The Golden Chain of the Main Authentic (Mu'tabara) Sufi Orders

as-Silsilah ad-Dhahab (The Golden Chain)
	At-Tashawuf (at-Thariqat) proceeds by means of a Teacher-Student relationship. Each Teacher-Student relationship forms a link in a chain which connects any authentic Sufi Order (Thariqat al-Mu'tabara) back to the Holy Prophet Muhammad (shalla Allaahu 'alahi wa sallam). This "chain of initiation" is called a "Silsilah". The Silsilah of the School of Sufi Teaching connects the current Shaykh of a particular Order to the Holy Prophet Muhammad (SAW) through the five main Sufi Orders, the Naqshbandi, Mujaddidi, Chishti, Shadhili, and Qadiri. Each of these are named after of a prominent Shaykh of the Order. A Genuine Sufi Shaykh must possess the outer and the inward Knowledge of al-Islaam. He must not separate Shari'at, Thariqat, and Haqiqat from each other. His heart must be an empty tablet for all the verses of the Holy Qur'an, including all their exterior and interior dimensions, and he must be well-versed in the sciences of tafseer and ahadeeth. In reality, many more have branched forth from these five main Sufi Orders, the reality of which has been explained by the Holy Prophet (SAW) in the famous hadith, "At-Thuruq ilalLaah 'Azza wa Jalla 'alaa 'adad anfasil khla'iq," which means, "The Ways to Allaahu are as many (infinite) as the breaths of Man."

as-Sayyid al-Awwalin wa al-Akhirin Muhammad Musthafa Nurin min NurilLaah | | | | | Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi (Khwajagan) | Chishti | Shadhili | Qadiri | Sayyidina Hazrat Abu Bakr as-Shiddiq | Hazrat Salman Farsi | Hazrat Qasim Bin Muhammad Bin Abi Bakr | Hazrat Imam Ja'far as-Shadiq | Hazrat Shaykh Abu-Yazid Tayfur Bistami | Hazrat Abu al-Hasan 'Ali ibn Ahmad Kharaqani | Hazrat Abu 'Ali Farmadi Tusi | Hazrat Abu Ya'qub Yusuf al-Hamadani | Hazrat Khwajah 'Abd al-Khaliq Ghujduwani | Hazrat Mawlana 'Arif Riwgari | Hazrat Khwajah Mahmud Abu al-Khayr Anjir Faghnawi | Hazrat 'Azizan 'Ali Ramitani | Hazrat Mawlana Muhammad Baba Sammasi | Hazrat Sayyid Amir Kulal | Hazrat Khwaja Muhammad Baha'uddin Shah Naqshband | Hazrat Khwajah 'Ala'uddin al-Attar | Hazrat Mawlana Ya'qub al-Charkhi | Hazrat Khwajah 'Ubaydullah Ahrar | Hazrat Khwajah Muhammad az-Zahid Wakhshi | Hazrat Mawlana Darwish Muhammad | Hazrat Mawlana Muhammad Khwajah al-Amkanagi | Hazrat Khwajah Muhammad Baqibillah | Hazrat Imam Rabbani Shaykh Ahmad Faruqi Sirhindi Mujadded | Hazrat Adam Banuri | Hazrat Sayyid Abdullah Akbarabadi | Hazrat Shah 'Abd ar-Rahim | Hazrat Shah Waliullah | Hazrat Shah 'Abd al-Aziz | Hazrat Sayyid Ahmad Shahid | Hazrat Sufi Nur Muhammad | Hazrat Sufi Fatih 'Ali Uwaysi | Hazrat Maulana Ghulam Salmani | | | Sayyidina Hazrat 'Ali al-Murthada | Hazrat Hasan Basri | Hazrat Abu al-Fadl 'Abd al-Wahid ibn Zayd | Hazrat Abu al-Fayd Fudayl Ibn Iyad | Hazrat Ibrahim ibn 'Adham Balkhi | Hazrat Khwajah Sadiuddin Hudhayfa Mar'ashi | Hazrat Khwajah Aminuddin Abu Hubayrah Basri | Hazrat Khwajah Mamshad 'Ulw Dinawri | Hazrat Khwajah Abu-Ishaq Shami Chishti | Hazrat Khwajah Abu Ahmad ibn Farasnafa | Hazrat Khwajah Abu Muhammad ibn Ahmad | Hazrat Khwajah Abu-Yusuf Chishti | Hazrat Muhammad Mawdud Chishti | Hazrat Hajji Sharif Zindani | Hazrat Khwajah 'Uthman Harvani | Hazrat Khwaja Mu'inuddin Chishti | Hazrat Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki | Hazrat Fariduddin Mas'ud Ganj-i Shakar | Hazrat Khwajah Nizamuddin Awliya' | Hazrat Nasiruddin Chiragh-i Delhi | Hazrat Kamaluddin 'Allama | Hazrat Sirajuddin | Hazrat 'Ilmuddin | Hazrat Mahmud | Hazrat Jamaluddin | Hazrat Hasan | Hazrat Muhammad | Hazrat Muhammad Yahya Madani | Hazrat Mawlana Kalimullah Jahanabadi | Hazrat Mawlana Nizamuddin | Hazrat Mawlana Fakhruddin | Hazrat Mawlana Shah Niyaz Ahmad | Hazrat Mawlana Shaykh Miskin | Hazrat Mawlana Nijabet 'Ali Shah | Hazrat Abu-Hamid Karim Baksh | Sayyidina Hazrat 'Ali al-Murthada | Hazrat Imam Husayn | Hazrat Shaykh Muhammad Jarbadi | Hazrat Shaykh Sa'id Qirwani | Hazrat Shaykh Fatih Mas'udi | Hazrat Shaykh Abu al-Qasim Mirwani | Hazrat Shaykh Abu Ishaq Ibrahim Basri | Hazrat Shaykh Qutbuddin Mahmud Qazwini | Hazrat Shaykh Shamdsuddini | Hazrat Shaykh Tajuddin | Hazrat Shaykh Abu al-Hasan 'Ali | Hazrat Shaykh Taqiuddin Sufi | Hazrat Shaykh Sharafuddin Madani | Hazrat Shaykh 'Abd as-Salam ibn Mashish | Hazrat Shaykh Nuruddin Abu al-Hasan Shadhili | | | | | | | Sayyidina Hazrat 'Ali al-Murthada | Hazrat Imam Husayn | Hazrat Imam 'Ali Zayn al-'Abidin | Hazrat Imam Muhammad Baqir | Hazrat Imam Ja'far as-Shadiq | Hazrat Imam Musa al-Kazim | Hazrat Imam 'Ali Musa Rida | Hazrat Ma'ruf Karkhi | Hazrat Sari Saqati | Hazrat Junayd Baghdadi | Hazrat Shaykh Abu Bakr Shibli | Hazrat Shaykh 'Abd al-'Aziz Tamimi | Hazrat Abu al-Fadl Abu al-Wahid Tamimi | Hazrat Abu al-Farah Tartusi | Hazrat Abu al-Hasan Farshi | Hazrat Abu Sa'id al-Mubarak Mukharrami | Hazrat Shaykh 'Abd al-Qadir Jilani | | | | | | | | [The Silsilah continues via the Uwaysi way to:] | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | [The Silsilah continues via the Uwaysi way to:] | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Hazrat Sayyid 'Abd al-Bari Shah | Hazrat Hafiz Hamid Hassan 'Alawi | Hazrat Muhammad Sa'id Khan | Hazrat Azad Rasul al-Dehlavi Notes: Hazrat Sayyid Abdul Bari Shah (r.a.) was a great saint who received permission to initiate and teach students in the Chishtiyya, Qadiriyya, Mujaddidiyya, Naqshbandiyya, Shadhiliyya, and Qarniyya Thuruq, as well as in the Golden Chain (as-Silsilah ad-Dhahab). Uways al-Qarani was a contemporary of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (SAW). Although the two never physically met, Uways received teachings and transmissions from the Holy Prophet (SAW), who had passed his blessed Khirqa (Cloak) to him. There are various sayings of the Prophet (SAW) that attest to this (Sahih Muslim, c.55). In Tashawuf, the term Uwaysi is used to describe a spiritual connection through which a student receives instructions directly from the Ruh (Spirit) of a deceased Shaykh (or, in some cases, the Holy Prophet Muhammad (SAW) himself). The present Grand Shaykh of the Naqshbandiyya-Mujaddidiyya, Hazrat Azad Rasul al-Dehlavi (may Allaahu protect him and sanctify his soul) of New Delhi, India, represents the five Authentic Sufi Thuruq at once: Naqshbandiyya ("the Golden Chain"), Qadiriyya, Chishtiyya, Shadiliyya, and Mujaddidiyya.