Arusiyyatul Qadiriyyah

The ‘Arūsiyyah branch of the Qādiriyyah path (Arabic: الطريقة العروسية القادرية Aṭ-Ṭarīqatu l-‘Arūsiyyatu l-Qādiriyyah) of Islamic spirituality (Arabic: تصوّف Tasawwuf, syn. Sufism) is a Sūfi way that is followed in South India, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates and other parts of the world.
The ‘Arūsi way originated and took shape during the early part of the 18th century under the watchful gaze of scholars and savants from the Arwi region (modern-day South India and Sri Lanka). They inherited the mantle of the Qādiri path from Indian and Arab spiritual guides ^[1].
This branch of the Qādiri path derives its name from the 19th century renewer of the Islamic faith (مجدد Mujaddid) from the Arwi region, Shaikh Sayyid Muḥammad b. Aḥmad Lebbai, who is known by the Arabic and Tamil epithets Imāmu l-‘Arūs (Arabic: إمام العروس) and Māppillai Lebbai ‘Ālim (Tamil: மாப்பிள்ளை லெப்பை ஆலிம்) respectively^[1].
The present spiritual guide (Arabic: مرشد Murshid) of the order is Shaikh (Dr) Taikā Shu’aib b. Aḥmad ‘Abd al-Qādir aṣ-Ṣiddīqī^[2]. His son, Taikā Naṣir b. Taikā Shu’aib aṣ-Ṣiddīqī, is the appointed deputy and successor-in-waiting (Arabic: خليفة khalīfah).

Contents

• 1 Fundamentals of the Way
• 2 Litany of the Order
• 3 Ratib Jalaliyya
• 4 Initiatic Chain
• 5 References

Fundamentals of the Way

The spiritual masters of the ‘Arūsi way have written substantially on the principles and propriety of the spiritual way. Shaikh (Dr) Taikā Shu’aib has summarized them as the “Fundamentals of the Way” in the covenant that one takes when the oath of allegiance (Arabic: بيعة Bai’ah) is uttered:

• to perform with excellence all that God has mandated
• to abstain with contentment all that God has prohibited
• to beseech swiftly for God’s forgiveness when transgressions (mistakes, wrongs, or sins) occur; however minor or major
• to recite consistently the stipulated litany of the order (Arabic: ورد الطريق Wirdu ṭ-Ṭarīq) and other prescribed recitals

Litany of the Order

The daily private litany of the order comprises of the following 3 recitals ^[3] that must be recited the stipulated minimum number of times every waking day:

لا إله إلا الله ١٠٠

Lā ilāha illa-llāh (100 times)

"There is no god (worthy of worship) except Allah"

محمد رسول الله ١

[Sayyidunā] Muḥammadu r-Rasūlu l-lāh [ṣalla-llāhu ‘alaihi wa sallam] (1 time)

"[Our liege-lord] Muḥammad is the Messenger of Allah [upon him be blessings and peace]"

اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ وَسَلِّمْ وَبَارِكْ عَلَى سَيِّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ وَآلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ عَدَدَ مَافِي عِلْمِ الله صَلاَةً دَآئِمَةً بِدَوَامِ مُلْكِ الله ١٠

Allāhumma ṣalli wa sallim wa bārik ‘alā Sayyidinā Muḥammadin wa Ālihi wa Ṣahbihi adada mā fī ‘ilmi l-lāhi ṣalātan dā’imatan bi dawāmi Mulki l-lāh (10 times)

"O Allah, shower benedictions, peace and blessings upon our liege-lord Muḥammad, his family and companions, in the number that is in Thy Knowledge such that the benedictions may continue forever eternal as Thy Kingdom."

It is desirable to begin the litany with the following recitals ^[2]:

• The Ta’awwudh (Arabic: تعوذ):

أعوذ بالله من الشيطان الرجيم

A’ūdhu billāhi min ash-shaitāni r-rajīm

"I seek refuge in Allah from Satan, the accursed"

• The Basmala (Arabic: بسملة):

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

b-ismi-llāhi r-raḥmāni r-raḥīm

"In the name of Allah, the Universally Merciful, the Singularly Compassionate"

• The Divine Longing

Ilāhi anta maqsūdī, wa riḍāka maṭlūbī

"My Lord, You are my Aspiration; Your Divine Pleasure is my Ardent Desire"

There is no designated time of the day in which one must perform the litany although the optimum times will be:

• During the last third of the night after the recommended Tahajjud prayer (Arabic: صلات التهجد Ṣalātu t-Tahajjud)
• After the obligatory sunrise prayer (Arabic: صلات الفجر Ṣalātu l-Fajr)
• After the obligatory night prayer (Arabic: صلات العشاء Ṣalātu l-‘Ishā’) before retiring to bed

In addition to the above litany, it is recommended to regularly recite the devotional ode (Arabic: قصيدة Qaṣīdah), Shajaratun Fātiriyyah wa Silsilatun Qādiriyyah ^[3] wherein the intercession of the Masters of the 'Arusi way is sought to attain one's spiritual aspirations.

Ratib Jalaliyya

One of the characteristics of the ‘Arūsi way is the public gatherings of remembrance (Arabic: مجالس الذكر Majālisa dh-Dhikr) where the liturgical work, “Ratib Jalaliyya” (Arabic: راتبة جلالية , Rātibatun Jalāliyyah), is recited in congregation. The work was compiled by Shaikh Sayyid Muḥammad b. Aḥmad Lebbai. Traditionally, the gatherings are held on Thursday and Sunday evenings after sunset to commemorate Friday and Monday nights respectively. This is in accordance with the Islamic lunar calendar where the day commences after sunset.

Initiatic Chain

The initiatic chain (Arabic: سلسلة Silsilah) of the ‘Arūsi branch of the Qādiri path is as follows:

• The Lord of Truth and Sustainer of the Worlds, ALLAH
• The Arch-Angel and Truthful Spirit, Jibrā’īl | Jibrīl (English: Gabriel)
• Al-Ḥabīb Al-Muṣtafā Abu-l Qāsim Muḥammad b. ‘Abdullāh b. ‘Abd al-Muṭṭalib
• Imām Abū Turāb ‘Alī b. Abū Ṭālib b. ‘Abd al-Muṭṭalib al-Murtaḍā
• Imām Abū ‘Abdillah Ḥusain b. ‘Alī as-Sibt ash-Shahīd
• Imām Abu-l Ḥasan ‘Alī b. Ḥusain Zain al-‘Ābdīn al-Asgharī
• Imām Abū Ja’far Muḥammad b. ‘Alī al-Bāqir
• Imām Abū ‘Abdillah Ja’far b. Muḥammad aṣ-Ṣādiq
• Imām Abū Ibrāhīm Mūsā b. Ja’far al-Kāẓim
• Imām Abu-l Ḥasan ‘Alī b. Mūsā ar-Riḍā
• Shaikh Abū Mahfūz Ma’rūf b. Fīrūz al-Karkhī
• Shaikh Abu-l Ḥasan Sarī as-Saqatī b. al-Mughallis
• Shaikh Abu-l Qāsim al-Junaid b. Muḥammad al-Khazzāz al-Baghdādī
• Shaikh Abū Bakr ‘Abdullāh Dulāf b. Jahdar ash-Shiblī
• Shaikh Abu-l Faḍl ‘Abd al-Wāḥid al-Yamanī at-Tamīmī
• Shaikh Abu-l Faraj | Faraḥ Yūsuf ath-Thāwī aṭ-Ṭarsūsī | Ṭartūsī
• Shaikh Abu-l Ḥasan ‘Ali b. Muḥammad al-Qurashī al-Hankarī | Hakkarī
• Shaikh Abū Sa’īd al-Mubārak b. ‘Alī al-Makhzūmī | Mukharrimī
• Shaikh Abū Muḥammad ‘Abd al-Qādir b. Jangī Dost Mūsā al-Jīlānī
• Shaikh Abū Bakr ‘Abd ar-Razzāq b. ‘Abd al-Qādir al- Jīlānī
• Shaikh Abū Ṣāliḥ Naṣr b. ‘Abd ar-Razzāq al- Jīlānī
• Shaikh Abū Naṣr Muḥammad b. Naṣr al- Jīlānī
• Shaikh Aḥmad Safwān
• Shaikh Sayyid ‘Alī
• Shaikh Sayyid Mūsā
• Shaikh Aḥmad al-Ḥalabī
• Shaikh (Langotbandh Baba) Bahā ad-Dīn al-Ansārī
• Shaikh Muḥammad Sharīf al-Qādirī
• Shaikh Shams ad-Dīn al-Qādirī
• Shaikh Salāh ad-Dīn b. Jum’a
• Shaikh Sayyid Aḥmad Ḥusain Bukhārī
• Shaikh Sayyid Ismā’īl Ḥusain Bukhārī
• Shaikh Sayyid Muḥammad Bukhārī
• Shaikh Sayyid Muḥammad Bukhārī Tangal (Tamil: கண்ணணூா் புகாரி தங்கல் Kannanūr Bukhāri Tangal)
• Shaikh ‘Umar b. ‘Abd al-Qādir al-Qāhirī (Tamil: கீழக்கரை உமா் வளியுல்லா Kīlakkarai ‘Umar Waliyullāh)
• Shaikh (Taikā Ṣāḥib) ‘Abd al-Qādir al-Kirkarī (Tamil: கீழக்கரை தைகா ஸாஹிப் Kīlakkarai Taikā Ṣāḥib)
• Shaikh (Imām al-‘Arūs) Sayyid Muḥammad b. Aḥmad Lebbai (Tamil: மாப்பிள்ளை லெப்பை ஆலிம் Māppillai Lebbai ‘Ālim)
• Shaikh (Ṣāḥib al-Jalwah) Shah al-Ḥamīd b. Sayyid Muḥammad (Tamil: ஜல்வத் நாயகம் Jalwat Nāyagam)
• Shaikh Aḥmad ‘Abd al-Qādir b. Shah al-Ḥamīd (Tamil: பெரிய ஷைகு நாயகம் Periya Shaikh Nāyagam)
• Shaikh (Dr) Taikā Shu’aib b. Aḥmad ‘Abd al-Qādir (Tamil: ஷைகு நாயகம் Shaikh Nāyagam)
• Shaikh Taikā Naṣir b. Taikā Shu’aib (Tamil: கலீபா நாயகம் Khalīfa Nāyagam)

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Shu’ayb, Tayka. Arabic, Arwi and Persian in Sarandib and Tamil Nadu. Madras: Imāmul 'Arūs Trust, 1993.
2. ^ ^{a b} Aniff-Doray, S. Opening Towards Understanding the Best of Religions. A.S.Noordeen, 1999. ISBN: 983-065-060-X
3. ^ ^{a b} Shu’ayb, Tayka. Al Munjiyat. Kilakkarai: Arusiyya Taikka, 2008.

• [Adapted fro Wikiwak]