Naqshbandi Golden Chain

The Naqshbandi Golden Chain is a lineage of spiritual masters of the Naqshbandi Sufi order related to each other going back to the Islamic prophet Muhammad It is a chain in which each scholar was given ijazah or permission for dhikr of God by his own teacher or pir to transmit the knowledge he had received to the next generation of students in the traditional manner of Sufi transmission.

The Golden Chain, as different from all other Sufi lineages, is unique in that it stems from the first Caliph, Abu Bakr. From Abu Bakr, the secret of this transmission was then passed to Salman the Persian,then to Qasim ibn Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr. From Qasim the transmission passed to Ja'far al-Sadiq. From as-Sadiq, the transmission passed to later sheikhs. Today, there are many Naqshbandi sheikhs, each with his own chain of spiritual transmission.

Naqshbandi silsilah beginning from Muhammad is passed in chain till Ismail Kurdumeri (who is No31 in chain). After Ismail Kurdumeri the chain has split in two as he had two Ma'zuns, i.e. Muhammad Salih Shirwani (No32) and Khas Muhammad Shirwani. From Khas Muhammad Shirwani the chain goes to Muhammad Yaraghi ad-Daghestani, from him to Jamaluddin Kumuki ad-Daghestani, who had three Ma'zuns, i.e. Mamadibir ar-Rochi ad-Daghestani, Imam Shamil ad-Daghestani (both had no Ma'zun), and `Abdurrahman as-Sughuri ad-Daghestani. According to Shuaib Afandi Bagini ad-Daghestani, `Abdurrahman as-Sughuri had two ma'zuns, i.e. Muhammad Haji `Obodi ad-Daghestani and Ilyas Tsudakhari ad-Daghestani (d1312 AH). Both had no ma'zuns, and thus the split chain coming from Khas Muhammad Shirwani has ended here. However, there were many Shaykhs, such as Sharafuddin ad-Daghestani, Abdullah Fa'izi ad-Daghestani and others who received Naqshbandi permission in their dream, or by special spiritual experience (rawhani), etc.

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