Shahab al-Din Abu Hafs Umar Suhrawardi (c. 1145 – 1234) was a
Persian 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, r ...
and nephew of
Abu al-Najib Suhrawardi
Abū al-Najīb Abd al-Qādir Suhrawardī ( fa, ابوالنجیب عبدالقادر سهروردی) (1097–1168) was a Sunni PersianQamar al-Huda, ''Shahab al-Din Suhrawardi'', ed. Josef W. Meri, Jere L. Bacharach, Medieval Islamic Civilization: ...
.
He expanded the Sufi order of
Suhrawardiyya
The Suhrawardiyya ( ar, سهروردية, fa, سهروردیه) is a Sufi order founded by Abu al-Najib Suhrawardi (died 1168). Lacking a centralised structure, it eventually divided into various branches. The order was especially prominent in ...
that had been created by his uncle
Abu al-Najib Suhrawardi
Abū al-Najīb Abd al-Qādir Suhrawardī ( fa, ابوالنجیب عبدالقادر سهروردی) (1097–1168) was a Sunni PersianQamar al-Huda, ''Shahab al-Din Suhrawardi'', ed. Josef W. Meri, Jere L. Bacharach, Medieval Islamic Civilization: ...
, and is the person responsible for officially formalizing the order.
[Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia (2006), p. 775] Suhrawardi is the author of the ''Awarif ul-Maarif'', which is recognized as a masterpiece work in
Tasawwuf
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, ...
.
Life
Suhrawardi traces his lineage back to
Abu Bakr
Abu Bakr Abdallah ibn Uthman Abi Quhafa (; – 23 August 634) was the senior companion and was, through his daughter Aisha, a father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, as well as the first caliph of Islam. He is known with the honor ...
, the first Caliph. From an early age onwards, Suhrawardi studied Islamic jurisprudence, law, logic, theology, Quranic studies and Hadith studies.
Suhrawardi quickly excelled in his studies and mastered, at an early age, the
Shafi'i
The Shafii ( ar, شَافِعِي, translit=Shāfiʿī, also spelled Shafei) school, also known as Madhhab al-Shāfiʿī, is one of the four major traditional schools of religious law (madhhab) in the Sunnī branch of Islam. It was founded by ...
and
Hanbali
The Hanbali school ( ar, ٱلْمَذْهَب ٱلْحَنۢبَلِي, al-maḏhab al-ḥanbalī) is one of the four major traditional Sunni schools ('' madhahib'') of Islamic jurisprudence. It is named after the Arab scholar Ahmad ibn Hanba ...
madhabs
A ( ar, مذهب ', , "way to act". pl. مَذَاهِب , ) is a school of thought within ''fiqh'' (Islamic jurisprudence).
The major Sunni Mathhab are Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali.
They emerged in the ninth and tenth centuries CE an ...
.
Suhrawardi was eventually designated as ''Shaykh al-Islam'' by Caliph
al-Nasir
Abu'l-Abbas Ahmad ibn al-Hassan al-Mustadi' ( ar, أبو العباس أحمد بن الحسن المستضيء) better known by his laqab Al-Nasir li-Din Allah ( ar, الناصر لدين الله; 6 August 1158 – 5 October 1225) or simply as ...
under the
Abbasids
The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...
.
The Awarif al-Maarif
Suhrawardi wrote the ''Awarif al-Maarif'', or "The Knowledge of the Spiritually Learned."
[Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia (2006), p. 776] The ''Awarif ul-Maarif'' quickly became one of the most popular books on Sufism throughout the Muslim world. This book was allegedly translated into English by
Henry Wilberforce-Clarke and published as "A Dervish Textbook" in 1891, although the Persian text which was the basis for this translation is likely to have been misattributed. It was reprinted by
Octagon Press in 1980.
Gallery
File:مرقد ومقبرة الشيخ عمر السهروردي في بغداد.jpg, Umar Al Suhrawardi's tomb in Baghdad 1914
File:الباب الوسطاني قرب مرقد الشيخ عمر السهروردي.jpg, Umar Al Suhrawardi's tomb in Baghdad 1914
See also
*
Mausoleum of Umar Suhrawardi
*
Suhrawardy family
The Suhrawardy family with over nine hundred years of recorded history has been one of the oldest leading noble families and political dynasties of the Indian subcontinent and is regarded as an important influencer during the Bengali Renaiss ...
References
Sources
*
* Ohlander, Erik, ''Sufism in an Age of Transition: Umar al-Suhrawardi and the Rise of the Islamic Mystical Brotherhood'' (Leiden, Brill, 2008) (Islamic History and Civilization, 71).
* Huda, Qamar-ul, ''Striving for Divine Union: Spiritual Exercises for Suhrawardī Sūfīs'' (Psychology Press, 2003)
*
Iranian Sufis
1140s births
1234 deaths
13th-century Iranian people
13th-century people from the Abbasid Caliphate
12th-century Iranian people
Sunni Sufis
Supporters of Ibn Arabi
Founders of Sufi orders
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