The Chilla of Ghaus Pak at Dharavi

The Chilla of Ghaus Pak at Dharavi, a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.

from wikipedia
Abd al-Qadir al-Gilani (Arabic: عبد القادر الجيلاني‎), (Kurdish: Evdilqadirê Geylanî, Persian: عبد القادر گیلانی‎,Urdu: عبد القادر آملی گیلانی Abdolqāder Gilāni) (also spelled Abdulqadir Geelani, Abdelkader, Abdul Qadir, Abdul Khadir - Jilani, Jeelani, Gailani, Gillani, Gilani, Al Gilani or Keilany) (born the first day of Ramadan, 470, Naif, District of Gilan, Mazandaran Province, Iran, died 11 Rabīʿ ath-Thānī 561 AH, in a small town of Gilan Province, 1077–1166 CE), was an Islamic religious figure, teacher, preacher and writer to whom Sunni scholars refer. Abdul Qadir is a patron saint of Kurds and is also held in veneration by Muslims of the Indian subcontinent where followers may call him "Ghaus-e-Azam".[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]

Al-Gilani was born in the latter part of the 11th century, CE. His father was Abu Salih Musa al-Hasani, a descendant of Hazrat Imam Hasan, the eldest son of Ali, Muhammad's first cousin, and the husband of Fatima, Muhammad's daughter. Al-Gilani's mother was the daughter of Abdullah Sawmai, a descendant of Imam Husain, the younger son of Ali and Fatima. Thus, Al-Gilani was both a Hasani and Hussaini.[9]
[edit]Lineage

[edit]From Father
Abdul-Qadir Gilani son of Abu Salih Musa son of Abi Abdullah son of Yahya Zahid son of Muhammad son of Dawud son of Musa Sani son of Abdullah Sani son of Musa al-Jaun son of Abdullah al-Mahaz son of Hasan Musanna son of Hasan ibn Ali
[edit]From Mother
Abdul-Qadir Gilani son of Um-ul-Khayr Fatima daughter of Abdullah as-Soma'i Muhammad son of Abu Mahmood Muhammad Tahir son of Abdul Ata Abdullah son of Abu Kamaluddin Isa son of Muhammad al-Taqi son of Ali al-Ridha son of Musa al-Kadhim son of Jaffar al-Sadiq son of Muhammad al-Baqir son of Zayn al-Abidin son of Husayn ibn Ali
[edit]Name

Within Al-Gilani's full name, al-Sayyid Muhiyudin Abu Muhammad Abdal Qadir al-Jilani al-Hasani wal-Hussaini, the word Sayyid denotes his descent from Muhammad.[10] The name Muhiyudin describes him as a "reviver of religion".[11] The phrase, al-Jilani refers to Al Gilani's region of birth.[12][13] However, Al-Gilani also carried the epithet, al-Baghdadi.[14][15][16] referring to his residence and burial in Baghdad. The phrase al-Hasani wal-Hussaini affirms his lineal descent from both Hasan ibn Ali and Hussein ibn Ali, the grandsons of Muhammad.[3][17]
[edit]Paternal heritage
Al Gilani's father was a sharif.[18][19] He was respected as a saint would be, by the people of his day and was known as "Jangi Dost", (one who loves God), thus "Jangidost" was his sobriquet.[1][20][21]
[edit]Maternal heritage
Al Gilani's mother, Umm al-Khair Fatima, was the daughter of Sayyid Abdullah Sawmai az-Zaid and Zain ul Abideen[17][22][23][24] Abideen was known as,
"a great saint of his time and a direct descendant of Hazrat Imam Husain, the great martyr of Karbala."[25]
Abideen professed his greatness as a Sufi scholar,
"I am Hassani and my abode is my cell,
And my feet are on the neck of each Saint.
Abdul Qadir is my famous name.
And my ancestor is one possessed of an insight Perfect."
(Qaseedat-tul-Gawthia.).
[edit]Education

Al Gilani spent his early life in Naif, the town of his birth. In 1095, at the age of eighteen years, Al Gilani went to Baghdad. There, he pursued the study of Hanbali law. Abu Ali al-Mukharrimi gave Al Gilani lessons about Fiqh. He was given lessons about Hadith by Abu Bakr ibn Muzaffar. He was given lessons about Tafsir by Abu Muhammad Ja'far, a commentator. In Tasawwuf, his spiritual instructor was Abu'l-Khair Hammad ibn Muslim al-Dabbas. After completing his education, Gilani left Baghdad. He spent twenty-five years as a reclusive wanderer in the desert regions of Iraq.[26]
[edit]Later life

In 1127, Al Gilani returned to Baghdad and began to preach in public. He joined the teaching staff of the school belonging to his teacher al-Mukharrimii and was popular with students. In the morning he taught hadith and tafsir, and in the afternoon held discourse on the science of the hearts and the virtues of the Qur'an. From 521 to 561 AH.
During this period hundreds of thousands of people converted to Islam because of him and he organized several teams to go abroad for dawah purposes.[citation needed]
Al Gilani was also the teacher of Ibn Qudamah. Al Gilani made Qudamah a Caliph of his Sufi order. Qudamah later fought as a general in Sultan Saladin Ayyubi's army which took rule in Jerusalem from the Christians.
Al Shaikh Gilani was the great scholar and a heart touching author. His books "Ghuniyat Attalibeen" and "Fatooh ul Ghaib" are very popular among the Muslim religious circles.
[edit]Death and burial

Al Galini died in the evening on Saturday 1166 (11 Rabi'us sani 561AH) at the age of ninety-one years (by the Islamic calendar).[27] His body was entombed in a shrine within his madrassa in Babul-Sheikh, Resafa (East bank of the Tigris) in Baghdad, Iraq.[28][29][30] Worldwide, the Sufi orders celebrate "Ghouse-al-azham day" on Al GIlani's date of death.
[edit]Legacy

Al Gilani continued the spiritual chain of Junayd Baghdadi. His contribution to thought in the Muslim world earned him the title Muhiyuddin, meaning, "the reviver of the faith". Al Gilani, along with his students and associates laid the groundwork for the society which later produced stalwarts like Nur ad-Din and Saladin.[citation needed]
[edit]Descendants

Al Gilani took four wives. He had forty-nine children, twenty-seven sons and twenty-two daughters.[citation needed] Among 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. Since Al Gilani's time, his sons and grandsons have travelled to the Indian sub-continent to preach Islam by his method (Arabic=Tareqa,طريقة).One of the most famous descendents is Syed Abdul Razzaq Nur-ul-Alyn who is the nephew and Sajjada Nasheen of Ashraf Jahangir Semnani starting the Qadiriyyah Ashrafiya Silsila. They have reached North Africa, Morocco, and parts of the Horn of Africa. These areas include Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Somalia. In Somalia, the Qadiriyyah order is dominant although there are small areas where Ahmed ibn Idris' order is found. Again, in Somalia, the order is divided into the Zaylaiyyah order and the Uwaisiyyah order. The daughters of Syed Jalaluddin Hasan(Retd.Forest officer) (Anees Khan,Raees Hasan,&Farees Khan) are the custodians of Al Gilani's namaz (prayer) cap (the "Kulhe Mubarak"). A ziyarat (pilgrimage) is made for Al Gilani each year.