. Influenced by Shaykh AHMAD AR-RIFA'Y & Shaykh 'ABD' AL-QADIR AL-JILANI and their Sufi orders. Received a vision instructing him to go to Egypt, where he won many followers & reputedly worked miracles. Fought against the Crusaders. The annual celebration of his birth [mawlid] is among the most popular feasts in Egypt. By the early nineteenth century, three feasts were being held in his honour, coinciding with the agricultural cycle of the Nile Delta. The shrine and Mosque built over his tomb are popular sites for devotees.
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al-Nawawi
Abu Zakariyya Yahya Ibn Sharaf al-Nawawi [d.677H - 1278CE] 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l-ridwan
He was popularly known as al-Nawawi or Imam Nawawi. He studied in Damascus from the age of 18 and after making the Hajj in 1253 he settled there as a private scholar. In 1267 he succeeded Abu Shama as professor of hadith at the Ashrafiyya school in the city. He died at Nawa at a relatively young age, having never married.
Imam Nawawi Rahmatullahi alaih was one of the great Sufi scholars, strictest latter-time hadith masters, and most meticulous of jurists, Shaykh al-Islam Imam Muhyiddin Yahya ibn Sharaf al-Nawawi is with al-Rafi'i the principal reference of the late Shafi'i school. His books remain authoritative in the methodology of the law, in Qur'an commentary, and in hadith. His commentary of Sahih Muslim is second only to Ibn Hajar's commentary of Sahih Bukhari. Allah gave his famous compilation of Forty Hadiths more circulation and fame than possibly any other book of hadith, large or small, and has allowed Nawawi to be of immense benefit to the Community of Islam.
Imam Nawawi Rahmatullahi alaih was considered a Sufi and a saint, as is evident from the titles of some of his works and that of Sakhawi's biography entitledTarjamat shaykh al-islam, qutb al-awliya' al-kiram, faqih al-anam, muhyi al-sunna wa mumit al-bid'a Abi Zakariyya Muhyi al-Din al-Nawawi (The biography of the Shaykh of Islam, the Pole of Noble Saints, the Jurist of Mankind, the Reviver of the Sunna and the Slayer of Innovation... al-Nawawi).
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Muslih al Sadi
Sadi, Musharrif al-Din Muslih [d.689H - 1291CE] 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l-ridwan
Persian Sufi poet. Lived & wrote in Shiraz. A member of the 'Suhrawardi tariqah', he is best known for spiritual & moral teachings. He travelled throughout the Islamic world as a Sufi dervish. His two major works, Bustan [The Orchard] &Ghulistan [The (Flower) Garden], are characterised by garden & floral imagery in the context of scriptural admonitions to live a moral life. Known as a master of the Persian language.
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Ibn Ata' Allah al Iskandari
Abu al-Fadl Ibn Ata' Allah al Iskandari, Ahmad ibn Muhammad [d.709H/1309CE] 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l-ridwan
Ibn Ata' Allah al-Iskandari was born in Alexandria, Egypt, as his family tree (nisbah) indicates, about the middle of the seventh [AH] /thirteenth [CE] century. His family were renowned Maliki scholars from the Banu Judham tribe, originally from Arabia. His grandfather, Abd al-Karim (d. 612 AH/1216 CE) had distinguished himself as an expert in Fiqh, usul (principles of jurisprudence), and Arabic, having studied under the famous Abu'l-Hasan al-Abyari.
Ibn Ata' Allah was one of the great sufi Imams who was also known as a muhaddith, preacher, and Maliki jurist, Ibn 'Ata Allah al-Iskandari (d. 709) is the author of 'al-Hikam' (Aphorisms), 'Miftah al-falah' (The key to success), 'al-Qasd al-mujarrad fi ma'rifat al-ism al-mufrad' (The pure goal concerning knowledge of the Unique Name), 'Taj al-'arus al-hawi li tadhhib al-nufus' (The bride's crown containing the discipline of souls), 'Unwan al-tawfiq fi adab al-tariq' (The sign of success concerning the discipline of the path), the biographical al-Lata'if fi manaqib Abi al-'Abbas al-Mursi wa shaykhihi Abi al-Hasan' (The subtle blessings in the saintly lives of Abu al-'Abbas al-Mursi and his master ABU AL-HASAN AL-SHADILI), and others.Initially Ibn Ata'Allah was not so drawn to the Sufi path, preferring to concentrate his energies on jurisprudence. Yet, in spite of his early antipathies, he did become a disciple of Shaykh Abu 'l-Abbas al-Mursi, (d. 686/1288). As his most important and principal work, the Hikam, attests, he had become a Sufi master in his own right, and was already a shaykh when al-Mursi died. He was Abu al-'Abbas al-Mursi's (d. 686) student and the second successor of the Sufi founder, Imam Abu al-Hasan al- Shadhili.
As the third Shaykh of the Shadhili Sufi order Ibn 'Ata Allah, was responsible for systemising the orders doctrines & recording the biographies of its founder, Shaykh Abu al-Hasan and his successor, Shaykh Abu al-Abbas al-Mursi. He is the author of the first systematic treatise ondhikr. His compilation of aphorisms [hikam; sing. Hikmah] made the order very popular & his work has been referred to as the last Sufi karamat performed on the banks of the Nile.
Ibn 'Ata' Allah alayhir rahman was one of those who confronted IBN TAYMIYYA for his excesses in attacking those of the Sufis with whom he disagreed.
What he said to Ibn Taymiyya regarding SHAYKH IBN AL 'ARABI ;
"Ibn 'Arabi was one of the greatest of the jurists who followed the school of Dawud al-Zahiri after Ibn Hazm al-Andalusi, who is close to your methodology in Islamic law, O Hanbalis! But although Ibn 'Arabi was a Zahiri (i.e. a literalist in matters of Islamic law), the method he applied to understand ultimate reality (al-haqiqa) was to search out the hidden, spiritual meaning (tariq al-batin), that is, to purify the inward self (tathir al-batin).
What he said to Ibn Taymiyya regarding tawassul;
Is there any true believer who believes that there is someone who can reward him for his good deeds and punish him for his bad ones other than Allah? Besides this, we must consider that there are expressions which should not be taken just in their literal sense. This is not because of fear of associating a partner with Allah and in order to block the means to idolatry. For whoever seeks help from the Prophet only seeks his power of intercession with Allah as when you yourself say: "This food satisfies my appetite." Does the food itself satisfy your appetite? Or is it the case that it is Allah who satisfies your appetite through the food?
As for your statement that Allah has forbidden Muslims to call upon anyone other than Himself in seeking help, have you actually seen any Muslim calling on someone other than Allah? The verse you cite from the Qur'an was revealed concerning the idolaters and those who used to call on their false gods and ignore Allah. Whereas, the only way Muslims seek the help of the Prophet is in the sense of tawassul or seeking a means, by virtue of the privilege he has received from Allah (bi haqqihi 'inda Allah), andtashaffu' or seeking intercession, by virtue of the power of intercession which Allah has bestowed on him.
As for your pronouncement that istighatha or seeking help is forbidden in the Shari'abecause it can lead to idolatry, if this is the case, then we ought also to prohibit grapes because they are means to making wine, and to castrate unmarried men because not to do so leaves in the world a means to commit fornication and adultery."
What he said regarding IMAM AL-GHAZALI;
"al-Ghazali was equally an Imam both in Shari'a and tasawwuf. He treated legal rulings, the Sunnah, and the Shari'a with the spirit of the Sufi. And by applying this method he was able to revive the religious sciences. We know that tasawwufrecognizes that what is sullied has no part in religion and that cleanliness has the character of faith. The true and sincere sufi must cultivate in his heart the faith recognized by the Ahl al-Sunnah.
Ibn 'Ata' Allah taught at both the al-Azhar Mosque and the Mansuriyyah Madrasah in Cairo as well as privately to his disciples. However, it is not known where his Zawiyah was located.
Shaykh Ibn 'Ata' Allah died at around sixty years of age in the middle of Jumada II 709 H/November 1309 CE. As befitting an eminent and learned teacher, he died in the Mansuriyyah Madrasah. His funeral procession was witnessed by hundreds of people and he was buried in the Qarafah Cemetery in Cairo in what is today called the 'City of the Dead', at the foot of Jabal al-Muqattam. His tomb became famous as the site of homage, visitation, prayer, and miraculous occurrences. To this day this is still the case.
This pious and extraordinary contemplative figure left behind a spiritual legacy no less impressive than those of his own beloved Shaykh, and the eminent founder Shaykh Abu'l-Hasan ash-Shadhili. All the biographers refer to Ibn 'Ata Allah with illustrious titles and reverence and mention how marvellously he spoke and how uplifting his words were. In spite of the fact that he followed the Maliki madhbab, the Shafi'is laid claim to him, most probably because some of his earlier teachers had been Shafi'i scholars, not to mention some of his students.
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Nidam al-Din Awliya
Hadrat Khawaja Nizam al-Din Awliya, Mehboob-e-Elahi [d.725H - 1325CE]'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l-ridwan
Shaykh Nizam al-Din represents in many ways the pinnacle of the Chishti Order of the Sufis. After becoming a disciple of Hadrat BABA FARID AL-DIN GANJ-I SHAKAR, his spiritual guide he relinquished his desire to become a qadi (muslim judge) and lived in abject poverty in seeking the truth with regard to the Sufi path. Hadrat Nizam al-Din Awliya is also known as Mehboob-e-Elahi, the beloved of Allah. He is laid to rest Delhi, India.
FURTHER IN-DEPTH READING: NIZAM AL-DIN AWLIYA | CHISTIYA SHAYKHS
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Amir Khusro
Abul Hasan Yamin al-Din Khusro [d.725H - 1325CE] 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l-ridwan
Abul Hasan Yamin al-Din Khusro (1253-1325 CE), better known as Amir Khusro Dehlavi (in Persian language history), is one of the iconic figures in the cultural history of the Indian subcontinent. A Sufi mystic and a spiritual disciple of NIZAM AL-DIN AWLIYA of Delhi, Amir Khusro (or Khusrau or Khusraw) was not only one of India's greatest poets, he is also credited with being the founder of both the hindi classical poetry and Qawwali (the devotional music of the Sufis). He was born of a Turkish father, Saif al-Din, and an Indian mother, in India.
FURTHER READING : AMIR KHUSRO
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Ala al-Dawlah Simnani
Shaykh Abul Mukarram'Ala al-Dawlah Simnani,[d.737H - 1336CE] 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l-ridwan
Shaykh Abul-Mukarram Rukn al-din Ala-ud-Dawlah Ahmad Bin Muhammad Bin Ahmad Biabanki Semnani Rahmatullahi alayh is one of the great Sufi philosophers and poets of his time. He came from a large and affluent family who come from the province of Biabank, Semnan in Iran. During his youth he was under the rule of the local militia and later on was involved as a government personnel. Suddenly he left all that behind, slept little, ate little and spoke little and learned the Qur'an and spent most of his time in worship and became a member of the Kubrawi Sufi order; which maintained that strict adherence to the Qur'an al kareem and Islamic law was the basis of the Sufi path.
Shaykh Semnani wrote many treatises and his '40 Sessions' [chahel majlis] are amongst the most well known. The Vastness of Human Heart is one extract from such a session :
These kings who boast about pittance i.e. pompous & grandiose setup of their rule over the little city or province that was captured with deviance and tricks, and they conduct themselves with such arrogance & grandeur that is beyond comparison. These miserable creatures do not comprehend the measure of the Lord�s Dominion and they do not comprehend the vastness of the human heart! (Semnani then continues with the known measurements of the earth and Sun at the time and concludes that 360 planet earths fit within the Sun. Not a bad estimate for a little man in a village hundreds of years ago)
If 360 planet earths fit within the Sun, then how can these petty kings boast about the size of their kingdoms!? Now add to Sun & 360 earths, fantastic cosmos and the estimate would be even more minute: Like a ball in a desert or a seed in an ocean and this entire cosmos compared to the Lord�s Throne like a ring in a desert. Messenger of Allah Peace Be Upon Him has mentioned that all the above that was mentioned next to the human heart is like a seed in a desert or less i.e. the human heart is far vaster that anything we can imagine or anything we can observe : ''So blessed be Allah, the best to create'' (Qur'an [23:14]). (Shebly said, ''Anyone that can grasp even a bit of the Tawhid (Divine Oneness) cannot grasp the rest, due to its immense weight'' and some other time he said, ''Even if someone grasped a bit of Tawhid (Divine Oneness) it is as though carrying the entire earth & cosmos on eyelashes''. That is why Allah forbids killing people because each human being is a fantastic creature within the heart though to our ignorant eyes look like some skin on few bones!)
Allah has created all hearts vast as such. But some people struggled with much effort thus entering that fantastically large realm of human heart and some others added even more veils to cover the path to this vastness and their minds cannot even fathom any passageway to this enormous space of the heart. Allah Almighty in every place has shown me the nature of this situation (without words).
Hark! Yaa Muslim! Yaa Sufi! Follow not, obey not the desires of your heart for world conquest and call it the religion or spirituality, follow who reminds you of the Divine Sublime Beloved understand the Tariq (Path) of obtaining Halal (Lawful) livelihood and deliver your children to the beginnings of the Tariqat (Path to the Divine) and invite not people & their children to death & destruction.
Source: Untired With Loving
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al-Shabistari
Sa'd al-Din Mahmud al-Shabistari [d.740H/1340CE ] 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l-ridwan
Mahmud al-Shabistari was born at Shabistar, near Tabriz, around the year 1250 Common Era,he was one of the great Sufi poets of the 8TH Century [Hijri] / 14th Century [CE]. He is famous for writing the Gulshan e Raz, or Secret Rose Garden, as a reply to questions put forth by a Sufi doctor of Herat named Dmir Sayyad Husayni. Very little is known of Mahmud Shabistari's actual life. He also wrote beside the Gulshan e Raz two treatises on Sufism called Haqq al Yakin and Risala e Shadid. We learn he had a very favourite disciple called Shaykh Ibrahim. The Gulshan e Raz was introduced into Europe by two travellers in 1700CE. Later, copies of the poem were found in several European libraries.
Like RUMI, Shabistari lived in turbulent times. This period was aften frought with dangers, in particular the Mongol invasions brought much devastation. However Shabistari was able to write much poetry and synthesise much of the Sufi wisdom. He had a style similar to IBN ARABIand expressed Sufi philosophy in a moving and simple language. As David Fieldler says of Shabistari
" Shabistari possessed a unique genius for summarizing the profound and often complex teachings of Sufism in a beautiful, aphoristic, and concise fashion, which often leaves the reader speechless when the deeper meanings of his verse are grasped. "
Shabistari's poetry was inspired by his own mystical experiences. In a style unique to himself he expressed the universal truths and experiences shared by other the Sufi Poets; Rumi, Hafiz, Ibn Arabi, Attar and Rabia al Basri .
Shabistari was a devoted Sufi but at the same time was not constrained by any social or religious ideology. In accordance with Sufi philosophy Shabistari taught that there are many ways to reach the common goal. - "The Paths are many the goal is one."
In the writings of Shabistari we can feel the universal vision of one who has transcended the limitations of the human mind. With Shabistari we can be inspired by a poet who is pointing us towards the universal consciousness.
"I" and "you" are but the lattices,
in the niches of a lamp,
through which the One Light shines.
"I" and "you" are the veil
between heaven and earth;
lift this veil and you will see
no longer the bonds of sects and creeds.
When "I" and "you" do not exist,
what is mosque, what is synagogue?
What is the Temple of Fire?
- Shabistari
The value of Shabistari's work was recognized almost immediately. Many commentaries on the work by other Sufi mystics soon began to appear. The Secret Rose Garden quickly was regarded as one of the central works of Sufism by some sufi followers.
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Shams al-Din al-Dhahabi
Muhammad Abu 'Abdullah Shams al-Din al-Dhahabi al Shafi'i [d. 748H - 1348CE] 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l-ridwan
Al-Dhahabi [1274-1348CE] the great Shafi'i hadith master (hafiz) and historian of Islam, the imam, Shaykh al-Islam, head of hadith masters, perspicuous critic and expert examiner of the hadith, encyclopedic historian and biographer, and foremost authority in the canonical readings of the Qur'an. Born in Damascus where his family lived from the time of his grandfather 'Uthman, he sometimes identified himself as Ibn al-Dhahabi - son of the goldsmith - in reference to his father's profession. He began his study of hadith at age eighteen, travelling from Damascus to Ba'labak, Hims, Hama, Aleppo, Tripoli, Nabulus, al-Ramla, Cairo, Iskandariyya, al-Qudus, Hijaz, and elsewhere to thirty different locations, after which he returned to Damascus where he taught and authored many works and achieved world renown. He lost his sight two years before he died, leaving three children: his eldest daughter Amat al-'Aziz and his two sons 'Abd Allah and Abu Hurayra 'Abd al-Rahman. The latter taught the hadith masters Ibn Nasir al-Din al-Dimashqi and Ibn Hajar, to whom he transmitted several works authored or narrated by his father.
His student TAJ AL-DIN AL-SUBKI said:
Our time was graced with four hadith masters: al-Mizzi, al-Birzali, al-Dhahabi, and my father the Shaykh and Imam [Taqi al-Din al-Subki]. As for our shaykh Abu 'Abd Allah, he is an ocean without peer, a treasure and refuge in time of difficulty, the imam of the living on record, the gold of our time in spirit and letter, the shaykh of narrator-discreditation and narrator-commendation (al-jarh wa al-ta'dil)... and the one who trained us in this science and brought us out into the scholarly throng - may Allah reward him greatly!
Another student of his, Salah al-Din al-Safadi, said:
I read before him many of his works and did not find in him the rigidity(jumud) of hadith scholars nor the denseness (kawdana) of transmitters. Rather, he is highly perspicuous and proficient in the sayings of the scholars and the schools of the imams of the Salaf and authorities in doctrine. What most pleased me is the care he shows, in his works, not to mention a hadith except he states whether it suffers from any weakness in its content or chain of transmission or one of its narrators. I did not see others show the same care in what they cite.
The "Commander of the Believers in Hadith" (Amir al-Mu'minin fi al-Hadith), Shaykh al-Islam IBN HAJAR AL-ASQALANI said of him:
"He was the most prolific of the scholars of his time. People yearned to obtain his books, travelling to him for that purpose and circulating them through reading, copying, and audition." "He is among those who have total mastery in the field of narrator-criticism."
He authored nearly a hundred works, some of them of considerable size:
- Major History of Islam ('Tarikh al-Islam al-kabir), thirty-six volume
- Talkhis al-Mustadrak
- Tadhkirat al-huffaz
- The Lives of Noble Figures (Siyar a`lam al-nubala'), twenty-three volume
- Tadhhib al-Tahdhib
- Al-Kashif fi Asma' Rijal al-Kutub al-Sittah
Ahmad ibn al-Mun'im related to us... [with his chain of transmission] from Ibn 'Umar that the latter disliked to touch the Prophet's - Allah bless and greet him - grave. I say: He disliked it because he considered it disrespect. Ahmad ibn Hanbal was asked about touching the Prophet's - Allah bless and greet him - grave and kissing it and he saw nothing wrong with it. His son 'Abd Allah related this from him. If it is asked: "Why did the Companions not do this?" We reply: "Because they saw him with their very eyes when he was alive, enjoyed his presence directly, kissed his very hand, nearly fought each other over the remnants of his ablution water, shared his purified hair on the day of the greater Pilgrimage, and even if he spat it would virtually not fall except in someone's hand so that he could pass it over his face. Since we have not had the tremendous fortune of sharing in this, we throw ourselves on his grave as a mark of commitment, reverence, and acceptance, even to kiss it. Do you not see what Thabit al-Bunani did when he kissed the hand of Anas ibn Malik and placed it on his face saying: "This is the hand that touched the hand of Allah's Messenger"? Muslims are not moved to these matters except by their excessive love for the Prophet - Allah bless and greet him -, as they are ordered to love Allah and the Prophet -- Allah bless and greet him -- more than their own lives, their children, all human beings, their property, and Paradise and its maidens. There are even some believers that love Abu Bakr and 'Umar more than themselves...
Al-Dhahabi defined knowledge in Islam (al-'ilm) as "Not the profusion of narration, but a light which Allah casts into the heart. Its condition is followership (ittiba') and the flight away from egotism (hawa) and innovation."
At the mention of al-Harawi al-Ansari's Sufi manual Manazil al-Sa'irin in the Siyaral-Dhahabi exclaims:
How beautiful was the tasawwuf of the Companions and Successors! They did not probe those phantasms and whisperings of the mind but worshipped Allah, humbling themselves and relying upon Him, in great awe and fear of Him, fiercely combating His enemies, hastening to obey Him, staying away from idle speech. Allah guides whomever He wills to the straight path.
Main sources;
Ibn al-Subki, Tabaqat al-Shafi'iyya al-Kubra 9:100-106 #1306; Sa'd, Safahat fi Tarjima al-Hafiz al-Dhahabi.
Extracts By Shaykh Gibril F. Haddad
Also read the letter Al-Dhahabi wrote to his disgraced teacher Ibn Taymiya