Abdul-Qadir Gilani

Abd al-Qadir Gilani (Persian: عبدالقادر گیلانی‎‎, Arabic: عبدالقادر الجيلاني‎‎, Turkish: Abdülkâdir Geylânî, Kurdish: Evdilqadirê Geylanî‎, Central Kurdish: عه‌بدوالقادری گه‌یلانی‎,), born 29 Shaban 470 AH in the town of Na'if, district of Gilan-e Gharb, Gilan, Iran and died Monday, February 14, 1166 (11 Rabi' al-thani 561 AH), in Baghdad, (1077–1166 CE), was a Persian Hanbali Sunni jurist and sufi based in Baghdad. The Qadiriyya is the tariqa (Sufi order) founded by him and takes its name from him.

Al-Gilani was born around 1077 in Gilan of Persia. He was born in Gilan (Iran), a historic village near the towns 40 kilometers south of Baghdad, as evidenced by historical studies and academic Kilanyia adopted by a family in Baghdad. Al-Gilani's father, Abu Salih Musa al-Hasani, was a descendant of Hasan ibn Ali (Imam Hasan). Hasan was the eldest son of Ali and Fatimah. Ali was Prophet Muhammad's son-in-law and also cousin and Fatima was Prophet Muhammad's daughter. Al-Gilani's mother was the daughter of Abdullah Sawmai, a descendant of Husayn ibn Ali, the younger son of Ali and Fatima. Thus, Al-Gilani was both a Hasani and Hussaini Sayyid..

Gilani is granted the title Sayyid to indicate his descent from Muhammad. The name Muhiyudin describes him as a "reviver of religion". Gilan (Arabic al-Jilani) refers to his place of birth, Gilan. However, Gilani also carried the epithet Baghdadi. referring to his residence and burial in Baghdad. He is also called al-Hasani wa'l-Husayni, which indicates a claim to lineal descent from both Hasan ibn Ali and Husayn ibn Ali, the sons of Ali and grandsons of Muhammad.

Paternal heritage

Gilani's father was from Sayyid lineage. He was respected as a saint by the people of his day, and was known as Jangi Dost "who loves God", thus "Jangidost" was his sobriquet.

Gilani spent his early life in Gilan, the town of his birth. In 1095, at the age of eighteen years, he went to Baghdad. There, he pursued the study of Hanbali lawunder Abu Saeed Mubarak Makhzoomi and ibn Aqil. He was given lessons on Hadith by Abu Muhammad Ja'far al-Sarraj. His Sufi spiritual instructor was Abu'l-Khair Hammad ibn Muslim al-Dabbas. (A detailed description of his various teachers and subjects are included below). After completing his education, Gilani left Baghdad. He spent twenty-five years as a reclusive wanderer in the desert regions of Iraq.

Education in Baghdad

At the age of 18, Gilani went to Baghdad to study the Hanbali school of fiqh.

In 1127, Gilani returned to Baghdad and began to preach to the public. He joined the teaching staff of the school belonging to his own teacher, al-Mazkhzoomi, and was popular with students. In the morning he taught hadith and tafsir, and in the afternoon he held discourse on the science of the heart and the virtues of the Quran. He was said to have been a convincing preacher and converted numerous Jews and Christians. His strength came in the reconciling of the mystical nature of Sufism and strict nature of the Quran.

Sheikh Abdul Qadir Gilani Mosque in Baghdad 1925

Gilani died in the evening of Monday, February 14, 1166 (11th Rabi' al-thani 561 AH) at the age of ninety one years according to the Islamic calendar. His body was entombed in a shrine within his madrasa in Babul-Sheikh, Rusafa on the east bank of the Tigris in Baghdad, Iraq. During the reign of the Safavid Shah Ismail I, Gilani's shrine was destroyed. However, in 1535, the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent had a turba (dome) built over the shrine, which exists to this day.

Tomb Of Sheikh Abdul Qadir, Baghdad, Iraq.

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• Sherah Qasidat Al-Burda By Said-ul-Auliya sayeed Ali hamadani The Rasala Starts With فقال <سید اولیاء سید علی ہمدانی Saieed Ali Hamadani

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• Futuh al-Ghaib (Revelations of the Unseen) – 78 discourses, fairly short and to the point but very powerful.
• Al-Fath ar-Rabbani (The Sublime Revelation) – 62 discourses, definitely longer, given in the Ribaat and Madrasa in Baghdad AH 545–546.
• Jala' al-Khawatir (The Removal of Cares) – 45 discourses, also in the same locations, given in the year AH 546.
• Malfuzat (Utterances of Shaikh 'Abd al-Qadir) – This is a collection of quotes from the Shaikh. Generally, it is found at the end of the hand-copied, Arabic manuscripts of Fath ar-Rabbani.
• Al-Ghunya li-Talibi Tariq al-Haqq (Sufficient Provision for Seekers of the Path of Truth, also known in the Indian sub-continent as Al-Ghunya li-Talibin). These five volumes, written by the Shaikh at the request of one of his murids, is a comprehensive guide to all aspects of Islam, both the inward and the outward.
• Khamsata 'Ashara Maktuban (Fifteen Letters) – These are 15 letters originally written in Persian by Shaikh 'Abd al-Qadir to one of his murids.
• Al-Fuyudat al-Rabbaniyya (Emanations of Lordly Grace)
• Bashair al-Khairat (Glad Tidings of Good Things) – A Salawat by Shaykh Abd al-Qadir by way of inspiration from Allah.
• Kitab Sirr al-Asrar wa Mazhar al-Anwar (The Book of the Secret of Secrets and the Manifestation of Light

• ".:: Sirr-ul-Asrar ::. Nafseislam.Com". www.nafseislam.com. Retrieved 2016-08-04.