Sufi Heirs of the Prophet , livre ebook

Sufi Heirs of the Prophet Sufi Heirs
of the
Prophet
The Indian Naqshbandiyya and
the Rise of the Mediating Sufi Shaykh
ARTHUR F. BUEHLER
Foreword by Annemarie Schimmel
University of South Carolina Press STUDIES IN COMPARATIVE RELIGION
Frederick M. Denny, Series Editor
© 1998 University of South Carolina
Cloth edition published by the University of South Carolina Press, 1998
Paperback edition published by the University of South Carolina Press, 2008
Ebook edition published in Columbia, South Carolina,
by the University of South Carolina Press, 2022
www.uscpress.com
Manufactured in the United States of America
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The Library of Congress has cataloged the cloth edition as follows:
Buehler, Arthur F.
Suf heirs of the Prophet : the Indian Naqshbandiyya and the rise of the
mediating suf shaykh / Arthur F. Buehler.
p. cm. — (Studies in comparative religion)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1-57003-201-7
1. Naqshabandīyah—India—History. 2. Sufsm—India—History. I. Title.
II. Series: Studies in comparative religion (Columbia, S.C.)
BP189.7.N35B84 1998
297.4’8—dc21 97–40145
Parts of chapter 3 of the present work appeared in a diferent version in “The
Naqshbandiyya in Tīmūrid India: The Central Asian Legacy,” Journal of Islamic
Studies 7/2 (1996): 2008–28.
Quotations from the translation of Aḥmad Riḍā Khān’s poem is from Usha
Sanyal, “In the Path of the Prophet: Maulana Ahmad Riza Khan Barelwi and
the Ahl-e Sunnat wa Jama ʿat Movement in British India, c. 1870–1921,” Ph.D.
dissertation, Columbia University, © 1990 Usha Sanyal. Reprinted by permission
of Usha Sanyal.
ISBN 978-1-57003-783-2 (paperback)
ISBN 978-1-64336-407-0 (ebook)CONTENTS
List of Illustrations vn
Foreword by Annemarie Schimmel IX
Editor's Preface xiii
Preface and Acknowledgments xv
1. Patterns of Sufi Religious Authority 1
2. From Teaching-Shaykh to Directing-Shaykh 29
3. The Naqshbandiyya in India from Their Foundation to
the Colonial Period 55
4. Genealogy as a Source of Authority 82
5. Spiritual Travel as a Source of Authority 98
6. Bonding the Heart with the Shaykh 131
7. From Initiation to Shaykhdom 147
8. Mediational Sufism and Revivalist Currents in British
Colonial India 168
9. Redefining the Shaykh's Role in the Naqshbandi Sufi
Tradition 190
10. The Role of the Naqshbandi Sufi in Pakistan 224
Appendixes
1. Written Sources for Spiritual Exercises 234
2. Mujaddidi Contemplations 241
3. The Intentions Guiding the Disciple through the
Mujaddidi 249
4. Examples of Teaching Certificates 254
Bibliography 260
Index 285
v ILLUSTRATIONS
I:Iakim Mul).ammad Musa xxi
Calendar depicting the tomb of Al).mad Sirhindi 67
Genealogical tree with the Naqshbandi lineage as the trunk
and the other lineages as flowers 91
Jama'at 'Ali Shah, circa 1935 193
The tomb building in Alipur Sharif where Jama'at 'Ali is
buried 221
Jama'at 'Ali's grave 222
Poster advertising the arrival at the Lahore airport of the
Afghan sufi shaykh Sayfurral).man 231
Maps
57 Central and South Asia
The Panjab before 1901 173
Figures
1. Normative sufi hierarchies 7
2. Sources of Islamic personal authority 19
3. Mujaddidi genealogy 76
4. Naqshbandi 86
5. Model of Naqshbandi cosmology 107
6. Mujaddidi correspondences of latrfas 111
7. Diagram of the Mujaddidiyya path 124
vii FOREWORD
Just at the time when Arthur Buehler's manuscript was going to
the press an international conference on Baha'uddin Naqshband
took place in Bukhara, Uzbekistan. At the large shrine of the four­
teenth-century saint, scholars from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and
Germany gathered to discuss the relevance of Khwaja Naqsh­
band's teachings for present-day Uzbekistan. The Central Asian
scholars rightly considered the emphasis that the Naqshbandiyya
put on silent remembrance of God and on the practice of khalwat
dar anjuman suitable for modern life. To turn one's heart in full
concentration to the Divine Beloved while working in this world
for the improvement of society seemed to them an attitude that
could help them master the different and difficult tasks that mod­
ern people face. Therefore, almost every speaker dwelled upon
the adage dast be-kar, dil be-yar-"The hand at work, the heart
with a Friend" -a saying that is written in various calligraphic
styles around the walls of the library where our meeting took
place.
In an area where people lived for seven decades under a regime
that allowed no religious activities whatsoever but where some
of the sufi lineages secretly continued their work to preserve the
at integrating Naqsh­Islamic heritage, this impressive attempt
bandi teaching into the modern world shows the strength of the
Naqshbandi order. Six hundred years after the death of its
founder it has lost nothing of its vigor. Rather, it has not only
been growing steadily in its place of origin and in Central Asia
in general; but it also influenced Mughal India and increasingly
the Near East as well. The late Turkish prime minister, Turgut
Ozal, a follower of Khwaja Baha'uddin Naqshband, contributed
largely to the restoration of the shrine. Once dilapidated, it is now
an attractive building surrounded by a rose garden, and it is
equipped with a library and meeting hall. Pious men and women
regularly visit the tomb of the founder, circumambulating coun­
terclockwise the small cubic stone building thrice while reciting
their prayers. They may take a drink from a fountain beneath a
huge tree, the water of which is considered holy and wholesome.
While listening to the discussions of the pious Uzbeks about
the necessity of a "Naqshbandi approach" to the contemporary
world, we also observed that the number of publications about
the order in Europe has grown amazingly during the last few
ix X FOREWORD
decades. We can mention only a few outstanding examples here.
A major sourcebook compiled by M. Gaborieau, A. Popovic, and
T. Zarcone after a 1989 congress devoted to the Naqshbandiyya
was published in Istanbul; the studies of Jiirgen Paul discuss the
political implications of the order and its role in Central Asia; and
Fritz Meier of Basel, the author of many indispensable works on
medieval Central Asian sufis such as Najmuddin Kubra, Abo.
Sa'Id-i Abu'l-Khayr, and Baha-i Valad, has recently devoted sev­
eral articles and an important book to the inner life, the theology,
and the psychology of the Naqshbandiyya. It seems that the quiet
but intense inner way of this order, which "begins where other
orders end," is proudly claiming to be better suited to a modern
mind than the ecstatic flights and sometimes strange behavior of
some of the older orders. Averse to dance and music, the sober
Naqshbandis' way of life seems to appeal more to practically
minded people than does the emphasis on poverty, otherworldli­
ness, and rapture found among certain other lineages-as much
as the lovely music of the Chishtis and the whirling dance of the
Mevlevis attract beauty-loving souls. Was not the first Naqsh­
bandi sufi, whom I encountered more than forty years ago in An­
kara, a highly successful business manager who took his strength
from his nightly vigils and regular meditation? The success of
the Naqshbandiyya in the west, especially that of the Khalidiyya
branch, is remarkable. One of the members of our delegation to
Bukhara was a German lady doctor, a brigadier in the army who
was an active follower of the widely known Naqshbandi Shaykh
Nazim, from Cyprus.
Given these observations, it seems that Arthur Buehler's book
comes just at the right moment. His original aim was to study
the role of the Naqshbandi shaykhs in contemporary Pakistan,
especially in the Panjab, but the book has outgrown the author's
first goal. Thanks to his contacts with a number of masters and
the perusal of numerous hitherto unknown manuals and treatises
in Arabic, Persian, and Urdu, he has traced the rules of succession
and the inner journey in a fascinating way, concentrating on the
role of the shaykh vis-a-vis his disciples, upon whom the shaykh
concentrates his inner powers. Buehler shows the changes that
have taken place in the last century among the Indo-Pakistani
branches of the order and discusses the most difficult feature of
the Naqshbandi theories and practices, namely the inner growth
of the seeker's soul during his wandering through the latrfas, the
spiritual fine points, in a kind of helezonic upward-and-inward
movement.
I am convinced that the author's analysis of both the theoretical FOREWORD xi
and the practical aspects of the Naqshbandiyya, including their
role in the present-day Panjab, will lead to a better understanding
not only of this order but also of some important aspects of Paki­
stani religious life as well.
Annemarie Schimmel EDITOR'S PREFACE
The fascination with sufi spirituality of both the general public
and the professional scholars has been important to the develop­
ment of Islamic studies in the West. This series has contributed
several significant works to sufi studies that are founded on origi­
nal yet accessible scholarship, based both in texts and on field
work. Earle H. Waugh's pioneering The Munshidfn of Eqypt: Their
World and Their Song (1989) explored the world of sufi singers.
Then Th. Emil Homerin traced the fortunes of the saint cult of a
in From Arab Poet to Egyptian Saint: great medieval Egyptian sufi
Ibn al-Fariq, His Verse, and His Shrine (1994). And Valerie J. Hoff­
man has given us a new way of thinking about Islamic mysticism
in her major work Sufism, Mystics, and Saints in Modern Egypt
(1995).
Now we have Arthur F. Buehler's study of the sufi master as
mediating agent in Indian Naqshbandi sufism. Sufi Heirs of the
Prophet probes the relatively little known area of sufi leadership
traditions and styles. The Muslim community-known