How Original Islam came to be called Qadiriyyah

ABDUL-QADIR GILANI

Al-Syed Muhiyudin Abu Muhammad Abdal Qadir al-Gilani al-Hasani wal-Hussaini, (Persian: عبد القادر گیلانی, Urdu: عبد القادر گیلانی Abdolqāder Gilāni) (also spelled Abdulqadir Gaylani, Abdelkader, Abdul Qadir, Abdul Khadir - Jilani, Jeelani, Jilali, Gailani, Gillani, Gilani, Al Gilani) or simply known as Ghaus-e-Azam (470–561 AH) (1077–1166 AD) was a Persian Hanbali preacher, Sufi sheikh and the figurehead of the Qadiri Sufi order one of the oldest orders dedicated to Keeping the Sufi Truths in Sunni Islam. He was born on a Wednesday the 10th Rabi at-Thani in 470 AH, 1077 AD, in the Persian province of Gilan (Iran) south of the Caspian Sea.

Abdul-Qadir ibn Abi Salih Musa ibn Abdullah ibn Yahya ibn Muhammad ibn Abu Muhammad AbuBakr Dawud ibn Musa ibn Abdullah ibn Musa Jawni ibn Abdullah ibn Hassan al-Muthanna ibn Hassan ibn Ali ibn Abi Talibi. On his mother side, she is the daughter of a saintly person Abdullah Sawmai who was a direct descendant of Imam Husain ibn Ali making the Shaykh also al-Husayni of Shariah Balance.

Al-Gilani was born in 1078 AD (471 AH), in a small town of Iranian Gilan Province. His ancestors were Syeds who settled in Gilan (arabacized to Jilan) hence the epiphet of al-Jilani. “ Sayyid Abu Muhammad Abdul Qadir R.A was born in Naif in the district of Gilan in Persia (Iran) in the month of Ramadan. His father's name was Abu Salih, who was a God-fearing man and a direct descendant of Hazrat Imam Hasan R.A., the eldest son of Ali R.A, the Holy Prophet's (SAW) first cousin, and of Fatima R.A his beloved daughter. His mother was the daughter of a saintly person, Abdullah Sawmai, who was a direct descendant of Imam Husain A.S, the younger son of Ali R.A and Fatima R.A. Thus Sayyid Abdul Qadir was both a Hasani and Hussainii”. His complete name was Al-Syed Muhiyudin Abu Muhammad Abdal Qadir al-Gaylani al-Hasani wal-Hussaini Syed. Denoting his honorific title of descendance from the Islamic prophet Muhammad, Muhiyudin his title for being known popularly as "the reviver of religion", Abu Muhammad his Kunya or nick name (meaning father of Muhammad'), al-Gaylani denoting the region he hailed from although he also had the epiphet al-Baghdadi. (Denoting also the city of Baghdad where he was now residing in and also geographically recognised through, eventually being buried there), and al-Hasani wal-Hussaini affirming his lineal descent from both Syed Imam Hasan and Imam Hussain, the grandsons of Muhammad. His father, Syed Abu Saleh Musa al-Hasani, was a direct descendant of the Syed Imam Hasan. He was an acknowledged saint of his day "..and was popularly known as Jangi Dost, because of his love for Jihad" Jangi dost thereby being his sobriquet His mother Ummal Khair Fatima, daughter of Syed Abdullah Sawmai az-Zaid a descendant of Syed Imam Hussain through Imam Zain ul Abideen, he was known himself as a "great saint of his time and a direct descendant of Hazrat Imam Husain, the Great Martyr of Karbala" 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, Hadith from Abu-Bakar-bin-Muzaffar, and tafsir from the renowned commentator, Abu Muhammad Jafar. When he was on the way going to "Baghdad" with a large convoy (Qafila), a group of thieves attacked the convoy and took all of their precious belongings, one of the thieves came to him (Sheikh Abdul-Qadir Gilani) and asked him "Boy, tell me what you have in your luggage". He replied "I have forty dinars". The thief searched all of his luggage and could not find the dinars. He then took the boy to his sardar (master) and told him that this boy (Sheikh Abdul-Qadir Gilani) claims he has forty dinars, but after searching his belongings, I could not find the dinars. The sardar (master) then asked, "Boy, do you lie?" He replied "No, I am not lying, the dinars were sewn by my mother into my shalwar". Then one of the thieves checked and found the money. The sardar then asked him. "Boy, you could have lied to us and could have saved your money, why you didn't you lie?" Sheikh Abdul-Qadir Gilani replied "Before I started my journey, my mother advised me to tell the truth even if someone tries to kill me as Allah frowns upon those who do not speak the truth". After listening to this, the sardar began to cry. This little boy had so much fear of Allah that he did not lie. He felt guilt for all his wrong doings and felt the fear of Allah so the sardar then gave back all of the looted things to their owners. In Tasawwuf (the sciences of the heart), his spiritual instructor was Shaikh Abu'l-Khair Hammad bin 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, Abdul-Qadir Gilani abandoned the city of Baghdad and spent twenty-five years as a wanderer in the desert regions of Iraq as a recluse. 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; 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 devoted himself for forty years learning Shariah from 521 to 561 AH. During this period hundreds of thousands of people converted to Sunni 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 Qadri order as well as the restorer of the four Shariah Schools of Thought and the One who preserved the Sufi part of Sunni Islam that was being taken out by the Al-Hadith Sunni Innovators for the second time. Ibn Qudamah also later fought as a general in Sultan Saladin Ayyubi's army and conquered Jerusalem from the Christian dominance. His work and jurisprudent influenced Ibn Taymiyyah who referred to both Ibn Qudamah and Shaikh Al-Gilani as his Shaikhs with full honorifics. He sheikh died on Saturday night 1166 (8th Rabi' al-Awwal 561AH) at the age of ninety one years (by the Islamic calendar). 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 Qadiriyyah celebrate Ghawth al-a'tham day on Wednesday closest to his birthday not his death-date for respect and elevation of their Shaykh, which is the tenth Rabi at-Thani in the Islamic calendar. 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 to this day stands as the Guardians of Shariah. His Sufi-Sunni order named after him is generally thought to be one of the most popular Sufi orders of the Islamic world.

IBN QUDAMAH

Ibn Qudamah Al-Sunni of Shariah

He was Muwaffaq ad-Deen Abu Muhammad 'Abd Allaah Ibn Ahmad Ibn Muhammad Ibn Qudaamah Ibn Miqdaam Ibn Nasr Ibn 'Abdillaah al-Maqdisee, who later became ad-Dimashqi, as-Saalihee. Imam Mawaffaq ad-Din Abdullah Ibn Ahmad Ibn Qudama al-Maqdisi (Arabic ابن قدامة Ibn Qudamah) was a noted Islamic scholar of the Hanbali madhhab, author of many treatises of Hanbali jurisprudence and doctrine, including al-Mughni (the most widely known textbook of Hanbali fiqh) as well as Tahrim an-Nazar (Censure of Speculative Theology, criticism of Ibn Aqil's rationalist views.) He was born in Palestine, and died in Damascus. He had three main companions one who was a Scholar of the Text Books of Maliki fiqh, one who was a Scholar of the Text Books of Hanafi fiqh and one who was a Scholar of the Text Books of Shafi'i fiqh.

When the constant decline of Shariah Madhhab was occurring, it was he that proclaimed that the extraction of Sufi truths was to blame for it's decline. The sect of Al-Hdith Sunnis sought to provoke a Kalam resulting in such fitna, that Arabia was almost conquered by Roman Catholic Templars. Finally, Ibn Qudamah agreed to an Ijtihad that lasted five days. By the fifth Day, Ibn Qudamah and his three companions were victorious. He was born in Palestine in Sha'aban 1147AD/541AH. He memorized the Qur'an at an early age, studying its sciences and was known to have nice handwriting. At the age of ten his family moved to Damascus, where he memorized the Qur'an, in addition, to an abridged form of Al-Kharqi (a Hanbali book of Fiqh). He left with his cousin, 'Abd al-Ghani, for Baghdad in 561AH and met Abdul-Qadir Gilani shortly before he died. They stayed at his school, learning from him as well as from other scholars and students of knowledge of that time such as Abu-al-Faraj ibn Al-Jawzi, Hibat-ullaah Ibn Al-Hasan Ad-Daqaq, Abi'l Fath Ibn Al-Battee, Abi Zur'ah Ibn Tahir, Yahya Ibn Thabit, Khadeejah An-Nahrawaniyah and others May they all enter Paradise for their service to Islam.

The names of the three Scholar Companions were Abi al-Makarim ibn Hilal (Syria) Abi al-Fadl at-Tusi (Iraq) Al-Mubarak ibn at-Tabbakh (Mecca) May these Saints enter Paradise