'Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani, the founder
Contents
The Qadiriya Boutchichiya path belongs to the spiritual heritage of Islam and draws its teaching from a lineage of masters who, for nearly a thousand years, have guided countless men and women in search of the essential. We look back here at the journey of eight of them whose influence proved particularly telling.
’Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani was born in 1077 in the north of present-day Iran, in the region of Gilan bordering the Caspian Sea. He came from a family descended from the Prophet Muhammad, through both Hasan and Husayn, the two sons of ’Ali and Fatima. Legend has it that he was born on a day in the month of Ramadan and refused the breast until sunset. During his childhood, several signs attested that the young ’Abd al-Qadir was destined for great spiritual elevation. He was gifted with uncommon spiritual visions, which made him aware that he was not meant to remain with his parents on his native soil.
Departure for Baghdad
At eighteen, after receiving a very clear new inner indication, he left for Baghdad in order to train in the religious sciences and to make contact with the holy figures of his time. That same year, the famous theologian al-Ghazali went through a profound existential crisis which led him to give up his teaching chair at the university of Baghdad and set out in search of spiritual teaching. The young ’Abd al-Qadir lived in great poverty; homeless, he sought his food among the scraps gathered in the markets. Despite these precarious conditions, he devoted himself entirely to the study of the traditional sciences, seeking out the best teachers in each discipline. At that time he practised intensely the repetition of the divine names, the dhikr, and more particularly the verse: ‘Truly, after hardship comes ease’ (Qur’an XCIV, 5-6).
While he had acquired mastery of thirteen disciplines in the field of the exoteric sciences, he was awakened to the Sufi path by Hammad al-Dabbas and finally received initiation from Shaykh Mubarak Sa’id, who became his spiritual guide. Through him, ’Abd al-Qadir inherited the spiritual legacy of such illustrious Sufis as Shibli (861-946), Junayd (830-911) and Hasan al-Basri (642-728), who are named in the chain of transmission of the path, the tariqa, which goes back to the Prophet Muhammad. Following his guide’s directions, ’Abd al-Qadir left the city and then spent some twenty years wandering and in retreat in the desert, meditating on his master’s saying: ‘The shortest road by which a man reaches God is to love Him.’ Complete withdrawal from the world was, at the time, an indispensable stage on the way to the purification of the soul.
Muhyiddin, the reviver of the religion
Around the year 1120 he received the indication to return to the capital so that as many people as possible might benefit from the fruits of his spiritual realisation. He then reappeared in Baghdad and very soon showed himself to be a peerless preacher. He acquired the sobriquet ‘Muhyiddin’, the reviver of the religion, in quite particular circumstances. Returning from a short journey, ’Abd al-Qadir was walking the road to Baghdad when he caught sight of a man lying by the wayside, so weak that he seemed on the point of giving up the ghost. The stranger greeted him and beckoned him to come closer. Our traveller drew near, and then a strange transformation took place: the dying man seemed to recover his strength as the saint approached him. He managed to get back on his feet, his gaze regained its brightness, the colours of life reappeared on his cheeks and lips, and strength and vigour returned to his limbs. Then the man spoke to him and asked: ‘Do you not recognise me?’ At ’Abd al-Qadir’s negative reply, he went on: ‘In truth, I am the religion. I would have remained inert, paralysed, expiring, had God not created you to come to my aid: you are my Muhyiddin! Such shall be your name henceforth.’
At the age of fifty, he received authorisation to become the spiritual master of the tariqa to which he was attached. He was then recognised as the source towards which every heart stirred by ardent longing was to turn in order to find guidance and illumination. After a few years, the number of listeners attending his sermons became so considerable that the venue for his addresses had to be moved several times to accommodate the whole assembly. The most prominent figures showed him deep respect, including the caliphs and even thinkers wary of mysticism. Among his listeners, some wished to go further, and received from his hands the initiation that made them disciples of the path.
The ordeal of the hundred scholars
An edifying anecdote is related about the charisms with which ’Abd al-Qadir was endowed. One day a delegation of a hundred scholars of Baghdad came to visit him with the intention of subjecting him to a sort of examination. ’Abd al-Qadir received them all with courtesy and benevolence. When the moment came for these eminent gentlemen to speak, not one managed to bring a single word out of his mouth. The silence dragged on, impressive and crushing, without any of the scholars being able to break it. ’Abd al-Qadir then spoke gently, and gave the precise theological and juridical explanation each member of the delegation had been waiting for without having been able to formulate it. Their mistake acknowledged, the scholars had nothing left to do but withdraw, all doubt about the legitimacy of their host’s teaching having been dispelled. After this event, ’Abd al-Qadir’s renown grew further still, and funds were raised to build a vast school for the students and a zawiya (spiritual centre) for the disciples of the path. ’Abd al-Qadir spent the rest of his long life teaching and educating tirelessly, surrounded by a large family. The precepts of the zawiya were based on humility, tolerance, charity and poverty. The offerings received were devoted entirely to the running of the establishment, in particular the free lodging of pupils, the needy and travellers.
The birth of the Qadiriyya
Towards the end of his life, ’Abd al-Qadir was regarded as the spiritual pole of his time, and his influence stretched far beyond the borders of Iraq. Yet ’Abd al-Qadir did not, in his lifetime, found a specific path bearing his name. In 1166 he died at a great age and received a deeply moving tribute from all the people of Baghdad. Shortly after his death, his sixteen sons built, next to his zawiya and the school where he taught, a mosque and a mausoleum which received their father’s remains. The spiritual secret, the sirr, of which ’Abd al-Qadir was the depository, was subsequently preserved and transmitted through the Qadiriyya path, which became the first prestigious lineage of recognised and esteemed saints. It then spread beyond the Middle East and managed to take root in countries such as India, Turkestan, Arabia, Egypt and North Africa, then in Asia and across the African continent. The tariqa Qadiriyya is still today the most widespread path in the Muslim world.
