The termwali[a] is most commonly used byMuslims to refer to asaint, or literally a "friend ofGod".[1][2][3]
In the traditional Islamic understanding, a saint is portrayed as someone "marked by [special] divine favor ... [and] holiness", and who is specifically "chosen by God and endowed with exceptional gifts, such as the ability to workmiracles".[4] The doctrine of saints was articulated byMuslim scholars very early on inIslamic history,[5][6][4][7] and particular verses of theQuran and certainhadith were interpreted by early Muslim thinkers as "documentary evidence"[4] of the existence of saints. Graves of saints around the Muslim world became centers ofpilgrimage – especially after 1200 CE – for masses of Muslims seeking theirbarakah (blessing).[8]
Since the first Muslimhagiographies were written during the period when the Islamic mystical trend ofSufism began its rapid expansion, many of the figures who later came to be regarded as the major saints in orthodoxSunni Islam were the early Sufi mystics, likeHasan of Basra (d. 728),Farqad Sabakhi (d. 729),Dawud Tai (d. 777–781),Rabia of Basra (d. 801),Maruf Karkhi (d. 815), andJunayd of Baghdad (d. 910).[1] From the twelfth to the fourteenth century, "the general veneration of saints, among both people and sovereigns, reached its definitive form with the organization ofSufism ... into orders or brotherhoods".[9] In the common expressions of Islamic piety of this period, the saint was understood to be "a contemplative whose state of spiritual perfection ... [found] permanent expression in the teaching bequeathed to his disciples".[9] In many prominent Sunnicreeds of the time, such as the famousCreed of Tahawi (c. 900) and theCreed of Nasafi (c. 1000), a belief in the existence and miracles of saints was presented as "a requirement" for being an orthodox Muslim believer.[10][11]
Aside from the Sufis, the preeminent saints in traditional Islamic piety are theCompanions of the Prophet, theirSuccessors, andthe Successors of the Successors.[12] Additionally, theprophets and messengers in Islam are also believed to be saints by definition, although they are rarely referred to as such, in order to prevent confusion between them and ordinary saints; as the prophets are exalted by Muslims as the greatest of all humanity, it is a general tenet of Sunni belief that a single prophet is greater than all the regular saints put together.[13] In short, it is believed that "every prophet is a saint, but not every saint is a prophet".[14]
In themodern world, traditionalSunni andShia ideas of saints has been challenged byfundamentalist andrevivalistIslamic movements such as theSalafi movement,Wahhabism, andIslamic Modernism, all three of which have, to a greater or lesser degree, "formed a front against theveneration and theory of saints".[1] As has been noted by scholars, the development of these movements has indirectly led to a trend amongst some mainstream Muslims to resist "acknowledging the existence of Muslim saints altogether or ... [to view] their presence and veneration as unacceptable deviations".[15] However, despite the presence of these opposing streams of thought, the classical doctrine ofsaint veneration continues to thrive in many parts of the Islamic world today, playing a vital role in daily expressions of piety among vast segments of Muslim populations in Muslim countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, Turkey,Senegal, Iraq, Iran, Algeria, Tunisia, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Morocco,[1] as well as in countries with substantial Islamic populations like India, China, Russia, and theBalkans.[1]
Regarding the rendering of the Arabicwalī by the English "saint", prominent scholars such asGibril Haddad have regarded this as an appropriate translation, with Haddad describing the aversion of some Muslims towards the use of "saint" forwalī as "a specious objection ... for [this is] – like 'Religion' (din), 'Believer' (mu'min), 'prayer' (salat), etc. – [a] generic term for holiness and holy persons while there is no confusion, for Muslims, over their specific referents in Islam, namely: the reality ofiman with Godwariness and those who possess those qualities."[16][better source needed] InPersian, which became the second most influential and widely spoken language in the Islamic world afterArabic,[1] the general title for a saint or a spiritual master becamepīr (Persian:پیر, literally "old [person]", "elder"[17]).[1] Although the ramifications of this phrase include the connotations of a general "saint,"[1] it is often used to specifically signify a spiritual guide of some type.[1]
AmongstIndian Muslims, the titlepīr baba (पीर बाबा) is commonly used inHindi to refer to Sufi masters or similarly honored saints.[1] Additionally, saints are also sometimes referred to in the Persian orUrdu vernacular with "Hazrat."[1] InIslamic mysticism, apīr's role is to guide and instruct his disciples on the mystical path.[1] Hence, the key difference between the use ofwalī andpīr is that the former does not imply a saint who is also a spiritual master with disciples, while the latter directly does so through its connotations of "elder".[1] Additionally, other Arabic and Persian words that also often have the same connotations aspīr, and hence are also sometimes translated into English as "saint", includemurshid (Arabic:مرشد, meaning "guide" or "teacher"),sheikh andsarkar (Persian word meaning "master").[1]
In the Turkish Islamic lands, saints have been referred to by many terms, including the Arabicwalī, the Persians̲h̲āh andpīr, and Turkish alternatives likebaba in Anatolia,ata inCentral Asia (both meaning "father"), anderen orermis̲h̲ (< ermek "to reach, attain") oryati̊r ("one who settles down") inAnatolia.[1] Their tombs, meanwhile, are "denoted by terms of Arabic or Persian origin alluding to the idea of pilgrimage (mazār,ziyāratgāh), tomb (ḳabr,maḳbar) or domed mausoleum (gunbad,ḳubba). But such tombs are also denoted by terms usually used for dervish convents, or a particular part of it (tekke in theBalkans,langar, 'refectory,' andribāṭ inCentral Asia), or by a quality of the saint (pīr, 'venerable, respectable,' inAzerbaijan)."[1]
According to various traditional Sufi interpretations of theQuran, the concept of sainthood is clearly described.[18] Some modern scholars, however, assert that the Quran does notexplicitly outline a doctrine or theory of saints.[1] In the Quran, the adjectivewalī is applied toGod, in the sense of him being the "friend" of all believers (Q2:257). However, particular Quranic verses were interpreted by early Islamic scholars to refer to a special, exalted group of holy people.[4] These included10:62:[4] "Surely God's friends (awliyāa l-lahi): no fear shall be on them, neither shall they sorrow,"[4] and5:54, which refers to God's love for those who love him.[4] Additionally, some scholars[1] interpreted4:69, "Whosoever obeys God and the Messenger, they are with those unto whom God hath shown favor: the prophets and theṣidīqīna and the martyrs and the righteous. The best of company are they," to carry a reference to holy people who were not prophets and were ranked below the latter.[1] The wordṣidīqīna in this verse literally connotes "the truthful ones" or "the just ones," and was often interpreted by the early Islamic thinkers in the sense of "saints," with the famous Quran translatorMarmaduke Pickthall rendering it as "saints" in their interpretations of the scripture.[1] Furthermore, the Quran referred to the miracles of saintly people who were not prophets likeKhidr (18:65-82) and thePeople of the Cave (18:7-26), which also led many early scholars to deduce that a group of venerable people must exist who occupy a rank below the prophets but are nevertheless exalted by God.[1] The references in the corpus ofhadith literature tobona fide saints like the pre-Islamic Jurayj̲,[19][20][21][22] only lent further credence to this early understanding of saints.[1]
Collected stories about the "lives orvitae of the saints", began to be compiled "and transmitted at an early stage"[1] by many regular Muslim scholars, includingIbn Abi al-Dunya (d. 894),[1] who wrote a work entitledKitāb al-Awliyāʾ (Lives of the Saints) in the ninth-century, which constitutes "the earliest [complete] compilation on the theme of God's friends."[1] Prior to Ibn Abi al-Dunya's work, the stories of the saints were transmitted throughoral tradition; but after the composition of his work, many Islamic scholars began writing down the widely circulated accounts,[1] with later scholars like Abū Nuʿaym al-Iṣfahānī (d. 948) making extensive use of Ibn Abi al-Dunya's work in his ownḤilyat al-awliyāʾ (The Adornment of the Saints).[1] It is, moreover, evident from theKitāb al-Kas̲h̲f wa 'l-bayān of the earlyBaghdadiSufimysticAbu Sa'id al-Kharraz (d. 899) that a cohesive understanding of the Muslim saints was already in existence, with al-Kharraz spending ample space distinguishing between the virtues and miracles (karāmāt) of theprophets and the saints.[1] The genre ofhagiography (manāḳib) only became more popular with the passage of time, with numerous prominent Islamic thinkers of themedieval period devoting large works to collecting stories ofvarious saints or to focusing upon "the marvelous aspects of the life, the miracles or at least the prodigies of a [specific] Ṣūfī or of a saint believed to have been endowed with miraculous powers."[23]
In the late ninth-century, important thinkers inSunni Islam officially articulated the previously-oral doctrine of an entire hierarchy of saints, with the first written account of this hierarchy coming from the pen ofal-Hakim al-Tirmidhi (d. 907-912).[1] With thegeneral consensus of Islamic scholars of the period accepting that theulema were responsible for maintaining the "exoteric" part of Islamic orthodoxy, including the disciplines oflaw andjurisprudence, while the Sufis were responsible for articulating the religion's deepest inward truths,[1] later prominent mystics likeIbn Arabi (d. 1240) only further reinforced this idea of a saintly hierarchy, and the notion of "types" of saints became a mainstay of Sunni mystical thought, with such types including theṣiddīqūn ("the truthful ones") and theabdāl ("the substitute-saints"), amongst others.[1] Many of these concepts appear in writing far before al-Tirmidhi and Ibn Arabi; the idea of theabdāl, for example, appears as early as theMusnad ofIbn Hanbal (d. 855), where the word signifies a group of major saints "whose number would remain constant, one always being replaced by some other on his death."[24] It is, in fact, reported that Ibn Hanbal explicitly identified his contemporary, the mysticMaruf Karkhi (d. 815-20), as one of theabdal, saying: "He is one of the substitute-saints, and his supplication is answered."[25]
From the twelfth to the fourteenth century, "the general veneration of saints, among both people and sovereigns, reached its definitive form with the organization ofSufism—the mysticism of Islam—into orders or brotherhoods."[9] In general Islamic piety of the period, the saint was understood to be "a contemplative whose state of spiritual perfection ... [found] permanent expression in the teaching bequeathed to his disciples."[9] It was by virtue of his spiritual wisdom that the saint was accorded veneration in medieval Islam, "and it is this which ... [effected] his 'canonization,' and not some ecclesiastical institution" as inChristianity.[9] In fact, the latter point represents one of the crucial differences between the Islamic and Christian veneration of saints, for saints are venerated by unanimous consensus or popular acclaim in Islam, in a manner akin to all those Christian saints who began to be venerated prior to the institution ofcanonization.[9] In fact, a belief in the existence of saints became such an important part of medieval Islam[10][11] that many of the most importantcreeds articulated during the time period, like the famousCreed of Tahawi, explicitly declared it a requirement for being an "orthodox" Muslim to believe in the existence and veneration of saints and in the traditional narratives of their lives and miracles.[13][10][11][2] Hence, we find that even medieval critics of the widespread practice ofvenerating the tombs of saints, likeIbn Taymiyyah (d. 1328), never denied the existence of saints as such, with theHanbalijurist stating: "The miracles of saints are absolutely true and correct, by the acceptance of all Muslim scholars. And the Qur'an has pointed to it in different places, and the sayings of the Prophet have mentioned it, and whoever denies the miraculous power of saints are only people who are innovators and their followers."[26] In the words of one contemporary academic, practically all Muslims of that era believed that "the lives of saints and their miracles were incontestable."[27]
In themodern world, the traditional idea of saints in Islam has been challenged by thepuritanical andrevivalistIslamic movements ofSalafism andWahhabism, whose influence has "formed a front against the veneration and theory of saints."[1] For the adherents of Wahhabi ideology, for example, the practice of venerating saints appears as an "abomination", for they see in this a form ofidolatry.[1] It is for this reason that theKingdom of Saudi Arabia, which adheres to the Wahhabi creed, "destroyed the tombs of saints wherever ... able"[1] duringits expansion in theArabian Peninsula from the eighteenth-century onwards.[1][Note 1] As has been noted by scholars, the development of these movements have indirectly led to a trend amongst some mainstream Muslims to also resist "acknowledging the existence of Muslim saints altogether or ... [to view] their presence and veneration as unacceptable deviations."[15] At the same time, the movement ofIslamic Modernism has also opposed the traditional veneration of saints, for many proponents of this ideology regard the practice as "being both un-Islamic and backwards ... rather than the integral part of Islam which they were for over a millennium."[28] Despite the presence, however, of these opposing streams of thought, the classical doctrine of saint-veneration continues to thrive in many parts of the Islamic world today, playing a vital part in the daily piety of vast portions of Muslim countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, Turkey,Senegal, Iraq, Iran, Algeria, Tunisia, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Morocco,[1] as well as in countries with substantive Islamic populations like India, China, Russia, and theBalkans.[1]
The general definition of the Muslim saint in classical texts is that he represents a "[friend of God] marked by [special] divine favor ... [and] holiness", being specifically "chosen by God and endowed with exceptional gifts, such as the ability to workmiracles."[4] Moreover, the saint is also portrayed in traditional hagiographies as one who "in some way ... acquires his Friend's, i.e. God's, good qualities, and therefore he possesses particular authority, forces, capacities and abilities."[1] Amongst classical scholars,Qushayri (d. 1073) defined the saint as someone "whose obedience attains permanence without interference of sin; whom God preserves and guards, in permanent fashion, from the failures of sin through the power of acts of obedience."[29] Elsewhere, the same author quoted an older tradition in order to convey his understanding of the purpose of saints, which states: "The saints of God are those who, when they are seen, God is remembered."[30]
Meanwhile,al-Hakim al-Tirmidhi (d. 869), the most significant ninth-century expositor of the doctrine, posited six common attributes of true saints (not necessarily applicable to all, according to the author, but nevertheless indicative of a significant portion of them), which are: (1) when people see him, they are automatically reminded of God; (2) anyone who advances towards him in a hostile way is destroyed; (3) he possesses the gift of clairvoyance (firāsa); (4) he receives divine inspiration (ilhām), to be strictly distinguished from revelation proper (waḥy),[1][31][32] with the latter being something only theprophets receive; (5) he can work miracles (karāmāt) by the leave ofGod, which may differ from saint to saint, but may include marvels such as walking on water (al-mas̲h̲y ʿalā 'l-māʾ) and shorteningspace and time (ṭayy al-arḍ); and (6) he associates withKhidr.[33][1] Al-Tirmidhi states, furthermore, that although the saint is not sinless like the prophets, he or she can nevertheless be "preserved from sin" (maḥfūz) by the grace of God.[1] The contemporary scholar of SufismMartin Lings described the Islamic saints as "the great incarnations of the Islamic ideal.... spiritual giants with which almost every generation was blessed."[34]
The doctrine of saints, and of their miracles, seems to have been taken for granted by many of the major authors of theIslamic Golden Age (ca. 700–1400),[1] as well as by many prominent late-medieval scholars.[1] The phenomena in traditional Islam can be at least partly ascribed to the writings of many of the most prominent Sunni theologians and doctors of the classical and medieval periods,[1] many of whom considered the belief in saints to be "orthodox" doctrine.[1] Examples of classical testimonies include:
The rationale for veneration of deceased saints by pilgrims in an appeal for blessings (Barakah) even though the saints will not rise from the dead until the Day of Resurrection (Yawm ad-Dīn) may come from the hadith that states "the Prophets are alive in their graves and they pray".[citation needed] (According to the Islamic concept ofPunishment of the Grave—established byhadith—the dead are still conscious and active, with the wicked suffering in their graves as a prelude to hell and the pious at ease.) According to Islamic historian Jonathan A.C. Brown, "saints are thought to be no different" than prophets, "as able in death to answer invocations for assistance" as they were while alive.[8]
Saints were envisaged to be of different "types" in classical Islamic tradition.[1] Aside from their earthly differences as regard their temporal duty (i.e.jurist,hadithscholar,judge,traditionist,historian,ascetic, poet), saints were also distinguished cosmologically as regards their celestial function or standing.[1] In Islam, however, the saints are represented in traditional texts as serving separate celestial functions, in a manner similar to theangels, and this is closely linked to the idea of a celestial hierarchy in which the various types of saints play different roles.[1] A fundamental distinction was described in the ninth century by al-Tirmidhi in hisSīrat al-awliyāʾ (Lives of the Saints), who distinguished between two principal varieties of saints: thewalī ḥaḳḳ Allāh on the one hand and thewalī Allāh on the other.[1] According to the author, "the [spiritual] ascent of thewalī ḥaḳḳ Allāh must stop at the end of thecreatedcosmos ... he can attain God's proximity, but not God Himself; he is only admitted to God's proximity (muḳarrab). It is thewalī Allāh who reaches God. Ascent beyond God's throne means to traverse consciously the realms of light of theDivine Names.... When thewalī Allāh has traversed all the realms of the Divine Names, i.e. has come to know God in His names as completely as possible, he is then extinguished in God's essence. His soul, his ego, is eliminated and ... when he acts, it is God Who acts through him. And so the state of extinction means at the same time the highest degree of activity in this world."[1]
Although the doctrine of the hierarchy of saints is already found in written sources as early as the eighth-century,[1] it was al-Tirmidhi who gave it its first systematic articulation.[1]According to the author, forty major saints, whom he refers to by the various names ofṣiddīḳīn,abdāl,umanāʾ, andnuṣaḥāʾ,[1] were appointed after the death ofMuhammad to perpetuate the knowledge of the divine mysteries vouchsafed to them by the prophet.[1] These forty saints, al-Tirmidhi stated, would be replaced in each generation after their earthly death; and, according to him, "the fact that they exist is a guarantee for the continuing existence of the world."[1] Among these forty, al-Tirmidhi specified that seven of them were especially blessed.[1] Despite their exalted nature, however, al-Tirmidhi emphasized that these forty saints occupied a rank below the prophets.[1] Later important works which detailed the hierarchy of saints were composed by the mystic ʿAmmār al-Bidlīsī (d. between 1194 and 1207), the spiritual teacher ofNajmuddin Kubra (d. 1220), and byRuzbihan Baqli (d. 1209), who evidently knew of "a highly developed hierarchy of God's friends."[1] The differences in terminology between the various celestial hierarchies presented by these authors were reconciled by later scholars through their belief that the earlier mystics had highlighted particular parts and different aspects of a single, cohesive hierarchy of saints.[1]
The goal of the Sufi path is to achieveunification of the self with God (fanāʾ). The concept is often described in Sufi allegories as the self mirroring the light of God. Accordingly, the soul is tainted and in need of purification. In the purified state of the Sufi saint, the Sufi's spotless mind realizes that it has no real existence in itself; his existence is only God's light and he is only the mirror.[37]
In certain esoteric teachings of Islam, there is said to be a cosmic spiritual hierarchy[38][39][40] whose ranks includewalis (saints, friends of God),abdals (changed ones), headed by aghawth (helper) orqutb (pole, axis). The details vary according to the source.
One source is the 12th Century PersianAli Hujwiri. In his divine court, there are three hundredakhyār ("excellent ones"), fortyabdāl ("substitutes"), sevenabrār ("piously devoted ones"), fourawtād ("pillars"), threenuqabā ("leaders") and one qutb.
All these saints know one another and cannot act without mutual consent. It is the task of the Awtad to go round the whole world every night, and if there should be any place on which their eyes have not fallen, next day some flaw will appear in that place, and they must then inform the Qutb in order that he may direct his attention to the weak spot and that by his blessings the imperfection may be remedied.[41]
Another is fromIbn Arabi, who lived in Moorish Spain. It has a more exclusive structure. There are eightnujabā ("nobles"), twelvenuqabā, sevenabdāl, fourawtād, twoa'immah ("guides"), and the qutb.[42]
According to the 20th-century SufiInayat Khan, there are seven degrees in the hierarchy. In ascending order, they arepir,buzurg, wali,ghaus, qutb,nabi andrasul He does not say how the levels are populated. Pirs and buzurgs assist the spiritual progress of those who approach them. Walis may take responsibility for protecting a community and generally work in secret. Qutbs are similarly responsible for large regions. Nabis are charged with bringing a reforming message to nations or faiths, and hence have a public role. Rasuls likewise have a mission of transformation of the world at large.[43]
The amount of veneration a specific saint received varied from region to region in Islamic civilization, often on the basis of the saint's own history in that region.[1] While the veneration of saints played a crucial role in the daily piety ofSunniMuslims all over the Islamic world for more than a thousand years (ca. 800–1800), exactlywhich saints were most widely venerated in any given cultural climate depended on the hagiographic traditions of that particular area.[1] Thus, whileMoinuddin Chishti (d. 1236), for example, was honored throughout the Sunni world in the medieval period, hiscultus was especially prominent in theIndian subcontinent, as that is where he was believed to have preached, performed the majority of his miracles, and ultimately settled at the end of his life.[1]
The veneration of saints has played an essential role in the religious and social life of theMaghreb for about 1000 years;[1] in other words, since Islam first reached the lands of North Africa in the eighth century.[1] The first written references to ascetic Muslim saints in Africa, "popularly admired and with followings,"[1] appear in tenth-century hagiographies.[1][44] As has been noted by scholars, however, "the phenomenon may well be older,"[1] for many of the stories of the Islamic saints were passed down orally before finally being put to writing.[1] One of the most widely venerated saints in early North African Islamic history was Abū Yaʿzā (or Yaʿazzā, d. 1177), an illiterateSunniMalikimiracle worker whose reputation for sanctity was admired even in his own life.[1][45][46] Another immensely popular saint of the time-period was Ibn Ḥirzihim (d. 1163), who also gained renown for his personal devoutness and his ability to work miracles.[1] It wasAbu Madyan (d. 1197), however, who eventually became one of theAwliya Allah of the entireMaghreb. A "spiritual disciple of these two preceding saints,"[1] Abū Madyan, a prominent Sunni Maliki scholar, was the first figure in Maghrebi Sufism "to exercise an influence beyond his own region."[1] Abū Madyan travelled to the East, where he is said to have met prominent mystics like theHanbali juristAbdul-Qadir Gilani (d. 1166).[1] Upon returning to the Maghreb, Abū Madyan stopped atBéjaïa and "formed a circle of disciples."[1] Abū Madyan eventually died inTlemcen, while making his way to theAlmohadcourt ofMarrakesh; he was later venerated as a primeAwliya Allah of Tlemcen by popular acclaim.[1][47][48]
One of Abū Madyan's most notable disciples wasʿAbd al-Salām Ibn Mas̲h̲īs̲h̲ (d. 1127),[1] a "saint ... [who] had a posthumous fame through his being recognised as a master and a 'pole' by"Abu 'l-Ḥasan al-S̲h̲ād̲h̲ilī (d. 1258).[1] It was this last figure who becamethe preeminent saint in Maghrebi piety, due to his being the founder of one of the most famous Sunni Sufi orders of North Africa: theShadhiliyyatariqa.[1] Adhering to theMalikimaddhab in itsjurisprudence, the Shadhili order produced numerous widely honored Sunni saints in the intervening years, includingFāsī Aḥmad al-Zarrūq (d. 1494),[1] who was educated inEgypt but taught inLibya andMorocco, andAbū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad al-Jazūlī (d. 1465), "who returned to Morocco after a long trip to the East and then began a life as a hermit,"[1] and who achieved widespread renown for the miracles he is said to have wrought by the leave of God.[1] Eventually, the latter was buried inMarrakesh, where he ended up becoming of the city's seven most famousAwliya Allah for the Sunnis of the area.[1] Some of the most popular and influential Maghrebi saints and mystics of the following centuries wereMuḥammad b. Nāṣir (d. 1674),Aḥmad al-Tij̲ānī (d. 1815),Abū Ḥāmid al-ʿArabī al-Darqāwī (d. 1823), andAḥmad b. ʿAlāwī (d. 1934),[49] with the latter three originating Sufi orders of their own.[1] Famous adherents of the Shadhili order amongst modern Islamic scholars includeAbdallah Bin Bayyah (b. 1935),Muhammad Alawi al-Maliki (d. 2004),Hamza Yusuf (b. 1958), andMuhammad al-Yaqoubi (b. 1963).[1]
The veneration of saints in Maghrebi Sunni Islam has been studied by scholars with regard to the various "types" of saints venerated by Sunnis in those areas.[1] These include:
Regarding the veneration of saints amongst Sunni Muslims in the Maghreb in the present day, scholars have noted the presence of many "thousands of minor, local saints whose tombs remain visible in villages or the quarters of towns."[1] Although many of these saints lack precise historiographies or hagiographies, "their presence and their social efficacity ... [are] immense"[1] in shaping the spiritual life of Muslims in the region. For the vast majority of Muslims in the Maghreb even today, the saints remain "very much alive at their tomb, to the point that the person's name most often serves to denote the place."[1] While this classical type of Sunni veneration represents the most widespread stance in the area, the modern influence ofSalafism andWahhabism have challenged the traditional practice in some quarters.[1]
Scholars have noted the tremendously "important role"[1] the veneration of saints has historically played in Islamic life all these areas, especially amongstSunni Muslims who frequent the many thousands of tombs scattered throughout the region for blessings in performing the act ofziyāra.[1] According to scholars, "between the Turks of theBalkans andAnatolia, and those inCentral Asia, despite the distance separating them, the concept of the saint and the organisation of pilgrimages displays no fundamental differences."[1] The veneration of Muslim saints really spread inTurkic-inhabited lands from the 10th to the 14th centuries,[1] and played a crucial role in medieval Turkic Sunni piety not only in cosmopolitan cities but also "in rural areas and amongst nomads of the whole Turkish world."[1] One of the reasons proposed by scholars for the popularity of Muslim saints inpre-modern Turkey is that Islam was majorly spread by the early Sunni Sufis in Turkic-inhabited lands, rather than by purely exoteric teachers.[1] Most of the Muslim saints venerated in Turkey belonged to theHanafi school of Sunni jurisprudence.[1]
As scholars have noted, Muslim saints venerated in traditional Turkish Sunni Islam may be classified into three principal categories:[1]
Reverence for Awliya Allah have been an important part of bothSunni andShia Islamic tradition that particularly important classical saints have served as the heavenly advocates for specific Muslim empires, nations, cities, towns, and villages.[51] With regard to the sheer omnipresence of this belief, the late Martin Lings wrote: "There is scarcely a region in the empire of Islam which has not a Sufi for its Patron Saint."[52] As the veneration accorded saints often develops purely organically in Islamic climates, theAwliya Allah are often recognized through popular acclaim rather than through official declaration.[51] Traditionally, it has been understood that theWali'Allah of a particular place prays for that place's well-being and for the health and happiness of all who live therein.[51] Here is a partial list of MuslimAwliya Allah:
| Country | Awliya Allah | Life dates | Notes | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Afghanistan | Ali ibn Abi Talib | d. 661 | Cousin and son in law ofMuhammad and 4thRashidun Caliph. Believed to be buried inMazar Sharif inNaqshbandi sunni belief. | Mazar Sharif,Balkh Province |
| Mir Maudood Chishti | d. 1139 | ChishtiSunni mystic,Mir of the descendants of the family of the12th Imam, descending fromImam Hasan al Askari | Chisht inHerat Province. | |
| Sanā'ī | d. 1131/1141 | Sunni mystic,Sufi poet | ||
 Algeria | Abū Madyan | d. 1197–98 | Sunni mystic ofMaliki jurisprudence | City ofTlemcen; in the words of one scholar,[who?] "the city has grown and developed under the beneficent aegis of the great saint, and the town of al-ʿUbbād has grown up round his tomb"[53] |
| ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-T̲h̲aʿālibī | d. c. 1200 | Sunni mystic ofMaliki jurisprudence | City ofAlgiers[54] | |
 Bangladesh | Shah Jalal | d. 1347 | Sufi saint and mystic of theSuhrawardiyya order, born in modern-day Turkey he travelled to the Indian subcontinent and settled in the North-East Bengal and Assam spreading Islam across the area and became the main guide to the new Muslim population of Eastern Bengal. | |
| Khan Jahan Ali | d. 1459 | Born in modernUzbekistan, he travelled to southern Bengal to spread Islam; he built themosque city of Bagerhat and cleared the Sunderbans for human settlement. He developed southern Bengal by linking Bagerghat to the trade city of Chittagong andSonargaon and introduced Islamic education there. | ||
| Akhi Siraj Aainae Hind | d. 14 century | Sufi saint (born in Gaur, West Bengal) of theChishti order, he spread Islam across Northern Bengal and Western Bihar, he was also the administrator of Northern Bengal under the SultanShamsuddin Ilyas Shah developing the area. His dargah in Malda is one of the largest in South Asia and gathers thousands a year. | ||
 Egypt | Abu'l-Ḥasan al-S̲h̲ād̲h̲ilī | d. 1258 | Sunni mystic ofMaliki jurisprudence and founder of theShadiliyyatariqa | Many parts ofUpper Egypt, but particularly among the ʿAbābda tribe[55] |
| Abū l-Ḥajjāj of Luxor | d. 1244 | Sunni mystic ofMaliki jurisprudence | City ofLuxor[56] | |
| ʿAbd al-Raḥīm of Qena | d. 1196 | Sunni mystic ofMaliki jurisprudence, and famous defender of orthodoxy in the area | City ofQena[56] | |
 Ethiopia | Abādir ʿUmar al-Riḍā | d. c. 1300 | Sunni mystic ofShafi'i jurisprudence | City ofHarar; according to one scholar,[who?] "Harar later came to be known asMadīnat al-Awliyāʾ ('the city of saints') for the shrines of hundreds of saints in and around Harar"[57] |
 Somalia | Abū Barakāt Yūsuf Al-Kawnayn Al-Barbari | d. c. 1200 | Sunni saint and scholar ofShafi'i jurisprudence. He is considered the forefather of theWalashma Dynasty. | Travelled a lot fromHarar,Zeila,Baghdad,Dhogor and evenMaldives, where he spread Islam. |
| Ash-Shaykh Diyā Ud-Dīn Ishāq Ibn Ahmad Ar-Ridhāwi Al-Maytī | d. c. 1300 | Sunni scholar and traveler ofHusaynid lineage. He is the eponymous ancestor of theisaaq clan-family. | Travelled fromHijāz, toYaman,Bilād Al-Habasha and finally the city ofMaydh. | |
 India | Niẓām al-Dīn Awliyā | d. 1325 | Sunni mystic ofHanafi jurisprudence | City ofDelhi[58] |
| S̲h̲āh al-Ḥamīd ʿAbd al-Ḳādir | ob. 1600 | Sunni mystic ofShafi'i jurisprudence | Town ofNagore[59] | |
| Chishtī Muʿīn al-Dīn Ḥasan Sijzī | Mystic of Chishti order | City ofAjmer | ||
| Mu'in al-Din Hadi Naqshband Mirza | Mystic of Naqshbandi order and son in law ofEmperor Jahangir; Buried alongside 3 generations of his successors in theZiyarat Naqshband Memorial Complex | City ofSrinagar | ||
| Bābā Nūr al-Dīn Ris̲h̲ī | d. 1377 | Sunniascetic and mystic | Town ofBijbehara[60][61][62] | |
 Iran | Daniel | d. 600 BCE | Hebrewprophet who is venerated in Islamic tradition | City ofShush, where the most popular shrine devoted to him is located |
 Iraq | Husayn ibn Ali | d. 680 | grandson ofMuhammad andThird imam forShia Muslims | AllIraq for both Shia and Sunni Muslims, but especially the city ofKarbala |
| ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī | d. 1166 | Sunni mystic andjurist ofHanbali jurisprudence and founder of theQadiriyyatariqa | AllIraq in classical Sunni piety, but especially the city ofBaghdad[63] | |
 Kazakhstan | Aḥmad Yesewī | d. 1166 | Sunni mystic ofHanafi jurisprudence and founder of the Yesewīyyatariqa | All ofKazakhstan; additionally, venerated as theWali of all the modern nation states comprising the pre-modernTurkestan[64] |
 Morocco | Abū S̲h̲uʿayb Ayyūb b. Saʿīd al-Ṣinhāj̲ī (in the vernacular "Mūlāy Būs̲h̲ʿīb") | d. c. 1100 | Sunni mystic ofMaliki jurisprudence | City ofAzemmour[65] |
| Ḥmād u-Mūsā | d. 1563 | Sunni mystic ofMaliki jurisprudence and theShadiliyyatariqa | Region ofSous[66] | |
| Aḥmad b. Jaʿfar al-Ḵh̲azrajī Abu 'l-ʿAbbās al-Sabtī | d. 1205 | Sunni mystic ofMaliki jurisprudence | City ofMarrakesh | |
| Sidi Belliūt | d. c. 1500 [?] | Sunni mystic ofMaliki jurisprudence | City ofCasablanca[67] | |
| Ibn ʿĀs̲h̲ir | d. 1362–63 | Sunni mystic ofMaliki jurisprudence | City ofSalé[68] | |
| Abū Muḥammad Ṣāliḥ |d. 1500 [?] | Sunni mystic ofMaliki jurisprudence | City ofSafi[69] | ||
| Mūlāy ʿAlī Bū G̲h̲ālem | d. 1200 [?] | Sunni mystic ofMaliki jurisprudence | Town ofAlcazarquivir | |
| Idris I of Morocco | d. 791 | First Islamic ruler and founder of theIdrisid dynasty | City ofFez[70] | |
| ʿAbd al-Ḳādir Muḥammad | d. c. 1500 [?] | Sunni mystic ofMaliki jurisprudence | Town ofFiguig[71] | |
| Muḥammad b. ʿĪsā | d. 16th century | Sunni mystic ofMaliki jurisprudence | City ofMeknes[72] | |
 Nigeria | Muhammad ibn al-Sabbagh (inHausa Dan Marina) | fl. 1640 | Sunni mystic ofMaliki jurisprudence | City ofKatsina |
| Dan Masanih | 1595 – 1667 | Sunni mystic ofMaliki jurisprudence | City ofKatsina | |
 Pakistan | ʿAbd Allāh S̲h̲āh G̲h̲āzī | d. c. 800 | Early Muslim mystic andpreacher | City ofKarachi[73] |
| Abu 'l-Ḥasan Ali Huj̲wīrī | d. 1072–1077 | Sunni mystic ofHanafi jurisprudence; often referred to as Dātā Ganj̲bak̲h̲s̲h̲ by Pakistanis | City ofLahore[74] | |
| ʿAbd Allāh S̲h̲āh Qādri | d. 1757 | MuslimSufi poet and philosopher ofQadiriyyatariqa | City ofKasur | |
| Bahāʾ al-Dīn Zakarīyā | d. 1170 | Sunni mystic ofHanafi jurisprudence and theSuhrawardiyyatariqa | Vast areas of south-westPunjab andSindh | |
| Lāl Shāhbāz Q̣alandar | d. 1275 | Sunni mystic ofHanafi jurisprudence | City ofSehwan Sharif | |
| Bilāwal S̲h̲āh Nūraniʾ | d. ? | Sufi mystic buried inLahoot Lamakan | City ofKhuzdar | |
| HH The Hazrat Ishaan | d. 1642 | Aristocrat and Patron Saint of theMughal Emperors andShaybanid Khans of Bukhara buried alongside his successor Khwaja Khawand Ahmad Hazrat Ishaan III, Khwaja Bahauddin Thani Hazrat Ishaan IV,Sayyid Mir Jan Hazrat Ishaan VIII and Mir Mahmud Agha Hazrat Ishaan IX inBegampura | City ofLahore | |
| Sheikh Rahamkar | d. 1653 | Sunni mystic andpir | City ofNowshera | |
| S̲h̲āh Qabūl ʾAwliyāʾ | d. 1767 | Sunni mystic andpir | City ofPeshawar | |
| Jalālʾ al-Dīn Surk͟h Poṣ | d. 1295 | Sufi saint andmissionary | City ofUch Sharif | |
 Syria | Arslān of Damascus | d. 1160–1164 | Sunni mystic | City ofDamascus[75] |
 Tunisia | Muḥriz b. K̲h̲alaf | d. 1022 | Sunni mystic ofMaliki jurisprudence | City ofTunis[76] |
| Sīdī al-Māzarī | d. 1300 [?] | Sunni mystic ofMaliki jurisprudence | City ofMonastir[77] | |
| ʿAbd Allāh Abu 'l-Jimāl | d. 1500 [?] | Sunni mystic ofMaliki jurisprudence | City ofKhroumire[78] | |
| Boulbaba | d. 7th century | According to tradition, acompanion ofMuhammad | City ofGabès | |
 Turkey | Ḥājjī Bayrām Walī | d. 1429–30 | Sunni mystic ofHanafi jurisprudence | City ofAnkara[79] |
| Emīr Sulṭān | d. 1455 | Sunni mystic ofHanafi jurisprudence | City ofBursa[80] | |
| Miskin Baba | d. 1858–59 | Sunni mystic ofHanafi jurisprudence | Island ofAda Kaleh, which was at one time under the control of theOttoman Empire; island was submerged in 1970 during the construction of theIron Gate I Hydroelectric Power Station[81] | |
| Jalāl ad-Dīn Mohammad Rūmī | d. 1273 | Hanafi mystic ofMaturidi creed | City ofKonya | |
 Uzbekistan | Qutham b. ʿAbbās | d. 676 | Early Muslimmartyr | City ofSamarkand[82] |
| Zangī Ātā | d. 1269 | Sunni mystic ofHanafi jurisprudence | City ofTashkent[83] | |
 Yemen | Muḥammad b. ʿAlī Bā ʿAlāwī | d. 1255 | Sunni mystic ofShafi'i jurisprudence and founder of the ʿAlāwiyyatariqa inHadhramaut | Region ofHadhramaut[84] |
| S̲h̲aik̲h̲ Ṣadīq | d. 1500 [?] | Sunni mystic | City ofAl Hudaydah | |
| ʿAlī b. ʿUmar al-S̲h̲ād̲h̲ilī | d. 1400 [?] | Sunni mystic of theShadiliyyatariqa | Port-city ofMokha | |
| Abū Bakr al-ʿAydarūs | d. 1508 | Sunni mystic ofShafi'i jurisprudence | City ofAden[85] |
QUBBA. The Arabic name for the tomb of a holy man ... A qubba is usually erected over the grave of a holy man identified variously aswali (saint), faki, or shaykh since, according to folk Islam, this is where his baraka [blessings] is believed to be strongest ...
The other site is the over 1,200-year-old tomb of Ghazi Abdullah Shah, a descendant of Imam Hasan. He has become aWali of Karachi and his urs is an important event for the city and its inhabitants.
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