Hakimiyyūn (Sufi Terminology)

Hakimiyyūn is the name given to those who are affiliated with (intisāb) Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ʿAlī Ḥakīm Tirmidhī. Ḥakīm Tirmidhī was one of the leading imams of his time in both the outward (ẓāhirī) and inward (bāṭinī) sciences. He authored many subtle points and works. The foundation of his discourse and his path in Sufism (taṣawwuf) was walāya (friendship with God). He would explain the reality (ḥaqīqa) of walāya, speak about the degrees of the awliyāʾ (friends of God) and the observance of order among them. Ḥakīm Tirmidhī was like a sea without shore, possessing many spiritual states (aḥwāl). To understand his school, the following must first be known: Allah has friends (awliyāʾ) whom He selects by refining them from among the people. Allah has severed His friends from worldly attachments, purchased them from the claims and desires of their nafs (the lower self), placed each of them at a certain degree, and opened for them a gate to meanings (maʿānī). (Hujwīrī, 253)