Shadhili

Fassiyatush shadhili Sufi order was established by Qutbul Ujud Ghouthuz Zamaan Ash Sheikh Muhammad bin Muhammad bin Mas'ood bin Abdur Rahman Al Makki Al Magribi Al Fassi Ash Shadhili (Imam Fassi) who was a Moroccan by origin and born in Makkah.[5] Fassiyatush Shadhiliyya is widely practised in India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Mauritius and Indonesia. The descendants of Imam Fassi who are Sheikhs of Fassiyatush Shadhiliyya who live in Makkah and in Jeddah visit to these countries frequently to train Ikhwan. The international leader of Fassiya ash Shadhiliyya (Sheikhus Sujjadah) is selected from the heirs of Qutbul Ujood and Najmul Ulema Sheikh Ajwad bin Abdallah al Fassi al Makki ash Shadhili is the present leader of the international Sufi order al Fassiya ash Shazuliya.

The Holy Dargah of Imam Shadhili, Humaithara, Egypt

The Darqawiyya, a Moroccan branch of the Shadhili order, was founded in the late 18th century CE by Muhammad al-Arabi al-Darqawi. Selections from the Letters of al-Darqawi have been translated by the Shadhili initiate Titus Burckhardt, and also by the scholar Aisha Bewley.[6][7] One of the first tariqas to be established in the West was the 'Alawiya branch of the Darqawiyya, [8] which was named after Ahmad ibn Mustafa al-'Alawi al-Mustaghanimi, popularly known as Shaykh al-Alawi. "A significant book about him, written by Martin Lings, is A Sufi Saint of the Twentieth Century."[9][10]

The 'Attasiyah Order is a branch of the 'Alawi Order, founded by Umar bin Abdur Rahman bin Aqil al-Attas. It is centered in Yemen but also has centers in Pakistan, India, and Myanmar. The 'Alawiya order in Yemen has recently been studied by the anthropologist David Buchman. In his article "The Underground Friends of God and Their Adversaries: A Case Study and Survey of Sufism in Contemporary Yemen", Professor Buchman summarizes the results of his six-month period of fieldwork in Yemen. The article was originally published in the journal Yemen Update[11][10]

Another figure is Sheikh Abdal Qadir al-Murabit, a Scottish convert to Islam, whose lineage is Shadhili-Darqawi. Currently his order is known as the Murabitun. At other times his order has been known as the Darqawiyya and Habibiya. One of the first books that Abdal Qadir wrote was The Book of Strangers, which he authored under the name Ian Dallas.[12][10]

Another contemporary order deriving, in part, from Abdal Qadir al-Murabit is the al-Haydariyah al-Shadhiliyah, headed by Shaykh Fadhlalla Haeri. Of Shi'ite descent, Fadhlalla teaches within neither a Shi'i nor a Sunni framework.[10]

The Darqawi-Alawi branch of the Shadili tariqa also established itself in Damascus and the Levant through Sheikh Muhammad al-Hashimi al-Tilmisani, the son of an Algerian qadi, who migrated to Damascus along with his spiritual guide Ibn Yallis. After the death of Ibn Yallis, Hashimi was authorized by Sheikh Ahmad al-'Alawi (see above Martin Lings), during a visit to Damascus in the early 1920s, and was made his deputy in Damascus. A biography of his life was published in English as Shaykh Muhammad al-Hashimi: His Life and Works.

The most well known living spiritual guide of this branch of the Shadhili tariqa, especially to English-speakers, is Sheikh Nuh Ha Mim Keller, an American scholar, author, and translator, who resides in Amman, Jordan. He was authorized by Sheikh Abd al Rahman Al Shaghouri, who was himself a student of Sheikh Muhammad al-Hashimi al-Tilmisani and the lead singer of his gatherings in Damascus. Advocating a holistic and erudite approach to Sufism, Nuh Keller and his students have played an instrumental role in broadening access to Islamic sciences through online education and high quality publications and translations of classical works. His tariqa is notable in attracting a large number of scholars, academics, and professionals.

Sheikh Muhammad Sa'id al-Jamal, another student of Sheikh Muhammad al-Hashimi al-Tilmisani and who died in 2015, had worked from the Haram al-Sharif or The Temple Mount in Jerusalem and was a mufti of the Hanbali Madhab. He was also a student of the spiritual guide and Shadhili Sheikh Abdur Rahman Abu al Risah of Halab of the Shadhili Yashruti line. He was a direct descendant of Muhammad, through his ancestor Ahmad ar-Rifa`i. He wrote many books in both English and Arabic on Sufism, tafsir, and healing. His students from the US also established the University of Spiritual Healing and Sufism[13] which is devoted to the Sufi way of healing.

Another branch of the Shadhilia which has groups in Egypt, Indonesia, Turkey and America is the Shadhilia-Batawia founded by Sheikh Ibrahim al-Batawi, for many years professor at al-Azhar. He was a confrere of Sheikh Abdu-l-Halim Mahmud, Shaikh al-Azhar, who was very influential in the revival of Sufism in Egypt. Sheikh Ibrahim's student, Sheikh Abdullah Nooruddeen Durkee has established the Shadhdhuliyyah-Baddawia order in the US. Sheikh Nooruddeen has translated and transliterated the Qur'an and has compiled two definitive books on the Shadhdhuliyyiah, Orisons and Origins.[14]

"Between October 17–26, 1999 the First International Shadhilian Festival occurred in Egypt. It concluded with a pilgrimage to the tomb of Abu 'l-Hasan al-Shadhili and involved Sufi gatherings of dhikr" and the singing of qasidas, or classical poetry.[10]

The Maryamiyya Order was founded by Swiss-German metaphysician Frithjof Schuon, author of The Transcendent Unity of Religions, among other influential books, as an outgrowth of the Alawiyya order (of which he was initiated into by René Guénon). In 1946, the students of a group he led in Switzerland declared him to be an "independent master", spurring him to create his own order. Sometime in 1965, Nūr al-Dīn began having visions of Maryam (as the Virgin Mary is known in Islam), who the Order is named after. The Maryamiyya Order is particularly notable for being largely formed around Perennial philosophy and Neoplatonism, and heavily influenced by Advaita Vedanta and Guénon's Traditionalist School.[15]

It has been suggested that the Shadhili school was influential on St. John of the Cross, in particular on his account of the dark night of the soul and via Ibn Abbad al-Rundi.

This influence has been suggested by Miguel Asín Palacios[16] and developed by others,[17] who claim that Ibn Abbad al-Rundi drew detailed connections between their teachings.

Other scholars, such as José Nieto, argue that these mystical doctrines are quite general, and that while similarities exist between the works of St. John and Ibn Abbad and other Shadhilis, these reflect independent development, not influence.[18]