Abdul Qadir Gilani (
Arabic: عبد القادر الجيلاني,
Persian: عبدالقادر گیلانی) was a
Hanbali scholar, preacher, and
Sufi leader who was the
eponym of the
Qadiriyya, one of the oldest Sufi orders.[1]
The honorific Muhiyudin denotes his status with many Sufis as a "
reviver of religion".[4] Gilani (
Arabical-Jilani) refers to his place of birth,
Gilan.[5][6] However, Gilani also carried the epithet Baghdadi, referring to his residence and burial in Baghdad. He was also known as Gauth Al-Azam.[7][8]
Family background
Gilani was born in 1077 or 1078. Despite his popularity, his background is uncertain.[1] His father (or perhaps grandfather) had the Iranian name of Jangi Dust,[1][9] which indicates that Gilani was of Persian stock.[9] His nisba means "from
Gilan", an Iranian region located on the southwestern coast of the
Caspian Sea.[1]
During his stay in the city of
Baghdad, Gilani was called ajami (non-Arab), which according to B. Lawrence may be because he spoke Persian alongside Arabic.[9] According to the al-Nujūm al-ẓāhira by the 15th-century historian
Ibn Taghribirdi (died 1470), Gilani was born in Jil in
Iraq, but this account is questioned by French historian
Jacqueline Chabbi.[1] Modern historians (including Lawrence) consider Gilani to have been born in Gilan.[9][10][11] The region was then politically semi-independent and divided between local chieftains from different clans.[12]
Gilani is claimed to have been an descendant of
Hasan ibn Ali, the grandson of
Muhammad, which is generally considered to have been genuine by the Muslim community, including the Qadiriyya.[1] Lawrence questions this claim due to Gilani's suggested Persian background, and considers it to have been "traced by overzealous hagiographers".[9]
Education
Gilani spent his early life in Gilan, the province of his birth. In 1095, he went to Baghdad. There, he pursued the study of
Hanbali law under
Abu Saeed Mubarak Makhzoomi and
ibn Aqil.[13][14] He studied
hadith with Abu Muhammad Ja'far al-Sarraj.[14] His Sufi spiritual instructor was Abu'l-Khair Hammad ibn Muslim al-Dabbas.[15] After completing his education, Gilani left Baghdad. He spent twenty-five years wandering in the deserts of
Iraq.[16]
School of law
Gilani belonged to the
Shafi'i and
Hanbali schools of law. He placed Shafi'i jurisprudence (
fiqh) on an equal footing with the Hanbali school (
madhhab), and used to give
fatwa according to both of them simultaneously. This is why
al-Nawawi praised him in his book entitled Bustan al-'Arifin (Garden of the Spiritual Masters), saying:
We have never known anyone more dignified than Baghdad's Sheikh Muhyi al-Din 'Abd al-Qadir al-Gilani, may Allah be pleased with him, the
Sheikh of Shafi'is and Hanbalis in Baghdad.[17]
Later life
In 1127, Gilani returned to Baghdad and began to preach to the public.[3] He joined the teaching staff of the school belonging to his teacher, al-Mazkhzoomi, and was popular with students. In the morning he taught
hadith and
tafsir, and in the afternoon he discoursed on the science of the heart and the virtues of the
Quran. He was said to have been a convincing preacher who converted numerous Jews and Christians and who integrated Sufi mysticism with Islamic Law.[3]
Death and burial
Al-Gilani died in 1166 and was buried in Baghdad. His urs (death anniversary of a Sufi saint) is traditionally celebrated on 11
Rabi' al-Thani.[9]
^W. Braune, Abd al-Kadir al-Djilani, The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Vol. I, ed. H.A.R Gibb, J.H.Kramers, E. Levi-Provencal, J. Schacht, (Brill, 1986), 69; "authorities are unanimous in stating that he was a Persian from Nayf (Nif) in Djilan, south of the Caspian Sea."
^Mihr-e-munīr: biography of Hadrat Syed Pīr Meher Alī Shāh pg 21, Muhammad Fādil Khān, Faid Ahmad. Sajjadah Nashinan of Golra Sharif, Islamabad (1998).
^Encyclopaedia of religion and ethics: volume 1. (A – Art). Part 1. (A – Algonquins) pg 10. Hastings, James and Selbie, John A. Adamant Media corporation. (2001), "and he was probably of Persian origin."
^The Sufi orders in Islam, 2nd edition, pg 32. Triingham, J. Spencer and Voll, John O. Oxford University Press US, (1998), "The Hanafi Qadirriya is also included since 'Abd al-Qadir, of Persian origin was contemporary of the other two."
^Devotional Islam and politics in British India: [Ahmad Riza Khan] Barelwi and his movement, 1870–1920, pg 144, Sanyal, Usha Oxford University Press US, 19 August 1999.
ISBN0-19-564862-5ISBN978-0-19-564862-1.
^Indo-iranica pg 7. The Iran Society, Calcutta, India. (1985).
^
abGibb, H.A.R.; Kramers, J.H.; Levi-Provencal, E.; Schacht, J. (1986). Encyclopaedia of Islam. Vol. I (A-B) (New ed.). Leiden, Netherlands: Brill. p. 69.
ISBN978-9004081147.
^A.A. Duri, Baghdad, The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Vol. I, 903.
^W. Braune, Abd al-Kadir al-Djilani, The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Vol. I, 70.
^Al-Qahtani, Sheik Saeed bin Misfer (1997). Sheikh Abdul Qadir Al-Jilani and his Belief and Sufi views (in Arabic). Library of Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah. p. 133.