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| Author | Al-Hujwiri |
|---|---|
| Translator | Reynold A. Nicholson |
| Language | Persian, English |
| Genre | Sufism |
Kashf al-Mahjub (Persian : كَشف الْمَحجُوب, romanized: Kashf al-Maḥjūb, lit. 'Revelation of the Hidden') was the first formal treatise on Sufism, compiled in the 11th century by the Persian scholar al-Hujwiri. The work contains a complete system of Sufism with its doctrines and practices. Mystical controversies and current opinions are illustrated where many are clarified by presenting his experiences. The book with its Persian flavor of philosophical speculation and fiction is itself a piece of the identity of al-Hujwiri (also known as Data Ganj Baksh). [1]
In composing this book, al-Hujwiri was inconvenienced by the loss of his books he had left at Ghazna, Afghanistan. Hence, it must have taken him a considerable amount of time to write this book. [2] He is known to have travelled for at least 40 years to places such as Syria, Iraq, Persia, Kohistan, Azerbaijan, Tabaristan, Kerman, Greater Khorasan, Transoxiana, Baghdad amongst other places to acquire knowledge. His visit to the shrine of Bilal (Damascus, Syria) and Abu Saeed Abul Khayr (Mihne village, Greater Khorasan) are especially mentioned in the book. He met many Sufis during his travels, although he followed the Junaidia order of Junayd Baghdadi and hence, mystically accepted ‘sobriety’ over ‘intoxication’ to illustrate that no one is exempted from following the religious law. Hence, he claimed that Sufism was thoroughly consistent with the principles of Islam.: [3] "I have met over three hundred saints in Khorasan alone residing separately and who had such mystical endowments that a single one of them would have been enough for the whole world. They are the luminaries of love and prosperity on the spiritual sky of Khorasan." [4] These visits to the saints and their shrines reflect his quest to find Murshid Kamil Akmal (Perfect Spiritual Guide). He had experienced the heights of knowledge and now he wanted to taste spirituality. The book indicates he was fond of religious spiritualism and divine wisdom. Undoubtedly, he was in search of spiritual perfection. [5] In this book, Ali Hujwiri addresses the definition of Sufism and states that in this age, people are only obsessed with seeking pleasure and not interested to satisfy God. [6] "Theologians have made no distinction between Ilm (knowledge) and Marifat (gnosis)…One, then, who knows the meaning and reality of a thing they call ‘arif’ and one who knows merely the verbal expression and keeps it in his memory without keeping the spiritual reality, they call him ‘alim’ For this reason, when the Sufis wish to criticize a rival, they call him danishmand (possessing knowledge). This seems objectionable but the Sufis do not blame the man for having acquired knowledge, rather they blame him for neglecting the practice of religion because the ‘alim’ depends on himself but the ‘arif’ depends on his Lord." [7] [8]
Of all the Sufi scholars he met, he mentions two names with utmost respect: Shaykh Ab al-Abbas Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Ashqani and was Shaykh Abu al-Qasim Ali Gurgani. [9] [10]
The book has served as a ‘vaseela’, medium of spiritual elevation towards divinity for many Sufi saints both many of whom are quite famous all over the world. This is the reason why Moinuddin Chishti Ajmeri, a chief saint of the Chishti order, once stated that an aspiring murid (disciple) one who does not (yet) have a murshid (spiritual master), should read al-Hujwiri's book Kashf al-Mahjub, as that would (temporarily) guide him spiritually. [11] [12]
Originally written in Persian, this book has already been translated into various languages. Manuscripts of the Kashf al-Mahjub are preserved in several European libraries. It has been lithographed in Lahore, Indian Subcontinent. Reynold A. Nicholson is known for translating Kashf al-Mahjub into English. He was the teacher of Persian and Arabic language in the University of Cambridge. In his words: "He undertook journeys to distant Islamic countries, from Syria to Turkistan in search of knowledge. He travelled extensively and searching almost every tract of land from Sindh to Caspian Sea". [13]
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Fakir, faqeer, or faqīr, derived from faqr, is an Islamic term traditionally used for Sufi Muslim ascetics who renounce their worldly possessions and dedicate their lives to the worship of God. They do not necessarily renounce all relationships, or take vows of poverty, but the adornments of the temporal worldly life are kept in perspective. The connotations of poverty associated with the term relate to their spiritual neediness, not necessarily their physical neediness.
Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Ḥanbal ibn Hilāl ibn Asad ibn Idrīs ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ḥayyān Abū ʿAbd Allāh ash-Shaybānī adh-Dhuhlī, better known as Ahmad ibn Hanbal, was a Sunni Muslim scholar, jurist, theologian, traditionist, exegete, historian, grammarian, ascetic, and founder of the Hanbali school of jurisprudence — one of the four major orthodox legal schools of Sunni Islam. The most highly influential and active scholar during his lifetime, Ahmad went on to become "one of the most venerated" intellectual figures in Islamic history, who has had a "profound influence affecting almost every area" of the traditionalist perspective within Sunni Islam. One of the foremost classical proponents of relying on scriptural sources as the basis for Sunni Islamic law and way of life, Ahmad compiled one of the most significant Sunni hadith collections, the Musnad, which has continued to exercise considerable influence on the field of narration studies up to the present time.
Abū ʾl-Ḥasan ʿAlī b. ʿUthmān b. ʿAlī al-Ghaznawī al-Jullābī al-Hujwīrī, known as ʿAlī al-Hujwīrī or al-Hujwīrī for short, or reverentially as Shaykh Sayyid ʿAlī al-Hujwīrī or as Dātā Ganj Bakhsh by Muslims of South Asia, was an 11th-century Sunni Muslim mystic, theologian, and preacher from Ghaznavid Empire, who became famous for composing the Kashf al-maḥjūb, which is considered the "earliest formal treatise" on Sufism in Persian. Ali Hujwiri is believed to have contributed "significantly" to the spread of Islam in South Asia through his preaching, with one historian describing him as "one of the most important figures to have spread Islam in the Indian subcontinent." Khwaja Gharib Nawaz stayed at Ali Hujwiri's mausoleum and quoted a tribute to him as a narration; گنج بخش فیضِ عالَم مظہرِ نورِ خدا ناقصاں را پیرِ کامل ، کاملاں را راہنماGanj Bakhsh-e-Faiz-e-Alam Mazhar-e-Nur-e-Khuda, Na Qasaan-ra Pir-i Kamil, Kamilaan-ra Rahnuma.
A dargah is a shrine or tomb built over the grave of a revered religious figure, often a Sufi saint or dervish. Sufis often visit the shrine for ziyarat, a term associated with religious visitation and pilgrimages. Dargahs are often associated with Sufi eating and meeting rooms and hostels, called khanqah or hospices. They usually include a mosque, meeting rooms, Islamic religious schools (madrassas), residences for a teacher or caretaker, hospitals, and other buildings for community purposes.
Abū Yazīd Ṭayfūr bin ʿĪsā bin Surūshān al-Bisṭāmī (al-Basṭāmī), commonly known in the Iranian world as Bāyazīd Bisṭāmī, was a Persian Sufi from north-central Iran. Known to future Sufis as Sultān-ul-Ārifīn, Bisṭāmī is considered to be one of the expositors of the state of fanā, the notion of dying in mystical union with Allah. Bastami was famous for "the boldness of his expression of the mystic’s complete absorption into the mysticism." Many "ecstatic utterances" have been attributed to Bisṭāmī, which lead to him being known as the "drunken" or "ecstatic" school of Islamic mysticism. Such utterance may be argued as, Bisṭāmī died with mystical union and the deity is speaking through his tongue. Bisṭāmī also claimed to have ascended through the seven heavens in his dream. His journey, known as the Mi'raj of Bisṭāmī, is clearly patterned on the Mi'raj of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Bisṭāmī is characterized in three different ways: a free thinking radical, a pious Sufi who is deeply concerned with following the sha'ria and engaging in "devotions beyond the obligatory," and a pious individual who is presented as having a dream similar to the Mi'raj of Muhammed. The Mi'raj of Bisṭāmī seems as if Bisṭāmī is going through a self journey; as he ascends through each heaven, Bisṭāmī is gaining knowledge in how he communicates with the angels and the number of angels he encounters increases.
Sultan Bahu, was a 17th-century Punjabi Sufi mystic, poet, scholar and historian. He was active in the Punjab region during the reigns of Mughal emperors Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb.
Qutb, Qutub, Kutb, Kutub or Kotb means 'axis', 'pivot' or 'pole'. Qutb can refer to celestial movements and be used as an astronomical term or a spiritual symbol. In Sufism, a Qutb is the perfect human being, al-Insān al-Kāmil, who leads the saintly hierarchy. The Qutb is the Sufi spiritual leader that has a divine connection with God and passes knowledge on which makes him central to, or the axis of, Sufism, but he is unknown to the world. There are five Qutbs per era, and they are infallible and trusted spiritual leaders. They are only revealed to a select group of mystics because there is a "human need for direct knowledge of God".
Shah Shahidullah Faridi (1915–1978) was a British Muslim convert, born to a Christian family.
Fanaa in Sufism is the "passing away" or "annihilation". Fana means "to die before one dies", a concept highlighted by famous notable Persian mystics such as Rumi and later by Sultan Bahoo. There is controversy around what Fana exactly is, with some Sufis defining it as the absolute annihilation of the human ego before God, whereby the self becomes an instrument of God's plan in the world (Baqaa).
Tayy al-Arḍ is the name for thaumaturgical teleportation in the mystical form of Islam and Islamic philosophy. The concept has been expressed as "traversing the earth without moving"; some have termed it "moving by the earth being displaced under one's feet". It is a concept widely familiar to the Shī‘īs and Sufis, each group having a different interpretation of it.
Reynold Alleyne Nicholson, FBA, or R. A. Nicholson, was an eminent English orientalist, scholar of both Islamic literature and Islamic mysticism, and widely regarded as one of the greatest Rumi scholars and translators in the English language.
Kashf "unveiling" is a Sufi concept dealing with knowledge of the heart rather than of the intellect. Kashf describes the state of experiencing a personal divine revelation after ascending through spiritual struggles, and uncovering the heart in order to allow divine truths to pour into it. Kashf is etymologically related to mukashafa "disclosure"/ "divine irradiation of the essence", which connotes "gain[ing] familiarity with things unseen behind the veils". For those who have purified their hearts, and who come to know the Divine Names and Attributes to the fullest of their individual capacities, the veils in front of the purely spiritual realms are opened slightly, and they begin to gain familiarity with the unseen. In Sufism, an even further revelatory capacity exists by which the Divine mysteries become readily apparent to the seeker through the light of knowledge of God. This is called tajalli "manifestation".
Sufism has a history in India evolving for over 1,000 years. The presence of Sufism has been a leading entity increasing the reaches of Islam throughout South Asia. Following the entrance of Islam in the early 8th century, Sufi mystic traditions became more visible during the 10th and 11th centuries of the Delhi Sultanate and after it to the rest of India. A conglomeration of four chronologically separate dynasties, the early Delhi Sultanate consisted of rulers from Turkic and Afghan lands. This Persian influence flooded South Asia with Islam, Sufi thought, syncretic values, literature, education, and entertainment that has created an enduring impact on the presence of Islam in India today. Sufi preachers, merchants and missionaries also settled in coastal Gujarat through maritime voyages and trade.
Muhammad Amjad, was a legal scholar of Qur'an, Hadith, and the Hanafi school of Islamic law.
Abu Sa'id ibn Abi al-Hasan Yasar al-Basri, often referred to as Hasan of Basra for short, or as Hasan al-Basri, was an ancient Muslim preacher, ascetic, theologian, exegete, scholar, and judge. Born in Medina in 642, Hasan belonged to the second generation of Muslims, all of whom would subsequently be referred to as the tābiʿūn in Sunni Islamic piety. He became one of "the most celebrated" of the tābiʿūn, enjoying an "acclaimed scholarly career and an even more remarkable posthumous legacy in Islamic scholarship."
Maqām refers to each stage a Sufi's soul must attain in its search for Allah. The stations are derived from the most routine considerations a Sufi must deal with on a day-to-day basis and is essentially an embodiment of both mystical knowledge and Islamic law (Sharia). Although the number and order of maqamat are not universal the majority agree on the following seven: Tawba, Wara', Zuhd, Faqr, Ṣabr, Tawakkul, and Riḍā. Sufis believe that these stations are the grounds of the spiritual life, and they are viewed as a mode through which the most elemental aspects of daily life begin to play a vital role in the overall attainment of oneness with Allah.
Shaykh Abul Qasim Gurgani was an Iranian Sufi of Kubruwia Sufi tariqah as well as other Sufi orders. Shaykh Gurgani authored a book titled "Fusūl al-Tarīqah wa Fusūl al-Haqīqah". His grave is located in a small village, three kilometers south of Torbat Ḥeydarīyeh in Iran.
Shaikh Habib Al-Raee was an elevated Sufi saint and maintains a grand status amongst all the Shaikhs. He was a companion to Salman Farsi. His father, Shaikh Saleem Al-Raee, was the founder and chief ancestor from whom the Arain originate. He related that Muhammad said, “The believer’s intentions are better than his acts.” He had flocks of sheep and his home was on the bank of the Euphrates. His religious path was retirement from this world.
Abu Saeed Mubarak Makhzoomi, known also as Mubarak bin Ali Makhzoomi and Abu Saeed and Abu Sa'd al-Mubarak was a Sufi saint as well as a Muslim mystic and Traditionalist. He was an Islamic theologian and a Hanbali jurist based in Baghdad, Iraq. Abu Saeed was his patronym.
Hazrat Ishaan was an influential Sunni saint from Bukhara, Uzbekistan.