Sufi Heirs of the Prophet

Sufi Heirs
of the
Prophet
The Indian Naqshbandiyya and
the Rise of the M ediating Sufi Shaykh

ARTHUR F. BUEHLER
Foreword by Annemarie Schimmel

University of South Carolina Press

 Theology Library
CLAREM O NT
CHOOL OF THEOLO GY
Clarem ont, C A

STUDIES IN COMPARATIVE RELIGION

Frederick M. Denny, Series Editor

© 1998 University of South Carolina

Cloth edition published by the University of South Carolina Press, 1998

Paperback edition published in Columbia, South Carolina,
by the University of South Carolina Press, 2008

www.sc.edu/uscpress

Manufactured in the United States of America

17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

The Library of Congress has cataloged the cloth edition as follows:

Buehler, Arthur F.
Sufi heirs of the Prophet: the Indian Naqshbandiyya and the rise of the
mediating sufi shaykh / Arthur F. Buehler.
p. cm. — (Studies in comparative religion)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1-57003-201-7
1. Naqshabandlyah—India—History. 2. Sufism—India—History. I. Title.
II. Series: Studies in comparative religion (Columbia, S.C.)
BP189.7.N35B84 1998
297.4'8—dc21 97-40145

Parts of chapter 3 of the present work appeared in a different version in "The

Naqshbandiyya in TTmurid India: The Central Asian Legacy," Journal of Islamic
Studies 7/2 (1996): 2008-28.

Quotation from the translation of Ahmad Rida Khan's poem is from Usha
Sanyal, "In the Path of the Prophet: Maulana Ahmad Riza Khan Barelwi and the
Ahl-e Sunnat wa Jama ‘at Movement in British India, c. 1870-1921," Ph.D. dis
sertation, Columbia University, © 1990 Usha Sanyal. Reprinted by permission of
Usha Sanyal.

ISBN: 978-1-57003-783-2 (pbk)

CONTENTS

List of Illustrations vii

Foreword by Annemarie Schimmel ix
Editor's Preface xiii
Preface and Acknowledgments xv
1. Patterns of Sufi Religious Authority 1
2. From Teaching-Shaykh to Directing-Shaykh . 29
3. The Naqshbandiyya in India from Their Foundation to
the Colonial Period 55
4. Genealogy as a Source of Authority 82
5. Spiritual Travel as a Source of Authority 98
6. Bonding the Heart with the Shaykh 131
7. From Initiation to Shaykhdom 147
8. Mediational Sufism and Revivalist Currents in British
Colonial India 168
9. Redefining the Shaykh's Role in the Naqshbandl Sufi
Tradition 190
10. The Role of the Naqshbandl Sufi in Pakistan 224

Appendixes
1. Written Sources for Spiritual Exercises 234
2. MujaddidI Contemplations 241
3. The Intentions Guiding the Disciple through the
MujaddidI Contemplations 249
4. Examples of Teaching Certificates 254

Bibliography 260
Index 285
ILLUSTRATIONS

Hakim Muhammad Musa xxi

Calendar depicting the tomb of Ahmad Sirhindl 67
Genealogical tree with the Naqshbandl lineage as the trunk
and the other lineages as flowers 91
Jama'at ‘All Shah, circa 1935 193
The tomb building in Alipur Sharif where Jama'at ‘All is
buried 221
Jama'at ‘All's grave 222
Poster advertising the arrival at the Lahore airport of the
Afghan sufi shaykh Sayfurrahman 231

Maps
Central and South Asia 57
The Panjab before 1901 173

Figures
1. Normative sufi hierarchies 7
2. Sources of Islamic personal authority 19
3. MujaddidI genealogy 76
4. Naqshbandl genealogy 86
5. Model of Naqshbandl cosmology 107
6. MujaddidI correspondences of latifas 111
7. Diagram of the Mujaddidiyya path 124
FOREWORD

Just at the time when Arthur Buehler's manuscript was going to

the press an international conference on Baha’uddln Naqshband
took place in Bukhara, Uzbekistan. At the large shrine of the four­
teenth-century saint, scholars from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and
Germany gathered to discuss the relevance of Khwaja Naqsh-
band's teachings for present-day Uzbekistan. The Central Asian
scholars rightly considered the emphasis that the Naqshbandiyya
put on silent remembrance of God and on the practice of khalwat
dar anjuman suitable for modern life. To turn one's heart in full
concentration to the Divine Beloved while working in this world
for the improvement of society seemed to them an attitude that
could help them master the different and difficult tasks that mod­
ern people face. Therefore, almost every speaker dwelled upon
the adage dast be-kar, dil be-yar—"The hand at work, the heart
with a Friend"—a saying that is written in various calligraphic
styles around the walls of the library where our meeting took
place.
In an area where people lived for seven decades under a regime
that allowed no religious activities whatsoever but where some
of the sufi lineages secretly continued their work to preserve the
Islamic heritage, this impressive attempt at integrating Naqsh-
bandl teaching into the modern world shows the strength of the
Naqshband! order. Six hundred years after the death of its
founder it has lost nothing of its vigor. Rather, it has not only
been growing steadily in its place of origin and in Central Asia
in general; but it also influenced Mughal India and increasingly
the Near East as well. The late Turkish prime minister, Turgut
Ozal, a follower of Khwaja Baha’uddln Naqshband, contributed
largely to the restoration of the shrine. Once dilapidated, it is now
an attractive building surrounded by a rose garden, and it is
equipped with a libraiy and meeting hall. Pious men and women
regularly visit the tomb of the founder, circumambulating coun­
terclockwise the small cubic stone building thrice while reciting
their prayers. They may take a drink from a fountain beneath a
huge tree, the water of which is considered holy and wholesome.
While listening to the discussions of the pious Uzbeks about
the necessity of a "Naqshband! approach" to the contemporary
world, we also observed that the number of publications about
the order in Europe has grown amazingly during the last few
decades. We can mention only a few outstanding examples here.
A major sourcebook compiled by M. Gaborieau, A. Popovic, and
T. Zarcone after a 1989 congress devoted to the Naqshbandiyya
was published in Istanbul; the studies of Jurgen Paul discuss the
political implications of the order and its role in Central Asia; and
Fritz Meier of Basel, the author of many indispensable works on
medieval Central Asian sufis such as Najmuddln Kubra, Abu
SaTd-i Abu’l-Khayr, and Baha-i Valad, has recently devoted sev­
eral articles and an important book to the inner life, the theology,
and the psychology of the Naqshbandiyya. It seems that the quiet
but intense inner way of this order, which "begins where other
orders end," is proudly claiming to be better suited to a modern
mind than the ecstatic flights and sometimes strange behavior of
some of the older orders. Averse to dance and music, the sober
Naqshbandls' way of life seems to appeal more to practically
minded people than does the emphasis on poverty, otherworldli­
ness, and rapture found among certain other lineages—as much
as the lovely music of the Chishtls and the whirling dance of the
Mevlevls attract beauty-loving souls. Was not the first Naqsh-
bandl sufi, whom I encountered more than forty years ago in An­
kara, a highly successful business manager who took his strength
from his nightly vigils and regular meditation? The success of
the Naqshbandiyya in the west, especially that of the Khalidiyya
branch, is remarkable. One of the members of our delegation to
Bukhara was a German lady doctor, a brigadier in the army who
was an active follower of the widely known Naqshbandl Shaykh
Nazim, from Cyprus.
Given these observations, it seems that Arthur Buehler's book
comes just at the right moment. His original aim was to study
the role of the Naqshbandl shaykhs in contemporary Pakistan,
especially in the Panjab, but the book has outgrown the author's
first goal. Thanks to his contacts with a number of masters and
the perusal of numerous hitherto unknown manuals and treatises
in Arabic, Persian, and Urdu, he has traced the rules of succession
and the inner journey in a fascinating way, concentrating on the
role of the shaykh vis-a-vis his disciples, upon whom the shaykh
concentrates his inner powers. Buehler shows the changes that
have taken place in the last century among the Indo-Pakistani
branches of the order and discusses the most difficult feature of
the Naqshbandl theories and practices, namely the inner growth
of the seeker's soul during his wandering through the latlfas, the
spiritual fine points, in a kind of helezonic upward-and-inward
movement.
I am convinced that the author's analysis of both the theoretical
and the practical aspects of the Naqshbandiyya, including their
role in the present-day Panjab, will lead to a better understanding
not only of this order but also of some important aspects of Paki­
stani religious life as well.
Annemarie Schimmel
EDITOR'S PREFACE

The fascination with sufi spirituality of both the general public

and the professional scholars has been important to the develop­
ment of Islamic studies in the West. This series has contributed
several significant works to sufi studies that are founded on origi­
nal yet accessible scholarship, based both in texts and on field
work. Earle H. Waugh's pioneering The Munshidm of Eqypt: Then-
World and Their Song (1989) explored the world of sufi singers.
Then Th. Emil Homerin traced the fortunes of the saint cult of a
great medieval Egyptian sufi in From Arab Poet to Egyptian Saint:
Ibn al-Farid, Elis Verse, and His Shrine (1994). And Valerie J. Hoff­
man has given us a new way of thinking about Islamic mysticism
in her major work Sufism, Mystics, and Saints in Modern Egypt
(1995).
Now we have Arthur F. Buehler's study of the sufi master as
mediating agent in Indian Naqshbandl sufism. Sufi Heirs of the
Prophet probes the relatively little known area of sufi leadership
traditions and styles. The Muslim community—known as the
Umma—is a charismatic community that both represents and
embodies Muhammad's authority as founder and, through the
cultivation of his Sunna (teachings and deportment), his continu­
ing inspiration. This study reveals many important dimensions
of how sufi shaykhs represent and embody the Prophet, whether
as spiritual directors, as in traditional sufism, or, increasingly in
the twentieth century, as mediating presences that enable Mus­
lims to pursue a spiritual path within the conflicting and con­
tending pressures and institutions of modern life. This study,
based on historical records and field investigations, will be of in­
terest not only to historians of sufi teachings and practices; it will
also appeal to social scientists wanting to understand the struc­
tures, dynamics, and processes of sufi communal life today.
Frederick Mathewson Denny
P R E F AC E AND
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

In this study I explore the development of the Islamic institution

of sufism in general and in particular the exercise of personal
authority in one international sufi lineage, the Naqshbandiyya,
named after Baha’uddm Naqshband (791/1389), who, among
other things, pioneered spiritual practices. He is buried near
Bukhara in present-day Uzbekistan.1 This lineage later became
known as the Naqshbandiyya-Mujaddidiyya (often abbreviated
Mujaddidiyya) after an influential reformer, the Indian Ahmad
Sirhindl (d. 1034/1624), known as the "renewer" (mujaddid) of
the second Islamic millennium. The Naqshbandiyya exercised
leadership by modeling themselves after the most compelling of
personal Islamic symbols, the Prophet Muhammad. Linked to
Muhammad through a spiritual genealogy, traveling the same
inner path as the Prophet, and exemplifying the Prophet in every
thought and action, Naqshbandl shaykhs (Arabic literally,
"elder”; Persian pTr) were thought literally to embody him. As
obedient disciples modeled themselves after their mentors and
confirmed the Prophetic reality through spiritual practice, the
Naqshbandl heirs of the Prophet spread throughout the world.
Their sufi communities became replicas of the paradigmatic sev­
enth-century community of the Prophet and his Companions. In­
dian Naqshbandl-Mujaddidls, by effectively implementing the
system of underlying, mostly unconscious conceptual patterns
(an "Islamic paradigm"), made an impact on social action far be­
yond their small numbers and limited popularity.
In this continuity of purpose, significant changes occurred, rep­
resented by three overlapping configurations of personal author­
ity—teaching-shaykhs, directing-shaykhs, and mediating-
shaykhs—among sufi masters. These three types of sufi shaykh
utilized various sources of authority—lineage, spiritual traveling,

'When two dates or centuries are juxtaposed, the first is the Islamic lunar hijrT
date followed by a slash and the Common Era date. When a century is written
out, only the Common Era date will be used. All date conversions were calculated
with Professor John Woods's "Taqwim" software, using Julian equivalents for the
hijrT era up to 4 October 1582 and Gregorian equivalents thereafter. Except for
technical discussions and post sixteenth-century developments I use Naqsh­
bandiyya to designate the Naqshbandiyya-Mujaddidiyya.
 acting as a Prophetic exemplar, and transmission of religious
knowledge—to mediate the various divine-human, interper­
sonal, and sociopolitical dimensions of Muslim society. At the
nexus between the divine and human, sufis, as veritable heirs of
the Prophet, occupied a borderline, "liminal” position from
which they endeavored to re-create the ideal community of the
Prophet and his Companions and to act as intermediaries in
mundane concerns, just as the Prophet himself had done.
Sources of authority, varieties of sufi guides, and the shifting
processes of mediation integrally interconnect with inner spiri­
tual practice that virtually defines who is and who is not a Naqsh-
bandl (or MujaddidI), who is or is not a directing-shaykh, and
who is and who is not a mediating-shaykh. Spiritual practice, a
topic often ignored by historians, sociologists, and anthropolo­
gists, vitally interacted with historical processes and sociocultural
dynamics in Muslim societies. This is so because any paradigm is
both an underlying conceptual framework and a set of agreed-
upon techniques to verify and confirm it.2 The "Naqshbandl par­
adigm” had its shared practices which "generated knowledge”
for those who went on a spiritual journey under the guidance of
a directing-shaykh. A transformed understanding of the earthly
world when they returned from spiritual journeys allowed
Mujaddidls to unite spiritual experience and worldly action and
propelled many of them into influential positions in the Muslim
community. As Victor Turner's antistructure is the "hidden foun­
dation” of structure, the commanding positions in Muslim socie­
ties occupied by Naqshbandls (historically verifiable) point to
extensive but unseen transformation processes (historically un­
verifiable) that have occurred.3
" These spiritual experiences, as well as other aspects of the
Naqshbandl paradigm, do not lend themselves automatically
to categorization as material or spiritual, legal or mystical, shari'a
or tanqa, orthopraxy or orthodoxy, cosmology or credal dogma,
or spiritual practice or daily life. The Naqshbandls as consum­
mate mediators in society, however, were able to integrate these
diverse, apparently conflicting aspects of experience into a coher­
ent religious practice for large numbers of people over the centu­
ries. Their early success in India, Central Asia, and Turkey and

Those who use the term paradigm generally acknowledge the first aspect (often
reduced in popular usage to a theory, any theory) but neglect the second. "Men
whose research is based on shared paradigms are committed to the same rules
and standards for scientific practice" (Thomas S. Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific
Revolutions, p. 11). ’ '
See Turner's Dramas, Fields, and Metaphors: Symbolic Action in Human Society.
later in the entire Islamic world indicates that their practices har­
monized well with both the sociocultural milieu and the concep­
tual framework underpinning the Islamic worldview. Their
prominence over centuries demonstrates that Naqshbandl
shaykhs continued to maintain the delicate balance between so­
cial mediation and acting as transformative presences, veritable
"masters of the heart."
Many years ago I left California to see the world and reached
Egypt, where I spent the next two years before going to Yemen
for three years. By then I had become enamored of the Arabic
language and its dialects, but I still knew little about the Islamic
tradition. Then another unexpected turn led to Harvard Univer­
sity, where I specialized in the study of sufism under the guid­
ance of one of its foremost experts, Professor Annemarie
Schimmel. Since Professor Schimmel had done much work in
Indo-Pakistan, learning Urdu in Pakistan was a logical next step
for me, and I left Harvard for Lahore in October 1987.
The following spring, in the Northwest Frontier Province, I
made the acquaintance of Mubarak Sahib, the first Naqshbandl
shaykh and the first sufi I had encountered in Pakistan. The way
to his sufi lodge was about as direct as my path to the study of
sufism, and one might well wonder why anyone would go to visit
a sufi almost six hundred kilometers from Lahore when one
could find hundreds of sufis nearer to hand. I had been asking
Pakistanis if they knew someone who taught a contemplative dis­
cipline like the sufi mystics I had read about in my studies. In
their minds this question usually translated into the whereabouts
of a "genuine pir" (h a q T q T p T r ), and they were unable to help me.
The assumption behind this, as I realize all too clearly now, was
that I expected a sufi to be a mystic. Finally, through two leads,
one from an Iranian in Islamabad and another from a Pakistani
scholar in Multan, I learned of a sufi in the hinterlands of the
Northwest Frontier Province.
At that time, the male dress code outside Peshawar still in­
cluded a submachine gun, a bandolier, and a pistol. Undaunted,
I proposed a three-week independent study program to the direc­
tor of the language program in Lahore and was granted a three-
week leave. Two months later I arrived in the Northwest Frontier
Province with a letter of introduction and the name of someone
who would conduct me to the shaykh. When I found him, he did
not give me a warm reception. After a mild interrogation, my
would-be liaison informed me of the dangers of traveling in tribal
areas where the only government was the individual and unpre­
dictable armed tribesmen. In addition he was not eager to take
 on the burdens of protecting me on the road or incurring the
displeasure of his shaykh if I proved to be non grata. He told me
to come back.
Later in the week he finally agreed to make the long journey to
the shaykh's lodge, passing fortress-houses with rows of strategi­
cally placed slits in the walls along the way. We arrived late one
afternoon. Shaykh Mubarak Sahib, after shaking my hand and
giving me a big hug, read my letter and gave me permission to
stay. While I was there, he and everyone else were too busy with
more important business to answer my elementary questions, so
I was left in the odd position of observing sufi activities, some
of which I briefly read about but never witnessed, without any
conceptual or experiential frame of reference to organize my ob­
servations. The lodge was designed for disciples to spend time
with their shaykh to learn and refine their spiritual practice and
to receive amulets and cures; it served also for the learned to dis­
cuss fine points of Islamic law. It was clearly not a place for out­
siders to study sufism.
When I returned to Pakistan a year later, I spent the next two
years (1989-1991) gathering books about the Naqshbandls,
whose puzzling practices I had witnessed. In Lahore there were
qualified scholars and extensive book collections for investigating
the Naqshbandiyya during the nineteenth century, because more
Naqshbandl activity had taken place in colonial Panjab than in
any other region in the world. I visited prominent and also not-
so-prominent Naqshbandl lodges, mainly in the Panjab, but as
it turned out, Mubarak Sahib’s lodge was the only one where I
witnessed Naqshbandls practicing the spiritual exercises accord­
ing to the long-established Naqshbandl-MujaddidI tradition de­
scribed in the books.
It soon became apparent that directing-shaykhs in Panjabi
Naqshbandl lodges had been supplanted by what I decided to
call "mediating-shaykhs," that is, shaykhs who had abandoned
the spiritual practices and display of spiritual energy used by
their directing-shaykh predecessors. To pinpoint when this shift
occurred in any given lineage is impossible, since traditional
Indian sufi materials do not tell us. All that can be reasonably
ascertained is whether or not a certain shaykh acted as a direct­
ing-shaykh, that is, whether a shaykh advised his disciples on
fine points of practice. If one can find questions or answers con­
cerning established Naqshbandl spiritual practices and phenome­
nological evidence of spiritual energy transference in collected
letters or the published discourses of the shaykh, one can be rea­
sonably certain that the shaykh taught Naqshbandl practices, but
the lack of such evidence does not prove the opposite. In other
words with textual evidence one might be able to verify that a
deceased directing-shaykh was a spiritual director, but there is
no way to verify that Naqshbandl practices had been abandoned
by a deceased mediating-shaykh on the basis of traditional writ­
ten evidence or its lack.
Near the end of my two-year research trip I came across a
twenty-year collection of monthly magazines from a group led
by a prominent pre-independence Naqshbandl shaykh named
Jama'at ‘All Shah (1841-1951), who had been selected as the
Leader of the Muslim Community in 1935. This kind of detailed
printed material had no Indian sufi precedent before the twenti­
eth century. It provided ample evidence that Jama'at ‘All was a
paradigmatic mediating-shaykh, an entirely new kind of Naqsh­
bandl leader. Although there had been hereditary shaykhs and
shrine caretakers whose primary function was mediatory and
who were not known to have taught involved spiritual practices
with transmission of spiritual energy, they are not mentioned in
Naqshbandl literature. The fortunate discovery of the magazines
allowed me to use Jama'at ‘All as a case study of what was taking
place at a time when colonial Panjab was vibrantly alive with
Naqshbandl revival activity.
The transformation from directing-shaykh to mediating-
shaykh is only rivaled in magnitude of change by the earlier shift
from teaching-shaykh to directing-shaykh in the tenth century.
But throughout this change one consistent thread continues in
the Naqshbandl style of juristic sufism: the conscious striving to
duplicate the Prophetic model, inner and outer, centered on a
living heir of the Prophet within a "charismatic” community.
Whether directing-shaykhs or mediating-shaykhs, Naqshbandl
shaykhs engage the hearts of their disciples aspiring to achieve
intimacy with God. In this enterprise these spiritual guides prove
themselves to be eminently resourceful "masters of the heart."
The largest share of my fieldwork was taken up by a never-
ending search for sufi materials scattered in countless private and
public collections all over Pakistan and India. The key to what
books had been written and where they were located rested in
one person, Hakim Muhammad Musa Sahib, a veritable living
bibliographical database and living authority on sufism. Hakim
Sahib is a sufi who practices Greek (yunant) medicine. I would
visit him a couple times a week at his clinic/pharmacy, where he
presided over a mixed audience of scholars and writers while a
steady stream of patients filed in and out. In the midst of simulta­
neously following three conversations and writing prescriptions,
he would assign me tasks, ostensibly meant to track down books
around the city of Lahore. When I completed these errands I
would report back, and he would give me another set of assign­
ments. After about a year these errands involved going out to
rural Panjab and the Northwest Frontier Province. Although I did
not appreciate it at first, ignorantly thinking only in terms of
books, I ended up in places where I would never have gone other­
wise—Qur’an schools, mosques, and even a cloth shop. Many
times I did not find the books that were supposed to be there, but
I learned a great deal about the culture and religion of Muslims
living in the Panjab.
The source material by and for the Naqshbandls is in Arabic,
Persian, and Urdu. Most of it is in Lahore, the cultural and liter­
ary capital of western Panjab. It falls into three general categories:
hagiographical literature, collections of letters written by sufis,
and recorded sufi discussions. Hagiography predominates in In­
dian sufi literature; the latter two categories are usually edited
and embedded as separate sections in hagiographical works.
When that happens, the complete primary source frequently be­
comes unavailable, and the hagiographical version becomes the
authoritative compilation for posterity.
The limitations of hagiographical sources are aptly described
by Amadou Hampate Ba, the African disciple and hagiographer
of a TijanI sufi named Cerno Bokar (d. 1359/1940) of Mali: "He
[the disciple] cannot not love his spiritual master because he is his
master. For him, he has accomplished everything; otherwise he
would not have chosen him as his master. He is his model. For
example, I can say that for me Cerno Bokar is [al-]insan al-kamil, a
perfected man. But that does not mean that he is, in fact, [al-]insdn
al-kamil, because he himself would not accept it. But for me he is
[a/-]insan al-kamil because I have never seen anyone whom I
would place above him."4 This passage is a poignant reminder
that glorification of the master overrides all other concerns of the
hagiographer. Any other context, historical or otherwise, is sub­
ordinated to or even obliterated in this primary sentiment.
A research enterprise such as mine cannot avoid all method­
ological pitfalls; it is difficult to establish the existence of direct-
ing-shaykhs on the basis of scattered and incomplete sufi sources
and nearly impossible to verify anything about deceased mediat-
ing-shaykhs. The major textual "find" was the twenty-year set of
monthly sufi magazines of Jama'at ‘All Shah. Although extensive

^Brenner, West African Sufi: The Religious Heritage and Spiritual Search of Cerno
Bokar SaahfTaal. Comments in brackets are my additions.
Hakim Muhammad Musa, well-known sufi, scholar, and Greek medical
doctor of Lahore
research has yet to be done, it appears that Jama'at 'All's leader­
ship style as a mediating-shaykh has become the norm among his
successors and among the recognized institutional successors of
the other notable Naqshbandls in British India and in many other
parts of the Islamic world. If the two hagiographic works written
on Jama'at ‘All had been the only sources available to me, there
would have been no evidence for this decisive shift in charismatic
leadership. Fortunately, these two sources could be augmented
with extensive, almost day-to-day information gleaned from
twenty years of continuous publication of Jama'at ‘All's maga­
zine, Risala-yi Anwar al-Sufiyya. Such documentation contrasts
sharply with the information available for Naqshbandls prior to
the twentieth century, when historical research depends on ran­
dom shards of material. In this regard, modern researchers are
fortunate that the Naqshbandiyya had so many prolific writers
whose works have been preserved. But the sources remain un­
even.
In the matter of translation, using the conventions of contem­
porary American English ignores a considerable part of a cultural
tradition. For example, if one translates honorifics from Arabic/
Persian/Urdu into English an unwieldy text results; but without
these descriptors, pious Muslims would consider the style disre­
spectful. This, for instance, is how Naqshbandls would introduce
Dost Muhammad QandaharT (d. 1284/1867): "Pilgrim of the two
sacred places, the Sign of following the precedents of the chief of
the two universes, Sultan of the lovers, Lover of lovers, Chief of
those attracted [to God], Support of those traveling [on the Path
to God], Leader of the gnostics, Origin of outward miracles,
Source of dazzling auspiciousness, Pole of the age, Succor of the
age, Appearance of Truth's beauty, Proof of God the Creator's
glory, the Presence of our master, Pilgrim Dost Muhammad Sahib
'Associate of the prayer niche,' The poor one (damant) from Qan-
dahar, we glorify God almighty with His holiest secrets . . ."5 In
American English this becomes a mere "Dost Muhammad Qan-
daharl."
Although this is a particularly elaborate example, the principle
of expressing superior hierarchical rank through titles or ap­
pended Arabic phrases of blessing is frequently encountered in
Islamic texts as a literary representation of a hierarchical para­
digm of religious authority that pervades Islamic culture. Here
the use of honorifics has generally been avoided to facilitate con­

5Muhammad Isma'il, Mawahib rahmaniyya fr fawa'id wa-fuyudat-i hadarat thaldtha

dfimamyya: al-tajalllyat al-dostiyya [hereafter Al-tajallTyat al-dostiyya], p. 2.
sistency of names. Designations omitted include “presence"
(hadrat), “our lord" (maulana), “master" (khwaja), “elder" or
"master" (shaykh and pTr), and "descendants of the Prophet"
(sayyid), except when such titles have become a part of a person's
name—for example, Maulana Ruml. Similarly when I refer to a
single sufi shaykh "he" is used rather than the formal "they,"
and a third-person singular rather than the third-person Urdu
plural is used to refer to a religiously honored person. Pious Mus­
lims would be astonished by these Western linguistic practices,
as many Europeans coming to the United States are shocked the
first time a stranger casually addresses them by their first name.
Following convention, Prophet and Prophetic are capitalized
when referring to Muhammad, as are Companion and Successor,
terms referring to individuals of the first and second generations
of Muslims, respectively. Formulae for pious blessings are indi­
cated by conventional abbreviations used by Muslims them­
selves:

"(J)," standing for jalla jaldluhu, often follows the word Allah,
meaning "May His Majesty be exalted."
"(S)," standing for salld Allahu ‘alayhi wa-sallam, is the preferred
eulogy for the Prophet Muhammad, meaning "God bless
him and grant him salvation."
"(s)," standing for calayhi as-salam, is used for prophets, mean­
ing "on him (or them, ‘alayhim, if plural) be peace."
"(R)," standing for radiya Allahu ‘anhu, follows the names of
Companions of the Prophet and is sometimes found in In­
dian sufi texts attached to the names of other pious persons,
meaning "May God be pleased with him" (or her, canha; two
of them ,canhuma; three or more of them, canhum).
"(r)," standing for rahmat Allah calayhi or rahimahullah, follows
the names of sufis and other deceased religious authorities
or pious Muslims, meaning "May God have mercy upon
him" (or her or them, with the appropriate pronoun suffixes,
above).

Polite Muslims always add pious phrases in Arabic when men­

tioning God or pious deceased Muslims. Some pious Muslims do
not put a book on their library shelves until they have appended
hundreds of such eulogies to names in Urdu and Persian books
lacking such niceties.
Neither Persian nor Urdu has gendered pronouns, although
Urdu has feminine verb forms. Since it is unacceptable to use
masculine forms for both sexes in popular American English, in­
clusive language is used when there is textual substantiation that
both men and women have been regularly involved, e.g., in sufi
initiation. There may have been sufi shaykhs who did not have
female disciples, but I have no evidence of any such exclusion.
On the contrary, the proper method of initiating women was con­
sidered important enough to discuss.
There is, however, no written evidence that Naqshbandl
shaykhas (the feminine of shaykh) existed in British India, though
sufi shaykhas have been prominent from the earliest times.6
Among the Naqshbandiyya, Muhammad Fadlullah refers to his
mother as Shaykha Bib! Sahiba (d. 1218/1803).7 Women have as­
cended to some of the higher reaches of the Islamic spiritual hier­
archy. Ibn al-'Arabl (d. 638/1240), when mentioning the forty
substitutes (abdal), makes the special point that there were
women among them.8Undoubtedly many Indian Muslim women
went on to become Naqshbandl shaykhas, but their names did not
surface in male-dominated sufi writing. The intriguing investiga­
tion of Naqshbandl shaykhas in India awaits textual evidence;
until that time the discussion must be confined to shaykhs.
The transliteration system used here for Arabic, Persian, and
Urdu is based on the Library of Congress system (Bulletin 118,
Summer 1976, and Bulletin 125, Spring 1978), with the following
exceptions:

1. Persian and Urdu consonants are transliterated the same as

Arabic. When the same word occurs in more than one lan­
guage, the Arabic spelling is used if the word is originally
an Arabic word and is frequently used in Arabic.
2- The Persian idafa is expressed by either -i or -yi and is not
usually included for personal names (except Abu SaTd-i
AbuT-Khayr). Aspirants in Urdu are indicated by an apos­
trophe, for example, T'hanawl—to be distinguished from
consonants; for example, Thanaullah.
3. Arabic words ending in ha5 and ta3 marbuta are written with

‘Many hagiographic compendia include sections on women sufis (usually at

l ^ ^ M u n a h m a n as-Sulaml, Kitdb tabaqat as-sufiyya; ‘Fariduddln ‘Attar,
“ " f al-a™hVa ■ Abdurrahman Jaml, Nafahat al-uns min hadariit al-quds; and
Abdulhaqq Dihlawi, Akhbar al-akhyar. ' '
Muhammad Fadlullah, ‘Umdat al-maqamat, pp. 445-78.
"Muhylddin Ibn al-'Arabl, Al-futuhat al-makkiyya, vol. 11, pp. 277-78. The head
o the spiritual hierarchy is the pole, surrounded by three directors, four pillars
seven pious ones, and forty substitutes. See Annemarie Schimmel, Mystical Di­
mensions of Islam, p. 200. y
 a final -a. In the latter case when the ta’ is followed by a
vowel a -t is written instead, for example, sunna and sunnat
an-nabi.
4. The diphthong alif-waw is transliterated aw unless the pro­
nunciation is clearly au; for example, maulwi. The diphthong
alif-ya is transliterated ay.
5. Personal names are written as they are pronounced, without
a separate definite article al-, while book titles, the names of
groups, and quotations are transliterated as they are written,
using the definite article al-. In personal names ibn (son of)
is conventionally abbreviated b.
6. Words used frequently and recognized by scholars of reli­
gion are not italicized or transliterated; for example, shaykh,
pir, ulama, shari'a, hadith, sunna. Place names (unless they
are part of a name) are treated as English words, and there­
fore are not transliterated. Repeated discussions among Pa­
kistani scholars on correct voweling of place names confirm
Panjab instead of Punjab and Qusur rather than Qasur.
There is no consensus on place-name spelling. Sufi begins
with a lowercase, along with imam, ulama, and other terms
for Muslim holy persons, as does sufism.
7. Whenever possible I have made plurals of transliterated
words by adding -s to avoid burdening the nonspecialist
with new vocabulary items.

Without the generosity of the many people and organizations

who have assisted me in this project I could not have begun this
research, much less complete it. This study has reached timely
closure under the auspices of a Rockefeller grant for the year
1995-1996 administered through the Triangle South Asia Consor­
tium in North Carolina. For the study of South Asian Islam it
would be difficult to find a more dynamic multidisciplinary
group of scholars. The stimulating feedback and advice of Carl
Ernst, Kathryn Ewing, David Gilmartin, and Qasim Zaman pro­
vided fresh perspectives and necessary correctives to the project
throughout the year. Bruce Lawrence returned from a leave in
Damascus to convey a year's insights in three short months.
Colgate University has been extremely supportive in this en­
deavor. In addition to granting a year's leave for the Rockefeller
grant, they graciously awarded me a major faculty grant for re­
search at the London India Office and at the Bibliotheque Natio­
n a l in Paris. The previous year Colgate University facilitated a
research trip to Pakistan through the combined funding of the
Humanities Faculty Development Fund, the Faculty Research
Council, and the Faculty Development Council of Colgate Uni­
versity.
This entire enterprise began at Harvard University, where
Annemarie Schimmel patiently introduced me to the study of su­
fism and guided me around the many pitfalls of dealing with the
numerous overlapping languages and cultures of South Asia. She
has seen the slow evolution of this research project over a period
of five years and has kindly written the foreword. Ali Asani and
William A. Graham also saw this project through its first incarna­
tion and provided invaluable support. Sue Lonoff of the Derek
Bok Center assisted me in developing a writing style more suited
for a nonspecialist audience. A number of other individuals pro­
vided valuable feedback, including William Chittick, Carl Ernst,
Ahmad Javid, Bruce Lawrence, Fritz Meier, and Iqbal Mujaddidl.
To them and to my other teachers, friends, and colleagues I am
indebted for their wisdom and intellectual guidance. They are
not responsible for the shortcomings of this book.
The first part of this research was supported by a grant from
the American Institute of Pakistani Studies in 1989-1990, fol­
lowed by a grant from the Institute of International Education in
1990-1991. Suhayl ‘Umar, assistant director of the Iqbal Academy
in Lahore, Pakistan, warmly facilitated my research in Pakistan.
An accomplished scholar himself, he guided me to the resources
needed to begin my project. The Iqbal Academy, my institutional
sponsor, and the people working there, especially Ahmad Javid,
have made many aspects of this project possible. The erudite ad­
vice of Professor Iqbal Mujaddidl, one of the foremost historians
of the Indian Naqshbandiyya, alerted me to the many difficulties
and misconceptions an outsider encounters in studying this lin­
eage. Peter and Erica Dodd of the United States Educational
Foundation gave me both personal and institutional support
while in Pakistan. I could not have conceived of this project with­
out the timely visit to Mubarak Sahib; its fulfillment would have
been impossible without Hakim Sahib. Throughout my studies
at Harvard, the Center for the Study of World Religions provided
financial and academic assistance, in addition to a congenial per­
sonal and .social atmosphere, thanks to both John B. Carman, the
former director, and Lawrence Sullivan, the present director.
The staff at numerous libraries that cooperated in providing
the books and manuscripts used for this study have been a con­
stant source of support. Thanks are due the staff at the Punjab
University Library, Punjab Public Library, Iqbal Academy Li­
brary, Diyal Singh Library, Islamic Research Institute Library in
Islamabad, and Widener Library at Harvard University. Special
thanks to the former director of the Iran-Pakistan Institute of Per­
sian Studies in Islamabad, Dr. Tamlmdarl. The scholar-librarian
Dr. Tasblhi and scholar-bibliographer Dr. Ahmad Munzavl of this
Institute have provided invaluable services to scholars for many
years. I cannot mention all the Pakistanis who generously helped
me in this work; they have my gratitude.
I thank my parents, Mr. and Mrs. F. F. Buehler, who prepared
me well many years ago to do this kind of work. The manuscript
has benefited greatly from the accomplished editing of Margaret
Sevcenko, and my editors at the University of South Carolina
Press, Joyce Harrison and Peggy Hill, have been a joy to work
with. Most important, I would like to thank my wife, Emi Morita,
who did not anticipate what it would be like to share her hus­
band with a three-year writing project. All the diagrams are her
artistic creations and are only a small part of her contribution to
this work.
Sufi Heirs of the Prophet
CHAPTER 1

Patterns of Sufi Religious Authority

Even during Muhammad's lifetime some of his followers ex­

pressed a desire to enter into a more intimate relationship with
God than could be achieved by performing required ritual prac­
tices. Over the next three centuries a discipline of pious self-ex­
amination and refined religious psychology, now known as
sufism, developed with its own specialized technical vocabulary
that came directly from the Qur’an.1 The Muslims who engaged
in these pious activities became known as sufis, presumably be­
cause they wore simple woolen (stiff) robes as tokens of their
piety. Since those early times, sufism (tasawwuf) has come to rep­
resent both an Islamic religious science and the collective spiri­
tual practices of people who desire to have a more encompassing
experience of submitting to God (the literal meaning of islam).
Because such dramatic transformations in sufism occurred be­
tween the ninth and eleventh centuries, it is only from this time
that one can even speak of sufism as an Islamic institution. By the
eleventh century there was already a practice centered around a
directing-shaykh who commanded absolute obedience from his
disciples. Instead of being an ascetic who wandered about from
teacher-shaykh to teacher-shaykh as they had in the past, each
obedient disciple had to be properly initiated by one master who
alone could authorize his travel. Formal allegiance (bay'a) to this
directing-shaykh became common, as did the sufi robe (khirqa),
the tangible manifestation of this bond. The disciple's attitude
revolved around one underlying operating principle: an unques­
tioning compliance to an infallible shaykh. The Qur’an had first

’See Paul Nywia, Exegese coranique et tangage mystique: Nouvel esscti sur le lexique
technique des mystiques musulmanes. The best introduction to sufism in English is
Annemarie Schimmel's Mystical Dimensions of Islam.
been interpreted to equate obedience to God with obedience to
Muhammad; the equation now extended to include the shaykh.
Going against the spiritual mentor meant opposing God. By the
twelfth century a disciple, rather than submitting his or her ego
(nafs including the lower, carnal soul) to God (fana'fi’llah),2 was
first expected to annihilate the ego in the directing-shaykh (fa-
na’fi’l-shaykh).3 Instead of surrendering to God as if to the hands
of a corpsewasher (a saying attributed to Sahl b. 'Abdullah at-
Tustarl [d. 283/896]), the disciple was supposed to surrender to
the spiritual mentor as if to the hands of the corpsewasher.4 This
authority of the sufi pir within his inner circle of disciples ex­
tended also to the rest of the Muslim community, which increas­
ingly expected him to harness supernatural power on their
behalf.
Sufis legitimized this broadened scope of authority—which
did not go unchallenged by other religious specialists—in a typi­
cally Islamic fashion by creating spiritual lineages, continuous
chains (isnads) of pious sufis leading back to the Successors. Ja'far
al-Khuldl (d. 358/959) first noted such a spiritual pedigree. In the
following generation, sufis had extended these spiritual lineages
back to the Prophet himself. Starting in the eleventh century, a
number of international pan-Islamic sufi tariqas named after
founder figures flourished, including the Kazaruniyya or Murs-
hidiyya (named after Abu Ishaq al-Kazarunl [d. 426/1035],
known as Shaykh-i Murshid), followed by the Qadiriyya (named
after Abdulqadir al-Jllanl [d. 561/1166]), the Kubrawiyya
(named after Najmuddln Kubra [d. 618/1221]), and the Suhraw-
ardiyya (named after Abu Hafs SuhrawardI [d. 632/1234]).
By the tenth century, influential sufis had their own sufi cen­
ters, lodges (known variously as khanaqah, ribat, zawiya)5 where

By e8° I mean das Ich ' in the Freudian sense of I-ness, in contrast to a more
objective "Es" or "it" commonly translated as id.
3FarIduddln ‘Attar, Dtwan-i qasifid wa-ghazaliyat, p. 347, cited by Annemarie
Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions, p. 237.
4The first text is cited by Abti’l-Qasim al-Qushayn (d. 465/1072) in his Al-risala
al-qushayriyya ft ‘ilm al-tasawwuf, and the second by ‘Aynulqudat (martyred 525 /
1132). See Fritz Meier, "Hurasan und das Ende der klassischen Sufik" in La Persia
nel medioevo, p. 555. ‘
Tire most extensive study of khanaqahs in the eastern Islamic world is Muhsin
Kiyanf s Tarlkh-i khanaqah dar Iran. According to KiyanT there were places called
khanaqahs in Damascus from the eighth century ca. 150/767, on ‘Abbadan Island
in the Persian Gulf (177/793), and in Ramla, the capital of Palestine. Fritz Meier
doubts whether these were actual sufi lodges; see his Aba Sa'id-i Abu l-Hayr (357-
440/967-1049): Wirklichkeit und Legende, pp. 296-312. Since Nishapur was the Tah-
lrid center for administrative and religious affairs, the first khanaqahs in Khurasan
were built there around the beginning of the ninth century. See Kiyam,
they were free to perform initiation rituals and spiritual practices.
Sufi manuals detailing correct conduct toward the shaykh and
suitable behavior in the lodge were written to orient newcomers.
When the Turkish Saljuq dynasty established their rule in Khura­
san during the eleventh century, they reorganized some private
religious schools into official institutions, and sufis established
joint sufi khanaqah-madrasa complexes, a combination which had
become widespread by the twelfth century.6
This institutionalization did not occur in isolation but over­
lapped with developments in other groups trying to consolidate
their authority. The ulama defined religious knowledge as com­
prising the Qur’an and hadith and derivative texts. They assumed
the role of authoritative interpreters of both the holy scripture
and its practical applications. Their power did not become an
issue until ‘Abbasid times (132/750-656/1258), when they be­
came administrators, judges, and officials of the government and
utilized their religious authority for legitimizing purposes. Their
influence over religious knowledge was enhanced by the compi­
lation of what were to become the two most authoritative Sunni
hadith collections, the two Sahihs.7 Under the ‘Abbasids the con­
centration of authority transformed schools of jurisprudence
from regional authorities for Kufans, Medinans, or Syrians to
"personal schools" identified with an imam, for example, Abu
Hanlfa (d. 150/767) and Muhammad ash-ShafiT (d. 204/820).8
Just as the disciple was supposed to have only one sufi master,
by the tenth century a Muslim was expected to follow only one
imam in jurisprudence.9 Politically, much of this crucial period of
institutional growth overlapped with what Marshall Hodgson

pp. 137-84. KiyanI states that lodges to house sufi masters and their circle of
permanent disciples date from the tenth century. See ibid., p. 149. Often the term
ribat refers to a military outpost on the Christian-Muslim frontier.
O ne of many examples of this combination is the madrasa of al-Qushayn's
teacher, Abu ‘All Daqqaq, later named Madrasa al-Qushayrl, located in Nishapur
and founded in 391/1001. See Richard W. Bulliet, The Patricians of Nishapur: A
Study in Medieval Islamic Social History, p. 250; and appendix 1 of his volume.
7During the ninth century the eminent hadith specialists al-Bukharl (d. 256/
870) and Muslim (d. 261/875) compiled these two Sahths which, in addition to
four others, were soon considered canonical by the Sunni community. Shi I collec­
tions, accepting only traditions of the imams, followed with the Al-Kaff of Kulaynl
(d. 328/939), Al-usill al-kafT ft 'ilm al-din.
"George Makdisi, The Rise of Colleges: Institutions of Learning in Islam and the
West, p. 5. .
9So intense was the personal identification with one's law school in Nishapur
that bitter fighting broke out regularly between Hanafls and Shafi Is. Members of
different law schools did not live in the same areas nor did they intermarry; see
Bulliet, The Patricians of Nishapur.
calls "the Shl‘1 Century" (333/945-447/1055).10* Historically
speaking, the institutional development of sufism overlapped
with other intellectual and political developments of early Islam,
including groups focused on infallible imams, known later as
Twelver ShlTs and IsmaTlIs.”

Islam and Sufism

In terms of personal experience, i s l a m and sufism ( t a s a z v w u f ) rep­

resent two of the aspects or modes of spiritual involvement of
three domains of Muslim practice described in an early hadith of
the Prophet, "Gabriel's hadith," which describes works ( i s l a m ) ,
faith (T m a n ) , and perfection (i h s a n ) . n In this hadith it is related
that one day a man came walking out of the desert and met the
Prophet and his Companions. He proceeded to ask the Prophet a
few questions. He asked first about submitting to God ( i s l a m ) and
Muhammad replied that Islam consists of five pillars (attestation
of one God and Muhammad as the Messenger of God, prayer,
fasting, alms, and pilgrimage). To everyone's shock, the guest re­
marked that the Prophet had spoken correctly. He then inquired
about faith ( T m a n ) , and the Prophet responded by listing the arti­
cles of faith mentioned in the Qur’an, namely, God, His messen­
gers, angels, scriptures, and the Day of Judgement. His last
question was about virtue or perfection ( i h s a n ) , and the Prophet
answered that i h s a n was worshiping God as if you see Him; if
you do not see Him He sees you. At that point the visitor left,
and Muhammad informed his astounded Companions that the
angel Gabriel had just visited them in human form.
This threefold conception of religion assumes that the faithful

"The ShlT Buwayhids (320/932-447/1062) ruled Iraq and Persia as the Ham-
danids (336/947-392/1002) exercised political authority from Aleppo. It is not
certain whether the Buwayhids were Zaydl or Twelver ShTls but “without the
smallest doubt, Twelver Shl'ism owes to the Buwayhid regime not only this or­
ganisation, but even a part of its doctrinal structure"; see C. Cahen, "Buwayhids
or Buyids.' Other ShTl groups still had their imams who continued to exercise
political authority. The Fatimid Ism3‘Ill imams still ruled Egypt and parts of
North Africa (297/909-567/1171); Zaydl imams ruled the area of Daylam near
the Caspian Sea on and off from 250/864 to 520/1126; and other Zaydl imams
first ruled in Yemen from 284/897 to 569/1174.
"In a future article I will discuss the confluences between the sufi shaykh and
Imam! imam in early Islamic history.
2This hadith is found in the hadith collections of both Bukhari and Muslim and
in English translation. See Tabriz!, Mishkat nl-masnbih, 1:5 (it is the first hadith
cited); and William Chittick's Faith and Practice of Islam: Three Thirteenth-Century
Sufi Texts, which lays out this threefold framework in detail.
have varying potential, inclination, and ability for spiritual activi­
ties. The vast majority of Muslims seek salvation through their
daily practice of i s l a m , informed by faith ( m a n ) . Anyone who de­
sires to proceed further into either of these dimensions of the Is­
lamic tradition can spend a lifetime studying each field of
knowledge, guided by a teaching-shaykh. Sufism encompasses
the activities by which one works toward the field of conscious­
ness and experience represented by perfection ( i h s a n ) . Such an
enterprise, explicit in the Naqshbandl context, assumes a firm
foundation in the practice of submitting to God ( i s l a m ) and in
faith ( m a n ) before achieving an extraordinary degree of proxim­
ity to God.
AbuT-Husayn an-Nurl (d. ca. 295/908) and al-Haklm at-
Tirmidhl (d. ca. 298/910) expanded this threefold pattern to a
fourfold framework of correspondences in the heart (represented
by concentric circles; see figure l).13 Accordingly, the breast ( s a d r )
is connected to the external aspect of religion, i s l a m , the domain
of jurists; the first interiorization is m a n located in the heart ( q a l b ) ,
the specialty of theologians and philosophers; the inner heart
( f u ’a d ) is the locus of intuitive "gnosis" ( m a ' r i f a ) , associated with
perfection ( i h s a n ) ; and the innermost essence of the heart ( l u b b )
represents the ultimate experience of Oneness ( t a w h t d ) . The latter
two domains are typically those of sufis.
Conceptually both Gabriel's and Nurl's framework are inter­
locking hierarchies, that is, each of these inner levels of the heart
(see the lower left quadrant of figure 1) encompasses and tran­
scends the other. For example, one can perform the outward obli­
gations of Islam, such as prayer or fasting, without any inner
commitment whatsoever. Qur’an 49:14 describes such a situation:
"Say [to the Bedouin] 'You do not have faith.' Instead say 'We
have submitted;' since faith has not yet entered your hearts."
Faith transcends works while including them; just as perfection
( i h s a n ) includes both faith and works. According to this norma­
tive sufi construct, one cannot practice sufism without acting out­
wardly as a Muslim and having a sincere commitment to the
faith.14*
The principle of encompassing hierarchies also applies to hier­
archies of knowledge associated with these levels. Al-Haklm at-

13Annemarie Schimmel, Deciphering the Signs of God: A Phenomenological Ap­

proach to Islam, pp. xiv-xv.
14This is one of many reasons why sufism cannot be properly separated from
the Islamic tradition. Sufism's unfortunate linguistic status as a capitalized "ism"
encourages the tendency to think of it as outside the Islamic tradition.
TirmidhI in his Kitab bayan al-Hlm refutes the jurist's equating of
jurisprudence (ficjh) with the entirety of religious knowledge
{Him), citing a hadith in which the Prophet declares these three
kinds of knowledge. For at-Tirmidhl these three types of knowl­
edge are jurisprudence (ficjh), wisdom (hikma), and gnosis
(macrifa). The sufis are the only ones who combine all three types
and thus know both the lawful and unlawful and the realm of the
supernatural (‘alam al-malakut) while feeling God's majesty in
their hearts.15 As the notable sufi AbuT-‘Abbas al-MursI (d. 686/
1287) bemoaned, "We have partaken of the knowledge of jurists
but they have not partaken of ours."16 Transformed by spiritual
experiences, sufis found jurists, who specialize in external visu­
ally observed actions, to be particularly myopic when they
claimed exclusive authority over the entire spectrum of religious
knowledge.
Sufis, particularly those who studied hadith, respected the oral
transmission of scripture, but it was difficult for them to accept a
limited notion of religious knowledge (Him) based solely on rote
memorization of transmitted material.17 "Gnosis" (mcfrifa),
claimed by sufis to be a higher form of infallible and certain
knowledge, was devoid of the errors found in the ordinary, ac­
quired knowledge of the ulama. One who had certainty (yaqTn)
through direct intuitive knowledge of God surpassed ordinary
ulama who had to rely on long chains of transmitters, some of
whom might not have been reliable. In the words of Abu SaTd-i
AbuT-Khayr (d. 440/1049), "Having seen, who needs reports?"18
Speaking from the depths of spiritual experience, Abu Yazld al-
BistamT (d. 261/875) proclaims, "You have had your knowledge
from a dead man who had it from a dead man while we had our
knowledge from the living one who never dies."19
In figure 1 an-Nuri's formulation has been expanded into three
additional quadrants. These categories approximate the hierar­
chies and are not intended to harmonize around each circle (for

,5Franz Rosenthal, Knowledge Triumphant: The Concept of Knowledge in Medieval

Islam, pp. 179-81.
,fTarif Khalidi, Arabic Historical Thought in the Classical Period, p. 213.
I7Rosenthal, in his Knowledge Triumpltant, p. 166, notes (citing al-Qushayrl) that
before the development in the ninth century of the separate categories of knowl­
edge, theology, and mysticism, 'ilm and ma’rifa were identical and every scholar
Ctilim) was also a gnostic Carif).
‘"Muhammad b. Munawwar, Asrar al-tawhtd ft maqamdt Shaykh Abi Said, p. 102;
translated by John O'Kane, The Secrets of God's Mystical Oneness, p. 188.
‘"'Abdurra’uf al-MunSwl, Al-kawakib al-durriyya ff tardjim al-sadat al-sufiyya, Brit­
ish Museum ms. add. 23369; cited in Kamil Mustafa Al-Shaibi, Sufism and Shi'ism,
p. 65.
example, soul, directing-shaykh, i h s a n and m a ' r i f a ) even though
rough correspondences do exist. The upper left quadrant and
lower right quadrant are mirror images of each other: works are
accomplished by observable bodily actions; faith is developed
through increased knowledge (T/m); gnosis (m a ' r i f a ) unfolds
through a purified, tranquil soul (a l - n a f s a l - m u t m a ' i n n a ); and love,
the most subtle of human expressions, is communicated through
the most rarified human aspect, the spirit. Sumnun, a tenth-cen­
tury sufi living in Baghdad, exclaimed: "A thing can be explained
only by something that is subtler than itself. There is nothing sub­
tler than love—by what, then, shall love be explained?''20 The
upper right quadrant traces the usual sequence of religious teach­
ers for Muslims, each of whose teaching tends to have greater
transformative potential as one moves toward the center, the
presence of Muhammad being the most transformative. Figure

20Cited in Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions, p. 140.

 1 is not intended to make precise, universal, mutually exclusive
categories and correspondences but to show certain processes,
one of which has been illustrated above: as one moves inward
from the outer circumference, one is moving into more encom­
passing and deeper experience. By deeper I do not mean a quality
but a vector-like relationship, indicated by transformation, that
opens a person to a wider range of experience. What clearly is
not indicated (neither by me nor the sufis themselves) is that
deeper is better or superior. Actually the more basic or founda­
tional level is the outer. In terms of the human level and personal
authority, one would not ever be in a position to pursue inner-
directed sufi practices without a sound body born of parents. So­
ciologically and practically, the social and moral order created by
the ulama, the "specialists of islam," is a prerequisite for any fur­
ther activity, sufi or otherwise.
The second dynamic involves lateral movement around the cir­
cumference (the jurist expression of religion), a legitimization
process, and centripetal movement toward the center across the
circles (the sufi expression of religion), a transformational pro­
cess. Jurists are interested in the external symbols and outward
behavior that are associated with maintaining and outwardly le­
gitimizing Islamic social structures through a system of law,
schools, and mosques. For this reason their activities and interests
overlap considerably with those of the rulers who have the power
to enforce such concerns and who need such legitimacy to keep
their power. It is the ulama who justify war in the name of jihad
and who provide the basis for salvation to give meaning to such
endeavors (martyrs go immediately to heaven). This outer level
supplies soteriological formulae, important psychologically, to
enforce the dictates of society (if one does these things one goes
to heaven; otherwise one goes to hell). The jurist's expression of
religion integrates and stabilizes societal structures, a necessary
precondition for sufi expressions which are internally revolution­
ary in their transformative quality. The sharica is the kernel that
protects, legitimizes, and tempers the precious seed of spiritual
practice. The jurist's expression represents structure and the
sufi's expression represents anti-structure.21
This anti-structure, required for the integration and stabiliza­
tion of the outer social structure, presumes movement, change,
and transformation within the individual. Instead of jihad as war]
sufis stress jihad as the "inner struggle" on the path to God, to

2'See the discussion of the sufi lodge in chapter 2. Juristic sufism overlaps both
control the desires and ignorance of one's lower carnal nature
(nafs). This refers to the hadith where the Prophet is reported to
have said, "I have returned from the lesser jihad to the greater
jihad."22 The transformation implies a transcending of prior states
and perceptions which in the sufi environment results from the
spiritual experiences associated with the performance of sufi ex­
ercises. By mystical or spiritual experience I mean a form of
awareness beyond the conventional space-time consensus reality.
Although it is transrational, i.e., beyond mental, emotional, and
physical processes, part of the referent associated with mystical/
spiritual experience is associated with the ordinary cultural ma­
trix of the individual. Discipline under a preceptor enables mysti­
cal experience slowly to transform the individual. For most
people it requires decades of disciplined work with a directing-
shaykh.
Gifted and persevering travelers on the Naqshbandl-MujaddidI
path could reach a state of greater intimacy, returning to the ev­
eryday world transformed by their experiences. Like gifted
monks and nuns in the Zen Buddhist tradition, they normally
show no outward signs of their extraordinary achievements: they
are extraordinarily ordinary. Their inner commitment is no
longer merely the appearance of faith (surat-i imari), but the real­
ity of faith (haqiqat-i Imari). After having traveled in the spiritual
depths, they appear to bend over and prostrate themselves in
prayer just as they had before embarking on the Path. Rather
than merely having the appearance of worship (surat-i 'ibadat),
however, their ritual practices manifest the reality of worship
(haqiqat-i 'ibadat). When the traveler comes back radically changed
to the temporary abode of the phenomenal world, every action
performed in this world takes on an extraordinary quality. In Mu­
hammad 'Umar Blrball's words, it is a "revolution of Reality"
whereby "the disciple experiences such a revolution in his own
carnal soul that, having lost his first [way of] being, he experi­
ences in his existence the certainty of another [way of] being. [It
is] in regard to this great revolution [that] I have named my book
Revolution of Reality (Inqilab al-haqiqat)."23
To summarize briefly, the difference between the center and
the circumference in figure 1 represents the polarities of center
vs. periphery, inspired action vs. uninspired action, charismatic

22Often jihad is translated as "holy war," but I suspect most Muslims have not
agreed that such wars are primarily "in the path of God."
23Muhammad 'Umar Blrball, Inqilab al-haqTqat, pp. 6-7 (introduction).
vs. routinized authority, and extraordinary vs. ordinary.24 This
figure, conforming to sufi notions, will serve as the basis for a
later discussion of transformation and the various configurations
associated with sources of authority. In its simplest form figure 1
is one circle of sharfa with many radii or paths (the sufi tariqas)
leading to the center (haqtqa).
In actual human life abstractions such as circles, vectors, and
radii have little meaning. Practicing sufis work and live in the
everyday world where they try to live a quasi-monastic life,
which includes an emphasis on ritual purity, the segregation of
sexes, and a plethora of utterly mundane details. The genius of
these sufi practices is that they enable the ordinary householder
to imbue his or her life with spirituality. Although this study em­
phasizes the importance of a meditative discipline this is only a
small slice of what sufi activities mean to contemporary South
Asian Muslims who visit sufis. A tour of sufi lodges in South
Asia demonstrates that the primary activities of sufis are assisting
believers in their worldly affairs, counseling them in mental/
physical health problems, and making amulets to protect them.
Although not well documented in sufi literature, sufism probably
always has had this worldly component since the development of
the sufi lodge in the tenth century. I suspect that only a minority
of those going to sufi shaykhs ever have yearned for mystical ex­
perience, but those relative few had importance beyond their
numbers.25 Few twentieth-century Indian Naqshbandl shaykhs
emphasize a contemplative discipline and guide others along the
Path. Rather than directing their disciples to approach God them­
selves, disciples depend on the intercession of mediating-shaykhs
who in turn intercede with Muhammad.

Mediation and Sufi Shaykhs

According to Sunni dogma, God's messengers (sing, rasul)

brought God's scripture to human beings; of them the Prophet
Muhammad was the latest, the last, and the most exalted, though

-‘‘For an analysis of these terms, see Edward Shils, Center and Periphery: Essays
in Macrosocidlogy.
-’Katherine Ewing has done groundbreaking work researching the sufi's role as
healer, dream interpreter, and exorciser. See her "Sufi as Saint, Curer, and Exor­
cist in Modern Pakistan," in E. Valentine Daniel and Judy F. Pugh, eds., South
Asian Systems of Healing; and 'The Dream of Spiritual Initiation and the Organiza­
tion of Self Representations Among Pakistani Sufis," which appeared in American
Ethnologist.
even he had God's message revealed to him through the media­
tion of the angel Gabriel. For humanity Muhammad is the divine
mediator par excellence, the intermediary through whose voice
the Qur’an becomes revealed to humanity. Once the door to di­
vine mediation opens, people will ask for assistance with more
immediate worldly concerns. It was under these circumstances
that representatives from Yathrib (later Medina) came to ask Mu­
hammad to act as an arbiter in settling disputes between conflict­
ing factions. There are numerous examples of Muslims asking
Muhammad for something as a prophetic mediator between God
and humans and receiving a reply in a dream.26 After Muham­
mad's death people soon assumed that he would intercede with
God concerning their affairs, especially if one visited his grave
("Whoever visits my grave will be given intercession").27
Since the ninth century Muslims have expected sufi pirs, as
"heirs of the Prophet," to perform similar (if non-prophetic) me­
diatory functions, for example, between God and humans, be­
tween individuals, and between factions. The sufi shaykh, like the
Prophet, also becomes an intermediary (barzakh) between the two
worlds of the Creator and the created. Of the three dimensions of
mediation, however, divine-human mediation forms the basis, at
least until modern times, for sufi interpersonal and sociopolitical
action. To clarify these mediating channels linking the divine and
human, I identify four sources of authority—lineage, spiritual
travel, being a Prophetic exemplar, and transmission of religious
knowledge—that characterize and undergird sufi legitimacy.
The most circumscribed form of mediation, that utilized by re­
ligious scholars and teaching-shaykhs, involves the oral transmis­
sion of divine scripture. The directing-shaykh expanded that
scope of mediation considerably. Having arrived close to God
after spiritual travels, the Naqshbandl directing-shaykh returns
to teach humanity. In this the directing-shaykh follows what the
Naqshbandls call the "inner" model of the Prophet (sunna), as

26Muhammad Hasan Jan, Al-usul al-arba ft-tardTd al-wahhdbiyya, p. 34; and Abu
Hamid al-Ghazzall, The Remembrance of Death and the Afterlife, pp. 156-59.
27Most likely this stems from a hadith passage from one of the oldest collections
that confirms the Prophet's intercession on the Last Day: "Then He Says: 'Oh
Muhammad, lift your head, ask, and you will be given; intercede, and you will
be granted [what you ask]!' I lift my head and say: 'O Lord, ummati, ummati: my
community, my community!' " See Andrae, Die Person Muhammads, pp. 236-38.
A slightly different wording is found in Asad b. MUsa, Kitab al-zuhd, pp. 73-76.
Both of these sources are cited in Annemarie Schimmel, And Muhammad Is His
Messenger: The Veneration of the Prophet in Islamic Piety, p. 85 (brackets are in origi­
nal text).
opposed to its complement, outwardly imitating exemplary Pro­
phetic behavior, or the “outer" sunna. Through a psycho-behav­
ioral modeling process, those in the directing-shaykh s retinue
become transformed by the borderline power that comes from
being prophet/non-prophet. For Sunnis there is an ontological
divide between prophets and non-prophets and, no one after Mu­
hammad by definition can be a prophet, only prophetlike. As an
heir of the Prophet the directing-shaykh approaches the thresh­
old of prophethood, an asymptotic situation allowing some disci­
ples to view “the actual Muhammad" through their sufi shaykh.
Combined with a spiritual lineage connecting the directing-
shaykh back to Muhammad, the resulting liminal power becomes
channeled into wider networks as the directing-shaykh mediates
both interpersonal and sociopolitical concerns in the larger inter­
ests of the community.
Just as the term “directing-shaykh" points to a new focus on
directing not just spiritual practices but the daily lives of initiated
disciples, in contrast to the teaching-shaykh, so the term “mediat-
ing-shaykh" identifies the pir as the sole intermediary between
Prophet and disciple. While the activities of a directing-shaykh
enable disciples to arrive near God themselves, the mediating-
shaykh “transmits" the disciples' needs to Muhammad, who then
in turn intercedes with God. The disciple's activity is centered
on cultivating an unconditional love to facilitate this mediational
process. Both the directing-shaykh and mediating-shaykh have
multidimensional mediatory functions, but for the latter the
sphere of spiritual practice has been transformed completely into
a mediatory process.
Over time the sufi shaykh continually adapted to the religious
and sociopolitical interstices, until he functioned as a religious
and sociopolitical facilitator or social lubricant. This was most no­
ticeable after the transformation from teaching-shaykh to direct­
ing-shaykh. Instead of mediating transmitted knowledge, both
scriptural and mystical, to a small group of roving students, the
directing-shaykh typically had an inner circle of initiates whom
he rigorously directed and a much larger outer circle of people
who came for assistance in more mundane concerns. In the
Naqshbandl case both activities involved divine mediation. God's
spiritual grace/energy transmitted through the shaykh was expe­
rienced by disciples as supernatural power, and facilitated their
spiritual travel. Others, recognizing the shaykh as a nexus of su­
pernatural power, requested him to use this divine grace for their
mundane concerns. Conflicting political or social factions often
made use of a directing-shaykh's mediation. With the advent of
the sufi lodge these roles became institutionalized.
Unlike Naqshbandi directing-shaykhs, who were found
throughout the Islamic world for over five centuries, Naqshbandi
mediating-shaykhs are a relatively recent development. Heredi­
tary shaykhs and sufi shrine caretakers have existed at least from
the eleventh century, apparently performing roles during the pre­
modern period which correspond to those of Naqshbandi medi­
ating-shaykhs in the modern period.28 In the case study presented
here, Jama'at ‘All's mediating-shaykh activity exhibits an inner-
outer dichotomy in terms of initiates versus non-initiates, but the
distinction becomes blurred, since love is the focus of spiritual
practice. The world in which he mediated is very different from
the milieu of the earlier directing-shaykh. As a religious figure,
Jama'at ‘All's authority had no legitimacy with the British, and
he mediated in a sufi circle composed of an unprecedented com­
bination of rural, urban, and anglicized disciples. Compared to
the directing-shaykh, his scope of mediation had considerably in­
creased, while his power was diffused both geographically and
within the master-disciple relationship.

Heirs of the Prophet

A Muslim holy person is considered to be a friend or protege of

God, a wall Allah, whether a pious person, religious scholar
(‘alim), sufi, or ShlT imam. God's friends usually come in one of
two kinds: those who intentionally exercise power (tasarrup, both
worldly and supernatural, over others and those through whom
God works as He wills.29 In other words, one ivalT Allah is per­

28Further research on both kinds of shaykhs needs to be done. See P. M. Currie,

The Shrine and Cult of Mu'in al-Din ChishtT of Ajmer.
29The first type of protege of God has wildya, a tangible power which he can
decide to wield over others. The second type has zualaya, which means that any
expression of divine power involuntarily manifests through him. See Muhammad
Hidayat ‘All JaipQrl, Mi'ydr al-suluk xoa-dafi' al-awham iva'l-shukuk, p. 152; and
Nasrullah PurjawSdi, Sultdn-i tariqat: sawanih zindagT wa-sharh-i athar-i Khwaja
Ahmad Ghazzdlf, pp. 223-25. In both sources walaya has superior rank to unlaya.
The former type of closeness to God has an astonishing potential for abuse (in
conventional terms). Grammatically both these two terms and zoalr are derived
from the same Arabic root "w = 1= y." For all practical purposes (except for occa­
sional hairsplitting grammatical discussions) the two meanings have become con­
flated for two reasons: (1) People do not care whether the power surging from a
holy person comes from his own volition or involuntarily: the source is perceived
to be the same and the effect is equally beneficial or devastating; and (2) The short
vowels are rarely written in Arabic and Persian script languages so one cannot
ceived as God working for His friend and the other is God work­
ing through His friend. Even though scholars occasionally
discuss the differences between these two types of wall Allah in
grammatical terms, sociologically the result is the same. God s
proteges are feared and respected. The theoretical framework un­
derlying the concept of a friend of God assumes that all power
and authority originate with God. When a person is close or inti­
mate to God then that person is God's friend or protege acting as
an intermediary between humans and God in much the same way
as a person having close connections to a king can help others.
There are characteristic ways in which Muslims have connected
to this power, but to be close to God is to have access to divine
power in one form or another.
All three major types of religious figures in the Muslim com­
munity—jurists, sufis, and ShlT imams—have considered them­
selves "heirs of the Prophet." In Islamic terms, no person can
legitimately claim to be a prophet or an heir of a prophet unless
he has achieved intimacy with God (wilaya) in some fashion.30
The authority of the ulama is derived from transmitted knowl­
edge based on scriptural sources. Sufis typically establish their
legitimacy through a spiritual lineage often combined with reli­
gious experience. In general, ulama derive their knowledge from
books transmitted orally by teachers; sufis learn from the per­
sonal experience of sufi pirs. The ShlT imams emphasize physical
as well as spiritual lineage, but some also derive their authority
from spiritual experience.
Sufis flourished throughout the Islamic world more than any
other type of personal authority because their mediatory skills
were required for the smooth functioning of an agrarian-nomadic
economy with a decentralized form of government.31 This media-

distinguish between the two words. Following scholarly convention, I will use
the term wilaya to denote proximity or intimacy with God. The most detailed
grammatical explanation on these two terms and the notion of wall is Michel
Chodkiewicz, Le sceau des saints: Prophetie et saintete dans la doctrine d'Ibn Arabi,
pp. 35-39; translated by Liadain Sherrard, Seal of the Saints: Prophethood and Saint­
hood in the Doctrine oflbn ‘Arabi, pp. 17-25.
wHamid Dabashi, following the dogma of Weber's sociological theory, found
wilaya to be too general and vague a term to use for Muhammad's charismatic
authority. Dabashi argues that since wilaya did not include the idea of domination
and legitimate use of physical force, two concepts necessary for Weber's theory of
charisma, it was not a meaningful term to describe Muhammad's charismatic
authority. His other objection was that it was a term not specific to Muhammad.
See Hamid Dabashi, Authority in Islam, pp. 39-40.
31After the Safavids sufi activity diminished considerably in Iran. Yet even in
contemporary Iran sufi ideas are influential with Shi‘I clerics, e.g., the late Ayat­
ullah Ruhullah Khomeini. See Alexander Knysh, "Irfan revisited: Khomeini and
tory authority was itself grounded in multiple connections to a
deeper symbolic Prophetic authority, often enacted through the
institution of the lodge where sufis could supervise the special­
ized practices of their disciples without interference. Legitimiz­
ing spiritual lineage, religious learning, and practices imitating
ceremonies once used to declare allegiance to the Prophet
rounded out the institutional trappings of sufi shaykhs. The frag­
ile nature of prophetic charisma made institutional balance an
extremely challenging proposition. Too much property and
worldly success were as inimical to its rejuvenation as a scarcity
of resources.
At the heart of this institution was the spiritual guide. Sufis,
interpreting Muhammad's prophetic experience on the basis of
the Qur’an and hadith texts, legitimized their pattern of authority
by claiming to have experienced the depths of spiritual experi­
ence. They then returned, eminently qualified to help others pro­
ceed along the same path. In common parlance, the shaykh was
someone who was a friend/intimate of God and therefore pos­
sessed the ability to act as an intermediary between humanity
and God. Although the sufi shaykh could rarely be separated
from the institutional practices that evolved from the tenth cen­
tury, his or her authority was legitimized by having duplicated
on a lesser scale the spiritual journey of the Prophet. In this fash­
ion the personal authority of the sufi pir was necessarily depen­
dent on that of Muhammad and other prophets. He was their
heir.
Instead of imitating the political or military exploits of the
Prophet, sufi shaykhs attempted to duplicate his practical func­
tion as a "spiritual magnet.*32 To the extent that he attracted fol­
lowers, he repelled enemies. The "atoms" of his entire being,
whether physical, psychological, emotional, or spiritual, were
aligned in one direction, pointing to and in harmony with God.
A prophet or an intimate of God was like a praying lodestone
whose internal structure had become magnetized after the atoms

the Legacy of Islamic Mystical Philosophy," in Middle East Journal. Whether Kho­
meini could be called a sufi is another matter, particularly in view of the Twelver
ShlT (believing in twelve imams) environment. Khomeini wrote commentaries on
Ibn al-'Arabl's Fusils al-hikam and on Muhammad b. Hamza Fanarl's (d. 834/1431)
Misbfih al-uns, a commentary on Sadruddln al-QunawI's (d. 673/1273-74) Miftah
al-ghayb. IsmaTlI imams still lead their international groups.
32This metaphor is used by twentieth-century Naqshbandls referring to the
"magnetic pull of God" and how being in the company of the shaykh and other
disciples "creates a magnetic charge which remains afterwards." (Risdla-yi anivdr
al-sufiyya 1, no. 1: 9).
had lined up in one direction and whose external shape was pre­
cisely aligned in the direction of the Ka'ba.
The pir functioned as a combination touchstone/lodestone for
the disciple's ego. Once one's ego is effaced in the shaykh, it is,
for all practical purposes, subordinated directly to God because
the shaykh has duplicated the Prophetic realities so closely. As
an heir of the Prophet he functions like the Prophet (for Muslims
this is not an ontological equivalence). Those with their egos in
harmony with God merely needed fine tuning to become mag­
nets in their own right. At the other extreme, some were not even
lodestones. The majority, however, could not help but continu­
ally rub against the magnet of the spiritual mentor. All behavioral
rules and psychological conditioning were purposely designed
(or experimentally discovered) to be effective in this magnetizing
process. Such an activity did not eliminate the ego but eventually
aligned it in the same direction as the shaykh's will, which had
already been aligned with that of God. The focused spiritual en­
ergy (taiuajjuh) of the master was like an electromagnetic force.
The Kacba, like the magnetic north pole, was the point toward
which a praying Muslim or a freestanding magnet would turn. If,
however, a strong presence was in the immediate vicinity, this
would override all other spiritual and magnetic fields. For a sufi
the goal of the human being is to reconcile the contradictory
upper and lower aspects of reality within oneself. To develop
fully each person has to become a bridge between the mundane
and the supramundane without becoming caught in one or the
other. The ways of connecting to God are the sources of authority
by which Prophetic heirs have exercised leadership.

Sources of Personal Authority

1 went to Hadrat Hajji Muhammad A fdal's [house] to receive divine

grace (tcnvajjuh) and, when I requested this, he said to me, "F ro m your
spiritual perception you have progressed far on the Path and have
achieved the station of revealed knowledge. I do not have this kind of
knowledge and therefore I cannot assist you on the advanced spiritual
path (bi-tarTq-i ihsan)." So I did not [expect to] benefit from Hadrat, but
during hadith lessons from the divinely em anating grace and energy
(fuyud) of his blessed inner self I received divine energy (fayd) and my
connection to God (nisbat) was strengthened. During Hadrat Hajji M u­
hammad Afdal s hadith lesson I used to acquire the presence (hudur) of
the Prophet s connection. Many lights and blessings (barakat) used to
manifest [themselves]. Essentially I used to be in com panionship (suhbat)
with G od's messenger. During this time 1 experienced the Prophet's [fo­
cused] divine energy ( taiuajjuh) and spiritual countenance (altafat). It was
splendid from its perfect Prophetic connection (nisbat), expansive, and
full o f light. The m eaning o f “ religious scholars are the heirs of the
prophets" becam e clear.33

These radiant words of a famous sufi of Delhi, Mlrza Mazhar

Jan-i janan (assassinated in 1195/1781), succinctly describe the
power of person-centered religious authority and implicitly show
the contrast with scripture-centered authority. It beautifully dem­
onstrates the ways Muslims can endeavor to be in the Prophet
Muhammad's presence, to re-enact for themselves the paradig­
matic relationship that the Companions had with Muhammad.
For Indian Naqshbandls this is what personal authority is all
about: a heart-to-heart connection leading to a vividly intense ex­
perience of Muhammad. For Muslims no human was ever nearer
to God than the Prophet; therefore linking oneself with Muham­
mad signifies intimacy with God.
The many ways of linking oneself to the Prophet are typically
conceived as exclusive to a given specialist: transmitted religious
knowledge is the domain of religious scholars, spiritual experi­
ence the domain of sufis. The foregoing passage adroitly sets the
reader up to think in that way: why would an advanced sufi like
Mlrza Mazhar, with direct access to God's revealed knowledge
(kashf), sit at the feet of a teacher to memorize hadith? Muham­
mad Afdal's humility is a ritualized response for both Mlrza
Mazhar and the reader. Instead of being just an ordinary religious
scholar, Muhammad Afdal proves to be a catalytic Prophetic ex­
emplar, allowing Mlrza Mazhar to have an astounding and unex­
pected psychospiritual experience. The transformative potential
of such an intense personal experience matches anything one
could have with a sufi master.34 How shari'a-minded juristic sufis,
particularly the Naqshbandls, have gone about linking them­
selves to their beloved Prophet is the subject of this study.
Establishing a connection with the Prophet also serves to au­
thenticate Muslim claims to religious authority. The four ways of
linking oneself to the Prophet (see figure 2, reading horizontally)
are the sources of authority associated with different kinds of
Muslim religious figures. Spiritual travel is typically a specialty
of sufis which involves a transformative spiritual experience. By
the eighth century sufis had become noted as proteges of God

33Ghulam ‘All Shah, Maqamat-i mazhari, pp. 287-88.

“Muhammad Afdal spent many years in the company of Naqshbandls and
learned the science of hadith from them, but he never received formal instruction
in the spiritual methods of the Naqshbandiyya. See ibid., pp. 244-46.
(awliya’) who often exhibited supernatural power. Being an exem­
plar involved modeling one's behavior on the Prophetic example
0sunna). Originally associated with pious behavior, by the fif­
teenth-century the sunna had become a necessary requirement to
the exercise of religious authority in some shari a-minded sufi
lineages. Biological and spiritual lineage leading back to the
Prophet often legitimized leadership. Among ShlTs, the ImamI
community and the Nizari IsmaTlI community both have used an
ancestral pedigree traced back to Muhammad to designate
imams who are said to have received the divine knowledge of
the prophets.35 Religious knowledge is the source associated with
religious scholars who transmit the holy words received via an
unbroken sequence of reputable Muslims. All four of these
sources of authority—spiritual travel, the sunna, lineage, and reli­
gious knowledge—converge upon one central figure: the
Prophet.
Early sufis acquired authority as a result of their piety and
mystical experiences, understood in the Islamic context as non­
prophetically replicating the Prophet's own physical ascension, a
spiritual journey ending close to God. This is the explanation for
the belief that sufis had supernatural powers and why many in
the Muslim community came to expect them to function as heal­
ers, exorcists, and counselors.36 For Naqshbandls, who developed
a shari'a-minded juristic expression of sufism, spiritual travel was
integrated, even subordinated, to ritual practice. Spiritual wayfar­
ing was justified by and organized around the principle of dupli­
cating the Prophet's own experience to the fullest extent possible.
The prophetic path, argued the Naqshbandls, required a return
to the physical world to assist others to become better Muslims
after a spiritual journey towards God. This inner connection en­
abled Naqshbandls, as heirs of the Prophet, to exhibit tangible
supernatural power that anyone visiting a directing-shaykh's sufi
circle could witness.

35The Imamls, sometimes called "proto-ShlTs," become a formally distinct Shi1!

group (believing in twelve imams) in the tenth century. There are also Shl‘1
groups who believe in only the first five or seven of the Twelver imams, called
Zaydis and IsmaTlls respectively. The latter two groups have an ideal of the imam
(in principle) whose functions include acting both as head of state and as the
supreme religious authority.
^In Islam and in Judaism there is a hidden spiritual hierarchy whose members
usually appear to be normal individuals. See Annemarie Schimmel, Mystical Di­
mensions of Islam, p. 200; and Gershom G. Scholem, On the Kabbalah and Its Symbol­
ism, p. 6. Ibn al- Arabl states that "for the Muhammadan heir, the signs (ayat)
are interior, making it difficult for an ordinary person to recognize." See Michel
Chodkiewicz, An Ocean Without a Shore: Ibn ‘Arab!, The Book, and the Law, p. 96.
 Sources of Personal Authority
Spiritual Travel/ Transmitted
Supernatural Exemplar Lineage Religious
Power Knowledge
Divinely Inspired Ones
(majdhubs) •
Tablighi Jam acat •

Shrine Caretakers
Hereditary Shaykhs m

Ulama o 0 •
ImamI imams/
AghS Khan 0 © © •
Sufi Teaching-Shaykh • o o
Sufi Directing-Shaykh m © o
Sufi Revivalist
Mediating-Shaykh o o o
® indicate sources of authority that define the category

o indicate optional sources of authority that do not define the category

Figure 2. Sources of Islam ic personal authority

Early in Islamic history a set of intricately detailed, culturally

appropriate rules for behavior and good manners (adab) became
a characteristic ideal. Pious conduct and dress followed the Pro­
phetic sunna, which, selectively interpreted, formed the frame­
work for ritualized manners. Students and disciples constantly
tried to imitate these exemplary patterns.37 The conscious model­
ing of one's inward and outward behavior on that of Muhammad
also became an explicit source of authority for sufis, particularly
among the Moroccan Jazuliyya from the fifteenth century and the
Indian Mujaddidiyya from the seventeenth, century.
In the Naqshbandl case a spiritual guide, as heir of the Prophet,
was expected to be the living embodiment of the exemplary
model of Muhammad. In British India, behavior and dress con­
forming to the Prophetic model combined with a spiritual lineage

17A proper religious education involved students faithfully modeling their

teachers. See Michael Chamberlain, Knowledge and Social Practice in Medieval Da­
mascus, 1190-1350, pp. 122-25; and Barbara Metcalf, Islamic Revival in British India:
Deoband, 1860-1900, pp. 138-97.
enabled sufis of many lineages to be recognized as revivalist pirs.
The living pir brought Muhammad's own vitality and charisma
into direct contact with Muslims who venerated the Prophet. In
nineteenth-century India, the disciples of ChishtI scholar Rashid
Ahmad Gangohl (d. 1322/1905) compared their shaykh's speech
to that of Muhammad: "[W]hen Rashid Ahmad spoke, it was like
the Prophet speaking. My heart opened like a flower.”38 The con­
temporaries of Muhammad Qasim Nanautawl (d. 1294/1877), a
ChishtI shaykh-scholar at Deoband, continually compared him to
the Prophet.39 A century earlier Mlrza Mazhar had similar experi­
ences with Muhammad Afdal.
Tracing back one's genealogy to Muhammad follows the same
principle that hadith scholars had used to validate transmitted
reports of Muhammad's sayings and actions. Muslims certified
"valid” sufis in the same fashion as they verified "correct” ha-
diths, i.e., by identifying chains of reliable transmitters that con­
firmed their spiritual training and teaching lineage. The sufism
of pan-Islamic lineages did much to eliminate antinomian tend­
encies by the fourteenth century, and Naqshbandl-Mujaddidls
discouraged potentially disruptive Uwaysl initiations in the
seventeenth century. Later, a spiritual lineage became increas­
ingly necessary to legitimize sufi authority, even if this pedigree
was unhistorically extended to include "charismatic transmis­
sions,” commonly known as Uwaysl initiations. By the eleventh
century in the eastern Islamic world, spiritual pedigree alone,
without any mystical experience, bestowed a spiritual authority
upon sufis who had inherited their office as sajjadanishm (princi­
pal successor, literally, "one who sits on the prayer carpet”).40
Lineage, which Naqshbandls have understood as a conduit for
spiritual energy from God, became a prerequisite for mystical
practice. What originally served as a means of verifying authority
itself became a second, independent source of prestige. The au­
thority of both Imamls and sufis who inherit their position as
sajjadanishln, without having done any spiritual journeying,
stems from biological lineage.41

“ Metcalf, Islamic Revival, p. 174.

“ Ibid., p. 166. Both these pirs taught at Deoband, a prominent Indian Islamic
seminary near Delhi.
40The Chishtiyya at Chisht, east of Herat in present-day Afghanistan, began
designating hereditary successors from the eleventh century. See Lawrence Potter,
"The Kart Dynasty of Herat: Religion and Politics in Medieval Iran," p. 110.
Shi Is believed religious authority was communicated by certain lineal descen­
dants of ‘All, the Prophet's cousin, and Fatima, the Prophet's daughter, the ahl al-
bayt. From this legacy, sayyids or ashraf, that is, descendants of the Prophet, have
continued to be particularly respected in the ShlT community. Sunnis, too, have
 Scholars of Qur’an and hadith often devoted their lives to the
study and preservation of the holy scripture in order to transmit
this sacred knowledge faithfully. Their involvement in the trans­
mission of sacred knowledge connected them directly back to the
Prophet. In the culture of the learned ulama, the pursuit of reli­
gious knowledge (film) and truth through studying scripture en­
abled the jurist to deliver a legal opinion (fatwa) which would be
amply rewarded in the hereafter.42 Critics denounced many of
these scholars, especially hadith scholars, whose rote book learn­
ing they derisively compared to "donkeys carrying books with­
out any understanding of their contents" (referring to Q. 62:5).
This did not deter both rulers and common people from appreci­
ating and utilizing the authority of the jurists who were the living
exemplary receptacles of cilm. ShlT imams are believed to possess
a special secret knowledge which was divinely inspired and
transmitted through the designation (nass) of the preceding
imam. By definition, this knowledge and an ancestral lineage
from Muhammad are sources of the imam's authority.
Muslim religious specialists have "jerry-rigged bits and pieces"
of all of these sources of authority in a "charismatic bricolage" to
assemble resources of superhuman power and to legitimize their
authority. Figure 2 organizes approximate permutations of these
sources.43 At the top are types with one predominant source of
authority whose influence has usually been to legitimize outer
structures of society, only partially accessing Prophetic charis­
matic authority. These three types contrast with the imams and
sufis at the bottom who utilize multiple sources of authority and
who have through extraordinary action mobilized charismatic re­
sources associated with the central symbol of the Prophet. Pre­
dictably, greater personal authority results from more types of
actual or symbolic influence. Less obvious is the synergistic effect
of someone with multiple sources of authority: these persons
have transformative potential for social action.
Starting at the top of figure 2, the category of divinely inspired
individuals (m a j d h u b s ) represents uncontrolled, spiritually intoxi­

given high social status to the descendants of the Prophet. These are examples of
physical pedigree being a source of authority.
42George Makdisi, The Rise of Colleges: Institutions of Learning in Islam and the
West, p. 281.
43These sources and categories of religious figures are meant to be used as an
analytical tool whose value reflects how satisfactorily it serves the goals of the
inquiry instead of its disputable precision (there are always exceptions). Ideally
this type of analysis will advance a better cross-traditional understanding of holy
persons.
cated individuals who are generally respected and feared but
who rarely have disciples.44 Individuals from the TabllghI Jama'at
group, founded by the Indian Muhammad Ilyas (d. 1944), stress
the importance of strict adherence to the ritual requirements of
Islam and outwardly following the Prophetic sunna, which they
believe gives them the authority to propagate Islam.45 Their Is­
lamic dress code duplicates that of modern revivalist Indian sufis,
but without any master-disciple relationship, traditional reli­
gious education, sufi initiation ritual, or inclination toward spiri­
tual practice.46
Shrine caretakers and hereditary shaykhs illustrate the classic
Weberian transformation of a shaykh's extraordinary charisma
into lineage charisma.47 These descendants of shaykhs or succes­
sors of shaykhs, often quite influential locally, routinely perform
mediatory functions. Individuals with hereditary or "exemplar"
connections with the Prophet perform necessary roles in the har­
monious integration of others into the day-to-day functioning of
society; their legitimizing actions maintain social structures and

MIn Western society most of these individuals, judged by their outward behav­
ior, would be classified as mentally ill. In the Islamic context crazy wise men
Cuqalff’ al-majamn) are examples of permanently liminal persons. See Hasan b.
Muhammad al-Nls5burI, Kitab ‘uqald’ al-majdnTn. For a fascinating account of a
modern Egyptian sufi, Ahmad Radwan (d. 1967), who was supposed to be “the
president of the majdhubs," see Valerie J. Hoffman, Sufism, Mystics, and Saints in
Modern Egypt, pp. 257-70.
45In two articles, one by Christian Troll, “Two Conceptions of Da'wa in India:
Jama‘at-i IslamI and TabllghI Jama'at," and the other by Barbara D. Metcalf, "Liv­
ing Hadlth in the TabllghI Jama at [sic]," it is clear that the Tabllghls emphasize
outward ritual performance in their strident missionary activity. Sufi terminology
has been incorporated in their practices, e.g„ dhikr and chilla, but with entirely
new outwardly directed meanings. “Living hadith" has to do with acting out
formulaic injunctions from an abridged missionary manual based on hadith
rather than striving to transform oneself by connecting to the Prophet. Like other
categories in this chart this one is based on a generalized view of Tabllghls of
which there are certain exceptions, one of whom might have been the founder.
For example, in Christian Troll's opinion, Muhammad Ilyas was a person who
comes accross [sic] as an ascetic and as a man of genuine mystical experience."
See "Two Conceptions," p. 124.
46Directing-shaykhs consider such an outward expression of the sunna signifi­
cant to the extent that it is accompanied by spiritual travel, the "inner" sunna.
When this combination occurs, the shaykh personifies a living exemplar of the
Prophet which enables him to transform the inner being of his disciples, who
endeavor to replicate their every action on the Prophetic model.
47Max Weber posited a notion of "pure charisma" which became routinized,
either through lineage or office. One example would be a prophet whose succes­
sor is his eldest son or who occupies a hierarchical position, e.g., as a Catholic
priest. See Max Weber, Economy and Society: An Outline of Interpretive Sociology, 2
vols., 2:1135-41.
usually involve “uninspired action."48 In other words, when sufis
derive their authority solely from outward behavior or lineage,
whether spiritual or biological, they have a technical connection
to the Prophet but not necessarily an intimate relationship with
him. Persons having many sources of personal authority, in con­
trast, are generally more deeply connected with the personal
symbolic center of a culture,49 in this case, the Muhammadan real­
ity. Sufis and imams not only perform the everyday activities and
functions of religious types, but as living heirs of the Prophet
they are capable of invoking profound transformations. Such ex­
traordinary individuals have significantly affected the social
order.
For sufi teaching-shaykhs and directing-shaykhs, the several
sources of authority—spiritual travel, following the Prophetic
model, and spiritual lineage from one's initiation—are all related;
spiritual wayfaring is the inner sunna, and behavioral conformity
to the Prophetic model is the outer sunna. In the case of the
Naqshbandl directing-shaykh, connecting to the Prophet allows
the resulting spiritual energy to flow through the chain of trans­
mitters (a spiritual energy circuit represented by a genealogical
chart). Eventually these three sources fuse into one as the connec­
tion develops. Through a modeling process and by channeling
emotions (enhanced by the genealogical connection), the mediat-
ing-shaykh becomes intensely and lovingly connected to the
Prophet. In the ShlT case, the Twelver imams and some of the
Agha Khans functioned in many ways like sufi shaykhs, express­
ing their piety through sufi forms which Marshall Hodgson calls
"tariqa ShlTsm."50 All of these types of individuals embodying
several sources of authority have exhibited their potential to in­
fluence others. Their "inspired action" over the centuries slowly
changed their respective cultures which have become notably Is­
lamic.
Illustrating the effect of combining many sources of authority,

"“Here I am indebted to the insights in Edward Shils's discussion of charisma

in Center and Periphery: Essays in Macrosociology, p. 129.
"There are multiple and overlapping symbolic centers in Islamic societies, e.g.,
political and scriptural; local and universal. The geographical ritual center would
be the physical Ka'ba; the scriptural ritual center would be God's word, the
Qur an. To a large extent these are distant in comparison to the communal ritual
center, the primordial Muslim community (duplicated in the sufi lodge) with the
Prophet (and by extension his heir) as its center.
“ Marshall G. S. Hodgson, The Venture of Islam: Conscience and History in a World
Civilization, 3 vols., 2:494. It appears that imams have many parallels with direct­
ing-shaykhs and the Agha Khans with mediating-shaykhs.
the ulama are positioned as a "borderline" example between the
two broadly defined groups described above in the chart. A reli­
gious scholar whose only qualification is transmitted religious
knowledge has tended usually to belong to the three "peripheral
types" (majdhubs, Tabllghls, and hereditary shaykhs located
above the ulama category in figure 2). Like the hereditary shrine
pir, he often holds an office, not necessarily hereditary but strictly
defined by an educational role or a governmental position.
Ulama sometimes appear more respected and influential than
most religious figures on the chart, but this is almost always be­
cause they have access to political power, a qualitatively different
notion of power than noncoercive personal authority. A scholar
with only transmitted religious knowledge usually wants only
to legitimize Islamic societal structures outwardly, not to change
people or society.
Ar-Ramhurmuzl, for example, a hadith scholar from the Buyid
period (334/945-447/1055), writes, "It is sufficient nobility for
the transmitter that his name be joined with the name of the
Prophet and be mentioned along with mention of Him and of His
family and His companions---- [a nobleman said,] 'I want, in the
first place, to see my name united with that of the Prophet in a
single line/ What better relatives Casabah) could be desired than
a group that includes cAlI b. al-Husain b. ‘All and his descendants
that followed him, and the family of the Prophet, and the sons
of the Muhajirun and the Ansar, as well as the generation that
succeeded them in piety, and the ascetics and the fuqaha and
most of the caliphs, and countless numbers of ‘ulama’ and men of
nobility, excellence, distinction, and importance?"51 No doubt the
transmission of hadith created a sense of community with previ­
ous generations of Muslims leading back to the Prophet. In this
regard transmitted hadith connected to the Prophet, but in terms
of transformative potential it is only a shadow of Mlrza Mazhar's
experience with his hadith teacher who had internalized the Pro­
phetic sayings to the point of embodying them.52 Like previous
generations of Prophetic heirs, sufi and non-sufi, such a "charis­
matic combination enabled Muhammad Afdal to transform
those receptive to his penetrating teaching.53

5,Roy Mottahedeh, Loyalty and Leadership in an Early Islamic Society, pp. 140-41.
“ Sufis, for example, have shown unusual proficiency in harmonizing transmit­
ted religious knowledge, particularly hadith study, into their spiritual practices
See George Makdisi, The Rise of Colleges, p. 10.
“Many jurists and scholars have possessed qualities which attracted large num­
bers of followers. One of the best known is Ahmad Ibn Hanbal (d. 241/855),
the famous religious scholar and eponymous founder of the Hanball school of
jurisprudence, who suffered punishment by the Caliph instead of denying the
uncreated nature of the Qur’an. Ibn Taymiyya (d. 728/1328) is another.
 The consistent thread in these apparent changes is that the au­
thority of Muslim religious specialists has depended on the de­
gree to which they have linked themselves to the Islamic
exemplar of human extraordinariness, the Prophet.54 The ability
to connect to Muhammad spiritually, genealogically, behavior­
ally, and intellectually often has made the sufi a personal embodi­
ment of the Prophet. Discussing charisma, Clifford Geertz asks,
"Just what it is that causes some men to see transcendency in
others, and what it is they see."55 For many Muslims it has been
the multifaceted symbolic vision/experience of Muhammad,
many generations removed but at times vibrantly present.
The idea that Muhammad was superhuman developed soon
after his death with the doctrine that God protected the Prophet
from sin Cisma). The Qur’an that was revealed to Muhammad
needed an immaculate vessel, an absolutely sinless prophet, to
convey God's Word.56 Having established an impeccable Prophet,
it was only one more small step to declare that the faithful owned
Muhammad unquestioning and absolute obedience, especially in
view of the numerous Qur’anic verses that required it, for exam­
ple, "Whoever obeys the messenger obeys God" [4:80].57 By the
eighth century the primacy of the Prophetic model included all
Muhammad's words and deeds. It was this exemplary model that
later was said to have been cultivated by the earliest Muslims and
transmitted by the living presence of religious scholars and sufis.
Abu Bakr as-Siddlq (d. 13/634), Muhammad's successor, is said
to have exclaimed, "I do not omit anything of the things the Mes­

MBy the ninth century, Muslim consensus had made Muhammad the most per­
fect human with superhuman status, confirming that Muhammad had become
the celebrated symbolic focus of legitimate personal authority. For example, Sahl
at-Tustarl (283/896) developed the themes of Muhammad's pre-eternal light (nur
MuhammadT). See Annemarie Schimmel, And Muhammad Is His Messenger: The Ven­
eration of the Prophet in Islamic Piety, pp. 125-26; Gerhard Bowering, The Mystical
Vision of Existence in Classical Islam: The Qufanic Hermeneutics of the Sufi Sahl at-
TustarKd. 283/8%); and U. Rubin, "Preexistence and Light; Aspects of the concept
of Ndr Muhammad." .
55Clifford Geertz, Local Knowledge: Further Essays in Interpretive Anthropology,
p. 122.
5*For sources dealing with the veneration of Muhammad in Islam, see Andrae,
Die Person Muhammads in Lehre und Glaube seiner Gemeinde and Schimmel, And
Muhammad Is His Messenger.
57Another twelve Qur’anic citations [3:32,132;4:59;5:92;8:1,20,46; 24:52,54;47;
33;58:13;64:12] usually state "Obey God and the messenger." Qur’anic passages
(e.g., 24:54; 72:21-22) that declare the Prophet as "merely human" or his own
prayers expressing his feeling of weakness and sinfulness have been regarded as
instructions to the believers to follow instead of being taken as Muhammad s very
human feelings. See Schimmel, And Muhammad Is His Messenger, p. 59.
senger of God has done, for I am afraid that if I should omit it, I
could go astray/'58 Over the centuries these living models of the
Prophet have striven to transmit his living virtues, defining the
interpersonal and ethical ideals of Islam in the process. The sunna
has had such compelling significance for Muslims that many fol­
lowers of the ShafiT school and most of those of the MalikI school
assumed that it was absolutely obligatory to imitate the Prophet
even in ethically neutral actions.59 Although the Qur’an as duly
respected and revered as the word of God, the Prophetic model
became the means for applying Qur’anic ideals to daily personal
and community life.60
This pattern of prophetically legitimized authority first be­
comes inculcated in the family. Often Muhammad is portrayed
as a respected elderly paternal figure whom one can trust abso­
lutely. A Muslim child first learns the "familial mode" of Pro­
phetic authority at home where an unquestioning obedience and
reverence to elders, particularly the father and grandfather, be­
come ingrained at an early age. Later, with his family experience
as the frame of reference for intimate relationships, the student is
admonished to respect the teaching-shaykh even more than his
father "since his father brought him into the world of perdition,
[while] his teacher leads him to the world of eternal life."61

Personal Authority of the Teaching-Shaykh

The teaching-shaykh derives his social prestige from exemplary

custodianship of sacred knowledge. Located in mosques and pri­

“Al-Qadl cIyad (d. 544/1149), Kitab al-shifit ft ri'ayat huquq al-Mustafa cited in
ibid., p. 31.
59Citing al-Qadl ‘Iyad in ibid., p. 194.
“ By the ninth century there is an alleged hadith stating that the sunna inter­
prets the Qur'an rather than the Qur’an judging the sunna. See William A. Gra­
ham Jr., “Traditionalism in Islam: An Essay in Interpretation," p. 504. This hadith
is found in 'Abdurrahman ad-Dariml's (d. 255/869) introduction to his Kitab al-
sunati, bab 49.
Al-Ansarl, Al-lu lu , pp. 6-7, cited in Jonathon Berkey, The Transmission of
Knowledge in Medieval Cairo: A Social History of Islamic Education, p. 36. See also
Michael Chamberlain, Knowledge and Social Practice, pp. 108-9. Sufis also say that
disciples experience a “spiritual" birth (al-wiladat al-ma'nawiyya). The lifelong
commitment to a king is often expressed in terms of a familial loyalty pattern. If
a king or noble mentions his sanfa or ghulam it means that he had reared, edu­
cated, and trained that person. See Mottahedeh, Loyalty and Leadership, pp. 82-83.
This quotation refers specifically to the Buyid dynasty (334/945-447/1055) but
is representative of many similar patron-client relationships in government
throughout Islamic history.
vate homes, the atmosphere of religious study circles (later in­
cluding those in madrasas) cultivates a set of refined and
stringent behavioral patterns to safeguard the transmission of
religious knowledge. Based upon the sunna, an elaborate set of
rituals developed, which Michael Chamberlain terms the "ritual-
ization of religious knowledge/'62 Students were informed of ap­
propriate ritual behavior: "Do not look at anything but the
teacher, and do not turn around to investigate any sound, espe­
cially during discussion. Do not shake your sleeve. The student
should not uncover his arms, nor should he fiddle with his hands
or feet or any part of his body parts, nor should he place his hand
on his beard or his mouth, or pick his nose or play with it, or
open his mouth or gnash his teeth. . . . nor should he turn his
back or his flank to his shaykh . . . . It is a sign of respect to the
shaykh not to sit between him and the direction of prayer, nor to
his side, nor on a cushion."63 Malik b. Anas (d. 179/796), the ha-
dith scholar and eponymous founder of the Malikls, kept his stu­
dent in such fear of moving in class that they acted as if there
were birds on their heads.64
The culture and ritual of religious learning, both of sufis and
ulama, required personal contact with an exemplary teaching-
shaykh. Most traditional religious learning was practical in na­
ture and extended to every aspect of the student's life. In this
context the medieval Egyptian jurist al-cUthmanI asserts, "One
should not study with another who himself studied only from
books, without having read [them] to a learned shaykh .. . Who­
ever does not take his learning [Him] from the mouths of men is
like he who learns courage without ever facing battle."65
Personal instruction is a key component to authority. Bio­
graphical collections of medieval scholars, both in Egypt and in
India, always stress the person's teachers (at least in colonial
India until the 1870s when they came to be identified with a
school such as Deoband or Aligarh).66 The chain of teachers
(isnad) validates the person's learning; institutional affiliation, al­

“ Chamberlain, Knowledge and Social Practice, pp. 125-30.

“ Muhammad b. Ibrahim Ibn Jama'a (d. 733-34/1333), Tadhkirat al-sfimi‘ wa'l-
mutakallim, pp. 98-100, cited in Chamberlain, p. 130.
MA1-Qadl ‘Iyad, Tarttb al-madctrik wa-taqrib al-masalik li-ma'rifat a'lam madhhab
Malik, pp. 153-66, cited in Fritz Meier, "Hurasan und das Ende der klassischen
Safik," in La Persia nel medioevo, p. 562.
“ Muhammad b. ‘Abdurrahman al-‘UthmanI, Idtih al-ta'rtf bi-ba‘d fadct'il al-’ilm
al-sharif, cited in Berkey, The Transmission of Knowledge, p. 26 (brackets are in origi­
nal text).
“ For the Egyptian case, see Berkey, The Transmission of Knowledge, pp. 21-27.
though it could enhance prestige (for example, being a shaykh at
Al-Azhar in Cairo), is secondary. Legitimacy is always based on
the unbroken chain going back to the author of the book or to the
Prophet (in the case of hadith and Qur’an study in particular).
The shorter the chain the more authoritative the person becomes.
When someone could relate hadith with an unusually short se
quence of transmitters or with unusually reliable transmitters,
people would be eager to say that they had learned hadith with
him. In medieval Ibb, Yemen, Faqlh an-Nahl (d. 566-7/1171) used
to say, "Between me and the author [an eminent eleventh-century
Baghdadi Shafi'l jurist, al-Shirazl] are two men." In this way an-
Nahl established his reputation as a scholar in an intellectual uni
verse where "the texts of knowledge were literally embodied."67
Again, and this point needs to be stressed, there are qualitative
differences between embodying books of intellectual knowledge,
books of unwritten words comprising knowledge of the heart,
and embodying the Prophet himself.68
Scripture-centered personal authority contrasts sharply with
the authority of extraordinary sufis. Scripture-centered authority
resides in books, personal authority in the most perfect of hu
mans, the Prophet Muhammad. By appropriating, indeed em
bodying, one of the central symbols of Islam, these living human
authorities have in varying degrees achieved a position of super
human status in Islamic societies. The accomplishment of this
feat occurred over many centuries as sufis connected their activi
ties to those of the Prophet, which enabled them adroitly to bask
in the shadow of his extraordinary Prophetic charisma. In this
process it was the directing-shaykhs among the sufis who were
able to mobilize effectively, and in some cases even originate,
sources of personal authority recognized by the Muslim commu
nity.

67Brinkley Messick, The Calligraphic State: Textual Domination and History in a

Muslim Society, p. 15.
”!'Seyyid Hossein Nasr poetically describes these kinds of differences in his
Oral Transmission and the Book in Islamic Education: The Spoken and the Writ
ten Word."
CHAPTER 2

From Teaching-Shaykh to
Directing-Shaykh

Sufism through verbal instruction [only] is like building [a house] on dung.

Abu SaTd-i Abu’l-Khayr

Any man w ho does not let him self be guided by a spiritual director is guilty o f
rebellion towards God. For without a guide he could not obtain access to the
road o f salvation, were he to possess by memory a thousand works o f theology.
Shaykh ‘AbdulhadI b. RidwanI
(a nineteenth-century Algerian Shadhill sufi)

As sufi practices became institutionalized in the ninth century,

the respectful relationship between the teaching-shaykh and the
student in both sufi and jurist circles began to change to a much
more structured authoritarian master-disciple relationship.1 As
the sufi shaykh became endowed with the superhuman prophetic
traits of a functionally infallible leader, he no longer acted as an
informal guide or teaching-shaykh to an ad-hoc group of stu­
dents. Instead he lived in his lodge among his community of dis­
ciples whose behavior he circumscribed by the rules set down in
sufi manuals. This enlarging of both the scope and degree of the
sufi's authority is expressed by the term "directing-shaykh."
This change came at a critical juncture in Islamic history, when

'The fluidity of the teaching-shaykh environment becoming relatively struc­

tured with the advent of the directing-shaykh paralleled similar kinds of develop­
ments in other Islamic institutions as Muslims grew from a minority Arab
community to become a majority multiethnic community over four or five centu­
ries. For these ninth- and tenth-century Muslims, "their God is a Persian shah, not
an Arab king. His laws are not negotiated but decreed." Kevin Reinhart, Before
Revelation: The Boundaries of Muslim Moral Thought, p. 179.
Islamic institutions, both juristic and sufi, were being established
in increasingly Muslim multiethnic societies and the centralized
caliphal empire was breaking up into a dynamic and expanding
network of successor states ruled by independent rulers (begin­
ning with the Buyids in 334/945). For much of the Islamic world
in the ensuing six or more centuries directing-shaykhs were an
integral part of the a'yan-amir social system through which the
notables (a'yan) legitimized and mediated the power of the local
garrison commanders (amirs).2 In a social system where patron­
age and loyalty held the key to political power, many proteges of
God supplied the resources for the needed mediatory expertise.3
The inward "anti-structure" of sufi lodges transformed individu­
als while legitimizing the outer Islamic institutions that main­
tained landed families and supported commercial activities in
cities.
A directing-shaykh, or someone like him, will always share an
integral mediating role wherever there is an agrarian system with
a weak central government. Islamicate herding/agrarian societies
during this early period, based upon farming by horse and plow,
operated with relatively scarce resources, most of which the
urban minority (less than 10 percent of the population) drained
off from the surrounding countryside.4 This highly stratified soci­
ety was composed of an aristocracy, officials, tradesmen, soldiers,
ulama, sufis, peasants, and nomads. The authoritarian and hier­
archical constructs of the Islamic religion kept this system from
flying apart, not brute force. Such a situation resembled its coun­
terparts in the premodem world, whether the mythological con­
struct was Christian, Hindu, or Confucian-Buddhist. All these
constructs had a system of doctrines and practices with an un­
questioned universal claim that created a collective identity by
relativizing prior ethnic and tribal identities.5 The integrating
power of this Muslim identity allowed a broad spectrum of views
and practices that brought together many disparate (and poten­
tially opposing) attitudes and interest groups. The social cohe­
sion created by the shared set of Islamic symbolic resources

^Marshall Hodgson, The Venture of Islam: Conscience and History in a World Civili­
zation, 3 vols., 2:64-69.
3Such a case parallels holy men in late Roman society (ca. 400-500 c .e .) elo­
quently described and analyzed by Peter Brown in his "The Rise and Function of
the Holy Man in Late Antiquity." The centralized Persian government precluded
the development of a parallel phenomenon of holy men in Persia.
“This synopsis of agrarian economies is based upon Gerhard Lenski, Jean Len-
ski, Patrick Nolan, Human Societies: An Introduction to Macrosociology, pp. 158-85.
5Jiirgen Habermas, Communication and the Evolution of Society, pp. 110-16.
united these disparate parts into what Marshall Hodgson has
aptly termed an "Islamicate" Civilization.
The authoritarian directing-shaykh was probably no more dic­
tatorial than his peers in other domains of society. Sufis and other
mediators were essential for the smooth operation of an agrarian
society with no strong central authority, since they successfully
embodied the central symbol of authority, Muhammad, and the
Islamic worldview while legitimizing the outer political struc­
tures of society.6
Ibn ‘Abbad ar-Rundl (d. 790/1388), a Moroccan sufi, explained
the changes in the sufi's scope of authority by defining two kinds
of sufi shaykhs in the teaching-shaykh (shaykh al-taclim), who is
required for guidance, and the directing-shaykh (shaykh al-larbi-
yya), who, in his demand for unquestioning authority, is neces­
sary only for those whose moral character and intellectual
training are in some way defective.7 Fritz Meier, following
ar-Rundl's lead, determined that the transition between sufi
teaching-shaykhs and directing-shaykhs began in Nishapur dur­
ing the last quarter of the ninth century. From there the directing-
shaykh model spread unabated along with other institutional
developments throughout the Islamic world in the course of the
eleventh century until it became the norm in sufism.8
Ar-Rundl explains that sufi teaching-shaykhs provided instruc­
tion in religious duties, morals (akhlaq), and theoretical sufism,

6In a Buddhist parallel, George Samuel has discovered a strikingly similar social
structure with Tibetan lamas acting in a similar capacity as directing-shaykhs. He
poses the question of why Tibet is unique among all other Buddhist societies in
having lamas, i.e., Buddhist religious leaders who manipulate supernatural
power, act as spiritual mentors to their disciples, and have a recognized spiritual
lineage (the Buddhist equivalent of the three sources of authority associated with
directing-shaykhs). George Samuel, "Tibet as a Stateless Society and Some Islamic
Parallels." He also states that there is a partial but significant exception in the case
of Burma.
7In practice this would mean everyone except the most talented and egoless
seekers. Fatwa Abr'Abdullah Muhammad b. Ibrahim b. 'Abbad ar-Rundi, in the appen­
dix of 'Abdurrahman Muhammad Ibn Khaldun, Shift!" al-sail, li-tahdhib al-masa’il
pp. 111-27. See also John Renard, trans., Ibn 'Abbad of Ronda: Letters on the Sufi
Path, pp. 184-94. Ar-Rundi's fatwa answered a question posed by Andalusian
sufis as to whether a sufi master is indispensable or not. An Andalusian Malik!
jurist, Abu’l-'Abbas al-Qabbab (d. 777-78/1375), and Ibn Khaldun were also in­
volved in this discussion concerning whether one should learn from books or
from a master. Muhsin Mahdi sums up the salient points in his article, "The Book
and the Master as Poles of Cultural Change in Islam."
“Fritz Meier, "Hurasan und das Ende der klassischen Sufik." See also Meier's
"QushayrT's Tartlb as-suluk," which might not be al-Qushayrl's. See ‘Abdul-
husayn Zarrlnkub, "Justuju dar tasawwuf-i Iran (3)," p. 27 n. 113.
just as a teaching-shaykh in a madrasa did. Students traveled
freely among sufi teaching shaykhs, sharing each other's com­
panionship while learning and cultivating interior practices. Like
other students in a conventional religious school, they had many
teaching-shaykhs and no particular allegiance to any one of
them.9 But unlike ordinary religious-school students, these travel­
ing sufis belonged to a spiritual, intellectual, and moral elite
who already had their ego (nafs) under control before joining the
small circles around the teaching-shaykhs.10 Examples of such ex­
ceptional sufis were al-Harith al-Muhasibl (d. 243/857) and Mu­
hammad Abu Talib al-Makkl (d. 383/993 or 386/996), who
apparently taught themselves independently and only went to
teaching-shaykhs to refine and guide their learning.11 But the stu­
dent-teacher relationship was similar when the teacher was a reli­
gious scholar or a sufi.
Further research will likely refine ar-Rundf s idealistic picture
of early sufism, but references in sufi literature do support his
assertion that there was a category of directing-shaykh. By the
eleventh century disciples conceived of their relationship as one
of a willing slave, an orphan needing a father, or a sick person
dependent upon the treatment of a physician.12In the twelfth cen­
tury this last comparison was used to explain the trials to which
Majduddln Baghdadi (d. 616/1219) was subjected as a disciple:
"When he entered the service of a sheikh, he was made to serve
'at the place of ablution,' i.e., to clean the latrines. His mother, a
well-to-do lady physician, asked the master to exempt the tender
boy from this work, and sent him twelve Turkish slaves to do the
cleaning. But he replied: 'You are a physician—if your son had
an inflammation of the gall bladder, should I give the medicine
to a Turkish slave instead of giving it to him?' " 13
Examples of the shift to directing-shaykh in Nishapur began
with Abu Hafs al-Haddad (d. ca. 265/879), who traveled with his

9Some allegedly had hundreds of teachers, e.g., Junayd (d. 297/910) had 200
masters and Aba Yazld al-Bistaml (d. 261/874) had 113 teachers; see Meier, "Qus-
hayrl's Tartlb as-suluk," p. 1.
10Renard, Ibn 'Abbad of Ronda, p. 185.
A good example of needing travel to deepen one's spiritual experiences is
Muhylddln Ibn al-'Arabl (d. 638/1240). See Claude Addas, Ibn 'Arabian la quete
du soufre rouge, translated by Peter Kingsley, Quest for the Red Sulphur: The Life of
Ibn 'Arabi.
,2Fritz Meier, "Hurasan und das Ende der klassischen Sufik," pp. 550-53; and
J. L. Michon, "L'autobiographie (Fahrasa) du soufi marocain Ahmad Ibn Ailba
(1747-1809) (3me partie)," p. 120.
13Abu 'Abdurrahman JamI, Nafahat al-uns, p. 424, cited in Annemarie Schimmel,
Mystical Dimensions, p. 101.
disciples to visit Junayd in Baghdad.14 While there Junayd re­
marked that Abu Hafs seemed to drill his disciples like a sultan
drilling his soldiers, to which Abu Hafs replied, "Outer discipline
is the best sign of inner discipline." Mamshad ad-Dlnawari (d.
299/911-12) stressed the need to venerate the shaykh, and Ja'far
al-Khuldl (d. 348/959-60) the need not to hurt the shaykh's feel­
ings or say unkind things about him. The extent of a disciple's
unquestioning obedience determined his or her progress on the
sufi path. Abu Sahl Muhammad as-Su‘lukI (d. 369/980) remarked
that a disciple who asked his spiritual mentor "Why?" would
never progress (cf. Q. 21:23). When al-Qushayrl wrote his Risala in
437-38/1046, for a disciple to contradict his master was a serious
enough offense to sever the connection between them. With the
advent of directing-shaykhs, each disciple was required to be
under the supervision of only one shaykh. Carefree wandering
between masters was henceforth prohibited; a novice had to ask
the shaykh for permission to travel.
This concentration of authority in one person and the expecta­
tion of unquestioning obedience had its parallels in other concur­
rent Islamic institutional developments. By the tenth century the
common people unquestioningly obeyed the teachings of one
(and only one) imam of a school of jurisprudence in much the
same way as the Imamls had obeyed the iman's legal advice a
century earlier.15 In sufi circles disciples were required to follow
the directing-shaykh's school of jurisprudence, a natural corol­
lary to the requirement that he behave and think in utter conform­
ity with the master, a living heir of the Prophet.16
Having a single spiritual mentor meant that anyone who had
not been properly initiated by a guide could no longer be con­
sidered a legitimate sufi: "There are many conditions for the
master-disciple (ptri-mundi) relationship, the sufi robe, and com­
panionship with the sufis (suhbat). Our group does not recognize

’"For this paragraph I have relied on Meier, "Hurasan und das Ende der klas-
sischen Sufik,” pp. 548-59.
15The significant difference was that in practical terms an ordinary person could
ask various jurists (who followed the same imam) and none were considered
infallible like an Imam! imam (although jurists' decisions were considered free
from error). There were five hundred Sunni schools of jurisprudence in the ninth
century; the number by the thirteenth century had dwindled to four, the Hanball,
Malikl, HanafI, and Shafi‘1.
,6Muhammad b. Munawwar, Asrdr al-tawhid fT maqSmat Shaykh Abl Sa'id,
pp. 20-21; translated by John O'Kane, The Secrets of God's Mystical Oneness, p. 83.
AbG Sa‘ld-i Aba’l-Khayr explains that Abu Yazld al-Bistaml followed Ja'far as-
Sadiq's school of law since he was Ja'far's disciple.
anyone who does not have a pir and who is not simultaneously
following him. Even one who has had unseen things revealed to
him [if he] does not have a guide, nothing [worthwhile] will come
from his company.”17 Such a development indicates an institu­
tionalization of the sufi shaykh involving a concentration of au­
thority, both juridical and sufi, in the directing-shaykh. Only sufi
masters having acknowledged connections with Muhammad,
e.g., a recognized spiritual genealogy, were considered valid sufi
shaykhs.
These developments in sufi authority influenced practices in
scholarly circles also. The shift from teaching- to directing-shaykh
placed an unprecedented emphasis on correct behavior (adab).
Before this time correct manners were already important and cer­
tainly acquired by the religious students, but sources do not indi­
cate any systematic and conscious emphasis on behavior until the
advent of the directing-shaykh. ‘Abdullah b. al-Mubarak (d. 181/
797) mentions the gnostic's Carif) need for correct behavior. Sahl
b. ‘Abdullah at-Tustarl (d. 283/896) and later Abu ‘Abdurrahman
as-Sulaml (d. 412/1021) mention correct behavior as a means to
subdue the ego.18 As-Sulaml advises those who are pursuing the
sufi path to go "to an imam of the community whose sincere
advice manifests [through his behavior] and [who] educates (fu’-
addibu) [on that basis].”19 First one learns adab based upon the
Prophetic model, which leads to the second station of akhlaq, real­
ized by imitation of one's shaykh. On this basis one progresses to
the third station, that of mystical states (ahwal).20
Using ar-Rundl's classification of shaykhs, where is the bound­
ary between the teaching- and directing-shaykh? or a religious
scholar and a sufi shaykh? A directing-shaykh requires unques­
tioning obedience to himself (typically sealed through an initia­
tion ritual), but teaching correct behavior and acting as an
exemplar for students were tasks that religious scholars could,
and did, also perform. A person's status was to a significant ex­
tent determined by behavior, as Abu ‘All Muhammad ath-Tha-
qafl (d. 328/939-940) relates, "[An educated person] can
recognize the status/rank of people educated under a [sufi]
shaykh, imam, or well-behaved teacher (mu’addib). Someone who

l7Ibid. p. 46 [additions mine] (trans. p. 119).

Abu 1-Qasim Abdulkarlm b. Hawazin al-Qushayrl, Al-risala al-qushayriyya ft
H™“Ltasawwuf, 2:562, and Abu ‘Abdurrahman as-Sulaml, Manahij al-'Hrifht, p. 31.
"Here imam is used in the sense of a spiritual guide. See Sulami, Manahij al-'ar-
ifin, p. 25.
2 Ibid., pp. 31,38. Abu Sa'ld-i Abu’l-Khayr also underlines this threefold hierar­
chy. Muhammad b. Munawwar, Asrar al-taxuhid, p. 309 [trans. p. 479).
has not received an education from a teacher (ustadh) demon­
strates [this] in his inappropriate behavior and exhibition of
ego."21 These examples confirm that the pedagogical develop­
ments occurring in the sufi environment were part of larger and
widespread transformations in Islamic culture generally.22 Part of
the "sharT vision" involved appropriate behavior modeled on the
Prophet. The religious elite directed their efforts particularly
toward molding behavior, a task made easier by the unques­
tioned authority they had over their charges. At some point these
Prophetic patterns became so widespread that fathers became
directing-shaykhs of sorts to their sons. Life itself unconsciously
expressed the sharT vision. The mythological ordering of society
according to the Islamic sharT pattern had reached a self-replicat­
ing point as the twin trajectories of anti-structure (sufi activity)
and structure (ulama/sufi activity) combined synergistically to
undergird the politically decentralized agrarian societies encom­
passed by this same focused vision.
The ulama used every opportunity to acquire the kind of ritual
power exercised by the sufis by associating religious knowledge
with supernatural grace (baraka) and knowledge of the forbidden
(haram) and permitted (halal) with remembrance of God (dhikr).23

2'A1-Qushayri, ATrisala, 1:164.

22One would expect that certain rituals of transmitting religious knowledge re­
ported in medieval sources, e.g., unquestioning obedience to one's teacher and
keeping a state of ritual purity when in the company of one's teacher, developed
alongside the appearance of the directing-shaykh. For examples in medieval Da­
mascus, see Michael Chamberlain, Knowledge and Social Practice in Medieval Damas­
cus, 1190-1350, pp. 125-31. The famous sufi author al-Qushayri (d. 465/1072) so
revered his master that he fasted and made a complete ablution when he went to
see him. See Margaret Malamud, "Sufi Organization and Structures of Authority
in Medieval Nishapur," p. 435. Even a person following the dictates of a religious
scholar who made an erroneous judgment following the leader (imam) of the
school of jurisprudence was rewarded on the Last Day. One could always go to
another scholar for an alternative legal opinion, which was not an option with
a directing-shaykh. See Norman Calder, "Ikhtilaf and Ijma‘ in ShafiTs Risala."
Professor Muhammad Qasim Zaman kindly brought this latter article to my at­
tention.
23This worked both ways—hence the justification of sufism in terms of another
branch of knowledge. Many ulama were also sufis. Sufis specialized in channeling
God's divine grace (fayd), often facilitated by special individual and collective
sessions, to recollect God. For ways ulama attempted to coopt sufi wonders and
marvels, see Tarif Khalidi, Arabic Historical Thought in the Classical Period, p. 213.
Jurists also had functional infallibility in their decisions, a position supported in
part by interpreting ash-ShafiTs discussion of ijtihad. Such reasoning concluded
that all decisions made on the basis of ijtihad were equally valid, i.e., free from
error (kullti mujtahid musib). Such a device conveniently allows for a diversity of
legal opinion, aptly substantiated by a hadith, "Difference of opinion (ikhtilaf) in
my community is a blessing." See Norman Calder, "Ikhtilaf and Ijma\"
The net result of these developing patterns of authority and ritu
als of transmitting religious knowledge was to increase the pres
tige and status of sufis and ulama, both of whom considered
themselves "heirs of the prophets." When discussing "those in
authority" (fi/iT al-amr) in the Qur’an, al-Qushayrl includes both
the exemplary scholar (imam) and the shaykh in his group.24 By
the time of the directing-shaykh the Prophet had achieved super
natural status, the sufi pir with his functional infallibility had
reached superhuman status, and the ulama were not far behind.
When spiritual journeying developed from ascetic practices the
teaching-shaykh's role increasingly blended with that of the di
recting-shaykh. Unquestioning obedience to a spiritual mentor
must always have been a requirement for intermediate and ad
vanced disciples traveling in the spiritual heights; the dangers of
solo travel were obvious. Conversely, a directing-shaykh's re
sponsibilities would often include the teaching-shaykh's reper
toire, especially when large numbers of people came to sufi
lodges. Most of the aspirants who came to lodges never pro
gressed beyond the most elementary stages of spiritual practice.
Once initiated, technically the sufi pir was their directing-shaykh,
but actual training for these novices would probably never go
beyond instilling an outward adab in conformity with the sunna-
based rules of the sufi lodge. The vast majority of people coming
to the sufi lodge were impressed by the pir's exalted status and
encompassing access to supernatural power, but they would
probably not become formally initiated disciples.25 For them the
sufi pir was, at most, someone who could effectively act as a me
diator between the divine and human worlds to assist them in
their worldly difficulties. The awe that the pir inspired in his dis
ciples might have impressed many visitors,26 further enhancing
sufi prestige in the wider—and increasingly Islamic—society.

24Abu 1-Qasim al-Qushayn, Lata'if al-isharat, 3 vols., 1:341. He is discussing

Qur’an, 4:59, in the context of God exhorting people to obey Muhammad and
those who are in authority.
“Hagiographers usually do not discuss the number of disciples in a shaykh's
circle, and any numbers mentioned cannot be trusted. Some extremes are Hamld-
uddln NagGrI Suhrawardl (d. 641—42/1244), who only had three disciples reach
ing perfection, and Safluddln Ardablll (d. 735/1344), who allegedly facilitated
twenty thousand to repent of their sins in one day. Of the earlier sufis, Sahl at-
Tustari (d. 283/896) was said to have had 400 disciples when he died; Abu Hamid
al-Ghazzall (d. 505/1111) had 150 disciples; and Mansur al-Hallaj (martyred 309/
922) had 400. See Muhsin Kiyanl, Tarikh-i khanaqah dar Iran, pp. 352-56.
26In 1936, Sibghatullah II, the well-known Sindi sufi Pir PagarO, was released
from jail. In view of his envy of the Agha Khan's worldwide respect and honor,
Sibghatullah II challenged, "I will produce for you ten Hurs [his most loyal disci-
 As sufism became more institutionalized and thereby more
prominent in the larger Muslim community, sufis became more
involved in the community's devotional life and in a wide range
of activities in addition to spiritual guidance. They cured dis­
eases, averted calamities, and made amulets, functions that had
been performed before by non-Muslims. By the eleventh century,
when Muslims were in a majority, sufis performed these tasks
and thus enlarged the scope of their authority. Since physical dis­
ease was believed to result from spiritual disease, efficacious
cures depended on an unquestioning faith in the sufi master. This
occasional psychological dependence on the shaykh had nothing
to do with spiritual guidance along the path towards God; it sim­
ply reflected the increased mediatory functions of the directing-
shaykh in Islamic society.
Still, the defining characteristic of the directing-shaykh was set
within the sufi context of training others to approach God more
closely and intimately. His role in the larger society, whether so­
cial, interpersonal, or political, rested upon his connection to the
divine. His inner circle of initiated aspirants on the sufi path had
claims upon him of vital dependence, "Just as the infant drinks
milk at the breast of its mother or wetnurse, receiving from them
the sustenance without which it would perish, so too the infant
of the spirit drinks the milk of the Path and of Truth from the
nipple of the mother of prophethood, or the wetnurse of saint­
hood [wilayat], receiving from the prophet or the shaikh—who
stands in place of the prophet—that sustenance without which it
would perish."27 Being in the company of a directing-shaykh
often proved to be a qualitatively more intense experience than
sitting at the feet of the teacher.
A common synonym for the shaykh or pir is a guide (murshid),
which indicates the nature of his role. Few who enter his tutelage
would think to doubt his spiritual authority any more than the
average modern Westerner would question a surgeon about the

pies] who for my sake will confess to a murder they have not done and will gladly
hang for it! Can the Agha Khan produce one such, even?" Cited in Peter Mayne,
Saints of Sind, p. 121 [comments in brackets mine].
27NajmuddIn RazI, Mirsitd al-ibad min al-mabdH’ ilfi’Tma'fid, translated by Hamid
Algar, The Path of God's Bondsmen from Origin to Return (Delmar: Caravan Books,
1982), pp. 223-24 [additions in brackets mine], Najmuddln Razl's sobriquet daya
means wet nurse. Margaret Malamud's "Gender and Spiritual Self-Fashioning:
The Master-Disciple Relationship in Classical Sufism," pp. 89-117, further ex­
plores these kind of relationships in sufism. Sadruddln Qunawl (d. 673/1274)
declared that he had "drunk milk from the breasts of two mothers," i.e., his two
shaykhs Ibn al-‘ArabT (d. 638/1240) and Awhaduddln KirmanI (d. 635/1238). See
Razl, The Path of God’s Bondsman, p. 43.
procedures used in an operation or a commercial jet pilot about
his skills in navigation. If serious misgivings arise one declines
surgery or takes the train; correspondingly one would simply
cease to associate with the sufi shaykh. Sufi practice requires an
unquestioning demeanor. It is a rational response to a system
based not only on psychological principles but also upon a sufi
interpretation of how best to follow the Prophetic example. Sufis
are qualified to monitor the manifold ego games that people play
because they have gone on an inner mystical journey analogous
to the Prophetic ascension. Abu Yazld al-Bistaml complained,
" 'O God, with my egoism there is no way to You nor is there
[any way] I can escape from egoism. What should I do?' God
replied, 'O Abu Yazld your deliverance from your ego [will result
from] following My beloved [Muhammad]. Anoint your eyes
with the dust of his feet and follow him continually'. . . . Sufis
call this Bayazld's ascension (mi'raj), meaning [his] proximity [to
God]. The ascension of prophets manifests outwardly with the
[physical] body while that of the friends of God manifests as an
inward journey of the spirit. The bodies of the prophets resemble
the hearts of God's proteges in their purity and nearness [to
God]."28
From a sufi point of view, a believer without a personal guide
runs the risk of never progressing past the stage of belief (tman)
to become a muslim, i.e., a person who has submitted his or her
ego to God.29 The situation is similar to Iblls, who, believing him
self to be superior to a being of clay, refused to bow down to
Adam (Q. 38:71-85). This would be equivalent to accepting the
first half of the Muslim profession of faith, "There is no god but

2s‘AlI Ibn ‘Uthman al-Jullabi al-HujwIrl, Kashf al-mahjub, p. 306; translated by

Reynolds A. Nicholson, The Kashf Al-Mahjub: The Oldest Persian Treatise on Sufism,
p. 238. R. C. Zaehner notes the difference between al-HujwIrl's rendition of Abu
Vazld's words and a similar quote preserved by Abu Nasr as-Sarraj (d. 378/988).
See Hindu and Muslim Mysticism, p. 125.
29This section explains why many sufis place the stage of submission (islam)
before the stage of faith (Tman) which then leads to the stage of perfection of
worship (ihsan). Sufis declare that unless the ego (nafs) is tamed, belief and reli
gious practice are meaningless. In other sufi interpretations, isldm is compared to
the starlight, Tman to moonlight, and ihsan to sunlight. See Ahmad b. ‘Ajlba al-
Hasanl, Iqaz al-himam fr sharh al-hikam, pp. 80, 197-98, 278. In contrast, religious
scholars and jurists require faith as a prerequisite to submission, which they de
fine as correct performance of religious duties. Shari'a-minded sufis, e.g., Naqsh-
bandl-Mujaddidls and the Shadhllls, follow the order of faith before submission.
See Ahmad Sirhindl, Maktubat-i imam-i rabbanT, 3 vols., volume 1, Letter 71
pp. 52-53 [hereafter Maktubdt, 1.71.52-53] and Vincent Cornell, "The Logic of
Analogy and the Role of the Sufi Shaykh in Post-Marinid Morocco," p. 78.
God," without also fully accepting the second half, "and Muham­
mad is His messenger." Identifying only with the transcendental
aspect of Islam, as Iblls did, makes one susceptible to the danger
of pride. The human capacity for self-deception is such that peo­
ple could easily think they were good Muslims on the basis of
their love for an invisible, distant, and impersonal God and their
fulfillment of ritual obligations. It is precisely this tendency,
IblTsian Tawhtd,30 of deviating from the teaching of the prophets,
that eventually requires new prophets or heirs to the prophets to
remind people of the "original" message.
Sufis assert their claim as specialists in the enterprise of rejuve­
nating religion since the last prophet, Muhammad, has departed.
Such a psychological emphasis on the Prophet reinforces the so­
ciological concern for the particular community of Muslims. The
original community of the Prophet and his Companions repre­
sents the ideal Muslim community, the re-creation of which is the
goal of the sufi shaykh and his disciples.
Like the function of a prophet that of the sufi pir and other of
God's proteges is to bring divine trials to those who have not
submitted their egos to God.31 Abu Yazld, in the example above,

x Tawhid is the declaration of God's oneness. The Sunni consensus considers

Iblls's declaration of unity defective because of his failure to recognize the divine
aspect in the human form. Minority views in the Muslim community have de­
clared Iblls to be the ultimate monotheist; see Peter Awn, Satan's Tragedy and Re­
demption: IblTs in Sufi Psychology. "Muhammadan Tawhid" recognizes divine unity
both in the human and in the transcendent, the human being potentially acting
as a bridge between the material world and the divine. Such a human being,
simultaneously in contact with the higher and lower spheres of existence, has
been called the Perfect Human (al-insSn al-kfimil) in later sufi treatises. See ‘Abdul-
karlm al-jlll, Kitctb al-insan al-kamil.
3,RumI frequently groups prophets and friends of God (awliya’) together in one
category. Although the sufi systematizers and jurists resolved religious dogmatic
concerns by making clear existential boundaries between prophets and friends of
God, sufis realized the functional similarity of both categories in guiding the spir­
itual development of humanity. There is a plausible argument linking the venera­
tion of the sufi shaykh with the prior development of venerating the prophet. For
details of this argument see Ignaz Goldziher, "The Veneration of Saints in Islam."
For the historical development of Muslim veneration of Muhammad, see Tor An-
drae, Die Person Muhammads in Lehre und Glaube seiner Gemeinde and Annemarie
Schimmel, And Muhammad Is His Messenger: The Veneration of the Prophet in Islamic
Piety. Equally plausible is Bruce Lawrence's hypothesis that holy men became
the exemplars by which Muhammad was retrospectively portrayed. See his "The
Chishtiya of Sultanate India: A Case Study of Biographical Complexities in South
Asian Islam," p. 49. My argument is that, by RQml's time at least, Muhammad
and the pir were functionally equated, e.g., "God asserted that his (the pir's) hand
is like His own [hand] as in God's hand is over their hands" (Q. 48:10) [referring
to an oath of allegiance with Muhammad], See Jalaluddln RumI, Mathnawi-yi
ma'nawT, 6 vols., volume 1, verse 2972 [hereafter 1.2972], The Prophet allegedly
was advised to follow the Prophetic path to escape from egoism.
The personal authority of a shaykh, who himself follows the
sunna, will continually utilize the skillful means at his disposal
to challenge, entrap, and ultimately transform the egos of his dis­
ciples.*32 It is easy to be complacent and proud while worshiping
a transcendent God, or even venerating the Prophet. But there is
nowhere to hide under the piercing gaze of a sufi pir. People who
proudly believe they are exemplary Muslims on the basis of
memorization of the Qur’an, hadith, and other knowledge ob­
tained from books and who reject any need for personal guidance
would from a sufi perspective be considered under the influence
of Iblisian Taivhid. Through the master's example and guidance
one learns how to tame the nafs and experience what it means to
worship god in an unassuming fashion.
Maulana Jalaluddln Rumi (d. 672/1273), whose compendium
of mystical poetry in the Mathnawi-yi ma'nazvT has been called
"the Qur’an in Persian," continually emphasizes the need for
submitting one's ego to the directing-shaykh.33 Underlining the
functional equivalence of the Prophet and the intimate of God, he
writes: "God made prophets intermediaries in order that envious
feelings arise [in others] through anxiety [of the ego]. Since no
one was shamed by God, no one was envious of God. [However]
the person whom he considered like himself would be [the object

said, "A shaykh who has gone forward [to become near to God] is like a prophet
among his own people.” See MatlmmvT, 3:1774. God brought friends of God to
earth so that He may make them a mercy to the two worlds [refers to a hadith
describing Muhammad as the mercy to the jinn and humans]. See MathnawT,
3:1804.
32RumI gives a masterful example of how humans must learn from other hu­
mans, i.e., the necessity of personal teaching, charismatic or otherwise. He first
explains how parrots are taught to imitate human speech by putting them in front
of a mirror. Although the unseen person behind the mirror is talking, the parrot
thinks the parrot reflected in the mirror is speaking. The parrot, being totally
ignorant of the actual situation, has little knowledge, if any, of human beings. In
a similar fashion God holds the mirror of the shaykh in front of the disciple, who
sees him- or herself reflected. Due to egoism the disciple cannot see the universal
Reason Caql-i kull) behind the mirror and supposes a man is speaking. See Rumi,
MathnawT, 5:1429-40. Note Ruml's statement: As long as you view pious ones
[prophets and intimates of God] as human beings, [know] this perception is an
inheritance from Iblls. See ibid., 1:3962.
"See Rumi, Mathnawi-yi manawi. It was the Naqshbandl ‘Abdurrahman Jam!
(d. 898/1492) who declared Ruml's masterful poetry to be the Persian equivalent
of the Qur’an (in the sense of a Persian commentary). Much of what has been
commonly shared in the Persianate Islamic world (in this case the notion and
justification of the directing-shaykh) has been facilitated by Ruml's Persian
poetry, which was much more accessible than an untranslated Arabic Qur’an.
of his] envy—[precisely] for that reason. When the greatness of
the Prophet became established, from [his] acceptance [by the
Muslim community] no one became envious of him. Thus in
every time a protege of God (wait) exists to [act as] a continual
test until the Day of Judgment.”34 Since God sent the Prophet to
guide humanity personally, sufis believe there will always be
heirs of the Prophet to guide succeeding generations.35
Naqshbandls define a perfect and perfection-bestowing sufi
master as a person who has arrived close to God (having wilayat)
by traveling along the Path and who has returned in a prophet­
like way to assist others do the same. In this respect, the protege
of God is functionally equated with the Prophet. But how can the
pirs demand so much authority that obedience to them appears
to have priority over the worship of God as in the adage "Service
[to the shaykh] is preferable to worship [of God]” (al-khidma afdal
min al-'ibada)?36 When some travelers asked AbuTHasan al-Khar-
aqanl (d. 425/1033) to pray for their safety, he advised them to
set out on their journey in the name of God and call out AbuT-
Hasan's name if they ran into trouble. When highway robbers
attacked the caravan, those who called on the shaykh were saved
and those who called on God were robbed and killed. AbuT­
Hasan explained later that those who called on God directly peti­
tioned someone they did not know and so received no aid. Those
appealing to AbuT-Hasan used the name of a person who knew
God and who could then intercede and assist them.37
Even if one accepts the sufi contention that only a person with
a controlled ego is truly a muslim, how does veneration and un­
questioning obedience to the shaykh put a person in what sufis
define as the correct relationship with the Divine? Abu SaTd-i
AbuT-Khayr's (d. 440/1049) hagiographer, Muhammad b. Mu-
nawwar, relates this story:

There was a certain Ibrahim Yanal, who was the brother of the Sultan
Tughril [Beg], coming down the road. When he saw our shaykh [Abu

34RumT, MathnawT, 2:811-15. .

’’Twelver Shfls declare that the world is never without an imam.
36See Louis Massignon, Essai sur les origines du lexique technique de la mystique
musulmane, pp. 116-17.
37Mlr Khurd, Siyar al-awliya , p. 338, cited in M. Mujeeb, The Indian Muslims,
p. 125. Later, parallel ideas are reflected in ‘Abdulquddus GangOhl's (d. 944/
1537) contention that, “a disciple worshipping [venerating] the pir was better than
the worshipper of the Lord . . . for the latter was busy with the contemplation
of his own self and therefore neglected God; one who adored the pir however,
worshipped God through the contemplation of His creature." See MaktubSt-i
quddusiyya, p. 125, cited in S. A. A. Rizvi, A History of Sufism in India, 2 volumes,
1:348.
SaTd-i Abu’l-Khayr] he got off his horse and came before our shaykh
bowing his head and kissed his [Abu’l-Khayr's] hand. Our shaykh said,
"Go lower," and he brought his head down lower. The shaykh said, "Go
lower," and he lowered his head until it was almost touching the
ground. [Then] the shaykh said, blessing him with a bism illah, "OK,
mount [your horse]." The shaykh rode off and returned to the sufi lodge
(khdnaqah ) . . . . [Explaining this event later to a dervish, the shaykh said,]
"You do not know that whoever greets us does so for the sake of Him.
Our body is the way for people to approach God. The goal, however, is
Truth (J); we are not present. So the more humble each act of service that
they do for the sake of Him, the more acceptable it is [to God]. Therefore
I commanded Ibrahim Yanal to serve God, not to serve us . . . The Ka'ba
is regarded as the direction of prayer (q ib la ) by all Muslims so that people
may bow down [to God], yet the Ka'ba itself is not even there. They
reverence me as humanity's approach to God (q ibla-y i khalq) but I am not
there [either]."38

The sufi shaykh as the transparent intermediary between God

and humanity has the same kind of authority as Muhammad has
in the Qur’an, since obedience to the Prophet is synonymous with
obedience to God.39 For those who have submitted their egos to
God, an equivalence between God and them exists; they have
"taken on the color" of God. In Rumi's words, "Whoever wants
to sit with God should sit in the presence of the protege of
God."40 When a prophet or friend of God is so absorbed in God,
it is said that people's attitude toward either of them indicates
their position toward God. This explains the alleged Divine say­
ing from God ( h a d T t h q u d s t ) , "The person who harms a protege of
God makes war on me."41
RumI and other sufi commentators explain Mansur al-Hallaj's

^Muhammad b. Munawwar, AsrSr al-tawhTd, p. 234 [trans. pp. 352-53], The

reigning Sultan was Tughril I (d. 429/1038).
’There are a dozen additional examples in the Qur’an which equate obedience
to God with obedience to the Prophet, e.g., "And obey God and the Messenger
so that you may receive mercy" (Q. 3:132), or "If you obey God with His Messen­
ger He will not withhold from you anything (you deserve) from your deeds" (Q.
49:14). Rflml relates a story where a person asks why both Muhammad and God
are praised in the call to prayer (the profession of faith is repeated twice, mention­
ing that Muhammad is the messenger of God) instead of just God. The answer is
that praising Muhammad is praising God. If God is compared to a king and
Mufiammad is the man showing the way to the king then praising the man is, in
reality, praising the king. See Jalaluddln RumI, Kitab-i flhi ma fthi, p. 227
■“Rami, MathnawT, 2:2163.
4,A1-Hujwlrt, Kashf al-mahjub, p. 268 [English trans. p. 212], For variants, includ­
ing a possible parallel Shl‘1 hadith, see Badl'uzzaman Furuzanfar, Ahadah-i math-
nauWI' P P -J8' 185‘ ° ne variant introduces the Divine saying (hadTth qudsT) cited
above, When I love a servant. .."
utterance, "I am God" (and al-haqq), as meaning that he has anni­
hilated himself and only God remains (man fana’ gashtam haqq
manad xva-bas).42 In sufi terminology this is annihilation of the ego
in God (fana’ fi’llah), bringing to mind the hadith qudsT describing
the condition of many pious Muslims: "They are not themselves,
but in so far as they exist at all they exist in God. Their move­
ments are caused by God, and their words are the words of God
which are uttered by their tongues, and their sight is the sight of
God, which has entered into their eyes. So God Most High has
said: 'When I love a servant, I, the Lord, am his ear so that he
hears by Me, I am his eye, so that he sees by Me, and I am his
tongue so that he speaks by Me, and I am his hand so that he
takes by Me.' " 43
The prophets and the friends of God are not only vectors point­
ing to the Ka'ba (the "house of God") but are also referred to as
the Ka'ba itself. RumI states, "The meaning of the Ka'ba is the
heart of the prophets and friends of God and the dwelling place
of God's revelation. The [physical] Ka'ba is a branch of that. If it
were not for the heart what use would the Ka'ba be? The prophets
and friends of God have totally abandoned their own desires and
are following the desire of God. So whatever He commands, they
do it."44 According to sufis the real Ka'ba is, in fact, the light of
God shining from the living protege of God. This is a clear man­
date for the primacy of a living, personal human guide who em­
bodies prophet-like authority.
On what grounds did sufi directing-shaykhs accumulate the
supernatural prestige needed to share with prophets the respon­
sibility of subjecting human pride and ego to divine trials? Sufis
explained that human conditions had deteriorated so much from
the "Golden Age" of the Prophet's lifetime that sufi pirs were
required to span the ever-increasing distance between humanity
and God. Even to make such a claim indicates considerable sufi
success in manipulating the Islamic symbolic universe. Yet one
would have expected the ulama to have marginalized the sufis
early in Islamic history. Memorized texts and the outward exem-
plaiy behavior of ulama manifested itself for all to behold. Sufi
claims were much less visible, especially the claim that a sufi had
arrived close enough to God to have become His protege. Naqsh-

42RumI, Fihi mS fihi, p. 193.

"Margaret Smith, Readings from the Mystics of Islam, no. 20, cited in Annemarie
Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions, p. 43. See also William A. Graham, Divine Word
and Prophetic Word in Early Islam: A Reconsideration of the Sources, with Special Refer­
ence to the Divine Saying or Hadith Qudsi, pp. 173-74.
44RumI, Fihi met fihi, p. 165.
bandis accused the ulama of only superficially imitating the
Prophet and insisted that only sufis replicated both the outward
and inward prophetic realities. The ulama easily countered these
assertions by reminding doubters of their powerful connection to
the sacred scriptures (a useless ploy when sufis had this knowl­
edge also). Often in the Naqshbandl case a display of spiritual
energy (or reports of such feats) more effectively influenced the
average person than erudite ulama-sufi debates. The sufis also
had the advantage of a larger repertoire of services, and these
made their claims sufficiently forceful in Islamic societies. As a
result, for many Muslims the sufi path became the means to reach
God.

The Development of the Sufi Lodge

In their sufi lodges, the sufis tried to replicate the model commu­
nity of the Prophet and his Companions. A set of rituals governed
life in this new institution, including initiation, inculcation of spe­
cial formulas to remember God (dhikr), the bestowal of sufi robes
(sing, khirqa), and a set of elaborate behavioral injunctions gov­
erning every aspect of life—all justified on the basis of the Proph­
et's sunna. The concentration on ritual activities, in some lodges
accompanied by ritual music (sama‘) and regulated seclusion
(khalwa), resulted in a new types of sufi identity and a new con­
stellation of sufi relationships.45 With the possible exception of
seclusion and music, sufis really needed no special location to
perform their religious practices when mosques could serve their
purposes.
The development of the sufi lodge cannot be convincingly ex­
plained solely on the basis of a sudden upsurge of large sufi gath­
erings. Ibn al-Faraji (d. after 290/903) went with 120 sufis to visit
Abu Turab an-Nakhshabl (d. 245/859), and they stayed in
mosques for the entire trip.46 Ahmad b. Khidrawayh (d. 240/854-

45Sufi lodges may have been necessary for those who performed exercises that
would disturb others, e.g., vocal recollection of God. Yusuf Hamadanl's (d. 535/
1140) flourishing sufi lodge in Marv was known as "the Ka'ba of Khurasan."
See Dawlatshah Samarkand!, Tadhkirat al-shu'arc?, p. 76. His paramount successor,
Abdulkhaliq GhujduvanI (d. 575/1179), was against constructing sufi lodges or
even allowing his disciples to visit them because of vocal recollection practices.
See Fakhruddln All Safi Kashifl, Rashahdt-i ‘ayn al-hayat, 1:37. Perhaps sufis like
Yusuf HamadanI needed a separate building for vocal recollection practices or
periods of seclusion (khalwa) while the silent recollection of ‘Abdulkhaliq Ghujdu­
vanI could be performed in a mosque or anywhere else.
Meier, Abu Sa Td-i Abu /-Hayr, p. 296. For this paragraph on the history of sufi
855) allegedly came with a thousand students from Balkh to visit
Abu Yazld al-Bistaml, who had a room for the storage of walking
sticks; it was entirely filled. When in Nubadhan (near Herat) 62
sufis came to meet with the famous ‘Abdullah Ansarl (d. 425/
1034) for forty days; they lived as guests of a different person
each day. Further east in Tirmidh, there were so many people in
the house of al-Haklm at-Tirmidhl in 269/883 that they had to
move to the mosque. Reports indicate that sufis usually gathered
in private houses, or if there were too many people, in a nearby
mosque; the exact same practice is found in Muslim religious ed­
ucation of the time.47 During the tenth century both activities
slowly moved from the mosque to either a madrasa or a sufi
lodge.48 Makdisi has shown how the madrasa and pre-madrasa
institution (mosque-inn complex) grew out of both philanthropic
activity and the efforts of two great politician-statesmen, Badr b.
Hasanawayh al-Kurdl (d. 405/1014) and Nizam al-Mulk at-TusI
(d. 485/1092), both of whom created vast networks of schools
throughout the Islamic world.49 Sufi lodges were sometimes
attached to form a madrasa-khanaqah complex and may have re­
ceived their impetus from the spread of madrasas.50 Often the

lodges I am relying on Fritz Meier's critical summary on pp. 292-312, unless

otherwise noted. For a more complete but less critical history of the sufi lodge,
see KiyanI, Tarikh-i khanaqah.
47Often authors did not distinguish between madrasas and sufi lodges, e.g., one
version of al-MuqaddasI's geographical account calls KarramI abodes khanaqahs
and another version calls them madrasas. See V. V. Bartol'd, "O Pogrebenii Ti-
mura," pp. 70-71. Bartol'd claims that the sufi lodge spread as an institution from
west to east and the religious school from east to west.
4*Just as the college in Islam developed from the mosque to mosque-inn com­
plex to the college, the sufi lodge probably progressed from the mosque to a
mosque-inn or frontier outpost (ribat)-sufi lodge to a sufi lodge proper. See also
Jacqueline Chabbi, "La fonction du ribat a Bagdad du Vc siecle au debut du VIP
siecle." For the madrasa development, see George Makdisi, The Rise of Colleges:
Institutions of Learning in Islam and the West, pp. 29-30. Contrary to Fritz Meier's
skepticism concerning actual sufi lodges before the tenth century, Louis Massig-
non has Bishr al-Hafl (d. 227/841) and al-Muhasibl (d. 243/857) building sufi
lodges near Baghdad in Shuniz, imitating those already built at 'Abbadan, Ramla,
and Lukkam. See his La Passion de Husayn Ibn Mansur Halldj, 1:109-10, trans. Her­
bert Mason, The Passion ofAl-Hallaj: Mystic and Martyr of Islam, 4 volumes, 1:68-69.
49Makdisi, The Rise of Colleges, pp. 28-32. This philanthropic activity had its
practical agenda, viz., to distribute influence and control families of notables.
How these forces operated through endowments in medieval Damascus is ana­
lyzed in Chamberlain's Knowledge and Social Practice.
“See KiyanI, Tarfkh-i khanaqah, pp. 311-22. In Khurasan the countryside became
dotted with the tomb/sufi lodge complexes by the eleventh century. Thirty sufi
lodges are mentioned in Muhammad b. Munawwar's AsrUr al-tawhld. The geogra­
pher al-MuqaddasI, traveling in Khurasan (and many other places) and writing
in the period 375/985-380/990, describes the following Khurasani grave-shrines:
lodges belonged to a sufi and his family, for example, Abu 'Abdu­
rrahman SulamI and his family or Abu Sa Id-i Abu 1-Khayr and
his descendants.51
Like the emergence of the directing-shaykh, the development
of the sufi lodge began in Nishapur,52 where sectarian strife be­
tween the Hanafls and Shafi'Is had broken out. The Hanafl-Kar-
raml old guard allied themselves against the ShafiTs and sufis,
the newer immigrants and converts. Since institutionalization of
colleges or sufi lodges effectively allowed locally powerful men to
control property and support their own faction, financial support
channeled through colleges and sufi lodges enabled them to re­
cruit new members and accumulate power and prestige. Perhaps
the intense competition between conflicting groups (which even­
tually destroyed the city) acted as a catalyst to accelerate the de­
velopment of both the college and sufi lodge. In any case, both
prospered as institutions because they enabled notable families
and governing groups (the a'yan-amir system) in other parts of
the Islamic world to channel resources effectively in a decentral­
ized agrarian economic system.53
The sufi lodge also functioned as a potent source of mediation
in a society of continually shifting power structures. As a social
integrator and a mediator the directing-shaykh needed to appear

that of ‘All al-Rida’ at Tus, that of al-Rida's paternal uncle's son at Sarakhs, the
head of Husayn b. ‘All near Marv, and a grave of two Companions at Tabas. See
al-MuqaddasI, Ahsan al-taqfislm ft m ar if at al-aqallm, translated by Basil Anthony
Collins, The Best Divisions for Knowledge of the Regions, p. 294.
5lRichard W. Bulliet, The Patricians of Nishapur: A Study in Medieval Islamic Social
History, p. 299.
52Why this should be the case requires much more research on the Islamization
of Khurasan and on the role of Karramiyya in this process. One can only speculate
on the Karraml impetus in the development of sufi lodges and colleges—by the
tenth century they had a network of quasimonastic institutions, which they called
khanaqahs, from Egypt to Samarqand. See Jacqueline Chabbi, "Remarques sur le
developpement historique des mouvements ascetiques et mystiques au Khura­
san," p. 43. The Karramls, named after Abu 'Abdullah Muhammad b. Karram, an
Arab of Persian descent from Sijistan, was twice imprisoned by the Tahirids in
Nishapur and finally exiled to Jerusalem, where he died in 255/869. Often consid­
ered a branch of the HanafI school of jurisprudence, the Karramls were notably
successful in missionary work. From the remarkably little we know about the
Karramiyya, they appear to have stressed mendicancy and renunciation of the
world. See Wilferd Madelung, "Sufism and the Khurramiyya." As their move­
ment disintegrated in the eleventh century, institutional sufism penetrated Mus­
lim society. See the article by C. E. Bosworth, "Karramiyya," in the Encyclopaedia
of Islam, 2d ed. In this article he notes Ribera y Tarrago's unsubstantiated theory
that the madrasa system resulted from the Karraml network of lodges.
-■’-'For the a yan-amTr system, see Marshall Hodgson, The Venture of Islam: Con­
science and History in a World Civilization, 3 volumes, 2:91-94.
aloof to any particular worldly faction. His exemplary connection
to the Divine and his physical location in a lodge removed from
the city allowed him to do that. The initiatory bond, a prerequi­
site for the transmission of special spiritual techniques, meant
that as spiritual mentor he had connections with influential and
powerful people from every class and political faction. Add to
that actual observable manifestations of supernatural power, e.g.,
himmat or tasarruf, both of which are associated with spiritual
travel, and this bond would be taken very seriously indeed. In a
society where rigid hierarchical power differentials were taken
for granted, even required, the special behavioral norms of the
master-disciple bond was no different from hierarchical relation­
ships throughout society. Because sufis embodied the central per­
sonal figure of the Prophet, they could command even more
obedience and psychological compliance. This gave the directing-
shaykh the leverage he needed outside the lodge as others contin­
ually tested and contested his authority.
In the tenth century the combination of sufi manipulation of
supernatural power and the ability to intercede with God on be­
half of others motivated sultans and other wealthy figures to es­
tablish waqfs for the development of sufi lodges in return for
which the donors stipulated that the sufis regularly offer prayers
on the benefactors' behalf.54 The conventional wisdom of the
time—and still today in many parts of the Islamic world—was
that the supplications of holy people could turn defeat into vic­
tory. Nuruddln Zangl (d. 569/1174) responded typically (and an­
grily) when his nomad followers urged him to stop giving money
to sufis and scholars (fuqaW, fuqara, sufiyya, qurra) after he was
defeated by the Crusaders, "By God, my only hope for victory
lies in these people. Your very livelihood and your victories are
only possible because of the weak among you. How can I stop
my largesse to people who fight on my behalf as I lie on my bed
asleep with arrows that do not miss their mark, and divert this
largesse instead to others who do not fight for me unless they see
me in person, and with arrows that may hit or miss?"55 It is not

MFor examples of reciting sacred texts for the founders in medieval Damascus,
see Michael Chamberlain, Knowledge and Social Practice in Medieval Damascus,
1190-1350, p. 74.
55Ibn al-Athlr, Al-tartkh al-bahir fi’l-dawla al-atabakiyya, p. 118, cited in Khalidi,
Arabic Historical Thought, p. 212. Note that scholars were included in this group of
intercessors. Kings were known to verify the supernatural capabilities of shaykhs
by a variety of strategems, including adminstering poison. See Monika Gronke,
Derwische im Vorhof der Macht: Social-und Wirtschaftsgeschichte Nordwestirans im 13.
und 14. Jahrhundert, pp. 133-34.
coincidental that Turkic nomads did not appreciate institutional
sufis. In specific sociopolitical environments, (e.g., the agrarian),
directing-shaykhs performed a necessary social role, and in oth­
ers, (e.g., the nomadic), they were noticeably absent. Naqshbandl
directing-shaykhs in Central Asia appealed to settled agrarian
farmers and townspeople but not the nomadic tribes. In a parallel
fashion, it was only when the nomadic Jat tribes in the Panjab
settled to become farmers that institutional sufism developed. In
the context of personal authority, the prestige of the sufi lodge
reflected its profound symbolic role as it replicated the communi-
tas of the Prophet and his Companions.
The relationship in the primordial Muslim community between
the Prophet and his Companions permeates many types of au­
thority relationships in Islamic societies. The ever-present exam­
ple of the Prophet, like the qibla pointing to the Ka'ba, has guided
pious Muslims: both the sufi pir and religious scholar patterned
their behavior on the Prophetic model and taught others to do
the same. A directing-shaykh, endowed with the highest possible
spiritual prestige as the heir of the (supernatural) Prophet, inten­
sified this behavioral model until it led eventually to the develop­
ment of sufi communities.
In their lodges sufis attempted to pattern their micro-commu­
nity on the sacred community of Muhammad and his Compan­
ions,56 and in this they succeeded beyond their wildest dreams;
sufi lodges (often in combination with tomb-shrines) eventually
spread throughout the Islamic world from Khurasan to North Af­
rica, Turkey, Central Asia, and India. Although local conditions
contributed to the success or failure of sufi lodges, as a general
rule they flourished, because the ideals of the ''original'' Pro­
phetic Islam contrasted so sharply with the day-to-day realities
of the actual Islam four or more centuries later in places increas­
ingly distant from Arabia.
The ideal community of the Prophet with his equally exem­

The individual enacted the shar'T vision both inside and outside sufi circles by
consciously striving to imitate the Prophetic example. There is no evidence that
sufi lodges were set up for this purpose since they merely institutionalized what
already had existed on an ad-hoc basis. Fritz Meier indicates that when these
lodges came under attack as "innovations" sufis began to justify them in terms of
Prophetic antecedents by comparing them to the "People of the Porch" (ahl al-
suffa). See his Abu Sa Td-i Abu l-Hayr, p. 312. Examples of glorifying the People of
the Porch and the establishment of the sufi lodge as sunna can be found in Ahmad
‘All Raja’I Bukhara’I, Farhang-i ash'Ur-i Hafiz, pp. 162-63,171. The Prophetic prece­
dent of People of the Porch is used to explain the creation of sufi lodges in ‘Izz-
uddln Mahmud Kasham (d. 735/1334), Misbdh al-hiddya, p. 153.
plary Companions necessarily diverged from social reality. Sunni
dogma represents the Companions collectively as the most ex­
alted and pious generation of Muslims, impoverished and other­
worldly. What strength they had came from God. Did not
Muhammad say, “My poverty is my pride"? In contrast, later
Muslim rulers, the political counterparts to the Prophet, sur­
rounded themselves with ostentatious wealth and strongarmed
their subjects with military force to maintain their luxury. (Al­
though some of the Companions became very rich as a result of
the conquests, their wealth was not highlighted in the later tradi­
tion.) The light of ideal character, flawless religious knowledge,
and continual remembrance and fear of God that later Sunni
dogma accords the Companions is reflected weakly, if at all, in
the later Muslim community.
These contradictions are by no means limited to Islamic cul­
tures; they are shared by any philosophy, ideology, mythology,
or religion that tries to implement a system of ideals in an uncer­
tain human social order. For the particular type of polarity repre­
sented by Islamic society (the actual community) and the sufi
lodge (the ideal community), Victor Turner's notions of structure
and communitas (anti-structure) fit particularly well.57 According
to Turner, structure is the dynamic configuration of patterned ar­
rangements that are consciously recognized and operate regu­
larly according to legal and political norms of a given society.
Structure highlights and justifies economic, hierarchical, age, and
sex differences. Communitas represents social reality as a homoge­
neous, undifferentiated whole, stressing the equality of individu­
als such as those going through “rites of passage."58
The homogeneous nature of communitas in the sufi lodge must
have appealed to the masses. One found illiterate peasants sitting
on the floor next to highly educated religious scholars, all pre­
sumably treated equally by the sufi master.59 It was common

57For this section I am indebted to Victor Turner's Dramas, Fields, and Metaphors:
Symbolic Action in Human Society, pp. 231-99; From Ritual to Theatre, pp. 20-59;
and Gabor Klaniczay, The Uses of Supernatural Power: The Transformation of Popular
Religion in Medieval and Early-Modern Europe, pp. 28-50.
wThe communitas here is the circle of disciples, seekers, and others in the circle
around the spiritual guide. The shaykh is hierarchically removed from the commu­
nitas due to his intimacy with God. As a threshold between God and humanity,
he literally precipitates a liminal environment around him, which in turn is main­
tained by an elaborate system of rules and rituals in the sufi lodge.
^This sketch of sufi lodges tends toward an idealization of these communities,
since many of those visiting sufi lodges probably had this impression. At the
same time there were those who were well aware of the abuses of sufi authority.
See KashanI, Misbah al-hidaya, p. 151.
knowledge among the masses that when the sufi shaykh accepted
donations it went to the community kitchen (l a n g a r ) where the
poor and travelers, Muslim or non-Muslim, could eat the
shaykhs themselves had the reputation of refusing honors and
gifts. In this way the shaykh, not the wealthy patrons or the prom­
inent members of the community who set up pious foundations,
gained prestige in the community for charitable activity. The sufi
lodge functioned as a refuge and asylum; in an emergency any­
one could request assistance from the shaykh.60 The atmosphere
of the sufi lodge created a climate of trust in the sufi master. Peo­
ple who had received help from the divine intervention of the
shaykh often returned to thank him. The word spread quickly,
and, bolstered by legends and stories, sufis became integral and
influential members of society.
The anti-structural aspect of the c o m m u n i t a s reversed the nor­
mal order, giving the weak and inferior power while the strong
and powerful were humiliated, since in a sufi environment, those
who have minimized their n a f s and outwardly appear weak have
the highest status and those with exalted power are accorded
lowest rank. This gives great symbolic value to poverty. Hagio­
graphies explain how sufi masters were oblivious to the effects
of poverty or riches in spite of the necessarily large quantity of
resources often associated with their lodges. Their poverty was
"liminal," the marginal condition associated with one who lives
in c o m m u n i t a s , instead of the literal poverty of everyday society.
A sufi pir, like the Prophet, maintains a state of permanent limi-
nality between heaven and earth, which gives him, like other per­
manently liminal individuals, supernatural power.
The sufi master differs from a prophet in that he needs more
stringent rules and a more rigid hierarchical structure in order to
maintain a normative, day-to-day c o m m u n i t a s (as opposed to a
short-lived, spontaneous c o m m u n i t a s ) . The behavioral rituals and
unquestioning obedience to the directing-shaykh facilitate the
continuation of this normative c o m m u n i t a s , as do the sufi manuals
that dictate correct behavior. In the process of establishing the
normative c o m m u n i t a s , conflicting tensions arise as the anti-struc­
ture of the lodge meshes unevenly with the intruding structures
of society—someone needs to provide the building and the food
for the community on a regular basis. Many anecdotes in hagio­

“People used to call out the shaykh's name in emergencies. See Monika Gronke,
Derwische im Vorhofder Macht, p. 113. There were even people who, though against
sufis and sufism, even ended up calling on a sufi shaykh when in a tight spot. See
ibid., p. 118.
graphies are illustrations of how these inevitable contradictions
are resolved.61
Abu Sa Id-i Abu’l-Khayr established one of the first manuals
for the sufi lodge, based on the practices of the “Companions of
the Porch" (ahl al-suffa), the Qur’an, and the practices of Muham­
mad.62 The first group of injunctions focuses on a constant recol­
lection of God. All inhabitants must maintain ritual purity and
have clean clothing, so that they can pray or recite the Qur’an at
any time. As long as they reside in the sufi lodge they should
supplicate God for forgiveness after the dawn prayer, recite the
Qur’an at daybreak, not talk to anyone until the sun rises, recite
litanies between the last two ritual prayers, and perform super­
erogatory prayers (tahajjud) at night. Nonhierarchical notions of
equality, in keeping with the Prophetic ideal, demand that resi­
dents receive the poor and weak and ease their burdens, always
eat in the company of others (usually a very basic fare of bread
dipped in soup broth [thand]), and not leave each other's pres­
ence without mutual consent. Free time was devoted to religious
study, earning a livelihood, or giving comfort to another person.
Such a circumscribed life was not suitable for the vast majority
of sufi aspirants, nor was it meant to be. Of the 120 residents
noted at Abu SaTd's sufi lodge in the eleventh century, 80 were
temporary residents (“travelers"). Of the other 40 at least half

MOne common theme is the sufi lodge running up debts and one of the sufis
asking a wealthy patron for financial assistance. If he refuses, the shaykh sends
the messenger back with a clairvoyant message or a reminder of death and the
Day of Judgment (when material wealth will be of no use). Almost always the
person supplies the money; if not he risks dying soon after. See Muhammad b.
Munawwar, Asrar al-tawhid, pp. 181-82; 270-71 [trans. 284-85; 410-11].
62The Companions of the Porch are invoked as the ascetic and poor Compan­
ions who slept in Muhammad's porch in Medina and from whom the word sufi
is derived. Al-QushayrI, a contemporary of AbQ Sa‘ld-i Abu’l-Khayr, correctly
refutes such contrived derivations (from suffa, porch or bench; or safl, pure) on
the basis of grammatical impossibility. See W. Montgomery Watt, "Ahl al-suffa,"
in the Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2d. ed. For the architectural use of suffa in Central
Asian tomb-shrines, see Bartol'd, "The Burial of Timur," pp. 78-79. A short com­
pilation of hadiths referring to the Companions of the Porch is in Mahmud Abu
al-Fayd al-Manufl, famharat al-awliyd', 2 volumes, 2:32-36. When AbQ Sa‘d, a disci­
ple of Abu Sa'id-i Abu’l-Khayr, founded a sufi lodge in Baghdad, the large assem­
bly room was called the suffa. See Muhammad b. Munawwar, Asr&r al-tawhld,
p. 357 [trans. p. 544]. By this time sufis were distancing themselves from practices
of asceticism that included wearing woolen clothes, which might have been the
motive behind looking for an alternate derivation for the word sufi. Abu Sa'Id
criticized someone for following the path of asceticism since it involved undertak­
ing action on one's own rather than following one's shaykh. See ibid., p. 166
[English trans., p. 267].
would stay for three years or less.63 One advantage of the sufi
lodge system was precisely that it did allow short visits, with the
aspirant then continuing sufi training when he left the lodge and
returned to ordinary society. Only the most advanced seekers re­
sided there for long periods. For them overexposure to the sufi
lodge could cause it to lose its extraordinary quality, allowing the
more tedious aspects of group living among ordinary people to
emerge.
The ritual structure in the sufi lodge re-enacted the sacred his­
tory of the Prophet and his Companions in its punctilious per­
formance of activities that God mandated through Muhammad
for all Muslims: the five daily prayers; supererogatory rituals per­
formed by Muhammad (additional sunna prayers before and
after ritual prayer); and finally recommended ritual (mustahabb)
practices, e.g., evening tahajjud prayers and recitation of litanies,
for those who wanted to go beyond the minimum requirements.
This degree of ritual could be followed by any pious Muslim liv­
ing in an Islamic society. The intricate ritual behavior expected in
the company of the sufi master could otherwise be duplicated
outside the sufi lodge, in any mosque or private home, and to
some extent overlapped the kind of ritual behavior expected in
the company of any notable religious scholar.
A third aspect of the ritual, however, involved specific sufi cus­
toms limited to the lodge; these included initiation (bay'a), incul­
cating a formula to recollect God (d h i k r ), and eventually the
bestowal of a sufi robe (k h i r q a ). The initiation ritual imitating the
oath between the Prophet and his Companions at Hudaybiya for­
mally sealed the master-disciple relationship. The formula for
recollecting God retrospectively was fashioned to duplicate the
transmission from Muhammad to either Abu Bakr (silent recol­
lection) or All (vocal recollection) and closely resembled the
ImamI notion of esoteric transmission ( n a s s ) . The patched sufi
robe hearkened back to the Prophet giving a cloak ( b u r d a ) to Ka'b
b. Zubayr, allegedly purchased by the Umayyad caliph, Mu'awi-
yya; by the ninth century it was worn out and patched.64 Not all

The time to progress along the path and receive permission to teach varies
considerably from a few weeks to decades. For the length of training required for
seekers, see Kiyanl, Tarikh-i khUnaqah, pp. 425-27.
MThe sufi robe is mentioned as early as the ninth century by al-Harith al-Mu-
hasibT (d. 243/857). See L. Massignon, Essai, p. 128. Ibn Qutayba (d. 276/889)
states that the Umayyad caliph Mu'awiya purchased the robe for twenty thou­
sand dirhams and was subsequently worn by the caliphs on the two major Mus­
lim holidays at the end of Ramadan and the tenth of Dhu’l-hijja. See David S.
Margohouth, "The Relics of the Prophet Muhammad," p. 21. The caliphal heir­
loom might very well have come from the Christians of Ayla, near modern
visitors to the sufi lodge would participate in these rituals, but all
could at least observe them.
A fourth aspect of ritual involved an intricate set of rules gov­
erning every aspect of behavior in the lodge. As these are re­
enacted and performed ritually in the communitas, the cumulative
effect of this experience resulted in a powerful but subtle inculca­
tion of the shaft ideal. Symbols took on a life of their own. At the
center of this ritual universe was the Prophet, the human Ka'ba.
The effect of the overlapping rules governing behavior in the sufi
lodge is described by Abu Sa‘ld-i AbuT-Khayr as follows: "At
first a rule is something people adopt with difficulty, but then it
becomes a habit. Then that habit becomes second nature and fi­
nally, what is second nature becomes reality."65
The sufi construction of communitas made sufis prime agents
for the Islamization of society. As Victor Turner maintains, "Man
grows through anti-structure and conserves through structure."66
The veneration of Muhammad and his central place in the hearts
of Muslims influenced the sufi community when it re-created its
version of the early charismatic community. In a reciprocal fash­
ion the sufi lodge became a vehicle for incorporating popular
local culture into Islamic society while Muslims became con­
nected to the mythical golden age of Islam. Both the myth of the
Prophetic Golden Age and the "enchanted universe" of local cul­
ture met in the communitas of the sufi lodge.67 Within popular
culture was a common field of religion shared by both the subor­
dinate classes and the elite. It did not completely overlap, since
some of the literate shari'a-minded Muslims strived to impose
their religious values, and the masses, not typically drawn to
theological nuances or rational analysis, often expected their reli­
gious figures simply to manipulate reality through intercession.
But the lodge accommodated these divergent religious tenden­
cies by exposing visitors to an intensified shari'a-oriented ritual
environment where the sufi master harnessed supernatural
power for the benefit of his guests.
Over time this interaction resulted in the regulation by ritual
means of the entire rhythm of individual and family life. Scholars
have emphasized the fundamental nomocratic basis of Islamic so­
ciety but have not recognized the "inward" and charismatic anti­

‘Aqaba. See M. Zwettler, "The Poet and the Prophet: Towards Understanding the
Evolution of a Narrative," pp. 348-49.
“ Muhammad b. Munawwar, p. 316 [trans. p. 493],
“ Turner, Dreams, p. 298.
67A Weberian term employed by Harjot Oberoi in The Construction of Religious
Boundaries: Culture, Identity and Diversity in the Sikh Tradition, p. 141.
structure which allowed this imposed structure to evolve and
give meaning to their lives. The charismatic authority of the sufi
shaykh reinforced the communal ritual center of Islam: the char­
ismatic community of the Prophet surrounded by his Compan­
ions located in the sacred geographical center, Mecca.
Some of the ideological and symbolic methods harmonizing
communitas and structure in Islamic society involved the tensions
between the ulama and sufis. These two groups of religious spe­
cialists put the Prophet at the center of their symbolic universe
by ritually and symbolically replicating the Prophet and his cir­
cle—the scholar with his students replicated the Prophetic model
just as the sufi pir with his disciples did. The difference was only
one of degree.
The scholar's circle did not have four degrees of ritual; its ten­
dency was to keep activity near the center and keep it well struc­
tured and historically under control. Hence the ulama's image of
the Prophet was narrowly defined by validated hadith. The sufis,
on the other hand, expanded their notions of Prophetic identity
and took more liberty in their interpretations of sacred history,
formulating their expanded notion of communitas by incorporat­
ing non-Islamic elements of popular culture into it. In this centrif­
ugal mode entirely new elements were added to the Islamic
repertoire, for example, the practice of visualizing the shaykh,
listening to ecstasy-producing music (samac), extended periods of
seclusion (even upside down), and holding the breath while med­
itating.
Structure requires a conservative and limiting mode. Anti­
structure implies an exaggeration, an expansion, as the growth
of new possibilities constantly pulls outward to encompass new
cultures. The crucial point is that these centripetal and centrifugal
forces were constantly in tension. The framework that held them
together was the sacred history of Muhammad and the potent
symbol that developed in the Muslim imagination with each reli­
gious scholar and sufi pir. Yet the memory of Muhammad, the
original charismatic impulse, however embellished and selective
it had become in the first four centuries, was preserved. The sufi
shaykhs succeeded in satisfying the communal demand for per­
sonal charismatic authority. To the extent that Muhammad's cha­
risma was renewed by sufis, sufism would remain a reality—with
a name.68

For those who saw sufism as an innovation in Islam, sufis responded by re­
peating Aba 1-Hasan BOshanja's maxim, "Sufism started as a reality without a
name and now is a name without a reality." See al-Hujwirl, Kashf al-mahjub, p. 49
[trans., p. 44]. Such an aphorism also assumes a progressive decline in the number
of people becoming close to God as a result of sufi practice.
CHAPTER 3

The Naqshbandiyya in India from

Their Foundation to the Colonial
Period

A N aq sh ban d is o n e w h ose g la n c e fo rm s an im print [o f G od] on the m irror o f

the h eart w hich rem ain s until the D ay o f Ju dgm ent.
Muhammad HashimI Kishml, N asam at al-Q u ds

Imagine a museum of Sufism/ each wing housing an exhibi­

tion of a major sufi lineage. At the entrance of the Naqshbandl
wing you pick up a small brochure describing the history of the
Naqshbandiyya which emphasizes the founder-figure, Baha’-
uddin Naqshband (d. 791/1389), with an accompanying picture
of his tomb in Qasr-i‘Arifan,*2 located twelve kilometers from
Bukhara, in present-day Uzbekistan. A small box on the first page
explains the origin of "Naqshband" (naqsh as a design; band as
etching or affixing). According to legend, it stems from Baha’-
uddln's family livelihood as weavers of embroidery cloth. Later,
Baha'uddln, with God's name woven or engraved on his heart,
began to imprint or impress the name of God on others' hearts.
The historical sketch continues, describing the worldwide
spread of the Naqshbandiyya, pausing briefly to underline the
importance of Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindl (d. 1034/1624) of India
and Maulana Khalid Baghdadi (d. 1242/1827), a Kurdish Naqsh-

'To do so requires a certain degree of reification, since practices and knowledge

are difficult to put in a museum—hence a capitalized Sufism.
2Before being renamed “Gnostics' Castle" in Baha’uddin's honor, it was known
as the “Hindus' Castle" or Qasr-i Hinduwan. For Central Asian Muslims it is a
leading pilgrimage site.
band! buried in Damascus. A short explanation then lists the dis­
tinctive characteristics of the Naqshbandiyya: strict adherence to
the practices of the Prophet (surma), a spiritual lineage traced
back to Abu Bakr as-Siddlq (d. 13/634), the first caliph, and the
silent repetition of God's name (dhikr). On the last page of the
pamphlet is a photograph of a letter with the original seal im­
prints written by the last great Mughal emperor of India, Aurang-
zlb (r. 1068-69/1658-1118/1707) to an Indian Naqshbandl,
Khwaja Sayfuddln Sirhindl (d. 1095/1684).3*
When you enter the Naqshbandl exhibition, your eye is imme­
diately attracted to a textile display. Coming closer you see some
threadbare examples of sufi robes (sing, khirqa) of the type worn
by Naqshbandl notables, some drawings of sufis wearing these
robes and distinctive turbans, and an array of canes, some with
intricate wood and ivory carving. A glass case displays old prayer
rugs, faded but intricately woven, with designs indicating the
side that is pointed toward the Kacba. There are no clues as to
how many prostrations were needed to wear the places on some
of these faded pieces. A placard explains that they are believed
to be laden with blessing and auspiciousness (baraka) and that
they are still symbols of authority to contemporary Naqshbandls.
To demonstrate the geographic spread of the Naqshbandiyya,
a large world map is equipped with lights to show the location
of Naqshbandl centers, controlled by six buttons, each represent­
ing a century. Press the fifteenth-century button and you see
many lights in Transoxiana (particularly around Samarqand and
Bukhara), Herat, Qazvin, Tabriz, and Istanbul; the sixteenth-cen-
tuiy lamp lights up Kashgar, Kabul, Surat (Gujarat), Medina,
Mecca, and Damascus. Representing the twentieth century, a col­
lage of lights is needed to show Naqshbandl activity all over the
world (except Iran and parts of Africa), including North America
and Europe.
The last exhibit conveys the same information in a different
way: an entire wall is filled with an intricate genealogical chart of
the Naqshbandiyya with Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam, at
the top, it spreads out century by century with myriad branches
at the bottom indicating prominent Naqshbandls of the late nine­
teenth century. You would be unable to find the genealogical par­
ticulars of a contemporary Naqshbandl group in Concord,

The anglicized TimurT, "Timurid/' is used for Timtlrl rulers from Central Asia
up to Babur Beginning with Humayun, "Mughal" is used for the Indian TimurT
lineage ( Mughal" is a Turkicized version of "Mongol") until the last Mughal
emperor in 1857. 6
Central and South Asia

California, but the international nature of the Naqshbandiyya

would be obvious.
Sufis would describe this diagram in terms of many chains
(sing, silsila), each shaykh being a link in a chain of loosely united
common spiritual practices believed to have originated with the
founder. At the bottom of the final exhibit you read "Naqshbandl
tanqa”:4 this is the Naqshbandl path whose lineage designation
"Naqshbandiyya" is defined as the aggregate of all lineages com­
ing from Baha’uddln Naqshband. While you are pondering the
display, the curator arrives to explain the absence of the usual
video booth in the Naqshbandl section; there is nothing to show

4In Persian and Urdu sufi literature, silsila and tanqa are often used interchange­
ably. See figure 4 for the Naqshbandl silsila. Note the vertical aspect of authority
up and down the silsila. There are few cross-linkages.
that corresponds to the singing, dancing, and exotic rituals of
other sufis. Except for occasional outbursts, Naqshbandls appear
just to sit around in a circle and to meditate silently.
Now imagine that you are accompanying a Pakistani member
of one of these Naqshbandi meditation sessions to this hypotheti­
cal exhibit.5 He can tell you in great detail about the robe, cane,
and prayer rug of his own pir and the rituals associated with
each. It would be unlikely, however, that he ever saw the same
baraka-impregnated objects (tabarrukat) which his grandfather pir
(his spiritual mentor's pir) had given him, carefully guarded as
any other priceless heirloom would be. Playing with the lights on
the world map he is as surprised as you might have been to find
Naqshbandls in Europe and North America. When he discovers
his great-grandfather pir on the wall-sized genealogical chart his
eyes light up as if he had just found a long-lost friend. After trac­
ing it up a few generations to ascertain its accuracy, however, he
loses interest. Later he remarks that he is impressed that Ameri­
cans are taking such an interest in learning about Islam and su­
fism. Privately, he reminisces about his own Naqshbandi master.
Another of the lessons of our exhibit shows how a particular
lineage of the Naqshbandiyya, the Naqshbandiyya-Mujaddid-
iyya, predominates over other Naqshbandi lineages worldwide
within two generations after Ahmad Sirhindl's death. The spiri­
tual path now known as the Naqshbandiyya can in fact be di­
vided into three stages, each of which is distinguished by a
pivotal charismatic figure who developed new spiritual practices
and even redefined the identity of the sufi lineage. The first stage,
called “the way of the masters” (tanqa-yi khivajagan), begins with
Khwaja ‘Abdulkhaliq GhujduwanI (d. 575/1179) and spans the
“prehistoric" stage originating with the Prophet Muhammad.6
The second historical stage starts with Baha'uddln Naqshband
(d. 791/1389), the founder-figure, after whom the spiritual path

^Shortly after I first wrote this in early 1992, a museum very similar to the one 1
have just described was opened at the tomb of Baha’uddln Naqshband (personal
communication, Professor Jo Ann Gross).
"Indo-Muslim sources give GhujduwanI's death date as 575/1179 while Sa‘!d
NaflsI and Hamid Algar use 617/1220; Fritz Meier and others use the first date.
As the book was going to press Devin Deweese informed me that both Ghujdu-
vanl and Ahmad Yasawl probably lived into the early thirteenth century. See the
discussion in Fritz Meier, Zwei Abhandlung-en iiber die Naqsbandiyya, p. 25, n. 2. At
least a few earlier sufis were named “Khwaja/' e.g., Khwaja Yusuf Hamadan! (d.
535/1140) who was Khwaja GhujduwanI's spiritual guide (murshid), in addition
to Khwaja Ahmad Yasawl (d. 562/1166-67) and Khwaja Abu Muhammad al-
Hasan b. al-Husayn al-Andaql (d. 522/1157) who were Khwaja GhujduwanI's
fellow disciples. For other uses of khwaja and khwajagan see ibid., pp. 190-92.
( t a r T q a ) is named the Naqshbandiyya.7 The third historical stage
begins with Ahmad Sirhindl (d. 1034/1624) and includes those
applying his teachings and spiritual techniques.8 It is with Sir­
hindl that the movement changes its name to Naqshbandiyya-
Mujaddidiyya or simply Mujaddidiyya.
In fourteenth-century Central Asia the Naqshbandiyya gave or­
ganized assistance and religious sanction to influential landlords.
Tughluq Timur (r. 748/1347-763/1362) propagated Islam by ex­
ample;9 when he converted he had himself circumcised and re­
quired all his followers to convert. The sufis and wandering
Muslim holy men (sing, d a r v i s h ) spread Islam among the people
while legitimizing Timur's rule.10 In return the rulers respected
and patronized sufis, building them mausoleums and providing
z v a q f s . Even the names of Tughluq Timur's successors in eastern
Turkestan and Transoxiana reveal dervish influence: Ilyas Khwaja
(r. 763/1362-767/1366), Khidr Khwaja (r. 791/1389-801/1399),
and Uways (r. 821/1418-831/1428).

7Dina Le Gall states, on the basis of hagiographical sources, that the tarTqa was
not named after Baha’uddTn Naqshband until roughly one hundred years after
his death. See Dina Le Gall, "The Ottoman Naqshbandiyya in the Pre-MujaddidI
Phase: A Study in Islamic Religious Culture and Its Transmission," pp. 12-13.
Note the title of ‘Abdurrahman JamT's (d. 898/1492) treatise, Sarrishta-yi tarlqa-yi
khwajagdn, whose title confirms Le Gall's statement. This treatise discusses the
first hundred-year history of what was later called the Naqshbandiyya.
HA fourth stage, the Naqshbandiyya-Khalidiyya named after Maulana Khalid
Kurdl/Baghdadi (d. 1242/1827), may also be included. The spread of this lineage
has been largely limited to Turkey, the Arab world, and Indonesia. See MahTn-
dokht Mu'tamadT, Maulana Khalid Naqshband. Some modern Naqshbandl writers
include two additional stages, from Abu Bakr as-Siddlq (d. 13/634) to Tayfur b.
‘Isa AbO Yazld al-Bistaml (d. 261/874) called the SiddTqiyya and from Aba Yazld
al-Bistaml to Khwaja ‘Abdulkhaliq GhujduwanI called the Tayfariyya. See Mu­
hammad Nor Bakhsh Tawakkull, Tadhkira-yi mashayikh-i naqshband with additions
by Muhammad Sadiq Qusarf’, p. 488. The Tayfariyya are first discussed by al-
Hujwlrl, Kashf al-mahjub, ed. Zhukovski, pp. 228-35; [English trans., pp. 184-89].
Later, Ahmad b. Muhammad al-Qushshashl (d. 1071/1660) discusses a Madarl
lineage through the Tayfariyya and Aba Bakr as-Siddlq in his Al-simt al-majTd ft
shd’n al-bay‘at wad-dhikr wa-talqmihi wa-salasil ahl al-tawhid, p. 74. This typology
has been duplicated by various later Arab Naqshbandl authors. See Muhammad
Parsa, Qudsiyya: Kalimat-i Baha’uddTn Naqshband, p. 28 (introduction). There is no
historical evidence that any sufis identified themselves as members of the Siddlqi-
yya or Tayfariyya.
*Here I am using the western, Persianized version of Tughlug Temur's name
(Turkish-Mongol temiir meaning "iron") instead of the eastern, Chaghatai Turkish
spelling. This is the ruler of the Eastern Chaghatayids, not to be confused with
the later Timor (d. 807/1405) from whom the Timurids are named.
,0I am indebted to the archives in the Harvard University Archives, Cambridge,
Massachusetts, [hereafter Archives] of the late Joseph Fletcher for this Central
Asian historical sketch. See box 13: "Khojas: Chapter 1."
 Generally the sufis in Central Asia represented the voices of
the sedentary middle and lower classes; sufi economic interests
therefore centered on the oasis populations—all of which contrib­
uted to the ultimate collapse of the nomadic hegemony in Central
Asia.” Later, Timur (d. 807/1405), the "founding ruler" of the
Timurids, ordered the building of a spectacular tomb complex
for the sufi Ahmad Yasawl (d. 562/1166-1167) and in his earlier
years honored one of Baha’uddln Naqshband's sufi guides, Amir
Kulal (d. 772/1370), next to whom the Timurid ruler chose to be
buried.*12
In the sixteenth century Ahmad KhwajagI b. Jalaluddln KasanI
(d. 949/1542-43 in Dahbid) and other Naqshbandls linked many
groups in Central Asian society, including the artisan guilds of
the towns and the peasant population of the villages. Given this
broad following, Ahmad KasanI obtained patronage from Uzbek
rulers to build a sufi lodge in Bukhara. His assistance paid off
when Ahmad KasanI persuaded Baraq Khan to lift the siege of
Bukhara.13 Naqshbandls followed Timurid patronage and pro­
vided valuable services both as mediators between the people
and rulers and between the people and God.14 This pattern of
patronage was only intermittently replicated in India; Naqsh­
bandls did not automatically receive favor from Mughal rulers.
The most significant person behind the Naqshbandiyya's sub­
sequent influence was Khwaja Naslruddln 'Ubaydullah Ahrar
(d. 895/1490), whose lineal and spiritual descendants dominated
the Indian Naqshbandiyya.15 Ahrar's remarkably powerful spiri­

"This happened by the seventeenth century when boza a drink made of barley
(an agricultural product), replaces kumiss, the drink of the nomads. See Archives,
box 12, untitled mss., p. 27.
12See J. M. Rogers, trans., "V. V. Bartol'd's Article O Pogrebenii Timura ('The
Burial of TlmQr')."
,3Joseph Fletcher, "Ahmad KasanI," in Encyclopaedia Iranica. Ahmad KasanI's
descendants dominated the history of eastern Turkestan in the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries. A disciple of Muhammad QadI (d. 903/1497-98 or 921/1515
in Samarqand), a famous successor of Ahrar, Ahmad KasanI is also known as
Makhdum-i 'Azam, KhwajagI Ahmad, and Maulana KhwajagI Ahmad b. Jala­
luddln. See Muhammad Ghawthl Mandawl, Gulzar-i abrdr, p. 259, who gives his
death date as 950/1543-44.
I4Tlmur transferred the body of his father, Taragai, to be near the grave of
Shamsuddln Kulal. This is not Baha’uddln Naqshband's spiritual mentor, as I
once believed. See Jurgen Paul, "Scheiche und Herrscher." Devin Deweese kindly
informed me of this article.
,5There is a note in the Persian Hidayat nama, written by Mir Khaluddln Katib
b. Maulana QadI Shah Kuchak al-Yarkandl, ca. 1100/1700 (British Museum mss.
Oriental 8162), folio lr, stating that KhwajagI Muhammad AmkanagI (d. 1008/
1600) established the Naqshbandiyya in India. For voweling of AmkanagI, see
tual personality attracted large numbers of influential disciples
who spread out over India, Turkey, Iran, and Arabia. As one of
the largest landowners in Transoxiana and the de facto ruler of
much of the eastern Timurid kingdom, Ahrar continued the prec­
edent for Naqshbandls to cultivate close relationships with ruling
dynasties.16 The Naqshbandl political agenda, among their other
goals, was to influence political leaders to establish and enforce
Islamic practices. Ahrar set the precedent for Naqshbandl rela­
tionships with temporal rulers: "[The ruler] should be like a royal
falcon (shahfn) so that whatever [his instructor] makes him
pounce upon, whether his strength is equal [to the task] or not,
[the ruler] will hold it fast, and he will not care what will happen
and what will not happen."17
Ahrar attempted to rid Transoxiana of Turko-Mongol customs
and laws contrary to Islamic practice while protecting the Muslim
community.18 Political means were critical in this enterprise. "We
have been charged with another task: that we should preserve
Muslims from the wickedness of oppressors. Because of this it is
necessary to associate with emperors and to bring [them] under
control and by means of this work to fulfill the purpose of the
Muslims."19
Zahlruddln Muhammad Babur (d. 937/1530) continued these
close ties with the Naqshbandls.20 Khwaja Ahrar's descendants

Fritz Meier's discussion in Zwei Abhandlungen, p. 38, n. 7. In addition to Baqlbillah

we know about two other of his disciples, Khwaja Ahmad (also known as Khwaja
‘Amal), who died in 1020/1611-12 in Gujarat and ‘Abdulazlz, who died in 1041/
1631-32 in Burhanpur, neither of whose lineages became widely established in
India. See Kishml, Nasamat al-quds, pp. 288-92. Studies on Ahrar include Jurgen
Paul, Die politische und sociale Bedeutung der Naqsbandiyya in Mittelasien in 15. Jahr-
hundert; Jo-Ann Gross, “Khoja Ahrar: A Study of the Perceptions of Religious
Power and Prestige in the Late Timurid period"; and Muhammad TaqI Anwar
‘Alawl Kakurl, Hadrat Sultan al-awliyd‘ Khwaja ‘Ubaydullnh Ahrar Naqshbandl
,6See Hamid Algar, “A Brief History of the Naqshbandl Order," in Naqshbandis:
Historical Development and Present Situation of a Muslim Mystical Order, pp. 13-15.
In addition, Baha’uddln Naqshband continued the tradition by serving Qadan
Khan, as did Muhammad Parsa, who helped Timur's son Shahrukh overpower
Khalil Sultan, Timur's grandson.
I7Dughlat, "Tarlkh-i Rashldl," British Museum Oriental 157, fol. 167r-v and
mss. add. 24,090, fol. 147r, cited and translated by Joseph Fletcher, Archives, Box
20, p. 37 [additions in brackets are Fletcher's].
’“Hamid Algar, "Political Aspects of Naqshbandl History," p. 126.
’’’Quoted from Kashifl's Rashahat, cited and translated by Fletcher, Archives,
box 20, pp. 37-38.
20Babur's father, his paternal uncle Sultan Ahmad Mlrza, as well as Babur him­
self respected Khwaja Ahrar but were not formally Ahrar's disciples. Naqshbandl
sources sometimes exaggerate Timurid connections to the Naqshbandiyya, e.g.,
Khurshld Hasan Bukhari, "Mughal siyasat par awliya’-i naqshband ka athar,"
were already established in Kabul when Babur captured the city
in 909-910/1504.21 As he moved on to conquer portions of north­
ern India in 932-933/1526, the Naqshbandls continued to find
a receptive climate to spread their teaching. Ahrar's third son,
Muhammad Amin, accompanied Babur when he conquered
Kabul and India.22 In battle against the forces of the LodhI King
Sultan Ibrahim in Delhi, Babur is said to have "[first] visualized
Ahrar and [soon after] a man came dressed in white on a white
horse who fought fiercely. After the Gurganls [Babur's forces]
won the battle, this man was later identified as KhwajagI Ahmad
[Ahmad Kasanl] and was rewarded by Mir Qadl."23
When Babur's cousin Haydar Mlrza Muhammad described the
unrespectful treatment accorded to Ahmad Kasanl by the
Mughal emperor Humayun (r. 937/1530-947/1539; 962/1555-
963/1556) and his entourage, he noted, "Khwaja Nura . . . had
an hereditary claim to their veneration."24 Just as his grandfather
Ahrar had foreseen Babur's son, Mlrza Kamran, would take the

p. 138. In his memoirs, Babur recounts a dream in which Ahrar predicted his
successful victory taking Samarqand. See Babur, Babur nama, 2 volumes, trans­
lated by Annette S. Beveridge, The Memoirs of Babur, p. 132. A more recent transla­
tion is by Wheeler Thackson Jr., The Baburnama: Memoirs of Babur, Prince and
Emperor. In addition, Babur relates having especially honored a visiting grandson
of Ahrar, Khwaja ‘Abdushshahld (d. 983/1575); see Beveridge, The Memoirs of
Babur, p. 631. Khwaja ‘Abdushshahld later spent fifteen years in India (966/
1558-59 to 982/1574-75) where he reportedly had a following of twelve thousand
people before returning to Samarqand in 983/1575; see Kishml, Nasamat,
pp. 168-69.
2lStephen Dale describes Ahrar's extensive pious endowments (sing, waqf)
probably obtained in cooperation with Babur's uncle Ulugh Beg Kabuli. One en­
dowment was a madrasa, Qur’an school (maktab), and a mosque, all of which
provided a base for education and patronage that could have been one of BaqT-
billah's (d. 1012/1603) institutional affiliations when he was in Kabul before mi­
grating to Delhi in 1007-08/1599. Dale, revising earlier studies by S. Athar Abbas
Rizvi, Muslim Revival Movements in the 16th and 17th Centuries, pp. 179-83, has
shown the close interrelationship of the Naqshbandiyya and Mughal dynasty in
India, particularly in marriage ties between the Ahrarls and the Mughals ruling
India. See Stephen Dale, "The Legacy of the Timurids." I am particularly grateful
for Stephen Dale making this unpublished manuscript available and giving me
permission to cite it. See also Bukhari, "Mughal siyasat," pp. 140-41.
“ Kishml, Nasamat, pp. 153-54.
“ It was a common practice of the time to have holy men accompany armies as
"spiritual artillery" to assist in gaining victory. Baba Palangposh (d. 1110-11/
1699), originally from Ghujduwan, was a Naqshbandl military pir who accompa­
nied Ghazl’uddln Khan, a Timurid general fighting India. See Simon Digby, "The
Naqshbandls in the Deccan in the Late Seventeenth and Early Eighteenth Century
A D.: Baba Palangposh, Baba Musafir and Their Adherents."
2,*Mlrza Muhammad Haydar, A History of the Mughals in Central Asia Being the
Tarikh-i Rashidi of Mirza Muhammad Haidar Dughldt, p. 399.
city of Qandahar.25 Conversely, after being treated brusquely by
Humayun, who was a devotee of Shaykh Bahlul, the elder brother
of Shattarl Muhammad Ghawth Gwaliorl (d. 970/1562), Ahmad
KasanI is said to have predicted Humayun's defeat by Sher Shah.
Sufi anecdotes such as these perpetuated the belief that there was
a causal relationship between Naqshbandl-Ahrarl spiritual inter­
cession and Mughal military success. A shaykh's authority was
thought to be based on his ability to affect mundane affairs
through intercession with the Divine in addition to genealogical
factors.
The Naqshbandl-Timurid partnership had many dimensions.
There were master-disciple ties; for example, MuTnuddln ‘Ab-
dulhaqq (d. 956/1549-50 or 962/1554-55), the brother of
Ahmad KasanI, acted as Mlrza Kamran's spiritual mentor.26
Bairam Khan, the Emperor Akbar's tutor, was the disciple of
Iranian Naqshbandl Maulana Zaynuddln Kamankar.27 Other
Naqshbandls, particularly descendants of Ahrar such as his
great-grandsons Khwaja ‘Abdulkafl and Khwaja Qasim, held
governmental posts during Humayun's reign. Sultan Khwaja
Naqshbandl, a disciple of Khwaja ‘Abdushshahld, was appointed
the sadr in charge of religious endowments and land grants from
985-86/1578 to 992/1584 by Akbar.28 Muhammad Yahya (d. 999/
1590-1591 in Agra), the principal successor to his father, Abu
Fayd, a grandson of Ahrar, was appointed mir-i hajj for the year
986/1578, also by Akbar; the previous hajj had been led by a lin­
eal descendant of Ahrar, Sultan Khwaja.29 Timurid/Mughal
respect and veneration of Naqshbandls reflected a more wide­
spread public recognition of Naqshbandls. It was a reciprocal re­
lationship; the Timurids and the Mughals acquired religious
legitimacy and access to divine power from the Naqshbandls,
and the Naqshbandls secured patronage and an elevated sociopo­
litical status in their association with the rulers.
Ahrarls also intermarried within the top echelons of Timurid

“ Kishml, Nasamtit, p. 161. Both of these forecasts were interpreted as divine

assistance mediated by the Naqshbandls.
26Ibid., p. 163. ‘Abdulhaqq parted ways with Humayun due to some unspecified
animosity between them.
27Dale, "Legacy of the Timurids."
28Ibid.
29<Abdulqadir Bada’unI Muntakhab al-tawartkh, pp. 246, 275. According to
Bada’unT, Sultan Khwaja was the son of Khwaja Khawand Mahmud. See ibid.,
p. 246. Others say he was a disciple of Khwaja Dost whose shaykh was a disciple
of Khwaja ‘Abdushshahld. See Abu Fadl ‘Allaml, Akbar ttama: History of the Reign
of Akbar Including an Account of His Predecessors, 3 vols., 3:192, 271.
ruling families. Babur's daughter was married to Nuruddln
Muhammad Naqshbandl; a daughter of this marriage married
Akbar's tutor, Bairam Khan, and later became one of Akbar's
wives after her first husband's death. Humayun's daughter was
given in marriage to Khwaja Hasan Naqshbandl by Akbar's half­
brother, Mirza Muhammad Hakim (d. 993/1585), the governor
of Kabul.30 The intermarriage of Mughal families with Ahrarls,
combined with a hereditary discipleship and government patron­
age of the Ahrarls, made northern India fertile ground for the
spread of Naqshbandiyya.
Stephen Dale notes that Naqshbandl-Timurid associations con­
tinued to exist between Naqshbandls and both Turko-Mongol
and Afghan nobles in South Asia until the nineteenth century.3'
These liaisons were most numerous when Naqshbandls emigrat­
ing from Afghanistan or Central Asia to northern India were
most likely to receive some kind of Mughal patronage. In later
times the descendants of Sirhindl had strong ties with Afghani
notables, which in the eighteenth century facilitated their migra­
tion to Afghanistan after the Sikhs razed Sirhind in 1177/1764,
the home and base of Sirhindl and his descendants.32 Later yet,
Naqshbandl Shah Abu'l-Khayr (d. 1341/1924) of Delhi had many
important links with top-ranking figures in the Afghani govern­
ment in the twentieth century, including the king, Amanullah
Khan.33
Not all Naqshbandls in early Mughal India were Ahrar's lineal
descendants, nor did every Naqshbandl have a government affil­
iation. Non-Ahrarl Naqshbandls, like other Muslims emigrating
from Transoxiana, sometimes settled in one of the major cen­
ters—Balkh, Kabul, Lahore, Agra, or Surat—on the pilgrimage
route to the Hijaz. Often they would stay in the port of Surat

^Dale, "Legacy of the Timurids."

31Ibid.
■“Sirhindl's name is derived from his birthplace, Sirhind. The ties between Sir-
hindl's descendants and Afghani affairs is an intriguing subject that requires fur­
ther research. See ‘Azlzuddln Wakll Fufalza’I, Timur Shah Durrani, 2 vols.,
2:677-88.
33Abu 1-Hasan Zayd Faruql, Maqdmdt-i khayr p. 344. The powerful Hadrats, de­
scendants of Ahmad Sirhindl living in Afghanistan who had a large Pashtun
following among the Sulayman Khel, forced Amanullah Khan to leave Afghani­
stan in 1929. See Joseph Fletcher's unpublished manuscript, "The Naqshbandiyya
in Afghanistan," Archives, box 5, pp. 2-3. Members of the Mujaddidl family, e.g.,
Sibghatullah Mujaddidl, are still prominent in the contemporary (early 1990s)
Afghani political scene. For further examples of Afghan-Naqshbandl affinities,
see Juan Cole, Roots of North Indian ShiTsm in Iran and Iraq: Religion and State in
Awadh, 1722-1859, pp. 230-39.
when the pilgrimage was over. For example, Jamaluddln b. Bads-
hah Pardah Push KhwarzmI (d. 1015-16/1606-7), commonly
known as Khwaja Dana in later hagiographies, became the disci­
ple of Khwaja Muhammad Islam Juybarl (d. 971/1563-64 in
Bukhara) in Balkh and then went to Thatta and Agra before set­
tling down in Surat.34
Baqlbillah (d. 1012/1603) is the other key figure (along with
Khwaja Ahrar) in the second stage of Naqshbandl history,35 the
most significant Naqshbandl in sixteenth-century India.36 He was
probably exposed to the Naqshbandiyya from an early age: his
grandfather received spiritual guidance from Khwaja Muham­
mad Zakariya, one of Ahrar's grandsons, and the two families
had begun to intermarry.37 It is likely that Baqlbillah associated
with Naqshbandls in Kabul such as Khwaja ‘Ubayd Kabuli before
setting out for India in quest of the perfect pir. After spending

34Shah Zuhur al-Hasan Sharib, Tartkh-i siifiya-i Gujarat, pp. 97-113. His sobri­
quet is also Khwaja Dlvana; see ‘Abdulhayy b. Fakhruddin al-Hasanl, Nuzhat al-
khawatir wa-bahjat al-masami‘ wa’l-nawdzir, 9 volumes, 5:115. The shift in sobriquet
reflects a preference of sobriety over intoxication in sufi identity (dand = wise
and dfvana = ecstatic). His son, Abu’l-Hasan b. al-Jamal (d. 1054/1644-45) and
Abu’l-Hasan's son Muhammad (d. 1078/1667-68) continued his teaching in
Surat. See ibid., 5:15, 337.
35For more information on Baqlbillah, see Muhammad Hashim Kishml, Zubdat
al-maqamat, and Muhammad Sadiq Dihlawl Kashmiri HamadanI, Kalimat al-sad-
iqln, pp. 161-96. Muhammad Sadiq, in his Tabaqat-i ShahjahanT, states that he intro­
duced Ahmad Sirhindl to Baqlbillah (personal communication from Professor
Iqbal Mujaddidl, Lahore, January 1995). All of Baqlbillah's writing has been col­
lected in Baqlbillah, Kulliyat-i Baqlbillah. In one of the few biographical compendi-
ums detailing Muslim religious personages of the seventeenth century, Nuzhat al-
khaivatir, 32 are prominent Naqshbandls from Baqlbillah's lineage, 26 are Naqsh-
bandl-Mujaddidls, and 5 are with Central Asian shaykhs; see ‘Abdulhayy, Nuzhat
al-khawatir, vol. 3.
WA common misperception among historians of Indian sufism has been that
Baqlbillah was the first Naqshbandl in India, e.g., Abdul Haqq Ansari, Sufism and
Shari'ah: A Study of Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi's Efforts to Reform Sufism, p. 13. Baqlbil­
lah was not the first spiritual descendant of Ahrar outside of Ahrar's bloodline to
arrive in India (contrary to Algar, cf. Algar, "A Brief History," p. 19). Non-Ahr3rI
Naqshbandl, i.e., those not of Ahrarl lineal descent, had been arriving and initiat­
ing disciples long before Baqlbillah arrived in India. The biographical sources
mention many spiritual descendants of Muhammad Qadi, one of Ahrar's impor­
tant successors, who came to India spreading the Naqshbandiyya, e.g., Maulana
Tarsun QadI (d. 1013/1604-05 in Mecca) with disciples in Lahore and Fatehpur;
Hamlduddln Harawl, son of Muhammad Qadi, who died in Surat; and Khawand
Mahmud (d. 1052/1642 in Lahore), who came to India the same year as Baqlbil­
lah. See Kishml, Nasamat, pp. 226, 265-66, 242. For more specific information on
Khawand Mahmud, see David Damrel, "Forgotten Grace: Khwaja Khawand
Mahmud Naqshbandl in Central Asia and Mughal India."
17KishmT, Nasamat, pp. 153-54.
time with Baba Wall (d. 1011/1602-3), a Kubrawi shaykh residing
in Kashmir, he went to Samarqand to reach intimacy with God
(wilaya) under the tutelage of Muhammad KhwajagI AmkanagI
(d. 1008/1600 in Bukhara). After Amkanagl's death, Baqlbillah
stayed about a year in Lahore and later set up his sufi lodge near
Delhi in the Firuzi fort supported by one of Akbar's viziers,
Shaykh Farid Bukhari.38
By the time Baqlbillah arrived in Delhi, however, Akbar, the
Mughal emperor, had become attached to ChishtI holy men and
had visited MuTnuddln Chishtl's (d. 633/1236) tomb many
times. He had performed his first pilgrimage on foot to the mau­
soleum in 971-72/1564; therefore, like his father, Humayun,
Akbar gave no special patronage to the Naqshbandiyya. Instead
he visited another ChishtI, Salim ChishtI (d. 978-79/1571), whose
holy intercession and prayer Akbar believed had expedited the
birth of his first surviving son. Akbar's ChishtI affiliation espe­
cially aggravated the Naqshbandls, because not only were they
politically marginalized, but the Chishtls at court engaged in
practices such as sufi music concerts (sama‘) that the Naqshbandls
considered forbidden by Islamic law.
Observing the precedent set by Khwaja Ahrar, the Naqsh-
bandl-Mughal partnership in India bolstered the Islamic identity
of the Mughal regime while facilitating the spread of Naqshbandl
teachings among the Indian Muslim community. The Naqsh-
bandl-Mughal alliance had established the precedent of social
and religious ties between Naqshbandls and Afghans and the po­
tential political role of the Naqshbandl pir as a shaykh-intimate to
the ruler. Not only did Naqshbandl shaykhs advise and mediate
Mughal administrative affairs, but they were also expected to
focus divine favor to the ruler's advantage. This Central Asian
legacy had a lasting impression on Indian Islam.

Ahmad Sirhindl: The Advent of the Mujaddidiyya

Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindl (971/1564-1034/1624) initiated the third

stage of Naqshbandl history, when the Naqshbandiyya became
an Indian lineage. Known as “the renewer of the second millen­
nium" (mujaddid-i alf-i thanf), he was the most famous of Baql-
billah's disciples and exhibited his extraordinary spiritual
aptitude by becoming a successor to Baqlbillah in less than three

^Mandawl, Gulzar-i abrar, Urdu trans., p. 477. He is also known as Mir MurtadS
Khan.
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A calendar depicting the tomb of Ahmad SirhindT at Sirhind produced

hv the current successor of Sher Muhammad Sharaqpuri, Miyan Jamil
months. More than any other Indian Naqshbandl after Baha3-
uddln, both redefined the role of sufi practice in society and elab­
orated Naqshbandl mystical exercises. The renaming of the path
to Mujaddidiyya reflects the significance of SirhindTs influence;
he is regarded as a co-founder by the later Naqshbandiyya.39
With the goal of implementing a universal set of Islamic sym­
bols, Islamic law, and the Prophetic model, Sirhindl's enterprise
ran counter to Akbar, who regarded himself as having unified
diverse religious groups through his person, legitimized by prec­
edents in Central Asia and India. To unify the Indian Muslim
community, Sirhindl defined its boundaries according to the
Sunni dogma Caqa’id) to counteract the universalizing of all reli­
gious communities through Mughal political structures. Many
members of Akbar's court were among Sirhindl's large circle of
disciples. After Akbar's death, Muslim self-identity in the sub­
continent became progressively more clearly defined, in part due
to MujaddidI political influence and alliances, even though the
patronage of non-Muslim religious institutions was continued
under Aurangzlb (d. 1118/1707) and later rulers. Shortly before
his death, Sirhindl was imprisoned for a year by Akbar's succes­
sor, Jahangir, for his controversial claim to have reached a higher
spiritual rank than Abu Bakr, the first caliph.40 Indian Naqsh-
bandls continued to advise rulers until the breakup of the Indian
Mughal empire.
In 1032-33/1623 Sirhindl declared his middle son, Muhammad
Ma'sum (d. 1079/1668), to be his principal successor and the next
qayyum (or qutb al-aqtab), the living person considered to have the
highest spiritual rank of all sufis on earth. Through the mediation
of the qayyum God grants existence to all people; thus, the qayyum

39David Damrel suggests that Sirhindl's enterprise was more a result of Chishtl-
Sabirl influences through his father than Central Asian Naqshbandi influences.
See " 'The Naqshbandi Reaction' Reconsidered."
40NaqshbandIs claim that Sirhindl was imprisoned because of the ShlT intrigues
initiated by Nurjahan, Jahangir7s Shi1! wife. Supposedly this measure was precipi­
tated by Sirhindl's failing to perform the necessary obeisance mandated by court
protocol. This controversy was one of many which has involved Sirhindl from his
lifetime to the present. Yohanan Friedmann, in his Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindl: An Out­
line of His Thought and a Study of His Image in the Eyes of Posterity, discusses Sir­
hindl's image, the perceptions of his contemporaries, and how critics and
supporters up to the present have interpreted him. From a pro-Sirhindl perspec­
tive, Muhammad Iqbal MujaddidI in his Ahwdl wa-athdr-i ‘Abdullfih Khushagi
QusurT analyzes critically many of the seventeenth-century sources used by Fried­
mann in addition to adding data from sources not available to Friedmann. The
most complete scholarly treatments of Sirhindl are Zawwar Husayn, Hadrat
mujaddid-i alf-i thanf, and Muhammad Mas'ud Ahmad, Sirat-i mujaddid-i alf-i thdnT.
supports creation.41 Like his father,42 Muhammad Ma'sum wrote
letters to the royal family encouraging them to promote and im­
plement Islamic policies throughout India.43 It is said that
Aurangzlb, Dara Shikuh's younger brother, visited Muhammad
Ma'sum in Sirhind after Shah Jahan's death in 1076/1666 and
became his formal disciple there.44 Further evidence in the col­
lected letters of Muhammad Ma'sum and his son, Hujjatullah
Naqshband (d. 1114/1702), suggest that Aurangzlb was even
himself a practicing Naqshband! at one time.45
When Shah Jahan died and war for succession between
Aurangzlb and Dara Shikuh broke out, Aurangzlb is said to have
looked to the Naqshbandls for support. The sufis were the spe­
cialists to mediate and focus divine grace and energy on the rul­
er's behalf. Muhammad Ma'sum ordered his nephew Shaykh
Sa'duddln, the son of Muhammad Sa'ld, and his own son Mu­
hammad Ashraf, both of whom were preparing to go on pilgrim­
age, to go immediately to Aurangzlb; the latter supposedly had

4,See J. G. J. ter Haar, Follower and Heir of the Prophet: Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi
(1564-1624) as Mystic, pp. 153-55. After Muhammad Ma'sum, the next two
qayyums were Hujjatullah Naqshband (d. 1114/1702) and Muhammad Zubayr
(d. 1152/1740), both lineal descendants of Muhammad Ma'sum.
42SirhindI wrote many letters to persons holding governmental posts during the
reigns of Akbar and Jahangir. For an analysis of these letters, most of which were
written requesting help on behalf of a third person, see Haar, Follower and Heir,
pp. 16-17.
43Five letters to Aurangzlb are collected in Muhammad Ma'sum, Maktubat-i
ma'sumiyya, 3 volumes. Letter 64 in volume 1 (henceforth written 1.64) was writ­
ten before Aurangzlb became emperor, and 2.5, 3.6, 3.122, 3.221, 3.227 were all
written before Aurangzlb became emperor. A discussion of letters written by
Ahmad Sirhindi's descendants to Aurangzlb, his family members, and members
of the Mughal Court are collected in S. Athar Abbas Rizvi, A History of Sufism in
India, 2 volumes, 2:482-91. Because Shahjahan and Crown Prince Dara Shikuh (d.
1069-70/1659) were devotees of Mulla Shah, a Qadirl shaykh in Srinagar, Mu­
hammad Ma'sQm had no reason to write any letters to them.
““Sayfuddln, Maktubat-i sayfiyya, letter 83, pp. 123-24, cited in Muhammad
Ma'sum, Hasandt al-haramayn, p. 112. Aurangzlb was in Muhammad Ma'sQm's
presence three times according to Muhammad Ma'sQm's grandson and successor,
Sayfuddln. See Sayfuddln, Maktubat, letter 84, p. 123, cited in Muhammad
Ma'sum, Hasanat, p. 112. Aurangzlb's Naqshbandl connection should not be exag­
gerated; he visited Burhanuddln Shattarl BurhanpQrl a few times for spiritual
blessing. His request to be buried near Zaynuddln ShlrazI Chishti's tomb indi­
cates that there was no particular Naqshbandl affinity toward the latter part of
his reign. Carl Ernst perceptively details the biases of sufi historiography in his
Eternal Garden: Mysticism, History, and Politics at a South Asian Sufi Center,
pp. 38-61.
45Muhammad Ma'sum, MaktUbdt, letters 6, 122, 194, 220, 221, 227. Hujjatullah
Naqshband, WasTlat al-qabul ila Allah wa’l-rasul, p. 139, cited in Khaliq Ahmad
Nizami, "Naqshbandi Influence on Mughal Rulers and Politics," pp. 49-50.
orders to stay by Aurangzlb's side/6 while Muhammad Ma'sum
went to Mecca to mobilize the spiritual support of the ulama and
sufis in the holy city and pray for Aurangzlb's victory. His eldest
son, Sibghatullah, was dispatched to Baghdad to appeal to ‘Abd-
ulqadir al-jllanl, the founder-figure of the Qadiriyya, to abandon
support for Dara Shikuh, since the Naqshbandls no longer con­
sidered him worthy of being in the Qadiriyya because he had
stopped writing hanafl and qadirl after his name.4647* The loss of
‘Abdulqadir's spiritual assistance would have isolated Dara from
the flow of divine energy {fayd) and rendered him powerless.
Whether or not the Naqshbandls actually performed this barrage
of prayer and spiritual lobbying is not the point. They shared
the popular assumption that Shah Jahan's succession would be
decided in the heavenly sphere and that the sufis had the most
power to influence this decision and effect changes in this world.
The Mujaddidls wanted to be the sufi lineage that wielded both
supernatural and worldly power just as their spiritual ancestors
had done in Central Asia.
With the victory of Aurangzlb, Mughal support of a universal-
ist idea that all religions had equal validity came to an end as the
Indo-Muslim community opted for stricter definitions of Muslim
identity. SirhindTs descendants and disciples still found employ­
ment in the Mughal administration as long as it lasted/8 but it is
debatable how much influence the Naqshbandls actually had
over Aurangzlb's subsequent policies. Naqshbandls believed they
could encourage the Islam of those following the Prophetic
model and the mainstream Sunni community (ahl al-sunna wa’l-
jamaa) by influencing the leaders of the community in the man­
ner of Ahrar and his descendants. At the same time these shaykhs
and their senior successors had thousands of disciples who were
being taught to adhere assiduously to Islamic law and the Pro­

46lhsan Sirhindl, Raiudat al-qayyilmiyya, 2:91, cited in Muhammad Ma'sum, Hasa­

nat, p. 126. Muhammad Ashraf, by performing supplications (sing. du'H) for di­
vine intervention on the battlefield, was supposed to help Aurangzlb emerge
victorious. Dara Shikuh took tantrics and Hindu holy men in addition to sufis on
his Qandahar campaign in 1063/1653 (he lost the battle). See S. A. A. Rizvi, A
History of Sufism in India, 2:414.
47Muhammad Ma'sum, Hasanat, pp. 126-27. Professor MujaddidT lists the nu­
merous contemporary sources (without page references) that mention this all­
important intervention by Sibghatullah. If this actually occurred, the Naqshbandls
probably assumed that he had renounced both ritually acting in accordance with
Hanafl jurisprudence, a marker of Indian Sunni identity, and his spiritual connec­
tion with ‘Abdulqadir al-Jilani.
4sSee Muhammad Ma'sum, Hasanat, pp. 126-59, for an analysis of the maktubat
literature between Aurangzlb and the Naqshbandls of the time.
phetic model as they progressed along the sufi path. Political ex­
pedience, on the other hand, dictated a legitimate government
supported by religious notables. The Mughals expected all reli­
gious shrines receiving land grants to pray "for the prosperity of
the government."49
From these government landgrants the worldly fortunes of
many sufis were enhanced. Even Mughal emperors like Huma-
yun and Shah Jahan, who did not utilize the services and protec­
tion of the Naqshbandls, supported their own sufis through land
grants in their all-important tasks of intercession; political consid­
erations reigned supreme in all Mughal-sufi relationships. Ja­
hangir took action against Ahmad Sirhindl because he needed to
minimize discord in his realm. Similarly, Shah Jahan immediately
banished Sayyid Adam Banurl (d. 1053/1644), an influential suc­
cessor of Ahmad Sirhindl, to the Hijaz in 1052/1642-43 when the
emperor's messengers in Lahore reported to him that ten thou­
sand threatening Afghans had joined his entourage.50 Aurang-
zlb's proscription of Sirhindl's collected letters is not inconsistent
with his previous association with the Naqshbandls. Political is­
sues required political responses, and spiritual issues spiritual re­
sponses. The sufis were useful to the Mughals but were not
considered invincible; when the boundaries of political accept­
ability were transgressed, they were still the emperor's subjects.

After Aurangzlb: Shah WalTullah and Mir Dard

In the eighteenth century a new era in Indo-Muslim history

began; the Mughal empire disintegrated after Aurangzlb's death
in 1118/1707, and the spiritual descendants of Ahmad Sirhindl
became the most prominent Naqshbandls, overshadowing other

49A statement noted in a late-Mughal land grant to the shrine of Bahawal Haq
at Multan and part of a translated abstract of a copy of a Chaknama dated 25th
Rabl II, 1141 a . h . (Board of Revenue, file 131/1575), cited in David Gilmartin,
Empire and Islam, p. 45. Counter to "praying for prosperity" an alternative is a
shaykh praying for ruin. In modern Pakistani politics, legal proceedings were
brought against the pir of Manki Sharif after he had "tried to restrain the Mem­
bers of the Electoral College from the free exercise of their right to vote by invok­
ing divine wrath against those who do not support President Ayub." See Pakistan
Times, 21 December 1964, cited in Adrian C. Mayer, "Pir and Murshid: An Aspect
of Religious Leadership in West Pakistan," p. 166. Later, presidential election
rules were revised, to include a clause prohibiting the threatening of electors with
divine displeasure. See Pakistan Times, 12 January 1965, cited in ibid., p. 169, n. 15.
a’Although not explicitly stated, many of these Afghans were probably armed.
Ghulam Sarvar Lahurl, Khazinat al-asfiya', 2 volumes, 1:630-31.
lineages. Shah Wallullah Dihlawl (d. 1176/1762), the most famous
Indian Muslim of the period, continued the reform tradition of
Ahmad Sirhindl and became known internationally for his eru­
dite scholarship in Qur’an exegesis (tafsTr), hadith, jurisprudence
(fiqh), and sufism (tasawwuf). His best-known work, Hujjat Allah
al-baligha was used for a long time in the course of study at Al-
,51

Azhar University in Cairo.52 Through his original syntheses of

Islamic religious subjects, Shah Wallullah demonstrated his ge­
nius, whether by formulating unprecedented legal decisions on
the basis of original hadith scholarship or by showing that the
so-called shuhiidT (subjective witnessing the oneness of God and
Creation) and xvujudi (the objective declaration that God and Cre­
ation were identical) positions had complementary functions in
sufism. His own talents harmonized the best of sufi experience
and scholarly attainment, making Shah Wallullah an ideal reli­
gious leader. In striving to eliminate practices of Indian Muslims
that did not conform to the Prophetic sunna, he not only followed
the reform tradition of Ahmad Sirhindl but provided an example
for nineteenth-and twentieth-century sufis later on.
Shah Wallullah's Naqshbandl contemporary, Mir Dard
(d. 1199/1785), also lived in Delhi. Mir Dard's father, Muhammad
Nasir 'Andallb (d. 1172/1759), successor of Shah Gulshan
(d. 1170/1757), was the first Indian to call his sufi path the "Mu­
hammadan path" (tartqa Muhammadiyya), a designation first used
in a sufi context by Moroccan Abu 'Abdullah Muhammad Jazull
(d. 869/1465) and subsequently by various sufi lineages, includ­
ing the nineteenth-century North African Idrlsiyya and
Sanusiyya sufis and the Indian Sayyid Ahmad Shahid Barelwl
(d. 1246/1831) of Rai Bareilly. When Mir Dard asked his father
how to name this new path, he replied: "If my intention had been
so, I would have named the tartqa after my own name, as the
others do. But all of us are children, lost in the sea of identity and
drowned in one ocean. Our name is the name of Muhammad,
and our sign is the sign of Muhammad. Our love is the love of
Muhammad and our claim is the claim of Muhammad. One must
call this order the tartqa Muhammadiyya, the Muhammadan path.
It is exactly the path of Muhammad, and we have not added any­
thing to it. Our conduct is the conduct of the Prophet, and our
way the Muhammadan way."53

5,This has been recently translated by Marcia Hermansen as The Conclusive Ar­
gument from God: Shah Waliullah of Delhi's Hujjat Allah al-Baligha.
52For further information see J. M. S. Baljon, Religion and Thought of Shah WalT
Allah Dihlawt, 1703-1762.
Annemarie Schimmel, Pain and Grace: A Study of Two Mystical Writers of Eigh­
teenth-Century Muslim India, p. 42.
 Both Mir Dard and Shah Wallullah identified two ways to God:
the higher path of prophethood (tariq-i nubuwat) and the lower
path of intimates of God (tariq-i wilayat). Like Shah Wallullah, Mir
Dard's emphasis on the Prophet influenced concepts of Muslim
identity in nineteenth-century India.
Shah Wallullah brought together all the eight major sublin­
eages of the Indian Naqshbandiyya,54 though of them he pre­
ferred the Naqshbandiyya-Mujaddidiyya, describing it as "the
most illustrious and pure and the least heretical tariqa."55 The re­
formist sufi path was to live according to a strict interpretation of
Islamic law and model one's actions after those of the Prophet.
Other Naqshbandl sublineages, such as those following AbuT-
cUla's and Baqlbillah's teachings, listened to sama' to produce
spiritual ecstasy, an activity not considered permissible by
sharpa-minded Naqshbandl-Mujaddidls. AbuT-cUla's sublineage
combined ChishtI practices of singing and samac with Ahrarl
dhikr, but it never became widespread in South Asia.56 Even be-

^He was first initiated into the Naqshbandiyya by his father, Shaykh ‘Abdur-
rahlm (d. 1131-32/1719), who had received instruction from four different
Naqshbandl shaykhs: (1) Sayyid 'Abdullah AkbarabadI, a spiritual great-grand­
son of Ahmad Sirhindl through Adam Banurl (d. 1053/1644); (2) Amir Abu
Qasim AkbarabadI, the spiritual grandson of Abu’l-'Ula AkbarabadI (d. 1061/
1651), a lineal descendant of ‘Ubaydullah Ahrar; (3) Khwaja Khurd, the son of
Baqlbillah; and (4) Amir Nurul'ula (d. 1081/1671), the son of Abu’l-'Ula Akbara-
badl. See Shah Wallullah, Intibah fi salasil azvliya’ Allah, p. 31. In Anfas aT'arifin
Shah Wallullah describes his father and his other teachers. For more information
on the non-Mujaddidl lineage of an Indian Ahrarl, Abu’l-'Ula, see Abu’l-'Ula’l
Ahrarl, Israr-i Abu'l-'Ula, pp. 5-8. This non-Mujaddidl lineage still has functioning
sufi lodges in Gaya, Bihar, and Agra. At least through the nineteenth century,
descendants of Khwaja Ahrar were sajjadanishms at the sufi lodge in Agra (con­
trary to Algar's assertion that the descendants of Ahrar in India “died out in the
seventeenth century"—"A Brief History," p. 19). Initiation from his father in­
volved no Naqshbandl-MujaddidI spiritual practices; Shah Wallullah mentions
that he learned these practices from Mulla DalTl KakyanI, a spiritual grandson of
Muhammad Ma'sum. The scholar/mystic Abu Tahir Muhammad (d. 1145-46/
1733) initiated Shah Wallullah into the Naqshbandiyya, Shadhiliyya, Shattariyya,
Suhrawardiyya, and Kubrawiyya in Medina. See Baljon, Religion and Thought,
pp. 5-6. Abu Tahir had three Naqshbandl affiliations:'(1) His father, Ibrahim al-
Kuranl, (d. 1101—2/1690), who was a non-Ahrarl spiritual descendant in ‘Abdur­
rahman Jaml's (d. 898/1492) lineage; (2) Ahmad an-Nakhll (d. 1130/1717—18
Mecca) of Ahrarl lineage; and (3) ‘Abdullah al-Basrl, the spiritual grandson of
Tajuddln Sanbhall, a senior khalifa of Baqlbillah.
55Baljon, Religion and Thought, p. 85. Later he makes favorable, inclusive com­
ments about other Indian sufi lineages, e.g., the Chishtiyya, Suhrawardiyya, and
Qadiriyya.
56‘Abdulhayy, Nuzhat, 5:22; Shah Amir Abu’l-'Ula’l Ahrarl, Israr, p. 21. Jl Hall
Abu’l-'Ula’l (d. 1250/1834-35) had many disciples in Hyderabad, Deccan. See
‘Ata’ Husayn, Kayfiyat al-arifin, pp. 105-06. Successors of 'Ata’ Husayn (d. 1311/
fore the early eighteenth century, Baqlbillah's non-Mujaddidl
sublineage had apparently withered away in India, subsumed by
the vigorous Mujaddidls.*57 In addition, other non-Mujaddidl
Naqshbandl sublineages, represented by Khwaja Khawand
Mahmud (d. 1052/1642 in Lahore) and by a Central Asian sublin­
eage of Baha Shah Muhammad Musafir (d. 1126/1714 in Auran­
gabad), failed to attract disciples and perpetuate their teachings.58
Within a century of Ahmad Sirhindl's death, the Naqshbandiyya-
Mujaddidiyya reigned supreme among the Naqshbandls in India.
The end of Naqshbandl influence over the rulers of India came
with the advent of British rule. In 1803 the British ousted the Mar-
athas from Delhi and became the new protectors of the titular
Muslim king; by 1849 the Panjab was under British control. After
the Indian rebellion of 1857, the British exiled the last Mughal
ruler, Bahadur Shah, to Rangoon and singled out the Muslim
community as the scapegoat for the uprising. The British closed
the great mosque of Delhi for five years after the revolt; as late as
1899 Europeans still considered entering the Delhi mosque with
their shoes on to be a "right of conquest/'59
Naqshbandl activity in Delhi was disrupted. Ahmad SaTd's
Naqshbandl sufi lodge in Chatli Qabr, housing the graves of
Mlrza Mazhar Jan-i janan (assassinated in 1195/1781) and
Ghulam ‘All Shah (d. 1240/1824), was entrusted to a Panjabi dis­
ciple of Dost Muhammad (d. 1284/1868) after Ahmad Sa'Td (d.
1277/1860) fled with his family to the Hijaz in 1858. Thirty years
later, his grandson Shah AbuT-Khayr reorganized the sufi lodge
and the Naqshbandls renewed their religious activity in the capi­

1893-94 in Gaya), e.g., Mir Ashraf'All, transmitted the teachings to Dacca, Bom­
bay, and Hyderabad.
57Khwaja Khurd, Baqlbillah's younger son, studied with Ahmad Sirhindl: see
Shah Wallullah, Intibah, p. 31. ‘Abdulhaqq Muhaddith Dihlawi's son, Nurulhaqq
Mashraq! (d. 1073/1662), instead of following Baqlbillah's senior disciples, be­
came a disciple of Muhammad Ma'sum. See Rahman ‘Ali, Tadhkira-yi ‘ulamcC-i
Hind, p. 246.
“ For further information on Khawand MahmQd, see David Damrel, "Forgotten
Grace." For additional information on the Deccan Naqshbandl, Baba Musafir, see
Digby, "The Naqshbandls in the Deccan."
“ Home political proceedings, cited in Warren Fusfeld, "The Shaping of Sufi
Leadership in Delhi: The Naqshbandiyya-Mujaddidiyya, 1750-1920," p. 53. Wear­
ing of European foot-covering was charged with symbolic meaning. Before the
issuing of a 1867 Bengal Circular Order, the British had allowed Christian Indians
to wear English shoes or boots while forbidding the same privileges to non­
Christian Indians. Equally charged symbolic issues involved kinds of head cover­
ing. For the original documents detailing these issues, see J. S. Jha, ed., Imperial
Honeymoon with Indian Aristocracy, pp. 425-36. ’
tal,60 but Naqshbandl political influence became a memory, as the
status of Muslims in India steadily declined. In eighteenth-cen­
tury India, rulers generally ignored well-intentioned Naqshbandl
advice. By the end of the nineteenth century, the British govern­
ment had become hostile to any hint of potential Muslim political
involvement, Naqshbandl or otherwise, in the cities. Thereafter
the Panjab became the major center of Naqshbandl activity in
India, perhaps even surpassing its influence in Ottoman Turkey.

Mujaddidl Influence: From India to the World

By the eighteenth century, Mujaddidls lodges were located

throughout the subcontinent, neighboring Afghanistan, and
places in Central Asia where Baha’uddln and his successors had
established Naqshbandl practices. Hamid Algar notes that Cen­
tral Asia remained closed to external influence, both in sufi mat­
ters and in general, but the Mujaddidlyya nonetheless established
itself in places like Bukhara, Tashkent, and Yarkand, thus indicat­
ing its compatibility with the original Naqshbandl impulse that
remained dominant in the area.61 This compatibility was based on
the conscious and successful replication of Prophetic authority,
symbolically, experientially, intellectually, and even politically in
the person of the sufi shaykh.
Mujaddidl authority was comprehensive: the Mujaddidiyya in­
fluenced both politics and Islamic practices at the same time, first
by urging the Mughal government to unify the Indian Muslim
community by imposing universal symbols of Islamic law and
following the Prophetic sunna throughout India (which also gave
the Mujaddidls special patronage privileges in the process). Sec­
ond, seekers on the Mujaddidl sufi path were first briefed in cor­
rect practices and correct credal dogma that differentiated a
Muslim from a non-Muslim. Only then were they taught the spir­
itual techniques leading them closer to God. After counseling a
ruler about his own individual Islamic practices, the Mujaddidls
expected to guide the development of Islamic social institutions
for the Indian Muslim community.62

60Fusfeld, "The Shaping of Sufi Leadership," pp. 243-48. In addition, Fakhr-

uddln Jahan ChishtI Dihlawl's (d. 1199/1785) sufi lodge was also forced to close.
See Ghulam MuhyTddln Qusurl, Malfuzat-i sharif, p. 12.
61Algar, "Brief History," p. 24.
“One should not uncritically assume, as one might from reading Naqshbandl
sources, that the rulers usually listened to sufi advice. There is evidence that they
did not. See Irfan M. Habib, "The Political Role of Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi and
Shah Waliullah."
 Ahmad Sirhindi
(d. 1034/1624)
r
Muhammad S acid Muhammad Macsum Adam Banuri
(d. 1070/1660) (d. 1079/1668) (d. 1053/1643)
I r i----------------- --------------------- 1
Abdulahad Muhammad Muhsm Hqjjatullah Naqshband Sayfuddin Sacdullah
(d. 1126/1715) (d. 1147/1734-5) ' (d n i4 / 1702) (d. 1095/1684) I
Muhammad Sa'id Lahuri
i------ (d. 1167/1753)
Khwaja Hanif Muhammad’ ‘Abid Sunnami Muhammad Zubayr ^
(d. U32/1720) s h § h S a edull6h(d. 1160/1747) Muhammad Mascud Peshawari
(d. 1152/1740) i
_.l _ . . Gulshan Mirza M azhar Ja n -i jftnan Faqirullah Shikarpuri
Shah Qutbuddin (assaa. 1195/1781)
«■ " r ™ (d. 1795/1781)
| Muhammad Nasir
(d. 1180/1766)
Shah Jamalullah
r r
Qadi ThanjUullah Panipati Ghulam CA13 Shah
~l
Na'imullah Bahra^ichi
Shaykh Muhammad cAndalib
(d. 1149/1737) (d. H72/1759) (d. 1209/1794) (d. 1225/1810) (d. 1240/1824) (d. 1218/1803)
/ 1--------------------------- 1-----
Khwaja Zaman Mir Dard Ghulam Muyhiddln
Muyhiddln Qusuri
Qusuri
(d^l220/1806) Uhulam Abu Sa'id Mujaddidi KhalidKurd!
(d. 1188/1775) (d. 1199/1785) (d. 1270/1854) (d. 1250/1835) (d. 1242/1827)
I Ghulam Nabilillahi r + I
Ahmad Sindi
Faydullah Tirahi Ahmad Sa'id Abu3l-Khayr Muhammad Sharif
(d. 1222/1808) (d. 1306/1888)
(d. 1245/1829) (d. 1277/1860) Dihlawi Qandahari
^ ____ (d. 1341/1924) (d. 1284/1867)
Shah Husayn
Nur Muhammad Churahi
(d. 122^ 1809) Dost Muhammad Muhammad 'Umax
(d. 1286/1869) Qandahari (d. 1297/1880)
Imam cAli Shah I (d. 1284/1868)
I Abu’ l-Kloyr Dihlawi Mahmud Shah
(d. 1282/1865) Faqir Muhammad Churahi (d. 1341/1924)
Muhammad 'Uthman (d. 1306/1888)
(d. 1315/1897)
(d. 1314/1896) I | 1
Sadiq I a Ii Shah
(d. 1317/1900)
h i 'Abdulkhaliq Qadir Bakhah Anwar cAli
Ja m a ca t cAli Sh&h ‘Abdulkarim Ja m a 'a t CAU Shah (d. 1350/1931) (d. 1273/1857) (d. 1339/1921)
I
Amiruddin (d. 1370/1951) W- 1355/1936) ^ Tha™ Tawakkul Shah Anbalawi
(d. 1358/1939) (d. 1315/1897)
(d. 1330/1912)

continued on next page* Mahbub cAlam

continued^on next page **
(d. 1335/1917)
 Muhammad U thm an
Amiruddin (d. 1314/1896)
(d. 1330/1912)

Sirajuddin
cAbdurrahman Bahadur
(d; 1333/1915)
Kilmi
(d. 1340/1922)
Sher Muhammad Sharaqpurl
(d; 1346/1928) AbuDl-Sacid Ahmad Khan Muhammad Fadl cAll Shah
(d. 1360/1941) (d. 1354/1935)

Muhammad Sacid Qurayshl

Nurulhasan (d. 1363/1944)
Muhammad cUmar Birbali Muhammad Ism a'il
(d. 1373/1952) (d. 1387/1967) Kirmanwali
(d. 1385/1966)
Zawwar Husayn
(d. 1400/1980)

Ghulam M ustafa Khan

 The combined efforts of sufi jurists, of whom the Mujaddidls
were the most important, contributed to the political reshaping
of Islam in South Asia. In a span of fifty-eight years MujaddidI
political influence, supported by favorably inclined elites such as
the mansabdars and ulama, helped reverse Akbar's universal reli­
gious policy and replace it with Islamic universal symbols. Even
if one assumes that the Mujaddidls had little political influence,
one cannot deny that a more formally defined and necessarily
closed Muslim community became the norm in subsequent
years.63
Naqshbandl efforts to influence the ineffectual Mughal rulers
who followed Aurangzlb met with failure. Shah Wallullah, for
example, naively trusted Ahmad Shah Durrani, a rampaging Af­
ghan, who then wantonly sacked numerous cities in northern
India. The days of counseling the ruling elite had clearly passed.64
Sayyid Ahmad Shahid Barelwl, a disciple of Shah Wallullah's son
‘AbduTazIz, was killed fighting to restore Muslim rule in north­
ern India. With the advent of British rule, Indian Naqshbandls
withdrew from political action altogether until the Pakistan
movement began in the 1930s.65
The activities of the Mujaddidiyya consolidated the authority
of ulama and sufis in the subcontinent. The Mujaddidls insisted

“To what degree Sirhindl and later MujaddidI shaykhs directly contributed to
a new conception of Muslim community is hotly debated, since much scholarship
reflects the twentieth-century developments of the Indo-Pakistan subcontinent.
See ter Haar, Follower and Heir, pp. ix-x, 4, 16-19. In India the development of
a more narrowly defined Muslim community coincides with the growth of the
Mujaddidiyya. Until MujaddidI emphasis on credal dogma and developments in
other Indian sufi lineages, especially the Chishtiyya, are studied in more detail,
one cannot necessarily assume a direct cause and effect relationship between
these two processes.
“Shah Faqlrullah (d. 1195/1781) and Shah Wallullah were among the last
Naqshbandls in northern India to continue the Naqshbandl practice of advising
rules. For additional information concerning Shah Wallullah's letters, see Khallq
Ahmad Nizami, ed., Shah \Naliulldh DihlawT ke siyasT maktubat. For letters by
Faqlrullah to Shah Abdall, see Faqlrullah Shikarpurl, Maktubat-i Faqlrullah, letters
18, 29, 57, 66; for communications with Shah Abdall's chief minister, Shah Wall
Khan, letters 56, 69; for letters to QadI Idris, a grandson of Ahmad Sirhindl and
Shah Abdall s chief mufti, letter 19. As far as Indian Muslims were concerned,
these letters were of little avail in preventing the pillaging by Shah Abdall's
armies.
“Although it is risky to retrospectively project nationalistic concerns, there is a
possibility that Pakistan might very well be the twentieth-century political out­
come of a religious crystallization process initiated 350 years previously. See Wil­
fred Cantwell Smith, "The Crystallization of Religious Communities in Mughal
India," p. 178. In Pakistan the efforts directed against the Ahmadis are an exam­
ple of a crystallization process still in operation.
that adherence to Islamic law be a prerequisite to mystical prac­
tice under the guidance of a shaykh and considered a religious
scholar's Calim) knowledge to be only partly valid if it did not
partake of the inner light of divine grace. They emphasized the
shari'a and jurisprudence (fiqh) in the mystical path and that at­
tracted many ulama to the Naqshbandiyya.66
Under the British, without any Islamic polity to support Is­
lamic institutions financially and to provide an identity so neces­
sary for the minority Indian Muslim community, Naqshbandl
pirs stressed the personal nature of Muslim identity. From their
rural sufi lodges, they proclaimed the essentials of correct Islamic
credal dogma {‘aqlda) and behavior modeled on the Prophet as
prerequisites to the performance of mystical practices.67 For thou­
sands of Indian Muslims an intimate relationship with a spiritual
mentor established and confirmed one's identity as a Muslim.68
Religious authority and communal identity were transferred
from sociopolitical symbols to the personal and approachable
figure embodied in a living, perfect, and perfection-bestowing
sufi shaykh.69

“ That over 60 percent of the prominent ulama in nineteenth- and twentieth-

century Panjab are sufis (and most of these sufis are Mujaddidls) suggests a sig­
nificant Mujaddidl contribution. This is based on a two-volume biographical dic­
tionary of 307 Panjabi non-Barelwi ulama from 1200/1786-1400/1980, Saflr
Akhtar's Tadhkira-yi 'ulama'-i Panjab. Another biographical compendium, a Bare-
lwi survey of 179 ulama in the present-day boundaries of Pakistan from ca. 1297/
1880-1400/1980, indicates that 77 percent had sufi affiliation. See Muhammad
‘Abdulhaklm Sharaf, Tadhkira-yi akabir-i ahl-i sunnat (Pakistan).
67Credal affirmations Caqa'id), often written in numbered lists, are the beliefs
that Muslims are expected to accept as true. These lists vary from time to time,
between Sunni and ShlT, and between the various Shl‘1 groups. For the early
Sunni formulations of credal dogma, see A. J. Wensinck, The Muslim Creed: Its
Genesis and Historical Development. The goal of these affirmations is to make one's
inner faith (man), the quality of religiousness, outwardly tangible.
“ Muslims chose other avenues to individualize Islamic identity which also al­
lowed them to participate in the larger geographical and historical Islamic com­
munity. One alternative was to identify Islam totally on the basis of Islamic
scriptural norms, i.e., the Qur’an and hadith. Although considerably less popular
in Muslim India, these scripturalist-minded groups, pejoratively termed "Wah­
habis," have had an influence on the religious life of Indian Muslims. Their defi­
nition of Sunni orthodoxy based only on scripture and a totally transcendent God
is a much narrower vision of Islam than that of sufis who value the scriptural
dimensions of their religion in addition to appreciating a mediational paradigm
involving the personal guidance of pirs with or without the practice of a contem­
plative discipline. See my "Charismatic Versus Scriptural Authority: Naqshbandl
Response to Deniers of Mediational Sufism in British India."
“The late Fazlur Rahman noted that many contemporary Indo-Pakistani Mus­
lims come close to equating a person without a pir (be pira) to a "godless person";
 Mujaddidl charismatic authority, like that of other sufi lin­
eages, had gradually consolidated religious authority in the liv­
ing shaykh, a tendency that had accelerated in India after the
seventeenth century. Not only was the pir expected to exemplify
the Prophetic sunna and to be conversant in correct Islamic prac­
tices, but in the Mujaddidl case he was expected to teach special
spiritual practices to qualified aspirants. There were to be no con­
flicts of interest between the living spiritual guide and spirits of
deceased shaykhs; the living shaykh was the supreme guide, even
superior to Khidr. Deceased pirs were used only to buttress the
institution of the living shaykh through their letters, upon which
the living pir was free to comment. In the nineteenth century, the
Barelwi school of ulama, stressing a mediating sufi authority and
unquestioning obedience to the sufi guide, institutionally mani­
fested this consolidation of religious authority.
Mujaddidls were literary people who utilized the popular
genre of collected sufi letters;70 the living Mujaddidl shaykh was
thought to have in his hands a coherent and authoritative body
of teaching that effectively assisted an aspirant's progress on the
sufi path. These letters, especially the letters of Sirhindl, dis­
cussed religious matters in detail that only an educated Muslim
could comprehend. Unlike sufi discourses, which were essen­
tially recorded oral histories, sufi letters required the commen­
tary of a shaykh possessing a background in jurisprudence and
mystical experience. Collections of sufi letters, by establishing a
scriptural Naqshbandl identity, served also to concentrate greater
authority in the figure of the living shaykh.
The Mujaddidls, who guided religious sentiments since the be­

see his Islam, p. 154. In Urdu the adjective be pTr (literally, without pir) means
pitiless, cruel, or vicious.
70There were at least eleven pre-Mughal (1206-1526) Indian sufis who wrote
collections of letters. The most popular collection has been Sharafuddln Maneri's
Maktubat-i sadT, recently translated by Paul Jackson as The Hundred Letters. As
Bruce Lawrence explains in the foreword to Jackson's translation, Sharafuddln's
(d. 782/1381) letters are broadly descriptive of theoretical sufism in the same fash­
ion as al-Hujwlri's Kashf Al-Mahjub. The impersonal style of The Hundred Letters
makes it suitable for use in medieval religious schools and for consultation by the
Indian Mughal emperors Akbar and Aurangzlb. See MangrI, The Hundred Letters,
pp. xii-xiii. In contrast, Sirhindl's collected letters have had an entirely different
international audience, having been translated into Arabic, Turkish, and Urdu. As
Bruce Lawrence notes, the personal nature of Sirhindl's letters contrasts sharply
with Mangrl s detached style. This dimension of Sirhindl's literary legacy has
contributed to make Sirhindl a controversial figure, whether he writes about his
own individual spiritual experience, his controversies with contemporaries, or his
own spiritual eminence; see ibid., pp. xviii-xix.
ginning of the seventeenth century, were over time endorsed by
significant numbers of the Indian Muslim elite and ended up pro­
foundly altering the nature of normative Indian Islam. The same
MujaddidI systematization that limited Indian expressions of
Islam managed successfully to persuade large numbers of influ­
ential Muslims that the boundaries of the Muslim community
should be clearly defined. This new formulation of Islam, in Wil­
fred Cantwell Smith's words, was a “formalist closed-system rei­
fied interpretation.”71 For those Muslims who became convinced
of the new orthodoxy, it was anything but a closed, reified ex­
pression of Islam. On the contrary, the Mujaddidiyya enclosed
and nurtured an unparalleled inner vitality which has continued
to this day to sustain the lineage throughout the world.

7,W. C. Smith, "The Crystallization of Religious Communities," p. 190. As re­

cently as 1992 Fritz Meier said the [so-called] stagnation of Sufism begins in the
seventeenth century with the Mujaddidiyya and the Shi I scholastic- irfan tradi­
tion. See his "Nachtrag des Verfassers," p. 130.
CHAPTER 4

Genealogy as a Source of Authority

There are as many ways to God as there are souls.

A sufi saying attributed to Baha’uddln Naqshband

The science o f the isnad is part o f religion; therefore, scrutinize those from
whom you learn your religion.
Muslim, Sahth Muslim

The sufi directing-shaykh and his authority could not have

developed merely as a result of local historical conditions. The
spiritual connection to the Prophet Muhammad, the most potent
pan-Islamic symbol, authenticated the figure of the sufi shaykh
and made him a compelling figure in popular religion.1 The im­
portance of continuous links to the Prophet was nothing new, of
course, but the Naqshbandls expanded the principle to include
a heart-to-heart transmission of divine grace that enabled their
disciples to feel as if they were actually in the presence of the
Prophet.
In technical sufi terminology each Naqshbandl disciple has
nisba (Persian nisbat) with the Prophet, derived from the formal
spiritual connection to his or her spiritual mentor; the mentor has
the same type of connection with his spiritual guide.2 This series
of spiritual links forms a chain (silsila) that ultimately leads back
to the Prophet and transmits divine grace or auspiciousness (fayd,

'Muslim apologists have continually used the figure of Muhammad to underpin

their authority by employing Prophetic hadith in sufi apologetics and by empha­
sizing the Prophetic sunna as a model of orthoprax behavior.
2This sufi nisba overrides all other nisbas such as place of birth or blood ties. For
an overview of nisbas referring to place of birth, residence or origin, see Anne-
marie Schimmel, Islamic Names, p. 10.
baraka) from God. Since there are varying degrees of connected­
ness to the Prophet, even non-sufis can receive some divine en­
ergy (fay4), but without a shaykh there is seldom enough divine
grace to make spiritual progress.3 For the Naqshbandls a "proper
connection" (nisbat-i durust) assumes formal initiation (bay'a) and
participation in Naqshbandi mystical practices (suluk).4
In many respects these sufi genealogical chains resemble isnads
(sing, sanad, literally support, backing), which have been used to
certify that a specific hadith transmission actually originated with
the Prophet or a Companion. Muslim scholars consider a hadith
authentic (sahfh) if all the transmitters of the isnad are reputable
and if their lifetimes sufficiently overlap. In Islam this isnad prin­
ciple also applies to the transmission of knowledge in general,
Qur’an recitation, the religious sciences (tafsfr, hadith, fiqh), and
history (tarikh, sfra, mnghazi).5 As a general principle, the isnad

3Of the various categories of sufi initiates, two are represented by the type of
robes (khirqas) bestowed, e.g., a khirqa-yi irilda for initiates performing mystical
exercises and a khirqa-yi tabarruk for those who simply desire blessing from the
shaykh. See Spencer Trimingham, The Sufi Orders in Islam, pp. 36, 181-85, and
Richard Gramlich, Die schiitischen Derwischorden Persiens, 3 volumes, 2:171-75.
4‘Abdurrahman JamI, Nafahat al-uns min hadarat al-quds, ed. M. Tawhldlpur,
p. 614, cited in Muhammad b. Muhammad Parsa, Qudsiyya: Kalim3t-i Baha’uddfn
Naqshband, ed. Ahmad Tahirl 'Iraqi, p. 119. Na'Tmullah Bahra’ichi, a disciple of
Mlrza Mazhar Jan-i janan writing four centuries later, describes this as nisbat-i
sahfh in his Ma‘mulat-i mazhari, p. 16. ‘Iraqi discusses the various usages of nisba
in Kashifl's Rashahat-i ‘ayn al-hayat and in his edition of Qudsiyya. He states that
the more common meaning for the Naqshbandls is the equation of nisba and
tarfqa. Sometimes nisba describes the condition of God's attributes overpowering
the one moving along the Path (salik) to the point that the salik loses all sense of
ego, i.e., takes on the quality of be khudT and is drowned in God's attributes; see
Parsa, Qudsiyya, pp. 118-20. It is this latter meaning of nisba that is equated with
wilaya, qurb, and hudiir (all meaning being close to God) in Zawwar Husayn,
‘Urndat al-suluk, p. 306. It is described by Ghulam ‘All Shah in Maqamat-i MazharT,
p. 478, as nisbat-i kashiff, a quality which, in his opinion, few of his contemporaries
possessed. All Muslims are considered to have some residual nisba although only
someone who has a pir can be properly called sahib-i nisbat; see Zawwar Husayn,
‘Urndat al-suluk, p. 306.
Traditionally, any knowledge acquired without a valid isnad has not been rec­
ognized by the community of ulama. Detractors of Abu’l-'Ala’ Mawdudl (d.
1979), a Pakistani ideologue who has, among his numerous other works, pub­
lished a lengthy Qur’an commentary, dismiss anything he says about Islam be­
cause they consider it to be based on personal opinion (ra’y). This is in sharp
contrast to knowledge that is mustanad, i.e., validated by an isnad. In terms of
authority in Islam, knowledge with an isnad is knowledge that has been validated
by the community over centuries; it bears the stamp of community consensus
(ijmd‘) in its unquestioning acceptance (taqlid) of knowledge narrated by devout
predecessors. From this frame of reference, independent nT’y is not valued, some­
times even considered a threat to the cohesion of the community. The discussion
of William A. Graham concerning the fundamental nature of the isnad paradigm
mechanism is an Islamic knowledge-validation principle de­
signed to guarantee connection to the Prophet and his Compan­
ions.
Both isnads and sufi genealogical chains are based on a more
encompassing principle: the personal encounter between two re­
liable transmitters. In Islam, religious knowledge {Him) is much
more than just factual information that can be either read or writ­
ten down. According to an alleged Prophetic hadith, it is divided
in two "modes": knowledge of the heart (Him al-qalb) and oral
knowledge {Him al-lisdn).6 These two categories can overlap: for
example, the profession of faith (shahada) is spoken but must be
affirmed in the heart {tasdlq bi-qalb). Both modes are communi­
cated through personal contact and, whether verbal or nonverbal,
are expected to touch the believer's heart to some degree. In a
comprehensive discussion of the oral aspects of scripture, Wil­
liam A. Graham states, "It is a vastly different thing to read and
revere a text as an authoritative document than to internalize it in
memory and meditation until it permeates the sensual as well as
the intellectual sphere of consciousness. This [is] internalization,
or 'having the text by heart.. . . ' " 7
Naqshbandl genealogy chains indicate the path of continuous
heart-to-heart transmission of divinely emanating power and
grace from God via Muhammad to the Muslim community. Great
emphasis is placed upon the involvement of the believer's heart,
the locus of God's immanence. The student "above all should
have companionship (suhbat) with those who are perfected spiri­
tually and who are adorned with both inner and outer exemplary
deeds. From these perfected individuals [the students] should
learn religious sciences which are connected to shari'a, e.g., fiqh,
hadith, tafsir, so that through this knowledge one may desire God
Almighty's friendship and so that one's heart {dil) may proceed
on the path of virtue."8
The key pedagogical factor is the process of suhbat, which is an
intimate spiritual communication between human hearts.9 From

in Islamic culture in "Traditionalism in Islam: An Essay in Interpretation" has

stimulated my thinking along these lines.
6Baha uddln cites a hadith not found in the standard collections in Ya'qQb
CharkhI, Risdla-yi unsiyya, p. 12.
7William A. Graham Jr., Beyond the Written Word: Oral Aspects of Scripture in the
History of Religion, p. 165.
8Zaww3r Husayn, ‘Umdat al-suluk, p. 179.
9NaqshbandIs are aware that practically speaking it is not easy to find a scholar
of religious sciences who can simultaneously engage students in suhbat, but when
it does occur, it is "light upon light" (Q. 24:25).
a Naqshbandl point of view at least, the heart is the proper recep­
tacle or medium for religious knowledge. Only when it is linked
with the companionship (suhbat) of a spiritual mentor can this
knowledge be transformed into a religious wisdom inherited
from the prophets.10 This is qualitatively different from any no­
tion of intellectual knowledge. Companionship with the shaykh,
even when teaching hadith, is ideally experienced as actually
being in the presence of the Prophet himself.11
Written documents—and in modern times radio broadcasts,
television, and fax communications—all lack this connection to
Muhammad and are not considered to be authoritative media for
religious knowledge. This is not to say religious knowledge
cannot be communicated and stored in them, but they lack a nec­
essary “potency of the heart."12 Naqshbandl definitions of con­
nectedness to Muhammad encompass the general criteria for
valid Islamic knowledge while emphasizing the necessity of di­
vine energy and grace. What exactly comprises a valid connec­
tion to the Prophet, however, is another matter. Sufis and hadith
scholars have used radically differing paradigms to validate their
positions.
The Naqshbandl spiritual pedigree differs from a proper ha­
dith isnad in its age discrepancies between transmitters. Qasim b.
Muhammad b. Muhammad b. Abl Bakr (d. 107/725) could only
have met Salman al-FarisI (d. 36/656) as a small child. And how
could Abu Yazld al-Bistaml (d. 261/875) have met Ja'far as-Sadiq

10This is said to be in accordance with the hadith, "The ulama are to my people
as the prophets were to the sons of Israel" (‘ulama’ ummatf k-’anbiya'i bam isra’tl).
For Naqshbandls, the true ulama are those who have both the outer religious
knowledge of the religious scholars and the inner knowledge of sufis. As a techni­
cal term in Islam, ‘ulama’ (sing. ‘Cilim) usually means religious specialists who have
studied the "outer" religious sciences, specializing in Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh).
"See the quotation by MlrzS Mazhar Jan-i janan on pages 16-17 above.
12One example is a well-known invocatory prayer, Hizb al-bahr, which is be­
lieved to have special protective power and often recited by seafarers. In suhbat a
Naqshbandl shaykh communicates this invocatory prayer to individual disciples,
giving them "permission" (ijaza) to use the invocatory prayer. The preceptor has
activated it. Supported by an authoritative isnad going directly back to the
Prophet via Abu'l-Hasan ‘All ash-Shadhill (d. 656/1258), the Hizb al-bahr now is
connected. MahbQb ‘Alam (d. 1335/1917), a Panjabi Naqshbandl pir, explicitly
states that it would be insolent and presumptuous to recite the Hizb al-bahr before
receiving permission from a spiritual guide; disregarding such measures would
result in certain harm and ruin; see his Dhikr-i kathTr: mahbiib al-suluk, p. 41. For
another interchange involving a disciple asking a shaykh for permission to use
Hizb al-bahr, see Abu’l-Hasan Zayd Faruql, Manahij al-sayr, p. 79, and ‘Abdullah
Jan, Mu’nis al-mukhlisin, pp. 141-43.
 M uham m ad
(d. 11/633)

cAli b. Abi T&lib Abu B a k r as-Siddiq

(d. 4 0 /6 6 1 )* (d. 13/634)

H asan al-B asri

(d. 1 1 0 /7 2 8 )
t.
H usayn
H asan
(d. 4 9 /6 6 9 )*
S alm an a l-F a risi
(d. 3 5 -6 /6 5 5 )
(d. 6 1 /6 8 0 )* Q asim b. M uham m ad
(d. j.08/727)
Habib al-cAjami ^ayn a l-cAbidin
' (d. 1 2 0 /7 3 8 ) (<*• 9 4 /7 1 2 )*
J a T a r as-Sadiq
| M uham m ad a l-B a q ir'
(d. 1 4 8 /7 6 5 )*
(d. 113/731)*
D a’ ud at-T ai
(d. 1 6 5 /7 8 0 ) M usa al-K azim Abu Yazid a l-B istam i
I
M acru f al-K arkh l
(d. 1 8 3 /7 9 9 )*
I
(d. 2 6 1 /8 7 5 )

(d. 2 0 0 /8 1 5 ) cAli b. M usa ar-R ida

(d. 2 0 3 /8 1 8 )*
S ari as-Saqati
(d. 2 5 3 /8 6 7 ) A biPl-H asan al-K h araq an i
(d. 4 2 5 /1 0 3 3 )
Ju n a y d al-B aghdadi
(d. 2 9 7 /9 1 0 )
I--------------
Abu B a k r Shibli Abu cAli ar-R u db ari
(d. 3 3 4 /9 4 5 )

Abu3l-Q asim an-Nasrfibadi Abu cAlI al-K atib

(d. 3 7 2 /9 8 2 )'
I cU th m an al-M aghribi
Abu cAli ad-Daqqdq
(d. 3 7 3 /9 8 3 )
(d. 4 0 5 /1 0 1 4 )

Abu3l-Q asim al-Q ushayri Abu3l-Q asim al-G urgani

(d. 4 6 5 /1 0 7 2 ) (d. 4 6 9 /1 0 7 6 )

asterisk s indicate Abu cAli a l-F a rm a d i dotted lines ind icate

Shici im am s (d. 4 7 7 /1 0 8 4 ) U w aysi initiation s
i
continued on n e x t page

Figure 4. Naqshbandl genealogy

(d. 148/765) or Abu’l-Hasan al-Kharaqanl (d. 425/1033) have met

Abu Yazid al-Bistami?13
Historical evidence suggests that the earliest links of sufi
chains were fabricated. In the Naqshbandl case, three of the first

13According to Shah Wallullah, a recognized hadith scholar and eminent Indian

Naqshbandl, the biographical literature unequivocally states that Qasim b. Mu­
hammad b. Muhammad b. Abi Bakr could not have met Salman al-Farisi. Shah
Wallullah's response is that God knows best. As for the link between Hasan al-
Basri (d. 110/728) and ‘All b. Abi Talib (d. 41/661), Shah Wallullah states that the
sufis are convinced this is a valid link even though it cannot be proven by hadith
 d o tted lin es in d ica te con tin u ed fro m previou s page
U w a ysi in itia tio n s

Abu cA l! al-F& rm adi

(d. 4 7 7 /1 0 8 4 )

A bu H am id a l-G h azzali
Y u s u f H am ad an i
(d. 5 0 5 /1 1 1 1 )
(d. 5 3 5 /1 1 4 0 )

cA li R am S tan I
I.
cAbdulkhaliq Ghujduvani
(d. 7 2 1 /1 3 2 1 )
I / (d. 575/1179)
M u h am m ad B a b a S am m asi / - I
' (d. 7 5 5 /1 3 5 4 ) / cA n f R iw g ari
I (d. 6 1 6 /1 2 1 9 )
A m ir K u la l I
(d. 7 7 2 /1 3 7 0 ) / M ah m u d A njir F ag h n a w i
(d. 7 1 7 /1 3 1 7 )
I X
BahaDuddin Naqshband
(d. 791/1389)

cA la Duddin cA t ta r
(d. 8 0 3 /1 4 0 0 )’ M uham m ad P a r s a
(d. 8 2 2 /1 4 2 0 )
I
Y a 'q u b C h ark h i
(d. 8 5 1 /1 4 4 7 ) N izam ud din
I
'U b a y d u lla h A h ra r
S a cduddin K a sh g h ari
(d. 8 9 5 /1 4 9 0 ) '
(d. 8 6 0 /1 4 5 6 )
M u h am m ad Zfihid W ak hsh i
Y u s u f H u sa y n
(d. 9 3 6 /1 5 2 9 ) 'A b d u rrah m an J a m i
al-W fi'iz al-K ash ifi
(d. 9 3 9 /1 5 3 2 ) (d. 8 9 8 /1 4 9 2 )
D arw ish M u ham m ad
(d. 9 7 0 /1 5 6 2 )
(nine g e n e ra tio n s o f living sh ayk h s)
M u h am m ad A m k anagi
(d. 1 0 0 8 /1 6 0 0 )
F a q iru lla h S h ik arp u ri
M uham m ad Baqibill&h (d. 1 1 9 5 /1 7 8 1 )
(d. 1 0 1 2 /1 6 0 3 )

Ahmad Sirhindi
(d. 1034/1624)

sch o lars. See S hah W allu llah , Intibdh f f salHsil awliyif Allah, p. 34. L ater, Shah W a-
llullah state s th a t A b o 'A ll a l-F a rm a d l (d. 4 7 7 /1 0 8 4 ) h asnisbat-i jadhba an d suhbat
fro m AbQ’l-H a sa n a l-K h a ra q a n l (d. 4 2 5 /1 0 3 3 ) . In ad d itio n , Shah W allullah states
th at A b u ’l-H a sa n a l-K h a ra q a n l an d AbQ Y azld a re sp iritu ally co n n ected even
th o u gh the link b etw een AbQ Y azld a n d Ja 'fa r Sadiq is n ot valid (sahth). A n y B akrl
affiliation fo r N aq sh b an d ls d e p e n d s u p o n th e v alid ity of this latter con nection .
See ibid., p p . 3 8 - 3 9 , a n d also F a k h ru d d ln ‘A ll Safi KashifI, Rashahat-i ‘ayn al-hayat,
pp. 5 1 - 6 3 (in tro d u ctio n ).
six links of the BakrT silsila are historically impossible.14 Based on
information from written documents, the idea of complete sufi
chains linked back to the Prophet developed relatively late in the
tradition. Biographical works rarely mention the names of the
spiritual mentors of early sufis, much less a complete lineage
back to Muhammad. The earliest sufi isnad traces the spiritual
genealogy of Ja'far al-Khuldl (d. 348/959) back to the Successors
of the Prophet (tabicun).15 In the tenth century, paralleling the
early development of hadith isndds, sufi lineages are "raised" to
‘All b. Abl Talib, a Companion of the Prophet.16 One solution has
been to declare the spiritual pedigree preceding Baha’uddln
Naqshband to be "pre-historical" and only consider subsequent
links from Baha’uddln Naqshband as "real," i.e., historically veri­
fiable.17 Yet, this begs the question: Why would anyone fabricat­
ing an isnad decide to separate two transmitters by 164 lunar
years—especially when the hadith sciences were well developed
by AbuT-Hasan al-Kharaqanf s time?
Sufis solve these historical inconsistencies by citing the prece­
dent of Uways al-Qaranl, who is said to have met the Prophet in
a visionary experience without ever having seen him in corporeal
form.18 This "Uwaysl connection" has become, in sufi practice,
not only the model for the transmission of divine energy directly
from Muhammad but also the model for initiation by the imagi-
nal form (ruhamyat) of deceased shaykhs that appears during a
visionary experience. Having an Uwaysl connection is like having
independent use of power, while the established sufi chains rep­
resent dependence upon the relationship with a living pir. Al­

14The BakrI silsila is the lineage that includes Abu Bakr as-Siddlq. In general,
the early parts of silsilas are not historically tenable. See Louis Massignon, Essai
sur les origines du lexique technique de la mystique musulmane, pp. 128-32, and Kas-
hifl, Rashahat, pp. 50-51 (introduction).
,5Massignon, Essai, pp. 128-30; Gramlich, Die schiitischen Derwischorden,
2:171-72.
’'Ibid., 2:171-73.
17Algar, "Brief History," p. 6; according to extant sources, Baha’uddln Naqsh­
band is anything but a historically coherent figure. For historical ambiguities con­
cerning Baha uddTn; see Parsa, Qudsiyya, ed. ‘Iraqi, p. 10, and Algar's article
"Baha al-Dln Naqshband," in Encyclopaedia Iranica.
"There is a small shrine near Zabid, Yemen, where it is said Uways is en­
tombed. Allegedly he died in 37/657 at the battle of Siffin. See Annemarie Schim-
mel, Mystical Dimensions of Islam, pp. 28-29, and A. S. Husaini, "Uways al-Qaranl
and the Uwaysl Sufis." The Uwaysl tradition, representing an unaffiliated non-
tariqa sufi organization, went through a particularly intensive development in
Central Asia. See Devin Deweese, An "Uvaysi" Sufi in Timurid Maioarannahr: Notes
on Hagiography and Taxonomy of Sanctity in the Religious History of Central Asia.
though the Uwaysl model poses problems for historicist models
it has been a crucial part of Naqshbandl life.
Baha’uddln Naqshband cites Fariduddln ‘Attar's (d. 617/1220)
discussion of Uwaysls, who remarks that those who are sustained
directly by Muhammad have a very exalted spiritual status.
‘Attar also mentions the Kubrawl shaykh Abu Qasim al-Gurganl
(d. 469/1077), who used to say "Uways, Uways" before begin­
ning the practice of recollecting God (dhikr).19 Relating his own
experiences, Baha’uddln, himself an Uwaysl, explains that he no
longer had a relationship with the spirit of Uways al-Qaranl but
had extended contact with al-Haklm at-TirmidhT (d. ca. 298/910),
whose spiritual presence (tawajjuh) appeared without attributes.20
Baha’uddln's best-known Uwaysl pir, ‘Abdulkhaliq GhujduwanI
(d. 575/1179), instructed Baha’uddln in silent dhikr and the neces­
sity of strictly following the sunna.21 Although Baha’uddln
Naqshband met his first sufi shaykh, Baba Muhammad SammasI
(d. 755/1354), as a youth and later remained under the guidance
of Sammasl's successor, Amir Kulal (d. 772/1370), he considered
his primary spiritual mentor to be ‘Abdulkhaliq GhujduwanI.22
This precedence of an Uwaysl guide was typical of the early
Naqshbandiyya; an Uwaysl connection (nisbat-i ruhant) was con­
sidered stronger and was preferred over a connection with a liv­
ing shaykh (nisbat-i jismani).23 In a certain sense a hadith scholar
would agree, since an Uwaysl connection makes the chain shorter
and brings the isnad closer to Muhammad.
All sufis include one or more of the first eight ShlT imams

19Parsa, Qndsiyya, ed. 'Iraqi, p. 15 (introduction).

“ According to Baha’uddln and later Naqshbandls, spiritual journeying (sayr)
without experiencing any attributes is a high stage of those who experience con­
tinual revelation (kashf) of Reality (ahl-i tamkin); See ibid, (text), pp. 25-26, 139.
For references to experiences at al-Haklm at-Tirmidhl's grave see ibid, (text),
pp. 140-41. Before being cut off from Uways's companionship, Baha’uddln expe­
rienced the attributes of Uways al-Qaranl's spirit, i.e., he saw Uways's form. In
contrast, for the 22 years he had followed the path of al-Haklm at-Tirmidhl, al-
Haklm had remained formless. Muhammad Hasan, Hdlat-i masha’ikh-i Naqsh-
bandiyya-Mujaddidiyya, p. 66.
2,Pars3, Qudsiyya, ed. ‘Iraqi, p. 8 (text).
“ Baha’uddln acknowledges his nisbat-i irddat, suhbat, acquiring correct behavior
in spiritual exercises (adab-i suluk), and learning dhikr from his living spiritual
preceptor, Amir Kulal. In spiritual exercises pertaining to Reality (suluk bi-haqtqat)
his Uwaysl guide, ‘Abdulkhaliq GhujduwanI, is his foremost guide. Baha’uddln
always refers to his Uwaysl pir as "our master" (khwdja-yi md) or as "the grand
master" (khwaja-yi buzurg) in ibid, (text), pp. 8-10. Baha’uddln separated himself
from Amir Kulal's group when they did vocal dhikr; see Kashifl, Rashahdt,
pp. 95-96.
“ Parsa, Qudsiyya, ed. ‘Iraqi, p. 32 (introduction).
among their spiritual ancestors,24 because these eight imams were
the "golden chain" linking subsequent generations to the
Prophet. Like Ja'far as-Sadiq, ‘All ar-Rida (d. 203/818), the eighth
imam, was considered a learned and pious leader by many of his
contemporaries—even to the point that the Caliph al-Ma’mun (d.
218/833) attempted to appoint him as his successor.25 'All ar-Rida
taught Ma'ruf al-Karkhl (d. 200/815), who then brought sufism
to Baghdad.26 Naqshbandl genealogies include at least one of the
Shl'l imams: Ja'far as-Sadiq, 'All ar-Rida, or 'All b. Abl Talib. This
part of the Naqshbandl lineage was ignored in later MujaddidI
constructs of self-identity.

MujaddidI Redefinitions

Ahmad Sirhindl reformulated the genealogical interpretations of

Naqshbandl authority by emphasizing the line of spiritual trans­
mission from Abu Bakr. In this fashion the Naqshbandiyya-
Mujaddidiyya declared its superiority over other sufis, since
HanafI Sunni credal dogma presumed Abu Bakr to be the most
laudable human after the prophets.27 It was believed that the so­
briety of the Naqshbandiyya, silent recollection of God (dhikr),
and strict adherence to the shari'a and to sunna were ultimately
inherited from Abu Bakr.28 This BakrI emphasis was accompa­
nied by a pronounced hostility of the Naqshbandiyya toward

24An important confluence between Shl'Ts and sufis is the shared spiritual lin­
eage, which in the Naqshbandl case is called the "Golden Chain."
“Wilferd Madelung shows how the ninth century was one of great uncertainty
and apocalyptic prophecies which might have influenced the caliph to appoint
the imam as his successor to usher in the Mahdl. The Mahdl is believed to be the
person who brings justice to the world immediately before the Day of Judgment.
See "New Documents Concerning Al-Ma’mun, al-Fadl b. Sahl, and ‘All al-Rida,"
pp. 345-46. Al-Ma’mun very likely had practical political motives behind this
decision; see Patricia Crone and Martin Hinds, God's Caliph: Religious Authority in
the First Centuries of Islam, pp. 94-96.
“There are reports stating that ‘All ar-Rida was responsible for Ma'ruf al-Kar-
khl's conversion to Islam. ‘All b. ‘Uthman al-Jullabl Hujwirt, Kashf al-mahjub,
p. 141; trans. Reynold A. Nicholson, The Kashf Al-Mahjttb: The Oldest Persian Trea­
tise on Sufism, p. 114.
27Ahmad Sirhindl, Maktubat-i imam-i rabbdm, 3 volumes, vol. 1, letter 221, p. 3
[hereafter 1.221.3].
“Some Turkish Naqshbandls emphasized a distinctive Sunni identity by pro­
fessing Bakri origins; "more often, however, Naqshbandl silsilas of the sixteenth
and seventeenth centuries consist of several parallel derivations, Bakri as well as
Alid. See Dina Le Gall, "The Ottoman Naqshbandiyya in the Pre-MujaddidI
Phase: A Study in Islamic Religious Culture and Its Transmission," p. 137.
A genealogical tree with the Naqshbandl lineage as the trunk and the
other lineages as flowers. The original version was probably produced
by a disciple of Naqshbandl shaykh Shah Abu Sa'ld (d. 250/1835) or by
one of his successors in the Musa Zai sublineage before 1911. There is a
more ornate version in Muhammad Amir Hasan, Tadhkirat a l-m u ttaqm ,
2d ed., part 1 (Kanpur: QayyumI Press, 1911), a hagiography of the
Madarl lineage, with two Madarl shaykhs on the trunk instead of
Ahmad SaTd and Dost Muhammad. The genealogical tree shown here
is an even later version of these, having two generations of Musa Zai
shaykhs added at the top of the trunk after Sirajuddln.
Shfls, a characteristic shared by few other Indian sufi lineages.29
In sharp contrast with Baha’uddln's perception of the Naqsh-
bandl spiritual pedigree, Sirhindl disregarded the two other lines
from Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law, ‘All b. Abl Talib (d.
40/661).30 The issue for Baha’uddln was not which Companion
transmitted God's divine grace through Muhammad but that
each connection (nisba) to the Prophet had its own unique
blessing.31
The Mujaddidl preoccupation with the BakrI heritage and so­
briety meant a marked deemphasis of spiritual ecstasy and
Uwaysl initiations. The tension between sufis valuing ecstatic
spiritual intoxication and those advocating the superiority of so­
briety had existed since the early history of sufism. Typically, the
exhibition of mystical intoxication had been considered evidence
of an advanced adept on the Path. Junayd's (d. 297/910) well-
known answer to the intoxicated enthusiasm of an-Nurl (d. 295/
908), who chastised Junayd's sitting calmly while the sufis per­
formed their whirling dance, was "You see the mountains—you
think them firm, yet they move like clouds" (Q. 27:90).32
The Mujaddidls would concur; the Prophetic sobriety exempli­
fied by Abu Bakr represented the mode of an advanced spiritual
guide. It was the sobriety of a sufi who, having subdued his car­
nal nature, experienced intoxication, and traversed various stages
of the Path, returned to the world outwardly behaving like any
ordinary pious person. He had become extraordinarily ordinary.

29During the rise of the Safavid empire in the sixteenth century, BakrI origins
were emphasized politically to distinguish the Naqshbandiyya (as Sunnis) from
the ShlTs. See Dina Le Gall, "The Ottoman Naqshbandiyya," pp. 137-47. From
Sirhindl's time the objection to ShlTs has been largely based on credal dogma.
Many Naqshbandls have considered those not recognizing Abu Bakr as the first
rightly-guided caliph and ‘All b. Abl Talib as the fourth caliph to be outside the
fold of Islam (ShTls assert that Abu Bakr unjustly usurped the caliphate from
‘All.).
“Explaining the various lines of his own spiritual genealogy, Baha’uddln first
stresses the preeminence of the Golden Chain (silsilat al-dhahab) of the imams of
Muhammad's family (d’immat-i ahl-i bayt) because of the distinction they make
between inner and outer knowledge. Lest he be accused of Shl‘1 tendencies, he
then mentions his spiritual descent from Abu Bakr and how it is the consensus of
the Sunni community that Abu Bakr is the closest to God after the prophets; see
Parsa, Qudsiyya, ed. ‘Iraqi, pp. 11-15 (text). #
3,When Baha’uddln was asked where his sufi chain (silsila) arrived at, he re­
sponded "No one arrives anywhere on the basis of a silsila alone"; see ibid., p. 10
(introduction). I would extend this dictum to say that almost no one arrives on
the basis of one source of personal authority alone.
“ Cited in Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions, p. 181.
Sobriety, in addition, fit in conveniently with the Naqshbandl em­
phasis on strict adherence to Islamic law and on imitating the
way of the Prophet.33
Uwaysl pirs were associated with intoxication. In Baha’uddln's
first encounters with his Uwaysl shaykh, ‘Abdulkhaliq Ghujdu-
wanl, he was in such an unstable state, overpowered by jadhba
(often characterized by uncontrollable shaking and involuntary
utterances), that he could do nothing but walk around the out­
skirts of Bukhara at night.34 This is hardly the sober model that
the Mujaddidls would have their disciples imitate. It is not sur­
prising, therefore, that Sirhindl did not consider Uways to have
reached the stage of the lowest Companion of the Prophet, but
declared him to be the best of the Successors, i.e., the best of those
who had embraced Islam from a person who had met the
Prophet.35 By denying Uways al-Qaranl's suhbat with the Prophet,
Sirhindl negated the general phenomenon of Uwaysl initiation
and affirmed the requirement for guidance from a living Naqsh­
bandl shaykh.
An apocryphal narrative by Baha’uddln illustrates this shift in
emphasis to a living pir: "Khidr, wearing a kulah hat, ap­
proached me with a shepherd's staff in his hand. Speaking in
Turkish he accused me of seeing some horses and beating him
with the staff he was now carrying. I did not say anything. He
blocked my path a few times which caused me to worry. I said
that I knew him to be Khidr as he followed me to Qarawwul
Ribat. He said to sit down for awhile, but I did not turn around.
When I reached Amir Kulal's, he [Amir Kulal] asked me if I had
met Khidr on the road and if I had not turned around. I answered

33This does not imply that intoxication is nonexistent in Mujaddidl practice.

First-hand accounts of beginning Mujaddidl disciples in the company of a practic­
ing shaykh often give examples of jadhba (literally, attraction), the widespread
technical term used throughout Naqshbandl and Naqshbandl-MujaddidI litera­
ture to describe the phenomenon of intoxication, a state of overpowering attrac­
tion by God. One characteristic of spiritual intoxication is that it can affect a
person at any time, which can cause potential difficulties in situations such as
communal ritual prayer. The Prophet never exhibited signs of jadhba.
^Parsa, Qudsiyya, ed. ‘Iraqi, p. 116 (text). For the relationship between jadhba
and types of traveling (sayr-i anfusl and sayr-i afaqt), see ter Haar, Follower and Heir,
pp. 108-09, and Ahmad Sirhindl, MukSshafa-yi ‘ayniyya, pp. 21-23. According to
Baha’uddln, the special aspect of the "path of attraction" (tanq-i jadhba) was that
there was its lack of intermediaries, effectively eliminating any initiatory chain
between the person and Muhammad. This path shortcut the much longer way of
traversing the path (tanq-i suluk) which did not involve jadhba.
35Sirhindl, Maktubat, 1.58.35.
yes because I had been going in your direction and therefore did
not turn around. Amir Kulal said that the nisbat of the Khwajagan
is from four people, the first of which is Khidr."36
In the narrative, not only did Amir Kulal become Baha’uddln's
primary spiritual mentor instead of GhujduwanI, but Amir Kulal,
his living guide, even outranked Khidr. The enigmatic figure of
Khidr was said in later sources to have taught GhujduwanI silent
repetition of God's name (dhikr-i khafi) and nafy wa-ithbat37 mak­
ing Khidr Baha’uddln's grandfather pir, in addition to being one
of the four principal connections for the Naqshbandiyya.
This didactic story illustrates how a disciple should obediently
focus on one's living spiritual master, subordinating all other
shaykhs, even Khidr, if need be. In addition, it indicates the po­
tential conflict of authority between the spirit of a deceased
shaykh and one's living spiritual guide. Logically, the devalua­
tion of Uwaysl initiations goes hand-in-hand with an emphasis
on outward sobriety. In a reformist, shari'a-minded sufi lineage
like the Naqshbandiyya-Mujaddidiyya, difficulties with out-of­
control sufis would be minimized.38
After AbuT-Hasan al-Kharaqanl, Uwaysl connections are
erased from the formal Naqshbandl genealogies. The pivotal
figure of Khidr is no longer even mentioned in spiritual genealo­

^Muhammad Hasan, Hdldt-i mashd'ikh-i naqshband, p. 108. Khidr is often identi­

fied with the companion of Moses of Qur’an sura 18 in addition to being identi­
fied as a prophet, one of the three heavenly awtdd, the seventh abdctl, and being
associated with the water of life. See Ahmad Sharafat Naushahl, Sharif al-tawdrikh,
3 volumes, 1:55, 74, 89, 176, and Massignon, Essai, pp. 131-32. Khidr is also the
first of the four “salt of the elders" (namak-i mashd'ikh) in Muhammad ParsS, Ri-
sdla-yi qudsiyya, ed. M. Iqbal, p. 197. The issue of turning around here is significant
because it is considered extremely disrespectful to turn one's back to one's
shaykh.
37Kashifl, Rashahdt, pp. 34-35. Hamid Algar conflates these two practices in
Algar, “A Brief History," p. 8. Dhikr-i khafi, more correctly, dhikr-i qalbi, is the
repetition of God's name, "Allah." Nafy wa-ithbat, meaning "negation and affir­
mation," involves counting the number of times one says La ildha ilia Allah "There
is no god" (the negation) and "but God" (the affirmation)] while holding the
breath. According to tradition, Khidr taught GhujduwanI this exercise while the
latter was submerged under water. A Kubrawl shaykh, ‘Ala’uddawla SimnanI (d.
736/1336) practiced a similar exercise, allegedly communicated via Ma'ruf al-
Karkh! (d.,200/815). See Jamal Elias, The Throne Carrier of God, pp. 126-28.
^Intoxicated behavior has often clashed with orthopraxic norms in Islam. Sufis
who consistently exhibit intoxicated behavior (sing, majdhub) by rending clothes,
dancing, and ecstatic utterances have usually had a somewhat marginal existence
in the established tariqas in spite of the following they may have had among com­
mon people. The so-called sober Naqshbandiyya-Mujaddidiyya includes such La-
hori majdhubs as Pir Zuhdl (d. 1139-40/1727), Sayyid Mahmud Agha (d. 1299/
1882), and Muhammad Sadiq (d. 1404-5/1984).
gies, nor are Baha’uddln's Uwaysi pirs considered in his formal
spiritual pedigree. Except for the early links in the Naqsh-
bandiyya, UwaysTs do not have formal genealogical connections
to Muhammad; they stand apart from established sufi genealo­
gies.39
In later Indo-Pakistani biographical compendiums, no Naqsh-
bandl UwaysTs are mentioned after the time of Sirhindl,40 al­
though the Uwaysi status of Baha’uddln and GhujduwanI is not
ignored in modern Naqshbandl hagiographies.41 This does not
necessarily mean that Naqshbandls no longer had Uwaysi experi­
ences; Muhammad Amin Lahuri (d. 1391-92/1972) and Maulana
Allah Yar Khan (d. 1404-5/1984) are two examples of modem
Naqshbandl UwaysTs. Yet Allah Yar Khan's strong apologetics de­
fending the legitimacy of the Uwaysi phenomena is an unequivo­
cal indication that established sufi pedigrees of living shaykhs
have by now become the norm in South Asia.42
Naqshbandls and other sufis have defined links to the Pro­
phetic source in such a way that anyone desiring to transmit reli­
gious knowledge must be a sufi; without a spiritual connection
to the Prophet, a hadith scholar can only transmit the literal as­
pect of Muhammad utterance. For this knowledge to be consid­
ered an inheritance of the Prophet, the actual conditions between
the Prophet and his Companions must be simulated, and for that
the transmission of divine power is required. A pir with an im­
peccable spiritual lineage is the best qualified to transmit this
power.
Historically, there has never been a consensus among Naqsh­
bandls specifying what the parameters of a valid connection to
the Prophet might be. Even if there had been, people would not
have become attracted to the Mujaddidiyya for intellectual rea­
sons. In any tradition religious sentiment is rarely governed only
by the intellect. MujaddidI personal authority attracted many
people because it allowed aspirants to taste mystical experience

wParsa, Qudsiyya, ed. ‘Iraqi, p. 29 (introduction).

40In sufi biographical compendiums organizing sufis by tartqa, there is often a
miscellaneous section which includes Uwaysls and others whose spiritual guid­
ance does not fit into the established tariqa format; a small percentage are
Uwaysls.
41Yet even Ahmad Sirhindl identifies himself as an Uwaysi in his Maktubat, vol­
ume 3, letter 87, and is recognized in later tradition, e.g., Ahmad Sirhindl Naqsh­
bandl Uwaysi Rahmanl. See Muhammad ‘Abdullah, "Plan" (dated 1918), in
Ahmad Sirhindl, Maktubat-i Imam RabbanT, ed. Nur Ahmad (Amristar: Matba‘-i
MujaddidI, n.d.), 2d part, 1st section, p. 124a.
42Allah Yar Khan, Dala'il al-suluk, translated by Abu Talha as An Objective Ap­
praisal of the Sublime Sufi Path, pp. 286-92.
or to have contact with those who had. We know from numerous
accounts of disciples that a heart-to-heart communication was as­
sociated with a shaykh's spiritual power (tawajjuh), which often
caused others to manifest the phenomenon of jadhba (literally,
attraction) in Naqshbandl assemblies. Spiritual attraction would
affect certain sensitive people by causing them to shake uncon­
trollably and even writhe on the floor in the shaykh's presence.
Within the sufi assembly, this jadhba was interpreted as being at­
tracted to God. Any shaykh who could demonstrate his spiritual
power in such a fashion did not have to rely on sweet words or
intellectual prowess to attract disciples. If the aspirant felt a spe­
cial affinity toward the shaykh he or she would often become
initiated and perhaps, in the initiation process itself, have a per­
sonal experience of spiritual attraction. Although few would go
on to advanced levels of contemplative practice, all who came
into the master's presence would have the opportunity to learn
how to become better Muslims.
After beginning the Path the new disciple would learn the
MujaddidI methods of activating the subtle centers (latcCif) and
performing the guided meditations (muraqabat). The Mujaddidi-
yya, like other lineages, had an organized system of mystical
practice, a spiritual road map. Commentary on Sirhindl's Maktu-
bat often was intended to provide a spiritual travel guide at vari­
ous stages along the Path, assisting disciples to model their every
action on the Prophet's behavior. To actualize the symbols of
Islam was the goal, both in one's heart and in society. The pros­
pect of mystical experience or an association with those who had
such a capacity must have exercised a powerful effect on some
who were drawn to Naqshbandl circles—in addition to the expe­
rience of being in a charismatic community modeled after the
Prophet and his Companions.
When an effective method of spiritual practice is accompanied
by the extraordinary caliber of a spiritual mentor, the combina­
tion enables numbers of seekers to encounter something beyond,
to be a little closer to God. They are experiencing the personal
charismatic presence of the shaykh. For Mujaddidls, the path
outlined by Sirhindl is nothing more nor less than the path of
Muhammad; any spiritual greatness attributed to the Naqsh-
bandiyya is only a shadow of the Prophet's. From a historian's
perspective, the collective authority of the Naqshbandiyya-
Mujaddidiyya is represented by its ability not only to survive and
predominate over other lineages of the tanqa in India, but also to
become a thriving worldwide sufi lineage.43 To a large extent this
expansion of the Mujaddidiyya resulted from their peculiar abil­
ity to use recognized sources of authority in Islam that mesh ef­
fectively and connect with the symbol of authority par excellence,
Muhammad.
Naqshbandl collective personal authority is a concept; in
human experience it manifests itself through individual Naqsh­
bandl shaykhs. Without their convincing spiritual accomplish­
ments in replicating and, indeed, embodying prophetic symbols,
Naqshbandl ideas and consolidation of religious authority would
not have been accepted by the Indian Muslim community. Promi­
nent MujaddidI shaykhs were first and foremost sufis, regardless
of their expertise in the religious sciences. In spite of the many
factors contributing to the success of the Naqshbandiyya
throughout their long history, for example, revivalist programs,
political influence, social prestige of ulama, or use of collected
letters, all would have been insignificant, if not nonexistent, with­
out the essential ingredient: the directing-shaykh's inner experi­
ential connection to the Prophet. Mujaddidls went about
following the “inner sunna" of the Prophet through the perform­
ance of well-defined spiritual practices (suluk), the “system"
which enabled each disciple to develop and refine his or her con­
nection to the Prophet.

43Often tariqn is translated as "order," i.e.( a group of persons living under a

religious rule, as in a Christian monastic order, e.g., the order of St. Benedict.
Defining a tarTqa as an "order" fails to communicate the sufi ad-hoc organiza­
tional style based on initiatic chains (silsilas) which, in turn, are based on a succes­
sion of pirs who have guided disciples according to defined spiritual methods.
The use of "brotherhood" to describe a sufi lineage ignores the many women
participants in sufi tarTqas.
CHAPTER 5

Spiritual Travel as a Source

of Authority

One who believes that God can be reached by human exertion will encounter
endless torment; and one who believes nearness to God can be attained without
exertions will encounter an endless wishful dream.
Abu SaTd al-Kharraz (d. 286/899)

As in the case of Muhammad's heavenly journey (mi'raj), the

metaphysical and mystical experiences of founder-figures have
been an impetus for the development of religious traditions
throughout history.1 Naqshbandls, as heirs of the Prophet, at­
tempt to duplicate Muhammad's mystical journey towards God.
The inner transformation and resulting access to supernatural
power, believed to derive from spiritual travel towards God, has
provided Naqshbandls with a potent source of spiritual and tem­
poral authority in society.
Not everyone reaching closeness or intimacy with God (wildya)
had the ability to manifest this holy power.2 We know from the

'Annemarie Schimmel discusses the Ascension and related literature in And

Muhammad Is His Messenger: The Veneration of the Prophet in Islamic Piety,
pp. 159-75. Some other worthwhile works on the Ascension include Nadhlr al-
‘Azma, al-Mi'raj wal-ramz al-suft, and Abu ‘All Slna, Mi'rajnama.
2For Sirhindi, the station (maqam) of being near to God, a relatively preliminary
stage on the path (wildyat-i sughra) achieved by negating human attributes, indi­
cates that one still remains in the realm of duality. See Ahmad Sirhindi, Maktiibat-i
imam-i rabbam, 3 vols., vol. 1, letter 302, p. 144 [hereafter 1.302.144]. Beyond is
the station of the credal formula (maqdm-i shahadat) reached by many illustrious
Naqshbandls of the past, including ‘Abdulkhaliq GhujduwanI (d. 575/1179) and
Baha’uddln Naqshband (d. 791/1389). See J. G. J. ter Haar, Follower and Heir of the
Prophet: Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi (1564-1624) as Mystic, p. 37, n. 47. Then is the
station of veracity (maqam-i siddiqiyat), probably the station of Abu Bakr as-Siddlq,
letters of notable Naqshbandl shaykhs that they displayed super­
natural power (tasarruf, himmat, or tawajjuh, a concentration of
this power) through a special bond with their disciples (rabita) in
order to further the progress of their disciples. To what extent
this supernatural power allowed them to intervene in extraordi­
nary ways is less certain, because the sources attribute formulaic
non-prophetic miracles to almost all deceased sufis.3 People have
generally expected sufis to function as brokers of supernatural
power to help them—whether to cure illness, to influence rulers,
or to act as spiritual artillery in battle. Rather than explaining
these powers on the basis of physical or psychological laws (or
dismissing them altogether), Muslims have used a religious para­
digm to account for what they perceive to be divine interventions.
According to this paradigm, all authority originates with God,
who channels divine energy through a spiritual hierarchy of inti­
mate proteges who in their capacity as brokers of supernatural
power then mediate this divinely emanating grace (fayd) to hu­
manity. Within each sufi lineage specific methods developed for
disciples to draw near to God, some of whom arrived close
enough to become power-wielding friends of God themselves.
Fortunately Naqshbandls discuss their path to God and the meth­
ods used to traverse it in considerable detail.
Ahmad Sirhindl extended the Naqshbandl spiritual path far
beyond what his predecessors had taught, pioneering a critical
analysis of the structure and hierarchy of mystical experience in
his claim to have traveled far beyond other mystics.4 Not only
was Sirhindl's elaboration more extensive, but it was profusely
more detailed in its description of specific methods and stages

followed by the station of prophethood (maqam-i nubuwat), also called the station
of greater intimacy (wilayat-i kubra).
3It is rare to find the distinction made between wilaya and walaya in Naqshbandl
writings, since short vowels are written neither in Persian nor in Urdu. There is
one mention in Muhammad Hashim Kishml, Zubdat al-maqamat, p. 60, cited in ter
Haar, Follower and Heir, pp. 87-88, but this does not further a nuanced under­
standing of significant differences between these two terms. Despite occasional
technical discussions of this kind (which seek to demonstrate differences), Naqsh­
bandl sources acknowledge supernatural power resulting from the wilaya of a
legitimate sufi to be a result of his close intimacy with God, i.e., which presumes
walaya. Such a situation indicates a partially functional conflation of these terms.
See also Michel Chodkiewicz's extended linguistic discussion of these two terms
in he sceau des saints: Prophetie et saintete dans la doctrine d'Ibn Arabi, pp. 35-39;
trans. Liadain Sherrard, Seal of the Saints: Prophethood and Sainthood in the Doctrine
oflbn ‘ArabT, pp. 17-25.
4SirhindI formulated twenty-five of the twenty-six contemplations of the
Mujaddidl path. See appendixes 1 and 2.
(sayr wa-suluk). Before him, sufi theoreticians of the ninth to elev­
enth centuries had only discussed the spiritual path in general
terms, e.g., stations (maqamat) and various temporary states. Ear­
lier Naqshbandls outlined eleven guiding principles.5 But Sir-
hindl claimed to have discovered many higher degrees of
perfection in a well-articulated hierarchy of mystical experience.
This was just part of his agenda. Sirhindl's formulations ex­
tended beyond sufis to encompass the rest of the Muslim commu­
nity, declaring the Prophetic ideal, associated with the mundane
sphere, to be the model for Muslim practice. Since spiritual per­
fection was manifested in the material world, the practices of the
general Muslim community (and even to a greater degree of
sufis) were to conform strictly to the shari'a and Prophetic sunna.
Sirhindl reserved the highest spiritual rank for the mystic who,
having shared in the Prophetic perfections, returned to the ordi-
naiy world with a transformed perception. Beginners for him in­
cluded those who had merely annihilated the ego of the ocean of
Unity.6 It is this aspect of return combined with a beginning
where other sufis finish that caused Mujaddidls to describe their
path as the "end in the beginning."7
Perfect performance of religious requirements and emulation
of Prophetic behavior became the MujaddidI touchstone of legiti­
macy for a person who had returned from the spiritual heights/
depths. Underpinning this comprehensive program of ritual per­
formance (following the dictates of Hanafl fiqh) and mystical ex­

5For a discussion of the stations see Annemarie Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions

of Islam, pp. 117-30, and for the eleven principles see appendix 1. In the ninth to
eleventh centuries the formative sufi theoreticians began to write the first treatises
on stations and states. See Abu Nasr as-Sarraj, Kitab al-luma' fi’l-tasawwuf, Abu
Bakr Muhammad KalabadhI, Kitab al-ta'arruf li-madhab ahl al-tasawwuf, and Aba
Tslib al-Makkl, Qut al-quliib ft mu'dmalat al-mahbilb wa-wasf tariq al-murld ila maqdm
al-tawhid.
6This annihilation (fana’) in early sufi theory meant the loss of consciousness of
self or 1-ness so that only the awareness of God remained. This subsequent state
of remaining in God (baqa’) is often contrasted with fana’. It is said that Abu
Sa'Id al-Kharraz (d. 286/899) was the first to elaborate the theory of fans'. Later,
especially in the Indian Naqshbandl tradition, this model reached its most devel­
oped form. Khwaja Mir Dard (d. 1199/1785) discussed three consecutive annihila­
tions: in the shaykh (fana’ fi’l-shaykh), in the Messenger (fana’ fi’l-rasiil), and in
God (fana fi llah) while returning to the world involved three consecutive types of
remaining: in God (baqa’ billah), in the Messenger (baqa’ fi’l-rasul), and in the
shaykh (baqa fi’l-shaykh). The latter two baqa's are new formulations by Mir Dard.
See Annemarie Schimmel, Pain and Grace: A Study of Two Mystical Writers of Eigh­
teenth-Century Muslim India, pp. 70-71.
Shadhills also describe their path in a similar fashion, e.g., as “Our beginning
is their end. See ‘Abdullah Nur ad-Din Durkee, Orisons, p. 22.
ercises (suluk) was correct credal dogma Caqida), which Sirhindl
repeatedly stressed as necessary even before the performance of
the ritual duties common to all Muslims. Such a synthesis of
dogma, ritual, and mystical experience not only altered the con­
cept of South Asian Muslim self-identity but, in retrospect, has
had an impact on Muslim life in numerous other Islamic coun­
tries as well. Thus Ahmad Sirhindl is still recognized by many as
"the renewer of the second millennium."
Spiritual journeying in the Naqshbandl context involves an in­
tensely close master-disciple relationship. Aspirants usually
spend years performing devotional exercises meant to change
sociopsychological habit patterns before embarking on such jour­
neys. When embarking on the first spiritual journeys the spiritual
mentor repeatedly instructs the novices to ignore visions or
voices in order to proceed to an experience without attributes,8
though the markers on the Path and the conceptual requisites
remain clearly Islamic. The Naqshbandl does not become a
religiocultural blank before embarking on the mystical quest. The
Islamic prerequisites, creed and ritual, combine with the
MujaddidI cosmological paradigm to facilitate travel along the
path and minimize the dangers confronting the unprepared trav­
eler. For Naqshbandls, this travel in more subtle ontological
realms duplicates the path trodden by former prophets and ad­
vanced intimates of God; it is a return to the experiential sources
of Islam. Culture influencing mystical experience is only part of
the story;9 Naqshbandl paradigms and Islamic culture have been
significantly informed by mystical experience also.10
Unlike many other mystics, Naqshbandls have not concerned
themselves with a description of their mystical experiences per
se.11 Instead they have described the structure of the MujaddidI
universe and principles for travel on the MujaddidI spiritual path
as a paradigm or cognitive map for would-be travelers.

8Baha’uddln Naqshband characterizes the very high stage of those who do spir­
itual journeying (sayr) without experiencing any attributes as the continual revela­
tion (kashf) of Reality. See Muhammad Parsa, Qudsiyya: Kalimat-i Bahauddln
Naqshband, ed. Ahmad Tahirl ‘Iraqi, pp. 25-26,139.
‘'Reports of mystical experiences generally reflect the mystic's previously ac­
quired paradigms and cognitive patterns. For a discussion of these issues, see
Steven T. Katz, "Language, Epistemology, and Mysticism." A sophisticated refu­
tation of this constructivist approach is Donald Rothberg, "Contemporary Episte­
mology and the Study of Mysticism."
"’See Carl Ernst, "Mystical Language and the Teaching Context in the Early
Lexicons of Sufism."
"For philosophical attempts see Wayne Proudfoot, Religious Experience, and
Huston Smith, "Is There a Perennial Philosophy?"
Mujaddidl literature, in the British Indian colonial period at least,
is more concerned with introducing the concept of spiritual travel
and elucidating how each aspirant can proceed on the Path. Al­
though some scripture-centered non-sufi Muslims claim that
Naqshbandl doctrine and practice deviate from the Islam of the
Qur’an and hadith,12 Naqshbandls assert that their practices most
faithfully replicate the path of the Prophet's companions.
The direction Naqshbandls travel in their inner journeys de­
pends on which paradigm of God one uses. God is both transcen­
dent and immanent. If God is perceived as a transcendent entity
in the highest "heaven," then Plato's ontology applies in the
Naqshbandl universe; in other words, something higher is subtler
and closer to God, and what is lower is coarser and farther from
God. If God is perceived as immanent—"We are nearer to him
than his jugular vein" (Q. 50:16)—then Naqshbandls supply a
parallel model of concentric circles to represent spiritual travel
where going towards the center means moving closer to God.13
Sometimes Naqshbandls combine these up-down and inner-
outer concepts, visualizing the human microcosm as a series of
sheaths or "bodies," the outer being the coarse physical body and
the five other bodies as becoming progressively subtler. Naqsh­
bandl spiritual journeying can be conceptualized either as up­
ward-downward or as inward-outward.14
Exactly where Naqshbandls go in their mystical travel is more
difficult to determine.15 They describe two kinds of traveling: one

,2The necessity for a shaykh to mediate between God and the believer (tawassul)
has been an issue of contention for centuries. See my “Charismatic Versus Scrip­
tural Authority: Naqshbandl Response to Deniers of Mediational Sufism in British
India."
l3For diagrams depicting the Naqshbandl path by means of concentric circles,
see Faqlrullah ShikarpurT, Futuhat al-ghaybiyya, pp. 195, 211, 224. Sufi levels of
existence are represented in the same fashion in Muhammad Dhawql, Sirr-i dil-
baran, p. 343.
14I prefer to represent Naqshbandl spiritual travel as a gyre going up the outside
of a circular cone in a spiral fashion; as one goes upward, one goes inward at the
same time.
,5The journeying discussed here is "ascent and descent," imitating the Prophet
who, like other prophets before him, is believed by Naqshbandls to have traveled
to higher .realities and to have transmitted the revelatory message to his compan­
ions in addition to teaching them how to perform similar journeys. This is to be
differentiated from equally inexplicable otherworldly revelatory journeys and the
Platonic ascent/descent of the soul. See loan Culianu, Psychanodia I: A Survey of
the Evidence Concerning the Ascension of the Soul and Its Relevance, p. 5. An overview
of supramundane traveling is the late loan Culianu's Out of This World: Other­
worldly Journeys from Gilgamesh to Albert Einstein, a collection of secondary litera­
ture on this subject.
in the outside world (sayr-i afaqt) and the other inside oneself
{sayr-i anfusi), although the latter includes the former.16 For the
Naqshbandls, the inner world encompasses a much vaster realm
than the outer—the outside world has eight stages and the inner
world seventeen.17 Wherever this journey takes place it is cer­
tainly not in the normal waking mind. Naqshbandls, like many
other mystics, do not even begin to travel until the mind is ren­
dered completely free from thought.18 Abandoning the three-di­
mensional Cartesian mind is a prerequisite for traveling in the
fourth and higher dimensions.19
What part of the human being actually travels in these higher
dimensions? Naqshbandls and other sufis have developed a no­
tion of a latTfa which has been variously translated as "subtle sub­
stance,” "subtle body,” and "subtle center." Functionally it can
have all these meanings depending on context, but for spiritual
travel "subtle body” works best as a model.20 The corporeal body
is the vehicle for travel in this world, but more subtle vehicles can
be used in other worlds. For inner travel, there are five such vehi­
cles, each progressively more subtle. The further one goes in
toward the center and/or upward, the more subtle the vehicle
one needs. Picture a ferry carrying a car with people in it. For
traveling in water the boat is the vehicle for the medium of water,
and upon landing the car becomes the vehicle for the medium of
land. To enter a building the physical body is the vehicle and in
dreams the astral vehicle operates. Whether this succession of
subtle bodies described by Naqshbandls is literal or metaphorical
is unclear, but it nonetheless serves as a convenient model.

',,QadI Thana’ullah Panlpatl, Irshad al-talibm, pp. 40-41; and Dhawql, Sirr-i dil-
baran, pp. 65-66.
,7See the section on the contemplations in appendixes 2 and 3.
,sOne is reminded of Sri Ramana Maharshi's comment on the mind: "The mind
is only a bundle of thoughts. The thoughts arise because there is the thinker. The
thinker is the ego. The ego if sought will vanish automatically"; see Talks With Sri
Ramana Maharshi, p. 160. Culianu continually describes out-of-this-world experi­
ences as mental universes, their reality being in the mind of the explorer. See Out
of This World, pp. 3-5. Surely this is true when they come back from certain travels
and report their experiences. However, the "three-dimensional" mind as we
know it does not exist in these "further" universes, which only are described as
ineffable. Culianu's argument and conclusions are limited by not taking into ac­
count the spiritual methods used to achieve supramundane travels, so often de­
signed to bypass the mind completely.
'‘’For an informative discussion pertaining to the fourth dimension and the his­
tory of the concept, see Culianu, Out of This World, pp. 12-32.
»>Note the discussion of "The Astral Body in Neoplatonism" in Proclus, The
Elements of Theology: A Revised Text, pp. 313-21. Professor Carl Ernst kindly sup­
plied this reference.
 One does not casually undertake such a journey towards God.
The beginning recollection exercise (dhikr) does not demand
much from the aspirant and can be performed anywhere, but the
advanced recollection exercises (nafy wa-ithbat) and contempla­
tions (muraqabat) require near total solitude for an hour or two in
the early morning or late evening. Not all adepts take the time or
have the discipline to perform these advanced exercises in addi­
tion to the two hours or so involved in going to the mosque five
times each day to perform ritual prayers.21 Non-sufi Muslims
have asked why the performance of ritual duties is not sufficient.
Sufis through the ages have answered that ritual performance
suffices for happiness in the next world, but a sufi desires to
please God in order to become an intimate friend of God (wall) in
this world. Intimacy requires additional effort.
Diligent performance of ritual duties provides the foundation
for all other sufi practice, since it is believed to assist in transform­
ing the ego or carnal soul (nafs), which has many different stages
of perfection. Islamic ritual practices function to control the ego
in its everyday fallen state, described as "the soul which incites
to evil” (al-nafs al-ammara). Yet sufis only consider ritual practice
as a preparatory stage for those intending to turn continually
toward God and concentrate totally on God. For those desiring
spiritual perfection the soul must first become "the soul which
blames itself for its own limitations" (al-nafs al-lawwama), finally
attaining perfection in a tranquil and obedient condition as the
"tranquil soul" (al-nafs al-mutma’inna).22 Naqshbandls assert that
ritual performance may have eliminated the outward idol
(macbud-i afaqi) like Lat or ‘Azza, (the two well-known pre-Islamic
gods worshipped by Arabs), but the desires of an uncontrolled
nafs cause one to worship other than God within oneself (macbud-i
anfusf)23 Anyone wanting to control the ego and presuming to
achieve inner perfection, such as the Naqshbandls, will learn
about the subtle centers (lata if, plural of latlfa; hereafter latifas)
and the sphere of contingent existence (da'ira-yi imkari).24

“Naqshbandls emphasized the need for each of the daily five prayers to be
communal. Sirhindl, for example, stated that two cycles (rak'a) of communal
prayer are better than spending an entire night performing supererogatory
prayer. See Sirhindl, MaktiibSt, 1.52.25. See also Zawwar Husayn,' Umdat al-suluk,
p. 16. For Muslim men, communal prayer is normally only required once a week
for Friday noon prayer.
“The Qur an mentions the al-nafs al-ammara (Q. 12:53), al-nafs al-lawwama (Q.
75:2), and al-nafs al-mutma "Inna (Q. 89:27).
“ Muhammad 'Inayatullah, Maqamat-i irshadiyya, translated by Muhammad
Allah Khan, Ma'arif-i 'inayatiyya, pp. 223-24. Page numbers refer to the Urdu
translation which includes valuable explanatory footnotes
24Ibid., p. 238.
 The Naqshbandl-MujaddidI Universe

The entire Naqshbandl paradigm of spiritual travel is based upon

the sufi development of a mystical physiology involving subtle
centers, which in turn correspond with both Prophetic realities
and distinct levels of the cosmos.25 From the moment of initiation,
the spiritual guide begins to activate each disciple's subtle enti­
ties, beginning a lifelong process of assisting the aspirant to at­
tract divine grace/energy. Since no mystical experiences can
occur without a suitable vehicle, the shaykh, by enlivening the
disciple's latjfas, assists him or her to create the means for the
journey.
Human beings, the most comprehensive beings of creation,
contain the essence (khulasa) of the macrocosm in combination
with the four elements of earth, air, water, and fire. Because they
perceive these latter elements as real and necessary, humans im­
prison themselves in earthly matters and end up isolating them­
selves from God.26 To correct this situation Naqshbandl shaykhs
first teach newly initiated disciples about latjfas.
Disciples learn that spiritual centers correspond to defined
places in the human body yet are not part of it because their non­
corporeal nature is more subtle than the physical body.27*The sub­
tle centers of the soul (nafs) and the physical frame (qalab) are
located in the world of creation (falam al-khalq) below the throne
Carsh), while the world of divine command (calam al-amr) above
the throne contains the five jewels (al-jawahir al-khamsa) or the five
latTfas: the heart (qalb), spirit (ruh), mystery (sirr), arcanum (khafi,),

25In the following discussion "Mujaddidl" refers to those practices and ideals
originating with Sirhindl; "Naqshbandl" to practices before Sirhindl and ideals
shared by Naqshbandls whether before or after Sirhindl.
26Ibid., p. 223.
27These seven subtle centers from "coarse" to "fine" are the physical body
(qalab), soul (nafs), heart, spirit, mystery, arcanum, and super-arcanum. Often the
seven subtle centers are described in ten parts (see figure 9) with the four ele­
ments and nafs in the world of creation and the five subtle centers in the world of
divine command. The four elements are contained in the qalab. According to the
Naqshbandiyya-Mujaddidiyya of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the qalb
latTfa is roughly three centimeters below the left nipple and a yellow light ema­
nates from it; the ruh latjfa is the same distance below the right nipple with red
light; the sirr is roughly three centimeters above the left nipple and toward the
center of the chest emanating a white light; the khaft is in the same place on the
right side with a black light; the akhfa emits green light from an area of the ster­
num; the nafs is located in the middle of the forehead; and the qalab, often consid­
ered to be the entire physical body, is centered on the top of the head. See ibid.,
pp. 244-45, and AbG’l-Hasan Zayd FarUql, Manahij al-sayr, translated by Muham­
mad NaTmullah Khiyall, Madarij al-khayr, pp. 32-33.
and super-arcanum (akhfd ) (see figure 5). These latter five latTfas,
considered to be lights pervading the body and receptors emanat­
ing divine energy (fayd ), constitute the interior of the human
being (bdtin-i insdnT), an inner body.28 The specific correspon­
dences between the human latTfas and God's names and attributes
(ial-asmcC wa’l-sifdt) allow divine emanations to reach human be­
ings through the channels of latTfas.29 Although this is a concep­
tual summary of what Naqshbandl shaykhs consider necessary
for beginning disciples to know, it is not the whole story. LatTfas
are not really subtle centers at all, but instead are subtle fields or
subtle bodies.
The origin of the idea of subtle centers and cosmological corre­
spondences in sufism comes from Junayd (d. 297/910), who ap­
parently first cultivated latTfas in the human body,30 and Junayd's
contemporaries, such as Sahl at-Tustarl (d. 283/896), ‘Amr b. ‘Uth-
man al-Makkl (d. 297/909), and Husayn b. Mansur al-Hallaj
(martyred 309/922).31 Abu 'Abdurrahman as-Sulaml (d. 412/
1021), Abu Hamid al-Ghazzall (d. 505/1111), and Shihabuddln
Abu Hafs cUmar as-Suhrawardl (d. 632/1234) further elaborated
the concept of subtle entities.32 From these brief descriptions the

“ Ibid. See also Abu SaTd Dihlawl, Hidayat al-tdlibln, translated by Ghulam Mus.
tafa Khan, Jawahir-i mazhariyya wa-mazahir-i zawwariyya, p. 28.
“Muhammad Tnayatullah, Maqamat-i irshadiyya, p. 243. For these correspon­
dences between the latlfas and the origins of fayd, see figure 6.
-"The Shadhills, whose spiritual anatomy consists of seven latlfas, also count
Junayd in their spiritual pedigree. For diagrams and bodily locations of these
subtle centers in the ShadhilT lineage, see Durkee, Orisons, pp. 234, 322.
3lShah Wallullah confirms this in his Altdf al-quds, p. 72, cited in Marcia Her-
mansen, "Shah Wall Allah's Theory of the Subtle Centers (lots’if): A Sufi Model of
Personhood and Self-Transformation," p. 20. At-Tustarl mentions a subtle sub­
stance (latlf) giving life to the dense natural self and another subtle substance
associated with the spiritual self. The latter subtle substance is from recollection
of God (dhikr). See Gerhard Bowering, The Mystical Vision of Existence in Classical
Islam: The Qur’dnic Hermeneutics of the Sufi Sahl at-Tustarl (d. 283/896), pp. 244-45.
‘Amr al-Makkl conceived of the latlfas to be like veils wrapped in one another,
e g., the nafs in qalb, qalb in ruh, and ruh in sirr, which would be removed succes­
sively as one got closer to God. Louis Massignon, La Passion de Husayn Ibn Mansur
Ha Ilaj, 4 volumes, 3:24; trans. Herbert Mason, The Passion of Al-Hallaj: Mystic and
Martyr of Islam, 4 volumes, 3:17. Al-Hallaj has Muhammad in the heavenly journey
(mi’raj) leaving one subtle covering (latlfa) o f his soul for each heaven he passed
through. See ibid., 1:54, n. 13 [English trans. 1:14, n. 78], These latter interpreta­
tions would conceive of latlfas as subtle bodies or sheaths. Given the variety of
interpretations of latlfas in various situations, I will use the term "subtle entity"
as a generic term when the context is not more specific.
32SulamI discusses (in ascending order) nafs, qalb, sirr, and ruh. See Roger Dela-
driere, "Les premiers Malamatiyya: les gardiens du secret." Al-GhazzalT dis­
cusses subtle entities of the qalb, ruh, and nafs. See his Ihyd1 ‘uliim al-dln 3.3-5.
Shihabuddln Abu Hafs ‘Umar Suhrawardl discusses the subtle entities of qalb,
 Undifferentiated Essence

The Quality of
Comprehensive
Synthesis
The Origin of Origins
The Muhammadan Reality
The First Manifestation
Essence
Attributes of Negation

Divine Qualities The Origins

The Second Manifestation
The Eight Divine Attributes Names and Attributes

The Reflections of Reality

The Active Attributes The Third Manifestation
The World of Divine
Command

The Circle of.

Contingent
Existence

The Fourth Manifestation

The Physical World

Figure 5. A model of NaqshbandT cosmology

idea of la tT fa began in the ninth century as a generic subtle sub

stance before being defined functionally as a subtle body. Two
centuries later la tT fa became a more localized subtle entity or
organ associated with the human body.
The major conceptual development of l a t j f a s , however, grows
out of a Central Asian sufi lineage, the Kubrawiyya, whose
founder-figure, Najmuddln Kubra (d. 618/1221), analyzed the
inner morphology of the human body in terms of three subtle
fields: the heart, spirit, and mystery.33 Najmuddln RazI (d. 654/
1256), a disciple of Kubra's, created a fivefold structure by adding

ruh, sirr, and nafs in his Kitab ‘aw&rif al-ma'drif, pp. 443-57. Ahmad al-Ghazzall (d.
520/1126) discussed three worlds or stages (sing, manzil), dil, ruh, and sirr, through
which the wayfarer passed; see Nasrullah PGrjawadI, SultHn-i tariqat: sawanih zin-
dagi wa-sharh-i athar-i Khwaja Ahmad Ghazzalt, p. 208. Some thinkers by that time
had begun to associate these subtle entities with the world of divine command,
although there was no consensus on their locations or relative subtleness.
“ Najmuddln Kubra, Die Fawa'ih al-gamal wa-fawatih al-galal des Nagm ud-dln al-
Kubra, pp. 168-74. See the Arabic text, ibid., pp. 24, 27-28. The Kubrawiyya only
two other subtle fields: the intelligence Caql) and the arcanum
(khaff).34 Describing this schema, RazI writes,

. . . the tree of the body has grown from the seed of the spirit, and put
forth in one direction the branches of the soul and its attributes, and in
another direction those of the heart and its attributes. The leaves of the
outer senses appear; the roots of the inner faculties reach down into the
soil; the blossom of the mystery [s/rr] unfolds; the unripe fruit of the
arcane [khafT] sprints forth. . . . Thus the spirit. . . has acquired different
tools and instruments that it did not previously possess. Among these
are the inner and outer means of perception. . . . That which cannot be
perceived by these [outer] five senses is called the World of Dominion
['filam -i m alaku t], the unseen world with its numerous degrees and
stages. This world is perceived by five inner means of perception: the
intelligence, the heart, the mystery, the spirit, and the arcane.35

As a transmitter of the Central Asian Kubrawl tradition, ‘Ala5-

uddawla SimnanI (d. 736/1336) extended RazTs pentad of inner
perceptual fields to a sevenfold arrangement by adding the phys­
ical frame (qalab) and the super-arcanum (akhfa). Equipped with
this schema, SimnanI established correspondences between these
seven latifas and seven colors, seven prophets, seven spiritual
types, seven ways of interpreting the Qur’an, and seven levels
of the cosmos.36 Muhammad Parsa (d. 822/1420), a successor of
Baha’uddln Naqshband, defined the subtle fields in exactly the

associates the latifas with the human body. From the limited material in the Fa-
zva'ih it would be tenuous to define these as either subtle bodies or subtle centers.
“Marcia Hermansen notes that the fivefold structure of the latifas parallels the
Islamic adaptation of Greek medical theory (tibb yunani) with its five inner and
five outer senses. See her “Shah Wall Allah's Theory of the Subtle Centers," p. 7,
where she analyzes Shah Wallullah's new theoretical synthesis of latifas. Shah
Waliullah in his Tafhimat al-ilahiyya explains that the development of latifas began
with Adam when there were three spiritual centers: the heart, intelligence, and
lower soul. In Muhammad's time the higher latifas of the spirit and mystery were
awakened in the ideal human form. At the time of Ibn al-‘Arabl (d. 638/1240) the
potential of the arcanum latifa was available to the human species. Finally, Shah
Waliullah was selected by God to reveal two additional subtle centers: “the Phi­
losopher's stone" (hajar-i baht) and “selfhood" (ananiyya). See Hermansen, "Shah
Wall Allah's Theory," p. 24. The hajar-i baht was already described by Ibn al-
‘Arabl as an essential point in the heart emanating a marvelous and perplexing
light. See H.S. Nyberg, Kleinere Schriften des Ibn al-Arabi, pp. 216-17, cited in Her­
mansen, "Shah Wall Allah's Theory," p. 15. To date no subsequent Naqshbandl
writing indicates the use, theoretical or practical, of either of these last two subtle
centers after Shah Wallullah's response to them.
35Najmuddln RazI, The Path of God's Bondsmen from Origin to Return, p. 138 [ad­
ditions mine].
“Henry Corbin, En Islam Iranien, 4 volumes, 3:275-355.
same order and with the same corresponding prophets as Sim-
nanl had done.37
The Mujaddidls then created their own synthesis of the seven­
fold nature of the inner human being, but this was not a com­
pletely standardized system, in India at least, until the nineteenth
century.38 By that time each l a t i f a had become associated with a
certain part of the body, and in sufi training, la t T fa s had become
conceptualized as subtle centers. Some MujaddidI shaykhs de­
scribed the la t T fa s as a six-fold structure, with different positions
for the s i n , k h a fT , a k h f a , and n a f s than those described by
MujaddidI shaykhs writing in the nineteenth century.39

37Compare ibid., p. 339, and Muhammad Parsa, Tuhfat al-salikm: tahqTqat Khwaja
Muhammad Parser, p. 377. From lowest to highest: qalab/Adam, na/s/Noah, qalb/
Abraham, sirr/Moses, rilh/David, Uw/f/Jesus, and haqqi/M uhammad. Each day
of the week was also correlated to a subtle center. The "unity of witnessing"
(wahdat al-shuhud), later emphasized by Ahmad Sirhindl, is originally SimnanI's
formulation. The early Kubrawiyya appears to share many ideas and practices
with the Naqshbandiyya. Who developed these concepts and practices in Central
Asia will remain an open question until more detailed research is done on the
early history of these lineages. One preliminary study in this direction is Jamal
Elias, The Throne Carrier of God: The Life and Thought of 'Ala' ad-dawla as-SimnanT.
38B3qlbillah discusses the seven subtle centers from qalab to akhfa, suggesting
that the seven-latifa system detailed by Sirhindl and standardized in the nine­
teenth century might not have originated with Ahmad Sirhindl. See Baqlbillah,
Kulliyat-i BfiqTbillah, p. 111.
39FaqIrullah Shikarpurl (d. 1195/1781), in the spiritual lineage of Adam Banuri,
describes various six-latTfa systems. See Faqlrullah's Qutb al-irshad, pp. 565-66 and
his Futuhat al-ghaybiyya, pp. 171-72. There is no mention of the qalab. Other
shaykhs, including Faqlrullah Shikarpurl and other Naqshbandls of Adam Ba­
nuri's lineage, located the qalb and ruh below the left and right nipples respec­
tively, the sirr at the sternum, the khafT in the middle of the forehead between the
eyes, the nafs under the sirr (under the navel), and the akhfa at the crown of the
head. This sixfold system is described in Dhawql, Sirr-i dilbaran, pp. 298-99, but
not attributed to any particular sufi lineage. There is evidence that these locations
of the latTfas were the ones Sirhindl used. See Nur Ahmad's note in Maktubat-i
Imam-i RabbdnT, 1.34.95, n. 1, and Mir Nu'mfln, Risala-yi suluk, p. 9. In the
MujaddidI system of latTfas often the qalab, representing the physical body com­
posed of four elements, was not mentioned and classified instead as the four
elements. Thus, in the same MujaddidI system the terminology could indicate
seven latTfas, six latTfas (and four elements), or ten latTfas, five in the world of cre­
ation (the four elements and the nafs) and five in the world of command. Occa­
sionally there are references to the nafs latTfa being located below the navel where
the Chinese Taoists locate the tan t’ien. See Muhammad ‘Umar Blrball, Inqilab al-
haqTqat, p. 71. By the beginning of the twentieth century Abu’l-'Ula's lineage, a
non-Mujaddidl Naqshbandl lineage incorporating ChishtI practices, designated
the subnavel position as the location of the nafs latTfa. They had also designated a
seventh subtle center as nasTran-i Mahmud. See ‘Ata’ Husayn, DaqTqat al-salikm,
pp. 108-09. For this reference I am indebted to ‘Ata’ Khurshld, librarian at Ali­
garh University.
 Although Mujaddidls agree upon the correspondences be­
tween prophets and the individual latifas, almost every shaykh
ascribe different colors to each subtle center.40 Sufis examining
these different configurations of latifas among Mujaddidls stress
that each shaykh describes what is revealed to him. All seemingly
contradictory results are valid, just as the process of divergent
independent legal judgments (ijtihad) of qualified jurisprudents
are equally valid in the interpretation of Islamic law: all of these
paths lead to the goal.41 Until more Naqshbandl manuscripts con­
cerning spiritual practices are discovered, it will be impossible to
determine which shaykhs developed the present MujaddidI sys­
tem of subtle centers.
By the latter half of the eighteenth century two things are
certain. First, the position and colors of latifas were already in
the process of being standardized, and, second, the overall
MujaddidI version of the human spiritual morphology had be­
come firmly established.42 This meant that each of the seven
latifas, which are receptors for divine energy that comes from
more subtle cosmic realms, not only coincides with the human
microcosm, but also corresponds to a prophet, a colored light,
and (except for the nafs and qalab) a specific cosmic emanation
(see figure 6).43
Compared to the established mystical physiology of Indian
chakra systems and Chinese "elixir fields," the MujaddidI system
has a transitory, even experimental quality.44 It is logical to think
that the system of correspondences established and used by nine-

40The only constants were the colors themselves: red, yellow, green, black,
white, and blue. For the MujaddidI correspondences, which were standardized
by the nineteenth century, see figure 6.
4’DhawqI, Sirr-i dilbaran, p. 299, and Faqlrullah Shikarpurl, Qutb al-irshad, p. 566.
42ShikarpurI, Qutb al-irshad, p. 565, and Ghulam ‘All Shah, Maqamat-i mazhari,
pp. 522-25. '
43See also Henry Corbin, L’homme de lumi'ere dans le Soufism iranien; translated
by Nancy Pearson, The Man of Light in Iranian Sufism.
“The Hindu Yoga equivalent of latifas is seven chakras (literally, wheels) located
at the base of the spinal column, sacral plexus, navel, heart, throat, between the
eyebrows, and the crown of the head. The Buddhists use the top four. See Mircea
Eliade, Yoga: Immortality and Freedom, pp. 241-44. Contemporary Taoists, in addi­
tion to using a very intricate physiological system which maps the three currents
of seed (ching), breath (ch'i), and spirit (shen), also distinguish an upper elixir field
in the forehead, a middle one in the region of the heart (chung tan t'ien) and a
lower elixir field below the navel (cheng tan t'ien). See Erwin Rousselle, “Spiritual
Guidance in Contemporary Taoism." Contemporary Naqshbandls say that these
chakras and elixir fields are related to the body. Only the latifas, which are related
to the spirit (ruh), can effectively refine the carnal soul (nafs).
 L a tif a O r ig in o f fa y d P rop h et C o lo r L o c a tio n
super­ the quality of
arcanum comprehensive synthesis M uham m ad green sternum
(akhfa) (sha 3n-i ja m c)
arcanum attributes o f negation above right
(khafi) (sifat-i salbiyya ) Jesus black
breast

m ystery divine qualities above left

(shu°un-i dhatiyya) Moses white
(sirr) breast
the eight im mutable divine
spirit Abraham below right
attributes red
(ruh) N oah breast
(sifat-i thubutiyya dhatiyya)
heart active attributes below left
A dam yellow
(qalb) (sifat -i f i cliyya) breast

soul middle o f
t+H
heart - -
(nafs) © no forehead

fire
2 S arcanum
Physical fram e

- -
a a
* a crown of
a8
(qalab)

air spirit - -
head
water ag mystery - -

earth o '3 super-arcanum - -

Figure 6. Nineteenth- and twentieth-century MujaddidI correspondences

of latlfas

teenth-century Indian Naqshbandls is the result of generations of

mystical activity over centuries of experimentation with subtle
fields of the body. This might have been the case. But Faqlrullah
Shikarpuri, explaining the different interpretations of the subtle
centers' color and location, says, "Some say the five subtle centers
of the world of command are not in the body nor outside of it;
neither are they connected to it nor are they separate from it.
The subtle centers envelop the entire body . . . their appearance
depends on the differing capacities of those traveling on the path
(saliktn). Therefore, to make it easy for those traveling on the path
some shaykhs established the qalb under the left breast, the ruh
under the right breast, the sirr is above the qalb by a distance of
four fingers' width toward the center of the chest. . . the khafT is
above the ruh by a distance of four fingers' width, the akhfa is in
the middle of the chest. . . and the nafs is in the head (dimagh)."45

45Faqlrullah Shikarpuri, Qutb al-irshad, p. 565. He does not mention which

shaykhs first standardized the locations of the lattfas. Mir Nu'mSn explains that
in reality the latTfas have no exact places corresponding to specific places in the
body; see Risala-yi suluk, p. 9.
 From this report, it is clear that the concept of latifa depends on
the functional context.46 In the MujaddidI teaching environment
the schema of latifas as subtle centers is a heuristic device for the
disciple to develop a subtle body or a subtle field with which
to travel in the nonmaterial realms.47 SimnanI has mentioned an
acquired body (al-badan al-muktasab) which would fit this descrip­
tion.48 In many respects it is analogous to the Buddhist tantric
"diamond body" (Skr. vajrakaya). SimnanI described the acquired
body composed of light as that which comes into being by par­
taking in divine effusions (fuyud ), just as the Naqshbandl subtle
fields develop by receiving divine energy (fayd ).49
Once the function of latifas is ascertained, the next problem is
deciding whether a latifa is a "place" or a "subtle body."
Mujaddidls sometimes mention traveling in a certain latifa. Sim­
nanI postulated ten latifas emanating from the Essence while dis­
cussing the subtle, acquired body moving through these latifas .50
Does this mean traveling in the vehicle of a subtle body or passing
through subtle worlds beyond the material one, or both?51 Given

46Relying only on the nineteenth- and twentieth-century mamfdat literature and

occasional discussions of latjfas in other contexts, which are oriented toward out­
siders or novices, a reader would never know that a latifa is anything but a subtle
center with a specific, determined place in the human body.
47This concept is consistent with the advanced stage of dhikr-i sultani necessary
before traveling in the world of command and beyond, i.e., before beginning the
muraqabat. ‘Abdulquddus GangOhl (d. 944/1537) of the Chishtl-Sabirl lineage also
mentions dhikr sultani. See Simon Digby, " ‘Abd al-Quddus Gangohi (1456-1537
a .d .): The Personality and Attitudes of a Medieval Indian Sufi," pp. 21-23. The
concept of a subtle body is also implicit in the hay’at-i wahdani, a consolidation of
all the latifas formed in the advanced stages of suluk, i.e., kamalat-i risdla.
Mujaddidls do not explicitly mention a subtle body (jism-i latif) but instead dis­
cuss progressively subtler sheaths. See Mir Nu'man, Risala-yi suluk, p. 118. In light
of this ambiguity I translate a latifa enveloping the body as a "subtle field."
4SCorbin, En Islam iranien, 3.279, and Elias, Throne Carrier, p. 81.
49See 'Ala'uddawla SimnanI, "Khitam al-misk," p. 73.
-’‘’Such a situation indicates the necessity functionally to define the term latifa
as thoroughly as possible. Jamal Elias's consistent translation of latifa as "subtle
substance" becomes strained when a "subtle bodily substance" is traveling
through other "subtle substances," e.g., Elias, Throne Carrier, p. 89. Given that
latifas do not have mass or occupy three-dimensional space it is even more prob­
lematic to define latifa as a type of "substance."
51FaqiruJlah Shikarpurl mentions traveling in all five latifas in the world of di­
vine command and then going to their origins. See his Maktubat-i Faqirullah,
pp. 241-42. For the Mujaddidls the evidence supports the concept of subtle body
as static concept, i.e., as the disciple eliminates veils to receive more light, he or
she enters an enlightened existence (wujud-i nurani), presumably closer to God.
See ibid., p. 236. As a dynamic concept, i.e., body as vehicle, two clear transitions
in spiritual exercises indicate a subtler body has been formed: when one can per­
no consistent answers to this question in sufi sources, a working
hypothesis might be that the body or sheath a human being occu­
pies at a given moment determines the corresponding ontological
reality. By progressively developing these bodies and/or learn­
ing how to move between them at will, a person can experience
different ontological realities. In this way access to various levels
of the cosmos are inside each human being; a person visits them
at will by transferring "inside” from subtle body to subtle body:
a person in a third-dimensional physical body travels in the third-
dimensional physical world as a person in a fourth-dimensional
body would travel in the fourth-dimensional world.
Such a model of subtle bodies could explain many other phe­
nomena not explicable by existing paradigms. A well-developed
subtle body could be the prerequisite for an UwaysT experience,
i.e., the meeting of the subtle body (ruhaniyat) of a deceased
shaykh and the still-embodied sufi with well-developed latTfas.52
Indeed, the special connection between the disciple and shaykh
(rabita), often confirmed by the disciple seeing the shaykh in
dreams, could be explained as another instance of an interaction
between subtle bodies.
Whether these latTfas are conceived as a collective subtle body
or as individual subtle centers, they not only act as interfaces be­
tween the created world and more refined ontological stages, but
they are themselves manifestations of these more rarefied cosmo­
logical realms. It is through these subtle fields associated with the
human body that the human microcosm can be said to contain
the macrocosm.
Muslim philosophers have started from the assumption that
before creation there was only God in His absolute, undifferenti­
ated existence.53*Then, according to the hadith, "I was a hidden

form sultan-i dhikr, and when one has consolidated the latTfas in the hay’at-i
wahdanl.
52There also may be a relationship between this subtle body and SimnanTs "in­
visible teacher" (ustad-i ghaybT). See Corbin, En Islam Iranien, 3.290-308. Uwaysl
phenomena would also be included in this category.
53Much of the terminology and cosmological structure for Naqshbandl cosmol­
ogy has been derived from the school of Ibn al-'Arabl. See Fakhruddln 'Iraqi,
Divine Flashes, pp. 6-17; and William C. Chittick, "The Five Divine Presences:
From al-Qunawl to al-Qaysarl." In Persian this undifferentiated existence is de­
scribed by such terms as ‘ayn-i wujud-i mutlacf, ivUjib-i wujud, ‘ayn-i dhat, ahadiyat,
and wujud-i ‘amm. See Faqlrullah ShikarpQrl, Maktubat-i Faqirullah, pp. 27-30.
Faqlrullah also includes M at in this category (some authors place it in the circle
of the first manifestation), citing the origin of the word in an enigmatic expression
"Not Him, You" (La huiva, anta); see ibid., p. 30. In Naqshbandl literature, the
treasure wanting to be known, so I created the world"—God met­
aphorically created a reflection of His manifestations through His
divine breath, the nafas al-Rahm an .54 Annemarie Schimmel writes,
"The pure Essence was as if it had held its 'breath' until it could
no longer do so—and the world appeared as nafas al-Rahm an /'55
Ahmad Sirhindl, following the philosophy of ‘Ala’uddawla Sim-
nanl, declared an existential difference between the "Breather"
and the exhaled breath, defining creation as that "present outside
God" {mawjud ft kharij). For this school of thought, everything hu­
mans can perceive and understand is from God and outside Him;
the originating agency is hidden (makhft).56
The primary manifestation {ta/ayyun-i avowal) of the Essence,
the most subtle of all created realms, is the source of divine en­
ergy for the super-arcanum, arcanum, mystery, and spirit latifas .57
Functioning as a bridge (barzakh ) between the absolute, undiffer­
entiated Essence and creation is the "quality of comprehensive
synthesis" (sha/n-i jam z‘c).58 All divine energy from God emanates
via this portal in the cosmic order to the rest of creation. In addi­
tion, the super-arcanum latifa, associated with Muhammad, re­
ceives its divine grace directly from the quality of comprehensive
synthesis. This circle of the first manifestation also contains the

undifferentiated Essence is associated with la ta'ayyun, dhat-i baht, hubb-i sir/, and
ghayb-i mutlaq. The most complete and concise discussion of the ranks of existence
in the ivujadl sufi macrocosm, originally elaborated by Ibn al-'Arabl, is DhawqT's
Sirr-i dilbardn, pp. 340-57. For the Naqshbandl nuances to this system, see
Zawwar Husayn, 'Umdat al-suluk, pp. 231-343, in addition to the more scholarly
treatment in Maktubdt-i FaqTrulldh cited above.
“Note the hadith: "I feel the breath of the Merciful coming from Yemen." See
Badl'uzzaman FurQzanfar, Ahddtth-i mathnawT, p. 83. This hadith has often been
interpreted as Muhammad recognizing Uways al-Qaranl's presence, although the
two had never physically met.
“Annemarie Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions, p. 268.
“ Faqlrullah ShikarpurT, Maktubdt-i FaqTrulldh, pp. 27-30. This philosophy is
often described as testimonial unity (tawhTd-i shuhudl) or unity of vision (wahdat al-
shuhud) as distinct from what Ibn al-‘Arabl's interpreters term "existential unity"
(tawhTd-i wujadT) or "unity of existence" (wahdat al-wujad). These philosophies can
be correlated with spiritual practice and types of mystical experience.
57This primary manifestation is also known as the "exalted pen" (qalam-i 'aid),
the spirit of Muhammad (ruh-i MuhammadT), and the first Intellect Caql al-awwal)
with its primary aspect Citibar) being love (hubb). See Dhawql, Sirr-i dilbardn,
pp. 282-83, and Zawwar Husayn, ‘Umdat al-suluk, p. 207. Naqshbandls refer to
travel in this first manifestation as traveling in the essence (dhdt), i.e., the relative
essence which is distinct from the Absolute, undifferentiated Essence.
“ It is also called the "quality of exalted knowledge," (sha‘n al-'ilm) which is
associated with Muhammad. See Sirhindl, Maktubdt, 1.260.75. See also 1.287.62,
where the "quality of comprehensive synthesis" takes on the "color" of the qual­
ity of exalted knowledge.
“Muhammadan reality" (haqTqat-i M uhammadt), the attributes of
negation (sifat-i salbiyya or sifat-i tanzThiyya) transmitting divine
energy to the arcanum latifa associated with Jesus, the “essential
qualities" (shu'un-i dhatiyya) which channel divinely emanating
grace to the mystery latifa under the auspices of the prophet
Moses, and the eight immutable divine attributes (sifat-i thubut-
iyya dhatiyya ) that transmit divine energy to the subtle center of
the spirit associated with Abraham and Noah.59 Divinely emanat­
ing grace is distributed to creation via the primary manifestation
of the Essence. In creation the source of this blessing is believed
to be mediated through Muhammad; indeed all other prophets
receive their divine energy and grace through him.60
The second manifestation (ta‘ayyun-i thani) contains God's
names and attributes (al-asma' wa’l-sifat) in addition to the active
attributes (sifat-i ficliyya) which direct divine energy to the subtle
center of the heart associated with the prophet Adam. Naqsh-
bandls refer to travel in this manifestation as travel in the names
and attributes. In the third manifestation, commonly called the
“world of divine command" (calam al-am r ), shapes of essences
with corresponding attributes begin to arise. This is also called
the world of angels Calam-i malcCika) or the world of sovereignty
{cdlam-i malakut). Five latTfas are located in this realm. The lower
limit of this third manifestation is the world of image-exemplars
Calam-i mithdl) which serves as an intermediary zone between the
world of divine command and the world of corporeal bodies
ifalam -i ajsam ), the fourth manifestation. The upper limit of the
corporeal world is the Throne Carsh ) below which are the subtle
center of the nafs, the elements, and the world of humans, ani­
mals, plants, and minerals.61
The composite nature of the human being is represented by the
circle of contingent existence (da’ira-yi imkan), which includes the
world of divine command, the world of image-exemplars, the

59See Figures 5 and 7. The eight divine attributes are knowledge Cihn), life
(hayat), power (qudrat), will (irada), speech (kalam), hearing (sam‘), sight (basar),
and origination (takivTn). See Muhammad ‘InSyatullah, Maqamat-i irshadiyya,
p. 252, n. 1. These correspond to Ala’uddawla SimnanI's conception of essential
attributes, except for origination, which Simnani replaced with wisdom (hikma).
See Elias, Throne Carrier, p. 65.
“See appendixes 2 and 3.
MSee figure 7. In Qur’an commentaries, e.g., that of at-Tabarl, the 'arsh and kursl
are related to the qalb and sin. See Muhammad Ali Amir-Moezzi, Le Guide Divine
dans le Sluisme Originel trans. David Streight, The Divine Guide in Early Sluism:
The Sources of Esotericism in Islam, p. 177, n. 261. Dara Shikuh describes the four
worlds of the spiritual wayfarer; see Bikrama Jit Hasrat, Dara Shikuh: Life and
Works, pp. 125-28.
Throne, and the upper reaches of the corporeal world, i.e., the
heavens. In this realm of contingent existence there is no end or
zenith, since a circle has no limits. Here the immediacy of God's
command operates and is separated from the corporeal world by
a world of image-exemplars. The world of divine command re­
fers to God's creation, i.e., “If God decrees something He just says
'Be!' and it is" (Q. 3:47). It is in this circle of contingent existence
that most sufi activity takes place. Few reach the upper realms
beyond the world of divine command.
Mujaddidls begin by activating the five l a t j f a s of the world of
divine command and complete the advanced stages of their jour­
ney in the world of corporeal bodies. In this fashion, Mujaddidls
follow the path of the prophets who have passed beyond the
sphere of lesser intimacy to God (w i l a y a t - i s u g h r a ) and beyond the
names and divine attributes to greater intimacy with God (wi-
l a y a t - i k u b r a ) . After this “climb" C u r u j ) they return to the corpo­
real world for the propagation of their prophetic message.
Paradoxical as it might first appear, prophethood is associated
with the perfections of the corporeal world instead of being
purely a function of intimacy with God.62
Mujaddidls say other sufis begin their spiritual journey in the
created world and finish the journey in the world of divine com­
mand, experiencing only lesser intimacy with God (w i l a y a t - i
s u g h r a ) . Even though Mujaddidls define further stages beyond
the world of divine command, these domains still exist far from
the reality of the first manifestation. Associating w i l a y a t - i k u b r a
and the prophetic path with the path of the Companions,
Mujaddidls distinguish themselves from other sufis who are said
to have stopped traveling long before achieving this greater inti­
macy with God. Careful to acknowledge the ontological differ­
ence between advanced seekers and prophetic perfection,
Mujaddidls emphasize following the path of the Companions,
thereby conforming to Sunni credal dogma which affirms that
prophets are qualitatively superior to non-prophets.
In this way, Naqshbandls define a hierarchy of mystical experi­
ence. Think of a paradoxical M. C. Escher picture. The apparently
“higher" activities of the world of divine command are “the

“Muhammad ‘Inayatullah, Maqamat-i irshadiyya, pp. 147-48. According to the

Naqshbandls, other sufis not following the prophetic path remain relatively close
to God and never return to communicate their experiences except in the form of
ecstatic utterances. Their way, the way of the mystics, is approaching God
through supererogatory practices (qurb al-nawafil) while the much higher state for
the Naqshbandls is achieving proximity by performing legally prescribed actions
(qurb al-fara id), the way of the Prophet; see Schimmel, Pain and Grace, pp. 74-75.
stairs/' leading ontologically upward toward the perfections of
the (apparently lower) created world. Following the path of the
prophets, the sufi on the spiritual path (tariqa) realizes the reality
(haqiqa) of the Essence in the primary manifestation of the Essence
and continues onward to the realm of the shari'a, the corporeal
world. From their definition of prophethood, Naqshbandls onto­
logically subordinate both the sufi path and realization of Reality
to complete fulfillment of the shari'a. Cosmologically this is a
Naqshbandl expression of Sunni credal dogma: any prophet is
by definition more intimate, and therefore superior, to any non­
prophet who is only relatively intimate with God.63 Thus, Naqsh­
bandls, even perfected shaykhs, are always ontologically distinct
from prophets, endeavoring to follow the Prophetic path as the
Companions had done.
Divinely emanating grace (fayd) is the "enabling energy" sufis
utilize to connect the human microcosm through the latJfas to
other parts of the macrocosm and actually travel.64 Electricity pro­
vides an appropriate metaphor for this divine energy, for just as
the modern world could not function without an abundant sup­
ply of energy, Naqshbandls declare that divine grace from God
sustains all earthly life.65 Naqshbandls can account for this divine
energy to about the same extent as physicists can tell us what
electricity really is.66 Both electricity and fayd have been described
having the properties of light. As electricity has been "explained"
as a flow of electrons, fayd has been experienced as rain or as
subtle rays.67 In the same fashion that physicists give approximate

63For a discussion of the early formulations differentiating awliya’ and prophets,

see Michel Chodkiewicz, Sceau de Prophets: Prophetie et saintete dans la doctrine d'Ibn
ArabT.
MThe Neoplatonic background of fayd is discussed in the article "Faid," in Tj.
de Boer, Supplement to the Encyclopaedia of Islam. In the Hindu tradition there is a
similar phenomenon, shaktipdt, transmitted during initiation where “the guru's
vibrational substance is said to enter the disciple." See Elizabeth Lassell Halls-
trom, "My Mother, My God: Anandamayl Ma (1896-1982)," p. 292. Occasionally
the word fayd is supplemented with the Persian barakat (Arabic baraka) in such
phrases as fayd wa-barakat. Baraka usually has a meaning of "auspiciousness" or
"well being." See Joseph Chelhod, "La baraka chez les Arabes ou l'influence bien-
faisante du sacre."
65Abu SaTd Dihlawi, Hidayat-i talibTn, p. 52.
“Twentieth-century Naqshbandls often explained aspects of their practice in
terms of modern science and technology. Agehananda Bharati notices how "gad-
getry language is now part of the religious homiletic," citing a Ramakrishna
monk who declared "Swamiji is an electric powerhouse." See "The Hindu Re­
naissance and Its Apologetic Patterns," p. 282.
67It also has been described as the descending of lights. See Blrball, Inqilab al-
haqtqat, p. 19. Words using the verbal root "f = y = d" are found nine times in
(and paradoxical) models to explain electricity, Naqshbandls ac­
count for the "spiritual electricity" they experience. Theoretical
understanding is not necessary to benefit from either electricity
or fayd. Engineers concentrate on the generation and manipula­
tion of electricity just as Naqshbandl shaykhs focus their interest
on the practicalities of attracting and transmitting divine energy.
Naqshbandl spiritual methods and the spiritual path itself have
been formulated and elaborated according to the concept and
phenomenon of divinely emanating grace.
Mujaddidls say divine energy originates with God and has di­
verse forms emanating from God's names and attributes. Sirhindl
describes two kinds of fayd, general and particular. General fayd
comes from the attributes (sifat) and is responsible for created life,
while special fayd deals with faith (Tman), gnosis (ma'rifa), inti­
macy with God (zvilaya), and prophethood (nubuwa).68 The differ­
ence between these two types of divine grace is that only those
Muslims who are intimate with God, namely the awliyd’, receive
the special, particular fayd. This is a significant difference. As Sir­
hindl puts it, "the arrival of fayd to the Presence (S) [Muhammad]
having the rank of perfect intimacy (wilayat) to God is from the
Essence (dhat). It is not by means of anything else, whether essen­
tial qualities (shu’iinat) or any other entity outside of the Essence.
Therefore the Essence's emanation (tajallT-yi dhatt) has become
special to him [Muhammad] and all his [Muhammad's] follow­
ers. When they take fayd from his way, they also profit from this
[Muhammad's] station (maqam). Others, having intermediate
links of the attributes (sifat) . . . [which are like] an impregnable
barrier falling between [them and fayd from the Essence]. [Receiv­
ing fayd from] the manifestation of attributes becomes their ap­
pointed lot."69

the Qur’an with the general meaning of God's “pouring forth" or "giving." The
root "f = y = d" has a meaning of "pouring water." Grand unified theories of
the universe of the 1980s propose that electricity be interpreted as a force from
the fourth dimension, that higher dimensions of space can be wrapped in tiny
particles, and that electromagnetism be conceived as four-dimensional gravity.
Here we have some scientific parallels to what Naqshbandls call fayd. See Paul
Davies, Superforce: The Search for the Grand Unified Theory of Nature, cited in loan
Culianu, Out of This World: Other Worldly Journeys from Gilgamesh to Albert Einstein,
p. 22.
'’’Sirhindl, Maktubdt, 1.287.61. Nur Ahmad, the editor and commentator of this
edition of the Maktubdt, states that the substitutes (abddl) mediate general fayd and
the pole of guidance (qutb al-irshdd) mediates special fayd. See ibid., n. 4 and 5.
Much of this discussion of fayd is reproduced in Urdu. See Zaww5r Husayn,
‘Umdat al-suluk, pp. 204-06. ’
'’“Sirhindl, Maktubdt, 1.287.63.
 In Naqshbandl discourse, this “impregnable barrier" is ex­
pressed in terms of the Prophetic hadith describing seventy thou­
sand veils of light and darkness separating humans from God.70
These veils act as a medium enabling God's grace to reach cre­
ation. Naqshbandls believe that if these veils did not exist, created
beings would be destroyed by the intensity of God's “face."71
Mujaddidls say that only for non-Muslims are these veils “im­
pregnable"; for them the veils of darkness are manifested in one
of God's names, “the one leading astray" (al-mudill). Muslims, on
the other hand, are veiled by light expressed in another name of
God, “the guide" (al-hadt,).72 This is one more example of cosmol­
ogy reflecting credal dogma, which Sirhindl and his followers
apply strictly to define the Muslim community in India.73 Correct
dogmatic affirmations remain a prerequisite to embarking on the
Naqshbandl-Mujaddidl path; divine grace (nur-i batint) is blocked
if one's credal affirmations do not correspond point by point to
the creed of Abu Hanlfa.74
For the aspirant on the path, special divine energy is received
via human latTfas. The shaykh reflects and focuses this emanating
grace to hasten the disciple's progress.75 Starting with the subtle
center of the heart, the disciple concentrates on receiving divine

70Furuz3nfar, Ahadtth-i mathnawi, pp. 50-51,142.

7,Zawwar Husayn, ‘Umdat al-suluk, pp. 204-06.
72Ibid. Note the hadith, “First God created my light which was created from
God's light and the believers (muminun) are from my light," cited in Sirhindl,
Maktubat, 3.122.127, and Furuzanfar, Ahadtth-i mathnawi, pp. 113-14.
73The supremacy of Muhammad and (by extension) Islam is clearly stated by
Sirhindl, who, after declaring Muhammad to be the first appearance in creation
and the reality of realities, says, “This meaning is that other realities, whether the
realities of the blessed prophets or realities of the great angels, are just reflections
[of Muhammad's reality] . . . For a person to arrive at the goal, [having traversed
the distance] between the rest of the realities [other than Muhammad's reality]
and God the most exalted and sublime, is impossible without the mediation of
Muhammad (S)"; see Sirhindl, Maktubat, 3.122.127.
74JaipurI, Mi'yar al-suluk, p. 172. Note also Najmuddln Razl's explanation of
how spiritual light can be blocked by certain actions of the body, hence the neces­
sity to act in accordance with the shari'a. See Herman Landoldt's introduction to
Nuruddln ‘Abdurrahman IsfarayanI's Kashf al-asrdr, trans. Hermann Landolt, he
revelateur des mysteres, p. 59. For a western historical analysis of the early develop­
ment of Muslim credal dogmatics, see A. J. Wensinck, The Muslim Creed: Its Genesis
and Historical Development, and Josef van Ess, Theologie und Gesellschaft im 2. und 3.
Jahrhundert Hidschra: Eine Geschichte des religiosen Denken im friihen Islam. See also
‘Abdulhaqq Dihlawi's Takmil al-Tman. A study incorporating an analysis of credal
dogma and modern conflicting Sunni orthodoxies is a desiratum for Islamic
studies.
75When the shaykh focuses this fayd to benefit others it is called tawajjuh (liter­
ally concentration) or tasarruf.
energy in each latTfa in turn: spirit, mystery, arcanum, super-arca­
num, carnal soul, and physical frame. As Muhammad is "seal of
the prophets," so the subtle center associated with Muhammad,
the akhfa, is the most sublime and most inclusive. In the
MujaddidI system a prophet governs each subtle center and me­
diates divine energy from a certain reality (haqiqa) in the cosmos.
A disciple's station (maqam) exists under the foot of a certain
prophet, so a beginner working on the heart is "under the foot of
Adam," that is, the disciple receives special divinely emanating
grace from Adam.76
Muhammad mediates divine energy to all other prophets.
Likewise, the disciple's goal is to go far enough along the path to
receive the direct connection of divine grace from Muhammad.77
For example, when the disciple waits for divine energy to go into
the akhfa, the shaykh instructs the disciple to visualize all the
Naqshbandl shaykhs of the chain going back to Muhammad as if
they were in front of this subtle center.78 In this fashion, there is
a correspondence between the human microcosm, the spiritual
genealogy, and cosmology—all of which coincide on one vital
point: the supremacy of Muhammad in the created world.

Naqshbandl-MujaddidI Spiritual Practices

Naqshbandls, like other sufis, realize that there are many paths
to God but have declared their path (tariqa) to be the "closest."79
More than most other sufi lineages, Naqshbandls acknowledge

7fMuhammad Tnayatullah, MaqSmctt-i irshadiyya, pp. 241-43. See figure 6 for

the correspondences between prophets and the other latifas. When someone is
under the foot of a prophet, according to Faqlrullah ShikarpQrl, it means that
“the person intimate with God (walT) will receive the inner and outer knowledge,
occurrences, visions, and states that are special to that prophet by means of his
[the Prophet's] help and cooperation." See Faqlrullah, Maktubat-i Faqirullah,
p. 239.
^Zawwar Husayn, ‘Umdat al-suluk, pp. 205-09.
^Ibid., p. 288.
^irhindl, Maktubat, 1.131.9—10. Najmuddln Kubra uses the same words to de­
scribe the Kubrawl tariqa. See Kubra, Fawa'ih, p. 285. The spiritual path, the way
of proceeding along the path, and the methods for this journey are conveniently
expressed in the term sayr wa-suluk, which has been amply described in Naqsh-
bandi literature. One of the earliest summaries in a Western language is Heinrich
Fleischer's "Uber die farbigen Lichterscheinungen der Sufi's." Michel Chodkie-
wicz provides a brief summary of Naqshbandl spiritual techniques in his "Quel-
ques aspects des techniques spirituelles dans la tariqa Naqshbandiyya,"
pp. 69-82. Qadirt practices in India have many parallels with those of the Naqsh­
bandls; see Hasrat, DdrS Shikilh, pp. 72-74, where he mentions sultan al-adhk&r.
the necessity of following the shari'a, but they also claim that
merely piously following the outward dictates of the shari'a by
itself rarely allows one to arrive near God. There are occasional
accounts of a shaykh who, upon meeting such a pious person,
immediately takes him close to God, but almost always the per­
son ends up being so divinely inspired (m a j d h u b , literally, at­
tracted by God) that he is unable to function in society.80 The
second path, the path of asceticism, characterized by extensive
fasting, performance of spiritual exercises, and solitary retreats,
enabled many to purify the heart and subdue the n a fs . These
methods, particularly exemplified by ascetics and sufis during
the first three centuries of Islam, enabled more aspirants to arrive
close to God than did the path of piety, but still very few achieved
their goal. Najmuddln Kubra describes the limitations of this
method: "Ibn Mansur [al-Hallaj] once asked Ibrahim al-Khawwas
in which stage (m a c ja m ) of mystical practice he was. Ibrahim an­
swered, 'For thirty years I have been in the station of complete
trust in God' (ta w a k k u l ). Ibn Mansur replied, 'You have spent your
life in the edifice of the inner self; where are you with respect to
annihilation (f a n a 5) in God?' " 81
From a Naqshbandl perspective, other sufis spend their time
on the sufi path traveling in the created world (sayr-i afaqi) to end
up finally in the world of divine command. In contrast, Naqsh-
bandls, in the process of activating the laifas, begin in the world
of divine command where sayr-i afaqi ends. By God's attraction
(jadhba) they proceed to travel within themselves (sayr-i anfusi) on
the path, again demonstrating the Naqshbandl practice of "in­
cluding the end in the beginning" (indiraj al-nihaya fid-bidaya).82

“jaipurT, Mi'yar al-suliik, p. 128. One behavioral pattern they share in common
is being subject to unpredictable, epileptic-like seizures.
81Kubra, Fawaih, p. 285 [comments mine]. Tawakkul was the eighth of ten sta­
tions on the classical sufi path. See Annemarie Schimmel Mystical Dimensions,
pp. 109-30. The most detailed exposition of tawakkul is Benedikt Reinert, Die Lehre
vom Tawakkul in der klassischen Sufik. The Naqshbandls put all the stations except
the last (contentment or rida) in the realm of the created world. The path through
the stations is appropriate for a certain type of traveler who is attracted by God,
salik-i majdhub, who has to purify his or her latjfas in the created world before
proceeding to the world of divine command. This is the common disciple {murid,
literally, one desiring) on the path. The Naqshbandls, who start in the world of
divine command, bypass these ten stations completely. Naqshbandls call this type
of aspirant "an attracted one who is traveling" (majdhub-i salik).
82PanIpatI, Irshad al-talibln, pp. 40-41. The concept of the end being included in
the beginning is often used to describe the uniqueness of the Naqshbandl path.
The concept of jadhba at the beginning of the path being a quicker way to the goal
is also expressed by Najmuddln Kubra. See Kubra, Fawa ih, p. 285.
Naqshbandls say this third path is not only safe but allows more
people to arrive near God than any other path.
A few spiritually gifted people travel on the quickest path, the
"path of attraction" (t a r i q - i j a d h b a ) through the intermediary of
an UwaysT guide. This path shortcuts the much longer way of trav­
ersing the path ( t a n q - i s u l u k ) without j a d h b a and effectively elimi­
nates any initiatory chain between the person and Muhammad. A
promising disciple who has a tendency to experience j a d h b a easily,
however, usually does not have an UwaysT guide but travels along
the sufi path very quickly compared to others. Such a person is
designated by Naqshbandls as "an attracted one who is travel­
ing" ( m a j d h u b - i s a l i k ).83 Naqshbandls define those exceptionally
talented individuals in the spiritual fast lane who only need a
very short time to arrive close to God as "those desired by God"
(sing, m u r a d ).84 Carl Vett interviewed one of these people, asking
him what he experienced when he went into ecstasy. Answering
that he could not describe it, he said, "It is as if I were seized with
a fever. It goes through me like fire. The power of the sheikh
seizes me. The farther away lam from the t e k k e [Turkish word for
sufi lodge] the more powerfully I feel it. Once I was sent to
Smyrna, but I had to come back very soon. At that distance I felt
his power so strongly that I could not endure it. [These sensa­
tions] cannot be called pleasant, neither can they be called un­
pleasant. It is a though I were taken possession of by stronger
powers that streak through my body like fire and move it without
asking the permission of my will. It is as though I were carried
into the heights."85
There are two kinds of intimacy with God on the Naqshbandl
path: lesser and greater. The first portion of the cyclical fourfold
MujaddidI path is "going to God" (s a y r i l a d l a h ) , which describes
the entry into the world of divine command or the reflections of
God's names and attributes (z i l a l - i a s m a 5 w a - s i f a t ) and is associ­
ated with "lesser intimacy" ( w i l a y a t - i s u g h r a ) . Mujaddidls would
place most sufi shaykhs at this stage of intimacy with God.
Naqshbandl disciples are often given permission to teach at this

83 Izzuddln MahmQd KashanI (d. 735/1335) and Abu Hafs as-Suhrawardl (d.
632/1234) both discuss the terms majdhub-i salik, one who starts out in jadhba as a
beloved of God and then traverses the stages of the path, and sHlik-i majdhab, one
who starts out traversing the path as a lover of God before experiencing jadhba.
See Nasrullah Purjawadi, Sultan-i tariqat, p. 231.
'“This is in contrast to an ordinary disciple (murid) who desires God. Some
individuals become intimate with God after only one meeting with the shaykh.
See Aba’l-Asfar ‘All Muhammad al-Balkhl, Ma'mulat-i sayfi, pp. 79-80.
R5Carl Vett, Dervish Diary, pp. 141-42 [additions mine].
point even though it is the station of intoxication and the domain
of wahdat al-wujud,86
Leaving the circle of contingent existence, the aspirant pro­
ceeds to the second segment of the cyclical MujaddidI path and
enters the circle of names and attributes. Called "traveling in
God" (sayr fi’llah), this part of the journey is associated with
"greater intimacy" (wilayat-i kubra).87 This is the second "remain­
ing in God" (baqa’) described by Junayd and the domain of wahdat
al-shuhud emphasized by Ahmad Sirhindl.88 In the company of an
exceptionally spiritually gifted individual such as Muhammad,
the Companions were able to proceed on the path without the
need of "lesser intimacy" and the intoxication associated with
it.89 Such a spiritual boon is one more reason why Muslims be­
lieve the Companions to be the most preferred group of Muslims.
Hidayat 'All Jaipurl says, "If an intimate of God (wall) intensely
exerts himself doing spiritual exercises for one hundred thousand
years, he will never be able to approach the great Companions'
(R) nearness to God, inner pureness, strength of faith, or high
rank. [This is true by analogy] because one hour in the company
(suhbat) of a wait is better than hundreds of years of sincere obedi­
ence and worship."90
God calls on prophets and those who follow them perfectly to
proselytize. These chosen individuals begin the third portion of
the journey, "returning to the world of creation for God and by
means of God" (sayr can Allah billah). At this point they complete
the fourth and last cycle in their travels by returning to live as an
apparently ordinary person in the created world (sayr fi’l-ashya’).
Only at this last stage does a traveler return with a transformed
understanding of the phenomenal world, having acquired the
knowledge of corporeal things as things.91 Naqshbandls claim

“ See Zawwar Husayn, ‘Umdat al-suluk, p. 168.

87There are differing interpretations concerning where in the cosmological
order this greater intimacy is located because of the overlap of circles of manifes­
tation. It begins in the names and attributes of the second manifestation and goes
through the divine qualities of the first manifestation, an area roughly approxi­
mating the overlap between the circles; see ibid., p. 195 and figure 5 in this chap­
ter. Those entering the first manifestation near the reality of Muhammad enter
the realm of "greatest intimacy" (wilayat-i culyd) which is reserved for a very few
travelers on the way, prophets, and angels.
“ The first baqa’ is the ordinary mundane human consciousness of someone who
has never had any mystical experiences.
“Jaipurl, Mi’yar al-suluk, p. 130. This is how Naqshbandls respond to critics
who ask how the Naqshbandl path can be the way of the Companions when the
Companions did not experience jadhba.
’•’Ibid.
91Muhammad ‘Inayatullah, Maqdmat-i irshadiyya, p. 290.
 ' Non

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Pure Love RealitV ° f Realities

r 'P assage of the

Pure Servitude and Reality of Ahmad Origin o f Belovedness
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Reality of^Rituaj Prayer

Pasting
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- p
’ X
The Station
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Reality of Muhammad
W
0 r i9*" Integrating Lovertiood
and Betovedness

Realilittyv o f A b r a h a m
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X
yy/u5 s\
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Moses Origin o f Loverhood

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kaiiKi
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ot the Ka baUnkn° 7 r 0,r me Q_uf.an
Vea|ily o rigin o f Friendship

P erfections o f the G re a t P rophets

X
P erfec tions of Mes s e n ge rsh ip

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earth
Station o f Divine Qualities

intimacy of the Angels

fire
Three Elements

c 18UrtUu' DiaS ram of the M ujaddidiyya path (adapted from DhawqT,

Sirr-i dilbaran, p. 201a) r M
this fourfold cycle is the path of the prophets and the Compan­
ions, which they attempt to imitate as closely as possible.
To proceed on the fourfold Naqshbandl path, three methods
are employed to cultivate the latifas of the world of divine com­
mand: recollection of God (dhikr), the exercise of negation and
affirmation (nafy wa-ithbat), and contemplation (murclqaba).92 By
activating the latifas through the recollection of God one is func­
tionally creating a subtle body and then subsequently energizing
it by the practice of nafy wa-ithbat before traveling via the contem­
plations toward the Essence.

Recollecting God

The literal meaning of islam, submission to God, cannot but in­

volve the remembrance of God.93 This submission, formally de­
fined by the religion of Islam, involves ritual prayer five times a
day in which the believer is enjoined to pray "as if one were in the
direct presence of God." The other pillars of Islam, in addition
to ritual prayer, i.e., giving of alms, fasting during the month of
Ramadan, and the pilgrimage to Mecca, are all practical enact­
ments designed to remind Muslims continually of the first pillar
of Islam, "There is no god but God and Muhammad is His mes­
senger." The design for remembering God, according to Muslim
faith, is contained in the Qur’an and the hadith of the Prophet.
By following this divine Law by which God has graced humanity,
Muslims come to be in harmony with God's universal design,
individually, socially, and spiritually.
Elements of recollecting God have been incorporated into di­
verse aspects of Islamic culture and languages by Muslims inten­
tionally imitating the practices of the Prophet.94 The linguistic
aspects of recollecting God were first incorporated into the Arabic
language and then transmitted to other languages spoken by
Muslims. Before beginning any activity, Muslims are enjoined to
repeat "in the name of God" (bismillah). Any future action is al­
ways deferred to God's will, and it is considered spiritually arro­
gant to speak of doing something in the future without qualifying
it with "if God wills" (in sha’ Allah). It is virtually the Arabic
future-tense marker. When asked how one is doing, no matter

92The special bond between the shaykh and the disciple (rabita) is a crucial com­
ponent throughout these stages.
wFor dhikr in a Shl‘1 environment see Muhammad Gunabadl, Walayat nama,
pp. 176-82.
94See M. Piamenta, Islam in Everyday Speech.
how bad the situation may be, one first replies "May God be
praised" (al-hamdu lillah). In the linguistic sphere of Islamic cul
ture God is mentioned relatively often in everyday conversation.
Islamic calligraphic art reinforces a remembrance of God on a
visual level, the world "Allah" being one of the most common
and recognizable words in ornate calligraphic designs.
Sufis, while wholeheartedly supporting outward religio-
cultural structure and symbols, still emphasize the limitations of
such symbols without the proper inner foundations. In spite of
the myriad linguistic, artistic, and religious means to remember
God, sufis note that humans are all too prone to forget Him. If
they are heedless, for example, a bismilldh at the beginning of a
meal can become a bon appetit rather than an occasion to remem
ber God. Sufis have repeatedly stressed that the foundation of
any remembrance of God rests in the heart, just as the profession
of faith involves the tongue and the heart simultaneously. To acti
vate the heart and lift the veils of heedlessness sufis have devel
oped the formal exercises to remember God known as dhikr.95
The heart is the starting point for dhikr exercises. Naqshbandls
conceive of the heart as the bridge between the Creator and the
human being, the locus of an inner catalyst that enables other
subtle centers to become active.96 In cosmic terms Naqshbandls
define the heart as the interface between the created world and
the world of divine command and the bridge between the spirit
(riih) and the body.97 The hadiths, "My heaven and earth cannot
contain Me," and "There is not a person whose heart is not be
tween the two fingers of God" reflect this way of understanding
the heart in Muslim tradition.98*
A Naqshbandl shaykh activates the subtle center of the heart

95For Naqshbandls the heart means the heart latlfa (not the physical heart of the
human body). Often the "real" heart, the heart latTfa, is associated with the physi
cal pineal heart (qalb sanawbarl) since the latter resembles an inverted pine cone.
See 'Abdulahad Sirhindl, Gulshan-i wahdat, p. 119. For the benefits and hadith
support for the practice of dhikr, see Zawwar Husayn, ‘Umdat al-suluk, pp. 17-25.
The development of dhikr and the types of dhikr of major sufi lineages has yet to
be researched in detail.
‘"’Jaipurl, M iyar al-suluk, p. 93.
97FaraqI, Madarij al-khayr, pp. 30-31, and Faqlrullah Shikarpurl, Maktubat-i
FaqTrullah, p. 234.
9“Furuzanfar, AhSdTth-i mathrtawl, p. 26, and A. J. Wensinck, Concordance et indi
ces de la tradition musulmane, 8 volumes, 5:454. Concerning this latter hadith con
temporary Pakistani Naqshbandls have interpreted these two fingers to be the
Compassionate (al-rahman) and the Merciful (al-rahm); the former attribute is for
all of humanity and the latter for Muslims, a similar dichotomy to that between
general and special fayd.
by putting his four fingers in the place of the heart latTfa. Putting
pressure on this place (sometimes called the "mouth of the
heart"), he says "Allah" three times while giving a burst of spiri
tual energy (tawajjuh) to the disciple's heart.99 In this fashion, "re
membering the name of the Essence" (dhikr-i istn-i dhat) is
imparted to the disciple. NaqshbandT shaykhs have explained to
their disciples that by imparting this dhikr (talqtn-i dhikr) they are
establishing God's imprint (naqsh), one that is sufficiently potent
to be unaffected by ordinary events.100 Similarly, Muhammad
Ma'sum (d. 1079/1668), son of Ahmad Sirhindl, is reported to
have said that the disciple should concentrate on the heart so that
the naqsh of everything other than God would be effaced.101 The
spiritual guide then instructs the disciple to spend time each day
in ritual purity sitting with his or her face toward Mecca with
total mental concentration on the heart, mentally picturing the
heart saying "Allah, Allah."102 The goal is a receptive heart, un
distracted by thoughts, which is continually turned to the source
of divinely emanating energy. Such a condition is defined as rec
ollection of the heart (dhikr-i qalbi).103 Although Naqshbandls per
form this recollection of God silently, properly speaking it is
known as recollection of the heart (dhikr-i qalbi), not silent recol
lection (dhikr-i khafi).W4

"ZawwSr Husayn, ‘Urndat al-suhik, p. 280.

'""Muhammad Hashim Kishml, Nasamat al-quds, p. 31.
'"'Faruql, Madarij al-khayr, p. 62. One explanation of Baha’uddln's name
"Naqshband" is "the person whose heart is impressed with God's name Allah."
Other explanations are summarized in 'Iraqi's introduction to Muhammad
Parsa's Qudsiyya, pp. 46-47. One apocryphal story relates how Baha’uddln was
unable to receive the dhikr from his living pir, Amir Kulal, so he went into the
desert, where Khidr informed him that ‘Abdulqadir al-jllanl would impart the
dhikr-i ism-i dhat to him in a dream; he proceeded to do so that very evening; see
Shikarpurl, Maktubat-i Faqirullah, p. 211.
102Zawwar Husayn, ‘Umdat al-suliik, p. 280.
1“ Faruql, Madarij ai-khayr, p. 60. Dhikr-i qalbi is also called wuqiif-i qalbi. In
Naqshbandl technical vocabulary luuqiif means "concentration" when discussing
the latifas and "understanding" in the context of contemplation (muraqabat).
'"“There is a substantial conceptual difference between these two kinds of dhikr.
Dhikr of the heart is contrasted with dhikr of the tongue (dhikr-i lisani), while silent
dhikr is contrasted with audible dhikr. By definition, dhikr of the heart is silent but
silent dhikr can also be performed by members of sufi lineages who normally have
loud dhikr, e.g., the Shadhiliyya practice silent dhikr of the tongue when in public
places. See also ‘Ala’uddawla SimnanI's Dhikr al-lisani al-qawi al-khafi, mentioned
in Elias, Throne Carrier, p. 131. In an otherwise insightful presentation of dhikr,
Hamid Algar confuses silent dhikr with dhikr of the heart. See his "Silent and
Vocal dhikr in the NaqshbandT order." By conflating silent dhikr and dhikr-i qalbi
he confuses two different Naqshbandl practices: the heart's silent repetition of
"Allah" (dhikr-i qalbi) and the silent repetition of /« ilah ilia Allah while holding the
 The advantage of recollection of the heart is that one can per
form it continuously in any circumstance. Although silent recol
lection of God enables the adept to remember God in both
waking and sleeping states, recollection of the heart is superior
to silent recollection of the tongue since an action focused in the
heart allows one to continue remembering God whether speak
ing, eating, drinking, or anything else.*105Naqshbandls explain the
rarity of the practice of heart dhikr among other sufi lineages by
the lack of spiritual guides who can activate the heart, in addition
to the relatively greater difficulty of performing recollection of
the heart. Many other sufi lineages consider recollection of the
heart to be an advanced sufi exercise at the end of the path, while
Naqshbandls begin practicing heart dhikr from the time of initia
tion. Naqshbandls have explained that in recollection of the heart
they begin receiving divine grace from the Essence, while other
sufis only receive divine emanations from the Essence at the end
of the path.106 Naqshbandl pirs expect high standards of perfor
mance from seekers recollecting God in the heart. The disciple
should feel nothing else but the presence of God in the heart, so
that one is like "a breast-fed baby who always stays near its
mother; if it is separated [from its mother] for even an instant,
[the baby] cries and becomes agitated/'107 From this strict defini
tion of recollecting God in the heart Naqshbandls have declared
it sinful for the elect to forget God for even an instant.108
When the heart of the disciple is established in recollecting
God, the shaykh activates the other subtle centers of the body in
turn,109until eventually the entire body, even the individual hairs,

breath (nafy wa-ithbat), which Khidr was supposed to have taught ‘Abdulkhaliq
Ghujduwam. The latter is the dhikr-i khaft which Ya'qub Charkhl is discussing in
his RisSla-yi unsiyya, cited by Algar.
The most vocal of all dhikr activities is Sams', involving instrumental music and
singing of devotional poetry, causing many to experience ecstasy. Shari'a-minded
sufis like the Naqshbandls have declared sums' to be a forbidden activity. Indeed,
sufi singing (qawwSli) has become a distinctive activity which some interpret as
setting the participants apart from the rest of the Muslim community. For a de
tailed ethnomusical study, see Regula A. Qureshi, Sufi Music of India and Pakistan:
Sound, Context, and Meaning in Qawwali.
105Silent recollection is one of many examples of practices and attitudes in the
Naqshbandiyya that could have been transmitted from the early Malamatiyya
originating in Nishapur. See Hamid Algar, "Elements de provenance Malamatl
dans la tradition primitive Naqshbandl." This and many of the other papers are
to be edited by Roger Deladriere and published by l'lnstitut Fran^ais.
106Muhammad SadiqQusun, Tadhkira-yi Naqshbandiyya-Khayriyya, p. 177.
,07Zawwar Husayn, 'Umdat al-suluk, p. 167.
,08Ibid„ p. 168.
,09The usual order for nineteenth- and twentieth-century Indian Naqshbandl-
become one latifa continually remembering God, a stage called
dhikr-i sultam.110 It is at this point that the one engaged in recol­
lecting God can begin to become conscious of God's entire cre­
ation, remembering God according to the Qur’anic dictum,
"There is nothing in creation that does not praise Him" (Q.
17:44).ln With respect to the Naqshbandl path, the disciple has
created a luminous vehicle, a subtle body of light, with which to
travel towards God.
If recollection of the heart creates the vehicle for the traveler,
the next level of dhikr and the second of the three methods used
by the NaqshbandTs, "recollection of negation and affirmation"
(nafy wa-ithbat), is like developing an accelerator for the vehicle.
(The negation is "There is no god" and the affirmation is "but
God.") The disciple is taught an exercise involving the silent
mental repetition of the first half of the Muslim profession of
faith, there is no god but God (la ilah ilia Allah) while holding
the breath.0*112 NaqshbandTs assert that this exercise was taught to
‘Abdulkhaliq GhujduwanI (d. 575/1179) by Khidr as the former
was submerged in water. Adepts begin the three-movement exer­
cise by first holding the breath below the navel and then mentally
bringing up the word la from below the navel to the middle of
the forehead.113
The second movement (darb) is mentally conveying the word
ilah from the middle of the forehead to the right shoulder, ending
with the final forceful mental motion "hitting" the heart from the
right shoulder with ilia Allah. Disciples are required to do one
additional task of counting how many times they say tahlil in one
breath (wuquf-icadadi) in order to finish with an odd number. A
short supplication (dul0‘) follows each exhalation, "Muhammad
is the messenger of God" (the second half of the Muslim profes­

Mujaddidls is qalb, ruh, sin, khaft, akhfa, nafs, qalab. Muhammad Ma'sum, perform­
ing a "sufi ijtihad," started with the qalb and then activated the nafs, ruh, akhfa, sirr,
and khaft; see Jaipur!, Mi'yar al-suluk, p. 104.
ll0BlrbalI, Inqilab al-haqlqat, p. 17, and Zawwar Husayn,' Umdat al-suluk, p. 283.
The point of dhikr-i sultam, coincides with "annihilation" of the coarse material
body (fana'-i jasadi), implying one can leave the coarse body now that a subtle
body has been formed.
"'Jaipur!, Mi'yar al-suluk, p. 103.
" 2The repetition of la ilah ilia Allah is also called tahlil, and some Naqshbandl
manuals mention an alternative, loud repetition of this phrase called dhikr-i tahlll-i
lisani. See Zawwar Husayn, ‘Umdat al-suluk, pp. 283-85. This dhikr formula of
twelve letters was also the most popular dhikr formula used by early Imamls; see
Amir-Moezzi, The Divine Guide, pp. 107; 217, n. 574.
" 3Some seventeenth-century Naqshbandls located the nafs latifa below the navel
and the akhfa latifa in the middle of the forehead.
sion of faith), and "[To arrive near] God is my purpose (maqsudi)
and my desire (matlubi) is His pleasure. Give me knowledge and
love of Him."114 Such a supplication reminds the disciple that his
or her own actions alone cannot guarantee success; the disciple
must ultimately rely on God's merciful grace to reach the goal.
When proficient in nafy wa-ithbat the disciple has a vehicle that
is "warmed up" and ready to travel towards God through the
contemplations (muraqabat).u5 Throughout this entire process
one's spiritual achievements depend upon a well-developed
psycho-emotional tie with the shaykh. Indeed, this intimate bond
forms the basis for subsequent transformation and spiritual
travel.

ll4See Muhammad Tnayatullah, Maqamat-i irshadiyya, p. 249 in the note, and

Zawwar Husayn, Umdat al-suluk, p. 284. Both these sources mention the necessity
to repeat the tahlTl twenty-one times in a breath but Naqshbandls have told me
that advanced practitioners in this exercise can repeat the tahlU over one thousand
times in one breath.
'^Appendixes 2 and 3 explain these in detail.
 CHAPTER 6

Bonding the Heart with the Shaykh

In o u r path [th e N aq shban diyya] arriv in g a t the d eg ree o f perfection is related

to a lov in g bon d (rabita) w ith the exem plary shaykh. T he sin cere disciple,
throu gh his love o f the shaykh, receives d iv in e en ergy (fayd) fro m the inner
bein g (batin) o f the shaykh an d becom es colored w ith the color o f the shaykh,
hav in g an essen tial con n ection to the shaykh. . . . T hey call this an n ihilation in
the shaykh, the b egin n in g o f tru e an n ihilation [in G od]. [A n yon e doin g ] dhikr
w ithou t bon d in g his heart w ith the m aster (rabita) an d w ithou t achievin g a n n i­
hilation in the shaykh w ill not arrive.
Khwaja Muhammad Ma'sum, M aktu bat

In terms of the spiritual practices described here, namely, recol­

lection of God (dhikr) and contemplation of God (muraqaba), the
most efficacious method for spiritual development arises from
the bond (rabita) with the mentor that enables the seeker to bene­
fit from the focused energy of the shaykh's spiritual attention (ta-
wajjuh).' The success of spiritual travel depends on cultivating

'Ahmad Sa'Id, Arba anhar, p. 2, and Zawwar Husayn, ‘Umdat al-suluk, p. 279.
Naqshbandls refer to the three "ways to God" as dhikr, fikr, and rabita. See HidSyat
'All Jaipur!, Mi‘yar al-suluk, iva-dafi' al-awham wa'l-shukuk, p. 69. In another triad,
Mujaddidls define three types of religious education: (1) learning the religious
sciences governing outward behavior, which is the most basic; (2) practical train­
ing in recollection of God; and (3) tawajjuh; see Muhammad ‘Umar Blrball, Inqildb
al-haqiqat, pp. 26-27. Such an emphasis on the connection to the shaykh had
Naqshbandl precedents. For ‘Abdurrahman Jam! (d. 898/1492) rabita was the
nearest, i.e., fastest, means to arrive at the goal. See Sarrishta-yi tartqa-yi khwdjagan,
p. 15. ‘Ubaydullah Ahrar (d. 895/1490), a contemporary of Jam!, outlined three
possibilities: (1) doing good deeds and spiritual exercises; (2) realizing one's
weakness and surrendering to God; and (3) depending on the influence of a mas­
ter's spiritual power (himmat). The third method is the fastest and most sure, for
a seeker realizing his weakness can use the means (wastla) of his pir's spiritual
power to arrive near God. Kashifl, Rashahat, pp. 500-01, cited in Fritz Meier, Zwei
Abhandlungen iiber die Naqsbandiyya, p. 256.
this relationship with the spiritual guide; solitary recollection
without this bond will make the goal extremely difficult, if not
impossible, to reach.2 The need for this bond grows out of the
principle that the sufi genealogical chain conducts the divine en­
ergy (fayd) mediated by Muhammad. Without a sound connec­
tion to the shaykh one remains disconnected from God.3 The
spiritual tie (rabita) determines the disciple's progress.4
'Abdurrahman JamI (d. 898/1492) gives one of the earliest and
most complete descriptions of rabita for the Naqshbandiyya.
Being with the spiritual guide is equivalent to being in the com­
pany with one of the proteges of God, since they both have the
highest degree of perfection in contemplating the divine essence
(maqam-i mushahada) and also cause tears to flow when imparting
the recollection of God.5 A contemporary of Jam!, 'Ubaydullah
Ahrar, wrote in his Fiqarat, "The shadow of the master is better
than the recollection of God (dhikr),” which Sirhindl later inter­
preted as the superiority of rabita over dhikr, because without a
complete connection to the shaykh the seeker will not be able to
derive full benefit from recollection of God.6
Historically rabita was an essential component of both com­
panionship with the shaykh (suhbat) and ability to receive his
transmission of spiritual energy (tawajjuh). Fritz Meier7 in a
monograph on this bonding, traces the concept to the writings
of Najmuddln Kubra (d. 618/1221) and Abu Hafs as-Suhrawardl
(d. 632/1234).8 A century later ‘Ala’uddawla SimnanI (d. 736/

2See Ahmad Sirhindl, Maktubat-i imam-i rabbant, 3 volumes, vol. 1, letter 61, p. 39
[hereafter 1.61.39]; Muhammad Ma'sum, Maktubat-i ma'sumiyya, 3 volumes, vol.
1, letter 78, p. 196 [Hereafter 1.78.196]; and 'Abdullah Shah, Suluk-i mujaddidiyya,
p. 17.
3There are always exceptions, for example, “When one cannot have companion­
ship (suhbat) with God then enter companionship with those who do"; see
Zawwar Husayn, 'Umdat al-suluk, p. 99. Evidently very few people are able to
have companionship with God without the intermediary of the shaykh.
4"Any benefit [for the disciple] is because of the shaykh." See Sirhindl, Maktu-
bat, 1.187.74.
5JamI, Sarrishta-yi tanqa-yi khwdjagdn, p. 15. Jam! explains that a person who has
reached the maqam-i mushahada has become a verifier of the manifestations of the
divine essence (bih tajalliyat-i dhatiyya muhaqqiq gashtah).
This quote is cited in Ahmad Sa'ld, Bi'l-fawa'id al-dabita, p. 35. See also Muham­
mad Ma'sum, Maktubat-i ma'sumiyya, 1.50.165.
7See Meier, Zwei Abhandlungen, in particular, "Die Herzensbindung an den
Meister."
“Suhrawardl, in his ‘Awdrif al-ma'drif, mentions how 'Abdulqadir al-jllani used
the presence of the bond of hearts between master and disciple (rabita qalbiyya) to
account for his refraining from customary exchanges of polite expressions. Kubra
attributed the bonding of the heart with the shaykh (rabt al-qalb bi’l-shaykh) to
Junayd (d. 298/910). See ibid., pp. 17-18.
1336), from whom the Naqshbandls most likely developed their
schema of colors and subtle centers, mentions how the tie of the
heart with the master (rabita-yi shaykhT) determines the quality of
bonding with the Prophet (rabita-yi nabawi).9 Later sufis describe
the disciple's ego as dissolving in the shaykh (fana'fi'l-shaykh) be­
fore becoming annihilated in the Prophet and eventually God.
The bond with the shaykh (rabita) in the sufi path corresponds to
the Ka‘ba in the shari'a; both are means of worship between the
Creator and the created, since God's light had been confirmed
both in the Ka'ba (the house of God) and in the heart of God's
slave.10
This intentional flow of fayd from the pir is often described as
spiritual attention (taivajjuh, tasarruf, himma) which hastens the
disciple's inner transformation as a profound bond develops with
the shaykh.11 When a disciple becomes psychologically and emo­
tionally attuned with the guide, the shaykh's spiritual attention
can work effectively. Whether this divine grace actually exists at
all or whether a particular master is capable of channeling this
energy is not the primary concern. The concept of divinely ema­
nating power in the larger paradigm of proteges of God acting as
mediators between humans and God explains how a shaykh can
positively influence a disciple's behavior or cure others of unde­
sirable conditions and illnesses. It was Indian Sher Muhammad's
(d. 1346-47/1928) multidimensional spiritual attention, for ex­
ample, that allegedly changed common people's worldly situa­
tion through lectures and discussions. Depending on a disciple's
capacity, he would transmit this divine grace through physical
contact, with a handshake or touching their forehead or places
on their chest.12 Physical distance does not impair the transmis­
sion of divine energy when "hearts are near," i.e., when there is

v‘Ala’uddawla SimnanI, "Khitarn al-misk," p. 123.

"’Jaipur!, Mi'yar al-sidilk, p. 71.
"When giving taivajjuh the shaykh thinks, "I focus God's light by means of the
blessed shaykhs on this disciple." The disciple thinks, “The pir is the access of
divine grace and is the means for the divine energy which is coming to my heart."
See ‘Abdullah Shah, Suluk-i mujaddidiyya, p. 21. There are many parallels with a
disciple's performance of the contemplative exercises—See appendixes 2 and 3.
Before Sirhindl, ‘Ubaydullah Ahrar explained that when the shaykh puts his spiri­
tual attention on the heart of the seeker there develops a connection and affinity
between the hearts until they are one. See KashifT, Rashahdt, p. 464. Jam! defined
taivajjuh as the process of the disciple concentrating on the heart latifa, presumably
while doing dliikr. See ‘Abdurrahman Jam!, Sarrishta-yi tariqa-yi khwajagan,
pp. 14-15.
l2BlrbalI, Inqilab al-haqTqat, pp. 50-53. Touching points on the chest is how
shaykhs activate a disciple's subtle entities (latjfas).
a close bond between the shaykh and disciple.13 RumI attributes
a similar type of silent companionship and wordless transmission
to the third Caliph, ‘Uthman.

When ‘Uthman (R) became Caliph he went to the pulpit (m in bar) [to give
a sermon]. People waited for him to say something, [but] he did not say
anything. He [just] kept looking intently at the people, causing [such] a
state of ecstasy to descend upon the people that they could not leave
nor have any idea where each other were sitting. Never with a hundred
admonishments, preachings, and sermons would they have had such an
excellent state. [Nor] would they have received [such] benefits and have
[had such] secrets revealed with so much effort and preaching. Until the
end of the session he kept looking at them like this without uttering a
word. When he wanted to descend from the pulpit he said "It is better
that you have an effective imam [leader] rather than a prattling imam."14

Perfect rabita, however, is not only a function of tawajjuh, but is

achieved from the simultaneous efforts of both the master and
disciple in a reciprocal process. While the disciple receives the
shaykh's focused spiritual attention the disciple continuously vi­
sualizes the shaykh's face.

Visualizing the Shaykh (t a s a w w u r - i s h a y k h )

The bond with the spiritual mentor, first experienced by disciples

and later institutionalized in the sufi practice of tasawwur-i shaykh,
developed into one of the most heated points of contention be­
tween sufis and their opponents in the reformist environment of
nineteenth- and twentieth-century India.15 Sufi apologists for this
visualization activity cited the elaborate description of the

'Tbid., p. 60.
14JalaluddIn Ruml, Kitab-i fthi ma fihi, p. 129. Badfuzzaman Furuzanfar docu­
ments how this story related by Rum! changed considerably from the shorter
version he had located in the hadith literature. See ibid., 316-17.
I:,ln addition to Ahmad Sa'ld's (d. 1277/1860) detailed apologetic work cited
above, many other shorter treatises appeared justifying visualizing the shaykh.
See Ahmad Rida Khan Barelwi, Al-yaqutat al-wasita, and Muhammad Amin, Ith-
bat-i tasawwur-i shaykh. There are in addition many articles in Jama'at ‘All Shah's
monthly sufi magazine, Risdla-yi anwar al-sufiyya, e.g., Shaykh Ghulam Naqsh-
band, Haqlqat-i tasawwur," 13.6.9-20; Nur Muhammad, "Tasawwur-i Shaykh,”
16.5.11-16; and 16.6.17-24; Muhammad Sharif, "Tasawwur-i Shaykh," 18.1.17-24;
18.2.17-24; 18.3.9-15; 19.2.14-15. Mujaddidls agreed that making pictures of Mu­
hammad was forbidden by the shari'a, but argued that visualization of the shaykh
differed entirely from pictures in books. They considered visualization as a pro­
cess occurring in the imagination, the same process by which one used to acquire
acknowledge; see Ahmad Sa'id, Bil-fawaid al-dabita, p. 58.
Prophet (hilyat an-nabi).16 Referring to the Arabic adage, "Choose
your companions carefully before traveling" (ar-rafiq qabl at-tanq),
Ahmad Sa'ld (d. 1277/1860) notes the precedent of Baha’uddln
Naqshband guarding the image of his shaykh's face in his imagi­
nation when traveling to the Hijaz.17 A disciple of Khwaja Hasan
‘Attar, the eldest son of ‘Ala’uddln 'Attar (d. 803/1400), showed
signs of spiritual attraction (jadhba) when visualizing the face of
his shaykh.18 If the disciple could not be in the presence of the
master, ‘Abdurrahman JamI recommended that the disciple visu­
alize the pir's face in the heart while eliminating any distracting
thoughts.19 ‘Ubaydullah Ahrar, interpreting the Qur’anic verse
"Be with those who are sincere and true" (kunu ma as-sadiqm
[9:119]), indicated that one should outwardly be in the guide's
physical presence and inwardly have a bond with him (rabita).20
One unites sincerely with the shaykh's face to develop continu­
ous companionship with "the lights of his lofty attributes and
beautiful character,"21 creating continual rabita, independent of
physical proximity. In this way a person can develop an affinity
(munasabat) with the mentor and arrive at the goal.22
Sirhindl incorporated this practice of visualization into the
Mujaddidl system, especially when he perceived that persons
had not controlled their egos sufficiently. He would order them
to engage in rabita and visualize his face in their hearts, causing
some of them to show visible signs of spiritual attraction:
"Khwaja Burhan, one of the shaykhs of Dahbid who had already
been initiated and received permission to teach (ijazat) from the
notables of his locale, asked Sirhindl for spiritual guidance. Bur­
han was surprised when Sirhindl said for him to visualize his
[Sirhindl's] blessed face. His trusted companion informed him
[Khwaja Burhan] that this exercise is suitable for beginners so
that they can be taught the advanced contemplations (muraqabat).
. . . After being convinced, he practiced this exercise for a day and
became overpowered with a connection (nisba) with God to the

16Ibid., p. 50.
,7Parsa, Risala-yi Qudsiyya, cited in Ahmad Sa'ld, Bi'l-faiva’id al-dabita, pp. 41-42.
Evidently Baha’uddln, on his second trip to the Hijaz, ordered his companion
and disciple, Muhammad Parsa, to fix his face in his imagination; see ibid., p. 42.
1RIbid., p. 44.
,9JamI, Sarrishta-yi tartqa-yi khwajagan, p. 15.
20Kashifl, Rashahat-i ‘ayrt al-hayat, cited in Ahmad Sa'ld, Bi'l-fawa'id al-dabita,
p. 47. Later reformist sufis would justify visualization of the shaykh on the basis
of numerous Qur’anic and hadith passages.
21Ibid.
22Ibid., pp. 47-48.
point that he showed signs of extreme spiritual intoxication
(jadhba)."22
Naqshbandls have praised visualization of the shaykh as an ef­
fective technique for concentration, since humans cannot follow
two directions at once or meditate with distracting thoughts.
“Keeping the picture of the shaykh in the state of recollection of
God (dhikr) is the essence of causing recollection (tadhkir) because
the remembered One exists in the presence of one [the shaykh]
who does not heedlessly leave God—may He be blessed—for an
instant."2324
It is much easier for beginners to concentrate on the face of the
shaykh than on God. There is a synergistic effect between the
visualization of the shaykh and love of the shaykh which allows
the seeker to open him- or herself to a transformative process
activated by the pir's character and actions. This in turn strength­
ens the seeker's connection to God. Eventually the pir's astral
body (jism-i mithali) can be summoned.25
One common technique of visualization involves completely
emptying the mind of all thoughts while feeling love for the
shaykh and for God as one receives divinely emanating energy
(fayd) from the pir. Keeping the eyes either open or closed, one
should begin to gaze steadfastly at a point in between the
shaykh's eyes. Even if the shaykh is not present one can still keep
lovingly imagining the shaykh between the eyes, which produces
an effect like physical companionship (suhbat).26 More advanced
techniques involve visualizing the shaykh progressively, in front
of the heart, actually in the heart, and finally visualizing one's
own face as being the shaykh's.27 One essential component of this
practice is that it be done in a loving and sincere manner. As
love of the pir should arise spontaneously, visualization of the
pir should be a natural process without struggle.28
Success in this endeavor means that a strong, firm connection
has been formed and that whatever the seeker looks at he or she

23Muhammad Hashim Kishml, Zubdat al-maqdmdt, cited by Ahmad SaTd, Bi'l-

faivd’id al-ddbita, pp. 32-33.
24Ahmad SaTd, Bil-fawa ’id al-ddbita, p. 58.
25‘Abdullah Shah, Suluk-i mujaddidiyya, p. 16. This is also mentioned by Mu­
hammad ‘Umar Blrball. When a person reaches a certain station, people's astral
bodies can appear. Someone with a connection to the Prophet (nisba), e.g., a pro­
tege of God, can supposedly manifest as if he were physically present. See Blrball,
Inqildb al-haqfqat, p. 219 n. 1.
26Zawwar Husayn, ‘Umdat al-suluk, p. 99.
27Abu’l-Hasan Zayd Faruql, Mandhij al-sayr, translated by Muhammad Na‘Im-
ullah Khan, Maddrij al-khayr, p. 64, and Jaipur!, Mi'yar al-sulilk, p. 70.
2,1BirbalI, Inqildb al-haqTqat, p. 44 n. 3, p. 68 n. 5.
will see the shaykh, an essential condition for annihilation in the
shaykh (fan e? f i ’l- s h a y k h ) .29* Ahmad Rida Khan Barelwl (d. 1340/
1921) relates the following story: "Hafiz ul-Hadis Sayyid Ahmad
Sujalmasi <as-SijilmasI> was going somewhere. Suddenly his
eyes lifted from the ground, and he saw a beautiful woman. The
glance had been inadvertent [and so no blame attached to him].
But then he looked up again. This time he saw his pir and mursh-
id, Sayyid Ghaus ul-Waqt cAbd al-'Aziz Dabagh <ad-Dab-
bagh>.'/3° ‘Abdulhaqq DihlawT (d. 1052/1642) utilizes these
principles for other applications. Having his heart "extended" in
recollection of God by the spiritual power of his shaykh, he de­
clares that it is religiously permitted to call out to one's shaykh
for help.31
In the Naqshbandl tradition it is generally difficult to achieve
annihilation in God (fans’ fi’llah) without prior annihilation in the
shaykh (fana* fi’l-shaykh).32 Muhammad Ma'sum, says, "As long
as there is not an intermediary (wasita) how can one find the way
to the goal? . . . The will of the disciple must follow the will of
the shaykh. . . . In his companionship he should be like a corpse
in the hands of the washer. This principle, valid for all sufi
groups, is especially true for ours [the Naqshbandiyya] where
. . . [the practice is based on] reciprocal action and centered on
companionship."33
Not all Mujaddidls enthusiastically endorsed visualization of
the shaykh. Sher Muhammad, perhaps to avoid reformist criti­
cism, advised against intentionally visualizing the shaykh (he
never encouraged or requested his disciples to perform visualiza­
tion). He did not object to their forming a r a b ita with the shaykh,
since this comes by itself if there is a connection with the spiritual
mentor.34 Sher Muhammad did, however, prohibit even sponta­
neous visualization of the shaykh when one praised the

29See SirhindT, Maktubat, 1.61.39, and Muhammad Ma'sQm, MaktUbat-i ma'sumi-

yya, 1.78.197.
“ From Ahmad Rida Khan, Malfuzat, 2:45, cited in Usha Sanyal, Devotional Islam
and Politics in British India: Ahmad Riza Khan Barelwi and His Movement, 1870-1920
[Comments in brackets are Sanyal's; my additions are in angle brackets.] 'Abdul
‘azlz ad-Dabbagh (d. 1131/1718-19) was the North African founder-figure of the
Khidriyya sufi lineage.
31Ahmad SaTd, Bi’l-fawaid al-dabita, p. 59. The Sunni consensus and many sufis
stressed the need for depending only on God (tawakkul) for one's needs in this
and the next world.
32See Muhammad Ma'sum, Maktubat-i ma'sumiyya, 1.50.164.
33Ibid.
-^Muhammad Ibrahim Qusurl, Khazfna-yi ma'rifat, pp. 257-58. The author men­
tions that sometimes the rabita affected him while praying.
Prophet.35 Instead, Sher Muhammad had disciples visualize the
written forms of "Allah" and "Hu," which he drew with his fin­
gers.36 Although the principal goal of visualization is establishing
and maintaining a connection with God, for the disciple the awe­
some figure of the shaykh looms in the behavioral, psychological,
and emotional foreground. At first, when the seeker begins recol­
lecting God, the form of the shaykh appears in the heart to assist
the seeker. Later, the shaykh's heart spurs the seeker's heart via
the chain of masters leading to the Prophet's presence. The nov­
ice, having the picture of his shaykh's face in his heart at this
point, is assisted by Muhammad to arrive at God. Divine grace is
then transmitted from Muhammad's heart via the chain of mas­
ters ending at the seeker's guide, which in the last link is commu­
nicated from the shaykh's heart to the seeker's heart.37 It is the
pivotal role of the disciple's shaykh that makes the entire trans­
formative process possible.

The Necessity of the Directing-Shaykh

Pedagogically, the shaykh instructs through example and per­

sonal contact; much of a seeker's learning involves conscious
behavioral modification and unconscious modeling (and subse­
quent internalization) of one's spiritual guide.38 Such an environ­
ment implies close supervision in the controlled environment of
the sufi lodge. Within this context, the rapport between shaykh
and disciple mirrors a myriad of other types of relationships,
including father-son, master-slave, guide-traveler, physician-
patient, teacher-student, and beloved-lover.
If the metaphor of a disciple's spiritual growth is a journey,
then the shaykh functions as both the guide for the perilous trip
through unknown territory and as the teacher of the exercises
necessary to proceed on that voyage. Using the metaphor of
transformation for the disciple's spiritual journey implies other
relationships which involve both father-son, physician-patient,
and beloved-lover roles. In actual practice, each spiritual director

35Muhammad ‘Umar Blrball used to visualize his shaykh in front of him as if he

were Muhammad; see his Inqilab al-haqTqat, p. 236. Such a practice is also regularly
performed in the contemplations. See appendix 3.
^Blrball, Inqilab al-haqTqat, pp. 69,44 n. 3.
37‘Abdulhaqq Dihlawl, Maktubat, letter 4, cited in Ahmad Sa'Td, Bil-fawa’id al-
dabita, pp. 59-60.
^ h e holy person's role as exemplar has been discussed by Peter Brown, "The
Saint as Exemplar in Late Antiquity"; and by Steven T. Katz, "Models, Modeling,
and Mystical Training."
uses a comprehensive array of behavioral and psychological strat­
egies to enact these changes.
The directing-shaykh, as the heir of the Prophet, represents the
living archetype of the Prophetic ideal. Psychologically the mas­
ter has to be perceived as an infallible guide for the disciple since
both the ego and the discursive mind constantly attempt to con­
vince the reader that they know better than the master. To over­
come these two usurpers, skillful and apparently ruthless means
are used. To many modern (or even not so modern) observers
such practices often appear to be tantamount to brainwashing or
worse.39 Sufis view things differently. Sufi training performed by
a friend of God subdues the ego while purifying the mind, emo­
tions, and heart. The seeker should not only allow him or herself
to be a corpse in the hands of the washer, but also to love the
corpsewasher.
Even though the repertoire of Naqshbandl spiritual methods
appears relatively uniform in the literature, there have been cre­
ative variations not only between individual shaykhs but in the
techniques each individual master used for each person. Baql­
billah, for example, used to teach the way of bonding with the
shaykh (tariq-i rabita) to novices having an inclination for love.
One particularly adept disciple reportedly achieved such an in­
tense connection to God (nisbat-i lazim) after two days of visualiz­
ing Baqlbillah that, in spite of his advanced age, he would spring
two arm-lengths off the ground from the intense uncontrollable
intoxication that resulted.40 For most seekers, however, Baqlbillah
would teach remembrance of the heart. ‘Ubaydullah Ahrar, on
the other hand, was so occupied with worldly activities in Tash­
kent, Herat, and Samarqand that he had little time to train his

39There have been many modern examples of people unquestioningly following

unscrupulous persons. In an Islamic context this situation, often called "pirism,"
has done much to give sufism a bad reputation. The psychological processes un­
folding in the master-disciple relationship, like instruments of technology, can be
used equally for beneficial or destructive purposes. For example, a disciple of
Charles Manson says, "Following Manson, trying to become Manson, brought
the disciples subjectively near what was imagined the ultimate source of power.
And, indeed, the closest converts who imitated Manson most avidly—who be­
came empty mirrors—felt themselves to be acquiring his magical abilities. . . .
Susan Atkins [one of Manson's senior disciples] found herself able to read their
thoughts and to manipulate them, just as she believed Manson did." See Charles
Lindholm, Charisma, p. 132. Charles Manson was an ex-convict before becoming
a charismatic leader in the 1970s whose grandiose and paranoiac fantasies of
domination involved his group in many illegal activities.
40Kishmi, Zubdat al-maqdmat, p. 17, cited in Meier, Zwei Abhandlungen,
pp. 169-70.
students in recollection of God (nafy wa-ithbat) or the contempla­
tions (murdqabdt). Instead, he relied mostly on creating a rabita
with them.41
Busy schedules aside, many Naqshbandl shaykhs have de­
clared the visualization of the shaykh to be more efficacious than
the remembrance of God (especially for the beginner). Histori­
cally this situation literally and symbolically represents the in­
creasing tendency over time for authority to be more and more
concentrated in the person of the sufi shaykh. This visual focus
on the spiritual guide involves both an emotional tie of love and
a specific psychological tie of modeling.
The tradition of loving the shaykh had already been estab­
lished by Baha’uddln Naqshband's time.42 For Ahrar the rabita
with the master entailed a perfect connection of love (kamal-i nis-
bat-i hubbi) whose Prophetic origin began with Abu Bakr's love
for the Prophet and subsequently was transmitted through the
spiritual links of the Naqshbandl lineage.43 Consequently Ahrar
sanctioned "loveplay" CishqbazT), inspired by Joseph's legendary
beauty,

Open the window facing Joseph. Begin happiness from this break­
through. Loveplay is opening that window. The eye is luminous from
the beauty of the beloved.44

Loveplay adds an intriguing twist in the discussion of love in

the master-disciple relationship because it indicates a reciprocal
sharing of love. For the early Naqshbandls the starting point of
any meaningful connection to God begins by loving the master
who in turn must make himself worthy of being loved.45 When
someone suggested to Ahrar that looking at beardless youths was

4IKashifI, Rashahat, p. 601, cited in Meier, Zwei Abhandlungen, p. 76. Presumably

this involved visualization, since we have Nuruddln Tashkandl having only one
wish to request of ‘Ubaydullah Ahrar—to see his face from time to time; see
Kashifl, Rashahat, p. 636, cited in Meier, Zwei Abhandlungen, p. 64.
42See ibid., p. 157.
43Ahrar mentions how Muhammad, during his last illness, closed all the doors
in the Medina Mosque except that of AbQ Bakr; see Kashifl, Rashahat, p. 442,
cited in Meier, Zwei Abhandlungen, p. 108. Baqlbillah reinforced this concept by
representing the shaykh as a burning mirror with God as the sun and the disciple
burning up like dry cotton; see Kishml, Zubdat al-maqamat, p. 42, cited in Meier,
Zzoei Abhandlungen, p. 109.
'"Kashifl, Rashahat, p. 442, cited in Meier, Zwei Abhandlungen, p. 156. This
loosely translated verse uses a word play on one of the words found in the hadith
used to substantiate AbQ Bakr's love of Muhammad. JamI often mentioned
loveplay; see ibid, pp. 156-57.
45See ibid., p. 161.
not against the shari'a as long as one's desire was chaste
(shawat-i pak), Ahrar responded, "I cannot look without lust so
where are you coining from so that you gaze [at beardless
youths] without lust?"46 Due to its controversial nature, loveplay
appears rarely in sufi literature and even more rarely in the writ­
ings of the self-consciously shari'a-minded Naqshbandiyya.47 Al­
though loveplay was a relatively limited practice among the
Naqshbandiyya, it is one more example of the skillful means sufis
have to harness human emotions to accelerate their disciples'
voyage toward God.
Later, Mujaddidls attributed ShT'is' extreme love for the Proph­
et's family (sometimes expressed through corporeal flagellation
during Muharram celebrations) and the Christian attribution of
divine ontological status to the prophet Jesus as examples of ex­
cessive love.48 Since the love of God is obligatory (mujib) for Mus­
lims, it is a religious obligation (fard) to love both the Prophet and
an intimate of God since both have happily arrived (muwassil)
at God.49 Yet this cannot be forced; instead the disciple should
spontaneously love the shaykh.50* Naturally a true lover never
finds fault with the beloved.

Psychological Methods

The behavioral and psychological dynamics involved in sufi

training are complex. There is a strict behavioral code governing
anyone visiting the shaykh; in addition, initiates must learn to
imitate the spiritual mentor as the living archetype of the Pro­
phetic ideal, the "symbolizer" who embodies Muhammad and
who is empowered to transform the disciple's existence. Like the
Prophet the shaykh has to be unconditionally obeyed; only then
can the disciple expect to change his behavior in a way that pro­
duces the psychological attitude necessary for spiritual transfor­
mation.
In actual practice obedience means that even the most learned
religious scholar must as a disciple recognize that his shaykh

46Kashifl/Rashahat, p. 559, cited in Meier, Zwei Abhandlungen, p. 162.

47Peter Lamborn Wilson discusses loveplay in his Scandal: Essays in Islamic Her­
esy, pp. 93-121.
■
‘"See Jaipurl, M iyar al-suluk, p. 37 [taken from QadI Thana’ullah Panlpatl, Irshad
al-tslibm, p. 27]. In the reformist environment of British India love took on a much
larger role in Naqshbandl practice.
49Panlpatl, Irshad al-talibm, p. 26. The functional equation of the shaykh and the
Prophet is common in sufi literature.
^Jaipurl, Mi'yar al-suluk, p. 38.
knows best. In Indian sufism a well-known example is that of
Nizamuddln Awliya3(d. 725/1325), who suggested that his mas­
ter, Farlduddln, was reading from a faulty manuscript and
should use another, better one. This implication that the master
could not correct the copy he was using was enough to banish
him from the master's presence. Only the quick intervention of
Farlduddln's son enabled the anguished Nizamuddln to return
again to his mentor's circle. The same principle applies even be­
fore initiation.51 Ghulam Nabllillahl (d. 1306/1888) was said to
have thought that Muhyiddln Qusurl (d. 1270/1854) was not a
qualified shaykh because he did not keep his feet apart at the
optimal (muslahabb) distance during ritual prayer. Allegedly
Muhyiddln read Ghulam Nabllillahl's thoughts and told him
after the prayer that as a shaykh he was aware of these nuances.52
To derive benefit from the shaykh, the visitor or disciple must
believe in the pir's ability to heal, counsel, and act as a spiritual
guide. A disciple who hears of any inappropriate saying or action
attributed to his or her spiritual mentor is asked either to discover
its inner meaning, consider it as a faulty understanding, or dis­
miss it as the pir's involuntary intoxication (jadhba).53 A shaykh's
deeds are always performed with God's permission, so a person
objecting to them can receive no divine energy:54 "A thought
against the shaykh is like an enemy, and an enemy cannot receive
any benefit.''55
The Qur’anic precedent validating the pir's seemingly inexpli­
cable actions comes from Qur’an 18:65-82, where Moses is unable
to see the deeper meaning in his guide Khidr's apparently illicit
behavior, and Moses's lack of trust in Khidr causes the shaykh to
dismiss him.56 God guides the shaykh through inspiration (ilham).

5,At this stage one is supposed to be more critical—making sure that the pir
follows the shari'a is one more mechanism to insure against gross abuses of au­
thority.
“Muhammad Matlub ar-Rasul, Anwar-i Hadrat Lilldhi, pp. 16-17. It is reported
that Ghulam Nabllillahl asked for and was granted initiation immediately after­
ward.
“ Muhammad ‘Inayatullah, Maqamat-i irshadiyya, pp. 227-28. There are limits to
this unquestioning acceptance. If a shaykh continually acts contrary to the sunna
then the disciple should go to another shaykh. The pir is not considered abso­
lutely infallible since he could do something against the shari'a as a result of
human nature just as the Companions had done.
^Panlpatl, Irshad al-talibin, p. 26.
55Qa'imuddm QanungQ’l, Dhikr-i mubarak: masha'ikh-i sddat-i Makati Sharif,
p. 161.
^Khidr, soon after sinking the ship in which they were traveling, killed a boy
whom they met on the way for no apparent reason. Later Khidr explained that a
king was seizing all ships and that by sinking the ship he had saved it for the poor
Unlike prophetic revelation (wahy), inspirations can be mistaken.
Sufis justify this idea by comparing shaykhs to those who are
qualified to give independent legal judgments (mujtahids). Like
them, the intimates of God are not punished for their mistakes,
and criticism is not allowed.57 Abu Hamid al-Ghazzall (d. 505/
1111) states, "Let him know that the advantage he [the disciple]
gains from the error of his Shaykh, if he [the shaykh] should err,
is greater than the advantage he [the disciple] gains from his own
rightness if he should be right."58
The psychological and emotional bond with the spiritual men­
tor should be complete so that a rabita can be developed and the
aspirant can be connected to Muhammad. The disciple, like a
child imitating its parents, should follow the shaykh in every­
thing he does—eating, drinking, dress, tying his turban, sleeping,
and worship.59 The shaykh is self-consciously the exemplar of
Muhammad. The disciple should consult with the spiritual guide
concerning any out-of-the-ordinary event or significant dreams,
concealing nothing, as one would with a parent (or today a psy­
choanalyst).60
The shaykh's inner connection with Muhammad makes his
rights over the disciple greater than any other human being's,
because his rights over others are equivalent to Muhammad's.
Sufis contrast biological birth leading to earthly life, which lasts
(figuratively) a few days, to one's spiritual birth at the feet of a
pir, which lasts forever.61 Sufis state that all the disciple's goals
both in this world and the next are built upon the shaykh's con­
tentment with the seeker. Disciples who forget to perform to their
pirs' satisfaction will be cut off from fayd and will receive none of
God's rewards.62 Muhammad 'All Jaipur! relates, "When the pir's
disposition is content then God will be content because the pir's
happiness and unhappiness are [directly] related to God's happi­
ness and unhappiness."63
If the disciple is in the company of an intimate of God other
than his or her own guide, he should behave toward this other

owners. The boy was a tyrant who would have caused his parents undeserved
afflictions, leading them unwittingly to commit serious sins themselves.
57Muhammad ‘Inayatullah, MaqBmat-i irshfidiyya, pp. 229-30.
5*H. A. R. Gibb, Mohammedanism: An Historical Survey, pp. 102-03.
^Muhammad 'Inayatullah, Maqamat-i irshadiyya, p. 230.
“ Ibid., p. 231.
6lJaipurI, Mi'yar al-suluk, p. 36.
“ Zawwar Husayn, 'Umdat al-suluk, p. 48.
wJaipurI, Mi'yar al-suluk, p. 172. Baqlbillah was so happy with a blind man that
he arrived close to God in one sitting; see ibid., p. 173.
pir just as if he were his own spiritual guide, and any fayd re­
ceived should be regarded as coming from his or her own men­
tor.64 When one's shaykh is perceived as preferable to all others,
then an outpouring of love for the pir ensues, resulting in an
inner affinity (mundsabat) with the pir. As love for the mentor
develops it becomes egoless. An extreme example of this princi­
ple is exemplified in the story of a faithful disciple who became
closer to God than his spiritual mentor had. Later the shaykh
even lost his intimacy with God (zvilaya) by committing a grave
sin, but this loyal disciple was the only one who did not abandon
him.65 RumI asks, ". . . [How do you expect] to attain endless
and everlasting life, which is the station of the prophets and the
intimates of God (a w l i y a and nothing disagreeable happens to
you, and you never give up anything? . .. [You should consider]
how a person, when he loves a youth or a woman, will pretend,
grovel, and sacrifice all belongings, going to the greatest pains to
trick her so that he may soothe her heart night and day, unflag­
ging in this [activity] and wearying of all else. Is the love of the
shaykh and the love of God less than this? . . . He who abandons
the shaykh . . . it is known that he is no lover or seeker. If he were
a [true] lover and seeker, he would put up with much more than
what we have presented.”66
In addition to the emotional bonding of love, another parallel
process in the master-disciple relationship is consciously model­
ing oneself on the spiritual guide. This too requires an unques­
tioning attitude toward the shaykh and a loving desire to be like
him. For those unacquainted with the process, the degree to
which a person can undergo an inner transformation through
modeling can be astonishing.67

“ Muhammad ‘Inayatullah, Maqamat-i irshddiyya, p. 232. Zawwar Husayn says

that everyone has to perceive his or her own pir as better than all others. See
‘Umdat al-suluk, p. 59.
65Qa’imuddIn QanQngu’I, Dhikr-i mubarak, p. 115. RumI cites the exceptional
case of a disciple putting such faith in an impostor that he progresses far beyond
the impostor spiritually. See Jalaluddln RumI, Mathnawl-yi ma'nmuf, 6 volumes,
vol. 1, verse 2283-85 [hereafter 1.2283-85],
“ RumI, Fihi met fihi, p. 96.
67"A number of people several years ago, for instance, spent some time model­
ing Milton Erickson. He was pretty much the medical hypnotist of the twentieth
century. A number of people went down to visit Erickson in Phoenix, Arizona,
and spent a great deal of time studying his nonverbal behavior. They took video­
tapes of him and invested themselves in an experiment whereby they went
around imitating Milton. He was in his mid-seventies and a lot of these people
were young men. Milton also had a number of medical problems. He was in a
wheel chair, a purple wheel chair, because he was color blind and this was the
main color he could see. So we had several young men riding around in purple
 By itself the modeling process has extraordinary potential for
individual transformation, especially when practiced in conjunc­
tion with the other methods used by directing-shaykhs. The ap­
propriate symbols defining the Prophetic ideal are transmitted
culturally, especially through the living sufi master who embod­
ies them. In turn his disciples do their utmost to follow in every
detail the model of his inner and outer behavior. Their experience
of the prophetic realities results in the reinforcement of their Is­
lamic beliefs and paradigms which they in turn transmit to oth­
ers. For skeptics—Muslim or non-Muslim—it is difficult to accept
that the modeling of the Prophet now—or even two hundred
years after his death—would correspond to the actual historical
Muhammad because of the dramatic changes in Muslim concep­
tions of Muhammad over time. On the other hand, for those ei­
ther modeling the Prophet themselves or meeting someone who
exhibits recognizable prophetic traits, the transformational expe­
rience of what they perceive the presence of the Prophet to be
overshadows all other considerations.
In retrospect the nineteenth-century training repertoire of di­
recting-shaykhs goes far beyond his tenth-century counterpart.
The early consolidation of authority in the directing-shaykh un­
derscores his infallibility in disciplining the recalcitrant ego of
an unquestioning aspirant. In the early Naqshbandl context this
taming of the ego involved surrender to the spiritual guide both
behaviorally and psychologically, as the novice persevered in dis­
ciplined performance of recollection and contemplation exer­
cises. By the fifteenth century cultivating the rabita between the
master and disciple became a spiritual method in its own right,
potentially independent of other spiritual exercises. It was yet
another addition to the Naqshbandl repertoire; directing-shaykhs
like Ahrar would train novices using a combination of some or
all of these methods.
In stark contrast to the teaching-shaykh, the directing-shaykh
created a bond which, along with modeling and visualizing him,
consciously cultivated a transformative psychological climate.

wheel chairs acting like a very old man who had no teeth, who mumbled and put
everyone in trance that he met. They did this for six months or so. One guy got
so good and so much like Milton Erickson, that people who knew Milton Erickson
were very spooked by this guy's behavior and presence. In addition, he began to
take on Milton Erickson's physical limitations. Erickson's left side was in pretty
bad shape and paralysed. After six months or so, this nineteen-year-old man's
left side started to paralyse. At that point, he abandoned the experiment. . . ."
"Panel comments" by Tom Condon in Ruth-lnge Heinze, Proceedings of the Inter­
national Conference on the Study of Shamanism, p. 77.
The emotional dimension of this relationship is heightened in the
bonding process as the natural respect and veneration that used
to develop spontaneously into love of the shaykh was now delib­
erately made an integral part of the spiritual tie. One common
factor in both the cultivation of the spiritual bond and the per­
formance of spiritual exercises is the necessity of the shaykh's
directed spiritual energy.
Available Naqshbandl sources are not detailed enough to com­
pare various Naqshbandl shaykhs and determine the extent to
which the emphasis on the spiritual bond dominated Sufi train­
ing. The collected letters of notable Indian Naqshbandl shaykhs
supply ample evidence of directing-shaykhs at work through
their activation of subtle centers and the resultant uncontrolled
responses of spiritual attraction to spiritual energy. There is every
reason to suppose that visualization exercises and love of the
shaykh complemented the teaching of recollection and contem­
plation. The communitas of the sufi lodge provided an ideal set­
ting for simultaneous transmission of these practices.
CHAPTER 7

From Initiation to Shaykhdom

A fe w believers fo u n d e d a su fi lodge that w as ju st like the bench in the P rop h et’s

m osqu e; su b seq u en tly o v er the cen tu ries it has becom e perfected.
Jalaluddln Huma’i, T asaw w u f d ar Islam

A n y on e w ho d oes not have a shaykh has Satan fo r a shaykh.

A saying attributed to Abu Yazld al-Bistaml

Guiding others in the “inner sunna" of the Prophet, i.e., spiri­

tual travel, was the exclusive domain of the directing-shaykh,
who often lived in the communitas of the sufi lodge, where correct
outward behavior was the preliminary stage of obedience. When
the inner transformation involving the inculcation of an unques­
tioning and uncritical attitude toward the shaykh and his actions
had been achieved and a spontaneous love for the master had
developed, the disciple would be in harmony with the shaykh
and ready to achieve a direct connection to Muhammad and God.
In the sufi community the disciple was continually under scru­
tiny, which from the outset could be intensely, even uncomfort­
ably, personal. Like a psychiatrist,1 the shaykh advised and
counseled individuals in addition to seeing through the ruses of
the ego. Unlike a psychiatrist, however, he would prescribe de­

'In an article synthesizing the essence of psychotherapy, Judd Marmor writes,

"There are at least seven different major factors that take place in the psychother­
apeutic process. The most basic of these is the patient-therapist relationship.
Other factors are the release of emotional tension in the context of expectancy
and hope, the acquisition of cognitive insight, operant conditioning (including
corrective emotional experiences), identification with the therapist, suggestion
and persuasion, and finally, rehearsal and working-through of the new adaptive
patterns of behavior and thought." See "Common Denominators in Diverse Ap­
proaches," p. 270. The sufi master in his lodge performs quite similar functions.
meaning tasks or other chores as a corrective to any pretentious
tendencies. No book or intellectual achievement could substitute
for a personal relationship with the spiritual mentor. This author­
ity, based on his divine mandate as heir to the Prophet, enabled
the guide to wield supernatural power as God's mediator. In ad­
dition to the sufi shaykhs' role as intermediary between God and
humans, sufis could also be called upon to mediate worldly con­
cerns. The sufi shaykh became the living pointer to God, the em­
bodied Ka'ba showing the Way, and for many, the primary
approach to God. For these reasons when visiting the sufi lodge
one behaved in an appropriate fashion just as one behaved in a
certain way when in the presence of a king in his court.
Ritual in the sufi lodge involves behavioral codes just as if one
were in the presence of a king. In both cases a lapse in protocol
could have dire consequences. Sufi literature indicates that at
minimum a person would be cut off from the fayd of the shaykh.
There are innumerable examples in both sufi and non-sufi litera­
ture of cases involving a shaykh's retaliation for treating him with
anything but the utmost respect.2 The three goals of properly ob­
served sufi etiquette are to improve morals, to assist the student
to control his or her ego, and finally, to facilitate spiritual wayfar­
ing. Without correct attitudes toward the pir and appropriate be­
havior in his presence the aspirant can go nowhere; everything
depends on these basics (at-tariq kulluhu adab).3
In nineteenth- and twentieth-century India, some rules applied
to everyone coming into the presence of a sufi master. Usually
people sat on the floor, for example, because no one would dare
sit on a seat higher than that of the shaykh—whether in elevation

2The examples used in this chapter are drawn largely from Indian Naqshbandl
material from the British colonial period. For a Central Asian comparison, see
Abu'l-Mufakhir Yahya Bakharzl (d. 723-4/1323-4), Aivrad al-ahbab wa-fusus al-
adab, 2 vols., 2:64-76. A large literature has accumulated on correct behavior in
the sufi environment. Fritz Meier has comprehensively reviewed the early litera­
ture on sufi rules for disciples in addition to translating an early manual of sufi
etiquette by Najmuddln Kubra, Adab al-muridin. See Fritz Meier, "Ein Knigge fur
Sufis." For a brief summary of sufi etiquette in English, see Caesar E. Farah,
"Rules Governing the Shaykh-Murshid's Conduct." A later compilation (ca. 712/
1314) of appropriate sufi conduct can be found in ShamsuddTn Ibrahim Abarquhl,
Majma‘ al-bahrayn, pp. 292-319.
3Meier, "Hurasan und das Ende der klassischen Sufik," p. 556, quoting the
ninth-century sufi Abu Hafs Nlshapurl al-Haddad. In recent times an Indian
Naqshbandl shaykh, Imam'All Shah (d. 1282/1865), wrote, "Sufism is completely
perfect behavior (adab)” and "Disciples with improper behavior (be adab) are
blocked from worldly benefits"; see Qa’imuddln Qanungu’l, Dhikr-i mubdrak:
masha'ikh-i sadat-i Makan Sharif, p. 161.
or in positioning within the room.4 In an empty room the shaykh
sat on cushions, like the throne of a king, to ensure he had the
higher seat. In addition no one could use the pir's special recepta­
cle for carrying water, perform ablutions at his special place, step
on his special place of prayer, talk to him in a loud voice, and
look him straight in the face.5
Protocol required that everyone stand when the shaykh came
in to or left an assembly.6 No person's shadow was supposed to
touch the pir's clothing or body, nor was anyone to spit toward
him. The soles of the feet could never face in his direction, nor
could one turn one's back on him.7 One left the presence of a
shaykh, whether living or deceased, by backing up, until one
reached the door and put one's shoes on.
The sufis had taken many of these rules of etiquette from the
Persian court at least as long ago as the thirteenth century.8 Sufi
shrines and the seat of a sufi master in Indo-Pakistan are also
often called the "king's court" (dargah or darbar). Maulana Rum!
(d. 672/1273) relates:

There was a shaykh who used to leave his disciples standing with their
hands folded in service. Others [seeing this situation] asked him, "O

“With the advent of the British and the European custom of sitting on chairs,
sitting on the floor was considered sunna. See Mahbubilahl, Tuhfa-yi sa'diyya,
p. 169. ’ ’
5Muhammad ‘Inayatullah, Maqamat-i irshadiyya, p. 229, and Zawwar Husayn,
'Umdat al-suluk, p. 57. There is a Qur’anic admonition (49:2) against speaking in a
louder voice than Muhammad.
'’Muhammad ‘Umar Blrball, Inqilab al-haqiqat, p. 13.
7Ibid.; see also Hidayat ‘All Jaipur!, Mi'ydr al-suluk wa-dafi‘ al-awhdm wa'l-shukuk,
p. 241, where it is said that Imam ‘All Shah (d. 1282/1865) never turned his back
or spat in the direction of his pir's village. In ordinary social situations it is consid­
ered extremely impolite to point the sole of the foot in anyone's direction or to
have one's back toward someone. Children are reprimanded in the mosque for
pointing the soles of their feet in the direction of prayer (qibla); this explains why
Muslims sleeping in the mosque invariably sleep with their heads pointing
toward the qibla. I have yet to find anyone to supply a textual justification for such
a rule and can only assume that it is another example of community consensus
(ijmal. The shaykh assumes the same status as the qibla, as the disciple is admon­
ished not to extend his leg in the pir's direction when he is absent; see Na'lmullah
Bahra’ichl, Mn‘mi~tlat-i Mazhariyya, p. 58.
8It is common for writers to explain correct sufi etiquette in terms of a king and
his subjects; see Muhammad ‘Inayatullah, Maqamat-i irshadiyya, p. 229. Although
not a Naqshbandl custom, there are cases of Indo-Muslim pirs justifying ritual
prostration, a direct adaptation from the Persian kingship paradigm. See Paul
Jackson, The Way of a Sufi: Sharafuddin Maneri, p. 142, and Nizamuddln Awliya’,
Morals for the Heart, pp. 321-22. For a discussion of Persian kingship and the Indo-
Muslim state, see Carl Ernst, Eternal Garden: Mysticism, History, and Politics at a
Shaykh! Why do you not let this group sit down? This is not the practice
of dervishes; this is the custom of princes and kings." He replied, "No.
Be quiet. I want them to respect this way [of behavior], so that they may
enjoy full benefit. Although veneration is in the heart, 'the outward is
the title page of the inward'. . . . The meaning of the title page is that
from it [people] know for whom and to whom the treatise [is written]
. . . and may know what chapters and sections there are. From outward
veneration (ta'zim ), bowing the head and standing on the feet, it becomes
evident what inward reverence (tacztm ) they have, and in what manner
they honor God. If they do not show outward respect, it becomes known
that inwardly they are impudent and do not venerate the men of God."9

One possible consequence of adapting the Persian court model

was that it might have discouraged the meeting of kings and
sufis. When the court of man and the court of God share overlap­
ping rules of etiquette, it is no wonder that kings and sufis might
have avoided meeting each other, lest one or the other feel the
need to insist on ceremony.10
One basis of the pir's authority rested on his ability to move
between subtle worlds and help others do the same. In practice,
however, many white-bearded, outwardly pious Muslims, gener­
ally recognized as shaykhs, accepted thousands of eager aspi­
rants in the name of sufism without having even a minimum of
spiritual qualifications by Naqshbandl standards. Finding a per­
fect and perfection-bestowing master under these conditions was
the first and perhaps the most difficult task of all for the aspirant
desiring to embark on the spiritual path.
A twentieth-century Naqshbandl poignantly described the dif­
ficulty of finding a suitable spiritual mentor as more difficult than
locating pure flour, milk, or ghee.11 Considering the adulterated
food supply in South Asia, that is tantamount to indicating a dif­
ficulty that borders on the impossible. In the nineteenth century,
revivalist Naqshbandls observed that most people calling them­
selves shaykhs conformed neither to the shari'a nor to the prac­
tices of the Prophet, citing their infrequent performance of ritual
prayer, a shaved or trimmed beard, long mustaches, and the

South Asian Sufi Center, pp. 38-47; and Ann K. Lambton, "Quis Custodiet Custo-
des: Some Reflections on the Persian Theory of Government."
’Jalaluddin Ruml, Kitab-i phi ma phi, p. 149.
,0One common theme in sufi stories is how the shaykh avoids meeting the king
or how the shaykh treats him ordinarily if a meeting occurs. In practice there
were many instances of sufi-ruler interactions in India and Central Asia.
"Siddlq Ahmad, Dhikr-i mahbub, p. 11.
wearing of long trousers.12 In addition, Naqshbandls warned
against the family custom of going to hereditary pirs; though
their ancestors may have been qualified pirs at one time and these
hereditary pirs could often counsel people in their mundane
problems, they were not qualified to be spiritual guides.13 They
had no inner connection (nisbat) to the Prophet, nor had they ever
traveled along the sufi path.14
Muhammad 'Umar Blrball (d. 1387/1967), in talking about his
grandfather Ghulam Murtada (d. 1321/1903), succinctly de­
scribes the revivalist Naqshbandl ideal of a spiritual guide who
embodies both inner and outer knowledge: "On one the hand he
was a comprehensive religious scholar Calim) who used to convey
subtly nuanced points of sufism in simple and common lan­
guage. On the other hand, he used to enliven dead hearts with
one glance. . . . He was a lover and exemplary follower of the
[Prophetic] sunnat. . . yet would perform miracles (kharq wa-kara-
mat) . . . . Like the Prophet's (S) assemblies, the young and the old
and the lowest and highest would receive divine grace [in his
presence] . . . [and he] would speak to each according to each
individual's understanding."15

12JaipQrl, Mi'yar al-suliik, p. 29. Certain Muslim groups in British colonial India
observed the following sunna practices: a beard that was only trimmed in excess
of one fist length, a mustache that was trimmed above the upper lip or preferably
shaved, a turban, trousers whose length was above the ankle bone, and for
women, parda ensuring that women would not have any contact with men outside
their immediate family. Naqshbandls interpreted parda as an unambiguous reli­
gious duty (fard) and expected disciples to practice total parda. The reasoning was
that the sunna action of bay a is useless unless one performed fard obligations first.
The Naqshbandls (and later the TabllghI Jama'at group) expected these norms to
be strictly observed by their members. How these aspects of the Prophet's dress
and behavior (as opposed to others) came to define correct nineteenth-century
Islamic norms would be a worthwhile study.
l3In contemporary studies, there is evidence of strong family pressure for all
family members to give allegiance to the same pir, and family ties are often rein­
forced this way. In Delhi and Lucknow, most interviewees state that their ances­
tors are disciples of the ancestors of their respective pirs. Census of India, "Beliefs
and Practices Associated with Muslim Pirs in Two Cities of India (Delhi and Luck­
now)," pp. 23, 33. Turk's study shows that 41 percent of the villagers surveyed
had the same shaykh as their fathers; the corresponding figure for the urban pop­
ulation was 15 percent. See G. M. S. Turk, "Attitudes of 'Mureeds' Towards 'Pirs'
in Two Selected Samples," cited by Adrian C. Mayer, "Pir and Murshid: An As­
pect of Religious Leadership in West Pakistan," p. 164.
,4JaipurI, MiySr al-suliik, p. 31; Siddlq Ahmad, Dbikr-i mahbub, p. 48. For exam­
ples of finding and choosing a shaykh according to Abu Madyan (d. 594/1198)
and his followers, see Vincent Cornell, "Mirrors of Prophethood: The Evolving
Image of the Spiritual Master in the Western Maghrib from the Origins of Sufism
to the End of the Sixteenth Century," pp. 327-29.
,5BlrbalI, lnqdilb al-haqiqat, p. 6 [comments mine].
 Shah Wallullah (d. 1176/1762) specified seven criteria for a
spiritual guide which also set the standards for the revivalist mi­
lieu of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries: (1) The pir should
have studied the Qur’anic exegesis of either the Jalalayn or the
Madarik with a qualified scholar.16 In hadith studies he should
have studied either the Mishkat al-masablh or the Mashariq al-
amvar.'7 (2) The pir should have abandoned desire for this world
and the next world and demonstrate this by obediently acting in
accordance with what has been transmitted from the Prophet and
the early generations of Islam. 3) The shaykh should exhibit piety
(taqwa), completely avoid major sins, and hold minor sins in
check. (4) The shaykh should abstain from prohibited things and
order others to act in a permissible manner. (5) The pir should
have purified his nature by companionship (suhbat) with a per­
fected pir and, having continual presence of God in his heart, the
pir should have formal permission to teach (ijaza). (6) The shaykh
should not feel the need to perform miracles. (7) Finally, compan­
ionship with the pir should affect others in such a way as to make
their heart cold to the world and instill a love of God, the Prophet,
and intimates of God (awliyot).18*
This combination of qualifications in a spiritual guide is rare
enough; rarer still is the ability of a seeker to recognize it. A mi­
nority of especially sensitive seekers involuntarily react to a
shaykh's spiritual power (tawajjuh). Dost Muhammad (d. 1284/
1868), for example, first met Ghulam 'All Shah (d. 1240/1824) in
the Prophet's Mosque in Medina. Ghulam 'All's fayd was so
strong that it caused Dost Muhammad to become restless and
disturbed (be qarar), so that he could hardly move from one cor­
ner of the mosque to another for an entire day. Ghulam 'All
passed away before Dost Muhammad could become his disciple.
The latter kept having fits of ecstasy, however, some of which
lasted weeks on end. After much traveling and inner turmoil, he
became the disciple of Ahmad Sa'ld (d. 1277/1860), the son of

16JalaluddIn as-Suyuti and Jalaluddln Muhammad b. Ahmad al-Mahalll, Tafsir

al-qur’an al-karim, tafsir al-jalalayn, and Hafizuddin ‘Abdullah b. Ahmad an-Nasaft,
Madarik al-tanzil wa-haqa'iq al-ta’iuil.
17The Mishkat al-masabih, written by Muhammad b. ‘Abdullah al-Khatlb at-
TabrizI (d. 743/1342), is a revised version of Aba Muhammad al-Husayn b.
Mas'Od al-BaghawTs (d. ca. 516/1122) Masdbih al-sunna. Mashariq al-amvdr was
written by Radluddln al-Hasan b. al-Hasan SaghanI and translated into Urdu as
Tuhfat al-akhyar (Lucknow: Nawal KishOr, 1920).
18See Shah Wallullah, Al-qawl al-jamil, Urdu trans. Khurram ‘All, Shifa al-'alil,
2d ed., pp. 22—26, Siddlcj Ahmad, Dhikr-i mahbub, pp. 46—47, and Zaww3r Husayn,
‘Umdat aTsuluk, pp. 43-45. ‘
Ghulam 'All Shah's successor, Abu Sa'ld (d. 1250/1835), in
Delhi.19 This example illustrates another principle: if one cannot
have the great fortune to be a disciple of a shaykh who is perma­
nently in the Essence (dhat), then the next best alternative is to
follow one of his disciples.20
Seekers without these unmistakable indications need more
careful guidance. One alternative for aspirants without a back­
ground in the religious sciences is to ask knowledgeable ulama
about a shaykh's qualifications.21 Since most people do not feel
the effects of a pir's spiritual power in the beginning, it is recom­
mended that seekers investigate the effects of a pir's companion­
ship (suhbat) upon his disciples. The seeker is supposed to confer
with respectable members of the community to ascertain that the
behavior of the shaykh's disciples is upright and that his disciples
have no desire for high position or for worldly gain.22 The sons of
pirs and people displaying ecstatic behavior are particularly to be
avoided.23
At minimum the shaykh should be outwardly pious and follow
the dictates of the shari'a. A spiritual guide sits in the company
of ulama and, in addition to mastering practical jurisprudence
(fiqh), he exhibits perfected correct behavior (adab), the sum total
of which he demonstrates in behavior conforming with the
Qur'an and the Prophetic sunna.24 If, in addition, the pir has re­
spectable ulama in his company and impresses the seeker favor­
ably, then this exemplary spiritual mentor is "red sulfur" (kibrit
ahmar), a special and precious human being.25 Such a perfect pir,
sahib-i qal wa-hal, represents one having an inner connection to
Muhammad through the oral transmission (qal) of knowledge,
e.g., hadith study, and a person whose inner connection to Mu­
hammad manifests itself outwardly in a spiritual state (hal).26

,9Muhammad IsmaYl, Mawahib rahmaniyya p fawa’id wa-fuyudat hadarat thaldtha

damaniyya: al-lajalliyat al-dostiyya [hereafter Al-tajalliyat al-ddstiyya], pp. 24-32.
“ Muhammad ‘Inayatullah, Maqdmat-i irshadiyya, p. 227.
21Ibid., p. 227.
“ QadI Thana’ullah Panlpatl, Irshad al-talibin, pp. 23-24.
“ Ibid., p. 23. Intoxicated behavior was acceptable for an aspirant, but not con­
sidered by Mujaddidls as a sign of spiritual advancement.
24Ibid. p. 44.
“ Bahra’ichl, Mamulat-i mazhariyya, p. 31. The effect of a pir's spiritual energy
(tawajjuh) should override all other considerations except shari'a-mindedness.
Sher Muhammad expected his spiritual guide to be older than the youthful Amlr-
uddln, but having felt Amlruddln's spiritual power, Sher Muhammad had no
choice but to ask him for initiation. See Muhammad Ibrahim Qusurl, KhazTm-yi
ma'rifat, p. 155.
26BlrbalI, Inqilab al-haqTqat, p. 6 n. 2.
 Many other avenues leading to a spiritual guide bypass the
checklist approach of revivalist sufi literature. Some find their
guide after seeing him in a dream. Budd'han Shah (d. 1272/1855-
56), for example, became extremely agitated in the presence of
Shah Husayn (d. 1225/1809) when requesting initiation. Shah
Husayn suggested he do istikhdra first, but Budd'han Shah said
he already had confirmation that Shah Husayn was the correct
person from a dream.27
For Muhammad 'Umar Blrball matters were not so straight for­
ward. Although he was the son of a hereditary shaykh, he felt cut
off from any inner heritage and deprived of an "inner educa­
tion," both of which kindled a desire for a spiritual guide in his
heart.28 He first made a supplication to God (du‘ay) in order to
find a spiritual guide before visiting the graves of his grandfather
Ghulam Murtada and of other shaykhs, including Nizamuddln
Awilya’ (d. 725/1325), Qutbuddln Bakhtiyar Kakl (d. 633/1235),
and Baqlbillah (d. 1012/1603). While in Delhi, he was able to talk
with Shah Abu’l-Khayr (d. 1341/1924). Eventually he found his
spiritual guide after some people in Lahore told him about Sher
Muhammad (d. 1345/1928). In Hidayat 'All Jaipurl's case, he
thought his life was at an end because of a four-month bout of
fever. After visiting Muhammad ‘All Sher Khan (d. 1328/1910)
his fever was cured in a day. Hidayat 'All became his disciple
and remained in his service for eighteen years.29
When a seeker finds the perfect spiritual mentor there is no
guarantee that the shaykh will agree to accept the potential disci­
ple. Muhammad 'Uthman (d. 1314/1896), represented in hagio-
graphical literature as being so overcome with the love of God
(istighrdq) that he could no longer continue his religious studies,
decided to go into the service of a shaykh. After crossing the river
near Dost Muhammad's residence at Musa Zai, such a strong
heat swelled up in him (he attributed this condition to his inner
connection to Dost Muhammad) that he was forced to stay in the

27Qa imuddln Qanungu i, Dhikr-i mubdrak, pp. 116-17. Istikhara is trusting God
to make a decision between one or more alternatives. Muhammad is said to have
taught Muslims to pray two rak'as followed by a supplication referring to the
matter to be decided. Muhammad Sa‘Td Qurayshl also saw his future pir in a
dream. See ZawwSr Husayn, Hayat-i sa'diyya, p. 17.
2sBlrbalI, Inqildb al-haqiqat, p. 3.
29JaipurI, Mi yar al-suluk, p. 265. This kind of affiliation process, i.e., becoming
initiated after a spectacular cure, occurs with contemporary pirs, although it does
not necessarily result in a disciple following the sufi path; i.e., one can become a
nonpracticing disciple. See R Lewis, Pirs, Shrines and Pakistani Islam, pp. 12-13.
river to cool down. Upon arrival at Musa Zai he kissed Dost Mu­
hammad's feet and indicated his intention to become initiated.
Dost Muhammad refused to initiate him, saying, "It is a very dif­
ficult business to choose spiritual poverty." Muhammad ‘Uthman
responded, "O Qibla I have become absolutely ready for this
work. [Although] I have tolerated being connected with every­
thing, now I have turned a cold shoulder to it and have irrevoca­
bly divorced myself from everything that I have loved."30 That
evening Dost Muhammad initiated him into the Naqshbandiyya.
After experiencing the travails of searching for a spiritual
guide, the seeker must be formally accepted by the spiritual men­
tor and participate in an initiation ceremony (bay'a). This ritual
officially links the disciple by an oath of allegiance to the shaykh
and, by extension, to Muhammad via the spiritual lineage of the
Naqshbandiyya or any other chosen pedigree. After initiation the
seeker, as a disciple of the shaykh, learns certain responsibilities
and a code of behavior before proceeding on the sufi path.

Becoming a Disciple

In the Prophet's time bay'a generally meant "recognizing author­

ity and pledging obedience to that authority" whether in the con­
text of becoming a Muslim, association with the Medinan
community (hijra), participation in battle (jihad), or leadership
succession (khilafa).31 Before the advent of Islam, bay‘a was the
traditional way of pledging allegiance to a tribal chief. The hand­
clasp as an established way of pledging allegiance refers to the
Companions performing bay"a at Hudaybiya in 6/628: "Those
who swear allegiance to you [Muhammad] actually swear alle­
giance to God. God's hand is over their hands." [Q. 48:10] Com­
panions had no need for bayca to begin spiritual traveling, says
Shah Wallullah, since this was a natural outcome of Muham­
mad's companionship.32 Over time Muslims began to associate
bay*a with government leadership succession, especially when
Muslim rulers continued the practice of bay'a to affirm political
allegiance. Eventually as the sultans abandoned the practice, sufis
began giving robes (sing, khircja) to their disciples as a token of

30Mawahib rahmaniyya fr fawa id wa-fuyiidat hadarat thalatha damamyya: kamalat-i

‘uthmdniyya [hereafter cited as Kamalat-i ‘uthmdniyya], pp. 37—38. The qibla points
Muslims to the Ka‘ba; the shaykh is a pointer to God.
3’WalIullah, Al-qawl al-jamil, p. 16.
32Ibid., p. 17.
bay'd, reactivating an abandoned sunna practice.33 At that point
bay'a took on the added meaning of affiliation with a spiritual
master, summarized by, "The sufi robe signifies being in the
shadow of intimacy with God; wearing it is a sign of the shaykh's
acceptance [which in turn] indicates God's acceptance."34
Among sufis the three steps in initiation are, first, repentence
from sins (tawba), an oath swearing on the Prophet and the collec­
tive presences of the shaykhs of a particular sufi lineage that one
will conscientiously perform the ritual duties expected of a Mus­
lim according to the five pillars of Islam and abstain from major
sins.35 The second is an affiliation of blessedness (tabarruk) with
the goal of accumulating auspiciousness (baraka) transmitted
through the chain leading back to Muhammad.36 Often this type
of bond is created between a student and a hadith teacher.37 Shah 1

33Ibid. After the middle of the tenth century caliphs in Baghdad expected those
to whom they delegated their authority to take an oath of fealty (bay'a) even
though the caliphs often had no control over these princes (umarit, sing. amir). \
After the Mongol conquest of Baghdad in 656/1258 even these formalities were •
abandoned. The sufi robe is mentioned as early as the ninth century by al-Harith j
al-Muhasibl (d. 243/857). See Louis Massignon, Essai sur les origines du lexique j
technique de la mystique musulmane, p. 128, and La Passion de Husayn Ibn Mansur j
Hallaj, 1:62, [English trans. 1:72]. Apparently Aba Bakr Shibll (d. 334/946) pio- j
neered the ceremony of passing on the robe that symbolized the transformation
of the disciple into a shaykh. See Kamil Mustafa Al-Shaibi, Sufism and Shi'ism,
p. 69. The Prophet's robe mentioned in the Shl‘l hadith-i kistC is not the robe of the
sufis. See Seyyed Hossain Nasr, Sufi Essays, pp. 109-10. For further information
on sufi robes, see Richard Gramlich, Die schiitischen Derwischorden Persiens, 3 vol­
umes, 2:172-73 n. 924-26; Muhsin KiyanI, Tartkh-i khanaqdh dar Iran, pp. 447-558;
All Ibn Uthman al-Jullabl al-Hujwlrt, Kashf al-Mahjub, pp. 49—65 [English trans.,
pp. 45-57]; Bakharzl, Aivrad al-ahbUb, 2:23-42.
MNuruddln Hamza b. ‘All b. ‘Abdulmalik Tusl BayhaqI, Jawahir al-asrar, cited
in Ahmad All Raja I Bukhara'i, Farhang-i ash'Hr-i Hafiz, p. 107. For an extensive
but uncritical survey of the sufi robe, see 'Ali Muhammad Sajjadi, Jama-yi zuhd:
khirqa wa-khirqapushT.
35Bahra’ichl, Ma'mulat-i mazhariyya, p. 34. The five pillars of Islam are testifying
that there is no god but God and that Muhammad is His messenger; performing
the five daily ritual prayers; fasting during the month of Ramadan; paying of
alms tax (zakat); and performing the pilgrimage to Mecca once in one's lifetime if
possible. Major sins are associating others with God, theft, adultery, unlawful
killing, lying, slandering, cheating, and killing children.
^The more chains leading back to Muhammad the better. Radluddin ‘All Lala
Ghaznawl, a contemporary of Najmuddln Kubra (d. 617/1220), supposedly had
acquired 124 sufi robes, 113 of which he still had in his possession at the time of
his death. See Jaml, Nafahat al-uns, p. 436, cited in R. Gramlich, Die schiitischen
Derwischorden, 2:173 n. 928.
37Another form of bay'a that has been described as an Indo-Muslim rite of pas­
sage between circumcision and marriage often accompanies religious instruction
and would probably fall in the category of tabarruk. See Jafar Sharif, Qanoon-e-
Islam or the Customs of the Mussulmans of India, pp. 281-84.
Wallullah acquired five such affiliations from his hadith teacher,
Abu Tahir Muhammad, just as Ahmad Sirhindl became affiliated
with the Kubrawiyya through his hadith teacher, Ya'qub
Kashmiri (d. 1003/1595).38 Some interpret this type of ba\fa as an
affiliation of intercession (bay'at-i tawassul) where the shaykh acts
as the intermediary between the believer and God in this world
and the next.39 A Qur’anic justification for such a concept is "O
believers, fear God and seek the way of approach (al-wasTla) to
Him.” [Q. 5:35]40 Most multiple sufi affiliations are of this second
type.41
The third type of affiliation includes the requirements of the
first two, i.e., abandoning serious sins, avoiding minor sins, and
performing the ritual requirements, and adds a fourth, the prac­
tice of spiritual exercises. The committed seeker "has the firm
intention to perform completely almighty God's decrees with a
sincere heart and to save [oneself] from [committing] what God
prohibits, [thereby] creating a connection with the heart and God
(J)."42 This initiation involves an outward agreement to remain in
companionship (suhbat) and obedience to the shaykh in order to
proceed on the path (kasb-i suluk) to God. Through the special
connection (rabita) with the spiritual mentor, whom Naqshbandls
consider the Prophet's representative, the aspirant develops both
an inner and outer connection to Muhammad.43*Such an encom­
passing affiliation differentiates initiation from the mere ritual of
declaring allegiance to a pir. It requires cultivating a very close
relationship with a spiritual guide which then connects one into
a series of like-minded mystics consciously linked to the Prophet.
This third type of initiation commits a disciple to a relationship
of unquestioning obedience to a single living spiritual guide. In

^For two of Sirhindl's hadith isnads, see Zawwar Husayn, Hadrat mujaddid alf-i
thanT, pp. 141-42.
39JaipurI, Mi'yar al-suluk, p. 42.
^Nur Ahmad Maqbul, KhazTnat-i karam, p. 606, and Siddlq Ahmad, Dhikr-i
mahbttb, p. 39. Another Qur’anic justification for the shaykh is “Those they call
upon [to remove afflictions] are themselves seeking the means (al-wastta) to ap­
proach their Lord" (Q. 17:57). See ibid, where this verse was suggested as a tex­
tual defense for those doubting the need for a shaykh. Given the context of the
preceding verse (Q. 17:56) chastising those calling on anyone else but God, the
verse cited above gives more support to an argument against intermediaries be­
tween God and humankind.
4,For one of the most detailed and revealing examples of multiple initiations
see Ahmad b. Muhammad al-Qushshashl's (d. 1071/1660-61) Al-simt al-majTd.
42ZawwSr Husayn, ‘Umdat al-suluk, p. 46, which is taken from Shah Wallullah,
Al-qawl al-jamil, p. 28.
‘‘-’Muhammad Husayn AssI, Anwar-i La ThanT, p. 36.
the words of Ahmad Rida Khan Barelwi (d. 1340/1921), the
founder of an Indian "ahl-i sunnat" or "People of the Prophet's
Way" movement (which outsiders call the Barelwi movement),
"People seek baVa as a matter of course. They do not know its
[true] meaning. Bai'a is as Hazrat Yahya Muneri's disciple under­
stood it to be: He was drowning in a river, when Hazrat Khizr
(upon him be peace) appeared and asked him for his hand, so
that he could pull him out. The disciple replied, I have already
given my hand [in discipleship] to Hazrat Yahya Muneri. I can no
longer give it to anyone else. Hazrat Khizr (upon him be peace)
disappeared, and Hazrat Yahya Muneri appeared and pulled his
disciple ashore to safety."44
Before initiation, Naqshbandls assume that the aspirant is an
adult of sound mind and already performs the ritual practices of
Islam, particularly the communal daily prayers.45 Often the
shaykh tests the sincerity and correct religious dogma Caqlda) of
the aspirant before initiation.46 Other Naqshbandls encourage the
potential disciple to visit other sufis before his initiation so that
when he returns to request initiation both the guide and the aspi­
rant know he has made a correct choice by the process of isti-
khara.47
Once the decision to become initiated has been formally made,
the next procedures vary with each pir. Some begin the process
by thanking the Prophet and spirits of the great sufis (pTran-i
a'zam) and then reciting Qur’an 112 (surat al-ikhlas) an odd num­
ber of times while expressing the desire for these spirits' media­
tion (tawassul).48 Others do two cycles (sing, rak'a) of a repentance
prayer with the intention of being blessed on the sufi path, after
which the opening chapter (al-fatiha) of the Qur’an is recited and
sufi shaykhs are summoned.49*Then the aspirant sits crosslegged

■
“Ahmad Rida Khan, Malfuzat, 2:41, cited in Usha Sanyal, "In the Path of the
Prophet: Maulana Ahmad Riza Khan Barelwi and the Ahl-e Sunnat wa Jama'at
Movement in British India, c. 1870-1921," p. 101 [comments in brackets are Sany-
al's]. Shara fuddln Yahya Maneri (d. 782/1381) was a FirdawsI shaykh of Bihar, India.
“Some pirs initiate children who have not reached puberty; see Zawwar Hu-
sayn, ‘Umdat al-suluk, p. 46. Naqshbandls have also initiated invisible beings
(jinns). See Zawwar Husayn, Hayat-i sa'diyya, (Karachi: Ahmad Brothers Printers,
1987), pp. 62-63. ‘
“ ‘Ashiq ‘All Khan Natiq Kalanurl, Lama'at-i kamalat-i qadiriyya ma' mu'awin-i
tabarrukat-i khdliqiyya, p. 59.
47JaipurI, Mi'yar al-suluk, p. 166.
“ Ibid.
“ Bahra’ichl, Ma'mulnt-i mazhariyya, p. 34. Mlrza Mazhar Jan-i janan allowed
each person to choose which tarTqa he or she would like to be initiated in, al­
though he taught MujaddidI spiritual practices to all his disciples. Mlrza
Mazhar's spiritual grandson, Ghulam Murtada (d. 1321/1903), initiated aspirants
facing Mecca in ritual purity clasping the pir's right hand in both
of his hands and repents by repeating after the shaykh: "Praise
be to God! We praise Him; we ask Him for guidance; we ask Him
for forgiveness; we believe in Him; we put our trust in Him. We
take our refuge in God from the sins of our souls and from our
evil actions. Whoever God guides is not led astray and whoever
God leads astray is not rightly guided. We testify that there is no
god but God and that Muhammad is His slave and messenger
(S)."50 ’
The aspirant, still clasping the shaykh's right hand with both
of his hands, then repeats after the pir that he pledges allegiance
to the Prophet by means of the presences of the shaykhs of the
lineage on the condition that he dutifully performs the ritual re­
quirements on Islam and abstains from major sins.51 Reciting such
a formula in the presence of a shaykh by itself constitutes a for­
mal repentance corresponding to the first type of initiation de­
scribed above.
Before initiation into the Naqshbandiyya-Mujaddidiyya some
shaykhs recite statements of religious dogma for the aspirants to
repeat, e.g., "I believe in God, His angels, His books, His messen­
gers, the last day, that one's fate both good and bad is from God
almighty, and resurrection after death. I believe in God as He is
with His names and His attributes and I accept all of His ordi­
nances [for humankind]."52
At this point, still clasping hands, the aspirant requests formal
initiation into the Naqshbandiyya-Mujaddidiyya in the name of
the initiating shaykh, Baha’uddm, Abu Bakr, or Muhammad.53

into the Qadir! tarTqa yet they did MujaddidI exercises and called upon the great
Naqshbandl shaykhs in their khatm-i khwajagati. See Muhammad Qamaruddln,
Anwar-i murtadawT, pp. 30,45. Successors to both these Naqshbandl masters iden­
tified themselves as Naqshbandls.
^Zawwar Husayn, ‘Umdat al-sulfik, p. 277. Some shaykhs have the aspirants
repeat parts of this three times. See Jaipur!, Mi'yar al-suluk, p. 166, and Bahra’ichl,
Mamiilat-i mazhariyya, p. 34.
5,This is described as generic repentance (ijmali tawba). See ibid., p. 35.
52Zawwar Husayn, ‘Umdat al-suluk, p. 277.
“Jaipur!, Mi'yar al-suluk, p. 166. Shaykhs initiate disciples in various ways. Sher
Muhammad, for example, gave Muhammad 'Umar lessons in correct behavior
(adab) and had him recite specific Qur’anic verses before he imparted the heart
dhikr. After Muhammad ‘Umar received the heart dhikr, Sher Muhammad gave
him invocatory prayers and Qur’anic verses to recite. Although Sher Muhammad
usually did not initiate with a handclasp, he did so with Muhammad 'Umar. See
Blrball, Inqilab al-haqTqat, pp. 17-18. If there are a lot of people to be initiated the
pir can also spread out his sheet or turban and have each person grip a part of it
instead of individually clasping each person's hand. See Mahbub ‘All, Khayr-i
khayr, marghub al-suluk, p. 104. Other variations include Ghulam Murtada initiat-
Then the shaykh imparts the recollection of God (talqin-i dhikr)
into the disciple's heart by putting his forefinger on the disciple's
chest and subsequently “writing" Allah on it. For some this feels
“like an arrow penetrating the inner recesses of the disciple's
heart/' sending pulsations through the chest.54 Before imparting
the recollection of God formula the pir instructs the disciple to sit
with closed eyes and, eliminating all stray thoughts, to visualize
divine light and energy coming from its origin by means of the
pir's heart to the disciple's heart. Throughout the initiation the
shaykh is energizing the disciple's heart by focusing his spiritual
energy (taioajjuh) on it.55 At the end of the session, the pir recites
the opening chapter of the Qur'an (al-fatiha), supplicating God to
bless the occasion. Depending on the available time, he instructs
the disciple(s) in the basics of correct behavior (adab), the neces­
sity of spiritual companionship (suhbal), and the necessity of per­
forming recollection of the heart at all times whether awake or
asleep.56

Initiation for Women

For women, initiation is not considered to be sunna, although

there is Qur’anic precedent (60:12):57 “O Prophet, when believing
women come to you, pledging allegiance to you that they will
not associate anything with God, will not steal, will not commit
adultery, will not kill their children, will not bring trouble that
they have devised between their hands and feet, nor disobey you
in what is right, then accept their allegiance and ask God to for­
give them."58

ing his eldest son, Maulw! Hafiz Ma‘sum, with a ceremonial turban at the grave
of Ahmad Sirhindl. See Muhammad Qamaruddln, Anwdr-i murtadawl, p. 174.
^Muhammad ‘Inayatullah, Maqamat-i irshadiyya, p. 361.
55Bahra’ichI, Ma‘mulat-i mazhariyya, p. 35; Jaipur!, Mi'ydr al-suluk, p. 166. It is
said that the origin of the Naqshbandl initiation process is modeled after the first
time Gabriel came and ordered Muhammad to recite (iqra'). Gabriel hit Muham­
mad's chest three times and, after the third time, Muhammad began to recite. It
is said that one day the Prophet wrapped himself in Abu Hurayra's sheet and hit
his own chest three times. Returning the sheet Muhammad instructed Abu Hura-
yra to wrap himself in this sheet and not to forget this day; see ibid., p. 167.
■hFor an example of a non-Naqshbandl bay'a ceremony, see KlyanI, Tarikh-i khdna-
qdh, p. 395, and Fritz Meier, Vom Wesen der islamischen Mystik.
57KalanurI, Lama'at-i kamalat, p. 61.
wMen were expected to fulfill the same conditions in addition to military
responsibilities. In the bay'at al-ridivan women could declare allegiance to
Muhammad made on condition that they abstain from lamenting the dead; see
Shah Wallullah, Al-qawl al-jamil, p. 16.
 In nineteenth-century Muslim India these Qur’anic concerns
were translated into special conditions for female initiation.
Women had to agree to give up practicing non-Muslim customs,
e. g., stop praying to the Hindu goddess Sltala, who was believed
to cure smallpox, stop giving to divall celebrations, stop sacrific­
ing animals at shaykhs' graves, stop fasting on auspicious days
determined by astrology, and stop resorting to magic. In addi­
tion, each woman had to pledge not to steal from her husband,
to dance, or to sing (the last activity was supposed to lead to
adultery).59
A major concern of the Naqshbandls during the British colonial
period was to keep men separate from women, i.e., to perpetuate
and spread the practice of parda. Naqshbandl shaykhs were sup­
posed to set a good example by not touching the hands of women
aspirants and by keeping men and women disciples separated
"so that parda continues to be established and becomes common
with other religious figures."60 Women are to be physically sepa­
rated by at least a sheet; instead of a handclasp one grasps a tur­
ban cloth or other ritually clean piece of cloth. A women is never
supposed to be alone with the shaykh and needs to be accompa­
nied by a guardian (mahram) from her family. To impart recollec­
tion of the heart the shaykh focuses his spiritual energy while the
women disciple visualizes the name of God written on her
heart.61 Given the close supervision of Muslim women in Indian
society and the need for a guardian from her family to be present
at her initiation, one assumes that women usually become initi­
ated by the same shaykh as other men in her family. Numerous
family members having spiritual bonds to one pir also safeguard
and consolidate a shaykh's influence in the local society.
With certain exceptions, the disciple is prohibited from break­
ing the tie with his spiritual mentor.62 If seekers could change
allegiance to their masters at will, shaykhs would lose the author­
ity they need to guide others. All three types of affiliation with a

59Bahra’ichI, Ma'mulat-i mazhariyya, pp. 37-44. For a much fuller treatment of

reformist concerns for women, see the nineteenth-century work by Ashraf ‘All
T'hanawl, Bihisht-i zeivar, translated by Barbara Metcalf as Perfecting Women: Mau-
lana Ashraf Ali Thanawi’s Bishisht-i zeivar: A Partial Translation with Commentary.
“ Zawwar Husayn, 'Umdat al-suluk, p. 278.
'’’Jaipurl, MTyar al-suluk, p. 167. Naqshbandls have informed me that recollec­
tion of the heart can also be imparted by a rosary or piece of wood first dipped
in water and placed by the woman where the shaykh would otherwise put his
fingers.
62For rules outside a Naqshbandl milieu specifying allegiance to only one
shaykh and conditions to transfer allegiance to another shaykh, see Gramlich, Die
schiitischen Derwischorden, 2:238-41.
sufi master are broken if the disciple commits a major sin or
ceases to perform regular worship, but the Prophetic precedent
is for the shaykh not to accept a disciple's desire to break his or
her initiation agreement, though if the disciple simply abandons
the master the initiation is said to be canceled.63 Disciples are ad­
monished not to declare allegiance indiscriminately to various
mentors since ungrateful spiritual dilettantes will receive no di­
vine grace.64
There are numerous valid reasons why someone might wish to
go to another spiritual guide. Even though the master may be
perfect and perfection-bestowing, not every disciple will neces­
sarily benefit from him. If the aspirant follows the guide properly
and sincerely, it is incumbent (wajib) upon him or her to search
for another shaykh if no results are achieved after a period of
time.65 If a seeker cannot see his or her shaykh any longer for
whatever reason, or finishes the exercises of one sufi lineage, or
achieves the same degree of spiritual development as the guide,
then it is permissible to look for a new spiritual mentor, so long
as one does not break ties with the first guide by keeping in mind
his positive qualities.66 Any shaykh can do something acciden­
tally against the shari'a, and in the case of such a lapse the disci­
ple should first excuse the mentor on the basis of his or her own
faulty understanding of the situation.67 Often such behavior is
simply the result of the pir's involuntary intoxicated ecstasy. A
shaykh who continually acts contrary to the dictates of Islamic
law and the practices of the Prophet, however, should be aban­
doned without a second thought.
Shaykhs' tombs, some of which become the center of extensive
shrine activity, are generally recognized to be places where devo­
tees can receive divine grace. Mujaddidls assert that there is cer­
tainly divine grace radiating from the tombs of deceased pirs, but
it is not sufficient to bring a disciple to perfection. For this type
of transformation to occur, the connection depends on the person

61Zaww3r Husayn, ‘Umdat al-suluk, pp. 46-47. Even if the pir is angry with the
disciple, this is not cause for the master to terminate the relationship.
“JaipUrl, M iyar al-suluk, pp. 40-41.
“ Ibid., p. 41.
“ Ibid., pp. 40-42.
“Muhammad Inayatullah, Macjchnat-i irshadiyya, pp. 227—28. The precedent for
this statement is the Qur’anic story of Moses and Moses's companion, commonly
thought to be Khidr (Q. 18:65-82). Khidr's outwardly inexplicable and unaccept­
able behavior confounded Moses yet had a deeper meaning. The assumption that
a shaykh can perceive the inner reality of events allows him occasionally to ap­
pear to behave outwardly against the shari'a.
giving divine energy (fayd) and the person receiving it both being
in corporeal form. Only adepts who have gone beyond the circle
of contingent existence (da’ira-yi imkan) and who have a suitable
connection can receive divine energy from the deceased shaykh.68
Logically, if the fayd from a dead and live pir were equal, then all
the residents of Medina from the time of the Prophet until now
would have the same spiritual rank as the Companions and
would not require companionship (suhbat) with intimates of
God.69 Given the Mujaddidls' concentration of authority in the
living pir, it is not surprising that visiting a shaykh's tomb would
not substitute for companionship with a living pir. In addition,
given the number of tomb shrines dotting the Panjabi country­
side, the market for spiritual mentors would already be saturated
if deceased shaykhs were as efficacious as live ones.

Becoming a Spiritual Guide

Once the elementary recollection exercise becomes firmly estab­

lished, the newly initiated disciple's subtle centers are activated
in sequence before he or she practices the recollection of negation
and affirmation (nafy iva-ithbat) and proceeds through the
MujaddidI contemplations (muraqabat). This constitutes the disci­
ple's practical CamalT) training. Ideally, the practice of spiritual
exercises is complemented by spiritual (ruhanT) and theoretical
CilmT) education, the combination of which is necessary for a con­
nection with inner truth.70 Spiritual education involves sitting in
the presence of the shaykh's spiritual attention (tawajjuh), while
so-called theoretical training teaches disciples the practical appli­
cation of outwardly following the practices of Muhammad. Sher
Muhammad is one shaykh who provided a well-rounded educa­
tion for his disciples with regular gatherings where he discussed

“ Zawwar Husayn, ‘Umdat al-suluk, p. 42.

69Pan!patI, Irshad al-talibm, p. 25.
70BlrbalI, Inqildb al-haqfqat, p. 26. Muhammad 'Umar (d. 1386-87/1967) com­
plained that contemporary pirs usually did not teach refinement of character (akh-
laq), correct manners Cadat), different ways of recollecting God, or mystical
exercises (ashghfil). In his travels, Muhammad ‘Umar went around asking disciples
about their contemplation exercises and discovered that even the most advanced
were only doing variations on heart recollection. Apparently the teaching of spe­
cial sufi terminology, necessary for each sufi exercise, had been abandoned by
Muhammad ‘Umar's contemporaries. See ibid., pp. 69-70. Such a general report,
perhaps to some extent a glorification of his spiritual mentor, Sher Muhammad,
who did give his disciples a well-rounded spiritual education, might still reflect
the prevailing sufi conditions of the time.
problems particular to sufism and read Sirhindl's Maktubdt.71 The
acquisition of religious knowledge, the formulation of correct re­
ligious dogma, and the learning of other “exoteric" religious les­
sons is usually completed before initiation.72 By the late
nineteenth century this type of "outer" religious education
tended to be the domain of specialists in madrasas specially ap­
pointed for the purpose.
There are no uniform criteria among the Naqshbandl shaykhs
for deciding when a person is qualified to become a successor
(khalifa).73 When he is regarded as qualified the disciple usually
receives a printed certificate authorizing him or her to teach
Naqshbandl practices (ijazatnama).74 There are three types of au­
thorization: conditional (muqayyad), unrestricted (mutlaq), and a
third which is given only to the one person chosen to be the mas­
ter's principal successor (literally, one who sits on the prayer car­
pet), the sajjadanishin.75 Dost Muhammad (d. 1284/1868), for

7,Ibid., p. 69. To illustrate points in sufi practice (suliik) Muhammad 'Umar

Blrball says Sher Muhammad used Tafstr-i wtt'izT, a popular Qur’an commentary
by Husayn Wa‘iz-i KashifI, the father of the author of Rashahdt-i layn al-hayat,
Fakhrruddln ‘All; see ibid., p. 90. Tafslr-i WS’izT, still in print with Shah Wallullah's
interlinear translation in Persian, is usually not used by contemporary Naqsh-
bandis as a sufi exegesis in the Indo-Pakistani subcontinent. Instead, contempo­
rary Naqshbandls use Isma'Il HaqqI's Rilh al-bayan fi tafsTr al-qur’an and
Shihabuddln al-AIusI's Riih al-ma‘a n lfi tafslr al-qur'an al-'azTm wa’l-sab‘ al-mathani.
72An excess of this outer knowledge often caused individuals to become arro­
gant to the point that religious knowledge became the “greater veil" (hijab al-
akbar); see Blrball, Inqilttb al-haqiqat, p. 86 n. 1.
73Some specify that having continuous recollection of the heart is the absolute
minimum qualification. Preferably the disciple will have traveled along the path
sufficiently to have reached “lesser intimacy with God" (wildyat-i sughrS) and have
the ability to perform sultan-i adhkar. See Jaipurl, M iyar al-suliik, pp. 4,168. Some
specify a requirement of arriving at "greater intimacy with God" (wilayat-i kubra);
see Muhammad ‘Inayatullah, Maqdmat-i irshadiyya, p. 287. Neither source identi­
fies what kind of successor (muqayyad or mutlaq) is intended.
74Some Naqshbandls justified the issuing of printed certificates for spiritual suc­
cessors as a development of the long-established practice of writing a will to clar­
ify inheritance issues not covered by shari'a. See Muhammad IsmaTl, Mawdhib
rahmdniyya fi fawa’id wa-fuyudat hadarfit thaldtha damaniyya: maqttmdt-i sirajiyya
[hereafter Maqamat-i sirajiyya], p. 187. By 1347/1928 Sirajuddln was using printed
forms for his successors. See Zawwar Husayn, Hayat-i sa'diyya, pp. 29-30. The
ambition to obtain a teaching certificate often overshadowed other motives for
traversing the Path, causing some shaykhs, e.g., Irshad Husayn, to write very few
of these certificates. See Muhammad ‘Inayatullah, Maqamat-i irshadiyya, p. 379.
For a collection of ijazatnamas given by Ghulam 'All Shah; see Imam ‘All Shah,
MaktubUt-i qutb-i rabbctm. Translations of some representative certificates are in
appendix 4. For examples of non-Naqshbandl ijazatnamas, see KlyanI, Tarikh-i
khanaqah dar Iran, pp. 365-68.
7Tn the cases of shrines, i.e., where religious specialists act in the capacity of
example, acquired the first two of these after fourteen months of
practice from his shaykh Ahmad SaTd (1277/1860); it gave him
conditional permission to teach (ijazat-i muqayyad).76 In addition,
his spiritual mentor gave him a turban, a shirt, and a hat (kulah).77
He was taken aback when hordes of people suddenly began ex­
pecting him to accept them as disciples, asked for cures, or de­
manded amulets. A few years later he returned to Delhi, where
he reviewed with Ahmad Sa'id the fine points of sufi practice
(suluk) before being granted unrestricted authorization to teach
(ijazat-i mutlaq).78
The third category of successor, the sajjadanishTn, is naturally
the rarest, since it is handed only to the one person who will sit
on the spiritual mentor's prayer rug after he passes away. For
shaykhs in the large sufi lodges, much more is at stake than
merely inheriting a prayer rug, for with it one not only acquires
an army of disciples, but often incurs the responsibility of admin­
istering a small empire of landholdings and villages. In theory,
the sajjadanishTn should be the most spiritually qualified person
from those who have obtained unrestricted permission to teach.
In practice the shaykh's eldest son often became his father's suc­
cessor, a type of succession that drastically altered Naqshbandl
sources of authority.
Such a situation is elaborated in the recent succession history of
the sufi lodge in Musa Zai near Dera Ismail Khan.79 Muhammad
‘Uthman (d. 1314/1896), Dost Muhammad's chosen successor,
proved to be the first and last nonlineal successor at the Musa Zai
sufi lodge complex. Sirajuddln (d. 1333/1933), the eldest son of
Muhammad ‘Uthman, received unrestricted permission to teach
and simultaneously was formally chosen as the future sajjada-

caretakers rather than directing-shaykhs, lineage is a determining factor. In Indo-

Pakistan usually a caretaker is either a person who is a lineal descendant of the
deceased sufi, a pTrzada (literally, son of the pir), or a lineal descendant of one of
the successors of the deceased sufi, often called a mutawallT. For an example of
complicated leadership claims and the financial intricacies of a popular contem­
porary Qadin shrine near Islamabad, see Hafeez-Ur-Rehman Chaudhry, "Tradi­
tional and State Organizations of the Shrine of Bari Imam." See also Christian
Troll, ed., Muslim Shrines in India.
^Conditional authorization means the successor is still under the direction of
the shaykh and must follow his advice. Unrestricted permission allows the suc­
cessor complete independence in training disciples, including whether or not to
follow his shaykh's advice.
M uhammad Isma'll, Al-tajalliyat-i dostiyya, pp. 32-35.
78Ibid.
^For a parallel example in the Chishtiyya, see Richard Eaton's "Court of Man,
Court of God."
nishin at the legally adult age of fourteen.80 For this occasion all
the religious notables and successors of Musa Zai were invited to
witness his "turban-tying” ceremony. After the religious exer­
cises following post-sunrise prayer were completed, everyone
gathered at the grave of Dost Muhammad. Muhammad ‘Uthman
performed three sets of supplications to bring divinely emanat­
ing energy (fayd) down upon those assembled for the occasion of
his son's succession. When the grand moment came for Siraj-
uddln to have his turban put on, his father tied it halfway and
then three of his religious teachers finished tying it.81 His princi­
pal teachers and a classmate each then received turbans of honor.
Sweets were distributed before Muhammad ‘Uthman performed
a final supplication.
After this, Sirajuddln received a certificate of unrestricted au­
thorization to teach, signed by fourteen religious notables. He
also received a prayer rug. These were the tangible symbols of a
sajjadanishm. The signatures and the tacit approval of the assem­
bled ulama were officially considered to validate Muhammad
TJthman's decision.82 From his deathbed Muhammad ‘Uthman
ordered all his disciples to renew their initiation (tajdtd-i bay'at)
with Sirajuddln, as the Companions had done with the first three
successors of Muhammad.83
After Sirajuddln's death, two religious notables decided upon
Muhammad Ibrahim, Sirajuddln's son, as successor, as a result of
a divination from al-Haklm al-Nlsaburl's al-Mustadrak.84 Others
apparently had misgivings about the outcome, for the hagiogra-
pher states, "Anyone who doubts his [Muhammad Ibrahim's]

’“'Muhammad Isma'll, Maqamat-i sirajiyya, pp. 6-22. A boy of fourteen, accord­

ing to Hanafl fiqh, is considered an adult and eligible to marry. Among Indian
sufis, however, this would be a minimum age to accept someone as a disciple.
Readers of Maqamat-i sirajiyya are reminded that a certain Sa'duddTn TaftazanI (d.
ca. 1289/1872) wrote a commentary on one of ‘Izzuddln Ibrahim b. ‘Abduwahhab
Zanjanfs works entitled Shark Sa'duddTn al-TaftdzdnT 'aid tasrTf al-'izzT at the age of
fourteen. See Muhammad Ismael, Maqamat-i sirajiyya, p. 23.
"'Ibid., pp. 9-10. This is a pre-Islamic Arabic custom, the best-known exemplar
of which is ‘Abdullah b. Ubayy, who was about to be crowned this way in Yathrib
as Muhammad arrived. R. B. Serjeant also notes the practice among Yemeni tribes
in "The ‘Awdhillah Confederation with Some Reference to al-Hamdanl," p. 101.
The Arab monarch, lmru’ al-Qays, was also crowned in this fashion, described as
dluT asr at-taj. See Irfan Shahid, "Philological Observations on the Namara Inscrip­
tion."
“ Muhammad IsmaTl, Maqamat-i sirajiyya, p. 14. This choice was also said to be
confirmed by visions (murdqabdt-i ilhamT).
“ Ibid., p. 21.
“’Muhammad b. ‘Abdullah al-Haklm al-Nlsaburl, Al-mustadrak 'aid al-sahtluntn
fn-hadTth. • •• .
successorship should ask God for forgiveness and repent, as
these suspicions are the delusions of the ego and the devil."85
Since Sirajuddln had already let his son wear his turban and sit
on his prayer carpet the week before his death, the precedent of
Abu Bakr, who had led the prayer when Muhammad had been
ill, was cited to support the validity of Sirajuddln's having chosen
Muhammad Ibrahim as his successor. To seal the argument, the
hagiographer invoked community consensus, enumerating the
number of people who renewed their initiation and began to
visualize the new sajjadanishin in their spiritual practices.86 Dur­
ing Muhammad Ibrahim's tenure, what used to be a subsidiary
lodge of Musa Zai at Khundian Sharif became an independent
institution with nonlineal succession.87
The sufi lodge was the territory between worldly and other­
worldly concerns. The day-to-day maintenance and feeding of
hundreds involved considerable resources, but the land and vil­
lages owned or administered by the sufi lodge, combined with
pious donations, usually covered most of these needs. Short-term
visitors of the sufi lodge, like children in a well-to-do family,
would not be aware of the behind-the-scenes activity designed to
make ends meet, at least until the pivotal dynamics of succession
brought worldly issues to the foreground. Events occurring after
the shaykh's death reflect the same kind of interpersonal dynam­
ics that one finds in families. In such cases the intensity of intra­
family quarreling corresponds to the wealth and power which is
at stake, and very little is forgotten. Naqshbandl sources, both
written and oral, retrospectively and briefly describe these transi­
tional periods in a very conciliatory fashion. An expose of the
pettiness of some sufi families could all too easily contribute to
undermining sufi authority in general, and during the troubled
times of British colonial India the sufis had enough problems al­
ready. In this milieu we find a new type of MujaddidI shaykh, a
mediating-shaykh who encouraged a love of the sufi guide that
dispensed with the need both for spiritual travel and for a
shaykh's focused spiritual attention.

85Muhammad IsmaTl, Maqamat-i sirajiyya, pp. 185-86 [additions mine],

“ Ibid., pp. 187-88. This latter confirmation was called a "practical consensus"
CamalT ijma'). Muhammad Ibrahim is not mentioned in the hagiographical work
of what used to be a subsidiary sufi lodge of Musa Zai at Khundian Sharif.
87Abu SaTd Ahmad, a disciple of Sirajuddln, was the first to preside at Khun­
dian independently of the authorities at Musa Zai. In 1941 a Deobandi, Muham­
mad ‘Abdullah, was chosen over his pir's three sons. For Abu SaTd Ahmad's last
testament declaring Muhammad ‘Abdullah as his successor, see Mahbubilahl,
Tithfa-yi sadiijyci, pp. 144-48. In 1954 Khan Muhammad, became the nonlineal
spiritual successor to his mentor.
CHAPTER 8

Mediational Sufism and Revivalist

Currents in British Colonial India

A tourist brochure published in 1985 reads as follows:

Muslim shrines and tombs of Sufi Saints represent Muslim culture [and]
traditions. . . . These Sufi Saints still rule over the hearts of Pakistanis
and Muslims of other countries. With the passage of time the number of
devotees has increased. The visit to shrines by millions of people every
year is an abiding testimony of their absolute and undisputed sway over
their followers and of their divine blessings emanating from their hal­
lowed graves.1

Since the nineteenth century some Indian Muslims have be­

come so distressed at the type of Islam described in this brochure
that they have formed organizations to contest sufism and the
mediatory role of the sufi shaykh. In colonial India the Naqsh-
bandiyya were already responding with revivalist initiatives as
institutional expressions of Naqshbandl authority shifted from
directing-shaykhs to mediating-shaykhs.2 The colonial revivalist
milieu during one of the most religiously volatile times in the
region had much to do with the development of mediational su­
fism. Mediational sufism is a perspective which posits shaykhs,
both living and deceased, who mediate between individual Mus­

'Ubaidullah Baig and A. A. K. Brohi, Journey into Light: An Instant Guide to

Devotional Tours, pp. 3-4.
2Based on research of colonial Panjab chapters 8-10 discuss post-1857 modern
developments representative of institutionalized sufism throughout Northern
India, including Sind and the United Provinces. For colonial Sind see Sara F.D.
Ansari's, Sufi Saints and State Power: The Pirs of Sind, 1843-1947; and for the United
Provinces see Farhan Nizami's, "Madrasahs, Scholars and Saints: Muslim Re­
sponse to the British Presence in Delhi and the Upper Doab 1803-1857."
lims and God (via Muhammad), the existence of a spiritual hier­
archy which is a function of how one is connected to Muhammad,
and a variegated religious topography of tomb-shrines which are
potent places to contact God.
Panjabi Islam was structured in a mediational pattern from the
beginning. The spread of Islam throughout the western Panjab
has been attributed to the efforts initiated by the grand sufi mas­
ters of the Chishtiyya and Suhrawardiyya, Baba Farid Ganj-i Sha-
kar (d. 664/1265) of Pakpattan and Baha’uddln Zakariya (d. 666/
1267) of Multan, respectively.3 Richard Eaton has argued that
conversion resulted in nomadic Jat tribes becoming agriculturists
while simultaneously adapting to the influences of Mughal gov­
ernment. This enabled the families and caretakers of the sufi
tomb-shrines to control intractable Jat groups by the sixteenth
century.4 Smaller, local shrines associated with villages or sub­
tribes augmented these major shrines creating, by the nineteenth
century, a Panjabi countryside dotted with graves of holy people.5
In the mind of the typical rural Panjabi, sufi shaykhs, whether
dead or alive, derive their palpable worldly authority from their
closeness to an utterly transcendent and distant God. These con­
nections to God enable sufis to intercede on behalf of the believer
in the same way that political and social relationships and inter­
actions in northern Indian society require the use of mediators
between various levels of the sociopolitical hierarchy. Communi­
cation between the spiritual and mundane realms is conceived in
an identical fashion. Sharafuddln Manerl of Bihar (d. 782/1381)
states that “the sheikhs are kings close to the King, and their re­
quests are acceptable to Him. All those who come to the sheikhs
and bind themselves to the sheikhs attain what they desire."6

T h e British gazetteers and census takers recorded that Muslims attributed their
conversions to these and other sufi notables. Thomas Arnold, in his Preaching of
Islam, and Murray Titus, in Indian Islam: A Religious History of Islam in India, both
relied upon these reports to support a counterargument refuting the conventional
European attitude that conversions in India resulted from force.
"Richard M. Eaton, “Approaches to the Study of Conversion to Islam in India,"
pp. 106-23. Eaton actually charts an inverse relationship between Muslim politi­
cal penetration, i.e., the sword, and conversion to Islam, citing the most dramatic
conversion rates in regions on the fringes of Indo-Muslim rule, eastern Bengal
and western Panjab. For conversion in Bengal, see Richard M. Eaton, The Rise of
Islam and the Bengal Frontier, 1204-1760.
"Rural Muslims, Sikhs, and Hindus not only frequented sufi lodges and Muslim
tombs (mazars) but minor sufi shrines (pTrkhanas), cremation sites of village ances­
tors (jatherds), and graves of Sikh and Hindu holy men (samadhis). See Harjot Ob-
eroi, The Construction of Religious Boundaries: Culture, Identity and Diversity in the
Sikh Tradition, p. 198.
"Sharafuddln Manerl, The Hundred Letters, p. 28.
 For many Indian Muslims, the activities associated with the
sufi shrines were their only contact with Islam, and they saw no
need to change their dress or lifestyle to differentiate themselves
from Hindus. To counter this tendency Ahmad Sirhindl had pio­
neered his Islamic revival movement and Shah Wallullah had
continued it.7 Both a master of the Islamic religious sciences and
a sufi, Shah Wallullah emphasized the study of hadith, becoming
a specialist in it (muhaddith). His sons, led by the hadith scholar
Shah ‘Abdul'azlz (d. 1239/1824), continued his work, which was
to influence most of the reform and revival groups during the
British colonial period.8 The most obvious legacy appears in the
idiom of religious polemics. By 1900 no argument justifying re­
vivalist sufism would be considered serious unless supported by
numerous Qur’anic and hadith citations, the more the better.9*In
addition, the majority of those who articulated these principles
of revivalist Islam and mediational sufism were, unlike Shah
Wallullah and his family, intentionally scattered in the towns
over North India—for very good reasons.
For 150 years before the 1857 rebellion notables had been mov­
ing out from the cities to the towns (Urdu, sing, qasba) as the
breakdown in central governmental authority allowed maraud­
ing bands of Afghans, Jats, and Marathas to loot the larger cities.
The relative calm of the towns allowed for more continuous and

^ i s revitalization process continues the original Islamization impetus in that

it seeks among other things to teach nominal Muslims appropriate Islamic ortho­
praxy and develop a more self-conscious Muslim identity. It tends to emphasize
personal authority of Muhammad and the Prophetic model rather than scriptural
authority. In this regard Ahl-i Hadith would be more of a reform (islfth) move­
ment, attempting to re-form Indian Islam in a radical way (in the sense of a com­
plete reconstruction) rather than in an incremental manner. Reformers tend to
stress the scriptural basis of authority to justify their religious perspectives.
8ChishtIs in the Panjab played an important role in revivalist activity. Khwaja
Sulayman (d. 1267—68/1850) of Taunsa, who established his sufi lodge in a remote
area of Dera Ghazi Khan near the Indus River, continued the work of revivalist
ChishtI Shah Kallmullah (d. 1142/1729). During British colonial rule the most
prominent revival shaykh of this sufi lineage, Mihr ‘All Shah (d. 1355-6/1937) of
Golra, extended the ChishtI revivalist influence over many western Panjabi tribal
leaders affiliated with the British administration. See David Gilmartin, Empire and
Islam: Punjab and the Making of Pakistan, pp. 56-59.
This has always been the case to some degree since the tenth century, but it
was exaggerated in British India. In Jama'at ‘All Shah's article, "Darurat-i mursh-
id," there are 29 scriptural proofs given to justify the need for a spiritual guide.
An argument frequently was clinched by having more citations than the oppo­
nent; see Barbara Metcalf, Islamic Revival in British India: Deoband, 1860-1900,
p. 308. Often these Qur’anic and hadith proofs were extremely strained, e.g., Ri-
sala-yi anwar al-sufiyya 7, no. 1, p. 16 [hereafter cited Risala 7.1.16]. Pagination is
very irregular in this journal.
dynamic cultural activities less influenced by political or eco­
nomic catastrophe.10 Towns scattered throughout northern India
sustained intellectual life and served as refuges for religious nota­
bles, both ulama and sufis.11
Living in towns did not always guarantee security. To the east
of Delhi, the nawwab of Rampur provided a refuge for Ahmad
SirhindTs descendants after the Sikhs had razed Sirhind in 1758.12
One of Ahmad Sard's successors, Irshad Husayn (d. 1311/1893—
94), whose sons later gave the Friday sermons at the Badshahl
Mosque in Lahore, had a lodge in Rampur. Fadlurrahman Ganj-
muradabadl (d. 1312-13/1895) and his successors provided spiri­
tual guidance to many ulama at Nadwat al-Ulama in Lucknow.13
In Kashmir, the descendants of Khawand Mahmud's fourth son,
Mulnuddln Hadl (d. 1085/1674-75), still represent the Naqsh-
bandiyya. Through this lineage, Husayn Shah (d. 1304/1886-87
Nepal) took the Naqshbandiyya to Nepal in the nineteenth cen­
tury.14 The Naqshbandiyya arrived in East Bengal via the efforts
of Sufi Nur Muhammad, whose grandfather shaykh was Shah
‘Abdul'azlz Dihlawl (d. 1239/1824), the son of Shah Wallullah.
Sufi Fath ‘All (d. 1293/1876), Ghulam SalmanI (d. 1330/1912),

,0The importance of these towns is reflected in the names of religious notables

who come from towns all over northern India, e.g., Sirhind, Ganj Muradabad,
Gangoh, Thanabhawan, Qusur, Bilgram, and Rae Bareilly.
"Farhan Nizami has provided a groundbreaking discussion of Muslim-domi­
nated towns (sing, (qasba) and their importance in Indian culture. See Nizami,
"Madrasahs, Scholars and Saints," pp. 37-42. In Delhi this trend was accentuated
after the 1857 revolt when the British eliminated the last outward symbolic traces
of the Mughal Empire. The effect on the Delhi ulama was devastating. David
Gilmartin writes, "Though many sajjadanishins kept their political influence in the
localities even after the Mughal collapse, the decline of the Mughals seemed for
the ulama at Delhi nothing less than a catastrophe. It signaled the disappearance
of the cultural axis around which the entire Indian Islamic system had devel­
oped." See Gilmartin, Empire and Islam, p. 53. Many Delhi ulama and sufis dis­
persed to small towns throughout the Panjab. Ulama and sufis often were the
same person. According to a two-volume biographical work of non-Barelwi
ulama in nineteenth- and twentieth-century Panjab, Saflr Akhtar, Tadhkira-yi
'ulama'-i Panjab, out of 173 ulama with a specified sufi affiliation, 42 percent were
Naqshbandis, 35 percent Chishtls, 20 percent Qadirts, and 2 percent Suhrawardls.
Naqshbandl ulama were more prominent (61 percent) among Lahori Barelwi
ulama.
12Personal communication, Professor Iqbal Mujaddidl. After the first Sikh take­
over of Sirhind in 1122/1710 the descendants of Ahmad Sirhindl fled to Delhi,
first taking refuge in the sufi lodges of Mlrza Mazhar Jan-i janan and Shah Wall­
ullah. See Ghulam 'All Shah, Maqdmat-i mazhari, pp. 49-50,191 n. 104.
13Metcalf, Islamic Revival, p. 344. See AbQ’l-Hasan All Nadwl, Tadhkira-yi Hadrat
Maulana Fadl Rahman Ganj MurddabadT (r).
uMiyan Akhlaq Ahmad, Tadhkira-yi Hadrat Ishdn, pp. 105-06.
and Sayyid 'Abdulbari (d. 1318/1901) continued the Naqshbandl
lineage in Bengal.15
The Northwest Frontier Province of present-day Pakistan,
which was included in the Panjab by the British until 1318-19/
1901, might have been a bastion of the Naqshbandiyya-
Mujaddidiyya if Jahangir had not forced Adam Banuri (d. 1053/
1644), a very popular shaykh among the Pathans, to leave India in
1052/1642-43. 'Abdurrahman Bahadur KilmI (d. 1340/1921-22),
Akbar Shah Bukhari (d. 1347/1928-29), and Hafiz ‘Abdullah (d.
1372-73/1952), the leading Naqshbandls of British colonial Pesh­
awar, received their spiritual guidance from Muhammad ‘Uth-
man of Musa Zai or from Muhammad Qasim (d. 1380/1960) of
Muhrah near Murray Hill Station.16 In the British colonial period,
two Naqshbandl lodges in the province continued to act as spiri­
tual magnets attracting disciples from Pathan tribes. Amir Kutla
Mulla Sahib (d. 1295/1878) established one lodge, located at
Kutla Manda Sharif in the Mardan district, while Muhammad
Husayn (d. 1315/1897-98) founded the other lodge at Zakura
Sharif near Dera Ismail Khan.17 The Naqshbandl presence in the
province at least from the middle of the nineteenth century has
been overshadowed by the Qadiriyya, which still predominates
there.
By the twentieth century, Naqshbandl centers were scattered
throughout northern India.18 In the Sind, Muhammad Ma'sum's

15Hamid Algar, "Brief History of the Naqshbandl Order," p. 26.

'"Muhammad Qasim is the spiritual descendant of Sirhindl's successor, Shah
Husayn, thirteen generations removed. For other the prominent Mujaddidls in
the Panjab and their genealogy, see figure 3.
17His spiritual grandson, Muhammad ‘Abdullatlf (d. 1398/1978), is known for
his involvement in the Pakistan Movement. Both Sayyid Amir and Muhammad
Husayn share the same spiritual genealogy as fifth-generation lineal descendants
of Ahmad SirhindT, Fadl-i Ahmad Faruql SirhindT, commonly called Hadrat Jlyu
(d. 1231/1815 in Peshawar) whose father died while fighting the Sikhs. See
Nizamuddln BalkhT Mazarl, Tuhfat al-murshid.
'"Swat was not a Naqshbandl center. The famous figure of Miyan ‘Abdulghafur
(d. 1292-93/1877), the Akhund of Swat, is variously described as a Qadirl or a
Naqshbandl. Amir Shah Qadirl in his Tadhkira-yi ‘ularna' wa-masha’ikh-i Sarhad,
p. 150, describes the Akhund as reaching perfection in the Qadiriyya and then
being successively initiated into the Naqshbandl, ChishtI, and Suhrawardl tariqas.
Fjazulhaqq QuddusI, in his Tadhkira-yi siifiya’-i Sarhad, p. 551, asserts that the Ak-
hund was a Naqshbandl. Hamid Algar, in his "Political Aspects of Naqshbandl
History," p. 136, also asserts that Miyan 'Abdulghafur was a Naqshbandl. Textu­
ally the Akhund's primary Qadirl affiliation (since he had both Qadirl and Naqsh­
bandl shaykhs) is confirmed by his most famous disciple, QadI Mahmud, a
QadirT. In Maqamat-i Mahmud, QadI Mahmud unambiguously describes the
Qadirl spiritual training received under the tutelage of his preceptor. See Ma'shOq
Yar Jang Bahadur, Maqamat-i Mahmud.
 0 50 100 150 200 km

The Panjab before 1901, including the present-day Northwest Frontier

Province (shaded)

great-grandson, ‘Abdurrahman MujaddidI (d. 1315/1897), emi

grated from Qandahar to Takhar, approximately thirty kilo
meters from Hyderabad, Sind. His principal successor,
Muhammad Hasan Khan (d. 1365/1946), moved the sufi lodge to
Tando Sa’indad, where it was more convenient to the railroad.19

,9Tando Sa’indad was a more accessible location two kilometers from the rail
road station at Tando Muhammad Khan. See Muhammad Iqbal Husayn NaTml,
In Baluchistan Muhammad Siddlq Mastungl (d. 1327/1909-10)
established a sufi lodge and school in Mastung.*20 In the neighbor­
ing region of Qandahar, political turbulence forced Dost Muham­
mad Qandaharl in 1266/1850 to relocate his lodge near the
village of Musa Zai, seventy kilometers from Dera Ismail Khan.21
His shaykh, Ahmad Sa'ld of Delhi, advised him to establish the
new sufi lodge in a place where both Panjabi and Pashtu were
spoken.22 Although there were some initial difficulties with the
neighboring Pashtu-speaking tribes, the remote sufi lodge at­
tracted disciples from Afghanistan, the Peshawar area, and the
Panjab.
Muhammad ‘Uthman (d. 1314/1896), Dost Muhammad's suc­
cessor, continued the NaqshbandT tradition at Musa Zai and in
1311/1893-94 had a new lodge built near Mianwali in the village
of Khundian, Panjab, to take advantage of the relatively moderate
climate there. Situated on the frontier between Pashto- and Pan­
jabi-speaking groups, the new, more accessible location contin­
ued to fulfill the mandate of his grandfather pir. The train station
at Khundian is about two kilometers from the sufi lodge. In com­
parison, the original sufi lodge at Musa Zai even today is a
bumpy thirteen-hour bus ride from Peshawar. His son and suc­
cessor, Sirajuddln (d. 1333/1915), spent his summers at the Khun­
dian lodge, and, through his teaching, the Naqshbandiyya spread
to Hyderabad, Sind.23 These two lodges, like those of the other
prominent Naqshbandls of this period, were located in villages.
(One exception is ‘Abdulkarlm [d. 1355/1936], whose lodge was
in Rawalpindi.)
In the environs of Lahore, Muhylddln Qusurl (d. 1270/1854)
carried on the teachings of Ghulam ‘All Shah.24* Ghulam NabI

Tadhkira-yi awliya-i Sindh, pp. 110-11, 190-92; and Ghulam Mustafa Khan, "The
Naqshbandi Saints of Sind."
20Muhammad Siddlq was a fourth-generation spiritual descendant of Faqlr-
ullah Shikarpurl (d. 1195/1781); see Muhammad Hasan Jan, Tadhkirat al-sulahd’ ft
baydn al-atiqiya\ p. 7, and Amlnullah ‘Alawl, "Khwaja Hajjl Muhammad Siddlq
Mastungl," pp. 233-44.
2lMuhammad Isma‘11, Mawdhib rahmdniyya ft fawd’id wa-fuyudat hadardt thaldtha
ddmdniyya: al-tajalliyat al-dostiyya, pp. 65-66.
“Mahbubilahl, Tuhfa-yi sa'diyya, pp. 40-42.
“Zawwar Husayn (d. 1400/1980) and his disciple, Dr. Ghulam Mustafa Khan,
two prolific Naqshbandi scholars from the Sind, are spiritual descendants of Siraj­
uddln.
24Ghulam ‘All Shah's sufi lodge was probably one of the most important Naqsh­
bandi centers in the world during his lifetime. In addition to Khalid al-Baghdadl,
who later spread the Naqshbandiyya throughout Arabia and Turkey, his other
three major successors were Muhylddln Qusurl (d. 1270/1854), Ghulam Nabl-
lillahi (d. 1306/1888), and Dost Muhammad Qandaharl (d. 1284/1868).
Lillahi (d. 1306/1888) set up his sufi lodge in the hinterlands of
Jhelum. Other disciples of Muhylddln Qusurl went on to estab­
lish their lodges in Dera Ismail Khan, Bhera, and Namak
Miyanl.25 Sher Muhammad Sharaqpurl (d. 1347/1928), a revival­
ist pir of the Arain biradart,26 attracted large numbers of disciples
to his lodge in Sharaqpur, located roughly forty kilometers from
Lahore. His most renowned disciples were Muhammad ‘Umar
Blrbali (d. 1387/1967), the editor of Sher Muhammad's recorded
discourses, Inqilab al-haqlqat, who later became the sajjadanishln at
his father's sufi lodge in the village of Blrbal in the Sargodha
district;27 Muhammad IsmaTl Kirmanwall (d. 1385/1966 in La­
hore), who received permission to teach disciples upon his first
meeting with Sher Muhammad; and Sayyid Nurulhasan Bukhari
Klliyanwall (d. 1373/1953), an ex-ShlT of the Gujranwala dis­
trict.28 Innumerable other Naqshbandls were scattered through­
out the Panjab, many of whose spiritual pedigrees could be
traced back to a handful of shaykhs in pre-1857 Delhi.
The British takeover of Delhi does not entirely explain why the
northern Panjab became the major center of Naqshbandl activity
in British India. In spite of the MujadiddI version of the Naqsh-
bandiyya rapidly adapting to the Indian environment after Sir-
hindl's death, it has never had mass appeal in the subcontinent.
The atmosphere in a Naqshbandl lodge, reflected in the strict Is­
lamic behavior of disciples, contrasts sharply with the festive at­
mosphere of rural Panjabi shrine practices that demanded little
from the visitor except a material contribution for services ren­
dered. Yet Naqshbandls shared a similar mediational paradigm
and would visit shrines themselves, e.g., those of Baha’uddln
Naqshband, MuTnuddln ChrishtI, or Ahmad Sirhindl. One factor
contributing to Naqshbandl success in the revivalist religious en­
vironment of rural colonial Panjab was the ability to bridge the
gap between the urban ulama and the activities associated with

“ Muhammad Ibrahim Qusun, Khaztna-yi marifnt, p. 61. These lodges were still
functioning in 1977.
“ Most Panjabis marry within their own birddarl or clan; the Arains were one of
these birddarTs, whom the British classified as an “agricultural tribe." See Gilmar-
tin, Empire and Islam: Punjab and the Making of Pakistan, pp. 89-95. For an analysis
of kinship systems in the Panjab, see David Gilmartin, "Biraderi and Bureaucracy:
The Politics of Muslim Kinship Solidarity in Twentieth Century Punjab."
27TawakkulI, Tadhkira-yi mashit’ikh-i naqshband, p. 550. Muhammad ‘Umar's
father was Ghulam Murtada Blrbali (d. 1321/1903), the spiritual grandson of
Muhylddln Qusun.
“ Muhammad ‘Umar Blrbali, Inqilab al-haqiqat. For information concerning Mu­
hammad lsma‘11, see Nur Ahmad Maqbul, Khaztna-yi karam, and for Nurulhasan,
see Munir Husayn Shah, Inshirdh al-sadur bi-tadhkirat al-nftr.
Panjabi sufi shrines. Mediational sufis, Naqshbandl or otherwise,
benefited to a large measure because of Ahmad Rida Khan's re­
form and revivalist activity.

Ulama Support

No one bolstered the Indian mediational type of sufism with

more scriptural citations than the erudite Ahmad Rida Khan Bar­
elwi, a prolific writer who produced thousands of legal opinions.
He wanted to give the predominantly rural practices of northern
Indian sufi shrines legitimacy in reformist terms, that is, legiti­
mizing its activities and worldview in terms of the Qur’an and
the hadith. His followers, the Barelwis, saw no contradiction be­
tween the reformist ideal of each Muslim behaving in conformity
to the Prophetic model and adherence to the beliefs and practices
of a predominantly rural, shrine-centered Islam.29 This legitimacy
enabled a mediational sufism to become increasingly popular in
the cities. It is this unique blend of predominantly rural shrine
activity and modern urban institutions that has produced the dis­
tinctive South Asian perspective on Islam and on sufi practice.
Ahmad Rida formulated an original Sunni prophetology to
support and enhance his mediational version of Islam. His opera­
ting principle was to develop beliefs and customs that would con­
siderably elevate the status of Muhammad and the sufis. Instead
of divine energy (fayd) from God, the Barelwis emphasize the
"Muhammadan light" (nur-i muhammadl) which existed from the
beginning of creation.30*They believe the Prophet to be present

29Ahmad Rida's followers identified themselves as "Ahl-i Sunnat wa-Jamacat"

(members of the rightly guided Sunni mainstream), but they became known to
outsiders as “Barelwis." Since many other communities also considered them­
selves “Ahl-i Sunnat wa-Jama'at," Barelwi is used here in a non-pejorative sense.
For the movement in general, see Metcalf, Islamic Revival, pp. 296-314, and for a
detailed treatment of Ahmad Rida Khan and the non-sufi aspects of his move­
ment, see Usha Sanyal, Devotional Islam and Politics in British India: Ahmad Riza
Khan Barelwi and His Movement, 1870-1920.
^The idea of the Muhammadan light was fully developed by the beginning of
the tenth century; see Annemarie Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions of Islam,
pp. 214-15. There are numerous apparent resemblances between Ahmad Rida's
emphasis' on the centrality of Muhammad and his lineal descendants (ahl-i bayt)
and Twelver Shl‘l concepts. Ahmad Rida arrived at his prophetology through
devotion to Muhammad and an ardent desire faithfully to imitate his Prophetic
example. Barelwis justified their practices and self-identity, which revolved
around the figure of Muhammad, by citing Sunni sources. To the extent that Bare­
lwi and Shi I positions overlapped it should be understood to be development
from two different traditions rather than “Shfl influence." See Sanyal, Devotional
Islam, pp. 212-16.
and observing (hadir wa-nazir) at all times and places; and that he
can be called upon whenever needed.31 According to the Barelwis
Muhammad has a comprehensive knowledge of the unknown
Cilm-i ghayb).32
Given this theological background, Ahmad Rida opposed the
Deobandis and other Muslim groups because they did not accord
Muhammad his status as a holy superman.33 For Ahmad Rida,
Medina, the city where the Prophet's tomb was located, was the
holiest place in the world, even more sacred than Mecca, the loca­
tion of the "House of God" (the Ka'ba). One of his verses says,

O pilgrims! come to the tomb of the king of kings

you have seen the Ka‘ba, now see the Ka‘ba of the Ka'ba.34

Anyone who decreased the glory of Muhammad in any way was

for Ahmad Rida guilty of infidelity to Islam (kufr). The Deo­
bandis, and any other ulama and sufis who venerated the
Prophet as a perfect but human model for human behavior, fell
far short of what Ahmad Rida considered proper love and adula­
tion of the Prophet.
Focusing all his love on Muhammad, Ahmad Rida considered
himself "Muhammad's slave" CAbd al-Mustafa)35 He put Mu­

3,The shorthand for this belief is the expression "O Messenger!" (Ya rasul). In
contemporary Pakistan it is not unusual to see Barelwis identifying themselves
by wearing green buttons with this written on them. Benazir Bhutto, not generally
considered a Barelwi but a ShlT, had this written on many of her campaign post­
ers in Lahore during the 1989 elections.
“ This notion was denounced by Shah IsmaTl Shahid (d. 1831) as associating
limited human knowledge with the knowledge that only God possesses (ishrak
fi'l-'ilm). See Shah Isma'll Shahid, Radd al-ishr&k, pp. 20-22.
33Ahmad Rida declared any person who did not share each detail of his proph-
etology to be an infidel in the same fashion that a person not adhering to each
article of the Sunni credal dogma CaqiCid) would be considered a non-Muslim.
Ahmad Rida defines numerous kinds of infidels in his Husdm al-haramayn, includ­
ing those following Mlrza Ghulam Ahmad, the leader of the Ahmadis who had
declared himself a prophet, and Deobandi leaders, Muhammad Qasim Nanau-
tawl, Rashid Ahmad GangOhl, and Ashraf ‘All T'hanawl. Ahmad Rida labeled the
latter three "Wahhabis." See Usha Sanyal, Devotional Islam, pp. 235-37. Deobandis
were a group of nineteenth-century revivalist ulama who supported a sufism de­
void of what they considered non-Islamic practices.
^Ibid., p. 157.
35Ibid., p. 156. This is how he often signed his name, yet another example of
the blurring of distinctions between God and the Prophet. Some Muslims might
consider this excessive devotion to the Prophet, since each believer is supposed to
be a slave of God. Ahmad Rida justified his pen name on the basis of Caliph
‘Umar's precedent.
Veneration and love of the Prophet, which had emerged very early in the Is-
hammad much “closer" to God, declaring that the Prophet was
not “other than God." 36 According to his formulation, only Mu­
hammad reaches God without intermediaries, so that on the Day
of Judgment all other prophets, ulama, and intimates of God will
be imploring him to intercede for them.37 Citing 'Abdulhaqq Mu-
haddith Dihlawl (d. 1052/1642) and the Egyptian poet, al-BusIri
(d. ca. 695/1296), Ahmad Rida declared: “Setting aside the claim
that Christians make [about Jesus being divine], you can say
whatever you wish in praise of the Prophet for there was no limit
to the Prophet's qualities."38 Thus the Prophet's knowledge also
included the five things mentioned in the Qur’an and hadith said
to be known only to God.39
If there were not ample evidence to the contrary throughout
Ahmad Rida's work, a reader seeing these passages out of context
might come to the conclusion that Ahmad Rida was equating
God and Muhammad. It would be more accurate to say that for
Ahmad Rida, God and Muhammad constituted a seamless real­
ity. Ahmad Rida said, “If his heart were to be broken into two
pieces it would be found that on one part would be inscribed the
first part of the kalima, 'There is no god but Allah,' and on the
other would be written the second half, 'And Muhammad is his
messenger.' “40 This same rapport between God and Muhammad
is expressed in Ahmad Rida's poetry:

The two worlds seek to please Allah

God seeks to please Muhammad
Muhammad is the threshold to Allah
Allah is the threshold to Muhammad
A vow was made for all time
to unite Khuda's [God's] happiness with Muhammad's.41

lamic tradition, were expressed through a poetic genre in India called nat during
the Mughal period; na't is still recited today in the vernacular languages of South
Asia. See Annemarie Schimmel's And Muhammad Is His Messenger: The Veneration
of the Prophet in Islamic Piety for a full treatment of these developments throughout
the Islamic world. Ahmad Rida discussed the Prophet's attributes in his legal
opinions (fataivd) and in conversations (malfuzat); he also composed an entire
dhvan of his own na‘t poetry, Hada'iq-i Bakhshish.
3*Sanyal, Devotional Islam, p. 154.
37Ibid.; p. 179.
-“Ahmad Rida, Malfuzdl, 2:58-59, cited in ibid., p. 153.
3VThese were knowledge of the Day of Judgment, of when it would rain, of the
sex of an unborn child, of what a person would earn the following day, and of
where one would die. Ahmad Rida's interpretation was that being known to God
did not imply that only God knew and the Prophet did not. See ibid., p. 180.
■“ Ahmad Rida, Malfuzat, 3:67, cited in ibid., p. 157.
4,Ahmad Rida, Hada'iq, p. 47, cited in Usha Sanyal, "In the Path of the Prophet:
 For the Barelwis exuberant praise of the Prophet is the touch­
stone of correct religious practice and belief, enabling them to
legitimize both weak hadiths, if they elevate Muhammad's stat­
ure, and innovations in practice, if they honor the Prophet.42 They
express their devotion in a typically Indian manner, paralleling
the practices of Indian bhaktas by writing love poetry, adorning
holy persons with flowers, and using rosewater and incense
when in their holy presence—a far cry from the paradigmatic
practices of Muhammad, an Arabian prophet that Ahl-i Hadith
members use as the exclusive criterion for appropriate Islamic
orthopraxy. These kinds of Indian devotional practices did not
usually trouble Deobandis, although such activities provoked se­
rious clashes between Barelwis and the Ahl-i Hadith.
During the British colonial period, the Ahl-i Hadith vehe­
mently denied the institutions of sufism and any notions that
there could be intermediaries between God and the believer.
Ahl-i Hadith challenged the customary Indian Islamic ethos and
associated practices, making it one of the most radical groups of
Indian ulama.43 They categorically excluded all later develop­
ments in Islam,44 thereby declaring both medieval schools of ju­
risprudence and sufism, institutions which had guided Muslims
for a millennium, to be superfluous. Emphasizing a direct and
literal interpretation of the Qur’an and hadith, the Ahl-i Hadith
believed that each Muslim could derive guidelines for ritual per­
formance and for life situations from these original sources. Ex­
periencing God, a sufi goal, was for them not a proper Muslim
goal. Although never very popular, this group's relatively few
adherents came from the elite who did not mind that Ahl-i Ha­
dith ulama rejected both the traditional Indian Sunni Hanafl rit­
ual observances (by reciting "amln" out loud [dmin bfl-jahr] and
raising their hands [raf al-yadayn] in prayer) and the customary
master-disciple relationships.45

Maulana Ahmad Riza Khan Barelwi and the Ahl-e Sunnat wa Jama‘at Movement
in British India, c.1870-1921," pp. 182-83 (brackets and diacritics mine).
42Ibid., pp. 348, 448. It is this mode of thinking that justified admirable innova­
tions (sing, bida t al-hasana) since it is not against general proof (dalTl ‘Smm) and
leads one to the shari'a and practice of the sunna. See Ahmad Sa'ld, Bi’l-fawa'id
al-dabita fT ithbat al-rabita, pp. 16-31, where visualization of the shaykh is justified
as an admirable innovation. General proof in this context most likely means com­
munity consensus.
43Metcalf, Islamic Revival, pp. 268-96.
“ The Ahl-i Hadith are forced to include the first three centuries of Islam be­
cause of their reliance on the canonical tenth-century hadith collections.
45There is no reliable information on how many people claimed to be Ahl-i
Hadith followers. According to Muhammad Ja'far T'hanesarfs Tawarikh-i ‘ajibdn,
 In 1867 a group of ulama founded a Dar al-'Ulum at Deoband
to propagate a shari'a-minded revivalist/reformist Islam.46 The
Deobandi orientation emphasized adherence of individuals to Is­
lamic behavioral norms just as Sirhindl and his spiritual succes­
sors had been urging for the past three centuries. In contrast to
the popular mediational Islam centered on practices around sufi
shrines and annual shrine celebrations, Deobandis conceived of
religious leaders as teachers of Islamic religious duties and exem­
plars of the Prophetic sunna for the common people. Although
the Deobandi leadership pattern challenged the basis of the pre­
dominantly rural sufi mediational style of religious authority,
Deobandi teachers shared much in common with their nonre­
formist brethren. Deobandi ulama thought of themselves primar­
ily as legal consultants (muftis) while also acting as sufi shaykhs
to their students.
Each religious scholar at Deoband functioned as a directing-
shaykh, training and shaping morals and outward behavior of
disciples in accordance with the shari'a and the Prophetic ideal.
One noteworthy Deobandi teacher, ChishtI Rashid Ahmad Gan-
gohl (d. 1322-23/1905), developed relationships with disciples
that were oriented toward individual instruction and counseling,
in contrast to the mediational style of rural shaykhs who met with
large groups of disciples. The goal was not to intercede for the
disciple or to transmit information from religious books, but to
train and educate each disciple in such a way as to transform
character and subdue the ego (nafs).
Like other sufi shaykhs, Rashid Ahmad taught his disciples to
love and emulate him, stressing the need for an affinity (munasa-
bat) in the heart between the spiritual mentor and disciple. He
did not hesitate to visit the tombs of spiritual forebears, for exam­
ple, that of Ahmad Sirhindl or other renowned sufis. Rashid
Ahmad Gangohl's disciples compared their shaykh's speech to
that of Muhammad, while Muhammad Qasim NanautawTs (d.
1294/1877) contemporaries continually compared him to the

there were only ten Wahhabis in the Panjab in 1861; by 1879 a quarter (!) of the
Muslims "were followers of Muhammad Isma'll," cited in AbQ’l-Hasan Zayd
FarQql, MaulanS Isma'U awr Taqwiyat al-Tmdn, p. 10. According to a 1979 report
conducted by the Pakistani Ministry of Religious Affairs on religious schools in
Pakistan, 354 were Deobandi, 267 Barelwi, 126 Ahl-i Hadith, and 41 Shl‘1. There
were no figures on how many students were in each school, so the relationship
between schools and popularity of a religious perspective is difficult to establish.
See P Lewis, Pirs, Shrines and Pakistani Islam, p. 83.
^Metcalf, Islamic Revival, pp. 157-83. Unless otherwise noted I am relying on
Metcalf's treatment of Deobandis in this section.
Prophet. When Muhammad Qasim heard the Prophet's name he
would tremble. Like other modern Indo-Muslim disciples, Nanau-
tawT's disciples considered themselves his lovers. Indeed, those
who knew the teachers and shaykhs of Deoband would say that
to see their faces was to "be reminded of God."47 Although the
Deobandis and the Barelwis appeared to oppose each other, they
had much in common.
The Deobandis specialized in formulating legal judgments (fa-
taiva) which propagated their reformist ideas and reinforced the
status quo of following the legal school of Abu Hanlfa, the legiti­
macy of which was continually being contested by the Ahl-i Ha-
dith. Through these legal decisions Deobandi ulama clarified in
a practical fashion their credal critique of the Ahl-i Hadith and
ShlTs and discouraged what they considered to be un-Islamic
customs, e.g., elaborate death anniversary celebrations at the
graves of sufis, monthly gyarhivifi (literally, eleventh) celebrations
on the eleventh day of each Islamic month commemorating ‘Abd-
ulqadir al-Jllanl (d. 561/1166), sufi music assemblies (sama'), spe­
cial pilgrimages to sufi shrines, and solicitations for the assistance
of deceased sufis, who could hear supplications at any time or
place. Since the Barelwis considered all of these practices compat­
ible with the Prophetic sunna and the Deobandis did not, the two
groups spent much of their time fighting each other.48
One source of friction between the Deobandis and the Barelwis
was their conflicting idea of the spiritual mentor's role: the Deo­
bandis were directing-shaykhs and the Barelwis were mediating-
shaykhs. For Deobandis the shaykh was an educator and an
exemplar of moral character and piety, while for the Barelwis
the shaykh was an intercessor and patron. The implications for
disciples were manifold. The Deobandis expected the disciple to
make an effort to transform his or her character and insisted on
individual accountability in religious matters. A Deobandi disci­
ple yielded his or her ego in loving obedience to the shaykh in
addition to practicing spiritual exercises under his guidance. In
contrast, the Barelwis placed considerably less stress on the disci­
ples' personal responsibility and regarded a disciple's spiritual
growth as depending on the intercession of the shaykh, which in
turn was tied to the intercession of Muhammad. The Barelwis

47Ibid., p. 179.
48For a more comprehensive view of what Deobandi reformers considered to
be un-Islamic, particularly among women, see Barbara Metcalf's translation of
Maulana Ashraf'AlI T'hanawl's BihishtT zSwar—Perfecting Women: Maulana Ashraf
Ali Thanawi's Bihisht-i Zewar: A Portia/Translation with Commentary.
considered a direct approach to God to be a sign of arrogance, an
insult to Muhammad and his heirs, being a foolish rejection of
the means God had provided to become close to Him.

Voluntary Associations in the Panjab

After 1880 the religious milieu of the Panjab was increasingly

stirred up by various Hindu and Sikh reformist and revivalist
movements as well as Muslim ones.49 The alarming success of
Christian missionary activity,50 initiated by the American Presby­
terians in November 1849 after the British conquest of the Panjab,
was one reason for it. Christian missionary endeavors began to
show results in the 1880s: the 3,912 Christian converts in 1881
had increased 410 percent by 1891 to total 19,750.51 Although this
represented a minuscule proportion (.08 percent) of the popula­
tion, Muslim, Hindu, and Sikh groups perceived these conver­
sions to be a harbinger of the fate that would befall them.
Conversion had symbolic socioeconomic and political repercus­
sions far beyond the numbers in the British decennial census. As
each religious community was tallied according to geographical
and social/caste affiliation, a community's triumph or decline
was registered in the census figures.52
Lahore was the Panjabi center for Hindu and Muslim revivalist
publications because of its role as the British administrative cen­
ter. The city's population increase from 100,000 in 1860 to 430,000
in 1931 resulted from an influx from the countryside, as well as
Panjabis seeking in English education to qualify for employment
in the colonial administration.53 This Indian-educated class, in­
creasingly communicating in the language and cultural expres­
sions of the British, adopted British organizational styles and
modern forms of communication such as newspapers and jour­
nals. Among Indian groups, the Hindus pioneered these volun­
tary associations, which Urdu speakers called anjumans, in

49See Oberoi's Construction of Religious Boundaries.

50See Avril A. Powell, Muslims and Missionaries in Pre-Mutiny India.
5,Kenneth W. Jones, Arya Dharm: Hindu Consciousness in 19th-Century Punjab
p. 10.
52In 1923 the Anjuman-i Khuddam as-Sufiyya began recording their numerical
successes with names (non-Muslim and Muslim) in their journal RisSla-yi anwcir
al-sufiyya; see 19.10.20. This practice continued at least through 1925. See also
Arjun Appadurai, “Number in Colonial Imagination."
53Gilmartin, Empire and Islam, pp. 76-77.
imitation of the British.54 In 1884 Muslims formed their own vol­
untary association, the Anjuman-i Himayat-i Islam, to defend
Muslim interests against Christian missionary and Hindu Arya
Samaj attacks. It published pamphlets and journals to counter po­
lemic tracts by other religious communities and established Is­
lamic high schools and the Islamia College in Lahore to promote
an Islamic education and to prepare students for jobs in the Brit­
ish civil-service system.55
The development of these voluntary associations in the 1880s
coincided with the appearance of an English-speaking Indian
middle class who were politically very powerful. These first En­
glish-speaking, college-educated Panjabis were neither rooted in
the ideals and paradigms of the past nor totally at ease with the
fast pace of change and innovation brought by the British. Mem­
bership in these voluntary organizations represented one mani­
festation of a cross-cultural phenomenon that allowed the elites
of all religious communities to be swept along by British modern­
izing influences. By the turn of the century anglicized Panjabis
had created a novel cross-cultural synthesis with corresponding
organizations that would transform the Panjab and dramatically
alter their perceptions and lifestyles.
Panjabis fashioned the voluntary organization, called variously
sabha, samaj, club, anjuman, or society, to conform to their new
Indian middle-class life. With them British forms of organization
hitherto alien to Panjabi culture, complete with annual meetings,
officers, budgets, executive committees, reports, appeals, and
fund raising, were adapted wholesale into Indian life. The organi­
zations generated by these societies included schools, libraries,
orphanages, and presses, all of which reached significant num­
bers of Panjabis for whom English was still a foreign language.
Finally, voluntary organizations, in addition to providing a con­
venient way to meet other educated men, had the potential to act

MDr. G. W. Leitner, soon after becoming the principal of the newly organized
Government College, founded the Anjuman-i Panjab in 1865. The British formed
the Anjuman-i Islamiyya in 1869 in Lahore to administer the Badshahl Mosque
and encourage Muslim loyalty to British rule.
55Gilmartin, Empire and Islam, p. 77. The Arya Samaj opened its Dayanand
Anglo-Vedic High School in 1886. See Kenneth Jones, Arya Dharm, pp. 67-93.
Muslim anjumans proliferated in the first few decades of the twentieth century.
Jama'at ‘All's Anjuman-i Khuddam, as-Sufiyya was one of the most prominent in
the Panjab. Others include Anjuman-i Mustashar al-‘Ulama’ (Risala 4.1.9), Anju-
man-i Khuddam-i Musulman in Jhang (Risala 4.6.40), Anjuman-i Hanafiyya (.Ri­
sala 10.3.25 and 21.3.1), and Anjuman-i Nasir at-Ta‘llm headed by Jama'at ‘All
(Risala 10.4.12). For detailed coverage of early Muslim anjumans see Edward D.
Churchill, "Muslim Societies of the Punjab, 1860-1890."
as a support group, an alternate tribal-kinship network (biradan)
parallel to family and other social networks.56 There were other
Indo-Muslims who absolutely would not compromise with non­
Muslim British cultural differences; revivalist sufis often fit in this
category and at times even deliberately highlighted these religio-
cultural divergences.

Indo-Muslim Identity

For revivalist Naqshbandls defending sufism was the equivalent

to preserving Islamic identity in the face of this anglicizing trend
brought about by British political dominance, Christian mission­
aries, Hindu revivalism, and the Ahmadis, a group led by the
self-proclaimed prophet, Ghulam Ahmad.57 Some Indian Mus­
lims formed voluntary associations; others concentrated on main­
taining (and making others aware of) their Islamic identity
through what they considered the total observance of the Pro­
phetic sunna. Outward behavior reflected what Indian Muslims
perceived as a deeper spiritual malaise which was either caused
or accelerated by British colonial rule. For Naqshbandls and other
juristic sufis of the time, following the sunna was a religious obli­
gation. Neglect of any aspect of this Prophetic imitation indicated
a grievous lack of respect to the Prophet himself. Ultimately, to
follow the sunna was to observe the correct etiquette toward God
and achieve a very tangible connection with Him. A person fol­

note in the margin of an article Risala-yi amodr al-sufiyya had a thirty-year-

old disciple of Jama'at ‘All advertising for a marriage partner; see Risdla 20.4.3.
This was not only unusual for Muslim Panjabi society of the 1920s but it was
atypical for the journal. Now, such advertisements appear regularly in Lahore
newspapers.
’7One article of credal dogma accepted for over a millennium by the Sunni
community declared Muhammad to be the last prophet. The Muslim community
defined a Muslim by his or her acceptance of all statements of the creed. Rejecting
even one statement automatically made a person a non-Muslim. It was on these
grounds that nineteenth-century Sunni Indian ulama declared Ahmadis not to be
Muslims, a decision confirmed in 1974 by the Pakistani Parliament. The practice
of Western scholars is to recognize any group as Muslim that defines itself as
Muslim/See Yohanan Friedmann's Prophecy Continuous: Aspects of Ahmadi Reli­
gious Thought and Its Medieval Background. In 1922 Jama'at ‘All issued an edict
(farman) declaring that each knowledgeable Muslim, especially if initiated into a
sufi lineage, has a religious obligation (fard) vigorously to propagate Islam so that
Muslims would not convert to Hinduism; see Risdla, 19.8.14. Nine years earlier
Jama at All had spoken out against Ahmadis, accusing them of causing Muslims
to become infidels and demanding that they use separate mosques. See Risdla
10.5.7.
lowing the Prophetic sunna was sancified by the love of the
Prophet.58
Sher Muhammad (d. 1347/1928), based in a small village forty
kilometers outside Lahore, expected all those coming to his sufi
lodge to comply with the sunna from "head to foot." Any Mus­
lim coming into his presence and not looking like a Muslim in
appearance, with the proper head covering for men—which in­
cluded a cap with a turban wound around it—would be severely
reprimanded.59 If people came into his presence bareheaded he
would put a rimless cap on their heads so they would minimally
comply with the sunna. If they came wearing a hat he would ask
them why they were not wearing a turban Cimama).60
Sher Muhammad accused the British of corrupting Muslims
and spoke out against English shoes, English haircuts, and En­
glish food.61 Since such Christian customs were against the sunna,
he accused Muslims adopting English clothes or hairstyles of
looking like Christians.62 The following anecdote reveals the kind
of collisions encountered by well-educated English-speaking In­
dian Muslims when they visited Sher Muhammad:

When [Sher Muhammad] saw their clean-shaven faces and their close-
cut English haircuts he would ask, "Do your fathers look like this— with
no beard and hair? Do you consider your fathers' appearance to be bad
looking? Our Sikh brothers do not act like this." [Sher Muhammad], ad­

“ Blrball, Inqildb al-haqiqat, pp. 30-33.

^Ibid., p. 27.
“ Ibid., p. 28. According to the HanafI school, which almost all South Asian
Sunnis follow, it is reprehensible (makruh) for men to pray without some kind of
head covering. As a result there are often baskets of thatched rimless caps at the
door of mosques for use during prayer. It is also impolite in Indo-Pakistan for a
man not to cover his hair when in the presence of a sufi shaykh. A handkerchief
is the minimum acceptable covering and a cap with a turban is the most pre­
ferred. Wearing a turban as a mark of following the sunna has also been strongly
advocated by the leaders of the modern TabllghI Jama'at movement.
"Muhammad ‘All, a successor of revivalist ChishtI SulaymSn Taunsawl, who
had a sufi lodge in Khayrabad, expressed displeasure at any Muslim wearing
European shoes since it was a part of Christian culture; see Nizami, "Madrasas,
Scholars, and Saints," p. 98. The symbolically charged nature of dress also af­
fected the British, who for a time did not allow non-Christian Indians to wear
European shoes; see J. S. Jha, ed., Imperial Honeymoon with Indian Aristocracy,
pp. 425-36. Shah Wallullah and later Shah ‘Abdul'azlz were two of the first to
stress the importance of dress as a symbol of Islamic identity. See Nizami, "Ma­
drasas, Scholars, and Saints," p. 179. At Kakori Sharif (near Lucknow) Shah Habib
Haidar (d. 1935) disliked hearing English words in his sufi lodge. See Claudia
Liebeskind, "Sufism, Sufi Leadership and 'Modernization' in South Asia since
c. 1800," p. 329.
“ Blrball, Inqilab al-haqiqat, pp. 28-36.
dressing the others in the group, asked how this act had been perpe­
trated on them [the English-educated Muslims] and what had happened
to Muslims___ "Do not Sikhs find jobs? It is a sad thing that they shave
and cut the hair of Muslim prisoners but leave the Sikhs alone. The En­
glish also have come to know that Muslims are fainthearted in their reli­
gion." Then [Sher Muhammad] would ask how many years they had
studied English. They would answer fifteen or sixteen years. When he
asked them what bism illah meant they did not know. . . . "There is noth­
ing they do not know in English, but they read the blessed Qur’an with­
out understanding [a word]. Everyone knows the English laws but no
one is informed of God's laws.. . . Now you have become English. Now
your attestation of faith is T here is no g o d but G od an d the E nglish a re the
m essen gers o f G od.” 63

The story would end with English-educated Muslims repent­

ing. If they came back again, they returned wearing a beard and
conscientiously performing their ritual prayers. At that point Sher
Muhammad would carefully observe their behavior and write
prescriptions like those of a practitioner of Greek medicine
(hakim). After this, Qur’anic verses in harmony with each individ­
ual's character would be given for recitation after each prayer.
When the person was ready, he or she would be initiated and
learn the first Naqshbandl dhikr, the continual repetition of
"Allah."64
In this chaotic religious environment a valid BakrI connection
to Muhammad no longer sufficed to legitimize Naqshbandl au­
thority. For most Naqshbandls the British were many levels re­
moved from their day-to-day life.65 A much more immediate

“Muhammad Ibrahim QusGrI, KhazTna-yi ma'rifat, p. 122.

“ Blrball, Inqilab al-haqfqat, p. 42.
“Naqshbandls and other Indian sufis still continued educational activities to
defend a mediational Islam and to counter modern British educational models,
which had inspired Sayyid Ahmad Khan to have the Muhammadan Anglo-Indian
College at Aligarh become the "Muslim Oxford University." Two Naqshbandl
groups set up religious schools, the Dar al-'Ulum Abldiyya Naqshbandiyya near
Dera Ghazi Khan in 1922 and the Madrasa-yi ‘Arabiyya Sa'diyya at the Khundian
sufi lodge near Mianwali in 1917. See Nadhr Ahmad, Ja'iza-yi madaris-i ‘arabiyya
maghribi pakistan, pp. 27-29, 120-21, 351-52. Since independence five more
Naqshbandl Arabic schools have been established: Madrasa-yi Naqshbandiyya
(1951) ih Qusur, Panjab; Jami'a-yi Naqshbandiyya Mujaddidiyya Fayd La Than!
(1966) in Raiwind, Panjab; Jami'a-yi Naqshbandiyya Ridwiyya Fayd Mustafa
(1960) in Pakpattan, Sahiwal; Dar al-'UlQm Naqshbandiyya Ridwiyya (1952) in
Sangla Hal, Shaykhpura; and Dar al-‘UlGm Mujaddidiyya (1970) in Tanda, Gu­
jarat. All except the first declared a Hanafi-BarelwT affiliation; see ibid., pp. 55,63,
174, 209, 225-26. Following the Deobandi model, a network of Barelwi schools
began in Lahore with Dar al-'Ulum Nu'maniyya (named after Aba HanTfa and
founded in 1304-5/1887) and Dar al-'Ulum Hizb al-Ahnaf (founded in 1342-43/
threat was that of scripturalist-minded groups like the Ahl-i Ha-
dith, who defined religious authority solely on the basis of the
Qur’an and authoritative hadith collections. Their alternative or­
thodoxy simply did not recognize the validity of traditional law
schools and sufism. Indeed, this not only put Naqshbandl and
other sufi authority in jeopardy, but caused them to react as if the
quintessence of Islam itself was endangered.
The Naqshbandls responded by declaring that allegiance to a
sufi pir was incumbent upon each Muslim. In this fashion, late
nineteenth- and twentieth-century Naqshbandl revivalist shaykhs
justified themselves in Islamic legal terminology by declaring (1)
inner knowledge Cilm-i batin) to be a religious obligation (fard),
(2) the search for the Way to be legally incumbent (wajib), and
(3) the initiation ceremony (bay'a) by a spiritual guide to be an
exemplary model (sunna) of the Prophet and his Companions.66
Interpreting the sufi shaykh as the literal heir of the Prophet,
Naqshbandls never ceased to remind their disciples that they
must obey the spiritual mentor in the same unquestioning fash­
ion as the Companions were said to have complied with Muham­
mad's decisions. That such exhortations were necessary indicated
that many were questioning sufi authority. Undoubtedly many
did visit sufi lodges but it is unlikely that this was a result of
coercion. Instead, the need to make sufi initiation a religious obli­
gation suggests that the sufis' charismatic authority had seriously
eroded. Typically the decision to pursue the sufi path, as in other
supererogatory Islamic practices, had been left up to each indi­
vidual. However, for that small number with the spiritual capac­
ity, sufi practice had been considered obligatory.67 The mediatory

1924), both of which received direct financial support from revival pirs. For fur­
ther information on Dldar ‘All Alwarl (d. 1353-54/1935), khalifa and student of
Naqshbandl FadlurrahmSn Ganjmuradabadl and the founder of the Dar al-‘Ulum
of the Hizb al-Ahnaf, see Sanyal, Devotional Islam, pp. 80-81. Naqshbandl Jama'at
‘All Shah provided teachers (all of whom were his disciples) in addition to sup­
porting these schools financially. See Iqbal Ahmad Faruql, Tadhkira-yi ahl-i sunnat
wa-jamfi'at Lfihur (Lahore: Maktaba-yi Nabawiyya, 1987), p. 272, and Gilmartin,
Empire and Islam, pp. 60-61. Of 23 prominent sufi-affiliated Barelwi ulama in Brit­
ish colonial Lahore, 14 were Naqshbandls, 6 Chishtls, and 3 Qadiris. See Faruql,
Tadhkira-yi ahl-i sunnat.
“ It is understood in a revivalist milieu that following the Prophetic model is a
religious obligation. Hidayat ‘All JaipQrl in his Mi'yfir al-suluk, p. 26, emphasizes
this formulation, attributing it to QadI Thana’ullah Panlpatl.
67Within the Naqshbandiyya making sunna practices incumbent (wfijib) was
standard practice. One Naqshbandl shaykh, Sher Muhammad (d. 1347/1928),
even declared mustahabb practices to be required. See Blrball, Inqilfib al-haqiqat,
p. 39. This type of orthopraxical attitude is consistent with the Naqshbandiyya
since they do not give permission (rukhsa) to bend the dictates of HanafI jurispru-
sufism of colonial India became a "movement," a reified entity
rather than a spiritual lineage with which one connected in a cir­
cumscribed context. What had become obligatory for the few
under the aegis of a directing-shaykh now became obligatory for
all with the mediating-shaykh.
Twentieth-century arguments cited Shah Wallullah, who had
declared bay'a to be sunna,68 and QadI Thana'ullah Panlpatl (d.
1225/1810), who interpreted Qur’an 3:102—"O those who be­
lieve! Piously perform your obligations to God in a reverent man­
ner"'—to mean that Muslims should avoid everything not
pleasing to God. One's inner and outer character (akhlaq) and
dogma Caqa’id) should perfectly reflect piety (taqwa).69 From this,
Panlpatl concludes that seeking the path (talab-i tariqat) in order
to achieve inner perfection is religiously incumbent upon each
Muslim because piety is inconceivable without intimacy with
God (wilayat). He also uses Qur’an 49:13, "The noblest of you in
the sight of God is the one whose conduct reflects the most fear of
God," to justify the assertion that cultivating piety is a religious
obligation.70 Perfect piety is not possible to attain without devel­
oping one's subtle entities (latifas), which in turn depends upon
the acquisition of inner knowledge Cilm-i batin). Enhancing this
latter quality, according to Panlpatl, is a Muslim's religious obli­
gation, since God ordered Muhammad to say, "My Lord! In­
crease me in knowledge" (Q. 20:114).71 Concluding the argument,
Panlpatl mentions that the search for the perfect and perfection-
bestowing pir therefore becomes necessary, since few can arrive
near God without the intermediary (tawassul) of a spiritual
guide.72

dence. This latter point is one more aspect of Naqshbandl identity which Naqsh-
bandls use to justify their superiority over other sufi lineages.
“Shah Wallullah, Al-qawl al-jamll, p. 18.
69QadI Thana ullah Panlpatl, Irshfid al-talibln p. 21. I have purposely translated
this Qur’anic verse in the way Panlpatl has interpreted it while not ignoring its
original meaning. The context for Q. 3:102 is the so-called “Constitution of Me­
dina" and the verb ittaqa, often later associated with being pious or God-fearing,
which in the original context had a meaning closer to “honorably discharging
obligations" or “keeping oneself to a contract" in the new tribal alliance at Me­
dina. See R. B. Serjeant, “The Constitution of Medina," p. 12, and "The Sunnah
Jamfah, Pacts with the Yathrib Jews, and the Tahrim of Yathrib: Analysis and
Translation of the Documents Comprised in the So-called 'Constitution of Me­
dina, pp. 21-23, both in his Studies in Arabian History and Civilization chapters 5
and 6.
70PanIpatI, Irshad al-talibXn, p. 22.
7lIbid., pp. 22,31.
^Ibid., p. 23. Zawwar Husayn (d. 1400/1980), writing over one century later,
repeats Panlpatl's argument and then proceeds to justify the institution of initia-
 The presuppositions of PanlpatTs declaration of sufi orthodoxy
involve the necessity of "connecting to God" via an inner trans­
formation involving the mediation of a spiritual guide instead of
relying solely on transmitted religious knowledge, a scriptural
connection. In other words, connecting to Muhammad via many
sources of authority makes a person a better Muslim. The sufism
that PanTpatl describes is clearly not the mediational sufism de­
clared obligatory a century later. Many Naqshbandls of the Pan­
jab, by the first decades of the twentieth century, had ceased to
be directing-shaykhs and had already adopted the practice of
choosing their lineal descendants as their principal spiritual
heirs. Such practices often meant that the lineal successor did not
possess the minimum qualifications expected of a spiritual guide,
especially the ability to project spiritual power (tawajjuh). If Mu­
hammad 'Umar Blrball's (d. 1387/1967) observations of twenti­
eth-century sufis are correct, very few sufis achieved an ability to
go beyond an elementary level of dhikr.73 When hereditary succes­
sion becomes the norm, thereby curtailing spiritual practice even
more, one can expect a corresponding modification in the role
and authority of the Naqshbandl sufi shaykh. This is exactly what
happened as mediating-shaykhs replaced directing-shaykhs.

tion (bay1a) in the same fashion as Shah Waliullah before him; see Umdat al-suluk,
pp. 30-37.
^Blrball, Inqilab al-haqtqat, pp. 70, 73-74.
CHAPTER 9

Redefining the Shaykh's Role in the

Naqshbandl Sufi Tradition

In the p ir’s m ajesty an d his blessed fa c e are all o f G o d ’s inner an d ou ter benefits.
Hafiz Nur ‘All,
pensioner District Judge and disciple of Jama'at ‘Ali Shah

V isualization o f the p ir has created the heart's m irror.

V isualization o f the p ir has ru bbed ou t the blackn ess o f the heart.
From this it is easy to see the fa c e o f the M essen ger in the heart.
V isualization o f the p ir is m eetin g G od A lm ighty. . . .
Munawwar Husayn, "Tasawwur-i shaykh"

The media ting-shaykh reflects a new form of Naqshbandl per­

sonal authority, a mediational sufism radically departing from
the symbols and practices of directing-shaykhs and indicating a
paradigm shift which fundamentally alters what earlier Naqsh-
bandls conceived to be sufism.1The mediating-shaykh as the sole
intermediary between the Prophet and believers dramatically
contrasts with Naqshbandl directing-shaykhs who taught disci­
ples how they themselves could arrive near God and manipulate
supernatural power. Yet these kinds of mediatory roles were not

'This is not to say that there have not been any Naqshbandl mediating-shaykhs
before the twentieth century. Sufis have typically functioned as implicit, if not
explicit, mediators between heaven and earth but this has been in combination
with their role as directing-shaykhs. One cannot comment on the vast majority of
Naqshbandls throughout history who, by an absence of written sources, have
remained effectively anonymous. (Did they refrain from writing because they
were mediating-shaykhs?) If I had not had access to twenty years of Jama'at ‘All's
monthly magazine, the kind of information necessary to establish him as a medi­
ating-shaykh would not have been available.
new to hereditary shrine-shaykhs and caretakers of sufi shrines
in northern India.2 Hereditary shrine-shaykhs specialized in
"passing on messages to God" instead of guiding and educating
their disciples in spiritual travel. Although sharing overlapping
conceptual frameworks of mediation, the Naqshbandl mediating-
shaykh used a different idiom than his hereditary shrine-shaykh
counterpart.
Naqshbandl mediating-shaykhs reformulated spiritual prac­
tices to emphasize love; the goal itself became love. With love of
the pir, everything else, including salvation, followed. Only love
could traverse the ever-increasing hierarchical distance between
a seeker and an ever-remote shaykh. Paradoxically, as Muham­
mad and God appeared to be going further away from a believer
on an outward trajectory, love drew them closer on a returning
arc into the heart of the believer. This devotionalism, or bhakti (not
a term used by Naqshbandls), attracted many English-educated
Muslims, who had been the group most influenced by the radi­
cally changed social conditions of colonial India. A new expres­
sion of Naqshbandl religiosity came into being, replete with a
modern, English-inspired organizational style, a monthly maga­
zine, and shaykhs who traveled thousands of kilometers a year
on the new Indian railway.
Jama'at ‘All, who earns the distinction of being the most re­
nowned Naqshbandl revivalist pir of the colonial period, was a
paradigmatic mediating-shaykh. Like ChishtI Mihr ‘All Shah, he
had been educated among the leading reformist ulama, yet he
strongly advocated the popular mediatory Islam of the rural Pan­
jab that coincided more often than not with the Barelwi perspec­
tive.3 He created an organization, the Anjuman-i Khuddam as-

2The most popular shrine in nineteenth-century western Panjab was that of

SakhI Sarvar, not a sufi but presumably a Muslim (the shrine attendants are Mus­
lim). See O. R Ralhan and Suresh K. Sharma, ed., Documents on Punjab: Folklore,
vol. 15, pp. 141-50, and Harjot Oberoi, The Construction of Religious Boundaries:
Culture, Identity and Diversity in the Sikh Tradition (New York: Oxford University
Press, 1994), pp. 147-60. .
3Sayyid Karim Shah (d. 1319-20/1902), Jama'at ‘All Shah's father, was a land­
owner in ‘Alipur. He had Hafiz Shihabuddln Kashmiri come from nearby Qal'ah
Subha Singh to teach Jama'at ‘All Shah the Qur’an. After studying with ‘Abdur-
rashld ‘Allpurl, ‘Abdulwahhab Amritsarl, and Ghulam Qadir Bhlrawl, Jama'at
‘All Shah studied religious sciences with two well-known revivalist Naqshbandls,
Irshad Husayn Rampurl (d. 1311/1893-94) and Shah Fadlurrahman Ganj Murada-
badl (d. 1312-13/1895). He also studied with Muhammad 'Abdullah TonkI
(d. 1338-39/1920) and with the first rector of Nadwat al-Ulama, Muhammad ‘All
Mongirl (d. 1346-47/1928). Jama'at ‘All Shah received permission to transmit ha-
dith from Muhammad ‘Abdurrahman Panlpatl (d. 1313-14/1896) and, when he
traveled to Mecca, Shah ‘Abdulhaqq AllahabadI MakkI (d. 1333—34/1915) gave
Sufiyya (hereafter Anjuman), to promote a mediatory brand of
sufism and to meet the attacks of Deobandis, Ahmadis, Ahl-i Ha-
dith, and Arya Samajis. His enterprise and its ramifications,
which contributed to his designation as the leader of the Muslim
community (amir-i millat) in 1935, represent one kind of modern
mediating-shaykh. Among Naqshbandls, Jama'at 'All Shah best
typified this mediational style in his ability to draw together
under one banner three apparently disparate groups of Muslims:
rural peasants, urban ulama, and English-educated elite.
Ittihad-i millat, a coalition of prominent urban leaders (with a
certain degree of popular support) headed by Zafar 'All Khan,
poet and editor of the popular Lahore newspaper Zamindar, des­
ignated Jama'at ‘All Shah (d. 1370/1951) leader of the Indian
Muslims (amir-i millat) in 1935, an appointment that demon­
strated Jama'at ‘All's mediatory talent among both the rural and
urban elites and common people. The mediational sufism repre­
sented by Jama'at ‘All and supported by the erudite Ahmad Rida
Barelwi knew no such rural/urban cleavage (nor does it today).
With this kind of learned support from the ulama, his rural land­
owning ties, and the influential support of urban leaders, Jama'at
‘All departed radically from his Indian Naqshbandl predecessors.
Yet he was not alone among his Muslim contemporaries when
he established both a voluntary sufi association (anjuman) and a
monthly published magazine to propagate his views.

Jama'at ‘All's Sufi Organization

Sources say that Jama'at ‘All was born in the village of ‘Alipur
Sayyidan in the Sialkot district of the Panjab in 1841. His parents
were lineal descendants of Sayyid Muhammad SaTd Nawruz
Shah ShirazI, who came to India with the contingent of Persians
who accompanied the Mughal ruler Humayun (d. 963/1556) on
his campaign to reconquer India. Jama'at ‘All received an exten­
sive religious education, achieving distinction as a memorizer of
the Qur’an (hafiz) and a hadith specialist (muhaddith).
Coming from a family of Qadirl sajjadanishins, Jama'at ‘All's
first informal contact with the Naqshbandiyya was through his
father, who had been initiated by Sayyid Husayn Shah, Jama'at
All Shah s maternal grandfather. Baba Faqlr Muhammad
Churahl (d. 1315/1897), in nearby Chak Qurayshian (in Sialkot

him authorization to narrate additional hadiths. See Muhammad Sadiq QusOrl,

"Asatidha-yi amir-i millat," and Arthur Buehler, "Jama'at 'All Shah."
Jama'at ‘All Shah, circa 1935 (courtesy of the Naqshbandiyya
Foundation)
district), formally initiated Jama'at 'All into the Naqshbandiyya-
Mujaddidiyya in 1891. Soon after, Jama'at 'All received permis­
sion to initiate disciples into the Naqshbandiyya. He established
his religious leadership in the sufi revival movement by propa­
gating Islam (tabligh) as he traveled on foot to many villages and
towns throughout the Panjab. He not only encouraged regular
performance of required religious duties according to Islamic law
and supervised the construction of mosques but advocated a sufi-
revival Islam, a mediational form of Islam based upon the leader­
ship of sufi shaykhs who were also ulama.
In 1904, to institutionalize his sufi revival movement and to
expand its activities beyond the Panjab, Jama'at 'All founded the
first successful sufi anjuman in the Panjab, and Anjuman-i Khud-
dam as-Sufiyya, (Voluntary Association for Sufi Servants). The
genesis of the Anjuman begins with an English-educated district
judge and landowner from Rohtak, Panjab, Anwar 'All (1862—
1920),4 who was a sufi disciple and successor to his Naqshbandl-
Mujaddidl shaykh, Mahmud Shah Jalandarl.5 He had achieved a
modicum of fame as the author of books explaining Sufism and
around the turn of the century founded the Muhammadan Su­
fism Society, but it only attracted a few members. In 1904 the
society was renamed the Voluntary Association for Sufi Servants
with Jama'at 'All at its head.
Anwar ‘All assumed responsibility for establishing the Anju-
man's monthly magazine, Risala-yi anwar al-sufiyya (Magazine of
Sufi Illuminations) and also served as Jama'at ‘All's right-hand
man.6 The fundamental purpose of the organization was to unify
Indian sufis against scripturalist-minded groups (pejoratively la­
beled Wahhabis) such as the Ahl-i Hadith. The goals of the Anju-

4For ■ short biography of Anwar ‘All, see Risala-yi anwar al-sufiyya 1, no. 2, p. 5,
and 16, no. 9, pp. 20-31 [hereafter Risala with volume, number, page; e.g., Risala
1.2.5 and 16.9.20-31]. Pagination is very irregular in this magazine. I have found
no mention of his pivotal contribution to Jama'at ‘All's efforts in the voluminous
biography (752 pages) of Jama'at ‘All other than a casual mention along with
other shaykhs and ulama. See Akhtar Husayn, STrat-i amtr-i millat [hereafter cited
as STrat], p. 353.
The anglicized spelling is Jullundurl.
bRisala J.2.6. Anwar ‘All's central role in the Anjuman is indicated in the list of
notables attending the first annual conference of the Anjuman on 20 March 1904;
his name was listed after that of Jama'at 'All and the son of the noted Naqshbandl
shaykh Imam 'All Shah (d. 1282/1865), Mir Lutfullah. Anwar ‘All gave the key­
note speech at the 1904 annual conference which, reprinted in its entirety, com­
prised almost half of the first issue of the Risala. At the tenth conference in 1913
Jama'at ‘All bestowed sufi robes on certain worthy successors from Mysore and
Hyderabad in the Deccan, and Anwar 'All gave them hats and turbans.
man, written in large script on the frontpiece of the first issue of
the Risala, were (1) to unify all the sufi lineages, e.g., Naqsh-
bandiyya, Chishtiyya, Qadiriyya, and Suhrawardiyya; (2) to
spread knowledge of Sufism; (3) to make books on Sufism avail­
able; and (4) to circulate the Risala, in which sufi hagiography,
exemplary character, and conduct were featured.7 The Anjuman
strived to unify what had always been disparate, segmented sufi
lineages, creating a newly defined Suf-ism, an unprecedented
“imaginary" institution engendered by a journal that would bol­
ster and preserve mediational sufism as an institution.
The sufi activity of Jama'at cAll and Anwar 'All, although novel
in Naqshbandl history, was right in step with the times. Jama'at
'All, with his traditionally impeccable credentials of sufi shaykh
and religious scholar, complemented Anwar 'All's modern quali­
fications as an English-educated sufi who wrote about Sufism in
both Urdu and English. Moreover, both these sufis availed them­
selves of modern technologies to propagate Sufism.
Aside from performing the pilgrimage to Mecca, directing-
shaykhs rarely left their sufi lodges for any length of time. To
assist their disciples along the spiritual path directing-shaykhs
had always to be on call, regularly providing spiritual energy (ta-
wajjnh) and spiritual companionship (suhbat) on a daily basis.
Disciples knew that their directing-shaykh would be at his lodge
so they could visit him whenever possible. Many senior disciples
had spent years living at the sufi lodge in the company of their
guides. Typically, but not always, a prominent sufi controlled an
area around his lodge, commonly known as his spiritual territory
(wilayat). Normally his ability to exercise supernatural power
only extended to the boundaries of this territory, and if a sufi
did not observe the correct protocol when entering the spiritual
domain of another sufi, it could have fatal consequences.8
These considerations did not apply to the peripatetic habits of
Jama'at 'All, whose authority could not easily be associated with
any particular place or territory. The enterprise of propagating
Sufism qua Sufism was in itself a modern phenomenon. Jama'at
'All, rather than have seekers come to him, as directing-shaykhs
had done for a millennium, took advantage of the mobility pro­
vided by the modem Indian railroad network and traveled the

7Risdla 1.1.n.p.
8See Khaliq Ahmad Nizami, Some Aspects of Religion and Politics in India during
the Thirteenth Century, pp. 175-77; and Simon Digby, “Encounters with Jogis in
Indian Sufi Hagiography." For types of difficulties over spiritual territory in
Egypt, see Kathryn Virginia Johnson, “The Unerring Balance: A Study of the The­
ory of Sanctity (Wilayah) of ‘Abd al-Wahhab aI-Sha‘ram,“ pp. 126-34.
length and breadth of India. A very different dynamic ensued as
disciples of traveling mediating-shaykhs like Jama'at cAlI had to
wait in loving anticipation until the spiritual mentor decided to
come to them. There were only two times a year when a disciple
could be sure of finding Jama'at ‘All: at the annual meeting of the
Anjuman, often held in May, and the anniversary of Jama'at ‘All's
mother's death on the fourth of Sha'ban, both held in Jama'at
‘All's village of Alipur.9 With the kind of mediational sufism
evolving in Jama'at ‘All's circle, the constant companionship with
the shaykh was no longer necessary—indeed the longing created
by the master's absence nurtured the love for the shaykh.10
Seldom otherwise could Jama'at ‘All be found at home in Ali­
pur. In 1908, for example, he was on the road for at least eight
months of the year, spending five months in Mysore, Bangalore,
and Hyderabad, Deccan. For the long return train trip north, the
nawwab of Hyderabad rented a private car for him. As the train
stopped along the way people came to see him and to give him
fruit and flowers, a small-scale version of how Mahatma Gandhi
was to be greeted when traveling later.11 Six years later, after an­
other long absence from the Panjab, eager followers in Sialkot
decorated Jama'at ‘All and his son, Khadim Husayn, with gar­
lands. The press of people waiting to see them was so great that
disciples had to cordon off a path so they could leave the station.
It is said that when he returned to Alipur shortly after, a distance
of fifty kilometers from the train station in Sialkot, people from
Sialkot and Alipur lined up for two kilometers outside the village
to receive the skaykh.12Jama'at ‘All's days of unobtrusively walk­
ing barefoot from village to village in the Panjab were over.
After 1880 there was a publishing boom of newspapers and
magazines in the Panjab, as each religious group attempted to
win converts and to defend its orthodoxy.13 Indeed, the number

vThe first three annual meetings of the Anjuman were held in the Bsdshah!
Mosque in Lahore. See Akhtar Husayn, Sfrat, p. 350. Akhtar Husayn in Slmt says
incorrectly that the first annual meeting took place in 1901 instead of the 1904
indicated by the date of the first issue of Risala. Jama'at ‘All attended the 'urs of
his own spiritual mentor, Baba Faqlr Muhammad Churahl, whenever possible,
but sometimes he was not able to visit due to his frequent travels.
l0This change in the configuration of sources of personal authority contrasts
with previous directing-shaykhs, e.g., ‘Ubaydullah Ahrar, who altered their tech­
niques due to extensive travel responsibilities but yet who managed to train a
cadre of successors who themselves were potent directing-shaykhs.
"Risala 4.4.3.
"Risala 10.3.25-30.
l3In the period 1880-1906 publishers printed 82 percent of all the Panjabi publi­
cations in Urdu. See N. Gerald Barrier and Paul Wallace, The Punjab Press, 1880-
and circulation of these publications served as a barometer of the
political and religious ferment of the times.14 The Risala-yi anwar
al-sufiyya, the first issue of which was personally paid for by
Jama'at 'All, was the first sufi magazine in the Panjab. Unlike
most other religious magazines written and published by Mus­
lims, it assiduously avoided acting as a forum for religious de­
bate.15 Although there were occasional references to Ahmadls
and "Wahhabis,” most of the Risala's articles interpreted diverse
facets of mediational sufism, explaining how one arrived near
God by loving Muhammad and one's spiritual mentor.
In 1923 the Risala added a regular section on the "calamity of
apostasy" (fitna-yi irtidad) and on the monthly progress of the
Anjuman in propagating Islam. Along with other Muslim
groups, the Anjuman geared up to defend themselves and fight
against the activities of the Arya Samajis, whose goal was to "re­
convert" the Muslims whose ancestors had been Hindus.16* By

1905, p. 159. An overwhelming majority (197) of these newspapers were

published in Lahore, with Delhi taking second place with 60; see ibid., p. 160. Of
these, 63 percent had a circulation of less than 500 per issue, 22 percent had a
circulation of 500-999; see ibid., p. 163. After the turn of the century the number
of newspapers increased dramatically: 55 in 1895-99 to 144 in 1900-04; see ibid.,
p. 165. From 1880-1905 419 newspaper/magazines were published in the Panjab,
and from 1905-37 over 900; see ibid, p. 4. See also Edward D. Churchill, "Printed
Literature of the Punjabi Muslims, 1860-1900." In regard to Arabic printing, Muh-
sin Mahdi states, "The state and the mystical fraternities seem to have been the
initial sponsors of the printed book in secular and religious fields respectively."
See "From the Manuscript Age to the Age of Printed Books," pp. 6-7.
14Not all these publications could be categorized as wholly religious. Political
discussions had to be circumspect; a journal openly criticizing the British would
be forced to close down and the editors penalized under the Vernacular Press
Act of 1867. During the period 1880-1905 there were sixteen Muslim religious
magazines published in the Panjab. The British descriptions indicate that all six­
teen had an explicit polemical religious agenda. Four were pro-Ahmadi, one pro-
Ahl-i Hadith, two anti-Ahmadi, five anti-Christian and Hindu, two against non-
Sunnls, and one journal against Sayyid Ahmad Khan. See Barrier and Wallace,
Punjab Press, pp. 9-155. For more details on the Vernacular Press Act, see Merrill
Tilghman Boyce, British Policy and the Evolution of the Vernacular Press in India,
1835-1878.
,5Letters to the editor were answered individually but not in the magazine it­
self. In the twenty years of Risala in my possession (1904-25) there was only one
exception to this rule, when the editor addressed the issue of whether a person
could ask help to someone other than God; see Risala 4.7.8-11. Other sufi maga­
zines circulating in the Panjab that are mentioned in Risala are Al-’irfan [13.4.1],
AI-faqTh [14.9.21], Al-jihad [20.9.1]. Short-lived local magazines associated with the
Anjuman and Risala are Muballigh in Qusur, Lama'at as-siifiyya in Sialkot, and Al-
jama'at. See Akhtar Husayn, Sirat, p. 360.
,6Christians also were formidable rivals in proselytization, although no mention
was made of Christians as opponents. If Christians converted to Islam, however,
1925 Jama'at ‘All had led thirty-one delegations all over the Pan­
jab to counter the Arya Samaj movement. In 1923 the Risala began
featuring monthly articles describing the Anjuman's efforts in
building schools, mosques, and hospitals—a shift in emphasis
that was already foreshadowed in 1915 with an article "The
Tarlqa Should Help People."17 Jama'at ‘All regarded these efforts
to improve people's lives as part of the propagation of Islam.18
One of the most intriguing aspects of sufi authority was the
relationship between Jama'at 'All, the magazine, and his follow­
ers. Economically, the Risala, as one of many other publications
attempting to influence Indian Muslims, needed paying sub­
scribers to survive.19Just as increased numbers of Muslims in the
Panjab census reports indicated Muslim success, increased sub­
scribers to the Risala favorably reflected the Anjuman's achieve­
ments. The Anjuman expected that readers would be influenced
by the Risala and would spread the message. Jama'at ‘All sent a
free copy of the Risala to all the hereditary shaykhs, whose antici­
pated praise for the magazine was expected to increase reader­
ship or listenership.20
In 1911 Jama'at ‘All declared that each of his literate disciples
must read the Risala, making it religiously incumbent (fard) upon
disciples to propagate the reading of the magazine.21 Four
months later the manager of Risala urged each reader to enroll
three new subscribers, commenting that "service to the knowl­
edge of Sufism should be each Muslim's religious obligation
(fard)/'22 The editor would congratulate readers who succeeded
in finding three or more new subscribers and list their names in
the next issue. If circulation had not increased appreciably from

this was duly noted. The Risala’s editor highly praised Maulwl Muhammad
Azlm, Jama'at 'All's disciple, who converted an English chief engineer named
C. F. Linton.
'7RisSla 12.9.15-16.
'"Risala 20.3.21-28.
19Risala had an almost continuous publication (except possibly a break in 1959­
61) to 1987—the longest circulation of any sufi magazine in the Panjab. The
Naqshbandiyya Foundation in the United States is in the process of reviving this
magazine, entitled Sufi Illuminations, with the first issue appearing in 1997.
“ Written in Urdu, the Risdla’s actual circulation could have been many times
the number of paying subscribers. The British thought that the vernacular press
had a more extensive impact on illiterates because noneducated people suppos­
edly had a less critical attitude toward written ideas than those communicated
orally. See Prem Raman Uprety, Religion and Politics in Punjab in the 1920’s, p 95
2'RisSla 8.1.2.
Risala 8.5.16. Although the manager signed this and other announcements,
any mention of religious duty was understood to originate with Jama'at ‘All.
the previous month, the subscribers were collectively chastised.223
Acknowledging that there were many other magazines compet­
ing with the Risala, the manager would then again exhort both
Jama'at ‘All's disciples and Muslims not formally affiliated with
him to propagate the magazine. Disciples must recite it to others
so that these Muslims too could benefit from divine grace (fayd).24
In 1922 Jama'at ‘All issued an edict (farman) declaring that each
person able to read Urdu must read the Risala and the magazine
Al-faqTh (from Amritsar) in addition to communicating the infor­
mation to others.25 As a final step Jama'at ‘All declared the fol­
lowing year that his literate disciples must all purchase the Risala
and read it, otherwise they would have no further connection
with him.26 According to the mediational sufism of Jama'at 'All,
if this warning were not heeded, one would effectively be barred
from any hope of intercession in this world or on Judgment Day.
Such edicts indicate a tension between the new style of a modern
mediating-shaykh and the expectations and authoritarian style of
the directing-shaykh.

The Mediational Sufism of Jama'at ‘All

Incorporating an English organizational style and modern means

of communication into Jama'at ‘All's sufi network not only al­
tered the practice of Panjabi sufis but also coincided with dra­
matic symbolic and conceptual changes for the participants.
Seekers going to a directing-shaykh encountered an entirely dif­
ferent experience than they would have going to a mediating-
shaykh. Both types of shaykhs had arrangements to assist people
having worldly problems or those seeking amulets. Likewise, in
nineteenth-century Panjab, both revivalist mediating-shaykhs
and directing-shaykhs emphasized adherence to the Prophetic
model while justifying their practices in the reformist terms of
Qur’an and hadith. Unlike directing-shaykhs, however, there is
no evidence that mediating-shaykhs concerned themselves with
the individual spiritual development of their disciples in the con­
text of a rigorous spiritual discipline. In the Naqshbandl case,

22Risala 20.1.cover page.

24Risala 11.9.n.p. The same announcement was signed by Jama'at ‘All instead of
the manager the following year; see Risala 12.11.n.p. By 1916 similar announce­
ments were posted upon the first pages with an explanation that the magazine
was losing money; see Risala 13.1.2.
25Risala 19.2.1ast page.
2bRisala 20.4.1.
Jama'at 'All did not instruct seekers in MujaddidI spiritual exer­
cises or exhibit the use of supernatural power associated with
such training.27
Such a spiritual education had no place in mediational sufism.
The theoretical framework of mediation conceptually eliminated
the possibility that a believer could travel close to God through
his or her own efforts, much less manipulate supernatural power.
The mediational construct placed Muhammad beyond anyone
except pirs. The only way to God was through the mediation of
a shaykh connected with Muhammad, who in turn would inter­
cede with God on behalf of the believer.
For Naqshbandls and many other sufis prior to the twentieth
century, the shaykh often functioned as a bridge (barzakh) be­
tween God and the believer, between the "higher” and the
"lower" worlds. Regarded as the heir of the Prophet who had
followed in the (inner and outer) footsteps of Muhammad, the
Naqshbandl shaykh had a function similar to that of the Prophet.
However, once Muhammad became elevated and, for all practical
purposes, as distant as God, the spiritual mentor in mediational
sufism became the intermediary between humans and Muham­
mad. Instead of one intermediary between God and the believer
now there were two: (1) the pir, the minor intermediary (barzakh-i
sughra), and (2) Muhammad, the major intermediary (barzakh-i
kubra).28The shaykh, no longer conceived as a bridge guiding oth­
ers to God via Muhammad, now himself served as the necessary
means (wasila) to bridge the distance between the believer and
Muhammad.
Yet paradoxically, God and Muhammad drew closer to the
seeker, who had relinquished any expectation of reaching God
through his or her own efforts. Love of the pir, upon whom salva­
tion and communication with God depended, brought the seeker
into a more intimate relationship with God. The media ting-
shaykh's remoteness from the seeker disappeared if the seeker
cultivated love for the shaykh. A hierarchical distance that could
not be traversed with rigorous meditation practices or in any
other manner was instantly bridged through love of the pir.

27Nor did Ahmad Rida concern himself with teaching his disciples meditation
or conterhplation exercises for their spiritual development. Instead he concen­
trated on intercession, divination, and amulets in his capacity as a patron and
Qadirt shaykh. See Barbara Metcalf, Islamic Revival in British India: Deoband, 1860­
1900, p. 307.
2*Ristila 16.2.13.; Ahmad Rida Khan Barelwl, Naqtf al-salnfa fTahkam al-bay‘a wa‘l-
khilafa, p. 12; and Jama'at 'All Shah, "Darurat-i murshid," p. 17. The vocabulary
here with barzakhs is the same used by directing-shaykhs, but the meaning is
radically different.
 Using Panlpatl's formulation—love for the pir, love for Mu­
hammad, and love for God—Jama'at 'All inextricably connected
sufi practice with love:29 love of God comes from the love of the
Prophet, and the love of the Prophet comes from the love of the
pir.30 Instead of a means to facilitate spiritual practices and focus
divine grace in the company of a directing-shaykh, love of the
mediating-shaykh allows one to achieve annihilation of the ego
in God (fana'fi’llah), since the pir has already achieved it.31 Loving
all the heirs of the Prophet is an utmost religious obligation (fard-i
a‘la), but one must love the pir before all else in the world.32 It is
also religiously incumbent (sharc ka fard) on the disciple to love
the pir's children.33 Jama'at ‘All reinterpreted and explained all
NaqshbandT exercises in terms of love.
The Risala would have its readers believe that the Mujaddidl
techniques of dhikr, tawajjuh, rabita, and tasawwur-i shaykh had
been redefined by love of the shaykh and Muhammad. For exam­
ple, “By repeating 'Allah' (dhikr) one is immersed in the love of
the Prophet."34 Spiritual attention (tawajjuh) is equated with true
love (sachchT mahabbat).35 Instead of love of the shaykh developing
spontaneously, for Jama'at ‘All any connection (rabita) with the
shaykh requires love of the shaykh first.36The shaykh-disciple rab­
ita itself is equated with the love of Muhammad and of God. Vi­
sualization of the shaykh (tasawwur-i shaykh) is also equated with
the disciple's complete love for the pir.37 What used to be de­

29Ahmad Sirhindl, perhaps to distinguish Indian Naqshbandis from Hindu and

Sikh bhaktas, did not overly stress love in his collected letters. In one of the in­
stances love is mentioned, he states, "Progressing (suluk) in this exalted lineage
[the Naqshbandiyya] is linked with a connection of love (rabita-yi mahabbat) with
the shaykh." See Maktubdt-i imam-i rabbanT, 3 volumes, vol. 1, letter 260, pp. 92-93.
By the beginning of the nineteenth century, Mujaddidls, identifying the shaykh
as an intimate of God and as an heir of the Prophet, began to declare love of the
Prophet, love of intimates of God (awliyif), and love of God to be religious obliga­
tions. See Qadi Thana’ullah Panlpatl, Irshad al-talibm, p. 26. Yet this love was to
develop spontaneously and be a means of creating an affinity (munasabat) with
the directing-shaykh. Love was intended to be one of many means for the aspirant
to draw nearer to God, not an end in itself. .
x Risala 8.1.18.
3,Ibid. and Risala 8.2.6.
32Risdla 10.8.9-10. (
XRisala 10.8.12. There are parallels with this doctrine and that of ShiTs who
revere the Prophet's family (ahl-i bayt). Loving the shaykh's children is an impor­
tant principle in mediational sufism, since the next sajjddanishtn will be one of the
shaykh's children, and not necessarily the most spiritually qualified.
MRisdla 19.2.16.
^Risala 20.12.27.
36Risala 5.9.8
37Risd1a 18.2.22.
scribed as divine energy emanating from God (fayd) has been
transformed into the effulgence of Muhammadan electricity (Mu­
hammadFbijli kd fayd): "The effulgence of Muhammadan electric­
ity keeps on arriving inside the true disciple's inner self (batin)
from the beloved pir's (piyare pir) inner self. . . . and [the true
disciple] traverses and completes all the stages of the Path by
[means of] true love's electricity (sachchT mahabbat ki bijli) . . . and
because of true love, perfected pirs cause a connection (nisbat) to
be made in the hearts of their sincere disciples."38 Without love
for the pir the seeker cannot receive divine energy or profit from
companionship with the spiritual mentor; any benefit from the
spiritual mentor is a direct function of how much one loves the
pir.39 Indeed, love of the pir is reason enough to enter heaven.40
This redefinition process was especially noticeable in the ab­
straction of spiritual methods used in Jama'at ‘All's mediational
sufism. Companionship (suhbat) with the intimates of God (aw-
liyd’) now gave the seeker eternal life instead of merely being a
means toward that end.41 Instead of teaching disciples the Naqsh-
bandl-Mujaddidl practices that usually took years of disciplined
effort, the son of Jama'at ‘All's shaykh at Churah Sharif, Muham­
mad ‘Adil Shah, declared that the easiest way to train the nafs
was to recite litanies (awrad) of the chain of shaykhs, the blessed
genealogical tree (shajara sharlfa), leading from him back to
Muhammad.4243Jama'at ‘All did not instruct and supervise his
disciples in the diligent performance of sufi practices such as
silent recollection of God (nafy wa-ithbdt) and the contemplations
(muraqabat)*3 Exercises contained in pocket-sized devotional

"Ibid.; in Risala 1.1.7 it is implied that the spiritual guide gets his light from
Muhammad.
™RisSla 14.7/8.16 and 16.12.39.
wRisala 18.2.18.
41Risala 16.1.11.
42RisaIa 1.9.33.
43It is not certain which exercises, if any, Jama'at ‘All taught his disciples. He
declared, "People from all social classes are in my circle. I only give people exer­
cises in remembering God (dhikr), nothing else"; see Risala 19.8.14. Whatever exer­
cises he may have taught, he did not follow the same principles as his
predecessors, who only permitted intermediate and advanced disciples to per­
form tahajjud prayers (supererogatory prayers performed at night). Allegedly Ja­
ma'at ‘All influenced Jinnah to perform these tahajjud prayers. See Muhammad
Sadiq Qusurl and Muhammad ‘Abdulqayyum Khan, Amlr-i millat (r) awr al indiya
suimf kanfarans, p. 71. In mediational sufism these prayers became an elixir for
salvation. One source indicated that doing these prayers enabled one to arrive at
Muhammad; see Risala 20.6.7. It is almost certain that Jama'at ‘All's disciples did
not practice the MujaddidI contemplations Unuraqabat). One author defines con­
templation as shutting down the senses, which differs radically from what the
pamphlets stressed repetition of the genealogical chains of
shaykhs leading back to Muhammad, short praises of the Prophet
(duriid), devotional poems praising the shaykh, and supplications
to the Naqshbandl shaykhs (khatm-i khwajaganl.44
The style and conceptual construct of mediating-shaykhs, al­
though largely departing from Naqshbandl directing-shaykhs,
appropriated and adapted many symbols and practices from
rural sufi shrine practices where a mediational Islam had long
been the custom. Although the paradigms underlying the activi­
ties at sufi shrines had not appeared to change significantly, the
Anjuman initiated new rituals, including annual conferences
heavily laced with speeches about loving the shaykh and the
Prophet. This redefinition introduced incongruities in this
"Anglo-Indian" sufi assembly and its associated practices.
The Anjuman's annual meeting was a hybrid mix of the death
anniversary (cwrs, literally, marriage) celebration at a holy per­
son's shrine and English organizational patterns, a combination
accurately representing Jama'at ‘All's mediational sufism. In 1911
Miles Irving counted forty thousand devotees squeezing through
the "door of Paradise" at Baba Farid's mausoleum in an evening.
These faithful believed that whoever passed through it would go
to heaven.45 Other anniversary activities included a ceremonial
parade of relics, placing of flowers and a new grave cover on the
tomb, singing sufi poetry (qaunvali), and reciting of poems prais­
ing the Prophet.46 Since many believed that the decreased sufi is
more readily available to forward requests to God (or grant re­
quests) during the two or three days of the anniversary ceremo­
nies, there was always a throng around the tomb during the curs
celebration.

MujaddidT term means; see Risala 12.7.8. One of Jama'at 'All's successors dis­
cusses dhikr in a letter dated 21 February 1902 as a means to create love Cishq);
muraqaba is referred to as a "sitting posture." See Muhammad Husayn Qusurl,
Maktubat-i sharif, pp. 4-10. Written articles detailing the MujaddidT contempla­
tions, however, would not be sufficient evidence that they were actually practiced.
See appendix 1 in this study. ,
«See Munawwar Husayn, Shajaratun tayyibatun, and ‘All Ahmad, Shajaratun
tayyibatun. Although these devotional pamphlets were printed after Jama'at ‘All's
death and originate from two different lineages of Jama'at ‘All's successors, the
formats of both are nearly identical and resemble similar booklets advertised in
Risala 4.5.44 and 4.6.39.
4SMiles Irving, "The Shrine of Baba Farid at Pakpattan," p. 55. He ironically
remarks, "One may imagine that they have little time to linger in the shrine."
The same tradition exists at Mu'Inuddln ChishtT's (d. 633/1236) ‘urs. See Liyaqat
Hussain Moini, "Rituals and Customary Practices at the Dargah of Ajmer," p. 72.
‘•‘Tahir Mahmood, "The Dargah of Sayyid Salar Mas'ud Ghazi in Bahraich: Leg­
end, Tradition and Reality," p. 34.
 Anglicized sufis took the concept of conducting an annual An-
juman meeting from the British model. Anwar 'All usually pre­
sided over this yearly conference, and either he or the editor of
the Risala gave the keynote address. The editor and various En­
glish-educated Muslims delivered more than two-thirds of the
lectures during the 1911 two-day conference.47 Other than his
blessed presence at the conference, Jama'at 'All's only role in the
"British" program written in Urdu was to give the Friday
sermon.48
Advertised months in advance by the Risala, the annual meet­
ing represented an oral version of a double-issue journal, that is,
eight lectures per day, punctuated by prayer, Qur’an recitation,
poetry praising the Prophet (nact), and meals. Apparently the
idea of an annual conference of sufi lectures appeared foreign to
many members of the Anjuman, because its administrative head,
Muhammad Karam Ilahl, B.A., LL.B., felt it necessary to write a
lengthy five-part article to justify and explain it.49
Anniversary celebrations with a sufi as their axis mundi would
have been the closest analog that an Indian Muslim would have
had to make sense of the Anjuman's annual sufi gathering. This
not-so-remote resemblance might not have been enough to bridge
the gap between the familiar and the new, the Indian and the
English. The focus around which everything revolved was a dais
where all the distinguished sajjadanishins and ulama sat and from
where Qur’an recitation, nact, and speeches were delivered.50 The
cultural ambiguity of such a platform and gathering makes one
wonder whether it was a scaled-down version of Lord Lytton's
ten-foot-high dais surrounded by eighty-four thousand Indians
and Europeans at his 1877 extravaganza, the Imperial Assem­
blage, or a scaled-up version of a Mughal court (darbar) where the
royal personage sat on cushions surrounded by an assembly of a
few hundred people.51

47This is based on the only complete program published during a twenty-year

period. See Risala 7.7.39.
48Ibid.
49To justify the need for the annual conference Muhammad Karam Ilahl wrote a
five-part article entitled “The Necessity of the Annual Conference and the Blessed
‘Urs," Risala 7.8,7.10,8.2,8.3,8.4. Despite the title, the article attempted to justify
the annual conference, not making any parallels with the shrine ’urs.
50Risala 14.7/8.4, and Akhtar Husayn, STrat, p. 351.
5,For an insightful analysis of how the British appropriated Indian symbols,
especially how the Mughal court was used as a model for the Imperial Assem­
blage of 1877, see Bernard S. Cohn, “Representing Authority in Victorian India."
My sources do not specify the height of the platform at the annual meeting or
whether the dignitaries sat on chairs or on carpets.
 The central issue, however, is that a reconceptualization had
taken place. What had been an anniversary ritual of mediation
between heaven and earth around a common symbolic spiritual
center now became a ritual darshan enacting the ever-increasing
hierarchical distance between the shaykh and the disciple,52 much
in the same way as the colonial political structure had become
distant from the people it ruled. Speakers offered lectures on the
love of the shaykh or love and praise of Muhammad to ease any
tensions of the potentially uneasy cultural-symbolic gray area of
the Anjuman's annual conference.53
Anglicized Indians attempted to graft the ritual idiom of anni­
versary celebrations onto the agenda of mediational sufism in
these meetings. According to the Risala, the annual meeting was
designed "to provide companionship with the pure-hearted, to
increase the love of God, and to develop love in the heart for the
Prophet and sufis."54 There was no "door of Paradise," much less
a sufi's mausoleum, but those participating in the annual meeting
not only had their sins forgiven but were "to be accepted by God
and be blessed on the Day of Judgment."55 Attendance at the an­
nual conference (jalsa) was considered service to God. Those who
went to the annual meeting did so "out of their love of God's
proteges."56 In Jama‘at ‘All's mediational sufism, where love of
sufis was also the key to heaven, the result was clear: "Those who
go to the conference will be in the rows with sufis on the Day of
Judgment."57 Comparable to anniversary celebrations, the confer­
ence gave participants frequent opportunities for listening to
poetry praising the Prophet.58 A devotee who could not linger at
the shrine during an ‘urs could at least touch the shrine or its

52Darshan is not a Naqshbandl term, nor a term frequently used by Indian sufis
because of its Hindu connotations. It is a South Asian act of worship where one
is blessed with seeing and being seen by a holy person, holy image, or holy place.
See Diana Eck, Darsan: Seeing the Divine Image in India. I found darshan used once
in the Risala as a title of a short poem honoring Jama'at ‘All entitled "Darshan of
[my] own shaykh" (Darshdn-i shaykh khud); see Risala 11.4.1ast page.
53In the fourteen years from 1911 to 1925 the reports on the annual meetings
listed most of the lecture topics. The subjects addressed three general areas: (1)
the shaykh, particularly love of the shaykh; (2) praise and love of the Prophet; and
(3) aspects of Sufism. Roughly half of all the lectures emphasized love of the
shaykh or of the Prophet.
™Risala 7.8.28 and 7.10.22.
^Risala 7.10.20 and 8.2.20.
54Risala 8.3.7.
57Risala 83.6-7.
MA sample program for the two-day 1911 conference indicates that the program
of lectures was punctuated eleven times by the recitation of na t. See Risala 7.7.39.
threshold. In a throng of seven to fourteen thousand people a
participant at an Anjuman conference could not expect to have
personal contact with Jama'at 'All.59 Their seeing and being seen
by him, a darshan of sorts, was their way of interacting with the
media ting-shaykh.
What has been driving the changes making mediating-shaykhs
the norm in northern India and many other parts of the world?60
Such a mode of spiritual guidance appealed to the rural masses,
but Jama'at 'All's mediational sufism also attracted significant
numbers of urban anglicized Muslims. In the Risala the Anjuman
is frequently lauded for bringing Muslims of all social back­
grounds together, especially during these annual meetings.61 The

59In the years 1912-15 roughly seven thousand participated. In 1916 and 1917
this number almost doubled after Jama'at 'All convinced the British to extend the
railroad line and build a station at Alipur. His many disciples in Sialkot still had
to find other means of transport to travel the fifty kilometers separating the two
towns. These numbers might be relatively accurate because an estimate could be
made from the quantity of food consumed, and Jama'at ‘All supplied all the food
for the participants during the two days. After 1919 the Risala no longer men­
tioned the number of participants.
"This development of mediating-masters superseding directing-masters is not
without precedent in South Asia. Mediational sufism in the Naqshbandiyya
closely parallels that of the southern (Tertkalai) school of Sri Vaisnavas founded
by Pillai Lokacarya (b. 1264 c . e .) By the fourteenth century c . e ., veneration of Sn
Vaisnava teachers (acaryas) gave them near-total temporal power over their devo­
tees. With its emphasis on prapatti (surrender to divine grace), the Tertkalai school
diverged from the teachings of the prominent Sri Vaisnavan, Ramanuja (d. 1137
c . e .), in the same fashion as the religious enterprise of mediating-shaykhs devi­
ated radically from their predecessors. Emphasizing an arduous meditational
practice tempered with love, Ramanuja's bhakti-yoga resembles the Naqshbandl
directing-shaykh's discipline of contemplative exercises and love of the shaykh.
Acaryas and mediating-shaykhs, by consolidating religious authority in them­
selves as they became the sole means to salvation, render individual striving re­
dundant, even counterproductive. See Vasudha Narayanan, The Way and the Goal:
Expressions of Devotion in the Early Sri Vaisnava Tradition, and Arjun Appadurai,
Worship and Conflict under Colonial Rule: A South Indian Case. I am indebted to
Professor Steven Hopkins for bringing these parallels to my attention. See also
Holmes Welch's The Practice of Chinese Buddhism, 1900-1950, in which he com­
pares the differences between Pure Land and Cha'n Buddhism in the premodern
period of China, which structurally exhibit the same kind of polarities between
the sufism of mediating-shaykhs and directing-shaykhs. The changes in Chinese
Buddhism match closely those in Indian sufism during the same period as many
of the same dynamics, e.g., colonialism and access to publications, set irreversible
social changes into motion.
61After Jama'at 'All's disciples had directed their love toward hierarchical supe­
riors, they needed to be reminded to share this feeling among themselves. Jama'at
‘All's spiritual mentor, Faqlr Muhammad, who emphasized the need for fellow
disciples to love each other and to overlook each other's shortcomings, advised,
“If the disciple wants to be loved by God, Muhammad, and the pir then . . . it is
emphasis on love in the Anjuman undoubtedly enhanced the
feeling of equality among the disciples, in addition to serving as
a medium for feeling close to a hierarchically and physically dis­
tant mentor and even more distant Prophet and God. For the En­
glish-educated Muslims, already culturally marginalized to the
extent that they were cut off from the Persian sources of their
cultural heritage, sufi expressions of Islam became accessible
through love.
Many anglicized Hindus and Muslims exposed to modem
Western relativizing and rationalizing theoretical frameworks
might have had difficulties blindly participating in the types of
religiosity that their parents had accepted without question. In
the Islamic case one might expect that most of them would not
accept even the first condition inherent in the sufi lodge communi-
tas, i.e., that the spiritual master (though unlikely to know either
English or modern science) is functionally infallible and one must
become "like a corpse in his hands."62This kind of unquestioning
submission to a directing-shaykh would be extremely difficult to
understand for a person who has been taught that only the igno­
rant and superstitious have such childish attitudes. Loving the
shaykh bypasses these cognitive problems while also appealing
to those still living in an "enchanted universe" of the typical vil­
lager who had not yet been influenced by modern education.
Nonetheless, those without English education became exposed to
a new conceptual universe that eventually led to social changes
and modifications of worldviews. The modem Islamic ideas of
thinkers like Muhammad Iqbal had a tremendous symbolic im­
pact, especially when circulated widely through modern publica­
tions to eager audiences.
The British colonial presence communicated an unspoken su­

an utmost necessity to love [one's] fellow disciples"; see Risala 10.9.3. Later,
Jama'at ‘All wrote his essay, "Companions of the Path or Fellow Disciples"
(Yaran-i tarTqat ya pir bha'T), stressing the need for fellow disciples to get along
with each other. See Jama'at ‘All Shah, Irshadat, pp. 63—111. To what extent dis­
putes between disciples created schisms or caused followers to leave the Anjuman
cannot be ascertained from available Anjuman sources. Friction between the two
cultures, one with rural roots and customary practices, and the other, urban and
English-educated, would be likely. A treatise emphasizing love between fellow
disciples does not get written without a need.
“ The point here is that the revivalist directing-shaykh would seriously challenge
English-educated people (see Sher Muhammad's remarks in this chapter). Each
person would have to decide which was more important: pleasing the British or
pleasing the shaykh. In contemporaiy Pakistan English-educated individuals have
no problem deferring to their mediating-shaykhs; often these shaykhs themselves
have Western educations; see P Lewis, Pirs, Shrines, and Pakistani Islam, p. 1.
periority of worldview. How could a directing-shaykh's exercise
of supernatural power compete successfully with the British raj?
No one asked sufis to marshall their spiritual power in the 1857
rebellion against the British. A set of presuppositions (an entire
worldview?) was in the process of being transformed as more
and more Indian Muslims (following British attitudes) contemp­
tuously looked down on those who accepted the authority of
sufis.63 If generic sufi practices were perceived as superstitious,
then tawajjuh, suhbat, and fayd had no meaning at all, and there
was no reason to undergo the discipline necessary for spiritual
practice under a directing-shaykh. A science of universal, un­
changing laws denied the supernatural suspension of those laws
and thereby undercut the fundamental credibility of most sufi
activity. The abandoning of spiritual exercises among the Panjabi
Naqshbandls followed the demise of the conceptual existence of
supernatural power, which in turn had been relegated to super­
stition by the material success of rationalized technological
power.
Printing undermined the local sources of authority for Islamic
religious knowledge, i.e., the person-to-person transmission and
interpretation of oral texts. In Francis Robinson's words, "Print­
ing, by multiplying texts willy nilly, struck right at the heart of
[personal] Islamic authority."64 A pan-Islamic world permeated
the imaginations of South Asian Muslims as they came increas­
ingly into contact with the larger Islamic world through im­
proved transportation and publication. This stimulated a
"universalization process" whereby Indian Muslims took on an
increasingly pan-Islamic identity.
The synergistic combination of these and other developments
directly challenged the exercise of local personal authority in
Islam. Before the "print revolution," a person did not read a reli­
gious book without the guidance of the sole interpreter, the
teacher. Person-to-person learning was an inherently conserva­
tive process where interpretive possibilities were limited. In the

63In 1946 on the eve of the Muslim League victory in Panjab, the district orga­
nizer for the Unionist Party lamented “that 80% population of this district is Tir-
ridden.' They are blind followers of Pirs---- No amount of individual propaganda
can convert the blind adherents of the Pirs." Quoted in the Unionist Party Papers
File D-44, cited in David Gilmartin, “Religious Leadership and the Pakistan
Movement/' p. 513. For British antecedents, of which there are many, see Major
Aubrey O'Brien, “The Mohammedan Saints of the Western Punjab."
MFrancis Robinson, “Technology and Religious Change: Islam and the Impact
of Print," p. 234. Much of my discussion of the "print revolution" in this and the
next paragraph comes from this article.
sufi environment especially, "a person who is said to have really
studied the subject is called ustad didah, literally one who has
"seen" a master, that is, one who has benefited from the oral
teachings and also the presence (hudur) of the master who em­
bodies those teachings and who renews and revives them
through the very act of living their truths."65 After printed books
became available a person could interpret the same texts in a radi­
cally different way—a process which could only undermine the
traditional authority of ulama and sufis. Print brought on a
"scriptural revolution," simultaneously undermining personal
authority while strengthening a scripturalist-minded interpreta­
tion of Islam. It is no coincidence that two books denouncing
mediational practices in Islam, Taqwiyat al-islam and Sirat al-mus-
taqTm, were among the earliest books that Muslims published in
India.66
Print materials nurtured a pan-Islamic layer in Indian Muslim
identity by creating links to the larger community of Muslims,
both in and outside India. Such a situation relativized the per­
sonal authority of sufi masters, who represented the local, seg­
mented kinship systems of rural India. Not only did print allow
new innovative combinations of ideas, but it created novel types
of larger collective units where members would never have con­
tact with each other, for example, the recipients of Jama‘at ‘All's
monthly magazine or Ahl-i Hadith groups who united in their
opposition to mediational sufism. These new forms of pan­
Islamic identity effectively competed with local loyalties. Mu­
hammad Iqbal continually stressed the larger Muslim commu­
nity through the symbols of the Qur’an and the Ka‘ba ("The body
of our Faith's Community throbs vital to the Word of the Koran"
and "In circumambulation of its shrine [the Ka‘ba] our pure
Community draws common breath").67 Iqbal's poetry, printed

65Seyyed Hossein Nasr, "Oral Transmission and the Book in Islamic Educa­
tion," p. 63.
“ See Muhammad IsmaTl, Taqwiyat al-Tman (Calcutta: Matba‘-i Ahmadl, 1826)
and Sayyid Ahmad and ‘Abdulhayy, Sirat-i mustaqlm, (Calcutta: Matba‘-i Shaykh
Hidayatullah, 1822).
67Muhammad Iqbal, Rumuz-i BekhndT, pp. 42, 51. Peter Brown notices that the
societal role of the Christian holy man diminished in the sixth century and attri­
butes this phenomenon to a "new sense of majesty of the community, mani­
fested in a revival of towns in the Eastern Empire and the development of an
ecclesiastical hierarchy in western towns. See his "The Rise and Function of the
Holy Man in Late Antiquity," p. 100. In a similar fashion the marginalizing of
sufis in British India and later could be a function of increasing numbers of Indian
Muslims becoming connected to a larger pan-Islamic community, one majesti­
cally extolled by Iqbal.
and orally transmitted to a larger illiterate audience, captured the
imaginations of Indian Muslims who heretofore had conceived of
Islam on very local and personal terms (if they even identified
themselves as Muslims at all). The inherent disruption of a colo­
nial power which forcibly linked Indians to a distant Britain was
compounded by inevitable contacts with Muslims outside India
and the proliferation of printed materials. Once such social forces
were unleashed, local personal sufi authority lost its monopoly
and had to compete on increasingly unfavorable terms with other
perspectives and worldviews.
Often people most affected by urbanization and modern struc­
tures took Iqbal's advice and held firm to the "protection" of the
Qur'an.68 Others, including urban Muslims, were drawn to a me-
diating-shaykh like Jama'at ‘All, whose "universal" path of love
combined some practices of hereditary shrine pirs with a shari‘a-
minded Islam of revivalist shaykhs. The appeal of a mediational
mode of Islam tied to the charismatic authority of a sufi shaykh
exhibiting Prophetic qualities cut across urban-rural and literate-
illiterate boundaries. At once local in his legitimization of shrine
activities and international in terms of Naqshbandl membership
and familiarity with the Qur'an and hadith, Jama'at ‘All and his
Anjuman, by cutting through traditional social polarities (e.g.,
urban/rural), attracted Muslims of all types from all over India.

Mediational Sufism and Politics

For the rural Panjabis mediational sufism was the spiritual analog
of the worldly economic, social, and political reality they experi­
enced. The vast majority of visitors to sufi masters were not inter­
ested in the exacting demands of a directing-shaykh. One's choice
of shaykh was primarily geographically and socially determined.
A villager would share a spiritual mediator with many other
members of his or her clan and select a local intermediary who
could produce results. Choice of a pir was not simply a spiritual
decision, since he and his network of contacts might also be
needed for mundane matters as well. A British colonial officer
in the western Panjab commented, "Saints are windows through
which the light of heaven shines, and, even if windows are some­
times dirty, ordinary mortals must be content with such light as
they may get through them."69 Divine intercession and worldly

“ Iqbal, Rumuz-i Bekhudi, p. 42.

69See O'Brien, Mohammadan Saints, p. 517.
intervention with higher economic and political powers both de­
manded a mediator.
Long before the British arrived in the Panjab, spiritual influ­
ence had joined with political power. The Mughals had also given
lands and privileges to leaders of shrine families (sajjadanishms).
Irfan Habib notes that the Mughals legitimized themselves by
employing urban ulama and rural shrine families as mediators
with the populace.70 Although the British seriously attempted to
divest their colonial regime of any official connections to religious
institutions, they could not help but exploit the local influence of
the powerful landowning families,71 many of whom were associ­
ated with sufi shrines and had been mediating between the cen­
tral government and the local people for centuries,72 and as
landed gentry had also collected taxes. The British ended up imi­
tating the Mughal practice of supporting religious dignitaries and
shrines.73
The hereditary shaykhs on their side would have preferred not
to have binding relationships with the colonial power, because it
brought loss of face or prestige Cizzat) in the eyes of their Muslim
peers, but they found themselves involuntarily drawn into sup­
porting the British colonial administrative system. The colonial
district officer was the patriarchal king ([ma-bap, literally, mother-
father) of the district who controlled affairs by distributing pres­
tige. The landed gentry relied on the British to confirm their
status and allow them to assert their power.74 For a pir, prestige

70Irfan Habib, The Agrarian System of Mughal India, p. 309, cited in David Gilmar-
tin, Empire and Islam: Punjab and the Making of Pakistan, p. 45. Gilmartin compre­
hensively outlines the structure of rural Panjabi Islam, pp. 40-46.
7'By the twentieth century the shrine family of Baba FarTd in Pakpattan owned
one tenth of all the land in the district, 43,000 acres, some of which was donated
by Ranjlt Singh's Sikh government. In Multan 5,000 acres belonged to the shrine
of Baha’uddln Zakariya. See Ian Talbot, Punjab and the Raj, 1849-1947, p. 24.
^Dick Eaton explains that the qualifications for sajjadanishms shifted from spiri­
tual merit to political loyalty to a central government in his Sufis ofBijapur (1300­
1700): Social Roles of Sufis in Medieval India, pp. 241-42.
73The former Sikh government of the Panjab also conformed to this practice. See
B. N. Goswamy and J. S. Grewal, The Mughal and Sikh Rulers and the Vaishnavas of
Pindori. For examples of British colonial policy using sufis' local political author­
ity, see Gilmartin, Empire and Islam, pp. 46-52. The British supported sufis solely
for political purposes and did not share the paradigm of divine intervention.
74Kenneth W. Jones, Arya Dharm: Hindu Consciousness in 19th-Century Punjab,
pp. 6-7, and Sara F. D. Ansari, Sufi Saints and State Power: The Pirs of Sind, 1843­
1947, pp. 45-52. Ansari's sociopolitical description and analysis of the relation­
ship between rural Sindi pirs and the British provides parallels of how the British
ruled in the Panjab in almost identical circumstances. Moroccan sufis in nine­
teenth-century northern Africa also made necessary compromises with colonial
authorities to preserve their status. See Julia Clancy-Smith in Rebel and Saint. Mus­
was not a mere luxury but the means through which he could
muster support from smaller landowners and attract disciples.
Using an elaborate system of bestowing prestige, the British
kept the rural landowners at least passively supporting the colo­
nial system. The greatest honor in the British colonial system for
a shaykh was to be exempt from personal appearance in civil
courts. Not every shaykh was in this exclusive circle, so for those
who were, it was best not to have this precious prize revoked.75
Pirs did not upset the colonial status quo and the British did not
disturb the equilibrium of the rural landowner.76
Formally, the emergence of an intermediary rule elite in the
British administration of the Panjab resulted from the passage of
the Alienation of Land Act in 1900.77 In an attempt to establish
rural stability by preventing large-scale appropriation of peasant
land by moneylenders, the British restricted landowning to Brit­
ish-defined categories of "agricultural" and "tribal" groups.
Muslims, particularly sayyids and custodians of shrines (mujaw-
irs), benefited from this legislation and, with other landowners,
became drawn into the orbit of British colonial authority. The
British became the formal patrons of the landowning (zamindar)
class, protecting and legitimizing the Panjabi system of hierarchy
and mediation. In 1914 this relationship between the British and
hereditary pirs became even more explicit when the British

lim Notables, Populist Protest, Colonial Encounters (Algeria and Tunisia, 1800-1904),
p. 259.
75Ansari, Sufi Saints, pp. 50-51. Ansari notes that threatening to withdraw this
exemption was the most powerful lever the British had to control powerful Sindi
landowners. It worked successfully in Awadh also. See Claudia Liebeskind, "Su­
fism, Sufi Leadership and 'Modernization/ in South Asia since c. 1800," pp. 180­
81. Gilmartin, who has studied the political relationships between the British and
revival shaykhs, does not give any examples of exemption from court appear­
ances being used to manipulate rural pirs in the Panjab. I cite exemption from
court appearance merely as an example of how the British controlled landowners.
Surely there were many other devices which would not necessarily have been
recorded in the political files.
76The neutrality of rural landowning shaykhs with respect to the British does
not appear to have diminished their authority in the eyes of their followers. It was
always a point of argument, however, for detractors. Although there is no evi­
dence, Ahmad Rida, the founder of the Barelwi perspective, has been (and is
still being) accused of having been a "British agent" in the pay of the colonial
government. See Sanyal, "Ahmad Rida Khan Barelwi," pp. 7-8. Jama'at ‘All was
criticized for his connection with the British government. Ansari examines Plr
PagarO and his dramatic balancing act between the British authorities and his
supporters; see Sufi Saints, pp. 57-76.
"This legislation was particular to the Panjab. I am relying on David Gilmar-
tin's discussion of this legislation in his Empire and Islam, pp. 26-38.
awarded “landed gentry" grants to influential Panjabi Muslims.
Through this move, many members of sufi families became rural
administrators, honorary magistrates, and district board mem­
bers.78 Jama'at ‘All came from such a family of Qadirl hereditary
shaykhs in the Sialkot district, whose influence was defined by
the British colonial system. He was therefore inextricably associ­
ated with the rural Panjabi social structure, and his rural land­
owning connections had contributed to his rise to prominence as
a sufi revival shaykh. Eventually, however, they would prove to
be a liability.
Jama'at ‘All presided over the first All-India Sunni Conference
in 1925 and gave the keynote address.79 Ten years later, having
been declared the "leader of the Muslim community" (amir-i mil­
lat) in August 1935 at a special conference of the United Muslim
Community (Ittihad-i millat), he again gave the keynote address
at the All-India Sunni Conference. It began by stressing the need
for love of the Prophet and for the propagation of Islam, for the
unity of sufis and ulama, for keeping up the agitation to reclaim
the Shahldganj Mosque, which had been appropriated by the
Sikhs when they controlled Lahore from 1799 to 1849, and for
preserving Muslim shari'a laws and Muslim graves.80 With nu­
merous followers all over India, both rural and urban, his creden­
tials as a religious scholar and his status as a sayyid, Jama'at ‘All
embodied a variety of sources for spiritual authority, which al­
lowed him to transcend many of the problems that restricted the
activities of his predecessors.81

78Ibid., p. 50. The British often became much more involved with the religious
affairs of shrines than they desired. See ibid., pp. 46-50.
79This conference was held roughly every ten years and was actually a name
for an organized body of Barelwi ulama founded by NaTmuddln Muradabadl to
counter the Jam'iat al-Ulama-yi Hind and the Khilafat Committee. See Usha
Sanyal, "In the Path of the Prophet: Maulana Ahmad Riza Khan Barelwi and the
Ahl-e Sunnat wa Jama'at Movement in British India, c. 1870-1921," pp. 409-18.
“ Muhammad Sadiq Qusurl, Amir-i millat, pp. 49-52.
81On the other hand Jama'at ‘All was very old at the time (over one hundred
years old, if his birthdate is correct) and "easily accessible to influence, and prone
to listen to the last person who talks to him." See Home Political File, F. H. Puckle,
6 September 1935, cited in David Gilmartin, "The Shahidganj Mosque Incident: A
Prelude to Pakistan," p. 160. This type of critique is mirrored in Fazl-i Husain's
comment (letter dated 26 September 1935) that Mir Maqbool ("a thoroughly un­
principled liar and government informer," according to Fazl-i Husain) inter­
viewed Jama'at ‘All in order to write a memorandum to be sent to the British. See
Fazl-i Husain, Diary and Notes of Mian Fazl-i Husain, pp. 178-79. Yet Jama'at ‘All
has "all cliques and adventurers . . . at work to get him do all sorts of works . . .
he is said to have played into the hands of all by turns, and got out of their hands
afterwards" (letter 7 November 1935); see ibid., pp. 191-92.
 For the Muslim community, the test for Jama‘at ‘All was
whether or not he could coerce the British into returning the site
of the Shahldganj Mosque, which had been demolished by the
Sikhs in July 1935. Although he had the support of government
officials and many followers, only the British had the power to
force the Sikhs to return the mosque. The strategy was for Jama'at
‘All to put pressure on the British through the Muslim commu­
nity, especially the thousands of his disciples who were serving
in the British army.
Within a few months the Shahldganj movement collapsed. Po­
litically, the principal reason arose out of the differences between
British and Islamic law. According to Fazl-i Husain, a prominent
Panjabi Unionist Party politician,82 the failure was the fault of the
Muslims who had let the waqf lapse after the British took over the
Panjab. British law placed time limits on these charitable endow­
ments, although Islamic law did not.83 An experienced politician,
Fazl-i Husain remarked that because the waqf had been allowed to
lapse there was no way that the site would be restored to Muslims
unless “there was a revolution and some new Muslim govern­
ment was established."84
As a rural pir and landowner, Jama'at ‘All had limited ability
to confront the British to the degree needed for effective political
action without jeopardizing his family's position. Nor could he
free himself from the influence of wealthy disciples and advisers
in rural Panjab who provided his political leverage.85 As Maulana
Hablburrahman of the opposing urban Panjabi Ahrar Party put
it, “How can a man who calls the government mai-bap (mother
and father) be entrusted with leading the Muslims?"86 The limita­
tions of Jama'at ‘All's political authority were clearly demon­
strated, although the sufi networks remained the most effective
means of marshalling rural political support on the provincial
level.

82Fazl-i Husain was president of the fifth Panjab Provincial Conference in 1917,
founder and important politician in the National Unionist Party (1923-37), Panjab
minister of education (1921-25), Panjab revenue minister (1926-27,1929-30), and
member of the Governor General's Executive Council (1930-35). See Muhammad
Azim Husain, Fazl-i Husain: A Political Biography.
“ Fazl-i Husain, Letters of Mian Fazl-i Husain, p. 569.
“ Ibid.,^. 584.
“Gilmartin, "The Shahidganj Incident," p. 161. Gilmartin also notes the limita­
tions of his leadership over those who did not subscribe to the Barelwi media-
tional paradigm of Islam; one Delhi Muslim stated, "In the opinion of Pir Jamaat
'Ali Shah I am a 'great infidel.'" Jama'at ‘All declared those who opposed his
initiative to be outside the Muslim community. See ibid., pp. 161-62 and Gilmar­
tin, Empire and Islam, pp. 103-7.
“Gilmartin, Empire and Islam, p. 104.
 The Shahldganj affair also had ramifications much more pro­
found than merely demonstrating the limited provincial political
clout of Jama'at cAlI. The mosque represented more than a cen­
tury of non-Muslim rule in Lahore.87 When the Sikhs under Ranjlt
Singh had conquered Kashmir and Panjab in the nineteenth cen­
tury they had deliberately desecrated the most treasured Lahori
mosques, the Badshahl Mosque (built by Aurangzlb in 1044/
1634) and the Wazlr Khan Mosque (completed 1084/1673), by
killing swine in them and converting their courtyards into sta­
bles, because the mosque had become a symbol of Indo-Muslim
identity.88 At the same time Ranjlt Singh contributed to sufi
shrines in Lahore, presumably because their doors were open to
all, including Sikhs and Hindus. It was one thing to retain a sa­
cred space like a sufi shrine where religious identity was perme­
able and quite another to have a mosque whose rigid boundaries
excluded non-Muslims.
In the twentieth century, the popular press spread the more
rigid "Islam of the mosque," including many of Muhammad Iq­
bal's pan-Islamic notions of a non-mediational Islam, rather than
the local Islam of the sufi lodge.89 This universal Islam stressed a
"special inheritance—symbolized by the Prophet, the Qur’an,
and the mosque— that every Muslim could claim as a birth­
right."90 Zafar 'All Khan, poet and editor of the popular Lahore
newspaper ZamTndar, championed pan-Islam, stressing the sym­
bolic caliph in Istanbul and defending the Prophet and the
mosque as he transformed Urdu poetry into a popular political

“The mosque site was the place where many Sikhs had been executed by the
Mughal governor (hence the name Shahldganj or "place of martyrs"). When the
Sikhs occupied the city in 1762 the mosque was closed to Muslim prayer until its
destruction in 1935. See Gilmartin, "The Shahidganj Mosque Incident," p. 148.
“ Charles Masson (James Lewis), Narrative of Various Journeys in Balochistan, Af­
ghanistan, and the Panjab, Including a Residence in Those Countries from 1826-1838, 3
vols. (London: R. Bentley, 1842), 1:409-10. Professor Iqbal Mujadddl informed me
of this crucial aspect of Panjabi history that, to the best of my knowledge, is totally
ignored in the sources discussing Sikh history.
"The popular press was anything but monolithic, although newspapers like
the ZamTndar (with a circulation over 15,000 in 1915) numerically dwarfed all
other Urdu publications (it is unlikely that the circulation of Jama'at ‘All's Risala
was more than 500 per month). In the Panjab, Fazl-i Husain, using subsidies from
the Agha Khan, established both English and vernacular papers to act as Unionist
Party papers in addition to publication of leaflets and regular local news summa­
ries sent to England. On 24 June 1936 before the crucial 1937 elections, the Agha
Khan sent 10,000 rupees from his Derby winnings for this purpose with another
10,000 rupees sent two months later. See Fazl-i Husain, Letters, pp. 596-98.
•"Gilmartin, "The Shahidganj Mosque Incident," p. 153.
idiom.91 This newly conceived notion of the Muslim community
formulated and propagated by urban Muslims, combined with
Iqbal's forceful poetry, did much to create a distinctly new iden­
tity for many Indian Muslims that contrasted with both the local
identity of the sufi shaykh and sufi shrine and the identity of
revivalist sufis and ulama who stressed conformity with the Pro­
phetic model. It was the same Zafar ‘All Khan who led the urban
Ittihad-i Millat that declared Jama'at ‘All to be the leader of the
Muslim community.
Although Jama'at ‘All's mediational sufism transcended con­
ventional polarities it did not bridge the gap between what might
be called "mosque Muslims" and "lodge Muslims." To some ex­
tent, the ulama had already paved the way for the mosque = Mus­
lim identity. During the Shahldganj affair Lahore's ulama
confirmed their authority by instigating protests.92 In the cities
the mosque as the symbol of government power "conquered" the
sufi shrine.93 Mosques, as symbols of Muslim government, there­
fore had literally to be conquered by non-Muslim invaders, such
as the Sikhs in eighteenth-century Lahore and the British in Delhi
after the 1857 rebellion.
Rural Muslims did not always share the monumental excite­
ment generated over the Shahldganj Mosque. AbuT-SaTd Ahmad
Khan (d. 1941), a rural Naqshbandl shaykh at Khundian, re­
marked that "if the Shahldganj Mosque has passed from Muslim
hands, one should not lament [it since] additional mosques will
be constructed through the grace of God Almighty."94*His notion
of Muslim identity, shared by earlier generations of Naqshbandls,
remained one centered on doctrine and inner transformation. For
both directing-shaykhs and many revivalist pirs, buildings had
nothing to do with the important task of faithfully duplicating
and embodying the Prophetic model. One should concentrate on
recapturing the experience of the Companions rather than on re­

91Ibid., p. 155.
92The Minister of Education, Firuz Noon, tried to get a legal decision from the
ulama of Lahore to prevent the sacrifice of lives but only three out of thirteen
ulama came. Although they agreed to his proposal they were afraid of losing
their popularity with the masses; see Fazl-i Husain, Letters, p. 416.
“ Prominent examples include the Wazlr Khan Mosque overshadowing Ishaq
Kazarunl's (d. 1037/1627-28) tiny tomb; the Fatehpur Slkrl Mosque dominating
Salim Chishtf s (d. 978-9/1571) shrine; and more recently, the newly constructed
mosque dwarfing Data Ganjbakhsh's tomb in Lahore.
94Mahbubilahl, Tuhfa-yi sa'diyya, p. 118. He adds that the real problem is dealing
with the Ahmadis. Ahmad Khan states, "Constructing mosques is quite virtuous
but refining one's character and purifying one's ego are worthwhile inner con­
structions." See ibid., p. 164.
covering a dilapidated, abandoned mosque. Of course it was eas­
ier to maintain this position in a remote area where the sacred
space and time of the sufi lodge remained undisturbed by Sikhs
and British alike. But the result was that revivalist pirs both be­
fore and after Jama'at 'All remained restricted in their activities
almost exclusively to local contexts. In the ensuing years of inde­
pendent Pakistan, rural sufi shaykhs have occasionally influenced
provincial politics but have hardly made any impact on national
politics, just as in colonial India.
After the Shahldganj affair, the reigning landowner/sufi-pir
Unionist Party overwhelmingly won the 1937 Panjab provincial
elections; the Muslim League captured only two of the eighty-six
legislative seats allotted to Muslims.95 Less than ten years later,
on the eve of independence, the Muslim League captured sev­
enty-five of eighty-six seats in the 1946 Panjab provincial elec­
tions. In that election Jama'at ‘All abandoned the provincial
Unionist Party to support Muhammad Ali Jinnah and the Muslim
League, who represented all-India politics. At the 1946 All-India
Sunni Conference Jama'at ‘All, by then physically weak, was
given a place of honor and is reported to have said, "Jinnah is an
intimate of God (wait Allah)/'96 although many believed that he
was not a practicing Muslim.97
Ian Talbot attributes Jama'at ‘All's abrupt shift in Panjab poli­
tics to a sequence of events involving the Muslim League's ability
both to gain the support of the landowners and pirs and to ad­
dress the wartime grievances of the peasants. After the Simla con­
ference in July 1945, where Jinnah declared that all nominees of
the interim Pakistan government must be Muslim League mem­
bers, it was clear that future political patronage would be with
the Muslim League, not with a Unionist Party loyal to the British
government.98
From a religious perspective, the Muslim League program ap­
pealed to revivalist pirs, since a government based on the shari'a

"Before this crucial election (19 June 1936) Fazl-i Husain was sent a list of fifteen
pirs who would be called upon to assist the Unionist Party; Jama'at 'All and Mihr
‘All Shah of Golra Sharif were among these fifteen. See Fazl-i Husain, Letters,
p. 593.
"Qusurl, Amtr-i millat, p. 71.
97Many considered Jinnah to have forsaken Islam when he married a Parsi in a
civil ceremony in 1918. Others, because of his lack of beard and love for English
ways, did not consider his leadership to be particularly religious, except when it
suited his political purposes. Jinnah's being an Isma'llI could only add to the
problems.
wIan A. Talbot, “The Growth of the Muslim League in the Punjab, 1937-46."
would lend support to their individual religious activities." In
effect, the Muslim League promised to expand the scope of their
religious activities from the rural periphery to the center of pro­
vincial and national concerns. Thus, Muhammad Husayn Shah,
the son of Jama'at ‘All, was reported to have toured the Jhelum
district where he issued a fatwa declaring the Muslim League to
be the only Islamic community and all others to be infidels.*100
Prior to the 1946 elections Muslim League propagandists went
disguised as sufi pirs in the Northwest Frontier Province, as did
many Panjabi landlords, who dressed in immaculately white
clothing with turbans and long beards in the manner of sufi pirs
when they campaigned for the Muslim League.101 Another fatwa
from Fadl Ahmad Shah, the sajjadanishin of Shah Nur Jamal
Chishtl's shrine in Jalalpur (Jhelum) states: “An announcement
from the Dargarh [sic, shrine] of Hazrat Shah Jamal. I command
all those people who are in my Silsilah to do everything possible
to help the Muslim League and give their votes to it. All those
people who do not act according to this message should consider
themselves no longer members of my Silsilah."102 By this decree
the Muslim League effectively gained the political endorsement
of the rural pirs.103 Sufi shaykhs mobilized the moving ideas of
Iqbal to convince Muslims to vote for Pakistan: “If you are in love
with Islam you should do things in the way Iqbal asked you to
do it."104* It did them no good, however: these same sufis later
remained on the periphery of Pakistani affairs. A govemment-

"David Gilmartin, "Religious Leadership and the Pakistan Movement in the

Punjab." For a more detailed discussion of the Muslim League in the Panjab and
the 1946 elections, see Gilmartin, Empire and Islam, pp. 189-224. Before the 1946
elections Qamaruddln, Mihr ‘All Shah's pir, urged other sufis to support the Mus­
lim League, ". . . it is Islamic to ask for votes and 'religious' to give them. The
Muslim League is purely a religious movement in which all the rich, poor, sufis,
and scholars are participating." See Talbot, Punjab and the Raj, pp. 212-13. For
other strategies manipulating religion for electoral ends, see David Gilmartin,
" 'Divine Displeasure' and Muslim Elections: The Shaping of Community in
Twentieth-Century Punjab."
100Letter, Bashir Husain, Jhelum District Organizer, to Mian Sultan Ali Ranjha,
Zamindara League (Unionist Party) Secretary, 13 December 1945. Unionist Party
Papers, file D-44, cited in Gilmartin, "Religious Leadership," p. 226.
101Talbot, Punjab and the Raj, p. 211.
™2NawS-i waqt (Lahore), 19 January 1946, in Talbot, "The Growth of the Muslim
League," p. 252 [comments in brackets mine],
103For a brief synopsis of parallel processes in the Sind, see Sara Ansari, "Politi­
cal Legacies of Pre-1947 Sind."
104This is from a speech supporting the Muslim League and the glory of Muslim
government by Imdad ‘All Shah Gllanl, sajjadanishin at the shrine of Shah Muqlm
Mujrawl, on 1 January 1946. See Ian Talbot, Punjab and the Raj, 1849-1947, p. 212.
supported, amorphous, urban, impersonal, universal Islamic
symbol of the mosque and Qur’an (and to some extent the ulama)
keeps the mediational, personal, and local Islamic symbols of the
sufi shrine on the periphery.105
The shift from directing-shaykhs to mediating-shaykhs who
were then banished to the periphery meant also a shift from per­
sonal to impersonal authority. The mosque, in contrast to either
the ultrapersonal axis mundi of the directing-shaykh in his sufi
lodge or the living,106 disembodied pir in his sufi shrine, is inten­
tionally impersonal. It facilitates prayer to an utterly transcendent
God as it spatially represents a universal Islamic symbol. Sufi
lodges and shrines reflect the diverse localities and customs of the
persons living there. The mosque (architectural diversity aside) is
universally the same: one wall indicates the direction of Muslim
prayer. The sufi lodge or shrine has many layers in a hierarchical
space reflecting different levels of involvement ranging from non­
Muslim visitors to authorized successors of the master who re­
side with their families at the lodge. These distinctions between
personal and impersonal Islamic space extend back to medieval
Islam or even earlier.
In British colonial India mechanisms came into play which
overwhelmingly favored an impersonal, homogenizing, and ra­
tionalizing matrix of Islamic symbols. The enchanted universe of
local Islams, offering intense personal contact with a charismatic
personality, had little impact on the imaginations of those be­
yond its short radius.107The abstract Islamic symbols of the angli­
cized educated elite, who had the political power both before and
after Independence, was configured to transcend all differences,
whether ethnic, genealogical, or linguistic. Bolstered by increased
international communications and Western ideas, the symbols of
an urban, universal matrix of Islamic symbols challenged the lo­
calized, personal Islam of the shaykh to produce a more rational,
disenchanted religious universe.108 As the government of Paki­

,05For an analysis of how this is occurring, see Katherine Ewing, "The Politics
of Sufism: Redefining the Saints of Pakistan."
’"‘Supplicating visitors who go to a shrine say they are going to visit the living
person buried there, not the building.
107There were extensive networks throughout the history of Islam which con­
nected places as far as Java, Central Asia, and Arabia together—but all of these
were personal contacts.
,08There are many parallel processes driving the development of both the nor­
mative Sikh community and the Muslim community in colonial Panjab. See Ob-
eroi, The Construction of Religious Boundaries. The kinds of diversity that were
attenuated in the Sikh community still thrive in the Indo-Muslim community (at
the price of sectarian strife).
stan took over the administration of larger sufi shrines, imper­
sonal bureaucratic social services, medical assistance, and
government education replaced the personal charismatic author­
ity of the sufi and his contact with the sacred/supernatural.109
Jama'at 'All himself bridged the gap between the two modes of
Islam by focusing on a universal love that spanned a variety of
views in colonial India. Barelwi ideas bolstered this devotional
Islam through methods of praising and glorifying the Prophet, a
universal symbol of the Muslim community. Freely using publi­
cation and other forms of modern communication, mediating-
shaykhs encouraged a universal love of the Prophet and therefore
the sufi master. Although a personal mode of Islam in some re­
spects, it eliminated the sufi lodge/shrine center. Social interac­
tion in Jama'at 'All's circle, whether through his magazine, his
sporadic visits, or the annual meetings of the organization, exhib­
ited a fundamental asymmetry. His disciples had almost no way
of responding personally and directly. The sheer number of disci­
ples made this mediational mode of Islam impersonal.
Centers based on religion, language, and locale were often in
conflict. Prominent lawyer-politicians were accused of locating
their cultural homeland in England—Fazl-i Husain wrote his
diary in English and Jinnah could communicate effectively only
in English."0 Arabia was the cultural homeland for thinkers like
Iqbal and others whose notion of Islam centered on the Qur’an
and the Ka'ba. Those associated with a sufi shaykh or a local
shrine had their own centers. Most Indian Muslims "con­
structed” a bricolage of multiple centers.
The Western-educated politicians had both the resources and
the power to manipulate the dissemination of cultural symbols
to propagate their impersonal (and often Arabia-centered) ver­
sion of Islam to the masses. The relation between the sacred and
profane had been drastically altered. In this radical disjuncture a
subtle, impersonal secularization had been set in motion, the ef-

109See Ewing, "Politics of Sufism." As of 1991 there were 255 sufi shrines admin­
istered by the Endowments Department of the Panjab: 84 Qadirl, 36 ChishtI, 7
SuhrawardI, 5 Naqshbandl, and 123 unaffiliated, according to the internal records
of this ministry. See Endowments Department, Fihrist-i a'rns-i mazardt, unpub­
lished list, 9 pp. There are many more sufi shrines that are not under government
control.
""This is an interpretive statement that would reflect the perspective of a reviv­
alist shaykh like Sher Muhammad and other like-minded Indo-Muslims and not
necessarily the individuals themselves. I am not equating the use of English lan­
guage, the administrative imposed language of the British, with a necessary cul­
tural identification.
The tomb building in A lipur Sharif where Jam a'at ‘All is buried
Jama'at 'All's grave
fects of which combined to limit or even eliminate the scope of
the supernatural. To say that a revolutionary alteration and trans­
formation of consciousness has affected much of the Indian Mus­
lim community over the last one hundred years would be to
understate the situation.
The communitas of the sufi lodge with its fervently personal and
transformative environment intended to re-create and experience
Prophetic realities had shifted by the 1930s to a Prophet designed
to further the nation state. In 1935 'Ata’ullah Shah Bukhari said,
"A man may be a sinner, a liar, a thief and a dacoit [highway
brigand], but if he is prepared to lay down his life when the ques­
tion of defending the honour of the Prophet comes up, then he is
truly pious. . . . I would fain allow myself to be thrown before
fierce lions as a punishment for my love of the Prophet."111 This
clearly represents a notion of the Prophet designed to fit in with
the nation-state. The establishment of Pakistan presented many
Indian Muslims with a powerful vision: independence from a co­
lonially calculated minority status to fulfill their destiny as an
independent majority in the Land of the Pure (a literal meaning
of "Pakistan"). They too could follow in the footsteps of Muham­
mad by replicating his hijra from Mecca to Medina. How many of
the hundreds of thousands of Muslims who lost their lives in the
1947 Partition did so with Islamic visions crafted by orators and
politicians?
Jama'at 'All passed away in 1951. His son and sajjadanishin, Mu­
hammad Husayn Shah (d. 1972), succeeded him; today Jama'at
'All has many successors and disciples throughout Pakistan (the
larger centers are in Qusur, Sialkot, Lahore, and Multan) and
even in England and the United States.112 The annual festival hon­
oring Jama'at 'All's death date is held on the second month of
the sambat calendar, Blsakh 28-29, roughly corresponding to May
11-12. Although a definitive study remains to be done of contem­
porary Naqshbandl practices in the Panjab, mediating-shaykhs
are now the norm in the Naqshbandl lodges.

'"Gilmartin, “The Shahidganj Mosque Incident," pp. 155-56.

n2The Naqshbandiyya Foundation for Islamic Education, Post Box 3526, Peoria,
IL 61612-3526, founded by a disciple in Jama'at ‘All's lineage, Ahmad Mirza
M. D., promotes a better understanding of Indo-Muslim sufi practice and knowl­
edge in the United States.
CHAPTER 10

The Role of the Naqshbandl Sufi

in Pakistan

You can deny God but you cannot deny the Prophet.
Muhammad Iqbal, JavTdnama

The development of the sufi shaykh begins with the eastern

Mediterranean holy person of late antiquity via Muslim ascetics
to the teaching-shaykhs and then to directing-shaykhs as Mus­
lims became the majority community. Their emphasis on hadith
study and the assiduous replication of the Prophet's behavior
preserved the outward aspects of Muhammad's charismatic be­
havior; their specialized spiritual practices replicated inner
Prophet realities. When the most spiritually qualified became
the chief successor and followed faithfully in his predecessor's
footsteps, personal Prophetic authority was rejuvenated and
transmitted to the next generation. Sufis occupied a pivotal
mediational role in society.
Directing-shaykhs in particular derived power and authority
from their positions as mediators. In the first transformation of
sufi authority from teaching-shaykhs to directing-shaykhs in the
tenth century, sufis often situated themselves on the boundary
between pre-Muslim and Muslim, bridging the old pre-Islamic
society and new emerging Islamic society by adapting prior
agencies of authority to the Islamic mythic worldview and substi­
tuting a spiritual lineage to the most perfect human, Muhammad,
for tribal or aristocratic lineage.
When a shari'a-minded or juristic sufism developed sufis "oc­
cupied" the boundary between transmitted religious knowledge
(here credal dogma [caqaid], hadith, and jurisprudence [fiqh]) and
sufism. Although this overlap of jurist and sufi knowledge has
not been unusual for directing-shaykhs, the further development
of a consciously formulated juristic sufism, e.g., the Mujaddidi-
yya beginning in seventeenth-century India, occurred after sufi
activity that both integrated and accepted pre-Islamic elements.
This ability to spread juristic sufism enabled the Mujaddidiyya to
become an international lineage that adeptly mediated both juris­
tic knowledge and sufi practice.1 The "ulama connection" led to
political liaisons which then involved yet another set of potential
intersecting boundaries. The "mother of coups" would be to have
the ruler himself become the sincere disciple of a directing-
shaykh, a goal occasionally achieved in fifteenth-century Central
Asia but never realized by Indian Mujaddidls.
In the wake of the first transformation of sufi authority there
was a centrifugal movement by sufis both within emerging Is­
lamic societies and geographically beyond them, to combine old
and new elements, to re-present prior sociocultural forms in new
combinations. Sufis, strategically located at the margins, had con­
siderable success in this endeavor as they mediated between the
old and new. In their authoritative liminal positions as holy per­
sons, whether consciously or by trial and error, they progres­
sively Islamicized old behavioral patterns by incorporating them
into Islamic models, gradually transforming society in the pro­
cess. Liminality and mediation went hand in hand with strategic
positioning on constantly shifting multiple margins which made
sufis indispensable to the functioning of decentralized Islamic
agrarian/herding societies.
The second transformation of sufi authority occurred when
Naqshbandl directing-shaykhs became mediating-shaykhs, a
shift that for the Indian Naqshbandiyya coincided with the Brit­
ish colonial impulse. This second transformation was the inverse
of the first. When Muslims started becoming the majority com­
munity in the tenth century, it was the silent but resounding tri­
umph of Islamic conquest, the victory of a sociocultural religious
construct that united many diverse tribal lineages and ethnic
groups under one relatively unified banner. The formal termina-

'In India the Mujaddidiyya contrasted with the Chishtiyya. ChishtI pirs skill­
fully mediated local Indian culture and Islamic practice to a much greater extent
that the Mujaddidiyya. There were ChishtI sufis who strove to make the ChishtI
lineage more shari'a-minded, but generally ChishtI popularity among common
people, Muslim and non-Muslim, demonstrates the ability of their pirs to operate
on the boundary between Muslim and non-Muslim—at least relative to the
Naqshbandls. Not surprisingly, the Chishtiyya are the most popular sufi lineage
on the subcontinent.
tion of Mughal rule in 1857 combined with Muslim minority
status had the opposite effect. By the turn of the century, it was
increasingly difficult for Muslims not to see the Islamic world­
view as just one of many, and on the world stage a not very pow­
erful one. The new world order was not Islamic.
The institutional expression of the directing-shaykh depended
on an unquestioned single worldview. By transcending relatively
bounded religious constructs, effectively the modern-scientific
worldview undermined both psychologically and socially the in­
stitution of the directing-shaykh. For urban sufis the demise of
the Islamic government meant the effective end of patronage and
with it the severe reduction in the scale of institutional activities.
In addition there was no larger political system that legitimized
Islam, symbolically or literally. The absolute nature of the Islamic
sociocultural construct had disappeared when the British ruled
over Muslims. In addition, religious arguments for patronage and
support had in one stroke been annuled by the British separation
(on paper at least) of religion and politics.
The personal authority of the directing-shaykh utilized the uni­
versal symbol of Muhammad in the context of an apparently un­
changing Islamic worldview. The sudden onslaught of other
alternative Muslim conceptions of religion, e.g., Ahmadis and
Ahl-i Hadith, raised doubts in the minds of many Muslims, as
more and more English-educated Indian Muslims applied West­
ern rationalism to the mythological constructs of Indian Islam.
The directing-shaykh was most vulnerable to this criticism, since
bracketed rational inquiry was the very foundation of the master-
disciple relationship.
The crowning blow was the British destruction of the educa­
tional system. Before 1857 and long before the formation of the
Islamic seminaries of Deoband, Nadwat al-Ulama, and Aligarh,
the upper class was educated privately before going on to higher
education. Everyone else learned through the voluntary efforts of
sufis or ulama,2 which gave them well-deserved prestige in addi­
tion to providing a cadre of disciples who would continue their
religious education through the spiritual practices they taught.
This two-tiered educational system became much more decen­
tralized 9s religious notables fled Delhi after 1857 and networks
of religious leaders developed between northern Indian towns.
The British, by destroying the schools in Delhi, did much to

2Farhan Nizami, "Madrasahs, Scholars and Saints: Muslim Response to the Brit­
ish Presence in Delhi and the Upper Doab 1803-1857," p. 14.
spread the voluntary nature of Islamic education. One of the most
famous Muslim schools in Delhi, the Madrasa-yi Rahlmiyya
founded by Shah Wall Allah's father, Shah ‘Abdurrahlm
(d. 1130/1718), continued until 1857 when the British auctioned
it off to a Hindu raja.3 Delhi College, which had opened in 1825
as a Muslim college and shortly thereafter received a large en­
dowment from Nawwab Ftimaduddawla, had by 1870 forty-nine
Hindu students for each Muslim student.4 By 1882, when a gifted
Hungarian linguist and educator working for the British, G. W.
Leitner, made his survey of indigenous education in the Panjab,
British land reforms had almost obliterated all trace of indige­
nous education in both the cities and villages.5 Some ulama could
at least find jobs in the British courts and a small number of land­
owning hereditary sufis could continue their activities under Brit­
ish rule, but the institutional infrastructure for directing-shaykhs,
both political and educational, had by the 1920s eroded consider­
ably.
Throughout Islamic history conceptions of Muslim community
reflect sociopolitical structures. In modern times the pan-Indian
Muslim community created through loving the pir as the way to
salvation and connected together by the monthly Risala mirrors
the creation of nation as community where democratic “love for
all" focuses upon the imagined community (connected together
by Urdu newspapers) of an emerging nation-state. A parallel re­
lationship between notions of sufi community and social institu­
tions occur with directing-shaykhs in the decentralized 4ayan-amir
system. Many sufi behavioral codes come from court practices, as
do the terms used to designate their sufi dwellings, e.g., a king's
court (dargah) and prince's audience chamber (darbar), along with
appelations of King (shah). Directing-shaykhs command in their
lodges in much the same way as rulers in their palaces. Likewise
when sufis are in tribal environments, the heroic model of the
tribal chieftain is stressed, particularly in “spiritual competi­

3Ibid., pp. 18-19.

4G. W. Leitner, History of Indigenous Education in the Panjab Since Annexation and
in 1882, p. 47. Leitner documents how the British destroyed a vibrant educational
system in the Panjab.
5Each village, whether Muslim, Sikh or Hindu, invariably had at least one
teacher whose subsistence was provided for by a small plot of land. The British
appropriated these lands, saying that the government would provide teachers. In
Leitner's paraphrased words, “The government educational system . . . [had] little
real hold on the people, who in sullen silence felt themselves to be disregarded,
and their ancient civilisation despised." Ibid., p. v.
tions."6 Personal authority (not institutional or bureaucratic) rep­
resent the norm for rulers and sufis in both social contexts.
Jama'at 'All, like his directing-shaykh predecessors, adroitly
placed himself in a mediating position between sociopolitical fac­
tions. There are few frontiers where he was not found. In the first
decade of the twentieth century, he sought to bring together all
sufi lineages and English-educated Muslims. In the 1920s he
worked toward the active proselytization of Islam to counter
Hindu and Christian attempts to convert Muslims. In the follow­
ing decade we find him bridging rural-urban political differences,
the Shahldganj incident being the best-known example. His use
of modem transportation and publications enabled him to con­
vey his sufi message in a rapidly changing environment with con­
stantly shifting boundaries.
The authority Jama'at ‘All derived from this position was in
principle the same as his directing-shaykh counterpart, except
that one can no longer locate any communitas arising from this
modem threshold (note Turner's observation, "It is in liminality
that communitas emerges").7 There is no longer the necessarily
authoritarian normative communitas of the sufi lodge to simulate
the ideal community of the Prophet and his Companions. It has
been replaced by an imaginary macrocommunity created
through the dissemination of a monthly sufi magazine which re­
flects the emerging modern nation-state as imagined commu­
nity.8 United in its love of the shaykh and the Prophet, Jama'at
'All's community was an expression of the emerging Muslim na­
tion, the spiritual antistructure that existed independently of the
actual structure of political power, a convenient configuration
since the British (theoretical) conception of politics kept religion
and politics in separate domains.9
The Indian Muslim community during the colonial period was
itself on a threshold between relatively stable Muslim institutions
with Muslim rulers of the past and an unknown, uncertain fu­

6Clifford Geertz, Islam Observed: Religious Development in Morocco and Indonesia,

and Stephen L. Pastner, "Sardar, Hakom, Pir: Leadership Patterns among the
Pakistani Baluch," pp. 164-79.
7Victor Turner, Dramas, Fields, and Metaphors: Symbolic Action in Human Society,
p. 232.
8See Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and
Spread of Nationalism.
9The sufi lodge of the directing-shaykh also paralleled this relationship; the
hierarchical directing-shaykh structure parallels the person-centered authoritar­
ian decentralized political structure.
ture.10*The Muslim community found itself in an uncomfortable,
disunited, conflicting "liminal situation.” Significant numbers of
Muslims yearned for a united, harmonious Muslim community
that transcended all religious, lineage, economic, tribal, and so­
cial differences just as the idealized community of the Prophet
had. Such a desire was eminently modern, born out of modern
impulses that transcended local concerns while connecting these
diverse locales and pepole within a maze of conflicting view­
points. There was an urge to find suitably universal Islamic sym­
bols to bring the community back together from the powerful
modern centrifugal forces which highlighted difference and jux­
taposed them in all too often uncomfortable proximity.
It was this modern universalizing impulse that rallied the Bare-
lwis in love around the universal, personal, omnipresent Prophet
in the same way that the Ahl-i Hadith based their perspective
on the universal, impersonal, scriptural sources of Islam. Jama'at
'All's notion of an ideal community mirrored the Prophet-
centered Barelwi conceptions with the sufi pir, as heir of the
Prophet, at the center. Sufi lineage was to be transcended as the
bond of love drew all Muslims under the comprehensive associa­
tion of "Voluntary Sufi Servants” just as the Prophet was con­
ceived to have gathered all types of people as Companions. In
this enterprise Jama'at 'All and other Barelwi ulama loosely drew
together diverse Muslims from all over India under one banner
of love.
This necessarily unfulfilled love, a yearning for a transforma­
tive communitas, fueled the movement for Pakistan as a Muslim
nation, a concretely defined imaginary community that provided
a modern symbol for Muslim unity. The universalizing notion
of the modern nation-state, Pakistan, managed to transcend the
conflicting universal symbols of personal authority (sufi pir) and
scriptural authority (Qur’an and hadith). In this imaginary com­
munitas of homogeneous, equal voters, the primary rite of pas­
sage was the 1946 Indian provincial elections, which enabled the
temporarily united Muslim communitas to enter en masse into col­
lective modern political adulthood: the Muslim nation of Paki­
stan.” Muhammad 'Ali Jinnah, in his role as sole spokesman for

,0Note Turner's observation: "Major liminal situations are occasions on which a

society takes cognizance of itself." Turner, Dramas, Fields, and Metaphors, pp. 239-40
[italics Turner's].
"I have been stimulated in this discussion by David Gilmartin's insightful un­
published paper, "The Rhetoric of Muslim Elections: Community and Pakistan in
1946."
the Indo-Muslim community,12 led the movement which brought
Muslims from conflict and a minority status to the fulfillment of
a politically united (majority) Muslim nation. As the directing-
shaykh led the community-building rituals of an individually
transformative communitas of the sufi lodge, so Jinnah directed
the political process for the modern imaginary communitas that
radically transformed the Indo-Pakistani Muslim community. In
this context Jama'at 'All's declaration that Jinnah was a "friend of
God" (wall Allah) begins to take on a counterintuitive plausibility.
These momentous changes utterly change the nature of Naqsh-
bandl sufi lodges. Personal transformation in the communitas of a
sufi lodge is no longer the norm. In the modern state of Pakistan
an increasingly modern sociopolitical system of bureaucratic au­
thority predominates over personal authority. The relatively
impersonal nature of the mediating-shaykh's master-disciple
relationships parallels the more modern, rationalized political
forms of authority. Sufi institutions continue to remain in flux.
Post-Independence patterns include the Pakistani government
attempting to control the institutional expression of sufism di­
rectly, redefining it in the process.13 The government strategy has
been to put forth a new ideology of sufi shaykhs and shrines that
undermine their traditional authority as caretakers and brokers
of supernatural power. By taking over shrines, creating highly
visible improvements to the buildings, and making social centers
out of them that include schools, libraries, and hospitals, the gov­
ernment has endeavored to preempt the hereditaiy's pir's prerog­
ative as caretaker. Sufi shrines have become community centers
rather than sacred places of divine potency with a hereditary me-
diating-shaykh dispensing God's grace. Often the government
builds hospitals within a shrine-complex where allopathic medi­
cine is administered in place of potent handmade amulets with
Qur’anic passages prepared by those residing at the sufi shrine.
This policy, which was begun by Pakistani president Ayub
Khan, was extended by Zulfiqar Bhutto, who emphasized gov­
ernmental participation in the shrine rituals themselves. At death-
anniversary ceremonies his officials performed the principal
rituals of washing the grave and laying on a new cloth chaddar to
cover it, tasks usually delegated to the chief religious specialist at
the shrine, the sajjadanishin. Al-Hujwlrl (d. 463-64/1070), com-

12Ayesha Jalal has articulated this role in her The Sole Spokesman: Jinnah, the
Muslim League and the Demand for Pakistan. '
l3See Katherine Ewing, "The Politics of Sufism: Redefining the Saints of Paki­
stan."
A poster dated 21 May 1991 advertising the arrival at the Lahore airport
of an Afghan sufi shaykh, Sayfurrahman. Locations (mosques) and times
(usually in the afternoon) of dhikr sessions during his four-day stay are
described in the four boxes at the bottom.
monly known as Data Ganjbakhsh, was presented as a sufi who
“preached egalitarianism and visualized a classless society based
on the concept of musawat-i Muhammadf (Muhammadan equal­
ity).14 Ayub Khan and Bhutto, as secularists, linked themselves
with sufi shrines to identify themselves with religious authority
and thereby legitimize their political power. While promoting
shrines and sufi doctrines associated with these shrines for the
glory of Pakistan and Islam, they were attempting to co-opt the
personal authority of the pirs.15 The colonial impact upon Indo-
Muslims, combined with increasing Pakistani governmental reg­
ulation of institutional sufism,16 leads one to the conclusion that
contemporary sufi lodges would not be the first place one would
expect to find directing-shaykhs.17
Whether a person is a directing-shaykh or a mediating-shaykh
is not of concern to the vast majority of South Asian Muslims.
The paths to God have metaphorically meant anything from “re­
laying a message" via a mediating-shaykh to being in the pres­
ence of a shaykh, either deceased or living, to spiritually traveling
into God's presence. The mystical quest actually to have direct
knowledge of God or to encounter God in this world attracts few
individuals. Most people are content to be with God after their
death; how or when they get there is unimportant. Reading scrip­
ture, following the spiritual giants of Islam, loving one's shaykh,
arduous mystical practice, or fulfilling the ritual requirements of
Islam—all these paths eventually lead to God.
In his JavTdnama Muhammad Iqbal asserted that one can deny
God but one cannot deny Muhammad. One way of interpreting
this saying is that by rejecting Muhammad one also rejects God.
A sufi carries this one step further by stating that a denial of the
shaykh, as heir of the Prophet, is a denial of both Muhammad
and God. As Naqshbandls have integrated a seamless scriptural
truth with the continuous living authority of the shaykh, Muham­
mad, and God, they have infused day-to-day ritual observance

uThe Pakistan Times, 23 September 1980, cited by R Lewis, Pirs, Shrines, and
Pakistani Islam, p. 54.
l5Perhaps living sufis and caretakers have a lower profile at certain shrines, but
the devotional behavior at the large shrines continues unabated. For example in
the early 1980s the annual income of the Data Ganj Bakhsh (The Treasure-bestow­
ing Master) shrine was estimated at 12.3 million rupees, or close to a million
dollars; see Pakistan Times 2 December 1982, cited in ibid.
"Such a process is paralleled in Egypt by the Supreme Council of Sufi Lineages;
see Valerie Hoffman, Sufism, Mystics, and Saints in Modern Egypt, pp. 9-11,14-15.
^Interview, Hakim Muhammad Musa, Lahore, 14 March 1990, when he also
assured me that none would be found in Panjabi sufi lodges, which I later con­
firmed.
with the living spark of the Prophet. Resourcefully re-creating the
paradigmatic community of the Prophet and Companions
throughout the Islamic world has enabled the Naqshbandiyya to
maintain exceptional threads of continuity from early Islam,
through Ahmad Sirhindl to Jama'at 'All.
APPENDIX 1

Written Sources for Spiritual

Exercises

The Naqshbandiyya emphasize the lineage that differentiates

them from other sufis and their adherence to the practices of the
Prophet and performance of ritual duties according to a strict in­
terpretation of HanafI jurisprudence. Naqshbandl identity,
whether described by Naqshbandls or by Western scholars, al­
most always includes ‘Abdulkhaliq GhujduwanTs formulation of
eight guiding principles related to Naqshbandl spiritual practice,
i.e., awareness of breath (hush dar dam), being conscious of follow­
ing in the steps of the Prophet (nazar bar qadam), traveling on the
internal mystical path (safar dar watan), solitude in society (khal-
ivat dar anjuman), constant repetition of God's name (yad kard),
returning to the world after performing dhikr (bazgasht), guarding
one's spiritual progress (nigahdasht), and concentration on God
(yaddasht)} Baha’uddln Naqshband's three additional principles
are also mentioned: awareness of time (wuquf-i zamanT), counting
of dhikr repetitions (wuquf-i ‘adadi), and a heart constantly atten­
tive to God (wuquf-i qalbi).*2
Few written records survive from the early Naqshbandiyya ex­
plaining how these eleven principles were actually applied.3 Most
likely detailed information on spiritual practices was not dissem­

'The first four of these principles are from Ghujduwam's spiritual mentor, Abu
Ya'qub Yusuf Hamadani (d. 534/1140). See 'Abdulkhaliq GhujduwanI, Risala-yi
Sahibiyya, p. 91..
2For a scholarly discussion of these principles, see Faqlrullah ShikarpQrl,
Futuhat al-ghaybiyya, unpublished manuscript, Khundian Sharif, n.d., pp. 164-68,
and Warren Fusfeld, "The Shaping of Sufi Leadership in Delhi: The Naqsh-
bandiyya-Mujaddidiyya, 1750-1920," pp. 85-90.
3‘Abdurrahman JamI, Sarrishta-yi tariqa-yi khivajagdn, discusses dhikr, rabita,
waquf zamtinf, and murdqaba in very general terms.
inated in written form but passed from master to disciple as part
of an initiatory tradition. The Mujaddidls of the British Indian
period were unusual in this respect since they did write and even
publish so many aspects of this initiatory tradition.
Before the nineteenth century, Indian MujaddidI shaykhs, fol­
lowing Sirhindf s example, wrote letters elaborating details of
Naqshbandl cosmology and spiritual practice to their disciples.
The first work devoted to a description of the MujaddidI path was
written by one of Ahmad Sirhindl's disciples, Mir Nucman, who
produced a manual explaining the Naqshbandl-Mujaddidl path.4
If the spiritual practices outlined in later nineteenth-century doc­
uments are representative of earlier practices, then Mir Numan's
description of the MujaddidI path and subsequent eighteenth-
century written discussions of MujaddidI spiritual practices can
be considered sketches of what disciples actually did in their
mystical exercises.5 The initiatory tradition, including exercises,
supplications, and prayers the shaykh instructed the disciple to
perform, was still being transmitted orally.
By the nineteenth century, particularly among Ghulam 'All
Shah's lineage, an entirely new genre of sufi literature emerged,
that of ma'mulat works. The name of the genre is related to the
words ‘amaliyat and i'mal both having a meaning of “causing to
act" or “making something work," which technically cover a va­
riety of “spiritual prescriptions" often containing Qur’anic verses
used by Muslims to solve worldly problems such as averting evil
and curing diseases.6
Shah W aliullah's (d. 1 1 7 6 /1 7 6 2 ) A l- q a w l al-jam T l and In t ib a h f i

4Mlr Nu‘man, Risdla-yi suluk. In this short manual (32 pages) the established
positions of the latifas in the human body, the color of light associated with the
each latTfa, the origins (usid) of each latlfa, and the stages of muraqabat are ex­
plained. It is a manual defining a new MujaddidI system without including any
details of dhikr, nafy wa-ithbat, or any other instructions for the disciple.
5<Abdulahad Wahdat Sirhindl's SabTl ar-rushad does not appreciably add to Mir
Nu'man's treatise. Shah Waliullah's Intibah ft salasil awliyd' Allah and Al-qawl al-
jamtl are more explicit about nafy wa-ithbat, but do not discuss spiritual practices
in significantly greater detail than the preceding works. In some aspects Wallullah
has abridged his discussion, e.g., the issue of contemplations of prophetic and
divine realities is avoided. See Intibah ft salasil awliyd' Allah, p. 77.
‘Such formulae would often be written on paper enclosed by leather to be used
as amulets (ta'awidh, sing, ta'widh) or were in the form of numerical charts (nu-
qush, sing, naqsh). In the subcontinent sufis have been religious specialists knowl­
edgeable in this system of curing disease and solving problems using such
methods. A medical anthropological study of Indo-Pakistani sufis, their various
systems of healing, and what diseases they treat would be a valuable scholarly
contribution. For the pir as a curer and exorcist, see Katherine Ewing, “Sufi as
Saint, Curer, and Exorcist in Modern Pakistan."
saldsil awliyit Allah are precursors to the genre. Both are intended
for a general educated audience and have neither technical or de­
tailed discussions of sufi practices.7 Al-qaxol al-jamtl generally dis­
cusses the sufi exercises (ashghal) of the Chishtivya, Qadirivya,
and Naqshbandiyya, with one section supplying practical formu­
lae for things like repelling rabid dogs, protecting children, and
keeping bothersome disembodied spirits from one's house. Inti-
bah ft saldsil awliyit Allah discusses other aspects of sufism; it also
contains a letter by ‘Abdulahad (d. 1126/1715) and the genealogi­
cal links to Muhammad authorizing him to recite popular devo­
tional prayers, e.g., AbuT-Hasan 'Ah ash-Shadhilts (d. 656/1258)
Hizb al-bahr, or to transmit the contents of popular compendiums
of devotional prayers, e.g., Dalcfil al-khayrat by al-Jazull (d. 869/
1465). Both treatises emphasize the need to be affiliated with a
sufi shaykh. It would be unlikely that persons recited these for­
mulae themselves. They either had a sufi perform the recitation
for them or, in the case of devotional prayers, received permission
(ijaza) from a shaykh to recite specific devotional prayers. Such
nontechnical works by Shah Wallullah encouraged educated
Muslims in a practical unapologetic fashion to become affiliated
with a sufi master.
Ma'mfilat-i mazhariyya, as its title suggests, initiated the ma^mfl­
int genre of Naqshbandl sufi literature explicating both reformist
notions of sufi practice and traditional Naqshbandl practices.5
Written by a disciple of Mlrza Mazhar Jan-i janan (assassinated

These two books are the basis for Mir ValTuddln's posthumously published
MadSrij al-suluk, translated as Contemplative Disciplines in Sufism. The latter book
contains numerous errors and makes only oblique references to the large chunks
taken en toto from Shah Wallullah's works.
The ma'mulSt genre is a Naqshbandl phenomenon although it may have been
more of a widespread phenomenon among revivalist sufi lineages than my re­
search indicates. Shah Muhammad Ashraf 'Ah T'hanawf s massive 1270-page Tar-
biyat al-salik shares many characteristics with Naqshbandl materials. Professor
Iqbal Mujaddil, one of the foremost scholars of the Indian Naqshbandiyya, de­
scribes the contents of NaTmullah Bahra’ichfs Ma'miilat-i mazhariyya, in terms of
sufi practices (ma'mulSt), ritual and supererogatory prayers Cibadat), and practical
formulae (wads'if). The latter indicate how to cure inner and outer disease and
how to attract benefits and repel harmful influences. See his informatire introduc­
tion to Ghulam 'All Shah's MaqSmSt-i mazharT, p. 180. Among non-Naqshbandl
Indian sufis loads' if can also be a term for sufi practices and ma'mutiit can be a
term for pious formulae. Ma'mul also has the meaning of "established customary
practice," explaining such titles as Ma'miilSt-i khayr, which hare pious formulae
and supplications to be used daily. Pakistani booksellers specializing in religious
books, when asked for books on ma'miilSt, will most likely associate this genre
with practical devotional prayers, e.g., Al-hisn al-hasln or Dais'il al-khayrSt.
1195/1781), Na'lmullah Bahra’ichl (d. 1218/1803-4), the book
was given a seal of approval by one of Mlrza Mazhar's senior
disciples, Qadl Thana’ullah Panlpatl (d. 1225/1810).9 Although
similar in content to its predecessors written by Shah Wallullah,
McCmulat-i mazhariyya is much more a consciously Naqshbandl
treatise, emphasizing a sober shari'a-minded sufism. It is unique
in its extensive hagiographic treatment of Mlrza Mazhar and the
inclusion of several of his letters to prominent disciples.10
The next manual discussing MujaddidT practice is Abu SaTd
Dihlawfs (d. 1250/1835) concise Hidayat al-talibin, which is said
to be used today at Khundian Sharif.11 Ahmad SaTd's (d. 1277/
1860) Arba canhar followed. It briefly discusses MujaddidT, Qadirl,
ChishtI, and Naqshbandl sufi practices; the latter three he in­
cludes in his MujaddidT spiritual heritage.12
A popular successor to Ma'mulat-i mazhari appeared in 1911.
Muhammad Tnayatullah named his book Maqamdt-i irshadiyya
after his shaykh, Muhammad Irshad Husayn.13 Unlike either of
its predecessors, it begins by emphasizing the superiority of the
Naqshbandiyya and the necessity of a shaykh. The first half is
devoted to a description of the NaqshbandT ontology and stages
along the Naqshbandl path; the second explains many sufi tech­

9It was written in 1205/1790-91 and first lithographed seventy years later. See
Ma'mulat-i mazhariyya. The second edition was printed in Lahore by Matba'-i Mu-
hammadl in 1284/1867-68; the first edition is a better copy.
,0NaTmullah was the first to write about Mlrza Mazhar Jan-i janan and the first
to publish his letters. For a survey of both NaTmullah's publications and Mlrza
Mazhar's letters, see the detailed introduction to the Urdu translation of Ghulam
‘All Shah's Maqdmdt-i mazhari by Iqbal MujaddidT, pp. 1-223.
"It is strictly a manual giving background information for Naqshbandl disci­
ples, although the oral tradition of the intentions (see appendix 3) is not included.
The masharib-i khamsa, the contemplations putting each latifa to its origin, are also
not mentioned, even though his shaykh, Ghulam ‘All Shah, mentions it in Ma-
katib-i sharTfa, pp. 104-05. The best edition of Hidayat al-talibin is edited by Nur
Ahmad (the editor of Sirhindl's MaktUbat) with his accompanying Urdu transla­
tion.
,2Ahmad SaTd had intended to discuss Suhrawardl sufi exercises in this book
but, informed that Baha’uddin was displeased with him, named the fourth river
"Naqshbandl" instead (the book title Arba' anhar means four rivers). For the last
section he lists the eleven principles of the Naqshbandiyya. See Muhammad
Mazhar MujaddidT, ManUqib-i ahmadiyya wa-maqdmat-i sa'idiyya, p. 168, cited in
Fusfeld, "The Shaping of Sufi Leadership," pp. 205-06.
l3First published in 1329/1911 in Persian, it was reprinted in 1342-43/1923 and
went out of print six years later. In 1360/1941 Muhammad Allah Khan's Urdu
translation was published and has been reprinted at least twice since: Muham­
mad Tnayatullah Khan, Maqdmat-i irshadiyya, Urdu trans. Muhammad Allah
Khan, Ma'arif-i 'inayatiyya.
nical terms used by Naqshbandl-MujaddidI pirs.14 A short hagi­
ography of Irshad Husayn completes the 81-page Persian treatise.
In 1927 another book, Mi'yar al-suluk, more along the lines of
Mamulat-i mazharT, was written by Hidayat ‘All Jaipurl, a disciple
of ‘All Sher Shan. He defends and bolsters the institution of reviv­
alist Naqshbandl sufism by establishing correct credal dogma
and emphasizing the obligatory nature (fard) of acquiring inner
knowledge (batinl ‘ilm) with a shaykh's guidance. After discuss­
ing the Naqshbandl path, such diverse material as supereroga­
tory prayers, supplications, hagiographical presentations of the
Prophet, and selected Indian Naqshbandl shaykhs are covered.
The last few pages are devoted to "necessary amulets" and in­
clude numerical charts (nuqush) to protect against such ailments
as black magic, fever, and weak eyesight.
Zawwar Husayn developed the genre to its fullest in his ‘Umdat
al-suluk. Written for a general audience, the first part explains
each aspect of Naqshbandl sufism which, in reformist terms, is
copiously supported by appropriate Qur’anic and hadith refer­
ences.15Sections outline conditions for disciples and the responsi­
bilities of a shaykh, followed by prescriptions to cure various
illnesses and pious supplications. The second part is for a more
specialized audience, sufis on the path. Discussing the Naqsh­
bandl path and technical terminology, it also includes a section
on supererogatory prayers and ends in an extensive hagiographi­
cal section with thirty-six half-page hagiographies of each sufi
master in the author's spiritual lineage from Muhammad to his
shaykh, Muhammad SaTd QurayshT (d. 1363/1944). Typical of the
genre, the book ends with 119 different formulae (ta'wTdhat wa-
i'maliyat) to solve various problems.
The most modern production of the ma'mulat genre, Manahij
al-sayr by AbuT-Hasan Fartiql Dihlawl, is a synthesis of the pre­
ceding, mostly out-of print works. Discussing sufi terminology
and the specifics of the Naqshbandl path in an academic fashion,
it does not overtly encourage the reader to find a sufi master.
Only at the end of the work is initiation mentioned, and almost
all the dozen pious formulae are directly related to sufi needs,
e.g., how to be aware of one's latifas or how to benefit from a sufi
grave.
Until Shah Wallullah's time separate treatises explaining spiri­

l4An educated Muslim reading this book would be able to make the transition
to Sirhindl's Maktiibat with relative ease.
l5For example, there are 52 Qur’anic proofs and 41 hadith citations to support
the practice of dhikr.
tual practices defined MujaddidI identity much in the same way
as the eleven principles established by Baha’uddln still define the
Naqshbandl path. These short works discussing the MujaddidI
path, however, were the exception. What transpired between the
Naqshbandl shaykh and disciple, outside of written letters, was
part of an oral initiatory tradition. Shah Wallullah's writing about
various practices of the major Indian sufi lineages was an attempt
to harmonize these different lineages while buttressing the au­
thority of the sufi shaykh. This is not typical of the Naqsh-
bandiyya, who have perceived their practices as superior to other
sufi lineages and their path as "closer" to God than others. Subse­
quent writing of macmulat works by Ghulam 'All Shah's disciples
included certain elements of Shah Wallullah's work, e.g., practical
formulae and the necessity of a shaykh, but emphasized shari'a-
minded aspects of the Naqshbandiyya instead of an inclusive
pan-Indian sufism.16
By the twentieth century, the mcfmulat genre reflected the con­
cerns of revivalist sufism, defining a normative Islam with sufism
at center stage and the shaykh as the primary religious authority.
If the distribution of sufi books at that time followed the contem­
porary pattern, they were read inside the Naqshbandl commu­
nity and passed around to those interested in sufism.17 In
addition to providing valuable background information to disci­
ples who could no longer spend twenty to thirty years at the foot
of their master, mcfmulat works furnished supporting arguments
for beliefs likely to be attacked by scripturalist-minded "Wah­
habi" groups.
The only two Naqshbandl-MujaddidI ma'mulat books in print
today are the Urdu translation of Manahij al-sayr by AbuT-Hasan
Faruql Dihlawl and cUmdat al-suluk. Manahij al-sayr presumably
is of more academic interest than practical use since there has
been little if any recent interest in pursuing the MujaddidI path
at Chatli Qabr.18 In retrospect the Naqshbandl ma'mulat genre has

l6Fusfeld suggests a divergence of thought and emphasis between the school of

Shah Wallullah's son, Shah ‘AbduTazIz, and Ghulam ‘All Shah, citing a descrip­
tion given in Christian W. Troll's Sayyid Ahmad Khan: A Reinterpretation of Muslim
Theology, pp. 30-36. There might have been significant differences between these
two schools, but no conclusions can be made on the basis of Troll's very vague
allusions; see Fusfeld, "The Shaping of Sufi Leadership," p. 240.
l7Another impetus for MujaddidI publications, including the genre of ma’mulat,
was the ownership of lithograph presses by Naqshbandls. One example is the
MatbaM Siddlql in Bareilly acquired in 1862 by a MujaddidI, Muhammad Ihsan.
His stepson, ‘Abdulahad, acquired the prestigious MatbaM MujtabaT in 1886. See
Barbara Metcalf, Islamic Revival in British India: Deoband, 1860-1900, pp. 243-44.
’"Personal communication from the late Abu’I-Hasan Faruql, January, 1991. The
been a relatively short-term phenomenon in the Panjab. Its use in
MujaddidI circles diminished rapidly after Partition in 1947,
when the sufi revival movement lost its momentum and fewer
aspirants traveled along the MujaddidI path.19

same situation apparently exists at other Naqshbandl khanaqahs in the Panjab. 1

was unable to find out to what extent' Umdat al-sulQk was being used in contem­
porary Sind.
,9One cannot surmise from textual information alone that a Naqshbandl shaykh
is a directing-shaykh, that is, training disciples to proceed along the MujaddidI
path according to the principles outlined in chapter 5. One example is a hagio-
graphical work on the Naqshbandl lineage of Muhammad 'Abdullah Jan, a con­
temporary Naqshbandl pir. It includes an entire chapter on the MujaddidI path
and methods although these do not reflect the contemporary practices of this pir.
Instead the inclusion of such information demonstrates the use of spiritual meth­
ods and ideas to affirm MujaddidI identity. See Khalid Amin Makhfl al-Khayrl,
Silsila-yi khayriyya tna‘ tadhkira-yi naqshbandiyua, pp. 8 5 -111.1 suspect that the in­
creasing number of published manuals detailing MujaddidI practices relates to
the decreasing number of MujaddidI directing-shaykhs.
APPENDIX 2

Mujaddidi Contemplations

The performance of contemplation (muraqaba), according to

Shah Wallullah, is the "particular excellence of the Naqsh-
bandiyya."1 As the disciple progresses through the contempla­
tions (muraqabat) he or she is able to travel in the Essence (dhat).2
Naqshbandl define muraqaba as "waiting for the latifas to attract
divine energy." In the words of Baqlbillah's son, Khwaja Khurd,
"Muraqaba is leaving behind one's power and strength; it is turn­
ing from all states and attributes waiting in expectation of the
encounter [while] longing for its beauty and being immersed in
its desire and love."3
The Naqshbandl cosmology represented by intersecting circles
is a "geographical" map of the worlds between the Essence and
the physical world; the Naqshbandl path to God described by the
series of intentions in the various contemplations is a more de­
tailed road map of the same spiritual continuum.4 The spiritual

'Here he means the Naqshbandiyya-Mujaddidiyya; see J. M. S. Baljon, Religion

and Thought of Shah Walt Allah DihlaivT, 1703-1762, p. 85.
"Contemplation is being used here in a technical sense. Mystical practice often
involves three processes: concentration, meditation, and contemplation. The first
stage, concentrating the mind, is the act of sharpening a pencil; the second, medi­
tation, is like learning to form letters; and the third, contemplation, is writing
words and sentences. For the Naqshbandls these stages correspond to dhikr-i qalbT,
nafy wa-ithbat, and muraqaba. The principal difference between meditation and
contemplation is the clear sense of dynamic motion in the latter. There are twenty-
six different contemplations in the Naqshbandl system; collectively they will be
referred to as the muraqabat. For a philosophical analysis of meditation and con­
templation, see Peter Moore, “Mystical Experience, Mystical Doctrine, Mystical
Technique."
3FaruqI, Mamhij al-sayr, p. 81. Faruql relates an apocryphal story transmitted
from Sa'duddln Kashgharl (d. 860/1455-56) describing how Junayd was taught
how to perform muraqabat by a cat: one should wait with completely undivided
attention like a cat ready to pounce on a mouse.
4See figures 5 and 7.
terrain, the series of manifestations between the Essence and the
corporeal world including the path to negotiate this terrain, all of
it "uphill/'5 is described in detail throughout the twenty-six
stages of the muraqabat. A comparison of figures 5 and 7 shows
the difference in scale between the four emanations from the es­
sence and the twenty-one circles representing twenty-six individ­
ual meditations in the muraqabat, the third stage for travelers on
the Naqshbandl-MujaddidI path. Before embarking on this jour­
ney through the muraqabat, the recollection of the heart which
"created a vehicle" and the nafy wa-ithbat of "warming up the
engine" have already been performed under the close supervi­
sion of the shaykh.
When the disciple is ready to begin, the first contemplation
focuses on exclusive unity (ahadiyat) before proceeding to the five
contemplations of the prophetic wellsprings (murdqabdt-i mash-
arib).6 This is the last "tour" through the attributes of God before
proceeding to the Essence.7 These five Prophetic contemplations
emulate the model of the Prophet-Companion spiritual compan­
ionship (suhbat) as the disciple visualizes him- or herself in front
of the Prophet, receiving divine energy via the "connecting
chain" of Naqshbandl shaykhs.8 As each of the five subtle centers
receives divine grace from its origin (asl) above the Throne,9 the
goal is for each lattfa to go to its origin to realize its annihilation

5Moving from the physical world towards the Essence is described as an ascent
Curuj), a word having the same root as the Prophet's midnight journey into the
heavens (al-miraj).
'’This is also called the contemplation of the five subtle centers (muraqabat-i
lataif-i khamsa). See FarOql, MadSrij al-khayr, pp. 88-89. Each meditation attempts
to guide fayd from the Essence to a specific lattfa by means of the Prophet via the
great Naqshbandl shaykhs (pTran-i kibdr). For the differences coined by Sadruddln
Qunawl (d. 673/1274), Ibn al-'Arabl's chief disciple, between "exclusive unity"
(ahadiyyat) in the sense of the complete negation of corporeal manifestation and
"inclusive unity" (wahidiyyat) in the sense of negation from outward existence but
not from knowledge, see William Chittick, "The Five Divine Presences: From al-
QQnawl to al-Qaysarl."
7Naqshbandls emphasize that their goal is to travel in the essence (dhat) not the
attributes (sifat). This means they are traveling in the first manifestation of cre­
ation instead of lower manifestations, not the undifferentiated Essence (lit
ta'ayyun).
8Evidently some Naqshbandls concentrated on the individual prophets in these
contemplations, since Ghulam ‘All Shah said that it was unacceptable for anyone
to concentrate on other prophets "although faith and certainty can be obtained
from them." He recommends focusing on Muhammad and God using the Naqsh­
bandl shaykhs as mirrors. See Ghulam ‘All Shah, Makdtib-i sharTfa, letter 81, p. 105.
‘'See figure 6 for correspondences between the latTfas and the location of their
origins.
(fa n a '). Extremely few travelers can annihilate these five la t T fa s in
rapid succession, most associating themselves with a certain la tT fa
(also described as being under the foot of a certain prophet) until
that is annihilated and then progressing on to efface the next
la t T fa . The minimum requirement for progress on the path is to
return the heart la tT fa to its origin. Then the disciple can move out
of the circle of contingent existence ( d a ' i r a - y i i m k a n ) and proceed
to the next realm of names and attributes.
Adam governs the first contemplation of the five prophetic
ways; the active attributes ( s i f a t - i f i ' l i y y a ) are most concentrated in
him, since he knew the names of everything in creation. Naqsh-
bandTs describe spiritual travelers who are at the “station of the
heart" in the presence of d h i k r while observing God's creation to
be "under the foot" of Adam.10 In contrast, the "station of the
spirit" involves looking at God and negating God's creation by
returning the r u h to its origin in the eight immutable divine attri­
butes. This is the second prophetic contemplation associated with
Abraham and Noah who manifest the special rank of having de­
nied corporeal realities, e.g., fire did not harm Abraham, and the
Flood did not drown Noah. Travel in the mystery ( s i r r ) begins
after the spirit la tT fa as the s i r r ' s origin in the divine qualities
( s h u ’ u n - i d h a t i y y a ) begin at the end of the eight immutable divine
attributes.11 This is the domain of Moses who was the first to
speak to God (hence he is often called k a l T m u l l a h ) .
The next subtle center's origin is located in the attributes of
negation (s i f a t - i s a l b i y y a or s i f a t - i t a n z T h i y y a ) , the origin of the arca­
num la t T fa , which are like a "mirror image" of the previous divine
qualities. Jesus, associated with the arcanum la t T fa , established the
meaning of negation ( r i a f y ) by utterly transcending the laws asso­
ciated with the circle of contingent existence, e.g., being born
without a father, reviving the dead, and transcending death. The
last of the prophetic contemplations includes all the divine quali­
ties in its origin just as Muhammad, the prophet associated with
the super-arcanum la t T fa , is the source of the prophethood and
the divine intimacy ( w i l d y a ) of the other prophets.
As Jesus established negation through his being, Muhammad
established the principle of affirmation ( i t h b a t ) through his
prophethood. The quality of comprehensive synthesis ( s h a ’ n - i

,0Zawwar Husayn, ‘Umdat al-suluk, pp. 208-09.

"From the perspective of wahdat al-wujud, i.e., the formulation of Ibn al-'Arabl's
school, there are four divine qualities: light (nur), knowledge Cilm), witnessing
(shuhud), and existence (wujiid). See Dhawql, Sirr-i dilbaran, p. 344. Naqshbandis
do not restrict the shu ’un to these four qualities.
ja m ? ) is the transition between the Essence and the divine quali­
ties, associated with the Muhammadan reality and the source of
divinely emanating grace for all the rest of creation. Muhammad
is the greater bridge ( b a r z a k h a l - k u b r a ) to God. Naqshbandls there­
fore believe no spiritual path can arrive at God unless it includes
the Muhammadan reality and is blessed with divine grace from
the quality of comprehensive synthesis. When the disciple has
annihilated at least the heart la tT fa he or she has exited the reflec­
tions ( z i l a l ) and can proceed in the contemplations to the lesser
intimacy with God ( i v i l a y a t - i s u g h r d ) .
Baha’uddln's elaboration of the Naqshbandl path went as far
as the contemplation of “being together with God" ( m c f i y y a t ) } 1
By this point the traveler is out of the boundaries of the circle of
contingent existence ( d a ’ i r a - y i i m k d n ) and is now “traveling to
God" ( s a y r i l a ’ l l a h ) . Although most other sufi shaykhs give disci­
ples permission to teach at this point, Mujaddidls do not neces­
sarily let their students teach at this level if they are still subject
to uncontrollable j a d h b a or fits of ecstasy.
From here the traveler enters the stage of greater intimacy with
God ( l o i l a y a t - i k u b r a ) . The adept travels in the n a f s during this
stage of spiritual development since it is only this subtle center
that spans the spiritual heights and the world of creation.2134This
is the realm of the intimacy of prophets ( w i l d y a t - i a n b i y a 3) who
return from spiritual heights to convey their message to human­
ity. It is also the station ( m a q a m ) of “the expanded breast" ( s h a r h - i
s a d r ) , u pointing to the perfection of the a k h f a subtle center which
expands to fill the entire chest, forming a single unit of light
( h a y 3a t - i w a h d a m , literally, the unitary form).15

l2Zawwar Husayn, ‘Umdat al-suluk, pp. 289-90. It is uncertain whether the pre­
ceding prophetic contemplations, at least in the form used by the Mujaddidiyya,
were a part of Baha’uddln Naqshband's spiritual practices. Naqshbandis have
informed me that the eighteen further stages of spiritual journeying elaborated
by Sirhindl (from the contemplation of aqrabiyat to the contemplation of la ta'ay-
yun) used to be reached by Uwaysl instruction before Sirhindl's elaboration of
them. It was only after Sirhindl that these additional stages could be reached by
exercises taught by a living shaykh. For a history of ma'iyyat and its meaning for
Ruml's father Baha-i Walad, see Fritz Meier, Baha-i Walad: Grundziige seines Lebens
und seiner Mystik, pp. 160-89.
,3Note the emphasis on the fayd going to the nafs in these next five contempla­
tions. Beyond that point the hay'at-i ivahdam is formed as the subtle "vehicle” to
go to the highest realms.
l4Mentioned in the Qur’an (6:125, 20:25, 39:22, 94:1).
l5Muhammad ‘Inayatullah, Maqdmdt-i irshttdiyya, pp. 251-52, and Zawwar Hu­
sayn, Umdat al-suluk, pp. 291-92. I have not found any Naqshbandls mentioning
this light in the chest in connection with the cleansing of the Prophet's heart by
angels.
 At the stage of greater intimacy the ten latifas, including the
subdued, tranquil ego (al-nafs al-mutmaHnna), have become puri­
fied in the station of contentment (rida).u The larger circle of
"greater intimacy" is represented by three smaller circles and a
bow. Cosmologically, nearness (aqrabiyat), the first of the smaller
circles, is a transition (barzakh) including the names and attributes
in its lower half and the divine qualities (shu'un-i dhatiyya) in its
upper half, while the two higher circles of love (mahabba) corre­
spond with the attributes of negation (sifat-i salbiyya) and the
quality of comprehensive synthesis (sha’n-i jamf), respectively.1617
The bow (yaws) is associated with the highest of God's qualities,
knowledge (sha’n-i Him). The distinction of the "greater intimacy"
is its cycling and unifying the higher and lower. The last contem­
plation of the Outward (ism-i zahir) involves a return (nuzul, liter­
ally, descent) to those things of the created world which had been
negated and now can be affirmed to be included when traveling
towards God. It is only from this greater intimacy that, in imita­
tion of the prophets and Companions, one can return to the cre­
ated world from the lofty heights of spiritual travel.
The Mujaddidls specify one more degree of closeness to God,
the "highest intimacy" (wilayat-iculya), that of the highest angels
(al-mala5 al-acla), involving the three elements of water, air, and
fire. Upward/inward from the contemplation of the Inward (ism-i
batin) all traveling is in dhat, i.e., the first manifestation of the
Essence.18 Above this are the three circles of perfections (kamalat),
a domain to which angels cannot go because perfection is a func­
tion of integrating the highest, the most subtle body of light, with
the lowest, the coarsest body of earth. This human potential to
manifest the highest and the lowest aspects of creation makes
humans superior to angels; it is for this reason that God ordered
the angels to prostrate themselves in front of Adam (Q. 2:34). Be­
ginning with the second contemplation of perfections, the perfec­
tions of Messengership (kamalat-i risalat), the consolidation of
latifas (hay’at-i wahdam) has become perfected as a vehicle.19 It is
this contemplation that is associated with the station of "the dis­

16Faruqi, Maddrij al-khayr, p. 72.

l7Zawwar Husayn, ‘Umdat al-suluk, pp. 290-92.
'“Muhammad ‘Inayatullah, Mnqdmat-i irshddiyya, pp. 252-53. Indian Abu Sa‘ld
(d. 1250/1835) received permission to teach at this stage in his contemplation
exercises. See Abu Sa'ld, Hiddyat al-talibTn, p. 76.
,9A11 messengers of God (rusul, sing, rasul) are prophets (anbiya') but only rela­
tively few prophets qualify as messengers of God. The distinction is that the mes­
sengers of God bring scriptures to humankind such as the Torah, Psalms, Bible,
and Qur’an.
tance of two bow lengths" (qaba qawsayn), alluding to Muham­
mad's exalted station (Q. 53:9).20
By the time of Ghulam ‘All Shah (d. 1240/1824), discrepancies
occur in the MujaddidI path. According to nineteenth- and twen­
tieth-century manuals of Naqshbandls spiritual practice, the sufi,
after traversing the contemplations of the perfections, should pro­
ceed to the divine realities (haqa'iq-i ilahiyya) before embarking on
the path of prophetic realities (haqayiq-i nabawiyya).21 This was not
always the case. Ahmad Sirhindl had originally declared the real­
ity of the Qur’an (haqiqat-i qufan) and the reality of the Ka‘ba
(haqiqat-i kacba-yi rabbani) to be above the reality of Muhammad
(haqiqat-i Muhammadi).22 This caused a fury of opposition, particu­
larly among certain sufis and ulama of the Hijaz who objected to
the Ka‘ba having a more exalted spiritual "rank" than the
Prophet.23 Sirhindl argued in response that the reality of the
Prophet is superior to any other creature. The real Ka‘ba is wor­
thy of prostration since it is not created and is covered with the
veil of nonexistence. It is this Ka‘ba in the essence of God that
Sirhindl was referring to as the reality of the Ka‘ba, not the ap­
pearance of the Ka‘ba (surat-i kacba), which is only a stone.24
The earliest sources detailing the MujaddidI spiritual path fol­
low Sirhindl's hierarchy, placing divine realities closer to God
than prophetic realities.25 By the latter part of the nineteenth cen­

20Ibid., p. 88. The association of the Prophet's night journey through the heavens
and the qaba qawsayn occurs as early as Anas b. Malik (d. ca. 92/710). See Louis
Massignon, La Passion de Husayn Ibn Mansur Hallaj, 4 volumes, 3:312, n. 3 (trans.
3:295, n. 114). There are very few references even alluding to progress on the
Naqshbandl path and Muhammad's heavenly journey in Naqshbandl literature—
perhaps this is a conscious attempt to indicate the exalted nature of Muhammad's
experience which no other prophet had.
2,There is a shortcut bypassing these two sets of realities, the path of qayyums,
which is reserved for very special travelers.
“ Ahmad Sirhindl, Mabda’ wa-ma'ad, p. 78.
23The principal contenders in this controversy were Adam Banurl, one of Sir­
hindl's major successors, and Ahmad QushshashI (d. 1071/1600). ‘Abdullah
Khwlshagl Qusurl has documented the correspondence in his Ma'arij al-wildyat,
pp. 606-46. The background of this controversy is fully discussed by Iqbal
MujaddidI in Ahwdl wa-dtMr-i 'Abdullah Khwlshagl Qusurl, pp. 150-53.
24Ahmad Sirhindl, Maktubat-i imam-i rabbam, 3 volumes, vol. 3, letter 124, p. 147,
and Muhammad ‘Inayatullah, Maqamat-i irshadiyya, pp. 261-63.
25The earliest source on the MujaddidI path other than Sirhindl's Maktubat is by
Mir Nu'man, one of Sirhindl's successors. See his Risala-yi suluk, pp. 14-23. The
contemplations of the perfections of prophetic realities precede the higher divine
realities. Writing almost a century later, ‘Abdulahad Wahdat Sirhindl (d. 1126/
1715), in his Sabtl al-rashad, acknoweldges the divine realities to be closer to God
than the prophetic realities.
tury, the consensus of the Naqshbandl community had placed
the prophetic realities closer to God than the divine realities. The
rationale for this development may have been to neutralize un­
necessary discord with the larger Muslim community whose
emotional attachment to Muhammad was greater than any un­
derstanding of philosophical fine points. Like many believers,
they could not imagine any entity closer to God than Muham­
mad. This would be a logical move in the interest of shari‘a-mind-
edness and affirmation of the Sunni creed especially (in
retrospect) when viewed against the vehement Naqshbandl op­
position to the Ahmadls. In the popular imagination at least, the
Naqshbandls would have had difficulty being leaders of revival­
ist sufism in British India if they needed continually to defend
the ontological superiority of the Ka'ba over Muhammad. There
were more important issues at stake. In any case, few reached
these heights of spiritual traveling and those who did were wise
enough not to stir up unnecessary controversy over the mystical
experience of an elite.
Ghulam ‘All Shah of Delhi was the first to redefine Sirhindl's
spiritual path.26 He asserted that "together the reality of Muham­
mad (h a q T q a t-i M u h a m m a d t ) and the reality of Ahmad (haqT qat-i
A h m a d i) are the closest [realities] to the Essence (h a d r a t-i d h a t ) . . . .
According to Hadrat Mujaddid (r) the first manifestation [from
the Essence] is love and [contained in] the center of that manifes­
tation of love is the reality of Ahmad, an aspect of being a beloved
of God ( m a h b u b iy a t ) , [which] is the spiritual (ruhT) manifestation
of that Presence (S) [Muhammad] and [in an outer circle from the
Ahmadi reality is] the reality of Muhammad [being] mixed with
belovedness (m a h b u b iy a t ) and being a lover ( m u h ib b iy a t) which is
the physical manifestation of that Presence (S) [Muhammad]."27

26His contemporaries Qada Thana’ullah Panlpatl (d. 1225/1810) and Na'lm-

ullah Bahra’ich! (d. 1218/1803) both avoided the issue by not discussing the mura-
qabdt beyond the contemplations of perfections. See Panlpatl, Irshad al-talibm,
p. 67, and Na'lmullah Bahra’ichl, Ma‘mulat-i mazhariyya, p. 72. By the early part
of the twentieth century apparently other Indian Mujaddid! lineages also rede­
fined the Mujaddid! path in the same fashion as Ghulam 'Alt. See Jaipur!, MTydr
al-suluk, pp. 153-61.
27Ghulam ‘All, Makdtib-i sharlfa, p. 148. Sirhind! developed an original interpre­
tation of the Prophet Muhammad, postulating two individuations: the bodily-
human, representing Muhammad as a messenger, and the spiritual-angelic, re­
flecting Muhammad as a prophet. According to Sirhindl's inspiration, the former
became transformed into the latter over a period of one thousand years after the
Prophet's death. As a result the Muslim ulama were awarded the same rank as
the prophets of Israel and the renewer (mujaddid) was supposed to fulfill the com­
parable task of a steadfast prophet; see Yohanan Friedmann, Shaykh Ahmad Sir-
hindf: An Outline of His Thought and a Study of His Image in the Eyes of Posterity,
 Among sufis this type of reinterpretation is seen as a mystical
ijtihad, legitimate independent judgment based on spiritual expe­
rience.28 All the manuals explaining the spiritual methods of the
Mujaddidls written in nineteenth- and twentieth-century India
follow this new pattern. It is part of a larger pattern that exalted
the status of Muhammad and resulted in an increased status of
the sufi shaykh. Although there appear to be few sources of the
period documenting the controversies, they apparently involved
opposition to Ahmad Sirhindl.29 To avoid unnecessary contro­
versy and act in accordance with the community, a consensus of
MujaddidI shaykhs recognized the superiority of Muhammad
over other realities, both prophetic and divine.

pp. 15-17. The relationship between SirhindT's prophetology and his elaboration
of the spiritual path has yet to be investigated.
28Ghulam All (d. 1240/1824) explains in one letter that the contemplations of
divine realities are higher than the contemplations of prophetic realities in
agreement with Sirhindl. See Ghulam ‘All, Makatib-i sharlfa, p. 176. In another
letter he reverses the two sets of contemplations according to subsequent usage
among Mujaddidls. See ibid., pp. 207-08. This situation illustrates one difficulty
using sufi letters as sources, since each recipient of each letter had a different level
of understanding and the shaykh addresses each person accordingly. Even if
every letter were addressed to the same person, letters written over a period of
time reflect the disciple's development and the shaykh's changing understanding
of reality.
"Ibid., letters 1, 6, 67, 86, 88, 96.
APPENDIX 3

The Intentions Guiding the Disciple

through the MujaddidI
Contemplations

One aspect of MujaddidI practice that remained in oral tradi­

tion until quite recently was the series of mentally spoken inten­
tions while traveling through the contemplations. To what extent
the first six of these intentions changed after the advent of the
expanded MujaddidI system is not indicated in any of the
sources. We only know that living shaykhs using Baha’uddln's
methods trained disciples to go as far as the maliyyat contempla­
tion. In Pakistan the usual time to perform these exercises is after
the afternoon Casr) prayer when the shaykh and his disciples
gather in a circle silently to perform the MujaddidI contempla­
tions. Individual performance of the contemplations is recom­
mended before or right after the morning prayer. From the Indian
MujaddidI macmulat works the original intentions in Persian with
occasional Qur’anic verses are only found in cUmdat al-suluk,
which I have supplemented by a more complete set of intentions
from Ma'mulat-i sayfi.'1

The Intentions

1. The Intention of the Contemplation of Exclusive Unity (ahadiyyat)

Divine grace comes from the eternal Essence that comprehen­

’This latter work is a MujaddidI manual with an added set of intentions (wuquf-i
muraqabat), formulated by an Afghan MujaddidI, Shah Rasul at-Talqam (d.1382/
1962-3), which precede the ones given in ‘Umdat al-suluk. See Abu’l-Asfar 'All
Muhammad al-Balkhl, Ma‘mulat-t sayft, pp. 22-31. The intentions in 'Umdat al-
suluk are found on pp. 285-301.
 sively encompasses the [divine] attributes and [divine] perfec­
tions, is free from all imperfections and defects, and is
incomparable [to anything created]. [This divine grace comes] to
my heart latifa by means of the great [Naqshbandl] pirs (r) (pTran-i
kibar).
2. The Intention of the Contemplation of the Origin of the Heart
O God, my heart faces the Prophet's (S) heart. The divine energy
emanating from the active attributes which you have sent from
the Prophet's (S) heart to Adam's (R) heart, convey it also to my
heart by means of the great [Naqshbandl] pirs (r).
3. The Intention of the Contemplation of the Origin of the Spirit (n th)
O God, my spirit faces the Prophet's (S) spirit. The divine energy
emanating from the eight immutable divine attributes which you
have sent from the Prophet's (S) spirit to the spirits of Abraham
and Noah, convey it also to my heart by means of the great
[Naqshbandl] pirs (r).
4. The Intention of the Contemplation of the Origin of the Mystery
O God, my mystery faces the Prophet's (S) mystery. The divine
energy emanating from the divine qualities which you have sent
from the Prophet's (S) mystery to Moses's mystery, convey it also
to my mystery by means of the great [Naqshbandl] pirs (r).
5. The Intention of the Contemplation of the Origin of the Arcanum
O God, my arcanum faces the Prophet's (S) arcanum. The divine
energy emanating from the attributes of negation which you have
sent from the Prophet's arcanum to Jesus's arcanum, convey it
also to my arcanum by means of the great [Naqshbandl] pirs (r).
6. The Intention of the Contemplation of the Origin of the Super­
Arcanum
O God, my super-arcanum faces the Prophet's (S) super-arcanum.
The divine energy emanating from the quality of comprehensive
synthesis which you have sent to the Prophet's (S) super-arcanum,
convey it also to my super-arcanum by means of the great [Naqsh­
bandl] pirs (r).
7. The Intention of the Contemplation of Being Together With God
(m a'iyyat)
Divine energy comes from the eternal Essence that is with me and
with all creation just as each atom of creation is with the Divine
as understood in the blessed verse, "He is with you wherever you
are" (Q. 57:4). [This divine energy comes] to my heart by means
of the great [Naqshbandl] pirs (r).2
8. The Intention of the Contemplation of Close Proximity (aqrabiyyat)
Divine energy comes from the eternal Essence which is the origin
of the [divine] names and attributes and which is nearer to me
than myself, even nearer to me than my jugular vein, an ineffable

2In Mo millat-i sayfT this reads the five latifas of the world of divine command.
For a complete overview of the different opinions concerning which latifa should
be associated with this contemplation, see Manahij al-sayr, pp. 89-95.
 (bila kayf) nearness as understood in the blessed verse, "We are
nearer to him than his jugular vein" (Q. 50:16). [This divine energy
comes] to my soul nafs latjfa and the five lattfas of the world of
divine command by means of the great [Naqshbandl] pirs (r).
9. The Intention of the First Contemplation of Love (mahabbat)
Divine energy comes from the eternal Essence, which is the ori­
gin's origin of the [divine] names and attributes, who loves me
and I love Him as understood in the blessed verse, "He loves them
and they love Him" (Q. 5.54). [This divine energy comes] to my
soul latjfa by means of the great [Naqshbandl] pirs (r).
10. The Intention of the Second Contemplation of Love (mahabbat)
Divine energy comes from the eternal Essence, which is the ori­
gin's origin's origin of the [divine] names and attributes, who
loves me and I love Him as understood in the blessed verse, "He
loves them and they love Him" (Q. 5:54). [This divine energy
comes] to my soul latjfa by means of the great [Naqshbandl] pirs
(r).
11. The Intention of the Contemplation of the Arc's Circle
Divine energy comes from the eternal Essence, which is the ori­
gin's origin's origin's origin of the [divine] names and attributes
and the Arc's Circle, who loves me and I love Him as understood
in the blessed verse, "He loves them and they love Him" (Q. 5:54).
[This divine energy comes] to my soul latjfa by means of the great
[Naqshbandl] pirs (r).
12. The Intention of the Contemplation of the Outward (ism-i zdhir)
Divine energy comes from the eternal Essense who is called the
outward name as understood in the blessed verse, "He is the first
and the last and the outward and the inward and is the Knower
of all things (Q. 57:3). [This divine energy comes] to my soul latTfa
b y means of the great [Naqshbandl] pirs (r).
13. The Intention of the Contemplation of the Inward (ism-i batin)
Divine energy comes from the eternal Essence who is called the
inward name, is the origin of "highest proximity" [sometimes
called] the proximity of the highest angels (m ala5al-acla) as under­
stood in the blessed verse, "He is the first and the last and the
outward and the inward and is the Knower of all things" (Q. 57:3).
[This divine energy comes] to three of my elements, water, air,
and fire by means of the great [Naqshbandl] pirs (r).
14. The Intention of the Contemplation of the Perfections of Prophet-
hood
Divine energy comes from the eternal Essence, which is the origin
of the perfections of prophethood, to my element earth by means
of the great [Naqshbandl] pirs (r).
15. The Intention of the Contemplation of the Perfections of Messenger-
ship
Divine energy comes from the eternal Essence, which is the origin
of the perfections of messengership, to my consolidated latjfas
(hay’at-i ivahdant) by means of the great [Naqshbandl] pirs (r).
16. The Intention of the Contemplation of the Perfections of the Great
Prophets (anbiya-i ulu al-'azmp
Divine energy comes from the eternal Essence, which is the origin
of the perfections of the great prophets to my consolidated latifas
by means of the great [Naqshbandl] pirs (r).
17. The Intention of the Contemplation of the Reality of the Divine Ka'ba
Divine energy comes from the eternal Essence, to which all of
creation prostrates and which is the origin of the reality of the
divine Ka'ba. [This divine energy comes] to my consolidated lati­
fas by means of the great [Naqshbandl] pirs (r).
18. The Intention of the Contemplation of the Reality of the Glorious
Qur'an
Divine energy comes from the [infinite] vastness of the eternal
Divine Presence,1 'hich is the origin of the reality of the glorious
Qur'an, to my consolidated latifas by means of the great [Naqsh­
bandl] pirs (r).
19. The Intention of the Contemplation of the Reality of Prayer (salat)
Divine energy comes from the perfect [infinite] vastness of the
eternal Divine Presence, which is the origin of the reality of
prayer, to my consolidated latifas by means of the great [Naqsh­
bandl] pirs (r).
20. The Intention of the Contemplation of Pure Worshippedness (ma'bttd-
iyyat-i sirfa)
Divine energy comes from the eternal Divine Presence, which is
the origin of pure worshippedness, to my consolidated latifas by
means of the great [Naqshbandl] pirs (r).
21. The Intention of the Contemplation of the Reality of Abraham (R)
Divine energy comes from the eternal Divine Presence who is the
lover of His own attributes and who is the origin of the reality of
Abraham (R). [This divine energy comes] to my consolidated lati­
fas by means of the great [Naqshbandl] pirs (r).
22. The Intention of the Contemplation of the Reality of Moses (R)
Divine energy comes from the eternal Divine Presence who is the
lover of His own essence and who is the origin of the reality of
Moses (R). [This divine energy comes] to my consolidated latifas
by means of the great [Naqshbandl] pirs (r).
23. The Intention of the Contemplation of the Reality of Muhammad (S)
Divine energy comes from the eternal Divine Presence who is the
lover and beloved of His own essence and who is the origin of
the reality of Muhammad (S). [This divine energy comes] to my
consolidated latifas by means of the great [Naqshbandl] pirs (r).
24. The Intention of the Contemplation of the Reality of Ahmad (R)
Divine energy comes from the eternal Divine Presence who is the
beloved of His own essence and who is the origin of the reality of

They are usually considered to be Adam, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and

Muhammad.
 Ahmad (R). [This divine energy comes] to my consolidated latjfas
by means of the great [Naqshbandi] pirs (r).
25. The Intention of the Contemplation of Pure Love
Divine energy comes from the eternal Divine Presence, who is the
source of pure love, to my consolidated latTfas by means of the
great [Naqshbandi] pirs (R).
26. The Intention of the Contemplation of the Undifferentiated
Divine energy comes from the absolute eternal Essence that is ex­
istent [along] with created existence and is free from all [created]
manifestations. [This divine energy comes] to my consolidated
lattfas by means of the great [Naqshbandi] pirs (r).
APPENDIX 4

Examples of Teaching Certificates

To give the reader an idea of the development of the certificate

(ijazatnama) entitling Indian Mujaddidl shaykhs to teach, three
samples from Ahmad SaTd's (d. 1277/1860) lineage and two
from Imam 'All Shah's (d. 1282/1865) lineage are reproduced
below. The first two, translated from Persian and Arabic, illus­
trate how Ahmad Shah gave his successor, Dost Muhammad, first
conditional (muqayyad) and then unconditional (mutlaq) permis­
sion to teach.1 The lengthy third certificate, originally written in
Arabic, is the one Dost Muhammad gave to his successor, Mu­
hammad ‘Uthman (d. 1314/1896).2 Following these is the certifi­
cate Sadiq ‘All Shah (1317-8/1900) received from Imam ‘All Shah
and the certificate Sadiq ‘All Shah gave to another pir's son, Farid-
uddln, in 1865.3

The Certificate of Conditional Permission Given

to Dost Muhammad

In the name of God, the Compassionate and Merciful after praise

[to the Prophet this] poor one, Ahmad Sa'ld Mujaddidl, [who is a
Mujaddidl] both by spiritual pedigree (nisbatan) and by spiritual
method (tariqan). God has clearly desired that [the one possess­
ing] integrity and perfection of rank, Pilgrim of the two sacred
places [Mecca and Medina] Mulla Hajjl Hadrat Dost Muhammad
(may God love and be satisfied with him) come to this nobody

'Muhammad IsmaTl, Mawahib rahmaniyya ft fawa’id wa-fuyudat hadarat thalatha

damaniyya: al-tajalliyat al-ddstiyya, pp. 35-40.
2Muhammad IsmaTl, Mawahib rahmaniyya ft fawtt'id wa-fuyudat hadarat thalatha
damaniyya: kamalat-i ‘uthmaniyya, pp. 49-55.
3Imam 'All Shah, Maktubat-i Qutb-i RabbanT, pp. 107-13.
[Ahmad Sa'ld] for inner growth. For more than a year he has
stayed near [this] poor one [Ahmad Sa'ld] and during this time
has quickly activated his ten subtle entities (latTfas). May God be
blessed that he has experienced the auspiciousness of the great
pirs in each station, discovering the effects and lights found in
each subtle entity and witnessing the signs of annihilation (fana’)
and remaining (baya*) in himself. Therefore I gave permission to
teach the way of the Naqshbandiyya-Mujaddidiyya, Qadiriyya,
Chishtiyya, and Suhrawardiyya. May God Almighty favor him
for life. It is necessary for him to adhere to the honored Path. The
conditions of this permission are: to be established in the shari'a,
to follow the sunna, to avoid innovation, to continually recollect
God, and to work with God Almighty (may He be praised) [to
remove] people's obstacles and despair. Hope is from God Al­
mighty as are patience and trust in God, contentment, satisfac­
tion, and peace. End.

The Certificate of Unrestricted Permission Given

to Dost Muhammad

In the name of God, Compassionate and Merciful, may the God

of the two worlds be blessed. [May there be] blessings on the seal
of the prophets and all his companions. The poor one, Ahmad
Sa'ld al-Mujaddidl, may God forgive him for everything, asks that
God (may He be blessed) safeguard [this] Pilgrim who is righ­
teous, honest, [and] honored with sincere integrity of the two sa­
cred places [Mecca and Medina] and who comprehends the two
worlds. Make [this Pilgrim], Maulana Dost Muhammad, a be­
loved soul, a leader and guide among his people. When he en­
tered the Path and began practicing the recollections (adhkar) of
God and the contemplations, I supervised him in all the stations
of the [following] paths: Naqshbandl-Mujaddidl, Qadirl, ChishtI,
SuhrawardI, KubrawT, and others. The confluence of oceans be­
came the source of lights. He has unconditional permission to
guide students while being inspired in the presence of God and
being present in the hearts of the Elect. [In addition he has per­
mission] to initiate seekers of the aforementioned paths accord­
ing to Prophetic practice. He is my successor. His hand is my
hand. How excellent is he who follows him. God (J) said that
“Those who pledge allegiance to you [Muhammad] pledge alle­
giance to God; the hand of God is over their hand" [Q. 48:10].
May God bless the best of his creation, our lord Muhammad, and
all his companions. End.
 The Certificate of Unrestricted Permission Given to
Muhammad 'Uthman

Blessings be to God and the Prophet. It is not hidden from the

Elect of humankind nor the commoners that my righteous
brother, repository of inner and outer perfections, the Maulwl
Muhammad 'Uthman Sahib (may God grant him peace) entered
the exalted path of the Naqshbandiyya Mujaddidiyya Ma'sum-
iyya Mazhariyya from this poor nothing, Dost Muhammad, com­
monly named "Hajjl" (may God forgive him for everything). I
supervised him in the heart latifa and the progression of latifas
in the world of archetypes, whereupon lights and secrets were
revealed to him. He experienced strong attractions (jadhabat) [by
God], manifest lights, total presence of God, and the pleasure of
being overwhelmed [in the unity of God] which is the beginning
of annihilation in God, the prerequisite of remaining in God.
Then I supervised him in the nafs and qalab latifa where he ex­
perienced annihilation and vanishing [of self] of fana3 and de­
scended from the source of effects. Then I supervised him in the
contemplation of ahadiyya, the circles of three intimacies (wilayat-i
sughra, kubra, 'ulya), and he achieved the necessary presences of
the intimates of God (awliya’), the prophets, and the great angels.
After this I supervised him in the three perfections and the seven
realities, pure love, non-differentiation, and the cutting sword
[see above, figure 7], He achieved these stations by the favor of
God. Whoever the great shaykhs (r) favor has good fortune and
[experiences] many [mystical] states which are suitable for each
station in their completeness of detail. Then I took him through
all the stages of the path again until I helped him complete the
path one more time. May God reward him.
Therefore he was my constant companion for seventeen years,
[going] wherever I went, serving me in every way. May God Al­
mighty bestow His treasures upon him. He became distinguished
among both my companions and my loved ones. I gave him un­
restricted permission (ijazat mutlaq) [to teach] the methods of the
Naqshbandiyya Mujaddidiyya Ma'sumiyya Mazhariyya and the
Qadiriyya, Chishtiyya, Suhrawardiyya, Kubrawiyya, Shattariyya,
Madariyya, Qalandariyya, and other sufi lineages.
So he became one of the MujaddidI successors (r) based upon
the authority of my guidance. After I go to God, the Guide, I
will have transferred all my belongings to him. All the seekers,
travelers, and others who have entered my group are among the
companions who must follow his orders and not go against him
after I pass away. His hand is like my hand and his acceptance is
like my acceptance. How excellent is he who follows him and is
patient with his orders. May God Almighty (may He be praised)
make him one of the pious believers and make his soul (nafs) pure
like [that of] Muhammad (S).
Thus it is incumbent upon him [Muhammad ‘Uthman] to fol­
low the honored path and teach it to my students seeking God
Almighty the Most Holy. May he find lights from among them
through the pure attention he gives them. I urge him to maintain
continuous recollection and thought of God, contemplation, soli­
tude, [removing] people's despair and [giving] them hope in
God. [He should in addition have] patience, contentment, satis­
faction and trust in God, being satisfied in His judgment and
being inclined toward God Almighty by means of the blessed
shaykhs (r) to solve problems and difficulties. The condition of
this permission is to act with integrity according to the Prophetic
shari'a and the Prophetic (S) sunna and to love the blessed
shaykhs (r).
May God make him a [true] worshiper, ascetic, a grateful per­
son, lover, putting His trust in God. May He bless him through
his life and guide his acts so that he is protected and victorious
in whatever he does. Amen. O Lord of the two worlds, honoring
the lord of the messengers (S) [Muhammad], sublime above the
best of His creation, our lord Muhammad, may he and all his
companions have your mercy, O most Merciful One. May you put
him in my care like my shaykh, my leader, exemplar, and protec­
tor from error safeguarded me, the person who memorized the
blessed Qur’an, Shah Ahmad SaTd Sahib (through whom God
blessed me with his most holy secret). [May God] put his [Ahmad
SaTd's] noble shaykh, the hundred and thirteenth renewer
(mujaddid), the representative of the best human (S) [Muham­
mad], [with] the ten who go directly to paradise (R). Shah
'Abdullah, known as Ghulam 'All Shah [d. 1240/1824] (may God
sanctify his honorable secret) is in the front of the foremost, with­
out any defect. And with that, God benefits and gives to whom
He wishes. God is the Master of Sublime Grace. The twenty-sixth
of Ramadan, 1284 [1868]. End.

The Certificate of Permission Given to Sadiq 'All Shah

[Praise to God, Muhammad, and his companions] To the masters

of the shaykhs and the presences of the ulama (may their affairs
be firmly and resplendently grounded in God) that in every place
may God (be He praised) cause my guided son Sadiq ‘All to reach
his goal. He came to me, to the most remote degree of men, to
perform the practices (suluk) of those on the path to God and to
perform the exercises in the origins of states.
He encountered the connection of attraction [by God] and anni­
hilation of self, so that he became blessed with [both] attraction
and suluk. With the help of divine attractions [by God] he tra­
versed extensive stations of contingency, experiencing travel in
the necessary stages from struggle to witnessing the divine es­
sence and from [ordinaiy] travel to [flying] like a bird. With my
help he was conveyed to behold the lights of the realities [and
through this] changed by the qualities of God on the path of di­
vinity and the extremity of materiality, being the object through
which [God] manifests, [realizing] the gnosis of God's oneness
intellectually and experientially. Connected with the realities of
annihilation and remaining, he went to God (sayr ila’Uah), travel­
ing in God (sayr fi’llah), returning [to the world of creation] for
God and by means of God (sayr ‘an Allah billah) before returning
[to live as an apparently ordinary person] in the created world
(sayr fi'l-ashya').
When his attraction [by God] in suluk became advanced, he
was trained as "those desired by God" (muradan) and the attrac­
tion of [divine] favor was endless. In focusing spiritual attention
(tasarruf) he reached such a level to be qualified to train and per­
fect seekers. The son (may he be honored) has permission to in­
vite seekers of God and those traveling on the way of God to God
(J). Seekers informed of his companionship, service, and agree­
able advice consider him to be "red sulfur" (kibrtt ahmar) [a very
rare and valuable person]. God knows [who will] bring forth my
redemption from the perils and fruits of nearness at the end of
time. It is bequeathed for [you to] educate, counsel, and give con­
dolence to seekers, worthy ones, and [those with] the fear of God
Almighty in Muhammad's midnight journey through the seven
heavens (al-isray), and to observe the correct conduct of the Path.
You are my hope from the favor of god (may His gifts be continu­
ous) who will, in the station of guidance, take care of the person
[needing assistance] until the next world. He [God] caused a
world to become filled with divine energy. In veneration of the
Prophet and God the most glorious [Blessings on the Prophet, his
family, and companions].

The Certificate of Permission Given to a Pir's Son,

Fariduddln

[ Praise to God, Muhammad, and his companions] In view of the

proper way regarding those with understanding, may [I] clarify
the fruit of one who is close to God, the praised excellences of my
son, Farlduddln, who God singled out when He created the
world. He earned the hereditary connection (nisbat) of those who
have arrived [at God's presence], the proof of the perfection-
bestowing ones, the presence of his great father, who is the soul
(ruh) of God spiritually and more arrived [in God's presence]
than us with respect to auspiciousness and revelations. By means
of this poor one he entered the exalted Naqshbandiyya-
Mujaddidiyya path (may God Almighty sanctify its secrets) and
benefited greatly. He learned the methods of continual recollec­
tion, performing the required contemplations by the criterion [es­
tablished in] the blessed verse, "We guide those who strive in Us
to Our paths" [Q. 29:69]. God Almighty only honors.
By the grace of the doorkeeper he has acquired gifts in his
heart, [including] attraction [by God], divine secrets, and ecstasy,
[all of] which have changed his life. During the time of being
attracted and being overwhelmed [by God] he witnessed the
stages of suluk in light. He passed the paths of the heart and lad­
der of the soul (ruh), arriving at the world of unveiling (kashf) and
certainty. After traveling and flying through that to the angelic
station and [then] the sphere of divine power in an eternally man­
ifesting manner described in terms of God's attributes, he was
honored by annihilation and remaining [in God]. Then he pro­
ceeded to God (sayr ila'llah), traveling in God (sayr fi’llah). When
he went on the path of choice and clearly saw the ways of guid­
ance and stations, he benefited from each experience.
He has permission to teach students and receive those repent­
ing sins. Those prepared on the Way are aware that he is qualified
in the perfections described [here]. [Besides] being very talented
in companionship (suhbat), he is a great elixir. People coming for
repentance and initiation put a finger on his hand and are imme­
diately attracted [by God]. Inside they experience endless lights
[brought about by his] spiritual power. Heedless ones will have
awareness and continual presence [with God]. You are my hope
from the favor of God (may His name be honored). He gives His
divine energy to the worthy among the commoners and the Elect.
By the truth of the poles (al-aqtab) and supports (al-awtad) [of reli­
gion] . . . 1282 [1865-6].
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INDEX
Islamic names are ordered alphabetically by first name.
Items in footnotes are indicated solely by page number.
Abbreviations: Ar.: Arabic
Per.: Persian
Skt.: Sanskrit
Turk.: Turkish

abdal (“substitutes," members of Abu ‘All Muhammad ath-Thaqafl.

the spiritual hierarchy), xxiv, 94, See Muhammad ath-Thaqafl
118 Abu Bakr as-Siddlq: follows the
'Abdulahad Wahdat Sirhindl (d. model of the Prophet, 25; silent
1126/1715), 246 dikhr associated with, 52;
‘Abulghafur, Akhund of Swat (d. distinctive lineage of
1292-96/1877), 172 Naqshbandiyya includes, 56; the
‘Abdulhaqq Muhaddith Dihlawl Siddlqiyya named after, 59;
(d. 1052/1642), 74,137,178 Ahmad Sirhindl claims a higher
‘Abdulkhaliq GhujduvanI (d. 575/ rank than, 68; and Bakrl silsila,
1179): against sufi lodges, 44; 88; distinctive features of
and the "way of the masters," Naqshbandiyya inherited from,
58; part of the Tayfuriyya, 59; as 90; and Sunni dogma, 90;
exemplifies Prophetic sobriety,
UwaysT pir, 89, 93; taught by
92; maqam-i siddTqiyat named
Khidr, 94; reaches the maqam-i
after the station of, 98; and love
shahadat, 98; learns dhikr-i khaft
for the Prophet, 140; formal
from Khidr, 128; learns nafy wa-
initiation in the name of, 159;
ithbat from Khidr, 128; and eight
successorship according to the
guiding principles, 234
precedent of, 167
‘Abdulqadir al-Jllam (d. 56 1 /
Abu Hafs as-Suhrawardl (d. 632/
1166), 2, 70,127,132 1234), 122, 132
‘AbdulquddGs Gangohl (d. 944/ Abu Hamid al-Ghazzall (d. 505/
1537), 41,112 1111), 36,106,143
‘Abdurrahman Jam! (d. 898/1492), Abu Hanlfa, 3 ,119,1 8 1 ,1 8 6
40, 73; and rabita, 131-32; and Abu’l-Hasan ‘All ash-Shadhill (d.
tawajjuh, 133; and visualizing 656/1258), 85, 236
the shaykh, 135 Abu’l-Hasan al-Kharaqanl (d.
Abraham, 109,115, 243, 250; 425/1033), 41, 86, 94
Reality of Abraham, 252 Abu’l-Hasan Faruql, 238, 239
Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad al- Abu’l-Husayn an-Nurl (d. ca. 295/
Jazull. See Jazull 908), 5, 6, 92
Abu ‘Abdurrahman as-Sulaml (d. Abu’l-Qasim al-Gurganl (d. 469/
412/1021), 34,106 1077), 89
Abu ‘All al-Farmadl (d. 477/1084), Abu’l-Qasim al-Qushayri (d. 4 65/
86 1072), 2, 3, 6, 33, 35, 36
Abu’l-‘Ula Akbarabadi (d. 1061/ ahadiyyat (exclusive unity, the first
1651), 73,109 intention in MujaddidI
Abu Sahl Muhammad as-Su'lukT. contemplations), 242, 249
See Muhammad as-Su'lukl ahl al-su ffa ("people of the bench"),
Abu Sa'ld (d. 1250/1835), 91,153, 48, 51
23 7 Ahl-i Hadith: as a reform group,
Abu Sa'ld Ahmad (at Khundian), 170; named Ahl-i Sunnat wa-
167 ’ Jama'at, 176; denial of sufism
Abu Sa'ld al-Kharraz (d. 286/899), and Indian customs, 179; and
98, 100 Deobandis, 181; as alternative
Abu Sa‘!d-i Abu’l-Khayr (d. 440/ orthodoxy, 187, 226; and
1049), 34, 41; experiences of, 6, opposition to sufi groups, 192,
29; and sufi lodge, 46, 51, 53 194, 209; and religious
Abu Yazld al-Bistaml (d. 261/874), magazines, 197; centers on
38, 39, 45, 59,147; experiences university scriptural sources,
of, 6; had 113 teachers, 32; 229
followed Ja'frI school of law, 33; Ahmad b. Muhammad
in Naqshbandl genealogy, QushshashT (d. 1071/1660), 59,
85-86 246
adab (correct behavior, etiquette): Ahmadis, 78,177, 184,192, 197,
follows the sunna, 19, 34, 36; 216, 226
emphasized by directing- Ahmad KhwajagI b. Jalaluddln
shaykh, 34; everything depends KasanI (d. 949/1542-43), 60, 62,
on, 148; rules of, 149; and 63
Persian court model, 150; Ahmad Rida Khan Barelwl (d.
toward God, 184; in presence of 1340/1921), 137, 158, 176-78,
sufi shaykh, 185. See also 192, 200, 212
protocol Ahmad Sa‘Td (d. 1277/1860), 135;
Adam, 38; and latTfas, 108; and the Delhi sufi lodge of, 74; as
qalab latTfa, 109; and the heart shaykh, 152,165, 174; successors
latjfa, 115, 120; God's creation to of, 171; and A rbac an h ar, 237;
be "under the foot" of, 243; teaching certificates from his
governs the first contemplation, lineage, 254-55, 257
243; angels prostrating to, 245; Ahmad SirhindT (d. 1034/1625),
the heart of, 250; as a Great 66-74,109, 233; founder-figure
Prophet, 252; of the Mujaddidiyya, xv, 58, 59;
Adam BanurT (d. 1053/1644), 71, his descendants' ties with
73,109,172, 246 Afghan notables, 64; introduced
admirable innovations (sing. b id act to BaqTbillah, 65; and early
al-h asan a ), 179 MujaddidI history, 68-71; and
Afghanistan, 64, 75 letters to rulers, 69; and later
Agha Khan, 23, 36, 215 revival activity in India, 71-74;
Agra, 63, 64, 65, 73 contributes to a new conception
agrarian economy: with a weak of Indian Muslim community,
decentralized government, 14, 78; redefining Naqshbandl
30; directing-shaykhs integral to, principles, 90-93; as Uwaysl, 95;
31, 35, 48, 225: sufi lodge extended the Naqshbandl
prospered in, 46; spiritual path, 99-100; emphasis
 on credal dogma, 101; and 112; and the invisible teacher,
emphasis on w ahdat al-shu hu d, 113; and essential attributes,
114,123; defines fa y d , 118; 115; and rabita, 132-33;
affiliated with the Kubrawiyya, ‘Alauddln 'Attar (d. 803/1400),
157; his had ith isn ad s, 157; 135
initiating disciples at his grave, Al-Azhar, 28, 72
160; as revivalist, 170; 'All al-Rida (d. 203/818): the
descendants of, 171,172; tomb
eighth imam, 90
of, 175, 180; writing about
'All b. Abl Talib (d. 41/661): and
spiritual practice, 235; declared
vocal dhikr, 52; in Naqshbandl
reality of the Ka'ba to be above
genealogy, 86; sufi lineages
the reality of Muhammad, 246;
prophetology of, 247; opposition raised to, 88; one of the three
to, 248. See M aktu b at for Shl'l imams found in all sufi
collected letters of lineages, 90; lineage of
Ahmad Yasawl (d. 562/1166-67), disregarded by SirhindT, 92
58, 60 Alienation of Land Act, 212
Ahrar. S ee ‘Ubaydullah Ahrar Aligarh, 27,186, 226
Ahrar Party, 214 Alipur, 191,192,196, 206
Akbar (Mughal emperor), 63, 64, All India Sunni Conference, 213,
66, 68, 78,172 217
Akbar Shah Bukhari (d. 1347/ a m ir m illat (leader of the Muslim
1928-29), 172 community), 192, 213
akh fd (super-arcanum la t if a, one of Amir Kutla Mulla Sahib (d. 1295/
the subtle centers): location of,
1878), 172
1 0 5 -6,109, 111, 129; and
Amir Kulal (the potter) as-Sukharl
SimnanI, 108; associated with
(772/1370), 89, 93, 94,127
Muhammad, 114, 120; order of
Amkanagl. See Muhammad
activation, 129; and the unitary
form, 244; and the intentions, AmkanagI
250 amulets, 230, 238; supplied by
‘alam a l-a m r (world of divine sufis, xviii, 10, 37,165,199, 200,
command), 105, 115 235; Anglicized Indians during
calam al-kh alq (world of creation), colonial period, 13,183,194,
105 204-7, 219
‘a la m -i ajsam (world of corporeal Anjuman-i Islamiyya, 183
bodies), 115 Anjuman-i Khuddam as-Stifiyya,
'a la m -i m alaku t (world of divine 183; and propagating Islam, 182,
sovereignty), 108,115 197; created in 1904 by Jama'at
ca la m -i m ithdl (world of image-
'All, 191,194; annual meeting,
exemplars), 115
194,196, 203-6; R isdla-yi anw dr
‘Ala’uddawla SimnanI (d. 736/
alsu fiyya as monthly magazine
1336): and Kubrawl n afy
of, 194; strove to unify sufi
w a-ithbat, 94; his sevenfold
mystical system, 108; lineages, 195; members both
originating w ahdat al-shu hu d, rural and urban, 207, 210
109,114; the idea often latifas Anjuman-i Panjab, 183
and a subtle, acquired body, Annihilation. See fa n a ’
annual conference/meeting Baghdad, 7, 33, 70, 90, 156
sponsored by Jama'at 'All. See Baha dur Shah (the last Mughal
Anjuman-i Khuddam as- ruler), 74
Sufiyya Baha’uddln Naqshband (d. 791/
anti-structure, xvi, 8, 30, 35, 53-54, 1389): conference on, ix; tomb of,
228 ix, 58,175; as founder-figure, xv,
Anwar 'All (1862-1920), 194,195, 55; as the first historical link in
204 Naqshbandl genealogy, 88;
‘aqTda/'aqa' id. See credal dogma many Uwaysl guides of, 89,
'aql-i kull (universal reason), 40 93-95; and broad conception of
Arains, 175 Naqshbandl spiritual pedigree,
arcanum (subtle center). See khafT 92; reached the station of the
‘arsh. See throne credal formula (maqam-i
Arya Samaj, 183,197-98 shahadat), 98; unable to receive
ascension. See mi'raj the dhikr from his living pir, 127;
ascent (curuj), 116, 242
visualizing shaykh of, 135;
ascetics, 1, 24, 224
initiation in the name of, 159;
asceticism, 51,121
ashraf (sing, sharif descendants of additional three guiding
the Prophet), 20 principles, 234; elaboration of
Ashraf ‘All Thanawl, 177 the Naqshbandl path, 244, 249
asmcC wal-sifat, al- (the names and Baha’uddln Zakariya (d. 666/
attributes [of God]), 106,115 1267), 169, 211
aspirant. See disciple BakrI (having Abu Bakr as-Saddlq
cAta’ Husayn (d. 1311/1893-4), in the genealogical chain): silsila,
73-74 88; emphasis, 90; origins, 92;
'Attar. See Farlduddln connection, 186
attributes of negation. See sifat-i Balkh, 64
salbiyya Baluchistan, 174
Aurangzlb (Mughal Emperor r. baqiV (literally, "remaining," the
1068/1658-1118-1707), 56, 68, next station of one who has been
69, 70, 71, 78 annihilated in God): remaining
Awhaduddln KirmanT (d. 635/ in God, 100; remaining in the
1238), 37 Messenger, 100; remaining in
axis mundi, 219: sufi master as axis the sufi shaykh, 100; first baqa\
mundi, 204 123;
a'yan-amir system, 30, 46 Baqlbillah (d. 1012/1603):
Baba Faqlr Muhammad Churahl institutional affiliations when in
(1315/1897), 192 Kabul, 62; most significant
Baba Farid Ganj-i Shakar (d. 664/ Naqshbandl in sixteenth-
1265), 169, 203, 211 century India, 65; supported by
Baba Muhammad SammasI (d. one of Akbar's viziers, 66; non-
755/1354), 89 Mujaddidl sub-lineage not
Baba Palangposh (d. 1110-11/ continued, 74; discusses the
1699), 62 seven subtle centers, 109; taught
Babur, Zahlruddln Muhammad the way of bonding, 139;
(d. 937/1530), 56, 61-64 expediting others' arrival near
Badshahl Mosque, 171,183,196, God, 143; ‘Umar Blrball visiting
215 his tomb, 154
baraka (Per. barakat, destruction of the educational
auspiciousness, "blessing,”), 56, system, 226-27;
8 3 ,1 17,156. See also fa y d Budd’han Shah (d. 1272/1855-6),
Barelwi ulama and school of 154
ulama, 176-79; sufi affiliation of Bukhara, xv, 55, 60
in Pakistan, 79; survey of Buyids/Buwayhids, 4, 24, 26, 30
Barelwi ulama, 79; founder,
Ahmad Rida Khan, 158; Barelwi Central Asia: contemporary
ulama of Lahore, 171; both importance of Naqshbandiyya
reformist and shrine-centered, in, ix; Mujaddidl success in, xvi;
176; and Deobandis, 181; as Naqshbandl directing-shaykhs
mediating-shaykhs, 181; in, 48; sufi lodges spread to, 48,
schools, 186; and mediatory 75; Naqshbandiyya gave
Islam, 191, 214; sponsored the assistance to landlords, 59;
All-India Sunni conference, 213; collapse of the nomadic
bolstered devotional Islam, 220; hegemony in, 60; sufi economic
and universal symbol of the interests in, 60; lasting
Prophet, 229 impression on Indian Islam, 66;
barzakh ("intermediary,"
Uways! tradition in, 88;
"interface," "bridge"), 11,114, Kubrawiyya in, 108-9; in pan­
Islamic networks, 219;
200, 245; barzakh al-ku bra (the
chakra (Skt. wheel), 110
major intermediary), 200, 244;
charisma: Weber's theory of, 14;
b arzakh-i sughrff (the minor
Prophetic charisma, 15, 20, 28;
intermediary), 200
transformation into lineage
bay ‘a. S ee initiation
charisma, 22; and Clifford
Bengal, 169,171, 172
Geertz, 25
bhaktas, 179, 201
charismatic community, 53, 96
b ira d a ri (Urdu, clan), 175,184
Chatli Qabr, 74, 239
Blrball. S ee Muhammad ‘Umar
Chishtl(s): hereditary shaykhs at
British/British India: no written Chisht, 20; Akbar's affiliation,
evidence for Naqshbandl 66; holy men, 66; and Abu5-
sh ay kh as in, xxiv; religious l-‘Ula's Naqshbandl sub­
figures/institutions have no lineage, 73; revivalists, 170
legitimacy, 13; changed notions Chishtl-Sabirl: influences on
of sunna, 149; takeover of Delhi, Ahmad Sirhindi, 68; use of
175; decennial census of, 182; d hikr-i su ltan i, 112
forms of organization adopted Chishtiyya, 169,195, 236, 255, 256
in Panjab, 183; accused of Christians: Christian-Muslim
corrupting Muslims, 185; frontier, 3; give divine
communicated an unspoken ontological status to Jesus, 178;
superiority of worldview, 208; missionary activity, 182-83, 197,
colonial policy, 211; forced to 228; customs, 185; holy man,
support religious dignitaries 209;
and shrines, 211; and Panjabi com m u n itas : of Prophet and
landowning class, 212; system of Companions, 48; Turner's
bestowing prestige, 212; and notion of, 49; normative, 50; in
Shahldganj affair, 216; sufi lodge, 50, 53,146,147, 207,
com m u n itas (continued) comprehensive synthesis (sh a ’n -i
223; in Islamic society, 54; ja m i‘), 114, 245
replaced by an imaginary connection to God, the Prophet, or
macro-community, 228-30; shaykh. See nisba
yearning for, 229 consolidation of religious
community: ideal community of authority, 97
the Prophet, xvi; imaginary contemplation(s) (m uraqabfit), 104,
community, 229. See also 125,130; Sirhindl formulated 25
charismatic community of the 26, 99; Ahrar and teaching
Companions: paradigmatic
of, 140; visualizing shaykh and,
community of the Prophet, xv,
146; and disciple's training, 163;
xvi; paradigmatic relationship
discontinued in the twentieth
with Muhammad, 17; as part of
century, 163; not taught by
the ideal Muslim community,
Jama'at ‘All, 202; MujaddidI
39, 44; com m u n itas and, 48; and
Sunni dogma, 49; sufi lodge contemplations and their
replicating community of intentions, 241-53;
Prophet and, 52-54,228, 233; the cosmology, xvi, 119,120, 235, 241
isn ad mechanism linking to, credal dogma (‘aqTda/'aqa’id ): and
83-84; Naqshbandls duplicating Muhammad, 10; Sunni creed/
the path of, 102,116-17,125, dogma, 10, 49, 68,184, 247;
187; did not experience defining Indian Muslim
intoxication, 123; nearness to community, 58; sufi seekers and,
God, 123; not infallible, 142; and 75; as prerequisite to mystical
precedents for initiation, 155; practices, 79; written in
spiritual rank and, 163; and numbered lists, 79; and the path
precedents for renewing of the Companions, 116; and
allegiance, 166; recapturing the cosmology, 117,119; and the
experience of, 216, 245; blocking of divine grace, 119;
contemplations emulate, 242 correct credal dogma before
companionship (su h bat ): with initiation, 158,159,164;
Muhammad, 16, 85; condition importance of each article of,
for master-disciple relationship, 177; and Ahmadis, 184; sufi
33; involvement of the heart in, overlap with, 224; and revivalist
84; precondition for religious sufism, 238
wisdom, 85; Uways al-Qaranf s
crystallization of religious
lack of with the Prophet, 93;
communities, 78
with God, 132; and rabita, 132,
136-37; pir purifies disciple's
nature by 152; seekers Dahbid, 60,135
investigate the effects of, 153; d a'ira-yi im kan (sphere of
initiation as an agreement to contingent existence), 104,115,
remain in, 157; necessity of, 160; 163, 243, 244
visiting a tomb does not D ala'il al-khayrat, 236
substitute for, 163; and Damascus, 2, 45, 56
directing-shaykh, 195; with Dar al-'Ulum Nu'maniyya, 186
mediating-shaykh, 196, 202, 205; Dara Shikuh (d. 1069-70/1659),
and love, 202 69,70
darbfir (sufi shrine, original verifying activities of xix, xx;
meaning: prince's audience early history of, 1; annihilating
chamber), 149, 204, 227 ego in, 2; and mediation, 11;
darg ah (sufi shrine, original transformation from teaching-
meaning: king's court), 149, 227 shaykh to directing-shaykh,
d arsh an , 205, 206 12-13, 29-30; role in herding/
Data Ganjbakhsh (The Treasure- agrarian societies, 29-31;
bestowing Master), ‘Ali b. defined by ar-Rundl, 31-32; shift
'Uthman al-Jullabl al-Hujwlri (d. to directing-shaykh in
463-4 /1 070), 232; his tomb, 216 Nishapur, 31-32; emphasis on
Delhi: Baqlbillah migrates to, 62, correct behavior, 34; reaching
66; British capture in 1803, 74; superhuman status, 36; defining
great mosque of, 74; characteristic, 37; and the sufi
Naqshbandl activity in, 74; lodge, 46-52; necessity of,
ulama, 171; Panjabi 138-41; nineteenth-century
Naqshbandls traced to, 175; training repertoire of, 145-46
newspapers published in, 197; disciple(s) (m urid): types of roles
notables fled after 1857, 226; with the shaykh, 32; and
schools destroyed in, 226-27 unquestioning obedience, 33;
Deobandi(s): opposed by Barelwis, number in shaykh's circle, 36;
177,181; like directing-shaykhs and re-creating the ideal Muslim
with their students, 180; school community, 39, 54; should focus
of ulama, 180-81 on one's living spiritual master,
dM t. S ee Essence 93-94; modeling actions on the
d h ik r (recollection of God): silent, Prophet's behavior, 96; learning
ix, 56, 94,127,128, 202; changed about spiritual centers, 105,112;
meaning used by Tabllghls, 22; goal to receive divine grace, 120;
ulama appropriation of, 35; a exceptional, 122; abandoning
part of ritual in sufi lodge, 52; the shaykh, 144,162; following
Aharl, 73; and Uways, 89; vocal, grand shaykh's, 153; being
89’ 127; of the heart, 94,127-29, accepted for initiation, 154;
159, 241; beginning exercises of, becoming 155-63; pass through
104,186; when the entire body the contemplations, 241-45
recollects God (d h ik r-i su ltan i. divine energy/power or divine
su ltdn -i, ad h kar), 112-13,129, effulgence /grace (fa y d ):
164; in a ShlT environment, 125; evidence of spiritual energy
to cultivate subtle centers, 126; transference, xviii, xix;
of "Allah," 127; heart as starting transmitted through the shaykh,
point, 128; imparting, 128,160; 12; Mlrza Mazhar's experience
as one way to God, 131; and of, 16-17; lineage as a conduit
rdbita, 131-32; few go beyond, for, 20, 23, 84; channeling on the
189; redefined by Jama'at ‘All, ruler's behalf, 69; need for
201, 202; hadith support for, 238 proper connection to the
directing-shakyh (shaykh al- Prophet, 83, 85; and an Uwaysl
tarbiy y a ): as specific connection, 88; condition for
configuration of personal knowledge to be considered as
authority, xv, 12, 23; supplanted an inheritance of the Prophet,
by mediating-shaykh, xviii; 95; God's friends mediate divine
divine energy (continued) of knowing better than the
power to help people, 99; master, 139; control of as goal of
conceptual origins of, 107; sufi etiquette, 148; and
mediated through the subtle Deobandi training 180,181; love
centers, 114; via Muhammad, of the mediating-shaykh as a
115,118,120; compared to means to annihilate, 201;
electricity, 117; general and purifying, 216. See also nafs
special, 118,127; and credal Egypt, 4, 27, 46,195
dogma, 119; as inner light, 119; eleven principles of the
personal account of Naqshbandiyya, 100, 237
experiencing, 122, 152; receiving enchanted universe, 53, 207
from the Essence, 128; ways of end of the Naqshbandi path being
transmitting and effects on included in the beginning, 100,
people, 133; and visualization of 121; begins where other paths
the shaykh, 136; and heart-to- end, x
heart communication, 138; endowments. See religious
becoming cut off from, 143; endowments
during initiation, 160-61, 166; Endowments Department of the
tomb-shrines as places to Panjab, 220
receive, 162; Barelwis English shoes, 74, 185
emphasized the "Muhammadan Ernst, Carl, xxv, xxvi, 69,103
light" instead of, 176; and Essence (d h a t ): ten lalifas
spiritual territory, 195; from emanating from, 112; primary
reading a sufi magazine, 199;
manifestation of, 114; grace is
and love of the pir, 202;
distributed to creation via the
reinterpreted as effulgence of
primary manifestation of, 115;
Muhammadan electricity, 202;
sufi realizes the reality of, 117;
perceived as superstitious, 208;
emanation of special to
and the contemplations, 242. See
Muhammad, 118; remembering
also supernatural power, 117-20
the name of, 127; contemplating,
Dost Muhammad Qandahari (d.
132; grand shaykhs permanently
1284/1867), xxii, 152,154,155,
in, 153; goal to travel in rather
164-66,174; teaching certificate
given to him, 254-55; teaching than the attributes, 242
certificate given by him, 256-57 "exclusive unity." See ahadiyyat
exemplar (of the Prophet), xvi, 17,
educational system, British 18, 25, 39,1 3 8 ,1 4 3 ,1 8 1 ; as a
destruction of, 226-27 source of authority, 11;
ego: expected to annihilate/ directing-shaykh as living, 22
submit in the directing-shaykh,
2, 40, 133,145; pir as touchstone Fadl-i Ahmad Faruql Sirhindl. See
for, 16; correct behavior as a Had rat Jlyu
means to subdue, 34; and Fadlurrahman GanjmuradabadI
becoming a m uslitn, 38, 41; (d. 1312-13/1895), 171,187,191
egoism, 40; and escaping from, fa n a ’ (annihilation of the mystic's
40; and its annihilation in God, I-ness), 2,1 0 0 ,1 2 1 ,1 2 9 , 242-43
43; controlling and fan a' f i ’llah (fan a’ in God), 2,43,100,
transforming, 104; gives feeling 131,137, 201
fa n s ' fi'l-rasu l (fa n s' in hadith: and religious knowledge,
Muhammad), 100 3; Gabriel's, 4; sufi attitude
fa n s ' fi'l-shaykh (fa n s' in the toward, 6; example of a sufi
shaykh), 2 ,1 0 0 ,1 3 1 ,1 3 3 ,1 3 7 lesson of, 16-17; teaching of is
Faqlrullah Shikarpurl (d. 1195/ experienced as being in the
1781), 78, 111, 113,120,174 presence of the Prophet, 16-17,
fa r d (religious obligation), 141,151, 85; and transmission of, 21, 24;
184,187,198, 201 isnSd of, 28, 83, 84; spiritual
fa tw a (a religious legal opinion, pi. genealogy differs from a proper
fataw S ), 21, 31,178,181, 218 isnSd of, 85; and support for the
fa y d (effulgence). See divine practice of dhikr, 126, 238; study
energy /power of for sufi shaykhs, 152, 224; and
Fazl-i Husain, 213, 214, 215, 217, revival activity, 170,176; Shah
220 Wallullah and emphasis on
friend of God. See wall study of, 170; and Ahl-i Hadith,
fu'Sd (the inner heart), 5 179,187; use of to praise the
Prophet, 179; and Jama'at ‘All's
Gabriel, 4, 5, 11, 160 teachers of 191-92
Ganjmuradabadl. See hadTth qudsT (Divine saying from
Fadlurrahman Ganjmuradabadl ’ God), 42, 43
Ghazzall, Abu Hamid al-. See Abu hadrat-i d h st (Divine Presence of
Hamid al-Ghazzall the Essence), 247
Ghujduvanl. S ee ‘Abdulkhaliq Hadrat Jlyu (d. 1231/1815
GhujduvanI Peshawar), 172
Ghulam Ahmad, 177, 184. See also hagiography, xx, 195
Ahmadis hajar-i baht (so-called
Ghulam ‘All Shah (d. 1240/1824), ''philosopher's stone"), 108
153, 257; grave of, 74; effect on Hakim at-Tirmidhl, al- (d. 290/
others, 152; sufi lodge of, 174; 910), 5, 6, 45, 89
lineage of and sufi literature, Hallaj, Husayn b. Mansur al­
235, 239; and Shah ‘Abdul'azlz, * (martyred 309/922), 36,106,121
239; and concentrating on Hanafl, 179,185,186: strife in
prophets, 242; and redefining Nishapur, 46; omitted from
the MujaddidI mystical path, Dara Shikuh's name, 70; credal
246-48 dogma, 90; fiq h , 100; legal age
Ghulam MurtadS (d. 1321/1903), according to, 166; Naqshbandls
151,158 not bending rules of, 187
Ghulam NabllillahT (d. 1306/ Hanafl-KarramI alliance in
1888), 142 Nishapur, 46
Gilmartin, David, xxv, 171, 212, haqtqa (Reality), 117,120; haqfqa as
229 center of the circle with shari'a
gnosis (Ar. m a'rifa, Per. m a'rifat), 6, as the circumference, 10
7,118 haqTqat-i A h m a d l (reality of
Golden Chain (spiritual lineage Ahmad), 247
which includes the Shl‘1 imams), haqfqat-i Hbadat (reality of
90, 92 worship), 9
guide. See m u rshid haqTqat-i ka'ba-yi rabbSnt (reality of
Gujarat, 56,186 ’ the Ka‘ba), 246, 252
haqiqat-i M u ham m adi Hujwlrl al-. See Data Ganjbakhsh
(Muhammadan Reality), 115, Humayun (d. 963/1556), 56, 71,
245, 246, 252 192
haqTqat-i q u f a n (reality of the Husayn b. Mansur al-Hallaj. See
’ Qur’an), 246, 252 Hallaj
Harith al-Muhasibl, al- (d. 243/ Hyderabad, Deccan: Abu’l-'Ula's
' 857), 3 2,52' sub-lineage in, 73; Jama'at 'All's
h ay ’at-i w ah d an i (consolidation of travels to, 196
all the latjfas, literally, the Hyderabad, Sind: Naqshbandi
“unitary form"), 112, 244, 245, spread to, 174
251-53
heart (qalb): as the locus of God's Iblisian Tawhld, 39, 40
immanence, 84; as interface, 126. Ibn 'Abbad ar-Rundi (d. 790/
See also qalb 1388), 31, 34
heir of the Prophet: sufi shaykh as, Ibn al-‘Arabi (d. 638/1240):
xvi, xix, 11,15, 33, 36, 201; mentions women in the spiritual
directing-shaykh as, 12, 48,139; hierarchy, xxiv; and travels of to
intimacy with God as a deepen spiritual experiences, 32;
precondition for being, 14; and Sadruddln Qunawl, 37; and
jurist, sufi, and Shl‘1 imam the arcanum latifa, 108; and
considered as, 14; functions like Naqshbandi cosmological
a prophet, 16; religious scholar terminology, 113; interpreters of
as, 17, 36; supernatural power 114
associated with, 18; living Ibn Taymiyya, 24
embodiment of the exemplary Ibrahim al-Kuranl (d. 1101-2/
model of Muhammad, 19; 1690), 73
brings about personal identity: collective, 30; sufi, 44;
transformation in others, 23; redefining Naqshbandi, 58; and
always exists, 41; Naqshbandi sobriety over intoxication, 65;
shaykh as, 98, 200 Indian Muslim, 68, 209, 216;
hereditary shaykh. See shrine Indian Sunni, 70; Islamic, 79,
shaykh 184,185; MujaddidI constructs
him m a (Per. him m at). S ee divine of, 90; Sunni, 90; self, 101;
energy/power; supernatural Muslim, 170, 216; Barelwi, 176;
power; taw ajjuh Naqshbandi, 188; pan-Islamic,
Hindu(s): frequented sufi shrines, 208,209; religious, 215; local, 216
169; and Christian converts, 182; ihsan (perfection of the practice of
publications of, 182; as islam), 4, 5, 7, 38
revivalists, 182,184; voluntary ijdza (permission to teach). See
organizations of, 182-83; and teaching permission
reconverting Muslims, 197, 228; ijazatn am a (written certificate to
sufi shrines open to, 216; teach): and ambition to receive
indigenous education of, 227 printed certificates, 164;
H izb al-bahr, 85, 236 examples of, 254-59
Hodgson, Marshall, 3, 23, 31 ijm a ‘ (consensus), 83 ,1 4 9 ,1 6 7
Hudaybiya, 52 ijtihad (literally, “striving/' an
Hujjatullah Naqshband (d. 1114/ independent legal judgment),
1702), 69 35,110, 248; sufi ijtihad, 129
‘/7m (knowledge, typically religious and Ahmad Rida, 200; and the
knowledge): jurists' limited need for a mediator, 210
scope of, 6; as religious, 18; for intermediary: Muhammad as, 11;
legal opinions, 21; oral nature of, between Muhammad and
27; of the heart and oral, 84; the believer, 12; between God and
quality of exalted, 114; one of humanity, 15, 42, 148, 156; of an
the eight divine attributes, 115; Uwaysl guide, 122; necessity of
theoretical (versus spiritual), shaykh as, 132,137,188, 210;
163; and Muhammad, 177; and mediating-shaykh, 200
necessity of inner, 187,188 intimate of God. See w a ll
imam (religious leader): of legal intoxication, 65, 93, 123, 136, 139,
school, 3, 33; Shl‘T, 4 ,1 3 ,1 4 , 21, 142
89; IsmaTlI, 18; as living heir of Iqbal, Muhammad (d. 1938), 224,
the Prophet, 23; Twelver imam 232; modern Islamic ideas of,
similar to directing-shaykh, 23 207; stressed the larger Muslim
Imam! ShlTs, 18, 20, 33,129 community, 209; poetry of, 209,
m art (faith): compared to islam and 216; and the Qur’an, 210; and
ihsan, 4 -5 ; appearance of and pan-Islamic notions, 215; and
the reality of, 9; as a preliminary Arabia, 218; and Pakistan, 218
stage, 38; and credal Iqbal MujaddidT, xxvi, 65,171, 215
affirmations, 79; related to Irshad Husayn Rampurl (d. 1311/
special fa y d , 118 1893-94): wrote few teaching
inclusive unity (w a h id iy y at ) 242. certificates, 164; association with
See also ahad iy y a t Badshahl Mosque in Lahore,
Indian rebellion of 1857, 74 171; teacher of Jama'at ‘All Shah,
initiation (bay"a, Per. bay"at 191
declaring formal allegiance, islam (submission to God):
initiation), 153-62; for women, contrasted to m art and ihsan,
xxiv, 160-61; in sufi lodges, 1, 4 -6 , 38; and recollecting God,
44, 52; rituals of, 3; Uwaysl, 20, 125
88, 92, 93; oath of allegiance, 52; Islamic worldview, xvii, 31, 226
and a proper connection to God, Islamization, 46, 170
83; and activating the disciple's Isma'lll, 18, 217; IsmaTlI imams, 4
subtle entities, 105; and isnad (continuous chain of
sh aktip at, 117; after a spectacular authorities leading back to
cure, 154; multiple, 157; Muhammad), 2, 27, 82, 85, 157;
renewing bonds of, 166; as isnad principle, 83-84
sunna, 187,188-89 istikhara (requesting God for help
insdtt al-kam il, al- (the perfect in making a decision), 154,158
human), xx Ittihad-i millat ("United Muslim
intercession: of mediating- Community"), 192, 213, 216
shaykhs, 10; of Muhammad, 11;
Naqshbandl-Ahrari, 63; of Salim ja d h b a ("intoxicated" attraction to
ChishtI, 66; government God): connection of, 87;
landgrants in exchange for, 71; phenomenon of, 93; associated
affiliation of, 157; disciple's with shaykh's spiritual power,
growth depends on, 181; people 96; and sayr-i an fu si, 121; the
barred from any hope of, 199; path of attraction, 122; why
jad h b a (continued) jurisprudence (fiq h ), 3, 6, 24, 33,
Companions did not experience 153
it, 123; with visualization of the juristic sufism, xix, 8, 224, 225
shaykh, 135,136; as explanation jurists' (‘ulama’): islam , the domain
for shaykh's behavior, 142; and of, 5; equating jurisprudence
permission to teach, 244 with the entirety of religious
Ja'far al-Khuldl (d. 358/959), 2, 33, knowledge, 6; and expressions
88 of religion, 8; as heirs of the
Ja'far as-Sadiq (d. 148/765), 33, 85, Prophet, 14, 36; functional
86 ’ ’ infallibility in decisions of, 35; as
Jahangir, 68, 71,172 sufis, 78. See also religious
Jama'at ‘All Shah, 192-205; leader scholar
of the Muslim Community, xix,
213, 216; as mediating-shaykh, Ka'ba, 16, 23,4 2 ,1 3 3 ,1 4 8 ,1 5 5 ,1 7 7 ;
xxii, 13,191, 210, 228; associated meaning of, 43; Yusuf Hamadani
with an ju m an s, 183,194; and as the Ka'ba of Khurasan, 44; as
publishing, 194-95,197-99; and a symbol of a universal Islam,
sufi revival movement, 194; and 209, 220; appearance of, 246;
travel, 195-96; and spiritual reality of, 246, 252; ontological
training, 200, 202; and love, 201, superiority of, 247; superiority
220, 229; and annual meeting, of over Muhammad, 247
203-5; attracts both rural and Kabul, 62, 64
urban Muslims, 206, 210; and Karramiyya, 46
the British, 213, 214; and limited Kasanl. S ee Ahmad KhwajagI b.
authority, 214; and the Jalaluddln Kasanl
Shahldganj Mosque, 215; and k a sh f (God's revealed knowledge),
Jinnah, 217, 230; and the Muslim 17,101
League, 217, 218; and the Kashmir, 66,171, 215
Unionist Party, 217; annual Khadim Husayn, son of Jama'at
festival to celebrate, 223; and 'All, 196
disciples, 223; community of khafT (arcanum, one of the subtle
expressed an emerging centers), 108,114,120; different
nationhood, 228 positions of, 105, 109, 111;
Jamaluddln b. Badshah Pardah associated with Jesus, 115, 243;
Push KhwarzmI (d. 1015-16/ origin of, 243, 250
1606-7), 65 Khalid Kurdl/Baghdadl (d. 1242/
Jam'iat al-Ulama-yi Hind, 213 1827), 55, 59,174
Jazuli, al- (d. 869/1465), 72, 236; khalw a (seclusion), 44; solitude in
Jazuliyya, 19 society (khalw at d ar an ju m an ), ix,
Jesus, 109,115,141,178, 243, 252 234
jih a d (literally, striving), 8,155; khanaqdh (sufi lodge): as tenth-
jih a d as war and as inner century development, 2;
struggle, 9 contemporary activities in, 10;
Jinnah, Muhammad, 202, 217, 220, and directing-shaykh, 13,195,
229, 230 219, 230; anti-structure within,
Jaml. See ‘Abdurrahman JamI 30; development of, 44-54;
Junayd al-Baghdadl (d. 297/910), compared to the Prophet's
32, 33,106,123,132, 241 bench, 147; ritual in, 148-50;
 succession in, 164-67; Data Ganjbakhsh's tomb in, 216;
establishment of in colonial ulama in, 216
Panjab and Sind, 173-75; and latifa (pi. la ta 1if) (subtle center,
local Islam, 215, 219; and subtle body/field, subtle entity
mediatory sufism, 220; modern depending on context), 96,
changes in, 228, 230, 232 103-16, 133,188; as subtle
kh d n aq ah - madrasa, 3 center, 96,126,128,146; six-lattfa
Khawand Mahmud (d. 1052/ systems, 109; as subtle body,
1642), 65, 74,171 125,129
Khidr (Khizr), 93 ,9 4 ,1 2 7 ,1 2 9 ,1 4 2 , Lawrence, Bruce, xxv, xxvi, 39, 80
158,162 Leitner, G.W., 183, 227
Khidriyya, 137 letters: evidence of spiritual
practice in, xviii, 99,146; sufi
kh irqa (sufi robe): and directing-
letters as sources, xx, 248;
shaykh, 1; and ritual in sufi
Sirhindl and his son writing to
lodge, 33, 44, 52; of blessing, 83;
government officials, 69;
initiatory, 83; sultans
Naqshbandls writing to rulers,
abandoned the practice, 155;
78; used to buttress the
symbolic significance, 155; institution of the living shaykh,
presentation by Jama'at 'All, 194 80
Khomeini, Ayatullah: and liminal: power, 12; crazy wise
relationship to sufism, 14 men, 22; poverty, 50;
Khundian, 167,174,186, 216 liminality, 50, 225, 228
Khurasan, 2, 3, 46 lineage: as a source of authority,
khwaja (master): way of the xv, 11, 23; spiritual, 2 ,1 2 ,1 4 ,1 5 ,
masters (tariq a-y i khw ajagdn ), 58 18, 19, 31, 56, 95,188, 224;
Khwaja Khurd, younger son of biological, 18, 20, 224; conduit
Baqlbillah, 73, 74, 241 for spiritual energy, 20;
king(s): comparing God to, 41,169; teaching, 20; ancestral, 21;
verify supernatural capabilities charisma associated with, 22;
of sufis, 47; shaykh in lodge like, sublineages of the
148,149,150, 227; colonial Naqshbandiyya, 74; raised to
district officer as, 211. S ee also Companion, 88; as link to
ruler. Muhammad, 154; and
Kubrawiyya, 2, 73,107,109 propagating Islam, 184;
unifying various sufis, 195, 228,
239; transcending, 229
Lahore: non-Ahrarl Naqshbandls
lodge. See kM n aqah
settled in, 64; disciples of love C ishq ): of the shaykh, xx, 131,
Muhammad QadI in, 65; tomb of 136,139,140,141,1 4 4 ,1 4 6 ,1 6 7 ,
Khawand Mahmud in, 74; 180,181,196, 200, 201, 202, 205,
Naqshbandls near, 174; and 207, 228; the most subtle of
1989 elections, 177; center for human expressions, 7;
revivalist publications, 182; and unconditional for mediating-
Anjuman-i Islamiyya, 183; shaykh, 12, 201, 202; of an
Barelwi schools began in, 186; impersonal God, 39; of the
newspapers in, 192,197; and Prophet, 72,177,185, 201, 205,
Sikh control of 213, 215, 216; 213, 223, 228, 229; and rabita,
love (continued) Abu Bakr as-Siddlq, 98; m aqam -i
131; spontaneous development, shahadat, 98; of greater intimacy,
136, 146,147; and visualization 99; describe the spiritual path,
of the shaykh, 136, 139,140; of 100; Muhammad's, 118; a
Abu Bakr, 140; excessive, 141; disciple's, 120; of ten stations,
God, 141, 144,152,153,154, 201, 121; m aqdm -i m u shahada, 132; of
205; goal of spiritual practice of, the prophets, 144
191; of intimates of God, 201; m a'rifa. See gnosis
MujaddidI practices redefined Ma'ruf al-Karkhl (d. 200/815), 90,
by, 201-202; of the shaykh's 94
children, 201; of sufis, 205; master-disciple relationship:
Ramanuja's bhakti-yoga, 206; mediating-shaykh had diffused
universal, 210, 220; and nation­ power within, 13; non-existent
state, 227, 229; unifying the for Tabllghl Jama'at group, 22;
community, 229; and the
more authoritarian nature with
contemplations, 245, 247, 251,
directing-shaykh, 29; and p m -
253
m u rid l relationship, 33; like
loveplay, 140, 141
other hierarchical relationships,
Lucknow, 3, 99, 151,152,171, 185
47; initiation formally creates,
Madarl lineage, 59 52; in Naqshbandl-Timurid
madrasa (religious school, partnership, 63; psychological
typically school of higher processes in, 138-46; increasing
education where Islamic hierarchical distance within, 207
sciences are taught), 3, 32, 45, mediating-shaykh: one
164, 186; religious schools in configuration of personal
Pakistan 180 authority, xv; spiritual practice
m a d r a sa -k h a n a q a h , 45 defines, xvi, xviii;
Mahbub ‘Alam (d. 1335/1917), 85 transformation to, xix, 168, 189,
mainstream Sunni community (ahl 219, 225; has become the norm,
al-su n n a w a-ja m a 'a ), 70 xxii; intercedes with
m aciyyat (being together with Muhammad, 10, 12; Agha Khan
God), 244 analogous to, 23; Barelwis as,
m ajdhub (a person attracted to
181; new form of Naqshbandl
God), 21, 22, 24, 94,121,122. See
personal authority, 190-191;
also jadhb a
compared to hereditary shrine
m ajdhiib-i sdlik, 121, 122. See also
shaykh, 191; and love, 199-200,
salik-i m ajdhub
m aktubat (collected letters): success
220; and the directing-shaykh,
of the Naqshbandiyya and, 96 199, 203, 232; and acaryas, 206;
M aktu bat of Ahmad Sirhindl, 80, combined practices of
96, 201, 238; Sher Muhammad hereditary pirs with revivalist
reads, 164. shaykhs, 210; and master-
Malamatiyya, 128 disciple relationships, 230. See
Malik! law school, 26, 33 also Jama'at ‘All
m a'm iildt literature, 235-39 mediation: social, xvii; and sufi
ManrI. See Sharafuddln ManrI shaykh, 10-11, 189; sufi lodge
m aqam ( s) (mystical station): of positioned for, 46; and the
correct moral behavior, 34; of qayyu m , 68; mediation of
 Muhammad necessary, 119; ties with the Naqshbandls, 66;
tomb-shrines a part of, 175; and landgrants, 71, 211; and
necessary in agrarian/herding conversion of Jat tribes, 169;
societies, 225 British eliminate symbolic traces
mediational Islam, 180,186 of, 171; court of used as model
mediational paradigm, 175 for British, 204; British imitate,
mediational sufism, 168, 170,176 211
mediators: Mujaddidls as, xvi; Muhammad, the Prophet:
sufis' essential role as, 31; obedience to, 2, 25; and Gabriel,
between people and rulers and 4; as transformative presence, 7;
people and God, 60; between as intercessor, 10-12,181;
humans and God, 133,190; according to Sunni dogma, 10,
social, 169; rural shrine families 12; as arbitor, 11; as divine
as, 211; directing-shakyhs as, mediator, 11; as a prophetic
224 mediator between God and
Medina, 11, 51, 73,152, 163; as humans, 11, 200; conveyed
holiest place on earth, 177; through one's sufi shaykh, 12,
replicating hijra to, 223 141,180; spiritual lineage
Meier, Fritz, x, 31, 45, 132 connecting to, 12,18, 20-21, 34,
Mihr 'All Shah (d. 1355-6/1937), 155, 224; charismatic authority
170, 191,217, 218 of, 14, 20; to be in the presence
m i'raj (ascension [into heaven]), 98, of, 15; associated with intimacy
106, 246; Bayazld's ascension, 38 with God, 17; modeling
Mir Dard (d. 1200-1/1785), 72, 73, behavior on, 19,162; sufi
100 shaykhs compared to, 20, 42; as
Mlrza Mazhar Jan-i janan (d. the personal symbolic center in
1195/1781), 83; and his Islamic culture, 23, 226; reality
experiernce with a hadith of, 23, 244, 246, 252; exemplar of
teacher, 17, 20, 24; tomb of, 74; human extraordinariness, 25;
and initiation practices, 158; Muhammadan light, 25,176,
disciples of, 236-37 202; as superhuman, 25; vision/
missionary activity, 22, 46,182, experience of, 25; connecting to,
183,184 26,147,156,189; as a paternal
modeling one's behavior (typically figure, 26; central symbol of
on the shaykh): based on the personal authority, 31; super­
sunna, xv, 18,19; allows for superhuman status of, 35; cult
individual transformation, 12, of, 39; Muhammadan taw hid, 39;
145; on the teacher, 19; on Muhammadan path, 72; the
mediating-shaykh, 23; spirit of, 1-14; superiority of, 119,
unconscious, 138; as 120, 248, 25 7 ;fa y d mediated by,
psychological tie, 140; 132; pictures of 134; and
conscious, 144 visualizing the shaykh, 138; and
Moses, 9 4 ,109,115,142, 162, 250; rabita, 143; historical, 145; and
Reality of Moses, 252 sufi initiation, 154,158; and
Mughals: and Naqshbandl-Ahrari women declaring allegiance to,
spiritual intercession, 63; need 160; in mediational sufism, 169,
for religious legitimacy, 63; 191, 200, 203; personal authority
intermarriage with Ahraris, 64; of, 170; and Ahmad Rida, 176,
Muhammad, the Prophet disciple of Sher Muhammad,
(continued) 175; and observations of
178; Barelwi conception of, twentieth-century sufis, 189
176-77; elevating the status of, Muhammad ‘Uthman (d. 1314/
176; veneration and love of the 1896): searches for perfect
Prophet, 177,197, 205; spiritual mentor, 154-55; the
Muhammadan electricity, 202; last non-lineal successor,
denying, 224, 232; as a 165-66,174; guide for
messenger, 247; as a prophet, Naqshbandls of colonial
247. See also heir of the Prophet; Peshawar, 172; certificate of
love; sunna teaching permission given to,
Muhammad ‘Abdulla tlf (d. 1398/ 256-57
1978): and the Pakistan Muhammad Zubayr (d. 1152/
movement, 172 1740), 69
Muhammad Afdal, 16,17, 20, 24 Muhrah, 172
Muhammad AmkanagI (d. 1008/ Mu'Inuddln 'Abdullhaqq (d. 9 56/
1600), 60, 66 1549-50 or 962/1554-55), 63
Muhammad ash-Shafi'I, 3, 35. See Mu'Inuddln ChishtI (d. 633/1236),
for the Shafi'I school, 26, 28, 33, 175, 203
46 Muhylddln Qusurl (d. 1270/1854),
Muhammad Ghawth Gwaliorl (d. 174 ’
970/1562), 63
Mujaddidl/Mujaddidiyya:
Muhammad Husayn Shah (d.
predominated over other
1972): Jama'at ‘All's son and
Naqshbandl lineages, 58, 74, 96;
successor, 192,218, 223
named after Ahmad Sirhindl,
Muhammad Isma'll Kirmanwall
66, 68; Shah Wallullah preferred,
(d. 1385/1966), 175
73; spread of, 77; ignores Shl'l
Muhammad Ma'sum (d. 1079/
imams, 90; redefinitions, 90-92;
1668), 68, 73; as qayyu m , 69;
attracted many people, 95;
wrote letters to the royal family,
spiritual practices of, 96,100,
69; mobilized spiritual support,
70; and concentration on the 120; cosmological paradigm,
heart, 127; and activation of 101; system of subtle centers
latTfas, 128; and need for 105-10,120; following the path
intermediary, 137 of the Companions, 117;
Muhammad Parsa (d. 822/1420), fourfold path, 122; system of
61,108,127,135 visualization, 135; Jama'at 'All
Muhammad QadI (d. 911 or 912/ does not instruct using methods
1505-7), 60, 65 of, 200; love a religious
Muhammad Qasim Nanautawl (d. obligation for, 201; redefined by
1294/1877), 20,177 love, 201; publications, 239
Muhammad 'Umar Blrball (d. m u jaddid (renewer), xv, 66,101,247
1387/1967): and revolution of Multan, xxvii, 169, 211, 223
reality, 9; and appearance of m u raqabat. See contemplations
astral bodies, 136; visualizing m u rshid(s) (spiritual guide/
his shaykh, 138; and revivalist director, sufi master): as masters
Naqshbandl ideal, 151; and of the heart, xix; heart of the sufi
search for spiritual guide, 154; lodge, 5; transformative
spiritual training of, 159; as potential of, 17; as heir of the
 prophet, 19; necessity for nafs al-m u tm a’inna, al- (the tranquil
salvation, 29; indispensability soul), 7,104, 245
of, 31; and need for a spiritual nafs latifa (“soul," one of the subtle
genealogy, 34; unquestioning centers), 105, 106,110,128, 256;
faith in, 37; being close to God, bodily positions of, 109, 111,
41; differs from the Prophet, 53; 129; cosmological location, 115;
need for the disciple to be wayfarer travels in, 244
attuned with, 133; and rabita, nafy w a-ithbat (negation and
135; modeling of, 138; uses affirmation): as advanced
behavioral and psychological recollection exercise, 104, 241,
strategies, 139; Prophetic ideal 242; as a method to cultivate the
communicated through, 145; latrfas, 125; called dhikr-i khafT,
wields supernatural power, 148; 127; taught to ‘Abdulkhaliq
embodies inner and outer Ghujduwani by Khidr, 129;
knowledge, 151; hereditary pirs preparation for the
often not qualified, 151; contemplations, 130,163;
searching for 152-54; seven ‘Ubaydullah Ahrar and, 140; not
criteria for, 152; ulama and, 153; important for Jama'at 'All, 202;
going to another, 161; becoming not discussed in the earliest
a sufi master, 162-66 Mujaddid manuals, 235
Musa Zai, 154,155,165,166,167, Na'lmullah Bahra’ichl (d. 1218/
172,174 1803), 83, 247
Najmuddln Kubra (d. 618/1221):
Muslim League, 208, 217, 218, 230
founder-figure of the
Mysore, 194, 196
Kubrawiyya, 2; and the inner
mystery latjfa. See sirr
morphology of the human body,
mystical experiences, 10,18, 98,
107; and the closest path to God,
101,105,123
120; notes the limitations of
asceticism, 121; and rabita, 132;
Nadwat al-Ulama, 171 and manual of sufi etiquette, 148
nafs (carnal soul, “ego,” sense of Najmuddln RazI (654/1256), 107,
I-ness): annihilating in the 108, 119
directing-shaykh, 2; inner Naqshbandiyya Foundation, 198
struggle to control, 9; aligning Naqshbandiyya-Mujaddidiyya/
with the shaykh's will, 16; sufis Naqshbandl-MujaddidI:
controlling, 16; correct behavior universe/cosmology, 105-20;
and, 32; learning how to tame, spiritual practices, 120-25;
40; minimizing is correlated examples of behavior in sufi
with spiritual poverty, 50; lodges, 147-50; criteria for a
performing ritual duties worthy shaykh, 151-54;
transforms, 104; and spiritual becoming a disciple, 154-59;
practices, 121; subduing, 180; initiation for women, 159-62;
trained by reciting litanies, 202; becoming a spiritual guide,
purifying, 216. See also ego 162-67; spiritual practices
nafs a l-am m ara, al- (the soul which abandoned, 202
incites to evil), 104 Naqshbandl(s) Naqshbandiyya
nafs al-law ioam a, a l - (the soul that (often synonomous with the
blames itself), 104 Naqshbandl-MujaddidI): in
Naqshbandl(s) Naqshbandiyya shaykh, 168; more prominent
(continued) among Lahori Barelwi ulama,
Central Asia, ix, 48, 60-61; 171; in NWFP, 172; Panjab as
success in the West, x; impact on nineteenth-century regional
social action, xv; named after center of, 175; exercises of
Baha’uddln Naqshband, xv; redefined in terms of love, 201.
contemporary lodges in the See also eleven guiding
Panjab, xviii; and juristic sufism, principles; mediating shaykh
xix, 18; and women shaykhas in, nasTran-i M ah m u d , 109
xxiv; return from spiritual n a lt (devotional poetry praising
ascent to teach, 11,18; personal Muhammad), 177, 204, 205
authority and a heart-to-heart Nepal’ 171
connection, 17, 82; and night journey (of Muhammad).
connecting to the Prophet, 18, See mi"raj
85,95; lineage and mystical nisba (Ar. "connection," Per.
practice, 20, 84; and ulama, 44, n isbat ): to God, 16, 83,135, 139;
85; definitions of "Naqshband,” to the Prophet, 17, 23, 24, 82,
55,127; identity, 58,187; and the 136,151,153; n isbat-i kashift, 83;
Naqshbandiyya-Mujadd idiyya "proper," 83; n isbat-i ja d h b a , 86;
sublineage, 58, 74; political n isbat-i jism an i, 89; n isbat-i
relationships and agenda, 61,63, ru ham , 89; of love, 140; with a
66, 68, 70, 71, 75, 78; as military perfected pir, 202
pirs, 62; Timurid partnership Nishapur, 2, 3, 31, 46,128
with, 63-66; non-Ahrarl Nizamuddln Awliya’ (d. 725/
Naqshbandls, 64; becomes an 1325), 142,154
Indian lineage, 66; Mughal Noah, prophet associated with the
relationship with, 66-71; major nafs latifa, 109,115, 243
Indian sublineages of, 73-74; nomads: did not appreciate
under British rule, 79; genealogy institutional sufis, 48; nomadic
of, 85-90; Uwaysl connections sociopolitical environment, 48;
with, 89; and the "golden nomadic Jat tribes becoming
chain," 90; and sobriety, 92-93; settled, 169. See also agrarian
Khidr in lineage of, 94; why North Africa, 4, 48
people attracted to, 96; Northwest Frontier Province
replicates the path of the (NWFP), xvii, 172, 218
Companions, 107; confluence Nuri, an-. See Abu’l-Husayn
with early Kubrawiyya NWFP S ee Northwest Frontier
practices, 109,133; and notions Province
of the heart, 126; recollection of
the heart, 127-29; practices Pakistan, 78; Barelwi survey of
transmitted from the early ulama in, 79; the movement for,
Malamatiyya, 128; recollection 172, 218, 223, 229;
of negation and affirmation, contemporary, 173, 207;
129-31; and rabita, 131-33; ways religious schools in, 179; and the
to God, 131; visualization of the Muslim league, 217; and
shaykh,135,140; need for political impact of sufis, 217;
annihiliation in the shaykh, 137; and sufi shrines, 219, 232;
and loveplay, 141; shift from government, 230
directing-shaykh to mediating- Pakpattan, 169,186, 211
Panlpatl. S ee QadI Thana’ullah Peshawar, xvii, 172,174
Panlpatl p ir (Per. elder): living, 20, 88,94,
Panjab: Naqshbandl activity in, 127,163; Naqshbandl military,
xvix, 75,175; under British 62; seeing one's future pir in a
control, 74; Mujaddidls in, dream, 154; as a curer, 235. See
7 6 -7 7 ,171-75; sufi ulama in, 79; also shaykh
and the spread of Islam, 169; pTran-i kibtir (the great masters),
revivalist Chishtls in, 170; Delhi 250
notables dispersed to small pirism, 139
towns in, 171; Wahhabis in, 179; Pir PagarO, 36, 212
voluntary associations in, pirzada (son of a pir), 164
182-84; Naqshbandl religious Plato's ontology, 102: Platonic
schools in, 186; mediatory Islam ascent/descent, 102
in, 191; shrine of SahkI Sarvar in, prestige: lineage providing, 20; of
191; first sufi an ju m an in, 194, teaching-shakyh, 26;
197,198; Jama'at ‘All's activities institutional affiliation affecting,
in, 194-96; religious magazines 28; religious knowledge, 36; of
in, 197; census reports in, 198; directing-shaykh, 46, 48; of the
Muslim League victory in, 208, sufi lodge, 47; crucial for rural
217-18, 219; Mughals in, 211; sufi shaykh, 211; distributed by
rural politics in, 211-14; Sikhs colonial district officer, 211;
in, 211, 214, 215; and Alienation relationships with the colonial
of Land Act, 212; Unionist Party power, 211; British system of
in, 214, 217; registered sufi bestowing, 212; and of sufis and
shrines in, 220; destruction of ulama, 226
indigenous education in, 227; printing: Arabic printing, 196;
m a cm u lat genre in, 239 undermined local sources of
paradigm: Islamic, xv, 145; authority, 208; lithograph
defined, xvi; MujaddidI, xvi; presses, 239
religious authority, xxii; isnad, profession of faith: and Ibllsian
83; religious, 99; of MujaddidI taw htd, 38; involves the tongue
cosmology, 101; of God, 102; of and the heart, 126; and nafy w a-
Naqshbandl spiritual travel, 105; ithbat, 129,130
shift from directing-shaykh to propagating Islam (tablTgh), 22,194
mediating-shaykh, 190; of prophethood: directing-shaykh
divine intervention, 211; Barelwi approaches the threshold of, 12;
mediational, 214 path of, 73; station of, 98;
p a r d a (keeping women separate associated with the perfections
from men), 151,161 of the corporeal world, 116,117;
Persian court model of sufi and special fay d , 118; perfections
behavior, 150 of, 251
Persian kingship, 149 Prophet. See Muhammad
Persian shah, 29 prophets (anbiycC , sing, nabt): non­
Persian sources of Indian heritage, prophets, 12,116; intimacy with
becoming estranged from, 207 God, 14; authority of the sufi
personal authority. See necessarily dependent on, 15;
Muhammad; shaykh; sources of religious scholars are the heirs
personal authority of, 17; imams receive divine
prophets (continued) and seeking the sufi path
knowledge of, 18; religious incumbent on Muslims, 188;
wisdom inherited from, 85; path Jama'at ‘All's use of his ideas on
trodden by, 101,117; travel to love, 201; approves M a'm u lat-i
higher realities, 102; SimnSnl m azhariyya, 237; avoided issue of
established correspondences Ka'ba versus Muhammad, 247
with, 108; Muhammad Parsa qalab (the physical frame, one of
correlates subtle centers with, the subtle centers), 105,108,109,
109; MujaddidI correspondences 110,128, 256
with latTfas, 110-11; Muhammad qalab (heart latjfa, one of the subtle
Parsa correlates subtle centers centers): speciality of
with, 109; MujaddidI theologians and philosophers, 5;
correspondences with latTfas, location of, 105, 111; al-Ghazzall
110-11; receive their divine discusses, 106; one of 'Amr al-
energy and grace through Makkl's latTfas, 106; related to
Muhammad, 115; Mujaddidls the ‘arsh, 115; Naqshbandl
follow the path of, 116; Sunni meaning of, 126; recollection of
credal dogma, 116; the heart, 127-28; remembrance
differentiating azoliya ’ and, 117; of, 127; “hitting" in nafy wa-
realities of are just reflections of ithbat, 129; bond of, 132
Muhammad's reality, 119; Qasim Zaman, xxv, 35
Muhammad as “seal" of, 120; qawivalT (singing of sufi poetry),
under the foot of certain, 120; 127, 203
station of, 144; Muhammad will
qayyu m (also qu tb al-aqtdb, the one
intercede for, 178; Muhammad
having the highest spiritual rank
as source of their prophethood,
on earth), 68-69, 246
243; intimacy of, 244; and the
qibla (the direction pointing to the
distinction between messengers
Ka'ba): shaykh as, 42; Prophet
of God, 245; perfections of
as, 48; Islamic customs
prophetic realities, 246; the
associated with, 149; form of
Great, 252
address to shaykh, 155
protege of God. See ivall
quality of comprehensive
protocol in the presence of a sufi
master, 148,149,195. See also synthesis (sha'n -i jam V ), 243
adab
Qur'an commentary, 83,164
qu rb al-fa ra ’id (achieving proximity
publication boom of magazines
and newspapers in Urdu, 196. to God by performing legally
See also printing prescribed actions), 116
qu rb al-n aw afil (approaching God
Qadirl, Qadirl practices, 120, 236, through supererogatory
237, 255, 256: and Ahmad Rida, practices), 116. See also
200 ‘ ' supererogatory practices
Qadiriyya: as pan-Islamic lineage, QushayrI al-. See Abu’l-Qasim al-
2; and Dara Shikuh, 70; primary Qushayrl
affiliation of Akhund of Swat, Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kakl (d.
172; prominent in NWFP, 172 633/1235), 154
QadI Thana'ullah Panlpatl (d.
1225/1810): and need for rabita (bond between the shaykh
mediation of sufi guide, 188-89; and disciple): shaykh displays
 supernatural power through, 99; transmitted by, 25; teach correct
confirmed by a dream 113; behavior and act as exemplars,
crucial aspect of Naqshbandl 34; require faith as a prerequisite
spiritual methods, 125,131-35; a to submission, 38. See also jurists;
way to connect to Muhammad, ulama
133,143,157; spontaneous religious schools. See madrasa
forming of, 137; for novices remaining in God. See b aq a 5
inclined to love, 139; and renewer. See m u jaddid
‘Ubaydullah Ahrar, 140; an repentance, 156,158,159
independent spiritual method revivalist(s): sunna and lineage as
by fifteenth century, 145; legitimizing, 20; Tabllghi
equated with the love of Jama'at outwardly similar to, 22;
Muhammad, 201; criticism of sufi shaykhs, 150;
Ramana Maharshi, 103 example of one Naqshbandl
Ramanuja (d. 1137 C.E.), 206 ideal, 151; Sha5h Wallullah
Rampur, 171 setting standards for, 152; sufis,
Ranjlt Singh, 211, 215 154; and mediational sufism,
Rashid Ahmad Gangohl (d. 168; and Chishtls, 170,185;
1322-3/1905), 20,177,180 compared to reformists, 170;
ra’ y (legal decision based on need to quote Qur’an and
independent, personal hadith, 170; Sher Muhammad
judgment), 83 Sharaqpurl as, 175, 220; and
Razl. S ee Najmuddln Razl Deobandis, 177,180-82; Hindu
Reality. See haqxqat and Sikh, 182; publications,
recollection of God. See d h ikr 182-83; and Islamic identity,
red sulfur (kibrtt ah m ar), 32, 258 184; pirs, 186, 217, 220;
reformists: strictly interpreted allegiance to a sufi pir
islamic law and sunna, 73; and incumbent, 187; following
visualization of the shaykh, 134, sunna is obligatory for, 187,199;
135; and proper place of women, and English-educated people,
161; and revivalists defined, 170; 207; and Iqbal's poetry, 216; and
and rural shrine practices, 176; the Muslim League, 217;
and Deoband, 180-81; Hindu ribat (sufi lodge), 2. See also
and Sikh, 182; and revivalist khan aqah
shaykhs, 199 R isala-yi an w ar as-sufiyya
religious education, 19, 22, 45,131 (abbreviated R isala), 197-99;
religious endowments (sing, w aqf, established by Anwar ‘All, 194;
pi. aw qdf, set aside for religious goals of, 195; approximate
purposes as a charitable trust), circulation of, 215; connected
45, 47, 62; and the Shahldganj the community together, 227;
mosque, 214 rituals: going beyond required, 1;
religious scholars C uldm a1): and practices having the appearance
oral transmission of scripture, of worship, 9; spiritual travel
11; as heirs of the prophets, 17; subordinated to, 18; outward
religious knowledge associated adherence to, 22; various centers
with, 18, 21; oriented to of, 23; of religious learning, 27,
maintaining Islamic societal 35; structure, 52; environment,
structures, 24; Prophetic model 53; prayer, 93,125, 142,150,186;
rituals (continued) functions assumed by
credal dogma underpinning, government officials, 230
100,101; diligent performance SakhI Sarvar, 191
of, 104; performance, 104,179; S alik-i m ajdhu b, 121,122
why performing is not sufficient Salman al-FarisI (d. 36/656), 85, 86
for sufis, 104; purity, 127,159; in sam a* (listening to sufi poetry), 44,
the sufi lodge, 148; prostration, 66,127,181
149; initiation, 155,157; disciple Samarqand, 46, 56, 62,139
swears to perform, 156; say r (spiritual journeying, spiritual
requirements of Islam, 156,157, travel): involves a return to
159, 232; changes in death everyday world, 9,11, 41; source
anniversary, 205. See initiation of authority, 11,18, 23; shaykh
robe. See khirqa facilitates, 12; duplicating the
ruh ("spirit" lattfa, one of the Prophetic journey, 15,18;
subtle centers): bodily locations specialty of sufis, 17;
of, 105,109,11; 'Amr al-Makkl's subordinated to ritual practice,
conception of, 106; in pre- 18; sufis without, 20; considered
Naqshbandl lattfa to be the "inner" sunna, 22;
configurations, 106-7; associated with supernatural
associated with the prophet power, 47, 98; without
David, 109; order of activation, attributes, 89,101; duplicates
128; and returning to the origin prophetic path, 101; in
o f , 243; origin of, 250. See spirit MujaddidI literature, 102,
rulers, 8,2 1 ,7 4 ,7 8 ,9 9 ,1 5 5 ; become
234-40; ways of
disciples of a directing-shaykh,
conceptualizing, 102; "subtle
225; directing-shaykhs
body" as a model for, 103,112,
analogous to, 228. See also kings
113; prerequisite is a mind free
RumI, Jalaluddin, xxiii, 40, 43,134,
from thought, 108; in the names,
144,149,150
115,131; through the
Rundl ar-. See Ibn ‘Abbad ar-Rundl
contemplations, 130, 241-48;
Sadruddln Qunawl (d. 673/1274), success depends on cultivating a
’ 37,242 relationship with the shaykh,
Safavids, 14, 92 131
Sahl at-Tustan (d. 283/896), 2, 25, sayr ‘an A llah billah, (returning to
34, 36,106 the world of creation for God
sajjad an ish m (principal successor, and by means of God), 123, 258
lit. "one who sits on the prayer sayr fi ’l-ashyfi' (returning to live as
carpet"), 175,192; based on an apparently ordinary person),
heredity alone, 20; as one kind 123, 258
of spiritual succession, 164-65; say r f i ’llah (traveling in God), 123,
eldest son usually becomes, 165, 258, 259
201, 223; &t age of fourteen, 166; sayr-i a fa q i (traveling in the outside
symbols of, 166; visualizing the world), 93,103,121
newly appointed succesor, 167; sayr M ll a h (going to God), 122,
and Mughals, 171, 211; invited 244, 258, 259
to annual meeting, 207; political sayr-i anfusT (traveling within
loyalty as qualification, 211; and oneself), 93,103,121
the Muslim League, 218; sayr iva-su lu k (the spiritual path,
 the way of proceeding along the and contemplations, 241;
path, and the methods for the writing about sufi lineages;
journey), 100,120 shaktipat, 117
Sayyid Ahmad Khan, 186 sha'n -i jdm i\ See comprehensive
Sayyid Ahmad Shahid Barlwl (d. synthesis
1246/1831), 72, 78 Sharafuddln ManrI (d. 782/1381),
Sayyid Nurulhasan Bukhari 158,169
Klliyanwall (d. 1373/1953), 175 shari'a (Islamic law): the kernel
Schimmel, Annemarie, ix, xvii, protecting spiritual practice, 8;
xx vi, 114 circle of shari'a with its center,
scripturalist-minded, 79,187 haqTqa, 10; SirhindT declared
Shadhills/Shadhiliyya, 73,127; strict adherence to, 100; sufi
spiritual path, 100; lineage path subordinated to, 117;
includes Junayd, 106 relation to spiritual light, 119;
Shafi‘1, ash-. S ee Muhammad ash- must go beyond the outward
Shafi'I * dictates of, 121; shaykh should
Shafi'l school, 26, 28, 33, 46 follow assiduously, 142; most
Shah ‘Abdul'azlz (d. 1239/1824), shaykhs in British India
78,170,171; stressed dress as a allegedly did not conform to,
symbol of Islamic identity, 185; 150; when shaykh accidentally
and Ghulam ‘All Shah, 239 does something contrary to, 162;
Shah Abu’l-Khayr (d. 1341/1924), and admirable innovations, 179;
64, 74,154 and Deobandis, 180; and
Shah Gulshan (d. 1170/1757), 72 Shahldganj Mosque agitation,
Shahldganj Mosque, 213-17, 228 213; and Muslim League
Shah Isma'll Shahid (d. 1831), 177 program, 217
Shah Jahan, 69-71 shari'a-minded: sufi lineages, 17,
Shah Kallmullah (d. 1142/1729), 18, 38, 94, 224, 225; often declare
170 sa m a ‘ as a forbidden activity,
Shah Wallullah (d. 1176/1762), 128; choosing a shaykh who is,
188, 227, 235, 237, 238, 239; 153; shari'a-mindedness, 153;
internationally famous as a mediating-shaykhs as, 210
religious leader, 72; brought shar'T vision, 35, 48
together all the eight major sub­ Shattariyya, 73
lineages of the Indian sh ay kh is) (Ar. elder): as infallible,
Naqshbandiyya, 73; among the 1, 29,36,139,145; unquestioning
last Naqshbandls to advise compliance to, 1,147, 207;
Indian rulers, 78; and his hadith obedience to, 2, 41; hereditary
commentary on the NaqshbandT shaykh, 3, 22,154; and
lineage, 86; and synthesis of mediation, 10-13,157,168; as
latjfas, 108; and seven criteria for heirs of the Prophet, 13-16,187;
choosing a spiritual guide, 152; compared to Muhammad, 20;
had five affiliations of and Twelver imams, 23;
blessedness, 156; as a revivalist, institutionalization of, 34, 48;
170; sufi lodge of as refuge, 171; psychological dependence on
declares sufi initiation to be the shaykh, 37,143; as wetnurse,
sunna, 188; books of dealing 37; recreates the ideal Muslim
with spiritual practice, 235-36; community, 39, 54; intermediary
sh ay kh i s) (continued) sh u h u d l position (subjective
between God and humanity, 42, witnessing the oneness of God
169; deceased, 88,113,162; and Creation), 72
Uwaysl shaykh preferred over shu 'u n -i dhatiyya (essential
living, 89; living shaykh has qualities), 115, 238, 240
preference, 94; and supernatural Sialkot, 192,196,197, 206, 213, 223
power, 96, 99,119; bond (rUbita), Siddlqiyya, 59
with, 131-34; visualization of, sifat (attributes), 118, 242; eight
134-38,179; necessity of, immutable divine attributes,
138-40; loving, 140-41,144,201, 115; SimnanI's conception of
207; acting against the shari'a, essential attributes, 115; general
141,142,162; as psychiatrist, fa y d coming from attributes, 118;
147; qualifications of, 154-53; a reflections of God's attributes,
pointer to God, 155; Qur’anic 122; Naqshbandl goal to travel
justification for shaykh, 157; in the dhat not the attributes, 242
successors of, 165-67; sifat-i fi'liyya (active attributes),
Deobandi, 180-82; as sufis and 115,243
ulama, 194; as bridge between sifat-i salbiyya (attributes of
God and the believer, 200; negation or sifat-i tan zihiyya),
genealogical chains of recited, 115, 243, 245
201-2; an intimate of God, 201; Sikhs, 172, 201, 217; razed Sirhind,
darshan of, 205; choosing, 210; 64,171; graves of holy, 169;
exemption from colonial court reaction to Christian
appearances, 212; political role, conversions, 182; reformist and
217; rally for Pakistan, 218; revivalist movements, 182; used
associated with a local and as a positive example by Shr
personal Islam, 219, 220; Muhammad, 185-86;
development of, 224; Pakistan government of in Panjab, 211;
and a new ideology of, 230; and the Shahldganj Mosque,
denial of, 232; cures disease, 235. 213-16; and diversity, 219; and
See also ad a b ; directing-shaykh; indigenous education, 227
heir of the Prophet; love; silsila (genealogical chain), 57, 79,
mediating-shaykh; mediation; 82, 92, 97,120, 218; BakrI, 88. See
m u rshid ; pir; revivalist; shrine- lineage
shaykh; supernatural power; Simnanl. S ee ‘Ala’uddawla
teaching-shaykh; ulama; and Simnanl
visualization of the shaykh Sind, 168,172,173,174, 211, 218,
Sher Muhammad Sharaqpurl (d. 239
1347/1928), 133,154, 159,175, Sirhind, 171,175
220; and visualization of the Sirhindl. See Ahmad Sirhindl
shaykh, 137-38; gave spiritual Sirajuddln (d. 1333/1933), 174; his
education, 163; and English succession at the Musa Zai sufi
dress, 185-86; declared lodge, 164-67
m u stahabb practices to be s i n (mystery latifa, one of the
required, 187 subtle centers): bodily location
shrine caretaker, 164-65, 230 of, 105,109, 111; in pre-
shrine custodians, 212 Naqshbandl latifa
shrine-shaykh, 191, 211 configurations, 106-7;
 associated with Moses, 109; religion, a transformational
associated with the fcwrsF, 115; process, 8; and antinomian
order of activation, 128; travel in, tendencies, 20; theoretical
243; origin of, 250 sufism, a field of knowledge, 31,
sobriety: and the Naqshbandiyya, 80, 225; so-called stagnation of
90; over intoxication in sufi Sufism, 81; completely perfect
identity, 65. See also jad h b a behavior {adab), 148;
sources of authority: utilized by institutionalized, 168, 230;
sufis, xv, 21, 23, 97; four sources
opposition to, 168,179,187;
identified, 11; as ways of
revivalist, 170; and Deobandis,
connecting to God, 16-17;
177; and Indo-Muslim identity,
converge on the Prophet, 18;
184; Muhammadan Sufism
type of succession that
Society, 194; newly defined Sufi-
drastically altered, 165
ism, 195; propagating, 195;
spirit (rilh): latjfas related to, 110.
See ruh service to the knowledge of, 198;
spiritual director. See m u rshid, Pakistani government trying to
shaykh, pir control, 230, 232. See also juristic
spiritual energy. See divine sufism; mediational sufism
energy/power su hbat. See companionship
spiritual exercises. See su lu k Suhrawardiyya, 2, 73,169
spiritual genealogy. See lineage; SulamI, as-. See Abu
silsila ‘Abdurrahman as-Sulaml
spiritual hierarchy, xxiv, 18, 99, su lu k (mystical practices, spiritual
169. See also a bd al exercises to progress on the
spiritual journeying. See sayr path), 83,101,112,1 2 2 ,1 5 7 ,1 6 5 ;
spiritual lineage. See lineage abandoning of spiritual
spiritual master. See murshid-, pir; exercises, 208
shaykh sunna (example of the Prophet):
spiritual mentor. See m u rshid; pir; the inner sunna, 11, 23, 97,147;
shaykh as source of personal authority,
spiritual power. See divine 17; modeling one's behavior on,
energy/power 18; only outwardly following,
spiritual travel. See sayr 22; incumbent on Muslims to
station. See maqffm imitate, 26,187; rituals of
Successors: Uways as the best of,
transmission of knowledge
93
developed from, 27; rules of sufi
sufi affiliation. See lineage; silsila
lodge based on, 36, 44; and the
sufi etiquette. See ad ab
early Naqshbandls, 89; practices
sufi ijtihad. See ijtihad
based on in colonial India, 151;
sufi lodge. See kh an aqah
sufi master. See m u rsh id ; pir; and admirable innovations, 179;
shaykh and Deobandi teachers as
sufi robe. See khirqa exemplars of, 180; Barelwi
sufism: early development of, 1, 4, notions of, 181; and revivalist
32; institutional development of, stress on, 184-85; in conflict
4, 37, 48; and Islam, 4 -5 ; and with British dress and customs,
ihsdn, 5; an expression of 185-86; ritually mandatory for
sunna (continued) taqlTd (unquestioning obedience to
Naqshbandls, 187; sufi initiation the precedents of one legal
considered as, 187,188; as school, the opposite of ijtihad),
following his hijra, 223 83
super-arcanum. See akhfa tarTqa (literally, path or method, a
supererogatory practices, 116, 187; path to God differentiated from
prayer, 51,105; rituals, 52. See shari'a, a specific spiritual
qu rb an-naw fifil lineage): pan-Islamic, 2;
supernatural power (him m a, compared to the circle of shari'a,
tasarru f, tazvajjuh, the 10; tarTqa Shflsm, 23;
manipulation of divine energy/ “Muhammadan path," 72;
power or fayd)-. shaykh as a equation of nisba and tarTqa, 83;
nexus of 12, 53; perception that as a spiritual path, 117;
sufis possessed, 18, 36, 99; NaqshabandT as closest, 120
liminality of pir fosters the tarTq-i jad h b a (the “short” path of
development of, 50; derived attraction): a much faster way to
from spiritual travel, 98; rabita God than doing regular
related to, 99; focused to benefit practices, 93; traversing the path
others, 119; based on being an through the intermediary of an
heir to the Prophet, 148; Jama'at Uwaysl guide, 122
‘All did not exhibit, 200; not tarTq-i su lu k, the path of regular
recognized in mediational
practice, 93; traversing the path
sufism, 200, 208. See also divine
through a living guide, 122
energy/power; fa y d ; tazvajjuh
tazvajjuh (literally, concentration;
Supreme Council of Sufi Lineages,
the shaykh's concentration of
232
supernatural power on the
Surat, 64, 65
disciple to facilitate the
Swat, 172
disciple's progress), 131-34: and
Uwaysl experience, 89; heart-to-
ta'ayyun-i aivw al (the primary
heart communication associated
manifestation of the Essence),
114 with, 96; and rabita, 99; in
ta‘ayyu n -i th d n i (the secondary initiation, 127, 160; giving, 133;
manifestion of the Essence), 115 reactions to, 152; importance in
tabarru k (pi. tabarru kat, baraka- looking for a shaykh, 153;
impregnated objects), 58, 156, contrasted with theoretical
158 training, 163; associated with
tablTgh. See propagating Islam directing-shaykhs, 195; related
Tabllghl Jama'at, 22,151,185 to spiritual territory, 195;
tahajjud (supererogatory prayers redefined by love, 201; and
performed typically between British modern worldview, 208.
midnight and the sunrise See also divine power/energy;
prayer), 202 supernatural power
Tahirids, 2, 46 taw akkul (absolute trust in God for
tahlTl (repeating la ilah ilia A llah, one's needs), 121,137,175
there is no God but God), 129, tazvassul (mediation of holy people
130 between the believer and God to
Taoists, 109,110 facilitate the believer becoming
 closer to God), 102,158,188; ‘Ubaydullah Ahrar (d. 895/1490),
b a y ‘at-i taw assu l, 157 60-65, 66, 70,’ 73,196: three
taw ba (repentance), 156,159 methods of reaching God, 131;
taw hid (the affirmation of the unity and rabita, 132,133,135,139-41
of God), 5 ,1 0 0 ,1 1 4 ulama: defined religious
Tayfuriyya, 59 knowledge as comprising the
teaching-shaykh(s) (shahkh al- Qur’an and hadith, 3; and sufis,
ta'lim ), 26-29: as a configuration 6, 27, 35, 36, 43, 44, 54, 70, 78,
of personal authority, xv, 23; 153,194, 213, 225; as specialists
shift to directing-shaykh, xix, 12, of islam , 8; authority derived
29-35; and mediation of divine from transmitted knowledge,
scripture, 11 14, 83; not a clear-cut category,
teaching permission (ijaza): 24; NaqshbandTs definition of
unrestricted permission (ijaza-yi true, 85; "The ulama are to my
m u tlaq), 113,164-66, 254, 256; people as the prophets were to
required formally to teach, 152; the sons of Israel," 85; and
conditional permission (ijaza-yi political decline of the Mughals,
m u qayyad) 164, 165, 254 171; scattered to towns in
tekke (Turk.). See khanaqdh northern India, 171; in Panjab,
T'hanawl. S ee Ashraf ‘All 171; support of mediational
throne C arsh), 105,115,116 sufism, 176-79; of Ahl-i Hadith,
Timurids, 56, 59, 60, 61,192 179; of Deoband, 180-82;
Timur (d. 807/1405), 59, 60 Jama'at ‘All attracts, 192;
tombs, 162,168,180 authority undermined by
tomb-shrines, 45, 51, 169. S ee also printed books, 209; Mughals
shrine caretakers/custodians used as mediators, 211; and
towns (Urdu, sing, q asabat), 170 Iqbal's poetry, 216; and mosques
transformation: transformations in as identity markers, 216; keep
sufism, 1; and configurations local Islam on the periphery,
associated with sources of 219; and the indigenous
authority, 10; sufis and imams educational system, 226; found
facilitate, 23; jobs in British courts, 227. See
transmission of religious also jurists; reformists; religious
knowledge: as a source of scholars; revivalists
authority, xvi; associated with undifferentiated existence (la
stringent behavioral patterns, 35 ta'ayyun), 113
Transoxiana, 56, 61 Unionist Party, 208, 214, 215, 217,
Tughluq Timur (r. 748/1347-763/ 218
1362), 59 United Provinces, 168
turban, 185,194: and sunna, 151, unity of existence. See w ahdat al-
185; in initiation, 159,161,165, w ujud
166,167 unity of witnessing. See w ahdat al-
Turgut Ozal, ix shu hu d
Turkestan, 59, 60 Urdu publications, 215
Turkey, xvi, 48, 61,174 Uwaysl: Uwaysl initiations
Turner, Victor, xvi, 49, 53, 228, 229 discouraged, 20, 92-95; as a
Tustarl, Sahl at-. See Sahl at-Tustarl connection directly to
Twelver ShlTs, 4, 14, 18, 41, 176 Muhammad, 88, 89; model for
Uwaysl (continued) Weber, Max, 14, 22
initiation by the imaginal form w ildya (Per. wilctyat, intimacy with
of deceased shaykhs, 88; in the or closeness to God), 188;
early Naqshbandiyya, 89, 93; linguistic contrast with w alaya,
and well-developed subtle 13,99; and prophethood, 73; and
body, 113; as a quick path, 122 nisba, 83; and supernatural
Uwaysl instruction, 244 power, 98; and special fa y d , 118;
Uways al-Qaranl, 88, 93,114 losing 144; as spiritual territory,
Uzbekistan, ix, x, 55 195; w ilayat-i an biya', 244
w ilayat-i ku b ra (greater intimacy
Vernacular Press Act, 197 with God), 98,116,123,164, 244
visualization of the shaykh w ilayat-i su g h ra (lesser intimacy
(tasaw w u r-i shaykh), 54,134,135, with God), 98 ,1 1 6 ,1 2 2 ,1 6 4 , 244
136,137,140 w ilayat-i su ghra, ku bra, cu ly a (circles
of the three intimacies), 256
w ahdat al-shu hu d (unity of
w ila y a t -i'u ly a (greatest intimacy
witnessing, testimonial unity),
with God), 123, 245
109,114,123
women, 181; sufis, xxiv; and
w ahdat al-w u ju d ("unity of
seclusion from non-familial
existence" or existential unity),
males, 151,161; and initiation,
114,123, 243
160-61; disciples, 161
Wahhabis, 79,179,194
w ujudt position (the objective
w ait, or w all A llah (p. aw liya', a
declaration that God and
person close to God, a protege,
Creation were identical), 72
an intimate, or friend of God):
w u q u f ("concentration" when
kinds of, 13-14; as an
discussing the latjfas and
intermediary between humanity
"understanding" in the context
and God, 14-15,133; sufis as, 17,
of contemplation): meaning in
43,104,139; and supernatural
different contexts, 127;
power, 18, 99; as social
awareness of time (w u qu f-i
mediators, 30; and prophets, 39,
zam an f), 234; counting of dhikr
42, 73,117; functionally equated
repetitions (w u qu f-i ‘ad a d t), 234;
with the Prophet, 40-41; always
a heart constantly attentive to
exist, 41; as the real Ka'ba, 43;
God (w u qu f-i q albi), 234
receive the special fay d , 118; and
the Companions, 123,163; and
love, 141,152; mistakes of, 143; Yemen, 4, 28, 88,113,114
religious obligation to love, 201; Yusuf HamadanI (d. 535/1140), 44,
companionship with gives 58, 234
eternal life, 202; Jinnah as, 217,
230; presences of, 256 Zafar 'All Khan, 192, 215, 216
w aqf. S ee religious endowments Zaydl imams, 4; Zaydls, 18
zvasila (the means one uses to Zen Buddhists, 9
approach God), 131,157, 200 zaw iyya (sufi lodge). See khanaqdh

theology library
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"In this well-researched and convinc Sufi Heirs of the Prophet explores the
ing book, Buehler argues that the multifaceted development of personal
NaqshbandT order appropriated a authority in Islamic societies by trac
shift in models ot personal authority ing the transformation of one mysti
cal sufi lineage in colonial India, the
to establish and perpetuate its own
Naqshbandiyya. Arthur K Buehler
institutional structure. Because of its
isolates four sources of personal
theoretical sophistication and excel
authority evident in the practices of
lent first-hand research, this book
the Naqshbandiyya— lineage, spiri
should be recommended for both tual traveling, status as a Prophetic
specialists and comparativists." exemplar, and the transmission of
Religious Studies Review religious knowledge— to demonstrate
how Muslim religious leaders have
"Buehler's knowledge of his subject exercised charismatic leadership
is thorough and . . . his presentation through their association with the
of Sufism is far more balanced than most compelling of personal Islamic
one typically sees in studies on Islam. symbols, the Prophet Muhammad.
Any teacher of religion, particularly Buehler clarifies the institutional
non-specialists who have occasion to structure of sufism, analyzes overlap
discuss Islam in their courses, will ping configurations of personal sufi
benefit immensely from the perspec authority, and details how and why
revivalist Indian Naqshbandis aban
tives (and correctives) provided by
doned spiritual practices that had sus
this book. journai 0f nle American tained their predecessors for more
Academy of Religion than five centuries. He looks specifi
"Buehler has produced a well- cally at the role of Jama‘at "All Shah
(d 1951) to explain current Naqsh
researched study that sheds light on
bandT practices.
a select portion of South Asian Mus
lim history and at the same time
A R T H U R F. B U E H L E R is a senior
proposes a distinctive analytical
lecturer in the Department of Reli
framework. . . . It is heartening to
gious Studies at Victoria University
see such important questions— on
of Wellington, New Zealand. He is
change, and on the complex rela
senior editor of the journal of the
tionship between authority, colonial
History of Sufism.
society, and Sufism in India and
Pakistan— raised and engaged in Studies in Comparative Religion
such an insightful and stimulating Frederick M. Denny, series editor
manner. jouma] „f Islamic Studies

ISBN T 7 A- 1 -5 7 0 0 3 -7 A 3 - 2
www.sc.edu /uscpress

The University of South Carolina Press

Columbia, South Carolina 29208 JIllII®