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Tariqah
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?ariqah ( ; pl. ; ?uruq, , ) means "way, path, method" and refers to an Islamic religious order; in Sufism, it is conceptually related to ?aqiqah "truth", the ineffable ideal that is the pursuit of the tradition. Thus one starts with Islamic law, the exoteric or mundane practice of Islam and then is initiated onto the mystical path of a ?ariqah. Through spiritual practices and guidance of a ?ariqah the aspirant seeks ?aqiqah - ultimate truth.
riqah is a school of Sufism.
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Encyclopedia
?ariqah ( ; pl. ; ?uruq, , ) means "way, path, method" and refers to an Islamic religious order; in Sufism, it is conceptually related to ?aqiqah "truth", the ineffable ideal that is the pursuit of the tradition. Thus one starts with Islamic law, the exoteric or mundane practice of Islam and then is initiated onto the mystical path of a ?ariqah. Through spiritual practices and guidance of a ?ariqah the aspirant seeks ?aqiqah - ultimate truth.
Meaning
A ?ariqah is a school of Sufism. A ?ariqah has a murshid "guide" who plays the role of leader or spiritual director of the organization.
A ?ariqah is a group of muridin (singular murid), Arabic for desirous, desiring the knowledge of knowing God and loving God (also called a faqir , another Arabic word that means poor or needy, usually used as al-Faqir ilá l-Lah, "the needy to God's knowledge ).
Nearly every ?ariqah is named after its founder, and when the order is referred it is in a nisbah formed from the founder's name. For example, the "Rifai order", named after Shaykh Ahmad ar-Rifai, is called the "Rifaiyyah", the "Qadiri order", named after Shaykh `Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani, is called the "Qadiriyyah". Often ?uruq are offshoots of another ?ariqah, for example, the Qadri Al-Muntahi order is an offshoot of the Qadiriyyah order founded by Riaz Ahmed Gohar Shahi, the Jelveti order is an offshoot of the Bayrami order founded by Haci Bayram-i Veli in Ankara who are an offshoot of the zahidiyye founded by Pir Zahid al-Gaylani in Iran. The Khalwati order are a particularly splintered order with numerous offshoots such as the Jerrahi, Sunbuli, Nasuhi, Karabashiyyah and others, the Tijaniyyah order prevalent in West Africa also has its roots in this ?ariqah.
In most cases the shaykh nominates his khalifah or "successor" during his lifetime, who will take over the order. In rare cases, if the shaykh dies without naming a khalifah, the students of the ?ariqah elect another spiritual leader through a vote. In some orders, it is recommended to take a khalifah from the same order as their Murshid. In some groups it is customary for the khalifah to be the son of the shaykh, although in other groups the khalifah and the shaykh are not normally relatives. In yet other orders, a successor may be identified through the spiritual dreams of its members.
Tariqahs have silsilahs "chain, lineage of shaykhs". Almost all orders except the Naqshbandi order claim a silsilah that leads back to Muhammad through ‘Ali. (The Naqshbandi Silsilah goes back to Abu Bakr the first Caliph of Sunni Islam and then Muhammad.) Many silsilas contain the names of Shi‘ah Imams.
The differences between Sunni and Shi‘ah Islam were not as acute in the first three centuries as they are today. Indeed, during Ottoman times the Sunni Turkish sultans would use the reverence that they and other Sunni Muslims had for the Shi‘ah Imams to appease the Shi‘ah minorities that lived within their empire and many towards the end of the 19th century believed that a Sunni-Shi‘ah unity was impending.
Every Murid on entering the ?ariqah gets his 'awrad, or daily recitations, authorized by his Murshid (usually to be recited before or after the pre-dawn prayer, after the afternoon prayer and after the evening prayer). Usually, these recitations are extensive and time-consuming (for example the Murid's awrad may consist of reciting a certain formula 99, 500 or even 1000 times). One must also be in a state of ritual purity (as one is for the obligatory prayers to perform them while facing Mecca). The recitations change as a student (murid) moves from a mere initiate to other Sufi degrees (usually requiring additional initiations).
Being mostly followers of the spiritual traditions of Islam loosely referred to as Sufism, these groups were sometimes distinct from the ulema or officially mandated scholars, and often acted as informal missionaries of Islam. They provided accepted avenues for emotional expressions of faith, and the Tariqahs spread to all corners of the Muslim world, and often exercised a degree of political influence inordinate to their size (take for example the influence that the sheikhs of the Safavid had over the armies of Tamerlane, or the missionary work of Ali Shair Navai in Turkistan amongst the Mongol and Tatar people).
The Tariqahs were particularly influential in the spread of Islam in the sub-Sahara during the 9th to 14th centuries, where they spread south along trade routes between North Africa and the sub-Saharan kingdoms of Ghana and Mali. On the West African coast they set up Zawiyas on the shores of the river Niger and even established independent kingdoms such as al-Murabi?un or Almoravids. The Sanusi order were also highly involved in missionary work in Africa during the 19th century, spreading both Islam and a high level of literacy into Africa as far south as Lake Chad and beyond by setting up a network of Zawiyas where Islam was taught. Much of central Asia and southern Russia was won over to Islam through the missionary work of the ?ariqahs, and the majority of Indonesia's population, where a Muslim army never set foot, was converted to Islam by the perseverance of both Muslim traders and Sufi missionaries.
A case is sometimes made that groups such as the Muslim Brotherhoods (in many countries) and specifically the Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt (the first, or first known), are modern inheritors of the tradition of lay ?ariqah in Islam. This is highly contentious since the Turuq were Sufi orders with established lineages while the Muslim Brotherhood is a modern, rationalist tradition. However, the Muslim Brotherhood's founder, Hassan al Banna, did have a traditional Islamic education (his family were Hanbali scholars) and it is likely that he was initiated into a ?ariqah at an early age.
Certain scholars, e.g., G. H. Jansen, credit the original Tariqahs with several specific accomplishments:
- Preventing Islam from becoming a cold and formal doctrine by constantly infusing it with local and emotionally popular input, including stories and plays and rituals not part of Islam proper. (A parallel would be the role of Aesop relative to the Greek mythos.)
- Spreading the faith in east Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, where orthodox Islamic leaders and scholars had little or no direct influence on people.
- Leading Islam's military and political battles against the encroaching power of the Christian West, as far back as the Qadiri order of the 12th century.
The last of these accomplishments suggests that the analogy with the modern Muslim Brotherhoods is probably accurate, but incomplete.
Tariqah in the Four Spiritual Stations
Orders of Sufism
Traditional orders
PHILTAR (Philosophy of Theology and Religion at the Division of Religion and Philosophy of St Martin's College) has a very useful .
Non-traditional Sufi groups
See also
External links
Orders
- Naqshbandi-Haqqani Sufi Order]
- Association of Sultanul Awliya Mevlana Nazim Adil al-Hakkani's deputy Shaykh Abdul Kerim, whose dergah is in the Catskill Mountains of New York)
- Qadri Al-Muntahi - Hazrat Sayyedna Riaz Ahmed Gohar Shahi
- (a school that is intended to become a fully accredited university, with doctoral programs, under the guidance and support of a traditional Islamic Sufi master from the Shadhuliyyah tariqa)
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