Shaykh Abd ar-Rashid Mujaddidi Naqshbandi (1820-1871)

Shaykh ʻAbd ar-Rashīd Fārūqī Mujaddidī Naqshbandī was a renowned Sufi master of the Naqshbandī Order and a member of the Mujaddidī family of Sufi masters. He was the eldest son and spiritual deputy of Shāh Ahmad Saʻīd Mujaddidī (d.1860).

Biography

He was born in 1235 AH (1820) in Lucknow, India. At the age of ten, he was initiated in the Naqshbandī Sufi path by his grandfather Shāh Abū Saʻīd. He received education from some of the finest scholars of India and the Holy Sanctuaries including his father. In 1256 AH, at a young age, he traveled to the Holy Sanctuaries to perform Hajj pilgrimage. While leaving, he was granted deputyship in the Naqshbandī Order from his noble father.

After the Indian rebellion of 1857, he accompanied his father and family in migration to Madīnah. There he lived for the rest of his life, and trained numerous disciples in the spiritual path of the Naqshbandī Order.

Among his regular practices was the convening of annual Mawlid ceremoney on 11th Rabīʻ al-Awwal, and the anniversaries of his ancestors and spiritual grandmasters. In the Mawlid ceremoney, he would himself recite the Mawlid book written by his noble father. After recitations, he would show the noble hair of the Holy Prophet sallAllāhu ʻalayhi wasallam, that he inherited from his father.

He died in Makkah a few days after Hajj, in 1287 AH (1871). His funeral prayer was led by his brother Shaykh Muhammad ʻUmar Mujaddidī. He was buried close to the blessed tomb of Sayyidah Khadījah radiyAllāhu ʻanhā.

Creed

His era was one of controversies and sectarian differences. The Wahhabi sect was spreading in Arabia as well as in India. He was a staunch follower of the Ahl as-Sunnah creed and the Hanafī school. His son Shāh Muhammad Maʻsūm writes in Zikr-us-Saʻīdain (abridged text):

He considered it valid to listen to religious singing without excessive music.

He considered it praiseworthy (mustahab) to celebrate the anniversaries (ʻUrs or Hawl) of Sufi masters, in the form of recitation of the Qurʼān and distributing food and sweets to the attendees, and sending the reward to the spirit of the person of anniversary.

He considered it valid to call upon the saints to seek help, both present or absent.

He considered it valid to cover the graves of the saints with sheets or flowers.

He considered valid the calls “Yā Rasool-Allāh” and “Yā Nabiyy-Allāh”.

He believed that the dead can listen (in contrast to the Wahhabi doctrine that the dead have no contact with the physical world).

He believed that the noble parents of the Prophet were true Muslims, as were all his ancestors.

Deputies

Among his deputies in the Sufi path are the following:

1. His son Shāh Muhammad Maʻsūm Mujaddidī Rāmpurī, renowned Sufi master, author and poet
2. Shaykh Mansūr Ahmad Mujaddidī Rāmpurī
3. Hāfiz Jamīl-ur-Rahmān Mujaddidī Rāmpurī
4. Shaykh Muhammad Yūsuf Mujaddidī, originally from Delhi, migrated to Madīnah
5. Hāfiz Muhammad Yaʻqūb Mujaddidī, brother of above
6. Hāfiz Nawāzish-Bāqī Mujaddidī Rāmpurī
7. Mirzā Muhammad Naqshbandī alias Shāhrukh-Beg Dahlawī (died in Madīnah)
8. Mullā Rahmatullāh Bukhārī
9. Mullā Nūr-Ahmad Ghaznavī
10. Mullā Muhammad Tājuddīn Qauqandī (buried close to Madīnah)
11. Mawlānā Faiz al-Qadīr Banārasī
12. Sayyid ʻAbdullāh Badakhshānī
13. Mawlānā Shākir Efendi Izmīrī (Turkey)
14. Hāfiz Uthmān Efendi Nūrī Izmīrī (Turkey)
15. Mawlānā Mawlawī Bukhārī Qauqandī (a descendant of Khwāja Ahmad Yasavī)
16. Mullā Shīrīn Kūlābī
17. Hājī Uthmān Anqaravī (from Turkey)
18. Hājī Umar Efendi (from Turkey)
19. Hājī Husayn Efendi (from Turkey)
20. Shaykh ʻAbd ar-Razzāq Qazānī (Tatarstan, Russia)
21. Hājī Mullā Walī Qazānī (Tatarstan, Russia)
22. Hājī Husayn Qazānī (Tatarstan, Russia)
23. Hājī Hāmid Marghīnānī (Uzbekistan)
24. Hājī Mahmūd Bukhārī
25. Mullā ʻUbaydullāh Marghīnānī (Uzbekistan)
26. Sayyid Nāsir Wazīr Dahlawī (d.1299 AH), successor of Mīr Dard Dahlawī
27. Sufi Darāsatullāh Bengālī
28. Mullā Muhammad Yūsuf Bukhārī
29. Sayyid ʻAbd al-Qādir Hāshim Madanī
30. Shaykh Abul-Hasan Sammān Madanī (died in young age)
31. Shaykh ʻAbd al-Hafīz Ilyās Madanī (died in young age)
32. Sayyid Amīr Nawāb Bihārī
33. Mawlānā Abul-Barakāt Bihārī

Nawāb Kalb-ʻAlī Khān, the chief of Rāmpur, was also one of the qualified disciples and sincere followers of Shaykh ʻAbd ar-Rashīd. Initially a Shia, he converted to Sunni Islam and was initiated in the Naqhsbandī Path by the Mujaddidī Sufi masters.

References

1. Zikr-us-Saʻīdain (Urdu), by Shāh Muhammad Maʻsūm Mujaddidī Rāmpurī