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Saint Abdul Qadir Gilani Sheikh, Ghaus-e-Azam
Shrine of Abdul Qadir Gilani (Baghdad, Iraq).
Born	Abdul Qadir c. (1077-03-18)18 March 1077 Amol, Iran
Died	15 January 1166(1166-01-15) (aged 88) Baghdad, Iraq
Cause of death	contracting some illness.
Resting place	Shrine of Abdul Qadir, Baghdad, Iraq.
Other names	Sheikh, Ghaus-e-Azam
Religion	Islam
Children	Shaikh Abdul-Wahab, Sheikh Abdul-Razzaq, Shaikh Abdul-Aziz, Shaikh Isa, Shaikh Musa, Sheikh Yahya, Sheikh Abdullah, Sheikh Muhammed and 41 More. Sheikh Ibrahim.
Parents	Father: Abu Salih Mother: Umm Khair Fatima

Abd al-Qadir al-Gilani^[1][2] (Kurdish: Evdilqadirê Geylanî, Persian: عبد القادر گیلانی‎,Urdu: عبد القادر آملی گیلانی Abdolqāder Gilāni) (also spelled Abdulqadir Gaylani, Abdelkader, Abdul Qadir, Abdul Khadir - Jilani, Jeelani, Gailani, Gillani, Gilani, Al Gilani, Keilany) (470–561 AH) (1077–1166 CE) was a Kurdish^[3] or Persian^[4] Islamic preacher who is highly esteemed by Sunni scholars. Sheikh Abdul Qadir is considered the patron Saint of the Kurds and is held in great veneration by the Muslims of the Indo-Pak sub-continent.^[5] Among followers in Pakistan and India, he is also known as Ghaus-e-Azam. He was born on a Wednesday the 1st of ramadan in 470 AH, 1077 CE^[6] south of the Caspian Sea in what is now the Mazandaran Province of Iran.

Lineage and biography[link]

Al-Gilani was born in 1078 CE (471 AH)1st of ramadan and died 11 rabi usani in a small town of Gilan Province.^[7][8]

His complete name al-Sayyid Muhiyudin Abu Muhammad Abdal Qadir al-Jilani al-Hasani wal-Hussaini,^[1][2] Sayyid denoting his descent from Muhammad,^[10] Muhiyudin the title "Reviver of Religion",^[11] al-Jilani his home region,^[12][13] although however he also had the epithet al-Baghdadi.^[14][15][16] (denoting also the city of Baghdad where he was now residing in and therefore also geographically recognised through, eventually being buried there), and al-Hasani wal-Hussaini affirming his lineal descent from both Hasan ibn Ali and Hussein ibn Ali, the grandsons of Muhammad.^[1][17]

His father, Abu Salih Musa al-Hasani^[18] was a sayyid.^[17][19] He was an acknowledged saint of his day "and was popularly known as Jangi Dost, because of his love for Jihad"^[20] Jangidost thereby being his sobriquet^[7][21]

His mother Umm al-Khair Fatima,^[22] daughter of Sayyid Abdullah Sawmai az-Zaid^[17][23] through Zain ul Abideen,^[24] was known as a "great saint of his time and a direct descendant of Hazrat Imam Husain, the Great Martyr of Karbala"^[25] He was known as the greatest Sufi scholar of all time as proved in Qaseedada-tul-Gausia where he states " I am Hassani and my abode is my cell, And my feet are on the neck of each Saint. Abdul Qdir is my famous name. And my ancestor is one possessed of an insight Perfect"

Education[link]

He spent his early life in the town of his birth. At the age of eighteen he went to Baghdad (1095), where he pursued the study of Hanbali law under several teachers. The Shaikh received lessons on Fiqh from Abu Ali al-Mukharrimi, a Hadith from Abu Bakr ibn Muzaffar and Tafsir from the renowned commentator, Abu Muhammad Ja'far. In Tasawwuf, his spiritual instructor was Abu'l-Khair Hammad ibn Muslim al-Dabbas. From him, he received his basic training, and with his help he set out on a spiritual journey.

After completion of education, Abd al-Qadir Gilani abandoned the city of Baghdad, and spent twenty-five years as a wanderer in the desert regions of Iraq as a recluse.^[26] it is also notable that in Iraq or Arab "Sheikh" known as a saint and those saint or religious leader are Syed they known as "Sharif" like Allama Razi Sharif etc. hence it is understandable that how Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jillani is known as Syed. Please clarify that he became a Hafiz -e- Quraan in 4.5 years age.

Later life[link]

He was over fifty years old by the time he returned to Baghdad in 1127, and began to preach in public. He moved into the school belonging to his old teacher al-Mukharrimii; there he engaged himself in teaching. Soon he became popular with his pupils. In the morning he taught hadith and tafsir, and in the afternoon held discourse on science of the hearts and the virtues of the Qur'an.

He busied himself for forty years in the service of Islam from 521 to 561 AH. During this period hundreds of thousands of people converted to Islam because of him and organized several teams to go abroad for dawah purposes.

He was also the teacher of Ibn Qudamah whom he also designated as a Caliph of his Sufi order. Ibn Qudamah also later fought as a general in Sultan Saladin Ayyubi's army and conquered Jerusalem from the Christian dominance.

Death[link]

He died on Saturday night 1166 (11 Rabi'us sani 561AH)^[27] at the age of ninety one years (by the Islamic calendar), and was entombed in a shrine within his Madrassa in Baghdad.^[28][29][30] His Shrine and Mosque are in what used to be the school he preached in, located in Babul-Sheikh, Resafa (East bank of the Tigris) in Baghdad, Iraq. Worldwide the Sufi orders celebrate Ghouse-al-azham day on 11th al-thani closest to his birthday not his death-date for respect and elevation of their Shaykh which is 10th of Rabi at-Thani in the Islamic calendar^[27]

Al-Gilani succeeded the spiritual chain of Junayd Baghdadi. His contribution to thought in the Muslim world earned him the title Muhiyuddin (lit. "The reviver of the faith"), as he along with his students and associates laid the groundwork for the society which later produced stalwarts like Nur ad-Din and Saladin.

Family[link]

The Shaikh had four virtuous wives and forty-nine children, twenty-seven sons and twenty-two daughters.^{[citation needed]} The most famous of his sons are Shaikh Abdul-Wahab, Sheikh Abdul-Razzaq, Shaikh Abdul-Aziz, Shaikh Isa, Shaikh Musa, Sheikh Yahya, Sheikh Abdullah, Sheikh Muhammed and Sheikh Ibrahim. His sons and grandsons reached the Indian sub-continent throughout the years preaching Islam in his method (Arabic=Tareqa,طريقة). As they have reached North Africa and Morocco, and parts of the Horn of Africa (Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Somalia (a country that predominantly professes to the Qadiriyyah order only in the Sufi Path though small patches of Ahmed ibn Idris' order is found) ). In Somalia the order is subdivided to Zaylaiyyah order and Uwaisiyyah order.His namaz cap or Kulhe Mubarak is currently with The Family of Syed Jalaluddin Hasan now with his daughters Raees Hasan& Anees Khan. It Ziyarat is done every year.

Works[link]

Some of Jilani's more well known works include:

• Qaseedat-Tul-Gausia (Available in English translation and tranliteranation on the following websight [scroll down] www.spiritualfoundation.net/qadiriya.htm )
• Al-Ghunya li-talibeen tariq al-haqq wa al-din (Sufficient Provision for Seekers of the Path of Truth and Religion)
• Al-Fath ar-Rabbani (The Sublime Revelation)available for download (urdu)
• Malfuzat (Utterances)
• Futuh al-Ghaib (Revelations of the Unseen) available for download (urdu) (English)
• Jala' al-Khatir (The Removal of Care)
• Sir Al-Asrar (Secret of Secrets) Available for Purchase in English

Bibliography[link]

• Utterances of Shaikh Abd al-Qadir al-Jīlānī (Malfūzāt) / transl. from the Arabic by Muhtar Holland Malfūzāt

Author: Muhtar Holland (1935-) Year: 1994, Publisher: Kuala Lumpur : S. Abdul Majeed & Co, ISBN 1-882216-03-2

• Fifteen letters, khamsata ashara maktūban / Shaikh Abd Al-Qādir Al-Jīlānī ; translated from the Persian into Arabic by Alī usāmu ́D-Dīn Al-Muttaqī ; and from Arabic into English by Muhtar Holland, Kamsata ašara maktūban

Author: ʿAlāʾ al-Dīn ʿAlī b. ʿAbd al-Malik al- Muttaqī al-Hindī (ca1480-1567); Muhtar Holland (1935-) Year: c1997 Edition: 1st ed Publisher: Hollywood, Fla : Al-Baz Pub ISBN 1-882216-16-4

• The removal of cares = Jalā Al-Khawātir : a collection of forty-five discoures / Shaikh Abd Al-Qādir Al-Jīlānī ; transl. from the Arabic by Muhtar Holland

Jalā al-Khawātir Author: Muhtar Holland (1935-) Year: c1997 Publisher: Ft. Lauderdale, Fla : Al-Baz Pub Extent: xxiii, 308 p Size: 22 cm ISBN 1-882216-13-X

• The Sultan of the saints : mystical life and teachings of Shaikh Syed Abdul Qadir Jilani / Muhammad Riaz Qadiri

Author: Muhammad Riyaz Qadiri Year: 2000, Publisher: Gujranwala : Abbasi Publications, Size: 22 cm, ISBN 969-8510-16-8

• The sublime revelation = al-Fath ar-Rabbānī : a collection of sixty-two discourses / Abd al-Qādir al- Jīlānī ; transl. from the Arabic by Muhtar Holland, al-Fath al-Rabbānī

Year: 1998 Edition: 2nd ed, Publisher: Ft. Lauderdale : Al-Baz Publishing, ISBN 1-882216-02-4

• Al-Ghunya li-talibi tariq al-haqq wa al-din (Sufficient Provision for Seekers of the Path of Truth and Religion), (Arabic), Part I, II, Abd Al-Qadir Al-Gaylani, Pub. Dar Al-Hurya, Baghdad, Iraq, 1988.
• Al-Ghunya li-talibi tariq al-haqq wa al-din (Sufficient Provision for Seekers of the Path of Truth and Religion)

(Arabic), Introduced by Dr. Majid Irsan Al-Kilani, Pub. Dar Al-Khair, Damascus-Bairut, 2005.

• Encyclopædia Iranica

See also[link]

• Qadiriyyah

References[link]

1. ^ ^{a b c} Biographical encyclopaedia of Sufis: Central Asia and Middle East by N. Hanif, 2002, p123
2. ^ ^{a b} The Sultan of the saints: mystical life and teaching of Shaikh Syed Abdul Qadir Jilani, Muhammad Riyāz Qādrī, 2000, p24
3. ^ From the 12th century onward, Sufism spread amongst the Kurds. The main Sufi orders amongst them are the Qadiriya who trace their origin to the Kurdish Sufi 'Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani
4. ^ Philip Khuri Hitti, "Islam, a way of life ", University of Minnesota Press (August 12, 1970). pg 64: "The earliest and most attractive Sufi order was al-Qadiri, named after its founder, the Persian ‘Abd al-Qadir al-Jili (al-Jilani 1077–1166)
5. ^ A Great Saint: Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jilani
6. ^ The works of Shaykh Umar Eli of Somalia of al-Tariqat al-Qadiriyyah 1260H
7. ^ ^{a b} [1]
8. ^ History of Multan: from the early period to 1849 A.D. Ashiq Muhammad Khān Durrani, 1991, p31
9. ^ The Election of Caliph/Khalifah and World Peace by Khondakar G. Mowla, 1998, p180
10. ^ Muslim communities of grace: the Sufi brotherhoods in Islamic religious life by Jamil M. Abun-Nasr, 2007, p94
11. ^ Mihr-e-munīr: biography of Hadrat Syed Pīr Meher Alī Shāh by Faid Ahmad, Muhammad Fādil Khān, 1998, p21
12. ^ Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics: Volume 1. A - Art. Part 1. A - Algonquins By James Hastings, John A Selbie Published by Adamant Media Corporation, 2001. pg 10:"and he was probably of Persian origin"
13. ^ J. Spencer Trimingham, John O. Voll, "The Sufi Orders in Islam", Edition: 2, reprint, illustrated, revised Published by Oxford University Press US, 1998. pg 32: "The Hanbali Qadirriya is also included since 'Abd al-Qadir, of Persian origin was contemporary of the other two
14. ^ Devotional Islam and politics in British India: Ahmad Riza Khan Barelwi by Usha Sanyal, 1996, p144
15. ^ Cultural and Religious Heritage of India: Islam by Suresh K. Sharma, Usha Sharma, 2004, p321
16. ^ Indo-iranica‎Iran Society (Calcutta, India) 1985, p7
17. ^ ^{a b c} The Election of Caliph/Khalifah and World Peace by Khondakar G. Mowla, 1998, p176
18. ^ Historical and political who's who of Afghanistan‎ by Ludwig W. Adamec, 1975, p177
19. ^ The Sultan of the saints: mystical life and teaching of Shaikh Syed Abdul Qadir Jilani, Muhammad Riyāz Qādrī, 2000, p19
20. ^ Mihr-e-munīr: biography of Hadrat Syed Pīr Meher Alī Shāh by Faid Ahmad, Muhammad Fādil Khān, 1997, p27
21. ^ Encyclopaedia of Sufism, Volume 1 By Masood Ali Khan, S. Ram
22. ^ Hadrat Sultan Bahu: life and work‎ Sayyid Ahmad Saīd Hamdānī, 2001, p66
23. ^ Mystical discourses of Ghaus-e-Azam Hazrat Shaikh Syed Abdul Qadir Jilani‎Muhammad Riyāz Qādrī 2002, p66
24. ^ Biographical encyclopaedia of Sufis: Central Asia and Middle East by N. Hanif, p123
25. ^ Ghous ul Azam Dastgir: by Abdul Azīz Urfī, 1973, p2
26. ^ Abd-al-Haqq, Akbar, p.11
27. ^ ^{a b} The works of Shaykh Umar Eli of Somalia of al-Tariqat al-Qadiriyyah
28. ^ Al-Ghunya li-talibi tariq al-haqq wa al-din (Sufficient Provision for Seekers of the Path of Truth and Religion), (Arabic), PartI,II, Abd Al-Qadir Al-Gilani, Pub. Dar Al-Hurya, Baghdad, Iraq, 1988. ,Al-Ghunya li-talibi tariq al-haqq wa al-din (Sufficient Provision for Seekers of the Path of Truth and Religion) (Arabic), Introduced by Dr. Majid Irsan Al-Kilani, Pub. Dar Al-Khair, Damascus-Bairut, 2005
29. ^ Majid 'Ursan al-Kilani, Nash'at al-Tariqat al-Qadiriyah
30. ^ The Qadirya Shrine, Baghdad (PDF)

External links[link]

• 160 Names and Titles of 'Abdu-l Qadir al-Jilani
• Website dedicated to Shaikh Muhyi'din 'Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani
• Dedicated to his lineage, life, works and progeny
• Website regarding Shaykh Abdul-Qadri al-Gilani and his descendants.
• Website dedicated to the Lovers & Followers of the Great Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jilani
• A web site links related to Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jilani
• [2][3][4] Excerpts/Books by Abdul Qadir Jilani

His works[link]

• Complete book "Purification of the Mind (Jila' Al-Khatir)"
• English translations of some of his works Al-Baz
• A Diwan

v t e Sufism and Tariqa Ideas Qutb Wali Abdal Fakir Dervish Tazkiah Baqaa Fanaa Haal Keramat Haqiqa Ihsan Irfan Kashf Lataif Manzil Marifa Nafs Noor Sufi cosmology Sufi metaphysics Sufi philosophy Sufi poetry Sufi psychology Sulook Yaqeen Silsila Practices Anasheed Dhikr Haḍra Muraqaba Qawwali Sama Whirling Ziyarat Sufi orders Azeemia Akbarī Alians Ba 'Alawī Bayramī Bektashī Chishtī Galibī Gulshanī Ḥurūfī Idrīsī Jelvetī Jerrahī Khalwatī Kubrāwī Madarī Malāmatī Mawlāwī Mourīdī Naqshbandī Naqshbandi Uwaisī Khalidiyya Nasuhī Ni'matullāhī Nuqtawī Qadirī Qalāndārī Rifa'ī Safāvī Shadhilī Suhrawardī Sunbulī Tijanī Ussakī Uwaisī Zahedī Notable early Sufi saints and mystics Abdul-Qadir Gilanī Abul-Khayr Ahmad Ghazālī Ahmed Yasāvī Al-Ghazālī Al-Hallaj al-Misrī Al-Qāsim al-Qunawī Amīr Kulal Ardabilī Ata Allah Attar Balım Sultan Baha ūd-Dīn Naqshband Bande Nawāz Baqī Billah Bastamī Bhita'ī Bulleh Shah Shah Waliullah Dehlāvī Farīd ūd-Dīn Fozail Gālib Gharīb Nawāz Ghujdawanī Ghulam Farīd Sheik Edebali Gül Baba Hajji Bayram Hajji Bektash Hazrat Mai Safoora Qadiriyya Haddad Hamadānī Hansvī Harabatī Baba Hasan Basri Mahmud Hudayī Hujwirī ibn ʿArabī Jābir ibn Hayyān Jahangasht Jamī Jan-e-Jānāān Jazoulī Junayd Baġdādī Kākī Kaliyarī Karkhī Kharaqanī Kubrā Nāimī Najib al-Suhrawardī Nasīmī Mansur Al-Hallaj Ni'matullāh Nizām ūd-Dīn Nurī Otman Baba Pir Sultan Qutb ūd-Dīn Haydār Rabbānī Rabia Basri Razī Rifa'ī Rukn-e-Alam Rūmī Ibrahim ibn Adham Saadī Salman al-Farisī Sanai Mevlana Halid-i Bagdadi Sarı Saltuk Semnanī Shadhilī Shahāb al-Dīn Suhrawardī Shams Tabrizī Shiblī Shirazī Sultan Walad Surkh Bukhari Taj al-Dīn Gilanī Umar al-Suhrawardī Uwais al-Qarni Yunus Emre Magtymguly Pyragy Zakariya Zarruq Notable modern Sufi saints Auliya Azeemi Nagpuri Meher Ali Sheikh Muhammad Uthman Sirajuddin Qadeer Piya Muhammad Maliki Gohar Shahi Tahir ul-Qadri Tahir Allauddin Taqi Usmani Abdal Hakim Murad Nazim Al-Haqqani Hisham Kabbani Nuh Keller Nooruddeen Durkee Abdalqadir as-Sufi Zaheen Ghulam Mustafa Reshad Feild Ahmad al-Alawi Ashraf Ali Thanvi Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Abd al-Rahman al-Shaghouri Omar Shah Haeri Raza Khan Syed Shujaat Pir Zulfiqar Abdullah Naqshbandi Sufi Barkat Ali Hafiz Qamaruddin Saheb Qibla Fultali Feisal Abdul Rauf Osman Nuri Topbaş Sufi studies Aguéli Almqvist Burckhardt Chittick Corbin Ernst Frager Guénon Hixon Lindbom Lings Nasr Schimmel Sells Shah Schuon Topics in Sufism Art Fiction History Music Poetry Shrines Texts Portal