Nakşibendi

Naqshbandi (Persian: نقشبندیه) is a major Sufi order within Sunni Islam, named after its 14th-century founder, Baha' al-Din Naqshband. Practitioners, known as Naqshbandis, trace their spiritual lineage (silsila) directly to the Prophet Muhammad through the first caliph, Abu Bakr, via Ja'far al-Sadiq. This order is distinct for its strict adherence to Sharia and silent dhikr practices adopted from earlier Central Asian masters.

History

The order is also known as the "convergence of the two oceans" due to the presence of Abu Bakr and Jafar al-Sadiq in the ''silsila'' and the "Sufi Order of Jafar al-Sadiq". The Naqshbandi order owes many insights to Yusuf Hamadani and Abdul Khaliq Ghijduwani in the 12th century, the latter of whom is regarded as the organizer of the practices and is responsible for placing stress upon the purely silent remembrance of Allah. It was later associated with Baha al-Din Shah Naqshband in the 14th century, hence the name of the order.

Since it was founded the Naqshbandi order has split into multiple sub-orders founded by several prominent figures within the chain of succession. 'Ubeydullah Ahrar founded the Naqshbandiyya Ahrariyya; Ahmad Sirhindi founded the Naqshbandiyya Mujaddidiyya; Shamsuddin Mirza Mazhar founded the Naqshbandiyya Mazhariyya; and Mawlana Khalid founded the Naqshbandiyya Khalidiyya.

South Asia

The Naqshbandiyya order became an influential factor in Indian Muslim life, and for two centuries it was the most common Sufi order in the Indian subcontinent. Khwaja Baqi Billah, who was born in Kabul and brought up and educated in Kabul and Samarkand, is credited for bringing the order to India during the end of the 16th century. He tried to spread his knowledge about the order but died three years later. His disciple Ahmad Sirhindi took over after his death, and it was through him that the order gained popularity within a short period of time. Shah Waliullah Dehlawi was an 18th-century member of the order.

Uzbekistan

Iraq

Turkey

Syria

The Naqshbandiyya order was introduced into Syria at the end of the 17th century by Murad Ali al-Bukhari, who established himself in Damascus and traveled throughout Arabia. His branch became known as the Muradiyya and was led by his descendants. In 1820, Khalid Shahrazuri rose as a prominent Naqshbandi leader in the Ottoman world and his order became known as the Khalidiyya which spread for at least two decades. In Syria and Lebanon, the leaders of every active Naqshbandiyya group acknowledged its spiritual lineage. Later, a strife between Khalid's khalifas led to disruption of the order and it divide. The Farmadiyya branch, which practices silent and vocal invocation, is still present in Lebanon and is named after Ali-Farmadi. The pre-Mujaddidi line of the Naqshbandiyya in Greater Syria came to an end when political leader Musa Bukhar died in 1973. The only branch to have survived till recently is the one based in the Khanqah al-Uzbakiyya in Jerusalem.

Egypt

The Naqshbandi order rose to prominence in Egypt during the 19th century. A major khanqah was constructed in 1851 by Abbas I as a favor to the Naqshbandi sheikh Ahmad Ashiq, who led the order until his death in 1883. Ahmad Ashiq practiced the Diya'iyya branch of the Khalidiyya. Two other versions of Naqshbandiyya spread in Egypt in the last decades of the 19th century: the Judiyya, led by sheikh Juda Ibrahim, and the Khalidiyya, led by Sudanese al-Sharif Isma'il al-Sinnari and his successors. These branches continued to grow and are still active today. None of the early orders survived far into the 20th century however, and all khanqahs in Egypt were closed in 1954 when the buildings were either assigned a different function or demolished.

Southeast Asia

The first known Naqshbandi murshid in Malay Archipelago was Yusuf al-Makassari, a 17th century Islamic scholar who also introduced Khalwatiyya to the region. However, the order quickly disappeared before being introduced again in the 19th century. There are two well known branches of Naqshbandiyya in Southeast Asia. The first one is Khalidiyya, introduced by Ismail al-Minankabawi, a disciple of Abdullah al-Arzinjani in Mecca, and spread across Sumatra, Java, and Malay Peninsula. PERTI, an Indonesian Islamic organization from Minangkabau Highlands, was founded by Sulaiman ar-Rasuli and other Khalidi clerics. The other branch is Mazhariyya, named after Shamsuddin Mazhar, a Naqshbandi branch through Abu Said al-Ahmadi, one of Abdullah Dehlawi's khalifas. Mazhariyya is the main Naqshbandi branch in Madura, brought by Abdul Azim al-Maduri after studying in Mecca. Another related order is Qadiriyya wa Naqshbandiyya, a fusion of Qadiriyya and Naqshbandiyya, whose sheikhs in Banten and Lombok led rebellions against the Dutch East Indies at the end of the 19th century.

China

Ma Laichi brought the Naqshbandi () order to China, creating the Khufiyya () Hua Si Sufi ; ("Multicolored Mosque") menhuan. Ma Mingxin