Qadiri order

History glossary

Also called: Qadiriyya · Topic: Bhakti and Sufi Traditions · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 2 "Bhakti-Sufi Traditions"

Meaning

The Qadiri order (also called Qadiriyya or Qadiriyyah) is a Sufi silsila (a spiritual "chain" of masters and disciples). It is named after its founder, Shaikh Abd'ul Qadir Jilani, a 12th-century saint of Baghdad. It is one of the main examples of a silsila named after its founder rather than after a place. It is also counted among the oldest and most widespread of the Sufi orders [2]. In India it is linked with Miyan Mir of Lahore and the Mughal prince Dara Shukoh.

Explanation

Background: how orders like the Qadiri arose

  • Sufism began in the early centuries of Islam as a protest against the growing materialism of the Caliphate.
  • Its first stage was a reaction against the worldliness of the early Umayyad period (661–749 CE) [2].
  • Sufis wanted a personal experience of God and love of God, not dry classroom debate over the Qur'an and sunna (the Prophet's practice).
  • By the 11th century, Sufism had its own literature.
  • The 12th century was the turning point:
  • the silsila took a fixed form around this time;

  • organised orders, called tariqa (Arabic for "path"), were first set up in the 12th century [2].

  • The Qadiri order belongs to this first wave of organised orders. Its founder lived and taught in Baghdad, which was then a great centre of Islamic learning.

How the order is named and joined

  • Two ways of naming a silsila:
  • After the founder. The Qadiri is named after Shaikh Abd'ul Qadir Jilani.

  • After the place of origin. The Chishti is named after the town of Chisht in central Afghanistan.

  • Silsila means "chain". A Qadiri disciple's line of masters runs back, without a break, to the Prophet Muhammad. This chain is the proof that the teaching is genuine.

  • Entry into the order:
  • the disciple, called a murid, took an oath of allegiance to the master, called the shaikh (Arabic) or pir/murshid (Persian);
  • the disciple wore a patched garment and shaved the hair;

  • in the wider Islamic world, the disciple was given the khirqah (the master's frock). The classical chains ran back through the Baghdad master Junayd to the Prophet [2].

  • The master named a khalifa (successor) before he died, so the order carried on.

The Qadiri order in India

  • The order reached India after the Chishti order. According to most historians, it was probably established here in about the 15th century.
  • It was a ba-shari'a order. This means it followed the shari'a (Islamic law). The be-shari'a groups, such as the Qalandars, rejected the law.
  • Miyan Mir of Lahore was its best-known saint in Mughal times.

  • According to Sikh tradition, he was invited to lay the foundation stone of the Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple) at Amritsar. This shows how widely he was respected.

  • Dara Shukoh, eldest son of Shah Jahan, was a Qadiri follower. He was a disciple of Mulla Shah Badakhshi, who was himself a disciple of Miyan Mir. Dara's sister Jahanara was also drawn to the order.

  • Dara's open-minded writings:
  • Majma-ul-Bahrain ("The Mingling of the Two Oceans") compared Sufi ideas with Hindu (Vedantic) ideas;
  • Sirr-i-Akbar was his Persian translation of the Upanishads;
  • he also wrote about the lives of Qadiri saints, including Miyan Mir.

Results

  • The order showed that a strictly law-abiding Sufi order could still be open to people of other faiths.
  • Through Dara Shukoh, Qadiri thought became part of the Mughal court's debate about religion. That debate ended when Aurangzeb defeated Dara in the war of succession.

Time, place and evidence

  • Origin: 12th century, in Baghdad, under Shaikh Abd'ul Qadir Jilani.
  • In India: probably from the 15th century. Its peak influence was in the 17th century under the Mughals (Jahangir and Shah Jahan).
  • Key place: Lahore, the centre of Miyan Mir.
  • Key people:
  • Abd'ul Qadir Jilani, the founder;
  • Miyan Mir, the saint at Lahore;
  • Mulla Shah Badakhshi, Miyan Mir's disciple;

  • Dara Shukoh and Jahanara, royal followers.

  • How we know:

  • Sufi literature such as malfuzat (records of a saint's conversations) and tazkiras (biographies of saints);
  • Dara Shukoh's own writings, such as Majma-ul-Bahrain;

  • studies of the Sufi orders, which list the Qadiriyyah among the oldest and most widespread [2].

  • NCERT: Class 12, Ch 2 "Bhakti-Sufi Traditions", where the Qadiri is the example of a silsila named after its founder.

Don't confuse with

  • Chishti order: the Chishti is named after a place, Chisht in Afghanistan. The Qadiri is named after a person, Abd'ul Qadir Jilani. The Chishti also came to India earlier and was the more popular order there.
  • Naqshbandi order: both orders followed the shari'a. The Naqshbandi in India is linked with Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi, who was strictly orthodox and opposed Akbar's liberal ideas. The Qadiri is linked with the open-minded Dara Shukoh.
  • Qalandars: they were be-shari'a mystics who rejected the law, the khanqah and family life. The Qadiri was a settled, ba-shari'a order.
  • Abd'ul Qadir Badauni: he was a historian at Akbar's court, not the founder of the Qadiri order. Do not mix him up with Abd'ul Qadir Jilani. Also, the Qadiani (Ahmadiyya) movement of the 19th century has nothing to do with the Qadiri order.

Prelims Hooks

  • Qadiri silsila → named after its founder Shaikh Abd'ul Qadir Jilani of Baghdad. Chishti silsila → named after the town of Chisht in central Afghanistan.
  • The Qadiriyyah is counted among the oldest and most widespread Sufi orders [2]. Organised tariqas began in the 12th century [2].
  • Miyan Mir of Lahore was a Qadiri saint. According to Sikh tradition, he laid the foundation stone of the Harmandir Sahib.
  • Dara Shukoh was a Qadiri follower, through Mulla Shah Badakhshi. He wrote Majma-ul-Bahrain and translated the Upanishads into Persian as Sirr-i-Akbar.
  • Trap: the Qadiri was a ba-shari'a order. Qalandars, Madaris, Malangs and Haidaris were be-shari'a.
  • Order of arrival in India: Chishti (late 12th century) → Qadiri (probably 15th century).

Mains Points

  • The Qadiri order was a channel for composite culture at the Mughal court.
  • Dara Shukoh, a Qadiri disciple, used Sufi ideas to look for common ground with Upanishadic thought, as seen in Majma-ul-Bahrain and Sirr-i-Akbar.
  • Miyan Mir's link with the Harmandir Sahib, as told in Sikh tradition, shows that Sufi saints were respected across faiths.

  • Use this as evidence that following the shari'a did not mean being closed-minded.

  • It shows that Sufism was not one uniform movement.

  • Silsilas differed by origin (Baghdad or Chisht), by naming (after a founder or a place) and by attitude to law (ba-shari'a or be-shari'a).

  • In India, the Qadiri stood between the popular Chishti and the more orthodox Naqshbandi.

  • It shows both the strength and the risk of royal patronage.

  • Close ties with the Mughal family gave the order prestige.
  • The same ties pulled it into court politics, the very worldliness Sufism had first protested against.
  • After Dara Shukoh's defeat by Aurangzeb, the liberal, Qadiri-inspired line of thought at court lost royal support.

Related concepts

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Sources

  1. 1Class 12, Ch 2 "Bhakti-Sufi Traditions" (primary)
  2. 2Sufism — History, Sufi orders, the pathbritannica.com · tier 3