ʿAbd al-Razzāq b. ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī (c. Dhu al-Qi'dah 528 AH – 6 Shawwal 603 AH/9 September 1134 – 7 May 1207),[3] also known as Abū Bakr al-Jīlī or ʿAbd al-Razzāq al-Jīlānī (often simplified as Abdul-Razzaq Gilani) for short, or reverentially as Shaykh ʿAbd al-Razzāq al-Jīlānī by Sunni Muslims, was a PersianSunni MuslimHanbalitheologian, jurist, traditionalist and Sufi mystic based in Baghdad. [4] He received his initial training in the traditional Islamic sciences from his father, Abdul-Qadir Gilani (d. 1166), the founder of the Qadiriyyaorder of Sunni mysticism, prior to setting out "on his own to attend the lectures of other prominent Hanbali scholars" in his region. [5] He is sometimes given the Arabic honorary epithet Tāj al-Dīn (Crown of the Religion) in Sunni tradition, due to his reputation as a mystic of the Hanbali school.[5]
His full name is, Sultan-ul-Faqr IV Abu Bakr Taj-ud-Din Shaikh Syed Abdul Razzaq Jilani, the word Syed denotes his descent from Muhammad.[11] The name Taj-ud-Din describes him as a "crown of religion" as he was the Mufti of Iraq.[12] The phrase, al-Jilani refers to Gilan, the place of his father's birth and he carried the family name.[13][14] However, Abdul Razzaq also carried the epithet, Sultan ul Faqr IV, referring to his spiritual status.[15] His patronymic is Abu Bakr although rarely included as part of his name.[16]
Life
He received religious and spiritual education directly from his father. He gained knowledge of hadith and Fiqh from his father, muhaddiths and a learned group of scholars. Being a Mufti of Iraq and due to his excellence as a jurist and scholar, he received the title of ‘Taj-ud-Din’ which literally means ‘the crown of religion’.[17] He was known for his abstinence and renunciation spending most of his time in prayers and dhikr. He only met people to preach, turning many devotees into notable scholars and mystics.
Hafiz Imad-ud-Din Ibn-e-Kathir wrote: "Hazrat Abdul Razzaq was a perfectly accomplished mystic, ascetic and pious person. No one among the children of Shaikh Abdul Qadir Jillani was more learned and accomplished than he. He rejected worldly riches, status and high posts. He was least interested in worldly pleasures and always looked forward to the hereafter. He listened and learnt Hadith from many scholars and many people learnt Hadith from him".[18]
The Incident of Celestial Beings
One day Shaikh Abdul Razzaq was present in the assembly of his father. Some mysterious and invisible beings were flying across the sky. When he feared what he saw, but Abdul Qadir Gilani told him not to worry as he was one of them. Hazrat Abu Zura'a Zahir Bin Al-Muqqadas Al-Dari was reported to have said:[19]
“Today, a few such people are also present here who live across the mountain of Qa'f Qudas, their foot steps are in the air, their cloaks and the crowns of love of Allah on their heads are burning due to the extreme fire of Divine passion." Shaikh Abdul Razzaq was sitting close to the chair of Shaikh Abdul Qadir Gilani, listening to his words, he lifted his head and gazed at the sky. In a moment his cloak and turban started burning and he fainted. Abdul Qadir Gilani rose up and put the fire out with his hands saying "Oh Abdul Razzaq you are also one of them". Abu Zura'a says that "after the sermon I asked Shaikh Abdul Razzaq about the incident. He explained that when he gazed at the sky he saw some celestial spiritual people in the air whose cloaks and turbans were blazing with the extreme fire of Divine passion and they were circling and dancing in the air, they were thundering like clouds with the ache of Divine love. Seeing them he also felt the same".
The founder of the Qadiriyya, Abdul Qadir Gilani, was a respected scholar and preacher.[22] Having been a pupil at the school (madrasa) of Abu Saeed Mubarak Makhzoomi he became the leader of this school after Makhzoomi's death in 1119. Being the new sheikh, he and his large family lived comfortably in the madrasa until his death in 1166, when his son, Abdul Razzaq, succeeded his father as the sheikh. The Qadiriyya flourished and remained an influential Sunni institution. By the end of the fifteenth century the Qadiriyya had distinct branches and had spread to present-day Morocco, Spain, Turkey, India, Ethiopia, Somalia and Mali.
On the Indian subcontinent, Sultan Bahoo spread the Qadiriyya order. His method of spreading the teachings of the Sufi doctrine of Faqr was through his Punjabi couplets and through his more than written works. He used the method of Dhikr and stressed that the way to reach Divinity was not through asceticism or excessive or lengthy prayers but through selfless love carved out of annihilation in Allah called Divine Love.[citation needed]
Spiritual Lineage
The saintly lineage of Faqr reached Syed Abdul Razzaq Gilani in the following order:[23]
Shaikh Abdul Razzaq Gilani led the Qadiriyya order after his father and Shaikh Abdul Razzaq Gilani granted khilafat of Faqr to his grandson Abdul Jabbar Gilani.[15]
Death and Shrine
The factual accuracy of part of this article is disputed. The dispute is about Abd al-Razzaq's death date, which is given here variously as 6 Shawwal 603 AH, 7 Shawal 613 AH and 595 AH. Please help to ensure that disputed statements are reliably sourced. See the relevant discussion on the talk page.(December 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
His death date is mostly noted to be 6 Shawwal 603 AH. His shrine is besides the shrine of Imam Ahmad Bin Hanbal near Baab-e-Harm in Baghdad. Few visitors and devotees are able to pay their regards due to the flow of river Tigris. He died on a Saturday, the 7 Shawwal 613 AH (some books mentioned 595 H, 1198 A.D) in Baghdad. A large crowd attended his funeral prayers, which were held also in many other places in Baghdad.[24][25]
Works
The following book is found to be Shaikh Abdul Razzaq’s work:
^Juan Eduardo Campo, Encyclopedia of Islam, p. 288. ISBN1438126964
^The works of Shaykh Umar Eli of Somalia of al-Tariqat al-Qadiriyyah.
^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.
^ abOhlander, Erik S., “ʿAbd al-Razzāq b. ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī”, in: Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE, Edited by: Kate Fleet, Gudrun Krämer, Denis Matringe, John Nawas, Everett Rowson.
^Ohlander, Erik S. (2010). "ʿAbd al-Razzāq b. ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī". In Kate Fleet; Gudrun Krämer; Denis Matringe; John Nawas; Everett Rowson (eds.). Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE. Brill. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
^Muslim communities of grace: the Sufi brotherhoods in Islamic religious life pg 94, Abun-Nasr, Jamil M. Columbia University Press. (2007). ISBN978-0-231-14330-1.
^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."
^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."
^The Sultan of the Saints: Mystical Life and Teaching of Shaikh Syed Abdul Qadir Jilani, pg 244, Riyāz Qādrī, Muhammad. Abassi publications, University of Michigan (2000), “My sermon is for the hidden men in whose hearts fire of love is raging.”
^Khair ud Din, Syed (2004). تحفۃ القادریہ سوانح عمری سیدنا شیخ عبدالقادر جیلانی [Tohfa-tul-Qadria] (in Urdu). Translated by Fazal ud Din, Malik. Lahore: Qadri Rizwi Kutub Khana.
^Ilmi Encyclopedia of General Knowledge, pg 427. Zāhid Ḥusain Anjum, Ilmi Kitab Khana, original from the University of Virginia, " Abdur Razzaq Gilani Syed, Hazrat ( —978 A.H.). He was the son of Hazrat Abdul Qadir Jilani Sani, his Mazar is situated in Uch Sharif. Abdur Razzaq Qadiri Shah, ...."
^Jilani, Shaikh Syed Abdul Razzaq (2000). Jala-ul-Khawatir. Maktaba Nabaviyya, Lahore.
