The Golden Chain: From Ancient Seas to Modern Deserts | | |
﷽
وَٱلَّذِينَ جَآءُو مِنۢ بَعْدِهِمْ يَقُولُونَ رَبَّنَا ٱغْفِرْ لَنَا وَلِإِخْوَٰنِنَا ٱلَّذِينَ سَبَقُونَا بِٱلْإِيمَـٰنِ وَلَا تَجْعَلْ فِى قُلُوبِنَا
غِلًّۭا لِّلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ رَبَّنَآ إِنَّكَ رَءُوفٌۭ رَّحِيمٌ
And those who come after them will pray, “Our Lord! Forgive us and our fellow believers who preceded us in faith, and do not allow bitterness into our hearts towards those who believe. Our Lord! Indeed, You are Ever Gracious, Most Merciful.”
Surah Hashr 59:10
☆☆☆
This month, we dedicate our community newsletter to five luminous saints of the Naqshbandi Golden Chain whose Urs are commemorated in Dhul Qaidah:
Shaykh Yaraghi ق
Shaykh Sharafuddin ad-Daghestani ق
Shaykh Khalid al-Baghdadi ق
Shaykh Shirwaniق
Shaykh Ramitani ق
May their spiritual stations uplift our hearts and connect us to the timeless river of divine remembrance.
This past week also marked the Gregorian Urs of Mawlana Shaykh Nazim al-Haqqani, who passed away on May 7, 2014. We encourage all murids and lovers to commemorate his blessed soul by reciting Surah Fatiha, Surah Ikhlas, and Surah Yasin, and renewing our intention to follow his path with sincerity.
Also included are highlights of Shaykh Nour Kabbani’s Arizona tour, where the desert met the dhikr in a series of blessed gatherings across Grand Canyon State.
As Shaykh Nour shared in a recent sohbat,
“Even having a coffee with your fellow Muslim and they ask, ‘How are you?’ and you reply, ‘Alhamdulillah’—that is dhikr! Even saying ‘As-Salamu Alaykum’—As-Salam is the Name of Allah (ﷻ). You have mentioned His Name. The minute you mention His Holy Names, He is promising:
أَلَا بِذِكْرِ اللَّهِ تَطْمَئِنُّ الْقُلُوبُ
‘Surely in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find tranquility’
Surah Ar-Ra’d 13:28
May these days of Dhul Qaidah root us in calm, expand our hearts in remembrance, and prepare us for the sacred journey ahead.
📿
| |
Dhul Qaidah:
Masters of the Naqshbandi Golden Chain
| | |
Shaykh Muhammad Effendi al-Yaraghi ق
Born: 2nd of Dhul-Qaidah, 1191 AH / 1777 CE — Kural, Shirwan, Daghestan
Lived: Daghestan; his teachings spread through Turkey, Persia, and the Arab world
Died: 17th of Muharram, 1265 AH/ 1848 CE in Daghestan.
From his Sayings:
“The seeker (murid) doesn’t want anything for himself except what Allah desires for him, and he doesn’t need anything from the universe except his Lord.”
“Whoever comes to Allah with his heart, Allah will send the hearts of all His servants to him.”
“Examining is for the eyes. Witnessing (mushahada) is from the heart. Unveiling (kashf) is for the Secrets (asrar) of vision.”
| |  |
Shaykh Sharafuddin ad-Daghestani ق
Born: 3rd of Dhul-Qaidah, 1292 AH / 1875 CE — Kikunu, Ganep District, Timurhansuru, Daghestan
Lived: Daghestan, later migrated to Rashadiya near Bursa, Turkey, his influence spread across the Ottoman lands.
Died: 27th of Jumada al-Awwal, 1355 H./1936 CE in Rashadiya
From his Sayings:
“As the dhikr enters and strengthens in his heart, he will ascend until he reaches the state in which he perceives the dhikr of everything in creation. He will hear everything reciting Dhikr with him in the manner that Allah destined for it. He hears each of Allah’s creations, its own tone and melody distinct from any other. His hearing of one does not affect his hearing of another, but he hears them all simultaneously and distinctly and he is able to differentiate between each different kind of dhikr.”
| | |
Shaykh Khalid al-Baghdadi ق
Born: Karadağ, near Sulaymaniyah, Iraqi Kurdistan (1193 AH/ 1779 CE)
Lived: Sulaymaniyah; studied in India; later resided in Baghdad
Died: Baghdad, 13th Dhul Qaidah, 1242 AH/1827 CE. He is buried in Damascus, Syria.
From his Sayings:
He ordered them not to cry on his behalf, and he asked them to slaughter animals and feed the poor for the love of Allah and the honor of the Shaykh. He asked them to send him gifts of reading from Qur’an and recitations of prayers. He ordered them not to write anything on his grave except, “This is the grave of the stranger Khalid.”
| | |
Shaykh Ismail Muhammad ash-Shirwani ق
Born: 7th of Dhul-Qaidah 1201 AH /1787 CE
Lived: Shirwan; traveled to Delhi; later active in Daghestan
Died: 10th of Dhul-Hijjah, 1255 AH / 1839 CE. He is buried in Amasya, Turkey.
From his Sayings:
“Allah provides his servants with the sweetness of His Dhikr. If one thanks Allah and is happy with that, He will provide him Familiarity with Him. If he is not thankful and happy with that, He will take the sweetness from the dhikr and leave it only on his tongue.”
“Whoever proclaimed he is Hearing, and yet he doesn’t hear the Dhikr of the birds and the sounds of the wood and the applause of the wind, is a liar.”
| | |
Shaykh Ali ar-Ramitani ق
Born: Ramitin, Uzbekistan (either 585 AH / 1185 CE or 591 AH / 1191 CE)
Lived: Ramitin; active in Bukhara region
Died: 18th Dhul Qaidah 715 H / 1315 CE or 721 H/1321 CE. He is buried in Alamdor, 20kms north west of Bukhara.
|
|
|
From his Sayings:
"For the beginner it is best that it be by the tongue, and for the adept it is best that it be by the heart.
This is because for the beginner to remember Allah he must apply a great deal of effort. Since his heart is distracted and unstable and his efforts are scattered, it is better for him to do it with the tongue. But the adept has already polished his heart and is easily affected by dhikr. All of his organs become Rememberers so that the whole body of the adept, both externally and internally, remembers Allah in every moment. The equivalence of this is that one day’s dhikr of the adept is equal to one year’s dhikr of a beginner."
| | | |
The Spiritual Powers of a Saints
MAWLANA SHAYKH HISHAM KABBANI
April 11, 2012
| |
Shaykh Hisham Kabbani explained examples of righteous servants who gave their lives to save others, including Shaykh Sharafuddin ad-Daghestani ق and Shaykh Zia, when the Armenians invaded Rashadiyya (now Günüköy), Shaykh Zia was the first to be killed. Shaykh Sharafuddin said:
“He gave me his life and he took my death.”
Shaykh Zia was in constant salawaat and love for his Shaykh and the Prophet ﷺ. He diverted death away from Shaykh Sharafuddin, the Sultan al-Awliya of his time.
During the the Black Plague in Damascus Sayyidina Khalid al-Baghdadi ق took the illness upon himself to save the people of Sham.
As written in the book Hadaaiq al-Wardiyya by Muhammad Khani, one night Shaykh Khalid ق called his family into his room so he could advise them. Shaykh Khalid ق said, “No one may enter my room except those whom I order to do so,” then he lay on his right side facing the qiblah and said, “I am carrying all the plague which has descended on Damascus.” Mawlana Shaykh Nazim would many times say, “I am carrying the mureeds,” or, “I am carrying the whole ummah. The Prophet ﷺ gives the saints power to bring baatil down and bring Haqq up.”
| | |
If You’re Looking for the Silsila, It Starts with the Qur’an and Sunnah!
SHAYKH NOUR KABBANI
May 3, 2025
| | |
If you want Allah’s Love and Mercy, you have to hold onto the Holy Qur’an. You have to know what Allah ﷻ ordered and what He forbade. That’s why Rasoolullah ﷺ said, "If you hold onto the Qur'an and Hadith, you will never go astray; you will never lose your way." It means, you will find Him, and you will never perish; you will find Eternal Life!
So why don’t you take that as your Way? Why can’t Qur’an al-Kareem be your Golden Chain?...Let your mind go beyond the restrictions you have placed on yourself, on your mind, heart and soul.
Rasoolullah ﷺ is your guide, and the Qur’an is your way. They say “The Naqshbandi Way,” “The Qadiri Way,” or other ways, but the Way is the Way of the Qur’an....Every correct Sufi Way is based on Qur’an and Sunnah....That is the true way.
If you’re looking for the silsila, the chain, it starts with the Qur’an and Sunnah! That is how you link up to them. The piran, the ulama, the awliya, they all have Ma’rifatullah, Knowledge of Allah. Where is your knowledge, so you can at least link it to them and move forward? If you don’t have true knowledge, if you don’t have ‘ilm of Qur’an and Sunnah, how can you connect yourself to the ulama and awliya? May Allah forgive us.
So if you have free time, read! That’s what my grandfather, Mawlana Shaykh Nazim ق , told me: “Pick up a tafseer, a Qur’an, an ‘alim’s book—pick up something that helps you for Akhirah." So my advice, especially for Muslims, is to read!
| | Highlights from Shaykh Nour's Arizona Visit | | Shaykh Nour was presented with a 350 year-old copy of the Holy Qu'ran | Maghrib prayer at the Tumbleweed Recreational Center in Chandler | Enjoying the spectacular nature of the Grand Canyon State. Subhanallah! |
| Junayd al-Baghdadi's Lesson from a Cat | | |
They asked Sayyidina al-Junayd ق, “What is muraqabah? How do you do muraqabah?”
He said, “I learned muraqabah from the cat watching the hole of the mouse, waiting for the mouse to come out. If you want to do muraqabah, you have to wait for that chance, to grab it. You have to look for the chances to catch Allah’s Mercy!”
-Shaykh Nour Kabbani
| | Support the Jannatul Firdaus Cat Sanctuary! | | |
🐱 Where Your Donation Goes
Every dollar you give goes toward:
- Medical care for sick & pregnant cats
- Fostering and rehoming kittens
- Preventing diseases like distemper, rabies, worms, and fleas
- Feeding & hydration stations
- Organizing local volunteers
- Supplies for safe and sanitary cat zones
🤲 Donate Now – Be a Mercy to the Merciful
| | |
Thank you so much to everyone who has supported this cause so far! We are amazed at the response we got so far. With your support we were able to recruit five new volunteers for the month to work on creating medical files for our feline patients and start building DIY feeding systems.
🔮 Future Dreams for 2025 & Beyond
With your support, we hope to:
🏕️ Build insulated cat shelters & heated beds for harsh Michigan winters
🧑🌾 Launch a volunteer-run feeding program
🐾 Start a regional fostering network to rehome kittens
📚 Offer educational programs on holistic and halal pet care in the USA
If you're interested in following our project as it grows, please join the Whatsapp Group below
| | Build Your Naqshbandi Library | |
| | |
Discover the lives, teachings, and hidden stations of the Golden Chain in this timeless collection of spiritual history, stories, and rare transmissions from the Naqshbandi Masters.
This volume includes:
- Detailed life stories of the Masters of the Golden Chain
- Descriptions of the Qualifications for Mastery
- Over 200 page bio of Mawlana Shaykh Nazim Adil al-Haqqani
- Shariah citations in support of Tasawwuf, Dhikr, Seclusion, Bayah, Salawat.
Whether you are a new murid or a long-time seeker, this book offers guidance, inspiration, and connection to the spiritual heart of our path.
| | | | Looking for Naqshbandis in your area? Request to join the local Whatsapp groups for details about weekly dhikr gatherings and other community updates. | | Sufilive/ISCA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit religious organization. Your contribution is tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. Update your contact information BELOW in order to receive year-end tax-deduction documentation for tax purposes. | | | | |
