THE SUFI ORDERS

THE SUFI ORDERS

The Origin

Islam, as a complete code of life or din, was perfected during the life of the Holy Prophet MUHAMMAD (salla’Allahu alaihi wa sallam). He was the sole teacher and his mosque was the core institution of the community. Although Islam in its entirety was practiced during that blessed era, the classification and compilation of its teaching into distinct branches of knowledge, like ‘Tafsir’ (interpretation or exegesis of the Quran), Hadith (traditions or sayings of the Holy Prophet, SAW), Fiqh (Islamic law), and Tasawwuf (the inward aspect), were undertaken later. This din of Allah passed from the Holy Prophet (SAW) to his Companions in two ways the outward and the inward. The former comprised the teachings of Islam enunciated by speech and conduct, i.e., the Quran and Sunnah. The latter comprised the invisible blessings or the Prophetic lights transmitting so purified their hearts as to instill in them a great love of his teachings and an ardent desire to follow them with utmost sincerity and devotion. Tasawwuf is the effort to acquire this Baraka.
The Companions handed down his teachings and blessings to the Tab’ain. Their strong hearts were capable of infusing these blessings into the hearts of their followers. Both these aspects of Islam were similarly passed on by the Tab’ain to the Tab’a Tab’ain, the former in writing and the latter from heart to heart. The compilation of the teachings (the outward aspect) and their interpretation led to the creation of many schools of religious thought of which four have survived, namely, the Hanafi, the Hanbali, the Maliki, and the Shaf’i, named after their founders. Similarly, in order to acquire, preserve and distribute his Baraka (the inward aspect), an organized effort was initiated by four schools of Tasawwuf: The Naqshbandiah, the Qadriah, the Chishtiah, and Suharwardiah. These schools were also named after their organizers and came to be known as Sufi Orders. All these orders aimed at purifying the hearts of sincere Muslims with Prophetic lights, hut they adopted somewhat different means to accomplish this goal.
Khawaja Naqshband (d-1389 A.C) organized the Naqshbandiah Order of Bukhara [now in Central Asia (Turkestan) , Republic of Uzbekistan]. This Order has tow main branches – the Mujaddidiah and the Owaisiah. The former is identified with Shaikh Ahmed Sirhindi, Mujaddad Alif Sani (literally reviver of the first Muslim millenium), who was successor of Khawaja Baqi Bilah, who introduced the Order to the Indo-Pakistan sub-continent. The method of zikr employed by the Naqshbandiah is "Zikr-al-Khafi-Qalbi" (contemplation of Allah’s name within the heart) and is termed "Pas an Fas", which in Persian means guarding every breath. The Owaisiah Order employs a similar method of zikr but acquires the Prophetic blessings in the manner of Khawaja Owais Qarni, who received this beneficence from the Holy Prophet (SAW) without a formal physical meeting.
The Chain of Transmission of this Baraka, of course, must emanate from the Holy Prophet (SAW). It is prerequisite in all Sufi Orders, except the Naqshbandiah-Owaisiah, that the Shaikh and the seekers must be contemporaries and must physically meet each other for the transfer of this Baraka