Hazrat Mir Sayed Ali Hamadani (R.A.), also known by the honorific titles of Alī-i-Ṯhānī (the second Ali), Shāh-i-Hamadān (king of Hamadān), and Amīr-i- Kabīr ( the great leader) was born in Hamadān on 12 Rajab A.H.714/C.E.1314 in a renowned family of Sayeds descended from Hazrat Ali (R.A.). His murshids (guides) in tasawwuf (Sufism) were Hazrat Maḥmūd Mazdaqānī (R.A.) and HazratʿAlī Dustī (R.A.), who were murids (disciples) of Hazrat ʿAlāʾ-al-Dawla Simnānī (R.A.) of the Kubrawi tariqa (spiritual path). As part of his training in Kubrawiya, he travelled to various parts of Central and West Asia over twenty years. It is said that he interacted with 1,400 awliya (saints) during this period of which around thirty gave him ijāza (permission to guide others on the path). After Tīmūr, the Central Asian conqueror, invaded vast areas of Central Asia, it is reported that he moved to Khatlān around 772/1370.
While historical accounts of the dates and the number of his visits to Kashmir vary, it is generally accepted that he stayed in Srinagar in 783/1381 during the reign of Sultan Quṭb-ud-Dīn (who ruled from 1373 onwards) and returned in 785/1384. He died near Kūnār on 6 zu’l-ḥijja in 786/1385, on his return journey from Kashmir. His body was transported to Ḵhuttalān (now in the Republic of Tajikistan), where his is shrine revered till this day. Due to Hamadānī’s and his disciples’ efforts and influence, Islam spread rapidly in Kashmir, the tariqa being henceforth known as the Hamadānīya branch of the Kubrawīya. The Hamadānīya centers in Kashmir included major ḵānaqāh-i-moʿallā at Srinagar (built in 798/1395, destroyed by fire but rebuilt in 885/1480) and other ḵānaqāhs at Seer Hamadān, Dooru Shahabad and Tral. Hamadānī wrote a hundred works, most of them short treatises on Tasawwuf in Farsi and a few in Arabic. Most are preserved in manuscript form in Kashmir, Iran, and Europe. The one that concerns us here is the risāla-ye-dah-qāʿida; a Farsi translation of al-uṣūl-al-ashʿara (The Ten Principles), which is regarded as one of the most important works of Hazrat Najm-al-dīn Kubrā (R.A.) wherein he clearly lays down the fundamental principles of the Kubravi tariqa that originates with him. As such, it is clear that Sayed Ali Hamadani (R.A.) followed and taught the core principles of the Kubrawiya.
A brief introduction of Najm-al-Din Kubrā (R.A.) is in order. He was born in Ḵhwārazm and was martyred at the age of eighty while defending the city against the invading Mongol hordes in 1221. His murshids (guides) included Abu Yāser ʿAmmār Bedlisi, a deputy (ḵhalifa) of Abu’l-Najib Suhrawardi who initiated him into the tariqa, Ruzbehān Wazzān Miṣri of Cairo, Bābā Faraj, and Shaikh Ismāʿil Qaṣri who gave him ijaza to be a murshid in his own right. While the Kubrawiyā traces its lineage to the Suhrawardiya, his conception of the distinctive theory and practices of the tariqa made it an independent one based in Central Asia. He trained about sixty murids, twelve of who were of such high attainment that he is known as sheikh-i-wali-tarash (one who produces saints). The Ten Principles of the Kubrawiya have been translated recently ( Zargar, CA. (2013), The Ten Principles: Theoretical Implications of Volitional Death in Najm al-Din Kubra’s al-Uṣul al-‘Ashara (A Study and Translation), The Muslim World, Vol. 103, 107-130).
There is a saying in tasawwuf that ‘The paths to Allah, the Exalted, are as many as the breaths of His creatures’. Yet this path is the most intimate of all the paths, which are of three main groups. The first path, the path of al-akhyaar (the Choice Ones), involves only outward acts of formal devotion. The number of people who reach the final goal is very few. The second path, the path of al-abraar (the Pious Ones), involves struggle with the nafs (self) with austere practices in order to purify it. While a greater number reach the goal by these means, the number is still few. It is recounted that when (Husayn) ibn Mansur asked Ibrahim-al-Khawass, “At what station are you subduing your nafs?” He answered, “I have been subduing my nafs at the maqam (station) of tawakkul (Reliance on Allah) for thirty years.” Ibn Mansur replied: “You have annihilated your life in the cultivation of the inner, yet what have you achieved in terms of annihilation in Allah?” The third path, the path of the shuttār (Crafty Ones), is that of the wayfarers to Allah, those who travel to Allah by means of divine attraction. Many more saliks (travellers) reach the goal in this manner. This preferred path is based upon a foundation of al-mawt al-irādi (death by volition). A well-known Hadith is: maut-u-qabla-anta-moutu (Die before you die), which can be interpreted as: ‘Die to your nafs before you die in the physical world’.
First Principle: Repentance (al-tawba)
The salik should perform tawba, i.e., return to Allah by volition as in physical death when we have to return without choice. As Allah says: ‘Return to your Lord, satisfied and satisfying’ (89:28). Tawba means to renounce all sins, a sin being defined as anything that veils the seeker from Allah, including one’s very wujud (existence) which is regarded as ‘a sin to which no other sin can be compared’.
Second Principle: Renunciation (al-zuhd)
The salik should renounce desiring this world and all its charms as in physical death when we have to renounce it without choice. In addition, the salik has to renounce the next world as well. As a Hadith puts it: ‘This life is forbidden for the people of the next life, and the next life is forbidden for the people of this life, and both are forbidden for the people of Allah.’
Third Principle: Reliance (al-tawakkul)
The salik has to look beyond the secondary causes and put his or her trust in Allah instead, as in physical death when the former cease to have any meaning. As Allah says: ‘And he who relies on God, then He suffices for him (65:3).’
Fourth Principle: Contentment (al-qanā‘a)
The salik should withdraw from the desires and passions of the self just as will occur at physical death – except for the inescapable lawful human needs. He or she should limit oneself to only that which is absolutely necessary to live in this world.
Fifth Principle: Seclusion (al-‘uzla)
The salik should withdraw by volition by detaching himself or herself from people, as will occur at physical death. However, this does not imply monasticism. In tasawwuf, it is held that the salik should be ‘in the world, not of the world’. However, the salik should attach himself to his murshid. He should to be in the murshid’s hands as a corpse is in the hands of the body-washer, so he can cleanse him of his impurities.
Sixth Principle: Remembrance (mulazamaat-al-dhikr)
The salik should engage in continuous remembrance of Allah and withdraw from remembering all other than Him, as will occur at physical death. As Allah says: ‘And remember your Lord, once you forget’ (18:24), which is interpreted as: once you forget everything other than Allah. Remembrance, namely, the saying: lā ʾilāha ʾillā llāh ‘there is none worthy of worship other than Allah’, which is composed of negation and affirmation. With ‘lā-ilāha“, the corrupt elements of the nafs are dissolved and with it the attachment to this world and the next. With: ‘illā-llāh’, the heart reaches safety and acquires light with the light of Allah. As Allah says: ‘Remember Me, I will remember you (2:152).
Seventh Principle: Concentration upon Allah (tawajjuh-ila-allah)
The salik should concentrate upon Allah and withdraw from every other call as will occur at physical death. His or her only destination is Allah, and none other to desire or aspire to. As Junaid (R.A.) has said, “If an utterly veracious one were to draw near Allah for a million years and then turn away for one instant, then that which would escape him is greater than that which he has acquired.”
Eighth Principle: Patience (al-sabr)
The salik should withdraw himself or herself from the nafs‘ allotments, through suffering, as will occur at physical death. By depriving it of what it desires, he will purify the heart and spirit. As Allah says, ‘We made from among them leaders who would guide by Our command when they were patient and certain of our signs‘ (32:24).
Ninth Principle: Watchfulness (al-muraqaba)
The salik should withdraw himself or herself from one’s power, as will occur at physical death, and instead focus on what Allah bestows upon oneself. The salik should long for Allah’s countenance and relief and succor from Him. As Allah says, ‘For those who do excellently there is the greatest good and even more augmented (10:26) and ‘that is a favor of Allah, which He gives to whom He wills (57:21).
Tenth Principle: Satisfaction (al-rida)
The salik should withdraw himself or herself from the satisfaction of one’s nafs and exchange it with the satisfaction of Allah, by means of surrendering to His will without protest, as will occur at physical death.
It is said:
‘My love-longing for him is a duty, whether He inclines fondly or turns away harshly,
Sweet is His drinking-spring, whether turbid or clear,
I have delegated to the beloved my affair, in total,
So if He wants, He gives me life, and, if He wants, He destroys.’
In this vein, if we examine the dua-i-riqab composed by Hazrat Mir Sayed Ali Hamadani (R.A.), we can see the entire path composed by Hazrat Najm-al-dīn Kubrā (R.A.) unfold in the opening lines.
‘O Allah, the Owner of the necks (souls), the Opener of the gates (of mercy), the provider of the causes, provide us with the means for seeking for which we have no power. O Allah, keep us occupied in carrying out Your orders, keep us secure in Your justice, make us indifferent with Your creation, make us love You, keep us distant from others than You, make us satisfied with Your orders, help us be patient with the calamities that befall us, make us content with Your gifts, make us thankful for Your blessings, make us savor Your remembrance, make us joyful with Your (revealed) Book, supplicating to You night and day, make us detached from this world and love the Hereafter, lovers to visualize Your face (essence), attentive to You, and ready to face death (anytime).’
The Kubrawiya-Hamadāniya tariqa has continued uninterrupted for over seven hundred years in Kashmir, with a succession of awliya who ‘obtained, held and transmitted’ the Teaching to successive generations. In this Dark Age we are going through, it is imperative that we hold on to the Teaching for our survival and salvation.