Khwaja Muhammad Usman Damani ( ur, ) was a prominent
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
scholar
A scholar is a person who pursues academic and intellectual activities, particularly academics who apply their intellectualism into expertise in an area of study. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researche ...
and
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, ...
shaykh
Sheikh (pronounced or ; ar, شيخ ' , mostly pronounced , plural ' )—also transliteration of Arabic, transliterated sheekh, sheyikh, shaykh, shayk, shekh, shaik and Shaikh, shak—is an honorific title in the Arabic language. It commonl ...
of
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 ...
tariqah of the 19th century (1828–1897) in South Asia (present day Pakistan).
Early life
He was born to Mawlana Moosa Jan in 1244 AH at Loni town in the
Dera Ismail Khan
Dera Ismail Khan (; bal, , Urdu and skr, , ps, ډېره اسماعيل خان), abbreviated as D.I. Khan, is a city and capital of Dera Ismail Khan District, located in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is the 37th largest city of Pakistan ...
district, present day Pakistan. His father belonged to the Damani tribe and his mother belonged to the family of Khwaja Bandanawaz Sayyid Muhammad Gesudaraz Gulberga (Ibdia).Jalwa Gah-e-Dost (Urdu) 2nd edition (2008) by Khwaja Muhammad Tahir Bakhshi He was a khalifa and successor of Khwaja Dost Muhammad Qandhari, and was the successor of khanqah Mussa Zai Sharif in Dera Ismail Khan.
Work
His shaykh awarded him with
Ijazah
An ''ijazah'' ( ar, الإِجازَة, "permission", "authorization", "license"; plural: ''ijazahs'' or ''ijazat'') is a license authorizing its holder to transmit a certain text or subject, which is issued by someone already possessing such au ...
(Khilafat) of eight Sufi orders, namely
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 ...
Mujaddidi,
Qadri
The Qadiriyya (), also transliterated Qādirīyah, ''Qadri'', ''Qadriya'', ''Kadri'', ''Elkadri'', ''Elkadry'', ''Aladray'', ''Alkadrie'', ''Adray'', ''Kadray'', ''Kadiri'', ''Qadiri'', ''Quadri'' or ''Qadri'' are members of the Sunni Qadiri ta ...
,
Chishti
The Chishtī Order ( fa, ''chishtī'') is a tariqa, an order or school within the mystic Sufism, Sufi tradition of Sunni Islam. The Chishti Order is known for its emphasis on love, tolerance, and openness. It began with Abu Ishaq Shami in Ch ...
Shattari
The Shattari or Shattariyya are members of a Sufi mystical tariqah that originated in Persia in the fifteenth century C.E. and developed, completed and codified in India. Later secondary branches were taken to Hejaz and Indonesia. The word S ...
,
Madaria
Madaria is one of the 24 villages that make up the municipality of Ayala in Álava, Basque autonomous community in Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national ...
Qalandari
The Qalandariyyah ( ar, قلندرية), Qalandaris, Qalandars or Kalandars are wandering ascetic Sufi dervishes. The term covers a variety of sects, not centrally organized and may not be connected to a specific tariqat. One was founded by Q ...
.Short Biography in Urdu by Mukhtar Ahmed Khokhar
His letters are published in a collection named ''Tuhfa Zahidia'' with an
Khwaja Sirajuddin Naqshbandi
Khwaja Muhammad Sirajuddin Naqshbandi ( ur, ) was a prominent Islamic scholar and Sufi shaikh of the Naqshbandi Sufi order in South Asia (present day Pakistan), and a leader of the Mughal Empire (1897–1899). He was born in 1879 and died in 19 ...
his son and
Sayyad Laal Shah Hamdani
Sayyad Laal Shah Hamdani was an Islamic scholar and prominent Sufi shaykh of Naqshbandi tariqah in South Asia (present day Pakistan).
Sayyad Laal Shah studied the Islamic sciences from Shaykh Ahmed Deen who was a khalifa of Haji Dost Muhammad Q ...
.
He died on Tuesday 22
Shaban
Shaʽban ( ar, شَعْبَان, ') is the eighth month of the Islamic calendar. It is called as the month of "separation", as the word means "to disperse" or "to separate" because the pagan Arabs used to disperse in search of water.
The fiftee ...
1314 AH (26 January 1897) and was buried in Mussa Zai Sharif alongside the grave of his Shaykh Khwaja Dost Muhammad Qandhari. His
Janazah
Funerals and funeral prayers in Islam ( ar, جنازة, Janazah) follow fairly specific rites, though they are subject to regional interpretation and variation in custom. In all cases, however, sharia (Islamic religious law) calls for burial ...
prayer was led by his son
Khwaja Sirajuddin Naqshbandi
Khwaja Muhammad Sirajuddin Naqshbandi ( ur, ) was a prominent Islamic scholar and Sufi shaikh of the Naqshbandi Sufi order in South Asia (present day Pakistan), and a leader of the Mughal Empire (1897–1899). He was born in 1879 and died in 19 ...
.
Chain of succession
Khwaja Muhammad Usman Damani belonged to the Mujaddidi order of Sufism, which is the main branch of
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 ...
Sufi tariqah. His spiritual lineage goes to
Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...
, through Shaikh
Ahmad Sirhindi
Aḥmad al-Fārūqī as-Sirhindī (1564-1624) was a South Asian Islamic scholar from Punjab, Hanafi jurist, and member of the Naqshbandī Sufi order. He has been described by some followers as a Mujaddid, meaning a “reviver", for his work in ...
, the Mujaddid of eleventh Hijri century.
Khulafa
:*
Khwaja Sirajuddin Naqshbandi
Khwaja Muhammad Sirajuddin Naqshbandi ( ur, ) was a prominent Islamic scholar and Sufi shaikh of the Naqshbandi Sufi order in South Asia (present day Pakistan), and a leader of the Mughal Empire (1897–1899). He was born in 1879 and died in 19 ...
, his son and successor (d.1915)
:*
Sayyad Laal Shah Hamdani
Sayyad Laal Shah Hamdani was an Islamic scholar and prominent Sufi shaykh of Naqshbandi tariqah in South Asia (present day Pakistan).
Sayyad Laal Shah studied the Islamic sciences from Shaykh Ahmed Deen who was a khalifa of Haji Dost Muhammad Q ...