Khanqah Sultan ul Ashiqeen

Khanqah Sultan ul Ashiqeen – Centre of Faqr (Sufism)

Khanqah Sultan ul Ashiqeen is the khanqah of Sultan ul Ashiqeen Sultan Mohammad Najib-ur-Rehman. He is the 31^st and present Shaikh of the Sarwari Qadri order. He is also the Universal Divine Man of this era. Being on the footsteps of the Holy Prophet (pbuh), he trains and guides the seekers of Allah on the righteous path in the same way as the Holy Prophet trained the Companions. This article provides a brief introduction to the Sarwari Qadri order, and the Khanqah Sultan ul Ashiqeen. Which is the centre of Faqr (Sufism) today.

Khanqah plays a pivotal role in spiritual training of Muslims. The system of khanqah has existed since the early days of Islam. The Holy Prophet (pbuh) himself laid the foundation of the first khanqah by establishing the platform of al-Suffa. Khanqah is a place where the seekers of Allah find seclusion from the worldly distractions in company of a perfect spiritual guide to fully focus towards Allah in order to gain His closeness and gnosis. The word Sufi or Sufism stems from al-Suffa. The people of al-Suffa were hence, the first Sufis to have a khanqah.

All the Sufi saints in the history of Islam established Khanqahs to guide and train the seekers of Allah on the righteous path. Following this tradition, Sultan ul Ashiqeen Sultan Mohammad NajiburRehman also established a Khanqah for this purpose as the present Shaikh of the Sarwari Qadri order.

The Sarwari Qadri Order

Sarwari means to take oath of allegiance on the sacred hand of the Holy Prophet (pbuh) and Qadri means to follow the footsteps of Al-Ghaus al-Azam Shaikh Abdul Qadir Jilani. Sultan Bahoo says:

Sarwari Qadri is the one whom the Holy Prophet grants oath of allegiance himself. As a result, his inward and outward self becomes free of all sorts of malice. He becomes steadfast follower of sharia. (Mehak ul-Faqr Kalan) Sarwari Qadri order is superior to other orders because it is unique spiritual order which leads to the greatest blessing of vision of Allah and presence in the Mohammadan Assembly. There is no higher and exalted station esoterically than the two aforementioned stations. These are unique to the Sarwari Qadri order. Faqr is the Holy Prophet’s inheritance.

Sarwari Qadri order is superior to other orders because it is unique spiritual order which leads to the greatest blessing of vision of Allah and presence in the Mohammadan Assembly. There is no higher and exalted station esoterically than the two aforementioned stations. These are unique to the Sarwari Qadri order. Faqr is the Holy Prophet’s inheritance.

Faqr is the path of Divine vision and presence in the Mohammadan Assembly which is not possible to achieve in any other order other than the Sarwari Qadri order. The invocation that leads to Divine vision is peculiar to the Sarwari Qadri order. If anyone from other orders claim to have it, they are liars. (Nur-ul-Huda Kalan)

Sultan-ul-Arifeen Sultan Bahoo followed the Sarwari Qadri order. Sultan Bahoo declares Sarwari Qadri way the actual and perfect Qadri way. This way flourished in the subcontinent due to Sultan Bahoo.

In the Sarwari Qadri order, there are no complexities of invocations, reflections, forty-day seclusions or holding the breath. Additionally, there is no pain of mystic struggles or confusions caused at initial levels of mystic path. (Allah has) absolved this order of apparent attire and practices of Dervishes. Moreover, the Sarwari Qadri way is disgusted of the superficial ways of the so-called spiritual guides. Such as holding the stick and chaplet, wearing gown or turban etc. However, the specialty of this order is that the spiritual guide elevates the seeker to final level on the very first day. He does so by granting him the king of invocations ‘Hoo’ (ھُو). Along with that he grants the contemplation of Ism-e-Allah Zaat and also it’s inscribing practice on the body. One cannot find such blessings in any other order.

Sarwari Qadri spiritual guide is comprehensive and complete. He is such a book, inwardly as well as outwardly, which has the status of Book of all the books. By reading this book, the seeker annihilates in Allah in such a way that there remains no veil before him. The seekers who read this book with complete faith, sincerity and purity of inward, all their objectives are achieved easily. (Kaleed-ul-Tauheed Kalan)

Sarwari Qadri Order Chain

The lineage of Sarwari Qadri order reaches Sultan-ul-Ashiqeen Sultan Mohammad Najib-ur-Rehman in the following steps:

1. Prophet Mohammad
2. Ali ibn Abi Talib
3. Shaikh Hasan of Basra
4. Shaikh Habib Ajmi
5. Shaikh Dawud Tai
6. Shaikh MaroofKarkhi
7. Shaikh SirriSaqti
8. Shaikh Junayd of Baghdad
9. Shaikh Jafar Abu Bakr Shibli
10. Shaikh Abdul Aziz bin Hars bin AsadTamimi
11. Shaikh Abu-al-Fazal Abdul Wahid Tamimi
12. Shaikh Mohammad Yousaf Abu-al-Farrah Tartusi
13. Shaikh Abu Al-Hasan Ali Bin Mohammad Qureshi Hankari
14. Abu Saeed Mubarak Makhzoomi
15. Ghaus al-Azam Shaikh Abdul Qadir Jilani
16. Shaikh Sayyid Abdul Razzaq Jilani
17. Shaikh Sayyid Abdul Jabbar Jilani
18. Shaikh Sayyid Mohammad SadiqYahya
19. Shaikh SayyidNajmuddin Burhan Puri
20. Shaikh Sayyid Abdul Fattah
21. Shaikh Sayyid Abdul Sattar
22. Shaikh Sayyid Abdul Baqqa
23. Shaikh Sayyid Abdul Jaleel
24. Shaikh Sayyid Abdul Rehman Jilani Dehlvi
25. Sultan-ul-Arifeen Sultan Bahoo
26. Sultan-ul-Tarikeen Sultan Sayyid Mohammad Abdullah Shah Madni Jilani
27. Sultan-ul-Sabireen Sultan Pir Mohammad Abdul Ghafoor Shah Hashmi Qureshi
28. Shahbaz-e-Arifaan Sultan PirSayyid Mohammad Bahadur Ali Shah Kazmi al-Mashhadi
29. Sultan-ul-Auliya Sultan Mohammad Abdul Aziz
30. Sultan-ul-Faqr VI Sultan Mohammad Asghar Ali
31. Sultan-ul-Ashiqeen Sultan Mohammad Najib-ur-Rehman

Khanqah of Sarwari Qadri Order

Khanqah of Sarwari Qadri order is distinguished from other Khanqahs just as the Sarwari Qadri order is superior to other orders. The excellence of the Khanqah is due to the presence of the Universal Divine Man (al-Insan al-Kamil). The seekers of Allah cannot find his company anywhere else other than his khanqah. The Universal Divine Man in each era is only from the Sarwari Qadri order. This is because this order belongs to the king of all Saints, Ghaus al-Azam Shaikh Adbul Qadir Jilani whose foot is on the neck of all the Saints (past and present). The leaders of all other orders gained esoteric beneficence from Ghaus al-Azam and then started their own orders. Whereas the Qadri order belongs to him. As he is the king of all the Saints so is the case of his spiritual order. Therefore it is not possible that the Universal Divine Man would belong to any other order.

Prophetic Way of Purgation of Innerself

Being the Universal Divine Man, Sultan ul Ashiqeen is on the footsteps of Prophet Mohammad (pbuh). So, he trains his disciples in the same way as the Holy Prophet did. The Holy Prophet used to teach Quran to the Companions exoterically but at the same time, through his company and his perfect spiritual glance, used to enlighten their inwards that would make them understand the true message of Quran. There are many examples of the Holy Prophet elevating his Companions’ esoteric status instantaneously, merely through his spiritual attention such that they immediately felt the change and could do things they previously never thought they were capable of doing.

Establishing Khanqah of Sarwari Qadri Order

In order to provide a place for the seekers of Allah to gather and cleanse their inwards, Sultan-ul-Ashiqeen Sultan Mohammad Najib-ur-Rehman established his khanqah on Friday, 23rd October 2009 (3rd, Dhul al-Qadah, 1430 H). This khanqah has become centre of Faqr today from where the message of Faqr is being spread throughout the world. The purpose of setting up this khanqah was to provide an environment for the seekers of Allah to attain purgation of their innerselves just as it used to happen in the khanqahs of the Sufi Saints. Many devotees from outside Lahore as well as from abroad come over to stay in the khanqah to benefit from the company of their spiritual guide.

This khanqah has its doors open for everyone regardless of one’s status, gender, caste, creed, colour, sect or school of thought. It has many departments that work closely day and night under the guidance of Sultan ul Ashiqeen Sultan Mohammad NajiburRehman in spreading the beneficence of Faqr. These include the Preaching department, Sultan ul Faqr Publication, Monthly Sultan ul Faqr Magazine, Video Social Media, Library (inclusive of Sultan Bahoo library), Lodging and kitchen and security to name a few.

The Khanqah of Sarwari Qadri order that Sultan ul Ashiqeen had established has been operating successfully under his guidance. Various departments of the khanqah are working on spreading the message of Faqr to the masses. This includes research on Islamic literature to produce new books inclusive of Sultan Bahoo books, journals and publishing this work both in traditional formats as well as on the internet and social media.

However due to the ever-growing number of devotees of Sultan-ul-Ashiqeen, the present khanqah is not sufficient to accommodate the devotees as well as to provide the space required for various departments. Hence, a much bigger khanqah is needed to cater for the increasing number of devotees as well the expanding activities of the Tehreek.

With that in mind and by the grace of Allah, Sultan-ul-Ashiqeen launched the construction of Khanqah Sultan ul Ashiqeen and Masjid e Zahra. The construction work has progressed rapidly and the project is nearing completion. This khanqah will feature a library, computer lab, free kitchen and accommodation for devotees travelling from far to visit the khanqah or to attend the events. The purpose of Khanqah Sultan ul Ashiqeen is to provide a place for the seekers of Allah to attain purgation of their innerselves and enable them to gain gnosis of Allah and presence in the Mohammadan Assembly.

The construction of Masjid e Zahra is progressing well. However, due to the scale of the project Tehreek Dawat e Faqr encourages the public to take part in this noble cause in whichever way they can. Contributing financially in the construction of Khanqah Sultan ul Ashiqeen and Masjid e Zahra will be a sadaqah-e-Jaria. This means that until the time this khanqah serves as a place of guidance for the seekers of Allah to His path and continues to be a place where invocation of Ism-e-Allah Zaat is practised, the people who contributed in the construction will continue to get rewarded both in this world as well as in the life hereafter.

If you would like to become part of this historic project, please get in touch with Tehreek Dawat e Faqr.