Hazrat Abi Wakas (R.A)

This mazar is of Hazrat Abi Wakas (R.A) in Guangzhou, China...
he is a Sahabi Rasool

SAYING OF RASOOL ALLAH HAZRAT MUHAMMAD SAL LAL-LAHU ALAIHI WO SALAM
"SEEK KNOWLEDGE EVEN AS FAR AS CHINA."

It is about the Echo Tomb in China, housing the sahabi or companion of the Prophet(ASWS) - Sa'ad bin Abi Waqqas (radiy'Allahu Ta'Alaa anha - Peace and Blessings be upon him), one of the "Ashra Mubasshira", of the ten Sahabah who The Holy Prophet(ASWS) gave the joyous tidings of Paradise.

"The earliest trace of Islam in China is embodied in the Echo Tomb belonging to a Companion of the Prophet Muhammad ?, Sa`d bin Abi Waqqas ?. His presence there is explained in a remarkable series of historical accounts, according to which the Tang Emperor received help from this emissary of the Prophet against a monstrous evil which had been presaged in the stars. In these accounts, aspects of the later Muslim contribution to Imperial China are prefigured, especially chivalric prowess and expertise in astronomical and mathematical sciences, as well as in the more hidden sciences of Hermeticism. This emissary's legendary service recalls the Chinese folktale of Yi the Archer, whose service to the Heavenly Emperor included his shooting down of the nine suns that had been monstrously corrupted.The Mazaar of the uncle of the Prophet(Salla Allahu 'Alayhi wa Sallam), Hazrat Sa'ad Ibn Abi Waqaas ( Radi Allahu Ta'ala Anhu) is situated in Canton China.

One of the Ten to whom Paradise was promised, Sa`d bin Abi Waqqas ? is recognized as the patron saint of archery in the traditions of Islamic chivalry. Whereas the Imam `Ali ? is popularly regarded as the model of spiritual chivalry or futuwwah, it should be observed that he authorized others to be the patrons of various arts, such as fencing. In the example of Sa`d, the Prophet himself is held to have invested him as the "Knight of Islam" and the patron of bowmen. Although unrecognized, his role in China may therefore extend to the development of its martial arts, especially since the very Emperor he is recorded to have assisted was such a strong upholder of the art of archery. It may also be noted that the shooting techniques of Medieval China are very similar to those favored by the followers of Sa`d bin Abi Waqqas.

The Ottoman chronicler Evliya Efendi (*Evliya Celebi or Dervish Mehmet Zilli) was personally invested by the spirit of Sa`d bin Abi Waqqas ?, and though he did not in his wide travels visit China, he did remark on the several tombs linked to his patron in other lands, including Egypt. It is of interest, then, to observe that to the right of the tomb in China is the grave of another Ottoman traveler, who succeeded in his quest for this most distant sanctuary."

Hui Legends of The Companions of The Prophet

Fig. 1 Hui midwife, Ningxia [Tao Hong]. 
The origins of the Hui people have been the subject of popular legends since the Ming dynasty (1368-1643). These legends have been crucial to the formation of the Hui as a distinct Sinophone Muslim community. In a Chinese cultural environment, the presence of "foreign" religious communities provokes questions such as "How did they get here?" and "Why did they stay?".
The most popular of the Hui origin legends concern the Companions of the Prophet (members of the first Muslim community, in Arabic: Sahabah), who travelled from Arabia to China during the early years of Islam. A number of these legends begin with the Tang emperor Taizong's (r.627-650) dream-vision of the Prophet Muhammad, the literary use of a dream motif that also appears in legendary accounts of the origins of Buddhism in China. Other stories portray the Prophet Muhammad in a manner reminiscent of the portrayal in Chinese literature of Confucius. The Islamic legends typically describe the Companions of the Prophet as having been invited by the Chinese emperor, drawing a connection between the early Islamic community and the Chinese imperial cult, thereby helping to define a place for Islam and its prophetic teachings within orthodox Chinese cultural and political traditions.

Fig. 2 Sixth-generation descendents of the shaykh of the Jahriyya sufi order and Muslim uprising leader Ma Hualong, in the garden of the Nanchuan Jahriyya tomb complex, Zhangjiachuan, Gansu. [AHG]

Fig. 3 Hui children in Jiucaiping, Ningxia, outside the fortified residence of the spiritual head of the Jiucaiping Qadariyya sufi order. [AHG]

The Companions of the Prophet who, in Hui legends, overcame many hardships to bring the Arabic revelation to China, were not just minor figures from amongst the tens of thousands of Muslims that lived in the time of Muhammad. Sa'd ibn Waqqas, for example, who has a tomb built in his honour in Guangzhou, is best known for leading the Islamic conquest of Persia. Thabit ibn Qays, who has a tomb in Hami, Xinjiang, was the first of the people of Yathrib (Medina) to swear allegiance to Muhammad after the flight of the nascent Muslim community from Mecca, and later became the orator of the Prophet. Both of these Companions were amongst the select group of ten whose place in heaven was foretold by the Prophet, a list that also includes Abu Bakr and the three other Rightful Caliphs.

The Muslims of eastern China have been followers of Sunni Islam since the Ming dynasty. Legends of the Companions fall firmly within the Sunni tradition, whose followers believe in the blessedness of the community of Muslims that lived during the lifetime of Muhammad, in contrast to followers of the Shi'i tradition who revere the family and descendents of the Prophet. As well as explaining how Islam was transmitted to China, the stories of the journeys of the Companions to China also help to define the relationship between Sinophone Muslims and the larger Islamic community.

Fig. 4 Three akhunds of the Jahriyya sufi order in Wuzhong, Ningxia. Akhund Yang Wanbao (left) is one of the first group of Islamic religious professionals trained after the Cultural Revolution. His predecessor as imam of the Little North Mosque in Wuzhong (right) retired in 2005. The age difference depicted here reflects the thirty year hiatus in religious education during the Maoist years. [AHG]

Fig. 5 A picture taken at a ceremony marking the appointment of a new akhund at a mosque in Wuzhong. Older male followers of the Jahriyya sufi order shave the sides of their faces in deference to the founder of the Chinese branch of the order who, it is said, had the sides of his face shaved beforebeing executed in 1781. [AHG] 

THREE STORIES

Fig. 6 The main entrance of the Ashab Mosque, Quanzhou. The surviving walls were built in 1310. Two Companions of the Prophet are said to be buried at Ling Shan, a short distance to the east.
Tombs dedicated to four of the Companions of the Prophet are found in the coastal cities of Guangzhou, Yangzhou and Quanzhou, the three main trading ports of the Yuan empire. One story of how these Companions came to be buried on Chinese soil is related in a late-Ming dynasty gazetteer titled Min shu (Fujian Gazetteer, 1619). The compiler of this gazetteer, He Qiaoyuan, describes the genesis of a holy site dedicated to two Companions of the Prophet at the foot of Ling Shan ("Auspicious Mountain"), several miles to the south of Quanzhou. This story was based on an interview with a Muslim scholar resident at the Ashab Mosque in Quanzhou (Mosque of the Companions, in Chinese: Qingjing si), the walls and entrance of which can still be seen today. (Fig. 6)

Mazars Of Sahabas ( Companions Of Prophet Sal Lal Lahualaihi Wo Salam ) In China.

Visiting the blessed tomb of Hazrat Saad bin abi Waqas at Guangzhou, ChinaHe Qiaoyuan's account reads as follows:

The story of the Four Sages
In the Kingdom of Medina lived a prophet (shengren) by the name of Muhammad, who was born in the 1st year of the Kaihuang reign of the Sui dynasty.* On account of his divine qualities and beauty, the king employed him. Twenty years after assuming his royal post, a scripture was revealed that exhorted people to cherish good and abhor sin. He received a mandate from heaven to propagate this teaching. The hot sun would not burn him, nor would rain wet his clothes. He could enter fire without being burned, or water without drowning. Trees would come to him at his call. Over time, his law was implemented throughout the land.

Amongst his disciples were four great sages [da sheng]. In the Wude reign of the Tang dynasty (618-626), they came to China to propagate the teaching. The first sage became established in Guangzhou, the second in Yangzhou, and the third and fourth taught in Quanzhou where they passed away and were buried.

Hence, we can see that these two people were of the Tang. Light emanated from this mountain after they were buried here, and when the people noticed this sign they deemed the ground holy. The site is known as the Tomb of the Sages [sheng mu], that is, the tomb of the Western Sages. [1]
*That is, 590CE, while the conventional date for the birth of the Prophet is 570CE or fifty-two years before the flight of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina that is taken as year 1 of the Islamic calendar.

Fig.7 The "light tower" at the Huaisheng Mosque, Guangzhou. The Companion Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas is, in Ming dynasty legends, said to be buried here. The earliest stele at the Huaisheng Mosque, from the Ming dynasty, attributes the style of the tower to central Asia, and is similar to the 18th-century Imin Mazar in Turfan, eastern Xinjiang. It is likely that the tower was originally built in memory of a shaykh from central Asia who came to Guangzhou in the Yuan dynasty.

The short biography of the Prophet Muhammad presented here is clearly influenced by the interpreted life of the Chinese sage Confucius. However, while Confucius roamed in search of a king willing to employ his talents, Muhammad took his instructions directly from God and did not serve worldly rulers. The word used here for the Prophet (sheng ren) is also the same as that used the Song-dynasty lixue scholars for Confucius. Early Chinese-language accounts of Islam typically described the life of the Prophet through an implicit comparison to "Chinese" sages. This was for the simple reason that Islam was new to the Chinese written tradition, and no orthodox Chinese vocabulary had yet been developed to distinguish Islamic prophets from the inspired teachers of Confucianism, Buddhism and Daoism. Only in the late-17th century, with the emergence of a corpus of Chinese-language Islamic books and a systematic Chinese vocabulary of Islamic terms, did it become possible to write a Chinese biography of the Prophet Muhammad without constant reference to other Chinese religious traditions.

In an earlier passage, the compiler of the gazetteer refers to Muslims by the standard term used from the end of the Yuan dynasty-Huihui-though his lack of familiarity with Islam is suggested by the careless manner in which he elides the Four Rightful Caliphs of the Sunni creed with the four less famous Companions who made their way to China. Perhaps because of this lack of familiarity, he appears to have taken his description of the message and miracles of the Prophet Muhammad directly from a Muslim informant. The expression "to cherish good and abhor sin" and the sequence of miracles performed by Muhammad involving hot sun and walking trees, can all be found in a famous poetic biography of the Prophet that became popular in China around the time that the Fujian Gazetteer was compiled. This is the Qasidah al-Burdah (Ode of the Cloak) by the Egyptian poet al-Busiri (d.1295), a poem that has been translated into Chinese many times and serves as a liturgical text in some Chinese Muslim communities today. The use here of nine four-character verse phrases in the middle of a prose text suggests that this passage may have been taken directly from an unknown Chinese translation of the Burdah provided by He Qiaoyuan's Muslim informant at the Ashab Mosque.
A number of Ming-dynasty stele inscriptions, as well as oral traditions recorded in the twentieth century, give the name of the first of the four "sages" (Companions) as either Waqqas or Sa'd. Both names refer to Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas. A tomb dedicated to Waqqas can be found in the courtyard of the Huaisheng Mosque in Guangzhou (Fig. 7). 

The plaque in front of this saint's tomb, as recorded in a popular 19th-century guide to major Islamic tomb sites in China, reads as follows:

The story of the voyage of Waqqas
The master, who was granted the title Waqqas, hailed from Arabia, and was a maternal uncle of the Last Prophet. He was sent here on a mission to deliver the revealed scripture, and arrived in Chang'an in the 10th year (15 AH/637 CE) of the Zhenguan reign of the Tang dynasty. When the Tang emperor Taizong saw that the master was upright in his dealings with people, and demonstrated a great depth of learning, the emperor made repeated requests to retain him in the capital.
And so the emperor had a Great Mosque built, and invited the emissary to live there with his attendants. The master explained the obscure passages in each book of the Quran, and exhorted the teachings of the Quran upon all the peoples of the land. The numbers of his followers and descendents steadily grew. The Taizong emperor later had mosques built for him in Jiangning and Guangzhou.
Eventually, at the ripe old age of a hundred, the master embarked upon a ship and sailed west. [On the way home] he recalled that he had been sent out on a mission by the Prophet yet was returning without having accomplished it, and would be unable to rest at peace. So he turned around and set sail once more for the South China Sea... . [He] passed away at sea while still engaged in his mission. His transcendent body gave out the fragrance of Paradise. His tomb is outside the city wall of Guangzhou.[2]

In this story, the Prophet's disciple resembles not Confucius, but Xuanzang, the famous itinerant monk and translator who presented Buddhist scriptures from India to the Tang emperor Taizong.
In this story, an added level of complexity is introduced when Waqqas passes away at sea "while still engaged in his mission". According to this account, it was a mission of the Prophet Muhammad, and dying whilst engaged in such a mission is qualification for martyrdom. In other versions of the Waqqas legend, he departs China on a mission from the Chinese emperor to obtain a compete set of the Islamic scriptures and returns with the six thousand verses of the Quran, much as Xuanzang had obtained the Buddhist scriptures for the same Tang emperor. The changed allegiance of Waqqas from Muhammad to Taizong in this alternative narrative is important, for by delivering a correct copy of the Quran to China, Waqqas was satisfying the desire for true learning of the Chinese sovereign rather than doing the bidding of a foreign prophet. 

Fig. 8 View looking west of the Qays tomb in Hami, Xinjiang.

Both these origin legends assume that Islam was brought to China by sea. An alternative set of legends emphasises overland connections between China and the Islamic homeland. One of these is found in Huihui yuanlai (The Origins of the Huihui), which was the most widely read Chinese-language account of Muslim origins in the late-imperial period. A copy of this book was presented by the Qing Kangxi emperor to one of his Muslim generals in 1697, and it was written at some time in the previous century.

In the Huihui yuanlai account, the Tang emperor Taizong again welcomes the teachings of Islam brought to China by Companions of the Prophet. However, instead of Sa'd ibn Waqqas, this time the delegation is led by Thabit ibn Qays. A tomb in honour of Qays is found in Hami (Fig. 8), on the north-western border of Ming China.

The story of the overland journey of Qays
In the evening of the 18th of the third month, in the second year of the Zhenguan reign of the Tang dynasty, the emperor dreamed that a turbaned man came running into the palace grounds, chasing after a demon. He woke up and was puzzled by the dream, for he knew not what it foretold. On the following day he assembled all the officials of the court to discuss the matter.
The diviner of dreams reported, "The turbaned man is a Huihui from the Western Region, out beyond the Jiayu Pass. The kingdom of Arabia is ruled by a Muslim king of great knowledge and virtue. His land is rich and powerful. The demon entering the palace grounds surely means that there is evil lurking, which you will only be able to dispel with the help of a Huihui."

The general reported, "The Huihui are impeccably honest in their dealings. If you meet with them peacefully, they will serve you loyally and with no care for reward. You may send an emissary to the Western Region to see the Muslim king, and request the services of an enlightened one (zhenren) to keep the portended evil at bay."

The Emperor did as was advised, and sent the senior official Shi Mingtang on a mission to present a letter to the Muslim king.

The Muslim king was delighted upon receiving the letter, and sent the senior disciples Qays, Uways and Husayn to China to offer their services. Husayn and Uways could not adapt to the new water and climate, and died en route. The sole survivor, Qays, crossed mountains and rivers, suffering great hardship, to eventually arrive in China. The Emperor received him with full honours, and asked what were the ritual and scriptural differences between his land and China. The turbaned man replied that the revealed scripture of the Western Region was called the Quran, which could be likened to the Five Classics of China. He then expounded the difference between Eastern and Western ritual and teachings.

The Emperor was delighted, and so selected 3,000 Tang soldiers to move to the Western Region, in exchange for 3,000 Muslim soldiers to accompany the turbaned elder in China. These 3,000 Muslims had countless descendants, and are the ancestors of the followers of Islam in China today.[3]
Interestingly, the first two entries of the Song dynasty Buddhist text Gao seng zhuan (Biographies of Eminent Monks) include many of the same details as those that appear in this story: the emperor's dream, the narrative sequence of the dream, and the interpretations of the ministers that the dream spoke of a prophet from the Western Region.

The Companions in this story come overland, rather than by sea as they did in the two previous stories. This overland connection with the Islamic homeland of Arabia is supported by the presence of a tomb dedicated to Qays in Hami, a city on the north-western border of the Ming empire. While some legends concerning Waqqas have him coming to China by sea (as the one recounted earlier), other versions of the Waqqas legend have him travelling by land. The route followed by the Companions in Hui legends depends partly on the geographic location of the Muslim community where the legends developed. Legends from east and south China give preference to the coastal route between China andArabia, and those from Shaanxi and Gansu emphasise the overland route through central Asia.

THE IDENTITY OF THE COMPANIONS
Sa'd Ibn Abi Waqqas is one of the most famous Companions of the Prophet. He was from the same tribe as the mother of the Prophet Muhammad, was one of the first to follow his teachings and, at the high point of his illustrious military career, led the Islamic conquest of the Persian Sassanid empire. The details of his life are found in the canonical Sunni collections of hadith (traditions of the Prophet Muhammad) and histories that were compiled in the third Islamic century. From these same texts we also learn that Waqqas retreated from public life after the conquest of Persia, and passed away in Medina at the age of eighty.

Mazar e Shareef Hazrath Syedina Saad bin Waqqas (Razi Allahu Taalahu Anhu ) in china.
Medina is a much more credible resting place for Waqqas than Guangzhou. Judging by historical sources, it is unlikely that Waqqas travelled much further east than Hamidan in western Iran. Nevertheless, Waqqas is a natural choice for Sunni legendary accounts of the transmission of Islam to China. He was one of the favourite Companions of the Prophet, and was best known for taking Islam into the eastern lands of Persia, an important step in the journey of Islam to China. 

The other Companions who embarked on missions to China are also unlikely to have made the journey. Like Waqqas, the historical details of their lives made them appropriate choices for characters in legendary accounts of the transmission of Islam to China, or candidates to be patron saints of the Muslim community in China. Thabit ibn Qays, like Sa'd ibn Waqqas, was one of the select group of Companions whose place in Paradise was foretold by the Prophet Muhammad. He was the first resident of Medina to declare his loyalty to the Prophet after the Prophet's flight from Mecca, and became the Prophet's orator. Qays led the Ansar ("Helpers")-the people of Medina who swore allegiance to Muhammad after the flight from Mecca-at the battle of Najd. There, he was martyred and was buried where he fell on the battlefield. A favourite Companion of the Prophet who helped introduce Islam to a new community in Medina and who had no established tomb site, the story of Qays could be readily attached to an old tomb site by the Muslim community of Hami.

According to the story recounted above, the second Companion who accompanied Qays on his overland journey to China, is Uways al-Qarani, the famous Yemeni aesthete whose fragrance was carried by the southerly wind to the Prophet in Medina. There is no evidence of there being any tomb dedicated to Uways in China, but he is the reputed founder of a number of the popular Sufi organisations in central Asia and north-western China today. 

The third Companion is probably Husayn, the grandson of the Prophet, the second son of Ali and Muhammad's daughter Fatimah, and the third Imam of the Shi'i line. The presence of a revered figure of the Shi'i tradition in a Sunni origin legend may seem a little odd, but his appearance alongside Uways provides a link with the Sufi tradition of Central Asia. Most of the Sufi spiritual lineages, such as the Naqshbandiyya, that have been popular in Central Asia since the 16th century, follow Sunni creed but acknowledge two separate lines of transmission for their esoteric knowledge, one through Abu Bakr (the first of the Four Rightful Caliphs) and another through Ali (the last of the Four Rightful Caliphs). The Naqshbandiyya and other related Sufi organisations were pre-eminent amongst the Muslim communities of north-western China from the beginning of the Qing dynasty, when Huihui yuanlai was compiled. Within this tradition, Uways and Husayn were amongst the greatest of the martyred Companions of the Prophet, and their biographies are included in The Garden of the Martyrs (Rawzat al-Shuhada) by Husayn Kashifi (d.1505), a Persian collection of stories of the martyrdom of the Shi'i imams and other early martyrs of Islam that was popular amongst the Sunni communities of north-western China during the Qing dynasty.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF HUI ORIGIN LEGENDS
Most of the extant Hui origin legends regarding the transmission of Islam to China achieved their present form in the late-Ming or early-Qing dynasty. They can be dated by reference to steles in Chinese mosques and early Chinese Muslim printed texts that recount origin legends. Evidence of their age can also be inferred from the language of the earliest of these legends, which employ an orthodox Chinese vocabulary of Islamic terms that was not developed until the seventeenth century. However, legends are the material of oral literature, and the earliest written accounts represent only the endpoint of a long process of oral narrative development.

The earliest of the written origin legends is carved on a stele commemorating the re-establishment of a mosque in Dingzhou, Hebei. In this 900-character text, a brief mention is made of Waqqas:
In the Kaihuang reign [581-600] of the Sui, our Companion Sa'd Waqqas first brought the teaching to China.[4]

The date given here is similar to the date given in the Fujian Gazetteer for the first revelation of Muhammad but, unlike the gazetteer account, no claim is made that Waqqas was buried on Chinese soil. This is possible evidence that in eastern China during the late-Yuan dynasty, the legends concerning journeys to China by Companions of the Prophet were not associated with any tomb cults.
There is also important evidence regarding the age of the origin legends in the names of Ashab Mosque in Quanzhou and the Huaisheng Mosque in Guangzhou, the leading mosques in their respective cities during the Yuan dynasty and the only surviving examples of Islamic stone architecture from this period in eastern China. The name "Ashab Mosque", which translates as Mosque of the Companions (of the Prophet), is found in a large Arabic inscription on the inside of the main entrance of the mosque. 

The full inscription translates as follows:
This was the first mosque of the people of this land. This auspicious mosque is named the Mosque of The Ancient and The Old, is called the Mosque of the Congregation and the Street, and is titled the Mosque of the Companions. It was built in the year 400 AH (Song dynasty; 1009CE). Three centuries later, Ahmad bin Muhammad Quds, the renowned Hajji, the "Foundation", of Shiraz, built this soaring dome, widened the entrance, redecorated the doors and renovated the windows, completing the works in the Hijra year 710 AH (Yuan dynasty; 1310CE). May the Almighty God be pleased by this act, and grant him mercy, and have mercy upon (the Prophet) Muhammad and his family.[5]

This inscription tells us that the name "Mosque of the Companions" dates back at least to the beginning of the 14th century, and possibly to the beginning of the 11th century. There is no mention of there being a tomb of one of the Companions in the vicinity. Further, it is plain from this inscription that the Muslims who renovated the mosque in 1310 believed that an Islamic community was not established in Quanzhou until several centuries after the time of the Companions. Moreover, despite the name of the mosque, no direct connection is made between any of the Companions and China. Its title is simply a reflection of the Sunni affiliation of its congregation, an affiliation that is borne out in the two less formal names for the mosque and in the place of origin of its renovator, Shiraz, which in the 13th century was a Sunni town.

The Chinese name of the Yuan dynasty mosque in Guangzhou, huaisheng, can be understood as "devoted to the Prophet", or else "devoted to the sage" who is supposedly buried there. This is how the name is usually explained in texts from the Ming dynasty. However, the name may have originally been a direct translation of the Arabic word for "Companions of the Prophet" (huai "to cherish" for the Arabic "sahabah"). Muslims in Yuan dynasty China used Arabic and Persian as their written language. This mosque would have mainly been known by its Arabic name during the Yuan, and this may have been identical to that of the main Sunni mosque in Quanzhou, the "Ashab Mosque" or "Mosque of the Companions."

This is an appropriate title for the leading mosque of a Muslim community of the Sunni creed. Sunni Muslims hold in high esteem the Companions of the Prophet, whom they regard as having shared in the special qualities of the Muhammad, rather than the line of Imams (descendents of the Prophet through Ali) regarded by Shi'i Muslims as having passed on these qualities for many generations after Muhammad's death. The Hui origin legends that developed in the Ming dynasty, such as the stories of the Four Sages and of the journey of Waqqas, provided a new explanation for the name of Sunnimosques built during the Yuan dynasty in honour of the Companions. [AHG]

Notes
1. See Zhang Xinglang (ed.), Zhong Xi jiaotong shiliao huibian (Historical documents on East-West relations), 4 vols, Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 2003 edition, p.749.
2. Lan Xu, Tianfang zheng xue (The true learning of Arabia), Beijing: Niujie Mosque, 1925 edition (first edition 1852), juan 7; quoted in Zhang Xinglang, op. cit., p.744.
3. Zhang Xinglang, op. cit., pp. 741-42.
4. Feng Jinyuan, "Guangzhou chongjian huaishengsi ji" (A record of the reconstruction of the Huaisheng Mosque in Guangzhou), in Bai Shouyi ed., Zhongguo Huihui minzu shi (A history of the Huihui Nationality in China), Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 2003, p. 520.
5. Wu Wenliang, revised by Wu Youxiong, Quanzhou zongjiao shike (Religious inscriptions of Quanzhou), Beijing: Kexue Chubanshe, 2005, plate 7.
References
Chen Dasheng, Quanzhou Yisilanjiao shike (Islamic inscriptions of Quanzhou), Yinchuan: Ningxia Renmin Chubanshe, 1984.
Feng Jinyuan (ed.), "Zhongguo Yisilanjiao beiwen xuanzhu" (A selection of Chinese Islamic stele inscriptions), in Bai Shouyi ed., Zhongguo Huihui minzu shi (A history of the Huihui Nationality in China), Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 2003, pp. 461-533.
Lan Xu, Tianfang zheng xue (The true learning of Arabia), Beijing: Niujie Mosque, 1925 (1852).
Ma Kuangyuan, Huizu wenhua lunji (Essays on Hui culture), Beijing: Zhongguo Wenlian Chuban Gongsi, 1998.
Wu Wenliang, revised by Wu Youxiong, Quanzhou zongjiao shike (Religious inscriptions of Quanzhou), Beijing: Kexue Chubanshe, 2005.
Zhang Xinglang ed., Zhong-Xi jiaotong shiliao huibian (Historical documents on East-West relations), 4 vols, Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 2003.
Ackmnowledgements
My gratitude to Dr. Muhammad Deyghani of the Persian Languages and Literature Department of Tehran University for help in translating the Arabic transcription from the Ashab Mosque.
******************** *********************
One of Islam's main entry points into China was the Pearl River Port of Quanzhou.
The majority of China's Muslims are Turkic peoples living in the vast Xinjiang region of northwest China. The rest are mainly Hui - either descendants of Chinese converts to Islam or the offspring of Chinese intermarriages with Muslim immigrants whose appearance is distinctly Chinese. They live in sizeable communities in the former Silk Road oases of western and central China, in the southern province of Yunnan, and in the industrial cities and ports of the east.

Contacts between Muslims and Chinese began very early. Arab merchants traded in silk even before the advent of Islam, and tradition has it that the new religion was brought to their port-city trading colonies by Muslim missionaries in the seventh century.

In 755, a contingent of 4000 soldiers, mostly Muslim Turks, was sent by the Abbasid caliph Abu Jafar al-Mansur to help the Chinese emperor Su Tsung quell a revolt by one of his military commanders, An LuShan. Following the recapture of the imperial capital, Ch'angan (today's Xian), these soldiers settled in China, married Chinese wives and founded inland Muslim colonies similar to those established by the traders on the coast.

Islam made its first real inroads into what is now western China in the middle of the 10th century, with the conversion of Sultan Sutuq Bughrakhan of Kashgar and his subsequent conquest of the Silk Road oases of Yarkand and Khotan in southwest Xinjiang.

During the Song Dynasty (960 - 1279), China experienced spectacular economic growth. This stimulated expansion of the Muslim mercantile communities - particularly in Ch'ang - an, the eastern terminus of the Silk Roads, and in the port cities of Quanzhou and Guangzhou, where Muslims largely governed the internal affairs of their own neighborhoods, building mosques and appointing qadis to adjudicate according to Islamic law.

But although some Chinese merchants involved in international trade did become Muslims, other converts were few, and Islam in China was confined largely to Muslim immigrants and their descendants. Until, that is, the Mongol invasion overthrew the Song Dynasty and ushered in what Chinese Muslims regard as the "golden age" of Islam in China.There are several historical versions relating to the advent of Islam in China. Some records claim Muslims

first arrived in China in two groups within as many months from al-Habasha Abyssinia (Ethiopia).
Ethiopia was the land where some early Muslims first fled in fear from the persecution of the Quraysh tribe
in Makkah. Among that group of refugees were one of Prophet Muhammad’s daughters Ruqayya, her
husband Uthman ibn Affan, S’ad Ibn Abi Waqqas and many other prominent Sahabah (Companions) who
migrated on the advice of the Holy Prophet. They were successfully granted political asylum by al-Habashi
King Atsmaha Negus in the city of Axum (c.615 CE).

However, some Sahabah never returned to Arabia. They may have travelled on in the hope of earning their
livelihood elsewhere and may have eventually reached China by land or sea during the Sui Dynasty (581-618 CE). Some records relate that S’ad Ibn Abi Waqqas and three other Sahabah sailed to China in c.616
CE from Abyssinia (Ethiopia) with the backing of the king of Abyssinia. Sa’d then returned to Arabia,
bringing a copy of the Holy Qur’an back to Guangzhou some 21 years later, which appropriately coincides
with the account of Liu Chih who wrote “The Life of the Prophet” (12 vols).

One of the Sahabahs who lived in China is believed to have died in c. 635 CE and was buried in the western urban part of Hami. His tomb is known as “Geys’ Mazars” and is revered by many in the surrounding region. It is in the north western autonomous province of Xinjiang (Sinkiang) and about 400 miles east of the latter’s capital, Urumqi. Xinjiang is four times the size of Japan, shares its international border with eight different nations and is home to the largest indigenous group of Turkic-speaking Uyghurs.

Hence, as well as being the largest Islamised area of China, Xinjiang is also of strategic importance geographically.
The Qur’an states in unequivocal words that Muhammad was sent only as a Mercy from God to all peoples
(21:107), and in another verse, “We have not sent thee but as a (Messenger) to all Mankind” (34:28). This universality of Islam facilitated its acceptance by people from all races and nations and is amply
demonstrated in China where the indigenous population, of ethnic varieties of Chinese Muslims today is
greater than the population of many Arab countries including that of Saudi Arabia.

More than 1000 years old historic Mosque in Sian Fu, Western China

___________________________________________________________________

Hazrat Abbas Abul Bakar's Mazar is also present in China. He Converted More than 10,000 Chinese to Muslims, and brought the Flying Lamas to the Ground which made them accept Islam and the full village reverted to Islam.

Hazrat Abbas Abul Barkat(rehmatullah alaih) came from Arab to China for spreading islam, He was a normal alim with out any wilayat, but was a true muslim, He started preaching Islam to the people of china and very soon many people start converting from Buddhism to Islam.

When the lamba(Budhist Monk) came to know about this, they all challenged Hazrat Abbas Abul Barkat(rehmatullah alaih), They all said if your religion is true then fight with us that time Hazrat Abbas Abul Barkat(rehmatullah alaih) was a normal Muslim without any powers, but he was a true muslim, Hazrat Abbas Abul Barkat(rehmatullah alaih) accepted the challenge, The Monks said Hazrat Abbas Abul Barkat(rehmatullah alaih) to meet near some mountain tommorow where the fight will be held.
Hazrat Abbas Abul Barkat(rehmatullah alaih) accepted the challenge and went back to his house, All the way home he was thinking how will he defeat the lamba they are very powerfull people, Hazrat Abbas Abul Barkat(rehmatullah alaih) prayed to Allah to help him, next morning Hazrat Abbas Abul Barkat(rehmatullah alaih) woke up and started walking towards the mountain where the challenge was held, Hazrat Abbas Abul Barkat(rehmatullah alaih) heard a voice from back, there was a man He adressed him with his name Hey Abbas Abul Barkat liste, Hazrat Abbas Abul Barkat(rehmatullah alaih) was shocked to hear his name from a stranger becoz in china no one was nowing his original name, Hazrat Abbas Abul Barkat(rehmatullah alaih) asked him who he was and how does he know his name.

The man replied i am Riyadul Gayb and i am send to you by Allah, come embrace me, as Hazrat Abbas Abul Barkat(rehmatullah alaih) emraced Riyadul Gayb, He was blessed by many things which Allah knows the best.

Hazrat Abbas Abul Barkat(rehmatullah alaih) worry were gone by know as soon as he reached the place where the fight was held, He saw all the lamba's were sitting in the air with out any support and on seeing Hazrat Abbas Abul Barkat(rehmatullah alaih) they started laughing.

Hazrat Abbas Abul Barkat(rehmatullah alaih) just took his shadat fingure and said " Saab Niche" means " Come Down" as soon as these word were said by Hazrat Abbas Abul Barkat(rehmatullah alaih) all the lamba fell down, they were shocked to see the result they were not expecting this.

All the lambas ran towards Hazrat Abbas Abul Barkat(rehmatullah alaih) and said that this sitting in the air is the last stage of our power, your 1 small fingure brought us down, when this fingure has so much power how much power will u have, You are true and your Deen is true, Plz make us all follow your religion.

The Father Of my Bade Nana who is also my Peer Sahab Hazrat Afzalur Rehman urf Janab Bhole Miyan Sahab(rehmatullah) Whose Mazar Sharif is in Gunjmuradabad Sharif next to the mazar sharif of his father Hazrat Rehmatullah Miyan Sahab(rehmatullah alaih) who was a abdal of his time.

He has stopped the sun once while he wanted to offer the namaz as the time of namaz was going .

Once Hazrat Rehmatullah Miyan Sahab(rehmatullah alaih) who was a abdal of his time was traveling with his mureed, It was during the time of winter, Hazrat Rehmatullah Miyan Sahab(rehmatullah alaih) offered the namaz asar at some mureed house and moved further to meet some other mureed, the distance from that place to reach the mureed house was 2 hrs, all the mureed who were with Hazrat Rehmatullah Miyan Sahab(rehmatullah alaih) objected and said ki "huzoor sardi ka waqt hai adhe ghante main magrib hojayge hum nahi pahunch paynge wahan tak"

On Hearing this Hazrat Rehmatullah Miyan Sahab(rehmatullah alaih) replied " Ary aj hum bhi dekhtain hai ki Suraj Kaise Dubta hai.. chalo "

It took more than more than 2hrs to reach the mureed house but the Sun was still there, The mureed were surprised to see the miracle, when they reached the destionation then only the Sun went down.

Tomb of Hazrat Al Shaikh Bahauddine (rehmatullah alaih)(china)

The central tomb at this Song dynasty Muslim graveyard belongs to Hazrat Al Shaikh Bahauddine (rehmatullah alaih) chinese name Puhading,16th descendant of the prophet Muhammad(sal lal laho tala alihi wasalm), who visited Yangzhou to help spread Islam. He built the Crane Masjid (Xian E Si) in town, and was buried in this graveyard in 1275 in a simple, stepped stone grave enclosed in a rectangular structure with a vaulted roof. Also here are the tombs of Muslim traders and other Arabs from the Yuan to the Qing dynasties

Jannatul-Baqi

The most blessed and spiritual graveyard in the world: Jannatul-Baqi, wherein lie a great number of companions, wives, daughters and other family members of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.

Allah’s Messenger SallAllahu alaihi wassalam said: "Peace be upon you, O abode of believers. What you were promised will come to pass tomorrow at a fixed time. We shall, Allah willing, soon join you. O Allah! Grant forgiveness to the people who are buried in al-Baqi’ al-Gharqad." (Muslim)

And: "I am the first for whom the Earth will burst open, then Abu Bakr and then Umar. I shall then come to those who are buried in al-Baqi’ and they will be gathered along with me. After that I shall wait for the people of Mecca so as to be gathered among the inhabitants of the two sacred cities." (Tirmidhi)

In the time of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, this grave yard was thought to be outside of Madina but now it is adjacent to Masjid an Nabwi. Al-Baqi‘ is a powerful place. Other cities consider it their pride to host a single saint; but here there are hundreds. All around lie at rest the men and women who heard the Prophet’s summons, and broke the idols of their forefathers, and gave their lives to his cause.

Imam Malik rahmatullah alayhi (a resident of this blessed graveyard) puts the number of sahabah buried here as 10,000.

May Allah Ta’ala be pleased with them all.

===========================================================

Uthman Ibn Affan radhiAllah anhu

===========================================================

Ahl ul Bayt (The blessed family of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam)

• Fatimah ibn Muhammed sallallahu alayhi wasallam
• Hassan ibn Ali ibn Abu Talib
• Zain Abideen ibn Hussain ibn Ali
• Muhammad Baaqir ibn Zainul Abideen
• Jafar as-Sadiq ibn Muhammad Baaqir
• Abbas ibn Abdul Muttalib
• May Allah be pleased with them

The death of the Apostle, affected her very much and she was very sad and grief-stricken and wept her heart out crying all the time. The tragedy of her father's death was too much for the good, gentle and sensitive lady and she breathed her last on 14th jumada 'l-ula 11 A.H., exactly seventy-five days after the death of her father, the Holy Prophet of Islam. Fatimah died in the prime of her life at the age of eighteen, and was buried in Jannatu 'l-Baqi', Medina.

Ibn Umar (radhiyallahu anhu) reports that Rasullullah(sallallahu alaiyhi wassallam) said: "Whoever has the means to die in Madinah, let him die there for I shall intercede on behalf of everyone who dies there." (Ahmad, Tirmidhi)

===========================================================

Our Mothers: 9 Blessed Wives

• Aishah bint Abu Bakr
• Saffiyah bint Huyuy ibn Akhtab
• Umm Habibah Ramla bint Abu Sufyan
• Hafsa bint Umar al-Khattab
• Sauda bintZama al-Amiria
• Zaynab bint Khuzaymah
• Zaynab bint Jahsh
• Umm Salamah bint Abu Umama
• Juwayriya bint al-Harith
  (may Allah be pleased with them all)
  
  

===========================================================
3 Blessed Daughters (Zaynab, Umme Kulthum and Ruqayya)
(may Allah be pleased with them)

Malik related to me from Alqama ibn Abi Alqama that his mother said that she had heard A'isha, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, rose one night and put on his clothes and then went out. I ordered my slave-girl, Barira, to follow him, and she followed him until he got to al-baqi. He stood near it as long as Allah willed and then he left. Barira arrived back before him and told me and I did not say anything to him until morning, and then I mentioned it to him and he explained, 'I was sent out to the people of al-baqi to pray for them." (Muwatta – Imam Malik)

===========================================================

• Ibrahim ibn Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam
• Abdur Rahman ibn Auf
• Sa’d ibn Zarara
• Uthman ibn Math’oun
• Sa’d ibn Abu Waqaas
• Khunais ibn Hudhafa al-Sahmi
• Abdullah ibn Mas’udMay Allah be pleased with them
  
  

===========================================================

Imam of Madinah, Imam Malik rahmatullah alayhi on the left with his teacher and Imam Nafi’ Shaykh Quraa’ rahmatullah alayhi , the freed slave of Abdullah ibn ‘Umar to the right.

===========================================================

The Martyrs of Harrah

===========================================================

Jannat al-Baqi (also spelt Jannat ul-Baqi) is a famous cemetery in Madinah, Saudi Arabia, located right across from the Masjid al-Nabawi. It is well known since many of Muhammad s.a.w. relatives and companions are buried here, and due to its sanctity. Its name means "Tree Garden of Heaven". Many traditions relate Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. issuing a prayer every time he passed the cemetery.
Latest Images clicked on 17 Nov 2010



===========================================================

Watch Video : A Madni Badu offering Salams at Jannatul Baqi And Reading Fateha.

Early Morning Gumbad e Khizra and Jannatul Baqi

===========================================================
OLD PICS Before Destruction
Prior to the twentieth century, many of the graves were covered with domes or other structures.

Jannatul Baqi had Dargah's and Mazaars in that place
before the saudis destroyed them.
However, after the city of Madinah was taken by the Wahabbi forces of Ibn Saud, many of these buildings and tombs, originally intended to identify famous figures and enable Muslims to receive blessings or petition saints buried there for their intercession, were destroyed, in order to keep with the Wahabbi ideal of not venerating graves.



Despite this, the graves of many historic figures continue to be visited by numerous pilgrims and burials continue at the cemetery to this day as well.
After the demolition of 1925, Saudi authorities have stepped up restrictions with regards to visiting graves. Shias come to Jannatul Baqi to pay respect to their leaders, and this often involves invoking the dead and reciting salutations. However, this goes against the principles of the Wahabbi interpretation of Islam, state-sanctioned within Saudi Arabia, and the result is that often books and maps of the graves are confiscated by the authorities.

Many Shia continue to mourn the day that the House of Saud demolished graves in the Baqi cemetery, calling this day Yaum e Gham, literally meaning Day of Sorrow. They continue to protest the Saudi government's continuous demolition of shrines and ancient Masjids in Saudi Arabia built over shrines.

People Buried at Jannat al-Baqi
All of Prophet Muhammad's wives, except for Khadijah
Prophet Muhammad's son Ibrahim who died in infancy
Fatima Zahra, Prophet Muhammad's daughter, in a unknown grave.
Many of prophet Muhammad's aunts
Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib, uncle of prophet Muhammad
Hasan ibn Ali, Grandson of prophet Muhammad
Ali ibn Husayn, , Great-grandson of prophet Muhammad
Muhammad al-Baqir,
Jafar Sadiq,
Malik ibn Anas, Islamic jurist
Imam Shamil, Chechen leader
Uthman ibn Affan
Many other companions of Muhammad.

Shaikh Abdul Qadir Jilani

Hazrat-e-Bishr Qarazi narrates that I was travelling with a group of traders along with fourteen camels carrying sugar. We stopped for the night in a dangerous jungle. In the early hours of the night my four loaded camels disappeared, which were not found even after a lot of search. The group also departed. The camel driver stayed back with me . In the morning I suddenly remembered that my Mentor, The King of Baghdad Huzoor Ghous-e-Pak had told me that whenever you get stuck in any problem then call me (my name), Allah willing that problem will be solved, hence I requested this way: YA SHAIKH ABDUL QADIR! MY CAMELS ARE LOST.

All of sudden I saw a saintly man dressed in white clothes on a sand dune towards east, who was signaling me to come to him. As soon as I along with my camel driver reached over there the saintly Man disappeared from vision. We were strangely looking here and there when we suddenly spotted those four lost camels sitting under the sand dune. Then what happened was that we caught the camels and re-joined the group. When Sayyed-e-na Shaikh Ab-ul-Hasan Ali Khabbaz was told the incident of the lost camels He said that Hazrat-e-Shaikh Ab-ul- Qassim has said that I have heard Sayyed-e-na Shaikh Muhi-ud-Din Abdul Qadir Jilani saying:

"THE ONE WHO CRIES OUT FOR MY HELP DURING SOME PROBLEM, THE PROBLEM GETS SOLVED, THE ONE WHO CALLS OUT MY NAME IN ANY HARDSHIP, THAT HARDSHIP; GETS DISMISSED, THE ONE WHO USED ME AS A SOURCE TO ASK ALLAH FOR SOME NEED, IT WILL BE FUFILLED. THE PERSON WHO PRAYES TWO RAK'AT OF NAFL AND IN EACH RAK'AT AFTER SURAH FATIHA RECITIES SURAH IKHLAS ELEVEN TIMES, AFTER SAYING SALAAM i.e AFTER FINISHING THE PRAYER, SENDS DUROOD-O-SALAAM ON THE KING OF MADEENAH AND THEN WALKS A DISTANCE OF ELEVEN STEPS TOWARDS BAGHDAD SHAREEF AND CALLS OUT MY NAME AND PRESENTS HIS NEED, ALLAH WILLING, THAT NEED WILL BE FULFILLED'.

Why should I go from door to door when I have a mentor like You. I received every thing from you 'O, Ghous-e-Azam Dastgir.

Dear Islamic Brother! It is possible that in someone's mind a thought may arise that we should only ask Allah for any help and no one else, because when Allah is the One who helps then why should we ask anyone else for help? The answer to this is that this is the way he makes an unknown number of people go astray. When Allah has not refrained from asking for help from someone else then how can someone get the right of saying that don't ask for help from anyone but Allah. Look in the Holy Quran, where Allah has in various verses allowed asking for help from someone else, but even though being the Omnipotent in every way,. He has asked for help from His beings. Therefore it is stated:

Translation: If you will help the religion of Allah, Allah will help you. (Part-26, Sura: Muhammad)

THE KING OF JINNSBushair bin Mahfooz states that once my daughter, Fatima, all of a sudden vanished from the roof of my house. I got worried and want to the blessed presence of Sayyed-e-na Ghouse-e-Pak and requested for help. He told me to go to Karkh, and during the night sit in a deserted place forming a fort (Hisar) around myself. Over there think about em and say:" Bismillah" During the darkness of night groups of Jinns will pass by you, their faces will be very strange, do not get scared by looking at them, at the time of sahari the KING OF JINNS will come to you and will ask you about your requirement. Tell him, "Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jilani has sent me from Baghdad (my requirement is that) you search my daughter."

Hence, I went to the ruins of KARKH and followed the instructions of Huzoor Ghous-e-Azam. During the silence of night, horrifying Jinns kept on passing outside my hisar. The faces of the Jinns were so horrifying that I could not look at them. At the time of sahari, the KING OF JINNS came on a horse back, there were Jinns surrounding him. He asked my demand from outside the hisar. I told him that Huzoor Ghous-e-Azam has sent me to you. As soon as he beard this, he got down the horse and sat on the ground. The other Jinns too sat outside the hisar.

I narrated the incident of the disappearance of my daughter. He announced amongst all the Jinns, "Who has taken the girl?" Within moments the Jinns caught a Chinese Jinn and presented him as the culprit. The King of the Jinns asked him why did you pick the girl up from the city of the Highest Cadre in Spiritual Pivot (Qutub) of the time? He said, while shivering, Your Highness! After looking at her I fell in love with her. The King ordered the Chinese Jinn to be beheaded and returned my wonderful daughter to me. I thanked the King of the Jinns and said, as Allah will! You are an ardent lover of Sayyed-e-na Ghouse-e-Pak. He then replied, I SWEAR UPON ALLAH WHEN HUZOOR GHOUS-E-PAK LOOKS TOWARDS US, ALL THE JINNS START TREMBLING. WHEN ALL NOMINATES AS QUTUB OF TIME THEN ALL THE JINNS AND HUMANS ARE ORDERED TO FOLLOW HIM. (Bahjaa-tul-Asraar) 

All the Jinns start trembling (with fear) on hearing your name. Your Have that majestic awe 'O, Ghous-e-Azam Dastgir.

About Gous Pak

Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jelani was a noted Hanbali preacher, Sufi sheikh and the eponymous founder of the Qadiri Sufi order (selsela). He was born in Ramadan AH 470 (about AD 1077) in the Persian province of Gilan (Iran) south of the Caspian sea. His contribution and renown in the sciences of Sufism and Sharia was so immense that he became known as the spiritual pole of his time, al-Gauth al Azam (the "Supreme Helper" or the "Mightiest Succor"). His writings were similar to those of al-Ghazali in that they dealt with both the fundamentals of Islam and the mystical experience of Sufism.

Parents and Early Life
Abdul Qadir Jilani was a Sufi master and Syed (descendant of the Prophet Muhammad) from both his father and mother. His father Abu Saleh Jangidost, was an illustrious and God-fearing man. Once while engrossed in meditation by the bank of a river he saw an apple floating down the river. He picked it up and ate it. It struck to him that he ate the apple without paying for it so he set out in search of the owner, on the bank of the river and at last reached the owner of the apple orchard "Abdullah Somai" whom he requested to tell him the price of the apple, Abdullah Somai replied that it was an expensive thing. Syed Abu Saleh replied that he had not much by way of worldly material but he, could serve him for compensation. Abdullah Somai then asked him to work for a year in the orchard. In course of time the duration was extended several times. In the end Abdullah Somai admitted that he had served him in excess of the price and desired to reward him. Abu Saleh hesitated in accepting it but when Abdullah Somai persisted, he relented. He said he had a daughter, blind of eyes, handicapped of hands and feet and wanted to give her in marriage to him. In this way Abu Saleh was married to Abdullah Somai's daughter, Syeda Fatimah. To his astonishment found her wondrously beautiful and wholesome. He complained to his father-in-law that he found her exactly the opposite to what he had described her. Abdullah Somai insisted on the truthfulness of his statement. She was blind because she had not seen any Ghair Mehram (a man who could marry her). She was mute because she had not uttered a word repugnant to the Shariah (Islamic law). She was deaf because she had not heard anything inconsistent with the Shariah. She was handicapped of hand and feet because she had never moved in the direction of evil.

Abdul Qadir Jilani's father died soon after and the young orphan was reared up by his mother and his grandfather, Abdullah Somai.

Adult life
At the age of 18 he went to Baghdad on AH 488 (1095 AD), where he pursued the study of Hanbalite law under several teachers. His mother sewed 40 gold coins in his quilt so that he might spend them when needed. The dacoits struck the caravan on the way, and looted all the travelers of their belongings. They asked him what he had. He replied that he had 40 gold coins. The dacoits took his reply for a joke and took him to their chief, who asked him the same question and he again replied that he had 40 gold coins. He demanded him to show, upon whom he tore away, the quilt and produced the gold coins. He was surprised and asked him why he had given the hidden gold coins when he could have kept them hidden. Young Abdul Qadir Jilani replied that he was travelling to Baghdad to receive education and his mother had instructed him to speak the truth. This left a deep effect on the chief of the dacoits and he gave up looting.

Abdul Qadir received lessons on Islamic Jurisprudence from Abu Said Ali al-Mukharrimi, Hadith from Abu-Bakra-bin-Muzaffar, and commentary (tafseer) from the renowned commentator, Abu Muhammad Jafar.

In Sufism, his spiritual instructor was Shaikh Abu'l-Khair Hammad. From him, he received his basic training, and with his help he set out on the spiritual journey. Abu Shuja' was also a disciple of Shaikh Hammad, once he said: "Shaikh Abdul Qadir was in the company of Shaikh Hammad, so he came and sat in front of him, observing the best of good manners, until he stood up and took his leave. I heard Shaikh Hammad say, as soon as Shaikh Abdul Qadir had left: 'This non-Arab has a foot that will be raised, when the proper time comes, and placed upon the necks of the saints of that time. He will surely be commanded to say: This foot of mine is upon the neck of every saint of Allah. He will surely say it, and the necks of all the saints of his age will surely be bent at his disposal.'" Hazrat Junayd Baghdadi (died AD 910), who died about 167 years before the birth of Shaikh Abdul Qadir Jilani, predicted about him on one occasion, when he was performing meditation & during that he said: "His foot will be over all Saints' necks." After finishing meditation, his disciples asked him about his words, he replied: "One Sufi would be born in the future, who would be greater than all saints." Thus, Shaikh Hammad proved the words of Hazrat Junayd as right. The historians says that, later Shaikh Abdul Qadir Jilani also repeated the same words on many occasion by himself.

Spiritual Lineage, Shajra Mubarik
Prophet Muhammad (SW)
The Caliph Ali ibn Abi Talib
Sheikh Hasan Basri
Sheikh Habib Ajami
Sheikh Dawood Taiee
Sheikh Ma'ruf Karkhi
Sheikh Sari Saqati
Sheikh Junayd al-Baghdadi
Sheikh Abu Bakr Shibli
Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Tam?m?
Sheikh Abu al-Fadl Abu al-Wahid al-Tam?m?
Sheikh Abu al-Farah Tartusi
Sheikh Abu al-Hasan Hakari
Sheikh Abu Sa'id al-Mubarak Mukharrami
Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jilani

Popular Sufi Sheikh
After completion of education, Hazrat Abdul Qadir Jilani abandoned the city of Baghdad, and spent twenty-five years as a wanderer in the desert regions of Iraq as a recluse.[2] He was over fifty years old by the time he returned to Baghdad, in AH 521 (AD 1127), and began to preach in public. His hearers were profoundly affected by the style and content of his lectures, and his reputation grew and spread through all sections of society. Not only Muslims, but also Jews and Christians, not only caliphs and viziers but also farmers, merchants and traders allegedly altered their lives in response to Abdul Qadir's perorations.[3] He moved into the school belonging to his old teacher al-Mukharrimii, there he engaged himself in teaching. Soon he became popular with his pupils. In the morning he taught hadith and tafseer, and in the afternoon held discourse on mysticism and the virtues of the Qur'an. The number of students increased so much that the seminary could no more contain them. He, therefore, decided to extend the premises of the seminary. The students and the people willingly came forward with their wholehearted contributions. The campus buildings were ready in AH 528 and thereafter it came to be known as Madarsai-e-Qadriya.

Hazrat Abdul Qadir Jilani was a Non-Arab (ajami), so he wasn't fluent in Arabic and was having some difficulties because of it. Once The Prophet Muhammad came to him in a dream, before the time of the midday prayer (Zuhr), and he said to him: "O my dear son, why do you not speak out?" He replied: "O dear father, I am a Non-Arab man. How can I speak fluently in the classical Arabic language of Baghdad?" Holy Prophet said: "Just open your mouth!" He opened his mouth, and The Holy Prophet put his saliva seven times in his mouth. A few moments later, Hazrat Ali ibn Abi Talib also came & did the same to him six times. And from that time, Hazrat Abdul Qadir Jilani spoke classical Arabic language with fluency, his memory increased and he felt some great positive spiritual changes in him.

Once some one asked Shaikh Abdul Qadir Jilani about Mansur Al-Hallaj, he replied: "His claim extended too far, so the scissors of the Sacred Law (Shari'a) were empowered to clip it."

He busied himself for forty years in the service of the Islam from AH 521 to 561. During this period hundreds embraced Islam because of him and organized several teams to go abroad for the purpose. He arrived in Indian sub-continent in AD 1128, and stayed at Multan (Pakistan). He died in AH 561 (AD 1166) at the age of 91 years, and was buried in Baghdad.

For more information pls Visit : http://www.algillani.org

The Gold Frame arround the Holy Grave of Syedna Ghausa Azam inside the Shrine at Bab-ush-Shaikh, Baghdad, Iraq. The Khalifa Faqir Muhammad Afghani is sitted behind the Holy Grave. He passed away in probably 1985.

Opening Ceremony of Minhaj-ul-Quran Secertrate, Lahore ,March 12, 1987 by Pir Tahir Ilauddin Al-Gillani

SYED ABDUR REHMAN was a great scholar and his personal Library consists of thirty six thousand books on various subjects. Of these, about two thousand were manuscripts. The Present Makteba Qadiria is in fact, the altered name of the personal library of Syed Abdur Rehman. A copy of the QURAN written in gold was, after his death, presented to the king of LIBYA, IDRIS SANOSSI by Pir IBRAHIM SAIF-UD-DIN.

This manuscript of the Quran was seven hundred years old. In “Tarikh Ahwarat IRAQIA” by Abdul Razak Al Hassani, it has been stated that he was well known for his examplary piety and charity, and as a great Alim who loved books and had acquired abundant knowledge. He was also a man devoted to prayer and a great Wali of his time. Hazrat Seyidena Ghousul Azam conferred upon him the Khilafat of his Order in a dream, which was later affirmed by the Walis of his time. He had million of Murids and devotees.

He was s/o Al-Syed Abdur Rehman Al-Gilani Naqeeb ul ashraaf, born in 1189 A.H. He was a scholar and also possessed profound religious know-ledge. He led a strict religious life that was symbolised in his impressive and attractive personality, He was known for his charity, and devotion to the faith His Murids included Kings, Amirs and Nawabs and many other prominent people all over the world. He always associated with his father in the political deliberations of the Country.He himself formed in Baghdad a new political party known as Hizb-Al-Hurr (Freedom party). The library of Syed Abdur Rehman included a big and valuable collection of books and thousands of manuscripts. After the death he purchased it from brothers and placed it at the disposal of the Makteba Qadiria. He was the Mutawalli and after him, the, management would go to the eldest son in his family