Abdul-Qadir Gilani

Shaykh Abdul Qadir, Al Jilani, Muhyi'd-Diin, Sultaan al-Awliyaa [1]
Full Name	Al-Sayyid Muhiyudin Abu Muhammad Abdal Qadir Al-Jilani Al-Hasani Wal-Hussaini
Born	29 Shabaan 470 AH[2] or Oct. 31, 1077[3]
Jurisprudence	Hanbali[4][5]
Died	11th Rabi Ak-Akhar 561 AH ≈ Monday 14 February 1166 CE[6][7]
Birthplace	Gilan, Tabarestan, Persia[8]
Place of Burial	Tomb Of Abdul Qadir, Baghdad, Iraq
Father	Abu Salih Musa al-Hasani
Mother	Ummul Khair Fatima
• • Madina • Sadiqa • Mu'minah • Mahboobah
Son(s)	• Saifuddin • Sharfuddin • Abu Bakr • Sirajuddin • Yahya • Musa • Muhammad • Ibrahim • Abdullah • Abdul Wahab • Abu Naser Musa
Descendants	Sheikh
Other Titles	• Shaykh ("Leader") • Abd al-Qadir ("Servant of the All-Powerful") • Al-Jilani ("One Who Is from Gilan") • Muhyi’d-Din ("Reviver of the Religion") • Abu Muhammad ("Father of Muhammad") • Al-Ghawth al-A'zam • ("The Supreme Helper") • Sultan al-Awliya ("The King of the Saints") • Al-Hasani Al-Husaini ("The descendant of both Imam al-Hasan and Imam al-Husain)

Sufism and Tariqa
Ideas Abdal Baqaa Dervish Dhawq Fakir Fanaa Haal Keramat Haqiqa Ihsan Irfan Kashf Lataif Manzil Marifa Nafs Nūr Qalandar Qutb Silsila Sufi cosmology Sufi metaphysics Sufi philosophy Sufi poetry Sufi psychology Sulook Tazkiah Wali Yaqeen
Practices Anasheed Dhikr Haḍra Muraqaba Qawwali Sama Whirling Ziyarat
Sufi orders Akbarī Alevī Alians Ashrafia Azeemia Ba 'Alawī Bayramī Bektashī Burhāniyya Chishtī Galibī Gulshanī Ḥurūfī Haqqani Anjuman Idrīsī Jelvetī Jerrahī Khalidī Khalwatī Kubrāwī Madarī Malāmatī Mawlāwī Mourīdī Noorbakshia Naqshbandī Naqshbandi Uwaisī Nasuhī Ni'matullāhī Nuqtawī Qadirī Qalāndārī Rifa'ī Safāvī Shadhilī Shattārī Suhrawardī Sunbulī Tijanī Ussakī Uwaisī Zahedī
Notable early Sufis Abdūl-Khāliq Ghujdawanī Abdullah Ansari Abdūl-Qādir Gilanī Abūl-Khāyr ad-Dağhestānī Abu Bakr al-Aydarus al-Adeni Afaq Khoja Ahmad Ghazālī Ahmed Yasavī al-Ajami al-Badawi Al-Basri Al-Fozail Al-Ghazālī Al-Hallaj Ali-Shir Nava'i al-Khārāqānī Al-Qāsim al-Qayṣarī al-Qunawī Amīr Kulal Ardabilī Ata Allah Attar Balım Sultan Baba Fakruddin Baha ūd-Dīn Naqshband Bande Nawāz Baqī Billah Bayazid Bastamī Bhita'ī Bulleh Shah Dehlāvī El-Desoukî Arbili Erzurumī Farīd ūd-Dīn Fuzûlî Gharīb Nawāz Ghulam Farīd Gül Baba Hajji Bayram Hajji Bektash Hāfez-e Shīrāzī Halidī Bağdādī Ibn Qudamah Haddad Hamadānī Hansvī Harabatī Baba Harooni Hujwirī ibn Adham ibn ʿArabī Iraqi Jābir ibn Hayyān Ja'far al-Sadiq Jahangasht Jamī Jan-e-Jānāān Mir Sayyid Ali Hamadani Mir Sham ud-Din Iraqi Karkhī Magtymguly Pyragy Jazoulī Muhammad al-Faqih Muqaddam Jilī Junayd Baġdādī Kākī Kaliyarī Omar Khayyam Khusrow Kubrā Mahmud Hüdayī Nāimī Najib al-Suhrawardī Nasir Khusraw Nasīmī Nasreddin Hoca Nathar Vali Ni'matullāh Wali Nizām ūd-Dīn Noorbaksh Qahistani Nurī Otman Baba Pir Sultan Qutb ūd-Dīn Haydār Qutb ūd-Dīn Shīrāzī Rabbānī Rabia Basri Razī Rifa'ī Rukn-e-Alam Rūmī Saadī Sabakhī Salman al-Farisī Sanai Sarı Saltuk Sheik Edebali Semnanī Silistrevī Shadhilī Shah Waliullah Shahāb al-Dīn Suhrawardī Shams Tabrizī Shaykh Gālib Shiblī Sultan Walad Surkh Bukharī Taj al-Dīn Gilanī Umar al-Suhrawardī Sahl al-Tustari Yunus Emre Zakariya Zarruq Zū'l-Nūn al-Misrī
Notable modern Sufis Abdūl-Khāqeem Arvāsī Abdal Hakīm Murad Abdalqadir as-Sufi Ahmet Kayhan Dede Ahmad al-Alawi al-Shaghouri Qalandar Baba Auliya Khwaja Shamsuddin Azeemi Baba Rexheb Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Feisal Abdul Rauf Fethullah Gülen Gohar Shahi Kuşçuoğlu Ghulam Mustafa Hisham Kabbani Hüseyin Hilmi Işık Mai Safoora Meher Ali Muhammad Malikī Nazīm Al-Haqqānī Syed Muhammad Shah Noorani Syed Waheed Ashraf Nuh Keller Nooruddeen Durkee Omar Shah Osman Nuri Topbaş Qadeer Piya Maulana Sufi Mufti Azangachhi Shaheb Reshad Feild Saheb Qibla Fultali Said al-Chirkawi Said Nursī Shahab Sufi Barkat Ali Syed Shujaat Syed Rashid Ahmed Jaunpuri Kabir Helminski Tahir Allauddin Tajuddin Babaī Waris Ali Shah Zaheen Abdullah al-Harari
Topics in Sufism Tawhid Shariah Haqiqah Art History Music Poetry Shrines Texts
Portal

Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani (Arabic: عبد القادر الجيلاني‎; Persian: عبد القادر گیلانی‎, Turkish: Abdülkâdir Geylânî, Kurdish: Evdilqadirê Geylanî, Urdu: عبد القادر گیلانی‎ Abdolqāder Gilāni^[9] Al-Sayyid Muhiyudin Abu Muhammad Abdal Qadir Al-Jilani Al-Hasani Wal-Hussaini (born 29 Shabaan, 470 Hijri, in the town of Na'if, district of Gilan, Persia,oar Gilan Al-Mada'in, Iraq died 11 Rabi Ak-Akhar 561 AH (Monday 14 February 1166 C.E), in Baghdad,^[10] (1077–1166 CE), was a Persian^[11] Hanbali^[4][5] jurist and Sufi based in Baghdad. Qadiriyya was his patronym.

Family

Al-Gilani was born around 1077 in Persia.^{[nb 1][12]} Al-Gilani's father, Abu Salih Musa al-Hasani, was a descendant of Hasan ibn Ali, (Imam Hasan). Hasan was the eldest son of Ali and Fatimah. Ali was prophet Muhammad's 'peace be upon him' son-in-law and also cousin and Fatima was prophet Muhammad's 'peace be upon him' daughter. Al-Gilani's mother was the daughter of Abdullah Sawmai, a descendant of Husayn ibn Ali, the younger son of Ali and Fatima. Thus, Al-Gilani was both a Hasani and Hussaini Sayyid.

Name

Within Al-Gilani's full name, al-Sayyid Muhiyudin Abu Muhammad Abdal Qadir al-Jilani al-Hasani wal-Hussaini, the word Sayyid denotes his descent from Muhammad.^[13] The name Muhiyudin describes him as a "reviver of religion".^[14] The phrase, al-Jilani refers to Al Gilani's place of birth.^[15][16] However, Al-Gilani also carried the epithet, al-Baghdadi.^[17][18][19] referring to his residence and burial in Baghdad. The phrase al-Hasani wal-Hussaini affirms his lineal descent from both Hasan ibn Ali and Hussein ibn Ali, the grandsons of Muhammad.^[20][21] Describing Al Gilani with the phrase 'Najib al-tarafayn Sayyid' indicates that both his mother and father were of apostolic lineage.^[22]

Paternal heritage

Al Gilani's father was a Sayyed.^[23][24] He was respected as a saint by the people of his day, and was known as "Jangi Dost", (one who loves God), thus "Jangidost" was his sobriquet.^[25][26][27]

Education

Al Gilani spent his early life in Na'if, 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 ^[28] under Qadi Abu Sa'd al-Mubarak al-Mukharrimi and Ibn Aqil.^[29] He was given lessons on Hadith by Abu Muhammad Ja'far al-Sarraj.^[29] In Tasawwuf, his spiritual instructor was Abu'l-Khair Hammad ibn Muslim al-Dabbas.^[30] (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.^[31]

^[32]

Later life

In 1127, Al Gilani returned to Baghdad and began to preach to the public.^[12] He joined the teaching staff of the school belonging to his own teacher, al-Mukharrimii, 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 Qur'an. 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 the Sufi and strict nature of the Qur'an.^[12]

Death and burial

Al Gilani died in the evening of Monday 14 February 1166 C.E ( 11th Rabi Al-Akhar 561 AH) at the age of eighty nine years (by the Islamic calendar).^[10] His body was entombed in a shrine within his madrassa in Babul-Sheikh, Resafa (East bank of the Tigris) in Baghdad, Iraq.^[33][34][35] During the reign of the Safavid Shah Ismail I, Gilani's shrine was destroyed,^[36] however in 1535 the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman had a turba (dome) built over the shrine, which exists to this day.^[37]

Tomb Of Sheikh Abdul Qadir, Baghdad, Iraq.

Books

• Futuh al-Ghaib (Revelations of the Unseen) – 78 discourses, fairly short and to the point but very powerful.
• Al-Fath ar-Rabbani (The Sublime Revelation) – 62 discourses, definitely longer, given in the Ribaat and Madrasa in Baghdad AH 545–546.
• Jala' al-Khawatir (The Removal of Cares) – 45 discourses, also in the same locations, given in the year AH 546.
• Malfuzat (Utterances of Shaikh 'Abd al-Qadir) – This is a collection of quotes from the Shaikh. Generally, it is found at the end of the hand-copied, Arabic manuscripts of Fath ar-Rabbani.
• Al-Ghunya li-Talibi Tariq al-Haqq (Sufficient Provision for Seekers of the Path of Truth, also known in the Indian sub-continent as Al-Ghunya li-Talibin). These five volumes, written by the Shaikh at the request of one of his murids, is a comprehensive guide to all aspects of Islam, both the inward and the outward.
• Khamsata 'Ashara Maktuban (Fifteen Letters) – These are 15 letters originally written in Persian by Shaikh 'Abd al-Qadir to one of his murids.
• Al-Fuyudat al-Rabbaniyya (Emanations of Lordly Grace)
• Bashair al-Khairat (Glad Tidings of Good Things) – A Salawat by Shaykh Abd al-Qadir by way of inspiration from Allah.
• Kitab Sirr al-Asrar wa Mazhar al-Anwar^[38] (The Book of the Secret of Secrets and the Manifestation of Light

See also

• Qadiriyyah
• Mir Sayyid Ali Hamadani Hamadaniyyaha and kubriyyah
• Ashrafiyya
• Moinuddin Chishti
• Ashraf Jahangir Semnani
• Ahmed Ullah Maizbhanderi
• Salekur Rahman Rahe Bhanderi
• Khalifa of Ahmed Ullah Maizbhanderi
• Syed Ibrahim
• Ahmed Raza Khan

Bibliography

• Sayings of Shaikh Abd al-Qadir al-Jīlānī Malfūzāt, Holland, Mutah (translator). S. Abdul Majeed & Co, Kuala Lumpur (1994) ISBN 1-882216-03-2.
• 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 1-882216-16-4.
• 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, Mutah (1935–) (translator). Al-Baz publications, Fort Lauderdale, Florida. (1997) ISBN 1-882216-13-X.
• The sultan of the saints: mystical life and teachings of Shaikh Syed Abdul Qadir Jilani / Muhammad Riaz Qadiri Qadiri, Muhammad Riyaz. Gujranwala, Abbasi publications. (2000) ISBN 969-8510-16-8.
• The sublime revelation: al-Fath ar-Rabbānī, a collection of sixty-two discourses / Abd al-Qādir al- Jīlānī, Second edition. al-Rabbānī, al-Fath. Al-Baz publications, Fort Lauderdale, Florida. (1998). ISBN 1-882216-02-4.
• 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).
• Encyclopædia Iranica, Bibliotheca Persica PresS, ISBN 1-56859-050-4.

Notes

References

External links

• "160 names and titles of 'Abdu-l Qadir al-Jilani".
• "Shaikh Muhyi'din 'Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani" website.
• "Al-Baz publications." website.
• "Abdul Qadir Jilani" Lists of works and excerpts.
• "Purification of the Mind (Jila' Al-Khatir)" complete work.