Abdul Qadir Gilani

ʿAbdul Qādir Gīlānī, (Persian: ‫عبدالقادر گیالنی‬‎, Arabic: ‫عبدالقادر الجيالني‬‎) known by admirers as
Muḥyī l-Dīn Abū Muḥammad b. Abū Sāliḥ ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Gīlānī al-Ḥasanī wa'l-Ḥusaynī, was
a Hanbali Sunni Muslim preacher, ascet ic, myst ic, jurist , and t heologian, known for being t he
eponymous founder of t he Qadiriyya t ariqa (Sufi order) of Sufism.[10]
 Abdul Qadir Gilani

Title Shaykh al-Islam

Ghawth ul Adham
Sultan ul-Auliya

Personal

Born March 23, 1078 CE

(1 Ramadan, 470 AH)

Gilan, Seljuk Sultanate

Died February 21, 1166 CE

(11 Rabi' al-T hani, 561 AH)

(aged 87)
Baghdad, Abbasid Caliphate

Resting place Baghdad, Iraq

Religion Islam

Children Abdul Razzaq Gilani

Era Islamic Golden Age

(Later Abbasid Era)

Region Baghdad

Denomination Sunni

Jurisprudence Hanbali[1][2]

Creed Athari

Main interest(s) Fiqh, Sufism

 Tariqa Qadiriyya (founder)

Muslim leader

Influenced by
Abu Saeed Mubarak Makhzoomi

Influenced
Abdul Razzaq Gilani, Abdullah Awn, Mu'in al-Din Chishti,[3] Shihab al-Din 'Umar al-Suhrawardi,[3]
Sayyid Mir Jan,[4] Al-Nawawi,[5][6] Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi,[3] Madar Ahmed Shirwac,[7] Uways al-Barawi,
Abadir Umar ar-Rida, Al-Zaylaʽi[8][9]

He was born on 1 Ramadan 470 AH (March 23, 1078) in t he t own of Na'if in Gilan, Iran, and died on
Monday, February 21, 1166 (11 Rabi' al-Thani 561 AH), in Baghdad.[11][nb 1][12] He was a Persian
Hanbali Sunni jurist and Sufi based in Baghdad.[11][1][2] The Qadiriyya t ariqa is named aft er him.[13]

Name

The honorific Muhiyudin denot es his st at us wit h many Sufis as a "reviver of religion".[14] Gilani
(Arabic al-Jilani) refers t o his place of birt h, Gilan.[15][16] However, Gilani also carried t he epit het
Baghdadi, referring t o his residence and burial in Baghdad.[17][18][19]

Family background

Gilani's fat her, Abu Saleh Moosah, was from a Sayyid lineage, t racing his descent from Hasan ibn
Ali, a grandson of t he Islamic prophet Muhammad.[20][21][10] Abu Saleh was respect ed as a saint
by t he people of his day, and was known as Jungi Dost (meaning "gian-lover" in louri), which was
originally his fat her's sobriquet .[10][22][23][24] Gilani's mot her, Ummul Khair Fat ima, was also a Sayyid,
having been a descendant of Muhammad al-Jawad, himself descended from Husayn ibn Ali, t he
younger brot her of Hasan.[25]

Education

Gilani spent his early life in Gilan, t he province of his birt h. In 1095, at t he age of eight een, he
went t o Baghdad. There, he pursued t he st udy of Hanbali law under Abu Saeed Mubarak
Makhzoomi and ibn Aqil.[26][27] He st udied Hadit h wit h Abu Muhammad Ja'far al-Sarraj.[27] His Sufi
spirit ual inst ruct or was Abu'l-Khair Hammad ibn Muslim al-Dabbas.[28] (A det ailed descript ion of
his various t eachers and subject s are included below). Aft er complet ing his educat ion, Gilani left
Baghdad. He spent t went y-five years wandering in t he desert s of Iraq.[29]

School of law

Al-Jilani belonged t o t he Shafi'i and Hanbali schools of law.[30] He placed Shafi'i jurisprudence
(fiqh) on an equal foot ing wit h t he Hanbali school (madhhab), and used t o give fat wa according t o
bot h of t hem simult aneously.[31] This is why al-Nawawi praised him in his book ent it led Bustan al-
'Arifin (Garden of t he Spirit ual Mast ers), saying: "We have never known anyone more dignified t han
Baghdad's Sheikh Muhyi al-Din 'Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani, may Allah be pleased wit h him, t he Sheikh of
Shafi'is and Hanbalis in Baghdad".[6][5][32]

Qadiriyya tariqa (Sufi order) of Sufism

He est ablished Qadiriyya t ariqa order, wit h it s many offshoot s, is widespread, various part s of t he
world, and can also be found in Unit ed Kingdom, Africa, Turkey, Indonesia, Afghanist an, India,
Bangladesh, Pakist an, t he Balkans, Russia, Palest ine, China,[33] and East and West Africa.[34]

The Qadiriyya flourished, surviving t he Mongolian conquest of Baghdad in 1258, and remained an
influent ial Sunni inst it ut ion. Aft er t he fall of t he Abbasid Caliphat e, t he legend of Gilani was
furt her spread by a t ext ent it led The Joy of the Secrets in Abdul-Qadir's Mysterious Deeds (Bahjat
al-asrar fi ba'd manaqib 'Abd al-Qadir) at t ribut ed t o Nur al-Din 'Ali al-Shat t anufi, who depict ed
Gilani as t he ult imat e channel of divine grace [35] and helped t he Qadiri order t o spread far beyond
t he region of Baghdad.[35]

By t he end of t he fift eent h cent ury, t he Qadiriyya had dist inct branches and had spread t o
Morocco, Spain, Turkey, India, Et hiopia, Somalia, and present -day Mali.[35] Est ablished Sufi sheikhs
oft en adopt ed t he Qadiriyya t radit ion wit hout abandoning leadership of t heir local communit ies.
During t he Safavid dynast y's rule of Baghdad from 1508 t o 1534, t he sheikh of t he Qadiriyya was
appoint ed chief Sufi of Baghdad and t he surrounding lands. Short ly aft er t he Ot t oman Empire
conquered Baghdad in 1534, Suleiman t he Magnificent commissioned a dome t o be built on t he
mausoleum of Abdul-Qadir Gilani, est ablishing t he Qadiriyya as his main allies in Iraq.

Later life
In 1127, Gilani ret urned t o Baghdad and began t o preach t o t he public.[36] He joined t he t eaching
st aff of t he school belonging t o his own t eacher, al-Mazkhzoomi, and was popular wit h st udent s.
In t he morning he t aught hadit h and t afsir, and in t he aft ernoon he held discourse on t he science
of t he heart and t he virt ues of t he Quran. He was said t o have been a convincing preacher and
convert ed numerous Jews and Christ ians. He was able t o reconcile t he myst ical nat ure of Sufism
wit h t he sober demands of Islamic Law.[36]

Death and burial

Sheikh Abdul Qadir Gilani Mosque in Baghdad 1925

Gilani died on 21 February 1166 (11 Rabi' al-Thani 561 AH) at t he age of 87.[12] His body was
ent ombed in a shrine wit hin his madrasa in Babul-Sheikh, Rusafa on t he east bank of t he Tigris in
Baghdad, Iraq.[37][38][39]

During t he reign of t he Safavid Shah Ismail I, Gilani's shrine was dest royed.[40] However, in 1535,
t he Ot t oman Sult an Suleiman t he Magnificent had a dome built over t he shrine, which st ill
exist s.[41]

Birthday and death anniversary celebration

1 Ramadan is celebrat ed as Gilani's birt hday while his deat h anniversary is on 11 Rabi' al-Thani,
alt hough some scholars[42] give 29 Sha'ban and 17 Rabi' al-Thani as his birt h and deat h days. In
t he Indian subcont inent , his ‘urs, or deat h anniversary, is called Giyarwee Shareef, or Honoured
Day.[43]
Tomb of Sheikh Abdul Qadir, Baghdad, Iraq.

Books

Kitab Sirr al-Asrar wa Mazhar al-Anwar[44] (The Book of t he Secret of Secret s and t he
Manifest at ion of Light )

Futuh al ghaib (Secret s of t he unseen)

Ghunyat t ut t alibeen (Treasure for seekers) ‫غنیہ الطالیبین‬

Al-Fuyudat al-Rabbaniya (Emanat ions of Lordly Grace)[45]

Fift een Let t ers: Khamsat a 'Ashara Makt uban[46]

Kibriyat e Ahmar[47]

A Concise Descript ion of Jannah & Jahannam[48]

The Sublime Revelat ion (al-Fat ḥ Ar-rabbānī)[49]

See also

Jilala

Moinuddin Chisht i

Bibliography

Sayings of Shaikh Abd al-Qadir al-Jīlānī Malfūzāt , Holland, Muht ar (t ranslat or). S. Abdul Majeed
& Co, Kuala Lumpur (1994) ISBN 1-882216-03-2.
Fifteen letters, khamsata ashara maktūban / Shaikh Abd Al-Qādir Al-Jīlānī. Translat ed from
Persian t o Arabic by Alī usāmu ́D -Dīn Al-Mut t aqī. Translat ed from Arabic int o English by Muht ar
Holland.

Kamsata ašara maktūban. First edit ion. ʿAlāʾ al-Dīn, ʿAlī B., ʿAbd al-Malik al- Mut t aqī al-Hindī
(about 1480–1567) and Muht ar Holland (1935–). Al-Baz publicat ions, Hollywood, Florida. (1997)
ISBN 1-882216-16-4.

Jalā Al-Khawātir: a collection of forty-five discourses of Shaikh Abd Al-Qādir Al-Jīlānī, the
removal of cares. Chapt er 23, pg 308. Jalā al-Khawāt ir, Holland, Muht ar (1935–) (t ranslat or). Al-
Baz publicat ions, Fort Lauderdale, Florida. (1997) ISBN 1-882216-13-X.

The sultan of the saints: mystical life and teachings of Shaikh Syed Abdul Qadir Jilani /
Muhammad Riaz Qadiri Qadiri, Muhammad Riyaz. Gujranwala, Abbasi publicat ions. (2000)
ISBN 969-8510-16-8.

The sublime revelation: al-Fath ar-Rabbānī, a collection of sixty-two discourses / Abd al-Qādir al-
Jīlānī, Second edit ion. al-Rabbānī, al-Fat h. Al-Baz publicat ions, Fort Lauderdale, Florida. (1998).
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), Parts one and two in Arabic. Al-Qadir, Abd, Al-Gaylani. 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.) in Arabic. Int roduced by Al-Kilani, Majid Irsan. Dar Al-Khair, Damascus, Bairut , (2005).

Encyclopædia Iranica, Bibliot heca Persica PresS, ISBN 1-56859-050-4.

Geography of t he Baz Ahhab second reading in t he biography of Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jilani, and
t he birt hplace of his birt h according t o t he met hodology of scient ific research (MA in Islamic
Hist ory from Baghdad Universit y in 2001) of Iraqi researcher Jamal al-Din Faleh Kilani, review
and submission of t he hist orian Emad Abdulsalam Rauf،Publishe Dar Baz Publishing, Unit ed
St at es of America, 2016, t ranslat ed by Sayed Wahid Al-Qadri Aref.

Notes

1. 'Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani (https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/693) at the Encyclopædia

Britannica

References
 1. John Renard, The A to Z of Sufism. p 142. ISBN 081086343X

2. Juan Eduardo Campo, Encyclopedia of Islam, p. 288. ISBN 1438126964

3. 'Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani (20 January 2019). Jamal al-Din Faleh al-Kilani (ed.). "Futuh al-Ghayb
("Revelations of the Unseen")" (https://books.google.com/books?id=sVqEDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA3) .
Google Books (in Arabic). "‫ والشيخ شهاب الدين عمر‬،‫ والشيخ معين الدين الجشتي‬،‫وقد تأثر به القائد صالح الدين األيوبي‬
‫"السهروردي رحمهم اهلل‬

4. Tazkare Khanwade Hazrat Ishaan, by Muhammad Yasin Qaswari, by Kooperatis Lahorin, Edare Talimat
Naqshbandiyya, p. 281

5. "How the Mashaayikh Praise Shaykh 'Abdul Qadir Jilani" (https://web.archive.org/web/2020102000480

1/http://www.iqra.net/articles/Jilani/jilani12.html) . iqra.net. Iqra Islamic Publications. Archived from
the original (http://www.iqra.net/articles/Jilani/jilani12.html) on 20 Oct 2020.

6. "Sheikh Abdul Qadir Al Jilani in Folklore" (https://web.archive.org/web/20201020013241/https://www.fo

lkculturebh.org/en/index.php?issue=14&page=showarticle&id=17) . folkculturebh.org. Folk Culture –
Bahrain. Archived from the original (https://www.folkculturebh.org/en/index.php?issue=14&page=show
article&id=17) on 20 Oct 2020.

7. Burton, Isabel (1898). The Life of Captain Sir Richard Burton Volume 1. Charles Scribner's Sons. p. 121.
ISBN 9783752405637.

8. Reese, Scott S. (2001). "The Best of Guides: Sufi Poetry and Alternate Discourses of Reform in Early
Twentieth-Century Somalia" (https://www.jstor.org/stable/3181395) . Journal of African Cultural
Studies. 14 (1 Islamic Religious Poetry in Africa): 49–68. doi:10.1080/136968101750333969 (https://d
oi.org/10.1080%2F136968101750333969) . JSTOR 3181395 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/318139
5) . S2CID 162001423 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:162001423) .

9. Majmu al-Fatawa, Volume 10, Page 455

10. Abdul Qadir Gilani (http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/abd-al-qader-jilani) at Encyclopædia Iranica

11. W. Braune, Abd al-Kadir al-Djilani, The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Vol. I, ed. H.A.R Gibb, J.H.Kramers, E.
Levi-Provencal, J. Schacht, (Brill, 1986), 69;"authorities are unanimous in stating that he was a Persian
from Nayf (Nif) in Djilan, south of the Caspian Sea."

12. The works of Shaykh Umar Eli of Somalia of al-Tariqat al-Qadiriyyah.

13. "Sufism, Sufis, and Sufi Orders: Sufism's Many Paths" (http://islam.uga.edu/sufismorders.html) .
islam.uga.edu. Retrieved 2017-07-21.

14. Mihr-e-munīr: biography of Hadrat Syed Pīr Meher Alī Shāh pg 21, Muhammad Fādil Khān, Faid Ahmad.
Sajjadah Nashinan of Golra Sharif, Islamabad (1998).

15. Encyclopaedia of religion and ethics: volume 1. (A – Art). Part 1. (A – Algonquins) pg 10. Hastings,
James and Selbie, John A. Adamant Media corporation. (2001), "and he was probably of Persian
origin."
16. The Sufi orders in Islam, 2nd edition, pg 32. Triingham, J. Spencer and Voll, John O. Oxford University
Press US, (1998), "The Hanafi Qadirriya is also included since 'Abd al-Qadir, of Persian origin was
contemporary of the other two."

17. Devotional Islam and politics in British India: Ahmad Riza Khan Barelwi and his movement, 1870–1920,
pg 144, Sanyal, Usha Oxford University Press US, 19 August 1999. ISBN 0-19-564862-5 ISBN 978-0-19-
564862-1.

18. Cultural and religious heritage of India: Islam pg 321. Sharma, Suresh K. (2004)

19. Indo-iranica pg 7. The Iran Society, Calcutta, India. (1985).

20. Historical and political who's who of Afghanistan. p 177. Adamec, Ludwig W. (1975)

21. Qādrī, Muḥammad Riyāz̤ (2000-01-01). The Sultan of the Saints: Mystical Life and Teaching of Shaikh
Syed Abdul Qadir Jilani (https://books.google.com/books?id=VezXAAAAMAAJ) . Abbasi Pablications.
p. 19. ISBN 9789698510169.

22. "Sulook organisation website" (https://web.archive.org/web/20110728070800/http://sulook.org/jsp/bio

graphies/Shaykh_Abd_al-Qadir.pdf) (PDF). Archived from the original (http://sulook.org/jsp/biographie
s/Shaykh_Abd_al-Qadir.pdf) (PDF) on 2011-07-28. Retrieved 2010-02-19.

23. Mihr-e-munīr: biography of Hadrat Syed Pīr Meher Alī Shāh pg 27, Khān, Muhammad Fādil and Ahmad,
Faid. Sajjadah Nashinan of Golra Sharif, Islamabad. (1997)

24. Encyclopaedia of Sufism, volume 1, Kahn, Masood Ali and Ram, S.

25. Qādrī (2000, p. 21)

26. Campo, Juan Eduardo (2009-01-01). Encyclopedia of Islam (https://books.google.com/books?id=OZby

z_Hr-eIC) . Infobase Publishing. p. 4. ISBN 9781438126968.

27. Gibb, H.A.R.; Kramers, J.H.; Levi-Provencal, E.; Schacht, J. (1986) [1st. pub. 1960]. Encyclopaedia of
Islam. Volume I (A-B) (New ed.). Leiden, Netherlands: Brill. p. 69. ISBN 978-9004081147.

28. Malise Ruthven, Islam in the World, p 243. ISBN 0195305035

29. Esposito J. L. The Oxford dictionary of Islam. p160. ISBN 0199757267

30. "The Tariqa of Shaikh 'Abdul Qadir Jilani" (http://www.iqra.dreamhosters.com/articles/Jilani/jilani3.ht

ml) . Iqra Islamic Publications.

31. Vidyajyoti Institute of Religious Studies (1989). Islam in India, Volume 4 (https://books.google.com/boo
ks?id=OUQwAAAAYAAJ) . Vikas Publishing House. p. 219.

32. 'Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani (20 January 2019). Jamal al-Din Faleh al-Kilani (ed.). "Futuh al-Ghayb
("Revelations of the Unseen")" (https://books.google.com/books?id=sVqEDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA8) .
Google Books (in Arabic).
33. Gladney, Dru. "Muslim Tombs and Ethnic Folklore: Charters for Hui Identity" (http://www2.hawaii.edu/~d
ru/articles/tombs.pdf) Journal of Asian Studies, August 1987, Vol. 46 (3): 495–532; pp. 48–49 in the
PDF file.

34. Abun-Nasr, Jamil M. "The Special Sufi Paths (Tariqas)". Muslim Communities of Grace: The Sufi
Brotherhoods in Islamic Religious Life. New York: Columbia UP, 2007. 86–96.

35. Tarin

36. 'Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani (https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/693) at the Encyclopædia

Britannica

37. Al-Ghunya li-talibi tariq al-haqq wa al-din (Sufficient provision for seekers of the path of truth and
religion), parts one and two in Arabic, Al-Qadir, Abd and Al-Gilani. Dar Al-Hurya, Baghdad, Iraq, (1988).

38. Al-Ghunya li-talibi tariq al-haqq wa al-din (Sufficient provision for seekers of the path of truth and
religion) with introduction by Al-Kilani, Majid Irsan. Al-Kilani, Majid, al-Tariqat, 'Ursan, and al-Qadiriyah,
Nash'at

39. "The Qadirya Mausoleum" (http://islamictourism.com/PDFs/Issue%2017/English/66-74%20al%20jilan

y.pdf) (PDF).

40. A.A. Duri, Baghdad, The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Vol. I, 903.

41. W. Braune, Abd al-Kadir al-Djilani, The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Vol. I, 70.

42. Shammsuddin, Khawaja (2017-10-22). Baran-e-Rahmat – The Rain of Mercy Part 2 (https://books.goog
le.com/books?id=BnQCDgAAQBAJ&q=baran+e+rahmat+book) . p. 156. ISBN 978-1-326-75227-9.

43. "Ghousia" (http://www.ghousia.net/GIYARWEE%20SHAREEF.php) .

44. "Sirr-ul-Asrar" (http://www.nafseislam.com/en/Literature/Arabic/Books/SirrulAsrar/SirrulAsrar.htm) .

www.nafseislam.com. Retrieved 2016-08-04.

45. "Al-Fuyudat al-Rabbaniyya" (http://www.al-baz.com/shaikhabdalqadir/Books_and_Text_of_Wisdom/Al-F

uyudat_al-Rabbaniyya/al-fuyudat_al-rabbaniyya.htm) . www.al-baz.com. Retrieved 2021-05-05.

46. Al-Jilani, 'Abd Al-Qadir (2019-05-27). Fifteen Letters: Khamsata 'Ashara Maktuban (https://books.googl
e.com/books?id=QdexAQAACAAJ&q=Abdul+qadir+jilani+books) . Islamic Book Trust. ISBN 978-967-
0526-14-0.

47. "Marfat Library" (http://www.marfat.com/BookDetailPage.aspx?bookId=e0f65833-96e2-4b11-9c24-793

971443707) . www.marfat.com. Retrieved 2021-05-05.

48. A concise description of Jannah & Jahannam, the garden of paradise and the fire of hell : excerpted
from 'Sufficient provision for seekers of the Path of Truth (Al-Ghunya li-Tālibi al-Ḥaqq) (http://worldcat.o
rg/oclc/1158643778) . Ta-Ha. 2010. ISBN 978-1-84200-120-2. OCLC 1158643778 (https://www.world
cat.org/oclc/1158643778) . |first= missing |last= (help)
49. al-Jīlānī, ʻAbd al-Qādir (1998). The Sublime Revelation (al-Fatḥ Ar-rabbānī): A Collection of Sixty-two
Discourses (https://books.google.com/books?id=clKPAAAAMAAJ) . Al-Baz Publishing, Incorporated.
ISBN 978-1-882216-02-4.

External links

Wikiquot e has quot at ions relat ed t o: Abdul Qadeer Gilani

lisanarabs.‫( جغرافية الباز األشهب – قراءة ثانية في سيرة الشيخ عبد القادر الكيالني – جمال الدين الكيالني‬ht t p
s://archive.org/det ails/lisanarabs_ kilany11) GOGHRAFI ALBAZ ALASHB, at archive.org.

Revelat ions of t he Unseen (ht t ps://archive.org/det ails/QadirRevelat ionsUnseen) Translat ion

of Fut uh al-Ghaib, at archive.org.

Sufficient Provision For Seekers Of The Pat h Of Trut h (ht t ps://archive.org/det ails/QADIRJILA
NIAlGhunyaLiTalibiTariqAlHaqqSufficient ProvisionForSeekersOfThePat hOfTrut h) Translat ion
of part s of Al-Ghunya Li Talibi Tariq Al-Haqq, at archive.org.

Openings from t he Lord (ht t ps://archive.org/det ails/AlFat hAlRabbaniexcerpt sByQadirAlJilani)

Translat ion of excerpt s from Al-Fat h Al-Rabbani, at archive.org.

Ut t erances (ht t ps://archive.org/det ails/Malfuzat ut t erancesByQadirAlJilani) Translat ion of

Malfuzat , at archive.org.

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