Sufi Silsihah

Sufi Silsila
Sufi teaching proceeds by means of a teacher-student relationship. Each

teacher-student relationship forms a link in a chain which connects any
authentic Sufi Order back to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).
This chain of initiation is called a silsila. The silsila of the School of Sufi
Teaching connects the current Shaykh of the Order, Shaykh Hamid Hasan, to
the Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h) through the five main Sufi Orders,
the Naqshbandi, Mujaddidi, Chishti, Shadhili and Qadiri. Each of these are
named after of a prominent Shaykh of the order.
Sufi Meditation has always been an important part of the teachings of all the
Sufi shaykhs in this Tariqa. The more recent Shaykhs of the School of Sufi
Teaching have made these Sufi meditation practices available to modern seekers
of truth.
This sislila shows how the order that was found by Hazrat Abdul Bari
Shah shares the Naqshbandi silsila, the Shadhili silsila,
the Qadiri silsila the Chishti silsila.
The Naqsbandi-Mujaddidi silsila is a special branch of the Naqshbandi silsila,

which gets its name from Shaykh Ahmed Faruqi Sirhindi (1564-1624). He was
known as Mujaddid Alf Thani – The Renewer of the Millenium – because he
was said to have renewed Islam and Sufism for
A few decades before sufism began to exercise influence on Indian society and
religious life, organized sufi movement reached its peak in the Islamic world in
the form of various tariqa (paths) or sufi orders. These orders began to
crystallize when from the end of the 12th century each one of the sufi centres
began to perpetuate the name of one particular master and his spiritual ancestry
and focussed on its own tariqa consisting of peculiar practices, and rituals the
next thousand years.
The relationship between the spiritual head of a silsilah and his disciples
acquired an esoteric character because the disciples were now linked to the
silsilah through various initiatory rituals and vow of allegiance. Each one of
them formulated its own institutional rules to regulate the day-to-day life of the
disciples in the khanqah. The spiritual director (murshid) now came to be
regarded as protege of God (wali). The murid (disciple) was obliged to
surrender himself completely to the murshid. The murshid, in turn, bestowed the
tariqa, its secret word (a phrase of patterned devotion), formulae, and symbols
on his murid. iii) The founders of various silsilahs accepted the Islamic law and
ritual practices of Islam. The link between orthodox Islam and silsilah founders
is also clear from the fact that many of the latter were professional jurists.
However, they gave an esoteric orientation to orthodox Islamic rituals and
introduced many innovations, particularly in their religious practices, which
were not always in consonance with the orthodox outlook. Though the silsilah
founders laid emphasis on strict adherence to Islamic law, many silsilahs later
did develop many heterodotx beliefs and practices. iv) The silsilahs which
became popular in Iran, Central Asia and Baghdad and played significant role in
the growth of sufism in various parts of the Islamic world included the
Suhrawardi founded by Shaikh Shihabuddin Suhrawardi (d. 1234); the Qadiri
formed by Shaikh Abdul Qadir Jilani (d. 1166); the Chishti of Muinuddin
Chishti (d. 1236) and the Naqshbandi first known as Khawajagan, but later
came to be associated with the name of Bahauddin Naqshbandi (d.1398). The
sufis who had received their training in these silsilahs began to establish their
branches in their countries or in new countries such as India. Gradually these
branches became independent sufi schools with their own characteristics and
tendencies. v) As sufism grew through these three broad stages in different parts
of the Islamic world, Iran, Khurasan, Transoxiana and India, etc. It came under
the influence of various mystic tendencies in other religions and philosophies
such as Christianity, Neoplatonism, Buddhism and Hinduism. These influences
were assimilated within the Islamic framework of the movement

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Sufi Silsila

Sufi teaching proceeds by means of a teacher-student relationship. Each

The Naqsbandi-Mujaddidi silsila is a special branch of the Naqshbandi silsila,

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