(Ahrāriyya; alqāb-i silsila-i naqshbandiyya; Khwājagāniyya; Khālidiyya; imān-i iṭāʿī; Mazhariyya; Mujaddidiyya; Ṣiddīqiyya; ṭarīq-i naqshbandiyya; ṭarīqat-i naqshbandiyya; ṭarīqat al-naqshbandiyya; ṭayfūriyya)
The Naqshbandiyya is a major ṭarīqa (Sufi order) among the sādat-i ṣūfiyya (the eminent figures of the Sufi communities). May Allah sanctify their secrets and keep their paths steadfast in tawhid (the oneness of God), iman (faith) in Allah, His Messenger, and all that he brought from Allah. This is the true and genuine iman, and its locus in full is the qalb (the heart). This is the true Naqshbandiyya.
When iman settles in the qalb, its radiance manifests in all the limbs of the body. True iman is only attained by obedience to Allah Most High, seeking His riḍā (contentment with God's decree) in all things, following His Messenger, and opposing the nafs (the lower self) that commands evil. According to the Sufis, true iman is composed of three pillars: The first is iṭāʿī iman, which is the faith Allah inscribed with a spiritual light upon the hearts of the believers (muʾmin) at the very beginning of their creation. The second is affirming the wahdāniyya (oneness) of Allah and all that the Prophet brought. The third is verbal affirmation by saying, with the tongue, “Lā ilāha illā Allah, Muḥammadun Rasūlullah” (There is no god but Allah, Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah). When these three pillars combine, true iman is realized.
To fully realize Islam (submission, being a Muslim) means to manifest one’s incapacity, poverty, humility, and brokenness, and to display submission both inwardly and outwardly, while fulfilling all the rulings of the sharia (the sacred law). This is only achieved by following the Sunnah (the prophetic practice) and acting upon it, by severing the head of the nafs with the sword of spiritual struggle (mujāhada). (Bughyat, 26)
The ḥaqīqa (inner reality) of this ṭarīqa is as follows: To find presence with Allah through constant dhikr (remembrance of God) and contemplation; to not be heedless of Allah in any state or time—whether in prayer, recitation (tilāwa) of the Qur'an, dhikr, eating, drinking, working, in crowds or solitude, in movement or stillness, in sorrow or joy. In all these states, one must not be heedless of Allah, but rather be present with Him (aware of being in His presence). In this ṭarīqa, it is believed that power, strength, qudra (divine power), speech, and action belong only to Allah. Time is not wasted in loss. As our scholars have said: Outward sustenance is attained by the movement of bodies; inward sustenance by the movement of hearts; the sustenance of secrets by stillness; and the sustenance of intellects is attained when the servant becomes annihilated in stillness until he finds rest in the presence of Allah. The nourishment of spirits (arwāḥ) is the dhikr of Allah Most High. Be aware! Hearts (qulūb) find rest only in the dhikr of Allah. The conditions of this ṭarīqa are: to take bayʿa (pledge of allegiance) with a sound covenant, to receive sincere tawba (repentance) from a shaykh who has attained direct witnessing, who is perfect, learned, and practicing. Even though the presence of such a shaykh in this age is rarer than the kibrit-i aḥmar (red sulfur or ruby), the seeker (sālik) attains his goal according to his belief and by the blessing of the shaykh’s company. This is only if the shaykh is learned; if he is ignorant, he cannot rectify others, for he is not qualified for spiritual guidance (irshād). As our scholars have said: Whoever does not have the Qur’an in one hand and the Sunnah in the other is in complete ignorance and has not attained to the Real. How then can such a one be a murshid (spiritual guide) to others! (Bughyat, 30)
The conditions of this ṭarīqa are: knowledge, forbearance (ḥilm), good akhlāq (character), humility, showing compassion to strangers and related good deeds, showing hurma (reverence) to shaykhs, especially submission, and entrusting the training of the murīd (disciple) to the shaykh in matters conforming to the religion. Observing vigilance over the qalb, which is the greatest principle in this ṭarīqa, is also among the conditions. We have explained these in our books Bulūgh al-Amānī and Fuyūḍāt al-Khālidiyya. Whoever wishes may refer to them.
Dressing like the common people is also among the conditions of the Naqshbandiyya. Wearing a crown, shawl, or similar garments is not required. Vocal dhikr is not required. Raising the voice, dancing, singing, and heedlessness are not found in this ṭarīqa. Dhikr without presence is like a thirsty person rinsing his mouth. Nevertheless, great care is given to correcting beliefs related to certainty (yaqīn), to pure intention, to guarding the qalb, to accustoming the nafs to hunger, and to killing the nafs with the sword of spiritual struggle in all acts of worship. They do not attach importance to adornment, appearance, change, or to humiliating the nafs, nor to any particular state one may know (just as no spiritual transformation leads them to arrogance). Whoever belongs to this ṭarīqa has no distinctive clothing. All their forms and garments are on the same level as others. They wear what is appropriate to their state: if a scholar, the dress of scholars; if a ruler, the dress of rulers; if from the common people, the dress of the common people. In both multiplicity and unity (in crowds or solitude), their outward form, character, and states are indistinguishable. (Bughyat, 33)
The pillars (arkān) of this ṭarīqa are: to keep the qalb away from mā siwā Allah (all that is other than Allah), to turn to Allah, and to have tawakkul (reliance upon God) in all matters. This silsila (spiritual lineage), due to being characterized by the Ahl al-Bayt of the Prophet and at the same time being attributed to the hidden Ṣiddīqiyya, is called the Zahabiyya because of its perfect subtlety and purity. (Bughyat, 34)
This ṭarīqa is based on the following principles: concealing one’s state and hiding what is in the mind. By this, they mean that whoever Allah has granted success to enter this ṭarīqa should be veiled by a ḥijāb (veil) so that no one, whether intimate or not, becomes aware of the secret of his obedience, and thus his state and fame are not known among people. When the imam of the ṭarīqa, Bahāʾ al-Dīn Shāh-i Naqshband, was asked about the essence of this ṭarīqa, he replied: The sālik’s outward should be with people, his inward with the Real (Allah). Our scholars have said: The best covering and ḥijāb for this group is for the sālik to be occupied with knowledge, to avoid people’s gaze, and even if he is present in a study circle and is known as righteous and a sālik, no one should know he is among the people of sulūk (spiritual journeying). Rather, concealing the state is the way of veiling the paths. In this way, he is free from ostentation in his journey and dealings with Allah, so that until his dealings with the Real reach the station of complete truthfulness (ṣidq) and perfect ikhlas (sincerity), and until he is authorized for spiritual guidance (irshād), he remains hidden from people. (Bughyat, 35)
The proof preferred by the founder of the Naqshbandiyya among the great Sufis is: Khalwa (spiritual retreat) in the midst of society; solitude among people. The Sufi is both here and far, a stranger and near, on the Throne and on the earth. (Bughyat, 37)
The Naqshbandiyya, the great pole (quṭb-i kabīr), the famous ghawth (ghawth-i shahr), the perpetual possessor of spiritual effusion, the Bukhari (from Bukhara) Uwaysi Shāh-i Naqshband Mawlānā Bahāʾ al-Dīn—Naqshbandiyya
It takes its name from its connection to Muhammad. He was born in the month of Muharram in 718 AH in Qasr-i ʿĀrifān and was among the saints (awliyāʾ) of Bukhara. He passed away in Bukhara on a Monday in the month of Rabiʿ al-Awwal. May Allah be pleased with him. He was called Uwaysi in reference to Uways al-Qarani. (Bughyat, 41)
Naqshbandiyya is the name given to the Naqshbandi silsila (spiritual lineage). Our scholars have explained (bayān) that these names change with the ages and the renewers (mujaddidūn) of the order. Thus: from Abu Bakr al-Ṣiddīq to Tayfūr Isā Abu Yazīd al-Bistāmī, it was called Ṣiddīqiyya; from him to the master of the Khwājagān circle, Shaykh ʿAbd al-Khāliq al-Ghujduwānī, it was called Ṭayfūriyya; from him to the imam of the order, Mawlānā Shaykh Bahāʾ al-Dīn Naqshband Muhammad al-Uwaysī al-Bukhārī, it was called Khwājagāniyya; from him to the great ghawth Mawlānā Khwāja ʿUbaydullah Ahrār, it was called Naqshbandiyya; from him to the pole of the orders, the ghawth of the world, the mujaddid of the second millennium, Mawlānā Shaykh Ahmad Fārūqī Sirhindī, it was called Naqshbandiyya-i Ahrāriyya; from him to the exalted, purified, and sanctified Shams al-Dīn Ḥabībullah Jān-i Jānān Mazhar, it was called Mujaddidiyya; from him to our shaykh and leader, the absolute murshid Mawlānā Khālid dhu’l-Janāḥayn, it was called Mujaddidiyya-i Mazhariyya; from then on, our brethren of the people of gnosis have called it Khālidiyya. These blessed names have been inscribed with letters of light on the forehead of time throughout the ages and will continue by Allah’s grace, bounty, generosity, and abundant ihsan (spiritual excellence and beneficence) and blessings. (Bughyat, 84)
The principles of the ṭarīqat-i Naqshbandiyya are: adhering to the creed of the Ahl al-Sunnah, abandoning dispensations (ruḫṣa) and taking up strictness (ʿazīma), constant vigilance (murāqaba), turning to the Lord, turning away from the adornments of the dunyā (world), and even from everything other than Allah, attaining the quality of presence (ḥuḍūr), benefiting from and imparting knowledge of the religion, remaining in spiritual retreat (khalwa), dressing like the common people, performing dhikr secretly, guarding the breaths (not taking even a single breath in heedlessness of Allah), and adopting the character of the Messenger of God (peace be upon him).
The conditions of the Naqshbandiyya ṭarīqa are: sound belief, sincere tawba, seeking forgiveness from those with rights over one, rejecting all forms of oppression, seeking the satisfaction of adversaries, following the Sunnah in all matters, performing deeds in the most sound manner, avoiding all that is reprehensible (munkar) and innovated (bidʿa), and being careful to distance oneself from whims and evil things. (Jāmiʿ, 14)
The essence of the ṭarīq-i Naqshbandiyya is this: The sālik performs every obligatory act in the strictest and most cautious manner, never abandoning it without necessity. He never commits the forbidden, nor approaches it without dire need. He chooses the most cautious course. In matters of worship, custom, transactions, avoiding destructive things and bad traits, and adorning oneself with good character—if one were to count, these would number in the thousands—he acts according to any of the four madhhabs, always choosing the best, most virtuous, and most excellent of actions. (Jāmiʿ, 112)
Naqḍ al-ʿahd (breaking the covenant) is among the gravest sins. Nāmūs (abandoning part of one’s religion) is considered a type of apostasy, and is nearly tantamount to complete apostasy from the religion. It has been reported that sins are the forerunners of kufr (disbelief)—that is, they are the beginning of kufr. (Anwār, I, 80)