Abdul Rehman Jilani Dehlvi ( ur, ) was a

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, ...

saint of the

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 ...

Order in the

Indian Subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...

. His predecessors include

Abdul Qadir Jilani ʿAbdul Qādir Gīlānī, ( ar, عبدالقادر الجيلاني, ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī; fa, ) known by admirers as Muḥyī l-Dīn Abū Muḥammad b. Abū Sāliḥ ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī al-Baḡdādī al-Ḥasanī al-Ḥusayn ...

, who initiated the lineage (''

silsila Silsila ( ar, سِلْسِلَة) is an Arabic word meaning ''chain'', ''link'', ''connection'' often used in various senses of lineage. In particular, it may be translated as "spiritual genealogy" where one Sufi Master transfers his ''khil ...

'') of the Qadri order. He helped to establish the order in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

Life

Abdul Rehman Jilani was born in 1615 (1024 AH) in

Hama , timezone = EET , utc_offset = +2 , timezone_DST = EEST , utc_offset_DST = +3 , postal_code_type = , postal_code = , ar ...

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

. He was the son of Abdul Qadir, a dervish from whom he received his early education. At 35, he chose to stay at the tomb of

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

for three years. On 15 October 1652 (13

Dhu al-Qi'dah Dhu al-Qa'dah ( ar, ذُو ٱلْقَعْدَة, ', ), also spelled Dhu al-Qi'dah or Zu al-Qa'dah, is the eleventh month in the Islamic calendar. It could possibly mean "possessor or owner of the sitting and seating place" - the space occupied w ...

1062 AH), during the

Mughal era The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...

of emperor

Shah Jahan Shihab-ud-Din Muhammad Khurram (5 January 1592 – 22 January 1666), better known by his regnal name Shah Jahan I (; ), was the fifth emperor of the Mughal Empire, reigning from January 1628 until July 1658. Under his emperorship, the Mugha ...

, he went to India to meet Abdul Jaleel. He pledged allegiance on 10

Dhu al-Hijjah Dhu al-Hijja ( ar, ذُو ٱلْحِجَّة, translit=Ḏū al-Ḥijja, ), also spelled Zu al-Hijja, is the twelfth and final month in the Islamic calendar. It is a very sacred month in the Islamic calendar, one in which the ''Hajj, Ḥajj'' (P ...

1062 AH (10 November 1652 AD) and went to Delhi on 8 January 1653 (9

Safar Ṣafar ( ar, صَفَر) also spelt as Safer in Turkish, is the second month of the lunar Islamic calendar. The Arabic word ''ṣafar'' means "travel, migration", corresponding to the pre-Islamic Arabian time period when muslims flee the oppr ...

1063 AH). Here he resided himself and made a

Khanqah A khanqah ( fa, خانقاه) or khangah ( fa, خانگاه; also transliterated as ''khankah'', ''khaneqa'', ''khanegah'' or ''khaneqah''; also Arabized ''hanegah'', ''hanikah'', ''hanekah'', ''khankan''), also known as a ribat (), is a buildin ...

. This is where his shrine is built as well as a mosque called Shah Abdul Rehman Mosque. Present Sadar station and quarters of Muslim Waqf board are built on his land. At the age of 41, Abdul Rehman Jilani Dehlvi married Zahida who belonged to Jilani Sadaats and had 2 sons: Taj-ul-Arifeen and Abdul Aziz. In 1075, Taj-ul-Arifeen died of complications from diarrhea. Abdul Rehman Jilani Dehlvi lived a life of anonymity not giving attention to fame or the royal court of the

Delhi Sultanate The Delhi Sultanate was an Islamic empire based in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for 320 years (1206–1526).

. He stayed within Delhi and guided people spiritually, never leaving the city. Hence, he is also termed as Qaim Maqam Faqeer. His descendants preserved his teachings, notably his great grandson Abdullah Shah Madni Jilani in Ahmadpur Sharqiah, Bahawalpur district, Pakistan. Dehlvi died on 16 November 1677 (21

Ramadan , type = islam , longtype = Religious , image = Ramadan montage.jpg , caption=From top, left to right: A crescent moon over Sarıçam, Turkey, marking the beginning of the Islamic month of Ramadan. Ramadan Quran reading in Bandar Torkaman, Iran. ...

1088 AH). His shrine is in

Students

Abdul Rehman Jilani's senior successor was

Sultan Bahoo Sultan Bahu ( pa, , ਸੁਲਤਾਨ ਬਾਹੂ ; also spelled Bahoo; 17 January 1630 – 1 March 1691), was a 17th-century Punjabi Sufi mystic, poet, scholar and historian. He was active in the Punjab region (present-day Pakistan) dur ...

. His junior successors included Shah Habib Allah Qadri and Mohammad Siddique, who was the first caretaker of his shrine. Sultan Bahoo was Abdul Rehman Jilani's disciple , a saint of the

family.

The Qadri order

Abdul Rehman Jilani Dehlvi is one of the most recognized Sufis of the Qadri order after its founder Abdul Qadir Jilani. The

order branched with Sultan Bahoo to form the Sarwari Qadri order. Its disciples started adding Sarwari Qadri to their name. Many Sufi students and descendants became prominent from this order.

Death anniversary

Abdul Rehman Jilani's death anniversary is celebrated on 21 Ramadan.''Manuscript of Syed Abdul Rehman Jilani Dehlvi'', Syed Saleem-uz-Zaman Hashmi, 2010

References

{{authority control 1615 births 1677 deaths People from Delhi Indian people of Arab descent Indian Sufi saints Religion in Delhi

Life

Students

The Qadri order

Death anniversary

Further reading

References