Hierarchy Of The Saints | Hierarchy Of The Awliya

Types of Saints:

In the texts we find that there exists 2 main types of Saints. The first of those being Tashri’ee Awliya; there exist a countless number of Tashri’ee Awliya in the Ummah of Rasul Allah ﷺ. It is said wherever 40 righteous men from amongst the believers gather there are surely 1 or 2 saints among them.

The second type are those regarded as Takweeni Saints; they are those who constitute and form the core of the hierarchy of the Awliya. They are the righteous men of Allah, entrusted with the governance of matters pertaining to both the spiritual and physical realms.

The teacher of our teachers, the esteemed man of Allah of his time, Imam Al-Haddad (may the mercy of Allah be upon him) would state that “Poleship (Qutbaniyyat) means Lordship (Rububiyyah). This is why the term Pole is used analogically for whoever possesses lordship over the men of a particular spiritual station or state.

The “Possessor of the Degree of Supreme Veracity” is called al-Qutb al-Ghawth to avoid any confusion arising from an analogical use of the term Qutb. To elaborate further would require us to mention the inward states of the men of the “Circle of Sainthood” (Da’irat al-Wilaya), their characteristics, the differences within each rank, and other such things the full knowledge of which belongs by right only to the Qutb, the Ghawth, who encompasses all their ranks and whose rank and state comprehend every single one of theirs.

As for other saints, they know about those who are of equal or lesser ranks. They are aware of those above them, but have no comprehensive knowledge of them. In essence, these are questions which can be answered only by contemplative vision (muraqabah) and unveiling (kashf).”

The Qutbs (Poles) are of three kinds, the Pole of Sciences, such as the Proof of Islam, Imam Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, the Pole of Spiritual States, such as the great mystic Bayazid al-Bistami, and the Pole of Spiritual Stations, such as Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jilani. Imam Abul-‘Abbas al-Mursi is also reported to have said, “Al-Junayd was the Pole of knowledge, Sahl the Pole of Stations, and Bayazid the Pole of States.” This was confirmed by Imam al-Haddad when he said, “The one who excels in his own art and surpasses everyone else is the Pole of this art.”

Sayyid Ahmad ibn Zayn al-Habashi stated that Imam al-Haddad was the supreme master of masters and that he had united in himself the attributes of all the previous saints, adding that this was seen by him in contemplative vision, meaning that it was no mere mental conclusion. This is why Imam al-Haddad said, “Our rank cannot be shouldered by a single man, and we shall have to divide it, before our death, among a number of people.”

Introduction to the hierarchy:

The earliest known transcript of the hierarchy of the Saints, or rather, the hierarchy of the Awliya was first introduced by the venerable Ali Hujwiri (Data Ganj Baksh), in their revered masterpiece, the Kashf Al-Mahjub (Revelation Of The Hidden). Subsequently, various versions of this hierarchy have emerged. In this article we will explore five versions of the hierarchies that exist today.

The hierarchy of Mawlana Shaykh Nazim:

أَوْلِيَائِيْ تَحْتَ قِبَابِيْ، لَا يَعْلَمَهُمْ غَيْرِيْ

“Awliyaee tahta qibaabee la ya`lamahum ghayree.”

Allah Almighty has said: “My Awliya (Saints) are under My domes; no one knows them except Me.” (Hadith Qudsi)

We begin by exploring the hierarchy of the Saints set out by Mawlana Shaykh Nazim, the late spiritual Master of the distinguished Naqshbandi Sufi Order.

The Ghawth

The hierarchy of the Saints commences with the Ghawth, the one from whom flows the light of Muhammad ﷺ to the rest of the Awliya & servants of Allah Almighty. In the Da’irat al-Wilaya (Circle of Sainthood), their standing among the saints is likened to that of the point at the centre of the circle.

In the Diwan (Assembly of Saints), which takes place in the Cave of Hira, the Ghawth is considered the chief of the council. It is said that the Diwan is attended by some from amongst the friends of God, both those whom are alive and those whom have passed, though not all of them have access to this assembly.

In the Diwan are also present from amongst the women, though their number is small in comparison and only amounts to 3 rows. They are situated above the dawa’ir (circle) of the first row, in the space between the Ghawth and the three Aqtab (Pivots). The Angels, and the perfected ones from amongst the Jinn are also present in the assembly, though their number does not amount to even a single row and therefore they are situated at the back of the assembly.

The language spoken in the Diwan is known as Syriac, or Suryani, which is a language spoken in the celestial spheres and is a medium used by the angels to communicate with one another. Arabic is only spoken when the Prophet ﷺ is in attendance of the Diwan, otherwise the gatherings take place in Syriac.

Some of the previous from amongst the great Friends of God who occupied the seat of this Maqam (Station) of Al-Ghawthiyya were:

• Ghaus-e-Azam Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jilani
• Data Ganj Baksh Ali Hujwiri
• Sidi Abdul Aziz Dabbagh
• Shaykh Ahmad Tijani

Aimmah

The hierarchy of Mawlana Allah Yar Khan

The hierarchy of Mawlana Ilyas Qadri