Sayyidunā Shaykh Muḥyī al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī — known universally as the Ghawth al-Aʿẓam (the Supreme Helper) — is one of the greatest saints in the history of Islam. His life, scholarship, and spiritual influence have touched millions across fourteen centuries, and his name is synonymous with the highest station of divine closeness (wilāyah) in the Sunnī tradition.
His Lineage
Shaykh ʿAbd al-Qādir رح was born in Jīlān (Gilan), Persia, in 470 AH (1077 CE). His lineage is doubly Prophetic — through both Sayyidunā Ḥasan ؓ on his father’s side and Sayyidunā Ḥusayn ؓ on his mother’s side. He is thus a Sayyid twice over, descended from the Prophet ﷺ through both his grandsons. This noble lineage is confirmed by scholars of genealogy across the centuries.
His Education and Scholarship
At the age of eighteen, he travelled to Baghdad — the intellectual capital of the Islamic world — to seek knowledge. He studied Hanbalī fiqh under Imām Abū Saʿd al-Mukharrimī and Imām Abū al-Wafāʾ Ibn ʿAqīl. He studied Ḥadīth, Arabic, Tafsīr, and the rational sciences under the greatest scholars of his age. He became so accomplished that he issued fatwas in both the Hanbalī and Shāfiʿī schools simultaneously.
Imām Shams al-Dīn al-Dhahabī (d. 748 AH) writes in his Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ: “He is the Shaykh, the Imām, the scholar, the ascetic, the knower of Allah, the leader of the saints of his age.”
His Spiritual Station
Shaykh ʿAbd al-Qādir رح spent years in the deserts of Iraq in seclusion, worship, and spiritual struggle before returning to Baghdad to teach. His gatherings drew tens of thousands. It is reported that scholars of the highest calibre sat at his feet to hear his discourses on the inner realities of Islam.
He is given the title Ghawth al-Aʿẓam — the Greatest of the Helpers — a title affirming his supreme station in the hierarchy of the Awliyāʾ of Allah ﷻ. He is also called Muḥyī al-Dīn (Reviver of the Religion) because he revived the outward knowledge of fiqh and the inward knowledge of tasawwuf in an age of spiritual decline.
His Works
- Al-Fath al-Rabbānī — a collection of his discourses on the spiritual path
- Futūḥ al-Ghayb (Revelations of the Unseen) — profound spiritual discourses translated into many languages
- Al-Ghunyah li-Ṭālibī Ṭarīq al-Ḥaqq — a comprehensive work on fiqh, aqīdah, and spirituality
- Sir al-Asrār (The Secret of Secrets) — on the inner dimensions of worship
The Qādiriyyah Spiritual Order
Shaykh ʿAbd al-Qādir رح is the eponymous founder of the Qādiriyyah — one of the oldest, largest, and most widespread Sufi orders in the world. The Qādirī silsilah (chain) traces back through him to the Prophet ﷺ through an unbroken chain of spiritual masters. Today the Qādiriyyah is present across South Asia, West Africa, Central Asia, the Middle East, and the United Kingdom.
His Passing and Shrine
Shaykh ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī passed from this world on the 11th of Rabī al-Thānī, 561 AH (1166 CE) in Baghdad. His blessed shrine in the Bab al-Sheikh district of Baghdad has been visited by millions of Muslims across the centuries. The 11th of Rabī al-Thānī — known as Giyārhwi̅ Sharīf — is observed by Qādirī Muslims worldwide with gatherings of dhikr, recitation, and remembrance.
May Allah ﷻ grant us the love of His Awliyāʾ, the blessings of the Qādirī silsilah, and allow us to follow in the footsteps of Sayyidunā ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī in our love for the Prophet ﷺ and our service to His religion. Āmīn.
