Khwājā ʿUbaydu’llāh Aḥrār Naqshbandī qaddas-Allāhu sirrahū (may Allah sanctify his secret) was the leading Naqshbandī master in Central Asian states during the 9th century Hijri. He was born in Ramaḍān 806 AH (1404) and passed away on 29th Rabīʿ al-Awwal 895 AH (February 1490). His final place of rest is located in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, which is a place of pilgrimage for the followers of the Naqshbandi Sufi order.
He learned the spiritual path from numerous masters, before receiving the path from the dignified and exalted master Khwāja Yaʿqūb Charkhī, who was a deputy of the founder Shāh Bahāʾ ad-Dīn Naqshband Bukhārī.
Khwāja Aḥrār had numerous deputies who spread the Naqshbandī Aḥrārī order to far flung regions. Following is a list of his deputies mentioned in biographical resources:
- Khwāja Muḥammad ʿAbdu’llāh Aḥrārī, elder son of Khwāja Aḥrār
- Khwāja Muḥammad Yaḥyā Aḥrārī, younger son of Khwāja Aḥrār
- Mawlānā Sayyid Ḥasan Aḥrārī
- Mawlānā Sirāj ad-Dīn Qāsim Aḥrārī
- Sayyid Mīr ʿAbd al-Awwal Nīshāpurī
- Mawlānā Jaʿfar Aḥrārī
- Mawlānā Burhān ad-Dīn Khuttalānī
- Mawlānā Luṭfu’llāh Khuttalānī
- Mawlānā Shaykh Idāmu’llāh
- Mawlānā Sulṭān Aḥmad Aḥrārī
- Mawlānā Abū-Saʿīd Awbahī
- Mawlānā Muḥammad Qāḍī
- Khwāja ʿAlī Tāshkand
- Shaykh Ḥabīb Najjār Tāshkandī
- Mawlānā Nūr ad-Dīn Tāshkandī
- Mawlānāzādah Muḥammad ʿAbdu’llāh Otrārī
- Mawlānā Nāṣir ad-Dīn Otrārī
- Khwāja Hindū Turkistānī
- Mawlānā Ismāʿīl Firkatī
- Mullā ʿAbdu’llāh Ilāhī, Greece
- Mawlānā Fakhr ad-Dīn ʿAlī, Afghanistan
- Shaykh ʿAbdu’llāh Awbahī, Turkey
- Sayyid ʿAlī ʿAmmārī
- Khwāja Muḥammad Zāhid Wakhshī, Tajikistan
The next in the Naqshbandī Mujaddidī Tāhirī spiritual golden chain is Shaykh Muhammad Zāhid Wakhshī.
Related Books
- Khwaja Ahrar (Urdu) by Arif Naushahi, 2010. Based on the author’s doctoral thesis written in Farsi.
- Risalah Waldiyah (Urdu translation), authored by Khwaja Ubayd Allah Ahrar quddis sirruhu, translated from Persian into Turkish by the Mughal emperor Zaheeruddin Babar, translated from Turkish to Urdu by Dr. Muhammad Abdus-Salam, published 2012 by Pakistan Historical Society. Another link, PDF file
- The Letters of Khwajah ‘Ubayd Allah Ahrar and His Associates (English and Persian), collected by Alisher Navoii, edited by A. Urunbaev, translated in English by Jo-Ann Gross. Available on Amazon.com, Google Books
- Rashahat Ain al-Hayat, by Mawlana Ali ibn Hussain Safi, translated in English as “Beads of Dew” by Muhtar Holland. Available on Amazon.com, Kitaabun.com