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Nakshbandia a tasawwuf tariqa (ascetic order) founded by Khwaja Bahauddin Ibn Ahmad Al Bukhari. The word nakshband means
'painter', and the order suggests that the Sufis bear the image of Allah in their hearts and therefore, they are called Nakshbandi. The Nakshbandia tariqa is built on eight pillars which are: (a) hush dardiya (control of breath for mental control); (b) nazr bar kadam (control of the eyes to refrain from tempting look); (c) safar dar watan (feeling a musafir though at home); (d) khalwat dar anjuman (being indifferent to worldly affairs); (e) yad karad (devotion to constant zikr; (f) b'az g'ast (continuous search for a method of remaining absorbed in the thought of Allah; (g) nigah d'ast (keeping alert about self-protection; and (h) yad d'ast (always remaining absorbed in the thought of Allah). Khwaja Bahauddin added three more elements to the above: (a) wakuf-i-jamalli (control over one's own time and movement); (b) wakuf-i-qalbi (self-control); and (c) wakuf-i-adadi (ending zikr in odd number). The Nakshbandia tariqa was propagated in the subcontinent by
Khwaja Baqi Billah (d. 1603) during the reign of the Emperor Akbar. Three other famous tasawwuf tariqas - Qaderia, Chistiya and Suhrawardiya had already been there in the subcontinent earlier.
Khwaja Baki Billah, the first promoter of the Nakshbandia
tariqa spent the last years of his life in India and established it
on a firm footing. However, the order got momentum due to the efforts
of Baki Billah's principal disciple Hazrat Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi-Mujaddid-Alfe-e-Sani
(R). For this the tariqa is also known as the Mujaddidi Tariqa.
Hazrat Mujaddid rearranged the different spiritual methods and wajifas.
According to him, human body has six latifas. In perspective of
the Deen-i-Ilahi of Emperor Akbar, the Mujaddidi tariqa stressed
on Shariah, Haqiqat and the Sunnah of the Prophet
(Sm) and tried to bring reforms in the existing ideological thoughts and
practices. Gradually, the system became popular. The Nakshbandia tariqa
found foothold in Asian and Arab countries through the efforts of Khawaja
Masum and other erudite khalifas and devotees. The tariqa has followers
in the subcontinent as well as in many other regions of the Muslim world.
[Muhammad Ruhul Amin] |
