Uthman Sirâj-ud-Dîn Naqshbandi

Sheikh ‘Uthman Sirâj-ud-Dîn Al-Naqshbandi (Arabic: الشيخ عثمان طويلة نقشبندي, Turkish: Osman Sirâceddîn Nakşibendi) known as Uthman Sirâj-ud-Dîn at-Tavîlî or Uthman Sirâj-ud-Dîn Al-Awal (born 1781 AD/c. 1195 AH Tawella, Iraq / died 1867 AD/c. 1284 AH Tawella, Iraq) was an 18th-century influential sufi, awliya' and Islamic scholar.

Uthman Sirâj-ud-Dîn Al-Naqshbandi
Born	1781 Tawella
Died	1867 Tawella
Venerated in	Islam

Family

He is Uthman (pronounced as Osman in other cultures) ibn Khâlid ibn Abdullah ibn Sayyid Muhammad ibn Sayyid Darwish ibn Sayyid Mashraf ibn Sayyid Jumu'ah ibn Sayyid Zahir (which is one of the blessed Sayyids), the son of Al-Hussain ibn Ali Ibn Abi Talib. The mother of Sheikh Uthman is Hamilah bint Abu Bakr. From her name is an indication that we know a deep faith of a family of Islam; they are known by desired Islamic names. Abu Bakr's lineage arrives to the jurist Ahmed Ghazai which (itself) arrives to Al-Hassan ibn Ali ibn Abi Talib. The lineage of Sirâj-ud-Dîn arrives to the Muhammad, his family and his companions. These pure tributaries (Euphrates and Tigris) flowed into one spring but the perfection of the deportment did not make the lineages one rather with certainty did it grow by action and sincerity, quicker that the lineage.[1] (The phrase al-Hasani wal-Hussaini affirms his lineal descent from both Hasan ibn Ali and Hussein ibn Ali, the grandsons of Muhammad)[2][3]

Biography

Uthman Sirâj-ud-Dîn was born in the village called Tawella in Ottoman Empire known for the loyalty of its people, the smell of their fragrances and cleanness of its water. His life was habitual reciting -the Quran- for which he was renowned and exceptional, and memorising the noble Quran and the religious knowledges. He journeyed to the plantation of Khurmal (Iraq) and the Kharabani School which he frequented with students from all directions. The signs of his righteousness, virtue, abstinence, exertion during his lessons.

Thereafter he went to Baghdad by the way of Sulaymaniyah for the religious schools and the safety of the princes of Ottoman Empire. He studied various Islamic sciences there in the Madrasa of Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani. Sheikh Uthman Sirâj-ud-Dîn was the most important figure among Mavlana Halid's disciples even while Mevlana was still living in Baghdad. The two men know each other as students of Islamic sciences, and they met once again in Baghdad in 1811 during Mevlana's 5 month short stay in the Mosque of Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani, shortly after his return from India. It was then that Faqīh Uthman, who afterwards was known as Sirâj-ud-Dîn, was initiated to the path by Mawlana. After two years of spiritual training, -at the age of 33- he was the first person to become a caliph of Mawlana on the whole. Sheikh Uthman began to seek the designation of jurists by seeking sacred knowledge, this was beloved term given by his spiritual guide Mawlana Khalid-i Baghdâdî.[4]

Mawlana Khalid-i Baghdâdî said:

"I bore separation and calamity then arrived to various ranks then it was taken from me by Uthman Sirâj-ud-Dîn," and added, "I planted and Uthman sowed."[5]

He moved, instead, to his home region, Tawella, and began to establish a strong base for the order, which became one of the most important centres for the Khalidi suborder in the whole Middle East and continued to be such until the fifties of the present century. This centre not only contributed greatly in spreading the sufi teachings of the Naqshbandi order, but also produced a number of poets whose poems are examples of the most significant and marvellous sufi poetry as a whole.

The usually laconic Haydari writes:

"He had many dazzling miracles and visible amazing supernatural deeds. The elite and common people testified to his sainthood. He became famous among the people, and many distinguished religious scholars and the most respected virtuous and pious followed the path under his hand. Many Jews and Christians were converted to Islam through his attentionand heed, followed the path in his lodge, and attained mystical states. The condition of this saintwas mostly intoxication and majesty." [6]

His fame spread throughout the Ottoman and Iranian Empire in that time. He had a great number of caliphs and deputies and affiliates from different regions.[7] Sirâj-ud-Dîn became responsible to guide, be firm and establish his deputies. He became the focus for the seekers and his associates he established guidance, faithfully for more than 40 years in the Tawella and Sulaymaniyah. He was the exemplar worshipper, abstainer, seeker, compiling to the sacred law. He honoured wayfarers, held seclusion session for seekers, taught students of knowledge, jurisprudence, ways to correct the soul, purify the soul, to reject the ties of the material and become a model to be imitated.

Naqshbandiyya Uthmaniyya

This is the family tree and also Silsila of Tariqa Naqshbandiyya ‘Uthmaniyya[8][9][10]

‘Uthman Sirâj-ud-Dîn Naqshbandi (1781-1867)

Muhammad Bahâ-ad-Dîn (1836-1881)

Abdurrahman Abu al-Wafa (1837-1868)

Umar Diya-ud-Dîn (1839-1900)

Ahmad Shams-ud-Dîn (1849-1890)

Muhammad Ali Hisâm-ad-Dîn (1861-1939)

Muhammad Najm-ad-Dîn (1861-1919)

Muhammad Alâ-ad-Dîn (1863-1953)

Muhammad Bahâ-ad-Dîn Sânî (1893-1971)

‘Uthman Sirâj-ud-Dîn Sânî (1896-1997)

Ahmad Nur-ad-Dîn (1926-1989)

Muhammad ‘Irfan Naqshbandi (b. 1964)

Death

‘Uthman Sirâj-ud-Dîn passed away on Tuesday night on the 6th of Shawwal in the Islamic year 1283 (1867). He was 88 years old and he was buried in a garden before his house in Tawella.

References

1. el-Beytâr, Hilyetü’l-beşer, II, 1052; Müderris, Yâd-ı Merdân, II, 9-10
2. Biographical encyclopaedia of sufis: central asia and middle east, pg 123, Vol 2. Hanif N. Sarup and Sons. (2002) ISBN 81-7625-266-2, 9788176252669.
3. The Election of Caliph/Khalifah and World Peace pg 176. Mowla, Khondakar G. (1998).
4. The Naqshabandi Sheikhs of Hawraman and the Heritage Khalidyya-Mujaddidiyya in Iraq in Naqshabandis p. 92
5. Evliyalar Ansiklopedisi-IX, s.28
6. The Naqshbandiyya: Orthodoxy and Activism in a Worldwide Sufi Tradition by Itzchak Weismann
7. Müderris, Yâd-ı Merdân, II, 13-14
8. Cecil J. Edmonds - Kurds, Turks and Arabs: Politics, Travel and Research in North-Eastern Iraq, 1919-1925 London, Oxford University Press, 1957 (p. 111)
9. Müderris, Yâd-ı Merdân, II, 9-10
10. el-Beytâr, Hilyetü’l-beşer, II, 1052