The initiatic chain of the Qadiriya Boutchichiya path
In Sufism, the silsila is the chain of transmission that binds each master to the one who came before him, going back disciple upon disciple to the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). It is what authenticates a tariqa: a path is recognised only if its chain is unbroken, each master having received from his own the spiritual secret (sirr) and the authorisation to transmit it (idhn).
The full chain
As it is handed down within the path, the silsila binds the Prophet to Sidi Mounir by way of ’Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani, then the Darqawa and Tijani masters of the Beni Snassen:
- The Prophet Muhammad, grace and peace be upon him
- ’Ali ibn Abi Talib
- al-Hasan al-Basri
- Habib al-’Ajami
- Sulayman Dawud al-Ta’i
- Ma’ruf al-Karkhi
- Abu al-Hasan al-Sari al-Saqati
- Abu al-Qasim al-Junayd
- Abu Bakr ’Abd Allah al-Shibli
- Razi al-Din Abu al-Fadl ’Abd al-Wahid ’Abd al-’Aziz
- Abu Farah Muhammad Yusuf al-Tartusi
- Abu al-Hasan ’Ali Ahmad al-Qurashi al-Hankari
- al-Qadi Abu Sa’id ’Ali al-Mubarak al-Mukharrimi
- Moulay ’Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani (1077-1166), founder of the Qadiriyya in Baghdad
The transmission then passes through the Tariqa Darqawiyya: Sidi ’Abd al-Razzaq the first, Sidi Isma’il, Sidi ’Abd al-Razzaq the second, Sidi Muhammad, Sidi Muhammad, Sidi ’Abd al-Qadir, Sidi ’Ali Sidi Shu’ayb, Sidi al-Hasan, Shaykh Abu Dakhil, Sidi Muhammad, Sidi Muhammad, Sidi Muhammad Abu Dshish, Sidi ’Ali (the eponymous ancestor), Sidi Muhammad, Shaykh al-Mukhtar the first, al-Hajj al-Mukhtar, al-Hajj Muhyi al-Din, Sidi al-Mukhtar.
The chain then crosses the Tariqa Tijaniyya: Sidi Muhammad Lahlu al-Fassi, Sidi al-Mukhtar (Sidi Hamza’s great-grandfather), Sidi al-Mahdi Bel’arian, Sidi Bumadyan ben al-Mnawwar al-Qadiri al-Butshishi, then:
- Sidi al-Hajj al-Abbas (1890-1972), Sidi Jamal’s grandfather
- Sidi Hamza (1918-2017), Sidi Jamal’s father
- Sidi Jamal (1942-2025)
- Sidi Mounir, the current guide of the path
The return of the secret
The family silsila has not always been a chain of guidance. After Sidi Ali, the sirr had been lost: what remained was only a sainthood of blessing (tabarruk). It was Sidi Abu Madyan al-Qadiri (1873-1957) who reintroduced it into the line after receiving it from masters outside the family, and who then transmitted it to his two disciples, Sidi Abbas and Sidi Hamza.
A threefold filiation
The Qadiriya Boutchichiya takes its name from the Qadiriyya, the brotherhood founded in Baghdad by Moulay ’Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani. But its chain crosses other great lineages: Sidi Abu Madyan held the sirr from Tijani masters (Sidi Ben Ariane) and Shadhili ones (Sidi Ahmed Lahlou, the disciple of Sidi Muhammad ben Ali). The path is thus attached to a threefold initiatic filiation: Qadiri, Tijani and Shadhili.