The History and Practice of Tariqat ash-Shadhuli (Part One)

By Shaykh `Abdullah Nooruddeen Durkee

Praise be to Allah, Lord of all the worlds, Who, through His Eternal Word, does not cease to be praised: We further bear witness that our liege-lord Muhammad r is the Perfected (‘insanu-l-kamil) Worshipper (`abdu-l-llah), His Slave and the Final Prophet and Messenger chosen from the seed of pure nobility, selected from a family of honor whose virtues falls short of describing.

The authenticating line of transmission of this Tariqat ash-Shaduliyyah stems from the Prophet r to his spiritual successor (khalifah) Imam Ali, and then splits into three lines, headed by Imam al-Hasan ibn Ali, Imam al-Husayn ibn Ali, and Sidi Hasan al-Basri.

The Silsila of Early Shaduliyyah Shuyukh (Chain of Shaykhs)
The Hassani line descends to Sidi Abd ar-Rahman al-’Attar, whilst the Husayni line and the Hasan al-Basri line join in Sidi Ma`ruf al Kharkhi. These are followed by Sidi as-Saqati, after whom the line splits into the Nurriyyah line, terminating in Sidi Yallanur ad-Dukkali, and the Junaydi line, terminating in Sidi Muhammad al-Daqqaq. These two were the teachers of Sidi Abu Madyan al-Ghawth, who, along with Sidi Abd ar-Rahman al-`Attar, taught Sidi Ibn Harazim and Sidi Abd as-Salam ibn Mashish, who taught Sidi ‘Ali Abu-l-Hasan ash-Shadhuli, the eponymous founder of the tariqat [593-655/1196-1258].

The line then proceeds on through his khalifah Sidi Abu-l-Abbas al Mursi and then splits again into what may be thought of as the line of written transmission, which comes down through Sidi Ibn `Ata’ Illah as-Sakandari, and the line of oral transmission, which descends through Sidi Yaqut al-Arsh-al Habashi.

There is also a third more overtly Maghribi line stemming from an early murid, Sidi Abdullah al-Habibi of Tunisia. This descends to the present time through Sidi Muhammad al Jazuli, author of the Dala’il al-Khayrat. A case can be made that this line, often termed “Madyani” rather than “Shadhuli”, represents the earlier teachings of the Shaykh, whilst the lines of Sidi ibn Ata ‘Illah and Sidi Yaqut represent the later and fully articulated dimensions of the Shaykh’s final Alexandrian and long haul travel teachings.

The author inherits through all of these lines but his practice is mainly informed by the teachings transmitted in Alexandria, which is where the tariqat became a ta’ifah (organization) and spread throughout the wider world.

The Spread of Shaduliyyah
Branches exist throughout the entire Muslim world but are found mainly in Egypt; North Saharan and East Africa; Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, the Hijaz and Hadramawt; and, via the monsoon trade and Hajj routes, in the Malaysian archipelago, as well as the coastal lands of Africa south from Lamu and Mombassa to Dar as-Salam, and the islands of Zanzibar, the Comoros and Mauritius in the Indian Ocean.

Circles of Shadhuli may also be found in Turkey, India and, at least in terms of doctrinal influence, in Iran. Some of these circles, however, seem to be only nominally Shadhuli in terms of practice, and the silsila often tends to be Uwaysi, with the result that some shuyukh teach more on the basis of inspiration and personal affinity to Shaykh Abu-l Hasan than on the basis of the traditional Shadhuli means and methods.

The Shadhuli as a tariqat and ta’ifah in general has the reputation of being very shari’ah oriented. Many of its shuyukh were members of the ‘ulama prior to becoming ‘sufis’. It is also heavily involved in da’wah and social service [khidmat], which in Egypt most often takes the form of preparing and serving food to the poor, especially during the holy month of Ramadan and during the times of the mawlid.

Jihad, both inner and outer, is enjoined upon all members following the example of Shaykh Abu-l-Hasan who, along with many of the well known ‘ulama and awlia (saints) of his time, was in the ranks of the mujahidin fighting in the front line at the Battle of Mansurah when, by the Qadr of Allah I (Divine Power), the Crusaders under King Louis of France were defeated and captured in their attempt to invade Egypt in 1250 C.E..

Practitioners and Authorized Teachers
It should be emphasized here, in spite of some recent claims to the contrary, that there is no tradition of any such office as a ‘Grand Master’ among the Shadhuli, though there have been, and are, many luminous and well-known shuyukh. Neither is there a tradition of large social organizations. Rather, the Shadhuli tradition has almost always been transmitted by hundreds of independent and entirely autonomous shuyukh, each with their ijazat [permission to teach] signed by their own immediate shaykh, who have purposely scattered, often to obscure villages and towns of the Muslim world as well as to the non-Muslim frontiers, to transmit the way to those seekers whom Allah I sends. Historically most people drawn to the way of Shaykh Abu-l- Hasan come from the professional, teaching and administrative classes.

The origin of tasawwuf is in the station of al-’ihsan
Exceptions exist, especially during the past 200 years in areas that were subject to the forces of colonization which radically skewed certain patterns in the traditional world. In that period some Shadhuli shuyukh developed a large cadre of often many thousands of muridun, muqaddimah and local shuyukh, with widely spread sub-branches. Examples of this include the branch in North Africa that was brought into being by Shaykh al-Darqawi; the branch of Shaykh al-Haddad originating in Hadramawt and the Hijaz which spread into East and coastal south Africa; and the branch of Sidi Salamah ar-Radi in Egypt.

Shadhuliyyah in Practice
For the most part what we now think of as the school of Abu-l-Hasan ash-Shadhuli manifested in Alexandria--and it is important to comprehend that whilst it was thoroughly rooted in Qur’an and Sunnah--the understanding of what that means is multi-dimensional. For as much as there is a Junaydi dimension to the tariqat so too there is a Nuriyyah dimension, which is exclusively oral and stems from the reality of the tajalliyyah rahmaniyya in which one knows Truth without being outwardly taught [min ladunna ‘ilma]. (al-Kahf 18:65)

Of all the Ways there are two: Travelling [suluk] and Attraction [jadhb].
Indeed the Shaykh said, “Of all the Ways there are two: the Way of Travelling [suluk] and the Way of Attraction [jadhb]. Our way is the way of jadhb. Our beginning is their end and their beginning is our completion.” A later shaykh, Sidi Ahmad az-Zurruq, commented on this saying that, “The variety in a branch is due to the variety of its origin. The origin of tasawwuf is in the station of al-’ihsan and it is split into two: ‘to worship Allah as though you see Him’ and ‘knowing that though you do not see Him, but that He sees you.’ The first is the way of the knower and the second is the way of the seeker. The folk of the Shadhuli revolve around the first and the folk of al-Ghazali revolve around the latter.”

Of the Way of Jadhb or Attraction, Sidi Ibn Ata ’Illah as-Sakandari, a successor of Sidi Abu-l-’Abbas al Mursi, said, “Do not think that the attracted one has no path. He has a path, but it has been folded up [bi-tawa] by the solicitude of Allah so that his way has been speedily expedited.”

The Shaykh himself said, “If anyone spends three days with me and doesn’t get it, let them go elsewhere.” He also said of his way, “If anyone finds a sweeter spring than this, let them drink from it.”

In truth it pains me to have to write fleetingly of so many events and teachings, of the heavy opposition Sidi `Ali Abu-l-Hasan endured from the extremists of his time, of the many circles of remembrance that were formed and the deep transformations that took place. May the Shaykh forgive me for this brevity, for it is not by my own choice.

Life Sketch of Sidi `Ali Abu-l-Hasan
By way of a very brief biography of the Shaykh (and I urge the interested reader to procure a copy of our book on the Madrasah Shadhdhuliyyah for more complete details), it is known that Sidi ‘Ali Abu-l-Hasan was born in the village of al-Ghumarah in the Rif Mountains in what is now Morocco, toward the end the 6th hijri century. He was from the family of the Prophet r from the lineage of Imam al-Husayn (r) on his mother’s side and, some say, from the lineage of ‘Imam al-Hasan (r) on his father’s side.

His early education was at the hands of his mother, father and the local imam. When he reached puberty, or thereabouts, he was sent to the madrasah of Qarawwiyin in al-Fas [Fez] to study shari’ah under Sidi ‘Abdullah Ibn Harazim, to whom he later gave his first bay’ah as a talib in the way of Allah.

It was during his studies in al-Fas that he was inspired to seek the Qutb [Pole of the saints] of the age, and, in pursuit of this goal, took his first great journey to the East, traveling some 3000 miles by foot, ship and camel caravan to reach al-Iraq. There, according to his biographer as-Sabbagh, `Ali Abu-l-Hasan gave his bay`ah to Shaykh Abu-l-Fath al-Wasiti, the khalifah of Shaykh Ahmad ar-Rifa`i, in Bata’ih among the marshes of southern Iraq.

After a number of trials in which he was initially rejected by the Shaykh, he was finally accepted by the Qutb of the Time and, as a mature seeker, gave Shaykh ibn-Mashish his bay`ah which marked, as he said, “the end of my beginning.” Abu-l-Hasan was directed to a mountain in Tunis near a village called Shadhila, where the Shaykh said he should live until he received an inspiration. This would be his signal to go to the capital of Tunis where he would be opposed by zealots until an event transpired which would move him to the East, where he, in turn, would “become the Qutb.”

The final words of the Shaykh to Abu-l-Hasan were, “Ya `Ali, Know that Allah is Allah and people are people. The remembrance of Allah will live in your heart. The guidance of Allah will always be with you. Do not refer to people other than as Allah commands you. Refrain from dependence on them and keep your heart from inclining to them. Your spiritual sovereignty [wilayah] has been perfected by Allah.”

He followed the instructions of his Shaykh and everything happened accordingly until in time, and after many unveilings, struggles, retreats and advances, he came to live in Alexandria on the shore of the Mid-earth Sea. There he entered into the fullness his Shaykh had seen in him and became the Pole of the people in that time. I should also mention, very importantly here, that the Shaykh left behind, in Tunis, Sidi `Abdullah ibn Salamah al-Habibi, who some Maghribi Shadhuli regard as his very first khalifah.¹

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