A Brief
Life Sketch of Shaykh Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani al-Ghawth al-Azam
Qaddas
Allah Sirrahu
Shaykh Abd
al-Qadir al-JilaniQS was a descendent of Imam HasanRA on
his father’s side and Imam HusaynRA on his mother’s. His ancestors
had settled in the region of Gilan (arabacized into Jilan), south of the
Caspian Sea in present day Iran, hence the nisba of al-Jilani in his
name.
His
father’s name was Musa Abu SalihRH and was given the sobriquet of
Jangi Dost because of his penchant for Jihad. His mother also was a pious lady
whose name was Fatima Umm al-KahyrRH. Shaykh Abd al-QadirQS
was born to them in 470 A.H. (1078 of the Christian Era, henceforth, C.E.).
According to many traditions, he came into this world on the eve of Ramadan.
Shaykh Abd
al-QadirQS lost his father while he was only a few years old. His
maternal grandfather, Abd Allah SumaiRH took over his education and
had him enrolled in the local school. By the age of twelve, Shaykh Abd al-QadirQS
had acquired all the knowledge available locally and was ready to venture out
of his hometown to quench his ever increasing thirst for religious learning.
These were Abbasid times and no city in the Islamic realms could compete with
Baghdad as the center of all sorts of learning. It acted as a magnet for students
and teacher alike from all over the Islamic world. The ShaykhQS also
took permission from his mother and headed for Baghdad. He arrived in the city
in 488 A.H. (1095C.E.) when he was eighteen years old.
At that time, Shaykh Hammad
al-DabbasQS was well known in Baghdad for his knowledge and piety.
Shaykh Abd al-QadirQS decided to become his student and was well
received by his teacher who would hold classes in his shop where he sold syrup.
Shaykh HammadQS was also his first Sufi shaykh and the first to give
him baya. After completing his studies with him, Shaykh Abd al-QadirQS
joined the madrasa of Shaykh al-Mubarak al-MukharrimiQS
called Madrasa Bab al-Azj. Shaykh Abd al-QadirQS completed his study
of the sciences of Fiqh, Usul, Hadith and Adab with
many prominent ulama and at the same time completed his spiritual
training under the guidance of Shaykh al-MukharrimiQS, who became
his second Sufi shaykh. Since Shaykh MukharrimiQS was a Hanbali,
Shaykh Abd al-QadirQS also specialized in that particular school of Fiqh.
He graduated from the madrasa after eight years in 496 A.H. (1103 C.E.)
at the age of twenty-six.
During his
studies, the ShaykhQS suffered severe financial difficulties but
nevertheless persevered. At the same time, he continuously engaged in ascetic
practices required for his spiritual training. These practices became even more
rigorous after his graduation when he left Baghdad for the surrounding
wilderness to subdue and tame his ego. He remained in spiritual retreat for
many years finally returning to Baghdad in success by God’s Grace. On his
arrival, his former teacher, Shaykh al-MukharrimiQS, appointed him a
lecturer in his madrasa, and, shortly before his death in 513 A.H. (1119
C.E.), made him in charge of it.
Shaykh Abd
al-QadirQS remained in charge of the madrasa to the end of
his life. Soon, the fame of his knowledge, piety and lofty spiritual status
spread far and wide. His sermons, especially, drew large crowds and were
instrumental in making many people repent and turn towards God. They have
survived in a collection titled, Futuh al-ghayb, and continue to guide
regular Muslims and Sufis, novices and adepts alike, towards God and a deeper
understanding of His religion. The ShaykhQS devoted the rest of his
life until his death in 561 A.H. (1166 C.E.) to reforming the hearts and minds
of people. For this purpose he composed many books and tracts, like the Ghuniyat
al-Talibin, that are still popular with people serious about Islam and
Sufism. At the same time, he expressed his spiritual insights in poetry which
is preserve in a divan and a number of qasidas.
The ShaykhQS
remained unmarried throughout his student days as well as the time he spent in
ascetic practices. On his return to Baghdad, he eventually married four wives
and had forty-nine children from them twenty-seven of whom were sons many of
whom became ulama in their own right.
He was in
the company of his sons, when on the 11th of Rabi al-Thani in 561
A.H. (1166 C.E.), Shaykh Abd al-QadirQS passed onto the next world
at the age of ninety-one lunar years. The news of his death spread through
Baghdad like wildfire and resulted in one of the biggest funerals ever
witnessed in that city. He was buried in his madrasa where his final
resting place is still a focal point of devotion for thousands every year.
Shaykh Abd
al-Qadir al-JilaniQS is unique among the awliyaQS
for the universal reverence and esteem he is held in in the Muslim world. From
Malacca to Morocco and from Siberia to the Sahel, he is the most widely
recognized sage after the prominent sahabaRA. He is not only
venerated by ordinary, not so learned Muslims but also the ulama, and
above all, Sufis of all sorts of affiliation. Nearly all great shaykhsQS
after his time have made it a point of acknowledging his spiritual greatness
and his guidance and aid to them on the Path. Hence, one of his titles is al-Ghawth
al-Azam (The Greatest Succor). His teachings and practices have influenced
every major tariqa.
It is significant that his praise
unites people who are generally in disagreement, even conflict, with each
other. The best example is Shaykh Ibn al-ArabiQS, who received a khirqa
from Shaykh Abd al-QadirQS with the greatest reverence and declared
that he had not realized the full significance of the khirqa until he
had received one from the ShaykhQS, and his arch critic, Shaykh Ibn
TaymiyaRH, who refers to Shaykh Abd al-QadirQS in his
works as shaykhuna, which has led some to speculate that he might have
had a Qadiri affiliation himself.
It is not hard to figure out why
this should be so. One of the Shaykh’sQS titles is Muhyi al-Din
(Reviver of Religion). In many ways he continued and perfected Imam
al-Ghazali’sQS project of integrating the various aspects of Islam
into an organic whole while also protecting the faith from corruption. His
Sufism is so firmly integrated with the Noble Sharia that it has led
some orientalists, like J. Spencer Trimingham, whose book, The Sufi Orders
in Islam, is considered a basic read in Western Academia, to speculate that
he was not a Sufi at all. That a cult of devotion grew up around him after his
death, and that the practices of the Qadiri are a patchwork of borrowings from
other tariqas. This is despite the overwhelming testimony of the
grandest masters of the Path from all tariqas to the contrary. It seems
the armchair academician has a perspective unique to him which does not need
the corroboration of “native subjects”.
At the same time, the ShaykhQS
stole the wind out of sectarian conflict by declaring himself to be inferior to
the mote of dust snorted out by the horse ridden by Hadrat MuawiyaRA.
Given the Shaykh’sQS noble lineage, his stature as an alim
and Sufi, this is no mean statement. As is typical of the Shaykh’sQS
pithy, polyvalent sayings, it is also an indication of the Shaykh’sQS
humility and a hint at the spiritual hierarchy of Sufism.
The stories told about the
Shaykh’sQS miraculous spiritual powers are innumerable. However, as
the ShaykhQS himself and other luminaries of the Sufi firmament have
consistently said, the spiritual rank of a wali is not contingent upon
miracles but on how much knowledge of Himself God bestows upon him. That, in
turn, enables the wali to follow the sunna of the prophetsAS,
and teach people and bring them to God. It is only in this context that Shaykh
Abd al-Qadir’sQS stature can be truly appreciated. He was not only
acknowledged as the qutb of his own age in his own lifetime. More than
that, he has been acknowledged as a permanent qutb since then by shaykh
after shaykh. He is the trainer and guide of awliyaQS to
higher spiritual realms along with being a source of guidance, Divine Mercy and
the spiritual baraka of our lord, master and beloved Muhammad al-MustafaSAW
for all Muslims. He was simply stating a spiritual fact when he said:
Afalat shumus al-awwalin wa
shamsuna
Abadan ala falak al-ula la
taghrabu
The sun’s of those who came before
set but my sun
Will shine in the highest sphere
until the end of time and not set.
To learn more about Shaykh Abd
al-Qadir al-JilaniQS and his path, please contact Shaykh AminDB
Wa akhir dawana an al-hamd lillah Rabb al-Alamin wa al-salat
wa al-salam wa al-barakat ala inbiya wa mursalin wa malaika wa al-muqarrabin
khususan ala sayyidihim shams al-risala wa al-nubuwwa al-wilaya sayyidina wa
habibina wa mawlana wa hadina wa shafina Muhammad al-Mustafa wa ala alihi wa
azwajihi wa sahibi wa ala sulha wa shuhada wa awliya ummatihi wa ala sair
al-muslimin ya Rabbana ya Karim innaka Hamidun Majidun amin.
