 Theshrine of Abdul Qadir Gilani | |
| Abbreviation | Qadiriyya |
|---|---|
| Formation | 12th century |
| Type | Sufi order |
Key people | Abdul Qadir Gilani |
TheQadiriyya (Arabic:القادرية) or theQadiri order (Arabic:الطريقة القادرية,romanized: al-Ṭarīqa al-Qādiriyya) is aSunniSufi order (tariqa) founded byAbdul Qadir Gilani (1077–1166, also transliteratedJilani), who was aHanbali scholar fromGilan, Iran.[1]
The order, with its many sub-orders, is widespread. Its members are present inIndia,Bangladesh,China,Turkey,Indonesia,Afghanistan,Pakistan, theBalkans,Russia,Palestine, as well asEast,West andNorth Africa.[2][3]
Abdul Qadir Gilani, a Hanbali scholar and preacher, having been a pupil at themadrasa ofAbu Saeed Mubarak, became the leader of the madrasa after Mubarak's death in 1119. Being the newSheikh, he and his large family lived in the madrasa until his death in 1166, when his son,Abdul Razzaq, succeeded his father as Sheikh. Abdul Razzaq published ahagiography of his father, adding to his already established reputation as founder of a prestigious Sufi order.[4]
The Qadiriyya flourished, surviving theMongolian conquest of Baghdad in 1258, and remained an influentialSunni Sufi order. After the fall of theAbbasid Caliphate, the legend of Abdul Qadir Gilani was again found in many texts such asThe Joy of the Secrets in Abdul Qadir's Mysterious Deeds (Bahjat al-Asrar fi ba'd manaqib 'Abd al-Qadir) attributed to Nur al-Din 'Ali al-Shattanufi, who taught that Abdul Qadir Gilani was the greatestsaint within Islam, helping the Qadiri order flourish far beyond Baghdad.[4]
By the end of the fifteenth century, the Qadiriyya had distinct sub-orders and had spread toMorocco,Spain, Turkey, India,Ethiopia,Somalia, and present-dayMali.[4]
Khwaja Abdullah, a Sheikh of the Qadiriyya and a descendant of theIslamic prophetMuhammad, is reported to have entered China in 1674 and traveled the country preaching until his death in 1689.[4][5] One of his students, Qi Jingyi Hilal al-Din, is said to have rooted QadiriSufism in China. He was buried inLinxia City, which became the center of the Qadiriyya in China.[3]
Sultan Bahu contributed to the spread of the Qadiriyya in India. His method of spreading the teachings of the Sufi doctrine ofFaqr was through his Punjabi couplets and other writings, which numbered more than 140.[6]
Sheikh Sidi Ahmad al-Bakka'i of theKunta family was born in the region of theNoun river,Akka, inMorocco. He established a QadiriZawiya or Sufi lodge inWalata. In the sixteenth century, his family spread across theSahara toTimbuktu,Agades,Bornu, andNigeria, and in the eighteenth century, large numbers of Kunta family members moved to the region of the middle ofNiger where they established the village of Mabruk. Sidial-Mukhtar al-Kunti (1728–1811) united the Kunta family's factions by successful negotiation, and established an extensive confederation. Under his influence, theMaliki school ofIslamic law was reinvigorated and the Qadiriyya order spread throughoutMauritania, the middle Niger region,Guinea, theIvory Coast,Futa Toro, andFuta Jallon. Kunta settlements in theSenegambian region became centers ofMuslim teaching.[7]
SheikhUsman dan Fodio (1754-1817) fromGobir popularized the Qadiri teachings inNigeria. He was well educated in classicalIslamic science, philosophy, and theology. He also became a revered religious thinker. In 1789, avision led him to believe he had the power to work miracles, and to teach his own mysticalwird, orlitany. His litanies are still widely practiced and distributed in the Islamic world.[8] Dan Fodio later had visions ofAbdul Qadir Gilani, the founder of the Qadiri tariqa, through which he was initiated into the Qadiriyya and thespiritual chain of succession (Silsila), which ultimately leads back toProphetMuhammad. His writings dealt with Islamic concepts of theMujaddid and the role of theUlama in teaching history, and other works in Arabic and theFula language.[9]
The members of the Qadiri order wear a rose in their cap embroidered to which they attach the following legendary history: "Know ye that everyTariqa or Path has its particular sign and that of the noble Qadiri order is therose, thenames andcolours of which have been explained by the greatSheikhs of our order."[10] In the center of therose is a star.[11]
Theorigin of therose of the members of the Qadiri order is as follows:
"SheikhAbdul Qadir Jilani, under the direction ofKhidr, proceeded toBaghdad. When he arrived, aSheikh sent him a cup full of water, which meant thatBaghdad being full of holy men, there was no room for him. WhereuponAbdul Qadir Jilani put a rose in the cup, which meant thatBaghdad would find a place for him."[10]
Theform of therose ofBaghdad is as follows: It has two outside and two inside rings, and three circles, and is made of green cloth. The first circle signifiesSharia, or God's law as revealed by his Prophet, the second signifiesTariqa, or the order, the third signifiesMa'rifa, or knowledge of God. The three together are a sign that their acquisition has bestowed theHal, or condition, known as theHaqiqa, or truth.[12]
The following are two commonly cited spiritual chains (silsilas) tracing back to Prophet Muhammad:
Moulana Fakhruddin Dehlvi R.A, the spiritual predecessor of both Pir Mehr Ali Shah R.A and Shah Sulaiman Taunsvi R.A—appearing two steps above the latter and four steps above the former in their respective lineages—states in his bookFakhrul Hasan that narrations suggesting a meeting between Imam Ali al-Rida and Ma'ruf Karkhi are historically false. He asserts that the actual Qadiriyya silsila continues through Imam Hasan al-Basri.
This clarification is provided due to the repeated removal of the lineage tracing through Imam Hasan al-Basri by some editors. While efforts are generally made to avoid highlighting intra-traditional disputes, the omission of one widely accepted chain necessitated the inclusion of both versions for balance and accuracy.
Another version of the spiritual lineage, cited by some Qadiriyya traditions, is as follows:[13][14][15][16]
The Qadiri Naushahi sub-order of the Qadiriyya was established byMuhammad Naushah Qadiri, famously known as Hazrat Naushah Pak inGujrat, Pakistan, in the late sixteenth century.[17][18]
This sub-order was started bySultan Bahu in the seventeenth century and spread in the western part ofIndian subcontinent. It follows most of the Qadiriyya's approach, although it does not follow a specific dress code nor requireseclusion or other lengthy exercises. Its main purpose is thecontemplation of God.[19]
The Qadiri Sammani branch is present in Sudan.[20] In the 20th-century, the Qadiri Sammani sub-order was spread to Nigeria by the mystic Nasiru Kabara.[20]
This sub-order of the Qadiriyya came into being in the eighteenth century, led byal-Mukhtar al-Kunti of the westernSahara who wished to establish Qadiri Sufism as the dominant Sufi order in the region. In contrast to other sub-orders of the Qadiriyya that do not have a centralized authority, the Mukhtari sub-order is highly centralized. Its leaders focus on economic prosperity as well as spiritual well-being, sending their disciples on trade caravans as far away as Europe. The main focus of this sub-order isIslamic revivalism.[21]
The founder of the Qadiriyya Harari sub-order was Abu Bakr bin 'Abd Allah 'Aydarus and hisshrine is located inHarar, Ethiopia. Other notable Sheikhs have shrines scattered around the environs of Harar. The current leader of the sub-order is a Somali man named Mohamed Nasrudin bin Shaykh Ibrahim Kulmiye.[22] The sub-order is widespread in Djibouti, Somaliland, Ethiopia, and Somalia. Notable leaders of the sub-order includeUways al-Barawi,Sheikh Madar,al-Zaylaʽi andAbadir Umar ar-Rida.[23][24]
This sub-order was founded by Shah Barkatullah Marehrawi, an Islamic scholar, jurist, andSufi living at the time ofMughal EmperorAurangzeb, who died on the tenth ofMuharram 1142AH or October 1729CE. He is buried in the Dargah-e Barkatiyya inMarehra, India. One of the descendants of Shah Barkatullah Marehawi wasShah Al-i Rasul Marehrawi, who was the teacher ofAhmed Raza Khan Barelvi,[25] founder of theBarelvi movement in South Asia.[26][27][28] Khan was initiated into the Qadiri Sufi order and was givenijazah to spread the teachings of the Qadiri, Chishti, Naqshbandi, and Suhrawardi Sufi orders. As such, followers of the Barelvi movement adhere toQadiri,Chishti,Naqshbandi,Suhrawardi and other Sufi orders.[29][30][31][32] Barelvi scholarMuhammad Ameen Mian Qadiri is the present custodian of the Qadiri Barkati sub-order.[33]
This sub-order was founded in 1738 by the Indian Sunni Muslim Sheikh Seyfullah Effendi Hintli inSelamsız, and became popular among theRomani people in Turkey.[34] The sub-order is present in the Balkans and Turkey.[35]
This sub-order was founded by Muhammad ibn Ahmad Lebbai, reverentially known as Imam al-Arus, from which the sub-order gets its name. Muhammad ibn Ahmad Lebbai is a well-known Qadiri Sheikh inSri Lanka, who is seen as areviver of Islam and an advocate of communal harmony by the people of the island nation. His sub-order spread from Sri Lanka toSouth India, theMiddle East, and even theFar East parts of Russia and China.[36]
The Qadiri Halisi sub-order was founded by Abdurrahman Halis. This sub-order is one of the most popular of all, and is present in Turkey as well asIraq, where the Qadiriyya was founded.[37]
The Qadiri Bahlol Shahi sub-order was founded byShaikh Bahlol Daryai, also known as Shah Bahlol. He traveled across Iraq, Iran and Arabia before returning to his ancestral village nearChiniot (in present-dayPunjab, Pakistan) and spreading his teachings. He assignedMadhu Lal Hussain as hisrepresentative before his death.[38][39]
Qadiriyya wa Naqshbandiyya is aSufi order which is a synthesis of theQadiri andNaqshbandi orders ofSufism.[40] The Qadiriyya wa Naqshbandiyya Sufi order traces back through itschain of succession toMuhammad, through theHanbaliIslamic scholarAbdul Qadir Gilani and theHanafi Islamic scholarShah Baha al-Din Naqshband, combining both of their Sufi orders.[40][41] The order has a major presence in three countries, namelyPakistan,India, andIndonesia.[42][43]
At-Tariqah Al-Aliyyah Al-Qadiriyyah Al-Kasnazaniyyah is the largest Sufi order inIraq, and is also popular inIran. Its headquarters lie inSulaymaniyah, Iraq. It is led by SheikhNehro Mohammed.
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