Sufism, also known as Tasawwuf (ٱلتَّصَوُّف), is mysticism in Islam, "characterized ... [by particular] values, ritual practices, doctrines and institutions". It is variously defined as "Islamic mysticism", "the mystical expression of Islamic faith", "the inward dimension of Islam", or "the phenomenon of mysticism within Islam". Sufism began very early in Islamic history, and represents "the main manifestation and the most important and central crystallization of" mystical practice in Islam. Practitioners of Sufism have been referred to as "Sufis".
The Naqshbandi, also known as Naqshbandiyah, Neqshebendi, and Nakşibendi is a major Sunni order of Sufism. Its name is derived from Baha-ud-Din Naqshband Bukhari. Naqshbandi masters trace their lineage to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and Abu Bakr, the first Caliph of Sunni Islam.
Muhammad Hisham Kabbani is a Lebanese-American Sufi Muslim scholar belonging to the Naqsbandi Sufi Order. Kabbani has counseled and advised Muslim leaders to build community resilience against violent extremism. His criticism of extremism has stirred controversy among some American Muslims. In 2012, the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre named him on The 500 Most Influential Muslims. His notable students include the world-famous boxer Muhammad Ali and former Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
Al-Qāsim ibn Muhammad ibn Abī Bakr was an important jurist in early Islam.
'Abd'ullah Fa'iz ad-Daghestani, commonly known as Shaykh Abdullah, was a North Caucasian Sufi shaykh of the Naqshbandi-Sufi order.
Mawlana Khâlid Sharazuri also known as Khâlid-i Baghdâdî and Mawlana Khalid (1779–1827) was a Kurdish Sufi, and poet by the name of Shaykh Diya al-Dīn Khalid al-Shahrazuri, the founder of a branch of the Naqshbandi Sufi order - called Khalidi after him - that has had a profound impact not only on his native Kurdish lands but also on many other regions of the western Islamic world. His writings are among the earliest examples of prose and poetry in Central Kurdish.
Uwais ibn Amir ibn Jaz' ibn Malik al-Qarani, also spelled Uways or Owais, was a Muslim from Yemen who lived during the lifetime of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.
Muhammad Abdul Wahab Siddiqi (1942–1994) was a Pakistani Sunni Muslim religious scholar and Sufi master.
The Uwaisī, Silsila or Tariqa (pathway) is a form of spiritual transmission in the vocabulary of Islamic mysticism that was named after Owais al-Qarani. It refers to the transmission of spiritual knowledge between two individuals without the need for physical interaction between them. The term Uwaisīyaan refers to those Sufis who have gained the Sufi spiritual chain from another Sufi without physically meeting them in this world. It can refer to a school of Sufism, and its singular form, Uwaisi, refers to a single individual, who are Sunni Muslims.
Naqshbandi Haqqani Sufi Order, founded by Mawlana Shaykh Nazim Al-Haqqani and the Naqshbandi-Haqqani Sufi Order of America (NQSOA), is an educational organization devoted to spreading the teachings of the Naqshbandi-Haqqani Sufi tariqah in America, under the guidance of the worldwide leader and master of the order as-Sayyid Shaykh Muhammad Nazim Adil al-Haqqani al-Qubrusi.
Abdullah Nooruddeen Durkee was a Muslim scholar, thinker, author, translator and the khalifah (successor) for North America of the Shadhdhuli School for Tranquility of Being and the Illumination of Hearts, Green Mountain Branch. Nooruddeen Durkee became a Muslim in his early thirties in al-Quds, Jerusalem. He was the founder of Lama Foundation and Dar al-Islam Foundation. His major contribution is in the area of education, and for many years specifically in the realm of teaching reading, writing, and reciting of Qur'anic Arabic, which grew out of his work in the translation and transliteration of the sacred texts of the Shadhdhuliyyah and finally the Qur'an. One of his main contributions is the development of a transliteration of the Qur'an which has enabled non-Arabic people to understand and recite Quranic Arabic. Additionally he serves as a khateeb and an imam for various nearby Muslim communities on the Eastern coast of United States.
As-Sunnah Foundation of America (ASFA) is an educational organization that works for the unity of the Islamic faith in the United States, founded and chaired by Hisham Kabbani. Founded in 1997, together with the Islamic Supreme Council of America (ISCA), the ASFA has close connections to Kabbani's Naqshbandi Haqqani Sufi Order.The ASFA is said be a main organization of Nakshbandi sufi order in America.
Hazrat Mawlana Pir Fazal Ali Shah Qureshi was an Islamic scholar and the leading Naqshbandi Shaikh of colonial India in the early twentieth century. He was born to Murad Ali Shah in 1270 AH in Daud Khel, Punjab, and died at 84 in the first night of Ramadan 1354 AH and was buried at Miskeenpur shareef, district Muzaffargarh, Punjab.
Mehmet Nazım 'Adil, commonly known as Shaykh Nazım, was a Turkish Cypriot Sufi Muslim sheikh and spiritual leader of the Naqshbandí-'Aliyyah tariqa, a Sufi order.
The Golden Chain of Naqshbandi Haqqani Sufi Order is a lineage of Sufi masters.
Gibril Fouad Haddad is a Lebanese-born Islamic scholar, hadith expert (muhaddith), author, and translator of classical Islamic texts. He was featured in the inaugural list of 500 Most influential Muslims and has been called "one of the clearest voices of traditional Islam in the West", a "prominent orthodox Sunni" and a "staunch defender of the traditional Islamic schools of law." He holds ijazas from over 150 scholars across the Muslim world. He resides with his family in Brunei Darussalaam and was a visiting fellow (2013-2015) then senior assistant professor (2015-2018) at the Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin Center for Islamic Studies, University Brunei Darussalam. He is also a staunch critic of Wahhabism and Salafism.
Shaykh Mehmet 'Adil was born on 29 March 1957 in Damascus. He is the successor and oldest son of Sultan-ul 'Awliyá Shaykh Muhammad Nazim 'Adil al-Haqqani and Hajjah Amina 'Adil Sultan Hanim, and the current spiritual leader of the worldwide Naqshbandi Sufi order.
The 2016 conference on Sunni Islam in Grozny was convened to define the term "Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jama'ah", i.e. who are "the people of Sunnah and majority Muslim community", and oppose Takfiri groups. The conference was held in the Chechen Republic capital of Grozny from 25–27 August 2016, sponsored by the president of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, and attended by approximately 200 Muslim scholars from 30 countries, especially from Russia, Egypt, Syria, Libya, Kuwait, Sudan, Jordan, etc. at the invitation of Yemeni Sufi preacher, Ali al-Jifri.
Ahmad Zayni Dahlan was the Grand Mufti of the Shafi'i madhab in Mecca, and Shaykh al-Islam in the Hijaz region of the Ottoman state, and Imam al-Haramayn, as well as being a historian and an Ash'ari theologian. He was known for his extreme criticisms of Wahhabism and his tendency toward Sufism (Mysticism). In his treatise against Wahhabi influence, Dahlan clearly views Sufism as a legal and integral part of Islamic practice – including such aspects as Tawassul, Tabarruk, and Ziyarat al-Qubur.
'Mohammad Baba as-Samasi' was a Sufi of the Naqshbandi order. He was born in Sammas, a village on the outskirts of Ramitan, three miles (4.8 km) from Bukhara, Uzbekistan. He made progress in his journey by understanding the knowledge of the Qur'an, memorizing the Qur'an and the Hadith of the Messenger of Allah, and become an expert in Jurisprudence. Then he began to study Speculative Theology, Logic, Philosophy and History, until he was named walking encyclopedia of all fields of science and art. He followed Shaykh Ali Ramitani and continued to fight against himself. He practiced daily retreat to the point of purity of maqam until his Shaykh was allowed to transfer the Divine Knowledge of the supernatural into his heart. He became very famous for his miraculous powers and the height of his maqam's virtues. Shaykh 'Ali Ramitani chose him as his successor before his death and ordered all his disciples to follow him and afterward chain transferred from Mohammad Baba As-Samasi to Amir Kulal.
