Abdul Qadir Gilani

Sunni Muslim preacher, mystic and theologian (1078–1166)
(Redirected from Abd al-Qadir al-Gillani)

ʿAbd al-Qādir Gīlānī, (Persian: عبدالقادر گیلانی, formally Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Qādir ibn ʾAbī Sālih al-Gīlānī al-Ḥasanī (Arabic: عبدالقادر الجيلاني, (Turkish: Abdülkâdir Geylânî, (Kurdish: Evdilqadirê Geylanî, (Sorani Kurdish: عه‌بدوالقادری گه‌یلانی),[1] known as for short was a Hanbali Sunni Muslim preacher, orator, ascetic, mystic, sayyid, faqīh, and theologian.[1] He was known for being the eponymous founder of the Qadiriyya tariqa (Sufi order) of Sufism.[1]

ʿHazrat Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jilani رضي الله عنه
Muhiyuddin
Venerated inAll of Sunni Islam, but particularly in the Hanbali and Shafi'i school (Salafi Sunnis honor rather than venerate him).
Major shrineMausoleum of Abdul-Qadir Gilani, Baghdad, Iraq
Major worksGhunya Li Talib Al Haqq, Futuh Ul Ghayb,Fath Rabbani and Sirr Ul Asraar

Early life

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Born 29 Sha'ban 470 AH (around 1077) in the town of Na'if, district of Gilan-e Gharb, Gilan, Iran[2][nb 1] and died Monday, February 14, 1166 (11 Rabi' al-Thani 561 AH), in Baghdad,[3] (1077–1166 CE), was a Persian[2] Hanbali Sunni[4][5] jurist and sufi based in Baghdad. The Qadiriyya tariqa is named after him.[6] And say that he was born in Gilan Iraq, a historic village near the cities (Al-Mada'in) of 40 kilometers south of Baghdad, as evidenced by historical studies academic and adopted by the Gilan Family in Baghdad.[7]

Name's origin

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The name Muhiyudin describes him as a "reviver of religion".[8] Gilan (Arabic al-Jilani) refers to his place of birth, Gilan.[9][10] However, Gilani also carried the epithet Baghdadi.[11][12][13] referring to his residence and burial in Baghdad.

Paternal heritage

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Gilani's father was from Sharif's Al-Hassani lineage.[14][15] He was respected as a sheikh by the people of his day, and was known as Jangi Dost "who loves God", thus "Jangidost" was his sobriquet.[16]

Education

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Gilani spent his early life in Gilan, the town of his birth. In 1095, at the age of eighteen years, he went to Baghdad. There, he pursued the study of Hanbali law [17] under Abu Saeed Mubarak Makhzoomi and ibn Aqil.[18] He was given lessons on Hadith by Abu Muhammad Ja'far al-Sarraj.[18] His Sufi spiritual instructor was Abu'l-Khair Hammad ibn Muslim al-Dabbas.[19] (A detailed description of his various teachers and subjects are included below). After completing his education, Gilani left Baghdad. He spent twenty-five years as a reclusive wanderer in the desert regions of Iraq.[20]

Education in Baghdad

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At the age of 18, Gilani went to Baghdad to study the Hanbali school of fiqh.

Subject Shaykh (Teacher)
Fiqh (Islamic Jurisprudence) Ibn Aqil
Fiqh (Islamic Jurisprudence) Abu Al Hasan Muhammad ibn Qazi Abu Yala
Fiqh (Islamic Jurisprudence) Abu Al Khatab Mahfuz Hanbali
Fiqh (Islamic Jurisprudence) Muhammad ibn Al Husnayn
Fiqh (Islamic Jurisprudence) Abu Saeed Mubarak Makhrami
Tasawwuf (Sufism) Abu Saeed Mubarak Makhrami

Abu'l-Khair Hammad ibn Muslim al-Dabbas

Abu Zakariya ibn Yahya ibn Ali Al Tabrezi

Hadith Abu Bakr ibn Muzaffar
Hadith Muhammad Ibn Al Hasan Baqalai Abu Sayeed

Muhammad ibn Abdul Kareem

Hadith Abu Al Ghanaem Muhammad Ibn Muhammad Ali Ibn Maymoon Al Farsi
Hadith Abu Bakr Ahmad Ibn Al Muzaffar
Hadith Abu Jafer Ibn Ahmad Ibn Al Hussain Al Qari
Hadith Abu Al Qasim Ali Ibn Muhammad Ibn Banaan Al Karkhi
Hadith Abu Talib Abdul Qadri Ibn Muhammad Yusuf
Hadith Abdul Rahman Ibn Ahmad Abu Al Barkat Hibtaallah Ibn Al Mubarak
Hadith Abu Al Nasr Ibn Il Mukhtar
Hadith Abu Nasr Muhammad
Hadith Abu Ghalib Ahmad
Hadith Abu Abdullah Aulad Ali Al Bana
Hadith Abu Al Hasan Al Mubarak Ibn Al Teyvari
Hadith Abu Mansur Abdurahman Al Taqrar

[21]

Later life

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In 1127, Gilani returned to Baghdad and began to preach to the public.[22] He joined the teaching staff of the school belonging to his own teacher, al-Mazkhzoomi, and was popular with students. In the morning he taught hadith and tafsir, and in the afternoon he held discourse on the science of the heart and the virtues of the Quran. He was said to have been a convincing preacher and converted numerous Jews and Christians. His strength came in the reconciling of the mystical nature of Sufism and strict nature of the Quran.[22]

Death and burial

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Sheikh Abdul Qadir Gilani Mosque in Baghdad 1925

Gilani died in the evening of Tuesday, February 21, 1166 (11th Rabi' al-thani 561 AH) at the age of ninety one years according to the Islamic calendar.[3] His body was entombed in a shrine within his madrasa in Babul-Sheikh, Rusafa on the east bank of the Tigris in Baghdad, Iraq.[23][24][25] During the reign of the Safavid Shah Ismail I, Gilani's shrine was destroyed.[26] However, in 1535, the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent had a turba (dome) built over the shrine, which exists to this day.[27]

Birthday & Death Anniversary celebration

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1 Ramadan is celebrated as the birthday of Abdul Qadir Gilani while the death anniversary is on 11 Rabi us Thani though some scholars and traditions say 29 Shaban and 17 Rabi us Sani as birth and death day respectively. The later is called in the Subcontinent as Giyarwee Shareef or Honoured Day of 11th.[28]

 
Tomb Of Sheikh Abdul Qadir, Baghdad, Iraq.
  • Kitab Sirr al-Asrar wa Mazhar al-Anwar[29] (The Book of the Secret of Secrets and the Manifestation of Light)
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Bibliography

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  • al-Jilani, ʻAbd al-Qadir (1992). Utterances of Shaikh Abd Al-Qadir Al-Jilani: Malfuzat.
  • Fifteen letters, khamsata ashara maktūban / Shaikh Abd Al-Qādir Al-Jīlānī. Translated from Persian to Arabic by Alī usāmu ́D-Dīn Al-Muttaqī. Translated from Arabic into English by Muhtar Holland.
  • Kamsata ašara maktūban. First edition. ʿAlāʾ al-Dīn, ʿAlī B., ʿAbd al-Malik al- Muttaqī al-Hindī (about 1480–1567) and Muhtar Holland (1935–). Al-Baz publications, Hollywood, Florida. (1997) ISBN 978-1-882216-16-1.
  • Jalā Al-Khawātir: a collection of forty-five discourses of Shaikh Abd Al-Qādir Al-Jīlānī, the removal of cares. Chapter 23, pg 308. Jalā al-Khawātir, Holland, Muhtar (1935–) (translator). Al-Baz publications, Fort Lauderdale, Florida. (1997) ISBN 978-1-882216-13-0.
  • Qadri, Muhammad Riyaz (2000). The Sultan of the Saints: Mystical Life and Teaching of Shaikh Syed Abdul Qadir Jilani.
  • al-Jilani, ʻAbd al-Qadir (1998). The Sublime Revelation (al-Fath Ar-rabbani): A Collection of Sixty-two Discourses. Al-Baz Publishing Incorporated.
  • Al-Ghunya li-talibi tariq al-haqq wa al-din, (Sufficient provision for seekers of the path of truth and religion), Parts one and two in Arabic. Al-Qadir, Abd, Al-Gaylani. Dar Al-Hurya, Baghdad, Iraq, (1988).
  • Al-Ghunya li-talibi tariq al-haqq wa al-din, (Sufficient provision for seekers of the path of truth and religion.) in Arabic. Introduced by Al-Kilani, Majid Irsan. Dar Al-Khair, Damascus, Bairut, (2005).
  • Yarshater, Ehsan (1997). Encyclopedia Iranica: Fascicle. Mazda Publishers. ISBN 978-1-56859-050-9.
  • Geography of the Baz Ahhab second reading in the biography of Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jilani, and the birthplace of his birth according to the methodology of scientific research (MA in Islamic History from Baghdad University in 2001) of Iraqi researcher Jamal al-Din Faleh Kilani, review and submission of the historian Emad Abdulsalam Rauf،Publishe Dar Baz Publishing, United States of America, 2016, translated by Sayed Wahid Al-Qadri Aref.
  1. There is uncertainty as to the year of his birth; some sources say 1077, others 1078،He was born in Jilan Iraq, a historic village near Mada'in, 40 kilometers south of Baghdad, as evidenced by historical and academic studies adopted by the Kailan family in Baghdad .'Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani at the Encyclopædia Britannica

References

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  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Abdul Qadir Gilani at Encyclopædia Iranica
  2. 2.0 2.1 W. Braune, Abd al-Kadir al-Djilani, The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Vol. I, ed. H.A.R Gibb, J.H.Kramers, E. Levi-Provencal, J. Schacht, (Brill, 1986), 69;".. all authorities are unanimous in stating that he was a Persian from Nayf (Nif) in Djilan, south of the Caspian Sea."
  3. 3.0 3.1 The works of Shaykh Umar Eli of Somalia of al-Tariqat al-Qadiriyyah.
  4. John Renard, The A to Z of Sufism. p 142. ISBN 081086343X
  5. Campo, Juan Eduardo (2009). Encyclopedia of Islam. Infobase Publishing. p. 288. ISBN 978-1-4381-2696-8.
  6. "Sufism, Sufis, and Sufi Orders: Sufism's Many Paths". islam.uga.edu. Archived from the original on 2011-11-02. Retrieved 2017-07-21.
  7. Book: Geography of the Baz Al-Ashhab, Achieving the Birthplace of Sheikh Abdul Qadir Al-Kilani, Dr. Jamal Al-Din Faleh Al-Kilani,(MA in Islamic History from Baghdad University in 2001) Al-Jalis Library, Beirut, 2012, p. 14
  8. Mihr-e-munīr: biography of Hadrat Syed Pīr Meher Alī Shāh pg 21, Muhammad Fādil Khān, Faid Ahmad. Sajjadah Nashinan of Golra Sharif, Islamabad (1998).
  9. Encyclopaedia of religion and ethics: volume 1. (A – Art). Part 1. (A – Algonquins) pg 10. Hastings, James and Selbie, John A. Adamant Media corporation. (2001), "and he was probably of Persian origin."
  10. The Sufi orders in Islam, 2nd edition, pg 32. Triingham, J. Spencer and Voll, John O. Oxford University Press US, (1998), "The Hanafi Qadirriya is also included since 'Abd al-Qadir, of Persian origin was contemporary of the other two."
  11. Sanyal, Usha (1996). Devotional Islam and Politics in British India: Ahmad Riza Khan Barelwi and His Movement, 1870-1920. Oxford University Press, USA. p. 144. ISBN 978-0-19-564862-1.
  12. Cultural and religious heritage of India: Islam pg 321. Sharma, Suresh K. (2004)
  13. Indo-iranica pg 7. The Iran Society, Calcutta, India. (1985).
  14. Historical and political who's who of Afghanistan. p 177. Adamec, Ludwig W. (1975)
  15. Qādrī, Muḥammad Riyāz̤ (2000-01-01). The Sultan of the Saints: Mystical Life and Teaching of Shaikh Syed Abdul Qadir Jilani. Abbasi Pablications. p. 19. ISBN 978-969-8510-16-9.
  16. "Sulook organisation website" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-28. Retrieved 2010-02-19.
  17. Campo, Juan Eduardo (2009-01-01). Encyclopedia of Islam. Infobase Publishing. p. 4. ISBN 978-1-4381-2696-8.
  18. 18.0 18.1 Gibb, H.A.R.; Kramers, J.H.; Levi-Provencal, E.; Schacht, J. (1986) [1st. pub. 1960]. Encyclopaedia of Islam (New Edition. Vol. I (A-B). Leiden, Netherlands: Brill. p. 69. ISBN 978-90-04-08114-7.
  19. Ruthven, Malise (2006). Islam in the World. Oxford University Press, USA. p. 243. ISBN 978-0-19-530503-6.
  20. Esposito, John L. (2004). The Oxford Dictionary of Islam. Oxford University Press. p. 160. ISBN 0-19-975726-7.
  21. Akbar, pg.11 Al Haqq, Abd. and Ghunyat al-talibeen (Wealth for Seekers) pg. 12 Urdu version
  22. 22.0 22.1 'Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani at the Encyclopædia Britannica
  23. Al-Ghunya li-talibi tariq al-haqq wa al-din (Sufficient provision for seekers of the path of truth and religion), parts one and two in Arabic, Al-Qadir, Abd and Al-Gilani. Dar Al-Hurya, Baghdad, Iraq, (1988).
  24. Al-Ghunya li-talibi tariq al-haqq wa al-din (Sufficient provision for seekers of the path of truth and religion) with introduction by Al-Kilani, Majid Irsan. Al-Kilani, Majid, al-Tariqat, 'Ursan, and al-Qadiriyah, Nash'at
  25. "The Qadirya Mausoleum" (PDF).
  26. A.A. Duri, Baghdad, The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Vol. I, 903.
  27. W. Braune, Abd al-Kadir al-Djilani, The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Vol. I, 70.
  28. "Ghousia". Archived from the original on 2021-04-18. Retrieved 2020-05-23.
  29. "Sirr-ul-Asrar". www.nafseislam.com. Archived from the original on 2020-06-26. Retrieved 2016-08-04.

Other websites

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