Ni'matullāhī

The Ni'matullāhī or Ne'matollāhī (Persian: نعمت‌اللهی‎‎) (also spelled as "Nimatollahi", "Nematollahi" or "Ni'matallahi) is a Sufi order (or tariqa) originating in Iran. According to Moojan Momen, the number of Ni'matullāhī in Iran in 1980 was estimated to be between 50,000 and 350,000. Following the emigration of Dr. Javad Nurbakhsh and other dervishes after the 1979 Iranian Revolution, the tariqa has attracted numerous followers outside Iran, mostly in Europe, West Africa and North America, although the first khaniqa outside of Iran was formed in San Francisco, California, United States in 1975, a few years before the revolution in Iran.

The order is named after its 14th century CE founder Shah Nimatullah (Nūr ad-Din Ni'matullāh Wali), who settled in and is buried in Mahan, Kerman Province, Iran, where his tomb is still an important pilgrimage site. Shah Ni'matallāhī was a disciple of the Qadiri Sufi ʿAbd-Allah Yefâ’î: a chain of succession of masters (silsilah) has been claimed that extends back to Maruf Karkhi..

Dr. Javad Nurbakhsh took the lead of the Ni'matullāhī Order in 1953 upon the death of his predecessor Mūnis ʿAli Shad Dhu al-Riyasetin. Dr. Javad Nurbakhsh undertook a major expansion of the order in Iran. In the 1970s visitors from the joined the order while in Iran. In 1974, Dr. Javad Nurbakhsh went to the United States and decided that there was a need to establish regular khaniqas there. In 1979, Dr. Nurbakhsh left Iran to flee the repressive government that did not appreciate alternate religious authorities. He lived in the United States until he moved to England in 1983. By the early 1990s there were nine Ni'matullāhī khaniqas in the United States. The ones in the East Coast such as Boston, New York and Washington were almost completely attended by Americans, while the ones in California were about half American and half Iranian, with members coming from diverse religious backgrounds, not restricted to Shi’i Islam.

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