I am the descendant of Al-Syed Muhiyudin Abu Muhammad Abdal Qadir al-Gaylani al-Hasani wal-Hussaini

Pic. from Wikipedia

Note: This map is wrong, 20% of Myanmar are Muslims and more than 90% of Burmese Muslims are Sunni-Hanafis.

My father and grandpa used to remind us to put Syed in front of our Muslim, Islamic Arabic name. But as we need to use the Burmese name as an official name, we omitted Syed and even father’s name and used Abdul Rahman only. By right I should use my name as Dr Ko Ko Gyi @ Syed Abdul Rahman Syedafrudin. This is my fault that I omitted Syed or Sheik in my name.

My maternal Grandpa was a Hafiz. [Hafiz (Arabic: حافظ‎, ḥāfiż, pl. huffāż, f. ḥāfiżah), literally meaning ‘guardian’, is a term used by Muslims in modern days for someone who has completely memorized the Qur’an. Hafiz, however, traditionally is used for a scholar who has mastered and memorized 100 000 hadith complete with their narrators and chains of transmissions. source: Wikipedia.] He was a great preacher every evening in front of his house at the corner of 83^rd. and 29^th. street, Mandalay. He taught not only about Islam but also martial arts.

Let’s look at the the first traceble root of our family in Wikipedia.

Al-Syed Muhiyudin Abu Muhammad Abdal Qadir al-Gaylani al-Hasani wal-Hussaini^[1][2], (Persian: عبد القادر گیلانی Abdolɢāder Gilāni) (also spelled Abdulqadir Gaylani, Abdelkader, Abdul Qadir, Abdul Khadir – Jilani, Jeelani, Jilali, Gailani, Gillani, Gilani,Al Gilani) (470–561 A.H.)(1077–1166 A.D.) was a Persian^[3] Hanbali (Hambali) preacher, Sufi sheikh and the figurehead of the Qadiri Sufi order. He was born on the 1st Ramadan in 470 A.H., 1078 A.D., in the Persian province of Gilan (Iran) south of the Caspian Sea.

Gilani succeeded the spiritual chain of Junayd Baghdadi. His contribution to thought in the Muslim world earned him the title Muhiyuddin (lit. “The reviver of the faith”), as he along with his students and associates laid the groundwork for the society which later produced stalwarts like Nur ad-Din and Saladin. His Sufi order named after him is generally thought to be one of the most popular Sufi orders of the Islamic world.^[4]

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Education 1.2 Later life 1.3 Death 2 Family 3 Culture 4 Works 5 Bibliography 6 See also 7 List of notable personalities 8 References 9 External links

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Biography

Gilani was born in 1078 A.D. (471 A.H.) in a small town of Iranian Gilan Province. His ancestors were Syeds who settled in Gilan (arabacized to Jilan) hence the epiphet of al-Jilani.^[5][6]

“

Sayyid Abu Muhammad Abdul Qadir was born in Naif in the District of Gilan in Persia (Iran) in the month of Ramadan….His father’s name was Abu Salih, a God-fearing man and a direct descendant of Hazrat Imam Hasan, the eldest son of Ali, the Holy Prophet’s first cousin, and of Fatima his beloved daughter. His mother was the daughter of a saintly person- Abdullah Sawmai who was a direct descendant of Imam Husain, the younger son of Ali and Fatima. Thus Sayyid Abdul Qadir was both a Hasani and Hussaini[7]

”

His complete name Al-Syed Muhiyudin Abu Muhammad Abdal Qadir al-Gaylani al-Hasani wal-Hussaini^[8][9], Syed denoting his honorific title of descendancy from the Islamic Prophet Muhammad^[10], Muhiyudin his title for being known popularly as “the reviver of religion”^[11], Abu Muhammad his Kunya or nick name (meaning ‘father of Muhammad’), al-Gaylani denoting the region he hailed from^[12][13] although however he also had the epiphet al-Baghdadi too^[14][15][16] (denoting also the city of Baghdad where he was now residing in and therefore also geographically recognised through, eventually being buried there), and al-Hasani wal-Hussaini affirming his lineal descent from both Syed Imam Hasan and Imam Hussain, the grandsons of the Prophet Muhammad.^[17][18]

His father, Syed Abu Saleh Musa al-Hasani^[19] was a direct descendant of the Syed Imam Hasan^[20][21]. He was an acknowledged saint of his day “..and was popularly known as Jangi Dost, because of his love for Jihad”^[22] Jangi dost thereby being his sobriquet^[23][24]

His mother Ummal Khair Fatima^[25], daughter of Syed Abdullah Sawmai az-Zaid a descendant of Syed Imam Hussain^[26][27] through Imam Zain ul Abideen^[28], he was known himself as a “great saint of his time and a direct descendant of Hazrat Imam Husain, the Great Martyr of Karbala“^[29]

Education

He spent his early life in the town of his birth. At the age of eighteen he went to Baghdad (1095), where he pursued the study of Hanbali law under several teachers. The Shaikh received lessons on Fiqh from Abu Ali al-Mukharrimi, Hadith from Abu-Bakar-bin-Muzaffar, and tafsir from the renowned commentator, Abu Muhammad Jafar.

In Tasawwuf (the sciences of the heart), his spiritual instructor was Shaikh Abu’l-Khair Hammad bin Muslim al-Dabbas. From him, he received his basic training, and with his help he set out on the spiritual journey.

After completion of education, Abdul Qadir Jilani abandoned the city of Baghdad, and spent twenty-five years as a wanderer in the desert regions of Iraq as a recluse.^[30]

Later life

He was over fifty years old by the time he returned to Baghdad in 1127, and began to preach in public. He moved into the school belonging to his old teacher al-Mukharrimii; there he engaged himself in teaching. Soon he became popular with his pupils. In the morning he taught hadith and tafsir, and in the afternoon held discourse on science of the hearts and the virtues of the Qur’an.

He busied himself for forty years in the service of Islam from 521 to 561 AH. During this period hundreds of thousands of people converted to Islam because of him and organized several teams to go abroad for dawah purposes.

Death

Gilani died on Saturday night 1166 (11th Rabi’ al-thani 561AH on the Islamic calendar) at the age of nighty one years, and was entombed in a shrine within his Madrassa in Baghdad.^[31][32][33] His Shrine and Mosque are in what used to be the school he preached in, located in Babul-Sheikh, Resafa (East bank of the Tigris) in Baghdad, Iraq.

Family

The Shaikh had four virtuous wives and forty-nine children, twenty-seven sons and twenty-two daughters.^{[citation needed]} The most famous of his sons are Shaikh Abdul-Wahab, Sheikh Abdul-Razzaq, Shaikh Abdul-Aziz, Shaikh Isa, Shaikh Musa, Sheikh Yahya, Sheikh Abdullah, Sheikh Muhammed and Sheikh Ibrahim. His sons and grandsons reached the Indian sub-continent throughout the years preaching Islam in his method (Arabic=Tareqa,طريقة). As they have reached the Western part of the Arab world of North Africa and Morocco, and parts of the Horn of Africa (Ethiopia, Somalia, Eritrea).

Culture

He died on the 11th of Rabi’ al-thani. He was born in late Sha’aban or early Ramadhan for he was known as an infant to abstain from suckling during the day of Ramadhan.^[34]

Works

Some of Jilani’s more well known works include:

• Al-Ghunya li-talibi tariq al-haqq wa al-din (Sufficient Provision for Seekers of the Path of Truth and Religion)
• Al-Fath ar-Rabbani (The Sublime Revelation)
• Malfuzat (Utterances)
• Futuh al-Ghaib (Revelations of the Unseen)
• Jala’ al-Khatir (The Removal of Care)

Bibliography

• Utterances of Shaikh Abd al-Qadir al-Jīlānī (Malfūzāt) / transl. from the Arabic by Muhtar Holland Malfūzāt

Author: Muhtar Holland (1935-) Year: 1994, Publisher: Kuala Lumpur : S. Abdul Majeed & Co, ISBN 1-88221-603-2

• Fifteen letters, khamsata ashara maktūban / Shaikh Abd Al-Qādir Al-Jīlānī ; translated from the Persian into Arabic by Alī usāmu ́D-Dīn Al-Muttaqī ; and from Arabic into English by Muhtar Holland, Kamsata ašara maktūban

Author: ʿAlāʾ al-Dīn ʿAlī b. ʿAbd al-Malik al- Muttaqī al-Hindī (ca1480-1567); Muhtar Holland (1935-) Year: c1997 Edition: 1st ed Publisher: Hollywood, Fla : Al-Baz Pub ISBN 1-88221-616-4

• The removal of cares = Jalā Al-Khawātir : a collection of forty-five discoures / Shaikh Abd Al-Qādir Al-Jīlānī ; transl. from the Arabic by Muhtar Holland

Jalā al-Khawātir Author: Muhtar Holland (1935-) Year: c1997 Publisher: Ft. Lauderdale, Fla : Al-Baz Pub Extent: xxiii, 308 p Size: 22 cm ISBN 1-88221-613-X

• The Sultan of the saints : mystical life and teachings of Shaikh Syed Abdul Qadir Jilani / Muhammad Riaz Qadiri

Author: Muhammad Riyaz Qadiri Year: 2000, Publisher: Gujranwala : Abbasi Publications, Size: 22 cm, ISBN 969-851016-8

• The sublime revelation = al-Fath ar-Rabbānī : a collection of sixty-two discourses / Abd al-Qādir al- Jīlānī ; transl. from the Arabic by Muhtar Holland, al-Fath al-Rabbānī

Year: 1998 Edition: 2nd ed, Publisher: Ft. Lauderdale : Al-Baz Publishing, ISBN 1-88221-602-4

• Al-Ghunya li-talibi tariq al-haqq wa al-din (Sufficient Provision for Seekers of the Path of Truth and Religion) ,(Arabic),PartI,II,Abd Al-Qadir Al-Gaylani,Pub.Dar Al-Hurya, Baghdad, Iraq, 1988.
• Al-Ghunya li-talibi tariq al-haqq wa al-din (Sufficient Provision for Seekers of the Path of Truth and Religion)

(Arabic), Introdused by Dr. Majid Irsan Al-Kilani, Pub. Dar Al-Khair, Damascus-Bairut, 2005.

• Encyclopaedia Iranica

References

1. ^ Biographical encyclopaedia of Sufis: Central Asia and Middle East by N. Hanif, 2002, p123
2. ^ The Sultan of the saints: mystical life and teaching of Shaikh Syed Abdul Qadir Jilani, Muhammad Riyāz Qādrī, 2000, p24
3. ^ Philip Khuri Hitti, “Islam, a way of life “, University of Minnesota Press (August 12, 1970). pg 64: “The earliest and most attractive Sufi order was al-Qadiri, named after its founder, the Persian ‘Abd al-Qadir al-Jili (al-Jilani 1077–1166)
4. ^ A brief history of Islam‎ by Tamara Sonn, 2004, p60
5. ^ [1]
6. ^ History of Multan: from the early period to 1849 A.D. Ashiq Muhammad Khān Durrani, 1991, p31
7. ^ The Election of Caliph/Khalifah and World Peace by Khondakar G. Mowla, 1998, p180
8. ^ Biographical encyclopaedia of Sufis: Central Asia and Middle East by N. Hanif, 2002, p123
9. ^ The Sultan of the saints: mystical life and teaching of Shaikh Syed Abdul Qadir Jilani, Muhammad Riyāz Qādrī, 2000, p24
10. ^ Muslim communities of grace: the Sufi brotherhoods in Islamic religious life by Jamil M. Abun-Nasr, 2007, p94
11. ^ Mihr-e-munīr: biography of Hadrat Syed Pīr Meher Alī Shāh by Faid Ahmad, Muhammad Fādil Khān, 1998, p21
12. ^ Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics: Volume 1. A – Art. Part 1. A – Algonquins By James Hastings, John A Selbie Published by Adamant Media Corporation, 2001. pg 10:”and he was probably of Persian origin”
13. ^ J. Spencer Trimingham, John O. Voll, “The Sufi Orders in Islam”, Edition: 2, reprint, illustrated, revised Published by Oxford University Press US, 1998. pg 32: “The Hanbali Qadirriya is also included since ‘Abd al-Qadir, of Persian origin was contemporary of the other two
14. ^ Devotional Islam and politics in British India: Ahmad Riza Khan Barelwi by Usha Sanyal, 1996, p144
15. ^ Cultural and Religious Heritage of India: Islam by Suresh K. Sharma, Usha Sharma, 2004, p321
16. ^ Indo-iranica‎Iran Society (Calcutta, India) 1985, p7
17. ^ The Election of Caliph/Khalifah and World Peace by Khondakar G. Mowla, 1998, p176
18. ^ Biographical encyclopaedia of Sufis: Central Asia and Middle East by N. Hanif, 2002, p123
19. ^ Historical and political who’s who of Afghanistan‎ by Ludwig W. Adamec, 1975, p177
20. ^ The Sultan of the saints: mystical life and teaching of Shaikh Syed Abdul Qadir Jilani, Muhammad Riyāz Qādrī, 2000, p19
21. ^ The Election of Caliph/Khalifah and World Peace by Khondakar G. Mowla, 1998, p176
22. ^ Mihr-e-munīr: biography of Hadrat Syed Pīr Meher Alī Shāh by Faid Ahmad, Muhammad Fādil Khān, 1997, p27
23. ^ [2]
24. ^ Encyclopaedia of Sufism, Volume 1 By Masood Ali Khan, S. Ram
25. ^ Hadrat Sultan Bahu: life and work‎ Sayyid Ahmad Saīd Hamdānī, 2001, p66
26. ^ Mystical discourses of Ghaus-e-Azam Hazrat Shaikh Syed Abdul Qadir Jilani‎Muhammad Riyāz Qādrī 2002, p66
27. ^ The Election of Caliph/Khalifah and World Peace by Khondakar G. Mowla, 1998, p176
28. ^ Biographical encyclopaedia of Sufis: Central Asia and Middle East by N. Hanif, p123
29. ^ Ghous ul Azam Dastgir: by Abdul azīz Urfī, 1973, p2
30. ^ Abd-al-Haqq, Akbar, p.11
31. ^ Al-Ghunya li-talibi tariq al-haqq wa al-din (Sufficient Provision for Seekers of the Path of Truth and Religion), (Arabic), PartI,II, Abd Al-Qadir Al-Gaylani, Pub.Dar Al-Hurya, Baghdad, Iraq, 1988. ,Al-Ghunya li-talibi tariq al-haqq wa al-din (Sufficient Provision for Seekers of the Path of Truth and Religion) (Arabic), Introduced by Dr. Majid Irsan Al-Kilani, Pub. Dar Al-Khair, Damascus-Bairut, 2005
32. ^ Majid ‘Ursan al-Kilani, Nash’at al-Tariqat al-Qadiriyah
33. ^ The Qadirya Shrine, Baghdad (PDF)
34. ^ Al-Ghunya li-talibi tariq al-haqq wa al-din (Sufficient Provision for Seekers of the Path of Truth and Religion) ,(Arabic),PartI,II,Abd Al-Qadir Al-Gaylani,Pub.Dar Al-Hurya, Baghdad, Iraq, 1988. ,Al-Ghunya li-talibi tariq al-haqq wa al-din (Sufficient Provision for Seekers of the Path of Truth and Religion) (Arabic), Introduced by Dr. Majid Irsan Al-Kilani, Pub. Dar Al-Khair, Damascus-Bairut, 2005

External links

• International Qadiri Order
• Website regarding Sarwari Qadri Order (Hazrat Sultan Bahu R.A)
• Website regarding Shaykh Abdul-Qadri al-Gilani and his descendants.
• A complete website regarding Ghaus ul Azam and Gilani Syeds.
• Website dedicated to the Lovers & Followers of the Great Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jilani
• Articles on mysticism of Ibn Arabi from Ibn Arabi Society
• Website dedicated to Shaikh Muhyi’din ‘Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani from http://www.al-baz.com
• A Site of Web Links About Ghouse Azam Dastagir rz.
• Ghauth ul Azam
• Website of prominent Qadri Shaykh Hazrat Abu Anees Muhammad Barkat Ali (QSA)
• [3][4][5] Excerpts/Books by Abdul Qadir Jilani
• A web site links related to Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jilani

Note:

1. Qadiriyyah (Arabic: القادريه, Persian:قادریه) (also transliterated Kadri, Elkadri, Elkadry, Aladray, Adray, Kadray, Qadiri or Qadri), is one of the oldest Sufi tariqas. It derives its name from Abdul-Qadir Gilani (also transliterated as “Jil lani” or “Jailani” and “Jilali” in the Maghreb) (1077-1166), a native of the Iranian province of Gilan. In 1134 he was made principal of a Sunni Hanbalite school in Baghdad.

The Order is the most widespread of the Sufi Orders in the Islamic world and can be found in Afghanistan, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Turkey, the Balkans, China,^[1] as well as much of the East and West Africa, like Morocco.^{[citation needed]}

There are even small groups in Europe and the Americas. The famous traveller and writer Isabelle Eberhardt also belonged to the Qadiri order.

2. Hanbali (Arabic: حنبلى ‎) is one of the four schools (Madh’habs (rites) of Fiqh or religious law within Sunni Islam (the other three being Hanafi, Maliki and Shafi`i). The jurisprudence school was started by the students of Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal (d. 855). Hanbali jurisprudence is popular in the Arabian Peninsula, although students of Islam throughout the world study and may choose to observe its conclusions about Islamic practice.

3. Sufism or taṣawwuf (Arabic: تصوّف‎), also spelled tasavvuf according to the Persian pronunciation, is generally understood to not be a distinct sect of Islam, but the inner, mystical dimension of Islam.^[1][2][3] A practitioner of this tradition is generally known as a ṣūfī (صُوفِيّ), though some adherents of the tradition reserve this term only for those practitioners who have attained the goals of the Sufi tradition. Another name used for the Sufi seeker is Dervish.

Classical Sufi scholars have defined Sufism as “a science whose objective is the reparation of the heart and turning it away from all else but God.”^[4] Alternatively, in the words of the renowned Darqawi Sufi teacher Ahmad ibn Ajiba, “a science through which one can know how to travel into the presence of the Divine, purify one’s inner self from filth, and beautify it with a variety of praiseworthy traits.”^[5]

^4. Sunni Muslims, often referred to as Ahl as-Sunnah wa’l-Jamā‘h or Ahl as-Sunnah, are the largest denomination of Islam.

The word Sunni comes from the word sunnah, which means the teachings and actions or examples of the Islamic prophet, Muhammad. Therefore, the term “Sunni” refers to those who follow or maintain the sunnah of the prophet Muhammad. Another etymology proposed by some^[who?] is that the word “sunni” comes from a movement “Am-ul-sunnah” started by Mu’awiya.

The Sunni believe that Muhammad did not specifically appoint a successor to lead the Muslim ummah (community) before his death, and after an initial period of confusion, a group of his most prominent companions gathered and elected Abu Bakr Siddique—Muhammad’s close friend and a father-in-law—as the first caliph of Islam. Sunni Muslims regard the first four caliphs—Abu Bakr, `Umar ibn al-Khattāb, Uthman Ibn Affan and Ali ibn Abu Talib—as “al-Khulafā’ur-Rāshidūn” or “The Rightly Guided Caliphs.”

5. 

Madhhab is an Islamic term that refers to a school of thought or religious jurisprudence, or fiqh, within Sunni Islam. Each of the Sahaba had a unique school of jurisprudence, but these schools were gradually consolidated or discarded so that there are currently four recognized schools. The differences between these schools of thought manifest in minor practical differences, as most Sunni Muslims consider them all fundamentally the same. Sunnis generally do not identify themselves with a particular of the following schools of thought — simply calling themselves “Sunnis”.

• Hanafi – Founded by Imam Abu Hanifa an-Nu‘man, Hanafi is considered to be the school most open to modern ideas.^{[citation needed]} It is predominant among Sunni Muslims in northern Egypt, the Indian subcontinent, Iraq, Turkey, Balkans and in many western countries.
• Shafi`i – Shafi`i was founded by Imam Muhammad ibn Idris ash-Shafi`i, and has adherents among many high-ranking Islamic scholars.^{[citation needed]} It is practiced throughout the Muslim world, but is most prevalent in Egypt, Somalia, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, among Kurds and The Philippines, and is the school of thought officially followed by the government of Brunei and Malaysia.^{[citation needed]} It is followed by 28% of Muslims worldwide, being the second largest School in terms of followers..^{[citation needed]}
• Maliki – The Maliki school derives from the work of Imam Malik ibn Anas. Maliki is practiced in North and West Africa. It is the third-largest of the four schools, followed by approximately 15% of Muslims.^{[citation needed]}
• Hanbali – Hanbali is considered to be the most conservative of the four schools and the one that relies on Hadith the most.^{[citation needed]} Hanbalis reject the use of philosophical argument in matters of religious belief.^{[citation needed]} The school was started by the students of Imam Ahmad. Hanbali jurisprudence is predominant among Muslims in the Arabian Peninsula.