Abu Najib As-Suhrawardi; The Main Axis of the Institutes

Abu Najib As-Suhrawardi; The Main Axis of the Institutes

One time Junaid al-Baghdadi was asked, "What is the benefit of listening to the stories of spiritual figures?", he replied, "Their stories foster the spirit of piety in the listeners." ~ Abu Najib as-Suhrawardi

A number of people – including myself – are still often fooled when they hear the name of a Sufi; Suhrawardi. For example, if the name Suhrawardi is mentioned in the study of Sufism, then what comes to our mind is Suhrawardi al-Maqtul, a great Illuminated   Sufi who is famous as Shaykh al-Isyraq . But for those who are observant Sufism scholars, he will immediately confirm, who is Suhrawardi in question? Because Suhrawardi is not the only one. There is another Suhrawardi.

There are at least three names of Suhrawardi in the world of Sufism. First , Abu al-Futuh Yahya bin Habash bin Amirak Shihab al-Din as-Suhrawardi (549 H-1155 AD / 578 H-1191 AD), known as Suhrawardi al-Maqtul. Second , Syihabuddin Umar As-Suhrawardi (539 H-1141 AD/632 H-1234 AD), the author of the famous Sufism book entitled Awarif al-Ma'arif. Third , Abu Najib as-Suhrawardi, author of the book of adab al-Muridin, is the uncle and teacher of Abu Najib as-Suhrawardi where the two of them together founded the Suhrawardiyyah order. The last name that will try to be reviewed in a short article below. Full name Abu al-Najib 'Abd al-Qahir ibn Abdallah al-Suhrawardi, Abu Najib as-Suhrawardi was born in Suhraward, a town in Jibal Province on the outskirts of Zanjan, southeast of the Persian plain. He was born around 490 AH (1097 AD). According to az-Zirikli in Mawsu'atul A'lam , Abu Najib As-Suhrawardi was a Sufi, hadith expert as well as a scholar of fiqh who adhered to the Shafii school of thought.

Intellectual

Ibn Asakir as quoted by Imam ad-Dzahabi said that Abu Najib studied hadith in Isfahan with Abu Ali Al-Haddad who was the leading hadith expert in the city. In addition to Abu Ali Al-Haddad, Abu Najib also studied hadith from Zahir ibn Thahir, Qadhi Abu Bakr al-Ansari, and Abu Ali ibn Nabhan who was a hadith expert in the city of Iraq. After attaining a certain level of mastery in the field of hadith, Abu Najib studied fiqh at the Nazhamiyyah under the guidance of As'ad al-Mihani. According to Menahem Milson (1975: 18), this happened around 507 H to 513 H. That is, Abu Najib studied fiqh for about six years. When Abu Najib was twenty-five years old, he began to abandon his academic studies and enter a life of solitude and wanderlust. He then returned to the city of Isfahan to join Ahmad al-Ghazali, who became his mentor in Sufism. In the world of Sufism, especially the tarekat, he not only initiated the Suhrawardiyyah congregation with his nephew, Syihabuddin Umar As-Suhrawardi, only. But he is athe “madar” or main axis of a number of tarekat. Because, as stated by Sheikh Kamaluddin al-Hariri (1299 H), in Tibyan wa wasail al-Haqaiq fi Bayan Salasil at-Tharaiq , as quoted from Syarif Fathi Harun, a number of tarekat such as Kubrawiyah, Mawlawiyyah, Khalwatiyyah, Jalutiyyah, originated from the Abu Najib.

Adab al-Muridin : The Beginner's Book of Sufi Ethics

AbuNajib is not a prolific writer. Brockelmann in the geschichte der arabischen literature only mentions two works by Abu Najib; Adab al-Muridin and Gharib al-Mashabih which is a syarah or commentary on Imam al-Baghawi's Mashabih as-Sunnah. Adab al-Muridinis a book that contains ethics and guidance for novice Sufis. According to Menahem Milson (1975: 24), this book is a unique book among other Sufi books. Because this book is generally viewed from the perspective of Sufism adab (ethics). In addition, this book is characterized by a realistic approach to social obligations and the moral capabilities of human nature. Abu Najib believed that the activity of the Sufis was to be involved in the community. He taught that it was better to compromise with some ideal principles to help others in society than to maintain the principles of chastity by isolating oneself from society and concerned only with one's own safety. This book consists of two nine chapters, each of which discusses ethical issues. Both ethics in worship and ethics bermuamalah. For him, each member of the body has its own ethics. Because every movement of the limbs has no other purpose except to seek the pleasure of Allah SWT. Therefore, in this work, Abu Najib describes in detail and briefly explains the ethics of each member of the body.

Wallahu A'lam bishwab