Khwājagān (shortened/singular forms:

Khwaja Khawaja (Persian: خواجه ''khvâjəh'') is an honorific title used across the Middle East, South Asia, Southeast Asia and Central Asia, particularly towards Sufi teachers. It is also used by Kashmiri Muslims and the Mizrahi Jews—particula ...

, Khaja(h),

Khawaja Khawaja (Persian language, Persian: خواجه ''khvâjəh'') is an honorific title used across the Middle East, South Asia, Southeast Asia and Central Asia, particularly towards Sufi teachers. It is also used by Kashmiri Muslims and the Mizrah ...

khuwaja Khawaja (Persian: خواجه ''khvâjəh'') is an honorific title used across the Middle East, South Asia, Southeast Asia and Central Asia, particularly towards Sufi teachers. It is also used by Kashmiri Muslims and the Mizrahi Jews—partic ...

) is a

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

title for ''"the Masters"''. Khwajagan, as the plural for "Khwāja", is often used to refer to a network of

Sufi Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, ...

s in

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

from the 10th to the 16th century who are often incorporated into later

Naqshbandi The Naqshbandi ( fa, نقشبندی)), Neqshebendi ( ku, نه‌قشه‌به‌ندی), and Nakşibendi (in Turkish) is a major Sunni order of Sufism. Its name is derived from Baha-ud-Din Naqshband Bukhari. Naqshbandi masters trace their ...

hierarchies, as well as other Sufi groups, such as the Yasaviyya. In Firdowsi's Shahnama the word is used many times for some rulers and heroes of ancient

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

as well. The special

zikr ''Dhikr'' ( ar, ذِكْر}, , also spelled ''Zikr'', ''Thikr'', ''Zekr'', or ''Zikar'', literally meaning "remembrance, reminder" or "mention") is a form of Islamic meditation in which phrases or prayers are repeatedly chanted in order to remem ...

of the Khwajagan is called 'Khatm Khajagan'. Interest in the Khwajagan was revived in the 20th century with the publication in

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

of ''Hacegan Hanedanı'', by Hasan Lütfi Şuşud,

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

, 1958. His sources included: * Reşahat Ayn el-Hayat, compiled by Mevlana Ali Bin Huseyin Safi, A.H. 993. * Nefahat el-Uns min Hazerat el-Kuds, by Nuraddin Abdurrahman Jami, A.H. 881. * Risale-i Bahaiyye, by Rif'at Bey. * Semerat el-Fuad, by Sari Abdullah. * Enis ut-Talibin wa Iddet us-Salikin Makamat-i Muhammed Bahaeddin Nakshibend, by Salahaddin Ibn'i Mubarek al-Buhari, Istanbul, A.H. 1328. A short translation of Shushud's work by J. G. Bennett was published in ''

Systematics_–_study_of_multi-term_systems Systematics is the name given by John Godolphin Bennett (1897–1974) to a branch of systems science that he developed in the mid-twentieth century. Also referred to as the theory of Multi-Term Systems or Bennettian Systematics, it focuses on t ...

'' Volume 6, No. 4 March 1969, Muhtar Holland's full length translation ''Masters of Wisdom of Central Asia'' was published by Coombe Springs press in 1983. J. G. Bennett also wrote a full-length work loosely based on Shushud's original. Some authors such as

Idries Shah Idries Shah (; hi, इदरीस शाह, ps, ادريس شاه, ur, ; 16 June 1924 – 23 November 1996), also known as Idris Shah, né Sayed Idries el- Hashimi (Arabic: سيد إدريس هاشمي) and by the pen name Arko ...

and

John Godolphin Bennett John Godolphin Bennett (8 June 1897 – 13 December 1974) was a British academic and author. He is best known for his books on psychology and spirituality, particularly on the teachings of G. I. Gurdjieff. Bennett met Gurdjieff in Istanbul in ...

maintain that

George Ivanovich Gurdjieff George Ivanovich Gurdjieff (; rus, Гео́ргий Ива́нович Гурджи́ев, r=Geórgy Ivánovich Gurdzhíev, p=ɡʲɪˈorɡʲɪj ɪˈvanəvʲɪd͡ʑ ɡʊrd͡ʐˈʐɨ(j)ɪf; hy, Գեորգի Իվանովիչ Գյուրջիև; c. 1 ...

's '

Fourth Way The Fourth Way is an approach to self-development developed by George Gurdjieff over years of travel in the East (c. 1890 – 1912). It combines and harmonizes what he saw as three established traditional "ways" or "schools": those of the body, ...

' originated with the Khwajagan.

Some prominent Khwajagan

Prominent Central Asian Khwajagan included: * Khwaja Ubaidullah Ahrar *

Yusuf Hamdani Abū Yaʿqūb Yūsuf al-Hamadānī, best simply known as Yusuf Hamadani (born 1048 or 1049 / 440 AH - died 1140 / 535 AH), was a Persian figure of the Middle Ages. He was the first of the group of Central Asian Sufi teachers known simply as ''Khw ...

Khwaja Ahmad Yasavi Ahmad Yasawi ( kk, Қожа Ахмет Ясауи, Qoja Ahmet Iasaui, قوجا احمەت ياساۋٸ; fa, خواجه اَحمدِ یَسوی, Khwāje Ahmad-e Yasavī; 1093–1166) was a Turkic poet and Sufi, an early mystic who exerted a po ...

* Abdul Khaliq Gujduvani *

Baha-ud-Din Naqshband Bukhari Baha' al-Din Naqshband ( fa, بهاءالدین محمد نقشبند; 1318–1389) was the eponymous founder of what would become one of the largest Sufi Sunni orders, the Naqshbandi. Background Baha al-Din was born in March 1318 in the vill ...

* Maulana Nur ad-Din Abd ar-Rahman Jami * Nur Chashme Khwajagan Sayyid Mir Jan * Nasir al-Din al-Tusiī

Bibliography

*
Beads of Dew from the Source of Life
' by Mawlana Ali ibn Husain Safi, * '' The Way of the Sufi'' by

, * ''Gurdjieff: A Very Great Enigma'' by

J.G. Bennett John Godolphin Bennett (8 June 1897 – 13 December 1974) was a British academic and author. He is best known for his books on psychology and spirituality, particularly on the teachings of G. I. Gurdjieff. Bennett met Gurdjieff in Istanbul in ...

, * ''Masters Of Wisdom: An Esoteric History of the Spiritual Unfolding of Life on This Planet'' by

, * ''Masters Of Wisdom of Central Asia'' by Hasan Shusud, * '' The Teachers of Gurdjieff'' by Rafael Lefort, * ''The Naqshbandi Sufi Way, History and Guidebook of the Saints of the Golden Chain'' by Shaykh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani, Kazi Publications, USA (1995),

External links

Online Copy of a short version of Shushud's ''Masters of Wisdom'', translated by J. G. Bennett and published in ''Systematics''

Sufi mystics * Sufi orders Fourth Way {{sufism-stub

Some prominent Khwajagan

See also

Bibliography

External links