Qutb ad-Dīn Haydar was a Persian

Sufi Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

saint and Malāmatī- Qalāndārī

Sheikh Sheikh ( , , , , ''shuyūkh'' ) is an honorific title in the Arabic language, literally meaning "elder (administrative title), elder". It commonly designates a tribal chief or a Muslim ulama, scholar. Though this title generally refers to me ...

, of possible Turkic origin, and is buried in Zava,

Khurasan KhorasanDabeersiaghi, Commentary on Safarnâma-e Nâsir Khusraw, 6th Ed. Tehran, Zavvâr: 1375 (Solar Hijri Calendar) 235–236 (; , ) is a historical eastern region in the Iranian Plateau in West Asia, West and Central Asia that encompasses wes ...

. Qazvini, author of the '' Tarikh-i guzida'', states Haydar was alive at the time of the

Mongol invasion of Central Asia Mongol campaigns in Central Asia occurred after the unification of the Mongol and Turkic tribes on the Mongolian plateau in 1206. Smaller military operations of the Mongol Empire in Central Asia included the destruction of surviving Merkit and ...

in 1220 and died in 1221 CE/618 AH. The date of his life helpfully indicates the time when the use of cannabis took hold in Islamic society. Haydar apparently followed an ascetic discipline until he ate some

marijuana Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...

that he found growing. He then took to eating it constantly. It was deemed compatible with a spiritual life, a positive aid even. Use of cannabis migrated into Iraq, Syria and Egypt where it was known as 'Haydar's Lady' or 'the Wine of Haydar'. Haydar – the Persian form of his name is Heydar – founded an order of mendicant

dervish Dervish, Darvesh, or Darwīsh (from ) in Islam can refer broadly to members of a Sufi fraternity (''tariqah''), or more narrowly to a religious mendicant, who chose or accepted material poverty. The latter usage is found particularly in Persi ...

es called the Ḥaydariyya who were known for their

celibacy Celibacy (from Latin ''caelibatus'') is the state of voluntarily being unmarried, sexually abstinent, or both. It is often in association with the role of a religious official or devotee. In its narrow sense, the term ''celibacy'' is applied ...

and

mortification of the flesh Mortification may refer to: *Mortification (theology), theological doctrine *Mortification of the flesh, religious practice of corporal mortification *Mortification in Roman Catholic teaching, Roman Catholic doctrine of mortification *Extreme emb ...

through piercing their own bodies with iron rings. His followers also wore felt and walked barefoot. According to al-Jawbari in his book ''Kashf al-Asrar'' "Unveiling the Secrets", "members of the Haydariyya dervish order took Hashish before staging their performances of self-mutilation, in order to numb the pain." Al-Jawbari's ''Kashf al-Asrar'' was written in 13th century Iraq. The author was a conjuror whose writing was an exposé of not only magic tricks but also the 'dodges' of beggars and other 'low-life'.Robert Irwin ''The Arabian Nights A Companion'' p.131 In fact the term ''hashishiyya'' is synonymous with 'low-life' and has been used as such for centuries in the Islamic world.

References

Year of birth missing 1221 deaths Iranian Sufis Bektashi Order Alevi history 13th-century Iranian people Cannabis and Islam Iranian Muslim mystics {{Iran-bio-stub

See also

References