Sharif
Sharif (in plural form, ashraf or shurafa’). Arabic title which means primarily a free man, one who can claim a distinguished position because of his descent from illustrious ancestors. Although the Qur’an, teaches the equality of all believers, the old reverence for a distinguished genealogy never quite disappeared. Under the influence of Shi‘a views and the increasing veneration for the Prophet, membership of the so-called “People of the House” became a mark of distinction.
Arabs, Turks, and Persians use the term as a title of honor for any descendant of Muhammad, although such distinction does not accord with Muslim egalitarianism. Unlike the Persians, Arabs traditionally gave such titles as sharif or sayyid to those who had earned them rather than inherited them. Yet in spite of the tendency to level class differences, the belief persisted that illustrious qualities are transmitted to one’s descendants. Kinship with the Prophet was thus an important claim to nobility -- to sharaf, and gradually Muhammad’s whole clan, the Hashimites, were so designated. Shi’ites, however, have restricted the title sharif to descendants of al-Hasan and al-Husayn.
In many Muslim countries, the title sayyid, like sharif, came to be applied only to descendants of the two sons of ‘Ali, Hasan and Husayn. The green turban, which became usual as a mark of the sharifs, especially in Egypt, owes its origin to an edict of the Mameluke sultan al-Ashraf Nasir al-Din Sha‘ban II. It did, however, not become the general headgear of the sharifs throughout the Muslim world. Sharif also used to be the regnal title of the rulers of Mecca and, under the term Shorfa’, it still is the title of the rulers of Morocco.
Sharīf is a traditional Arab tribal title given to those who serve as the protector of the tribe and all tribal assets, such as property, wells, and land. In origin, the word is an adjective meaning "noble", "highborn". The feminine singular is sharifa(h) (šarīfa). The masculine plural is Ashraf (ašrāf).
Primarily Sunnis in the Arab world reserve the term sharif for descendants of Hasan ibn Ali, while sayyid is used for descendants of Husayn ibn Ali. Both Hasan and Husayn are grandchildren of the Prophet Muhammad, through the marriage of his cousin Ali and his daughter Fatima. However ever since the post-Hashemite era began, the term sayyid has been used to denote descendants from both Hasan and Husayn. Arab Shiites use the terms sayyid and habib to denote descendants from both Hasan and Husayn.
From 1201 until the Hejaz was conquered by Ibn Saud in 1925, this family held the office of the Sharīf of Makkah, often also carrying the title and office of King of Hejaz. Descendants now rule the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the name being taken from the Banu Hashim, the sub-tribe of Banu Quraish, to which Prophet Muhammad belonged.
The word has no etymological connection with the English term sheriff, which comes from the Old English word scīrgerefa, meaning "shire-reeve," the local reeve (enforcement agent) of the king in the shire (county).
Sharif, however, is the Arabic/Persian word for "honorable".
Sharif is an Arabic title of respect, restricted, after the advent of Islam, to members of Muhammad’s clan of Hāshim—in particular, to descendants of his uncles al-ʿAbbās and Abū Ṭālib and of the latter’s son ʿAlī by Muhammad’s daughter Fāṭimah. In the Hejaz (western coast of Arabia), the title of sharif is said to have been further restricted to the descendants of Ḥasan, the elder son of ʿAlī and Fāṭimah. Sharifs originally were heads of prominent families in a town. Later they supplied the local semi-autonomous rulers of Mecca and Medina, especially when the cities were under the suzerainty of Baghdad and Cairo, while after the establishment of Ottoman rule, the Ottomans normally recognized the senior representative of the sharifs as prince of Mecca.
ashraf see sharif
shurafa see sharif
cherif see sharif
Arabs, Turks, and Persians use the term as a title of honor for any descendant of Muhammad, although such distinction does not accord with Muslim egalitarianism. Unlike the Persians, Arabs traditionally gave such titles as sharif or sayyid to those who had earned them rather than inherited them. Yet in spite of the tendency to level class differences, the belief persisted that illustrious qualities are transmitted to one’s descendants. Kinship with the Prophet was thus an important claim to nobility -- to sharaf, and gradually Muhammad’s whole clan, the Hashimites, were so designated. Shi’ites, however, have restricted the title sharif to descendants of al-Hasan and al-Husayn.
In many Muslim countries, the title sayyid, like sharif, came to be applied only to descendants of the two sons of ‘Ali, Hasan and Husayn. The green turban, which became usual as a mark of the sharifs, especially in Egypt, owes its origin to an edict of the Mameluke sultan al-Ashraf Nasir al-Din Sha‘ban II. It did, however, not become the general headgear of the sharifs throughout the Muslim world. Sharif also used to be the regnal title of the rulers of Mecca and, under the term Shorfa’, it still is the title of the rulers of Morocco.
Sharīf is a traditional Arab tribal title given to those who serve as the protector of the tribe and all tribal assets, such as property, wells, and land. In origin, the word is an adjective meaning "noble", "highborn". The feminine singular is sharifa(h) (šarīfa). The masculine plural is Ashraf (ašrāf).
Primarily Sunnis in the Arab world reserve the term sharif for descendants of Hasan ibn Ali, while sayyid is used for descendants of Husayn ibn Ali. Both Hasan and Husayn are grandchildren of the Prophet Muhammad, through the marriage of his cousin Ali and his daughter Fatima. However ever since the post-Hashemite era began, the term sayyid has been used to denote descendants from both Hasan and Husayn. Arab Shiites use the terms sayyid and habib to denote descendants from both Hasan and Husayn.
From 1201 until the Hejaz was conquered by Ibn Saud in 1925, this family held the office of the Sharīf of Makkah, often also carrying the title and office of King of Hejaz. Descendants now rule the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the name being taken from the Banu Hashim, the sub-tribe of Banu Quraish, to which Prophet Muhammad belonged.
The word has no etymological connection with the English term sheriff, which comes from the Old English word scīrgerefa, meaning "shire-reeve," the local reeve (enforcement agent) of the king in the shire (county).
Sharif, however, is the Arabic/Persian word for "honorable".
Sharif is an Arabic title of respect, restricted, after the advent of Islam, to members of Muhammad’s clan of Hāshim—in particular, to descendants of his uncles al-ʿAbbās and Abū Ṭālib and of the latter’s son ʿAlī by Muhammad’s daughter Fāṭimah. In the Hejaz (western coast of Arabia), the title of sharif is said to have been further restricted to the descendants of Ḥasan, the elder son of ʿAlī and Fāṭimah. Sharifs originally were heads of prominent families in a town. Later they supplied the local semi-autonomous rulers of Mecca and Medina, especially when the cities were under the suzerainty of Baghdad and Cairo, while after the establishment of Ottoman rule, the Ottomans normally recognized the senior representative of the sharifs as prince of Mecca.
ashraf see sharif
shurafa see sharif
cherif see sharif
Sharif, Omar
Sharif, Omar (Michael Demitri Shalhoub) (Michel Shalhoub) (Michel Chalhoub) (b. April 10, 1932, Alexandria, Egypt - d. July 10, 2015, Cairo, Egypt). Egyptian film actor with worldwide success. His original name was Michel Shahoub, and he was educated at Victoria College in Cairo. He was working in the lumber business when he was offered a lead role in an Egyptian film in 1954. In this film, Fatin Hamama was a co-star. She was to become his wife.
Omar Sharif was an Egyptian actor of international acclaim, known for his dashing good looks and for his iconic roles in such films as Lawrence of Arabia (1962) and Doctor Zhivago (1965).
Shalhoub was born in Alexandria, the only son of a prosperous lumber merchant. When he was four years old, he moved with his family to Cairo, where he attended English schools. With early aspirations of being an actor, Shalhoub participated in theater productions in secondary school. At the urging of his father, he worked for the family’s lumber business after graduating. In 1953, his acting dreams were realized when he was cast opposite Egyptian star Faten Hamama in Siraa fil-wadi (1954; “Struggle in the Valley”). He began his acting career using a pseudonym, which went through several variations and eventually was rendered consistently in English as Omar Sharif. Sharif went on to star in several more films with Hamama, whom he married in 1955 (the couple divorced in 1974).
Sharif quickly rose to stardom in his native Egypt, appearing in more than 20 films before garnering international acclaim as Sherif Ali in David Lean’s epic Lawrence of Arabia. His portrayal of the loyal Arab chief earned him an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actor. Following this breakthrough role, Sharif was much in demand to play a variety of characters, including a Spanish priest in Behold a Pale Horse (1964) and the Mongolian conqueror in Genghis Khan (1965). Among Sharif’s most famous roles is the title character in Doctor Zhivago, Lean’s adaptation of Boris Pasternak’s novel of the same name. Starring opposite Julie Christie, Sharif portrayed a poet-doctor in the middle of a love triangle. He later was cast as a German military man in The Night of the Generals (1967), Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria in Mayerling (1968), and revolutionary Che Guevara in Che! (1969). Sharif was also well known for his portrayal of Nick Arnstein, husband to Barbra Streisand’s Fanny Brice in Funny Girl (1968). He reprised the role of Arnstein in the film’s sequel, Funny Lady (1975).
Sharif continued to appear both on-screen and on television into the 21st century, though he appeared in few notable roles after the mid-1970s. Instead, he devoted much of his time to the card game bridge, releasing books, videos, and video games on the subject. Beginning in the 1970s, Sharif published a syndicated column about bridge. He also wrote an autobiography, L’Éternel Masculin (1976; The Eternal Male), with Marie-Thérèse Guinchard.
Sharif was born Michael Shalhoub in Alexandria, into a wealthy Egyptian Catholic family. Sharif's family has widely been reported to be Egyptian-Lebanese, though Sharif has said that he is Egyptian and the reports to the contrary are incorrect. Sharif graduated from Alexandria’s Victoria College, then from Cairo University with degrees in both mathematics and physics. In 1955, Omar El-Sharif converted to Islam and then married Egyptian actress Faten Hamama. The couple had one son, Tarek El-Sharif, who appeared in Doctor Zhivago as Yuri at the age of eight. They separated in 1966 and the marriage ended in 1974. Sharif never remarried; he stated that since his divorce, he never fell in love with another woman, and that, although he lived abroad for years, it was not possible for him to fall in love with a woman who was not Egyptian. In a 2007 interview, Sharif denied rumors that he had become atheist. He’s remained a firm believer in God and Islam, and had performed a Umrah (pilgrimage to Mecca) three or four years earlier.
Sharif's filmography includes:
* Shaytan al-Sahra (1954)
* Sira` Fi al-Wadi (The Blazing Sun or Struggle in the Valley or Fight in the Valley) (1954)
* Ayyamna al-Holwa (Our Best Days) (1955)
* Siraa Fil-Mina (1956)
* Ard al-Salam (1957)
* The Lebanese Mission (Châtelaine du Liban, La) (1957)
* La anam (I Do Not Sleep) (1958)
* Goha (1958)
* Fadiha fil-zamalek (Scandal in Zamalek) (1959)
* Sayedat el kasr (Lady of the Castle) (1959)
* Seraa fil Nil (Struggle on the Nile) (1959)
* Bidaya wa nihaya (1960)
* Hobi al-wahid (My Only Love) (1960)
* Esha'a hob (Rumor of Love) (1960)
* Nahr al-Hob (The River of love) (1960)
* A Man in our House (A Man in our House) (1961)
* Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
* Behold a Pale Horse (1964)
* The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964)
* Doctor Zhivago (1965)
* The Yellow Rolls-Royce (1965)
* Genghis Khan (1965)
* The Night of the Generals (1967)
* More Than A Miracle (1967)
* Funny Girl (1968)
* Mayerling (1968)
* Che! (1969)
* The Appointment (1969)
* Mackenna's Gold (1969)
* The Last Valley (1970)
* The Horsemen (1971)
* The Burglars (1971)
* The Mysterious Island (L'Ile Mysterieuse) (TV miniseries) (1973)
* Juggernaut (1974)
* The Tamarind Seed (1974)
* Crime and Passion (1975)
* Funny Lady (1975)
* The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976), uncredited cameo
* Ashanti: Land of No Mercy (1979)
* Bloodline (1979)
* S-H-E (1979)
* Oh Heavenly Dog (1980)
* The Baltimore Bullet (1980)
* Pleasure Palace (1980)
* Green Ice (1981)
* Top Secret! (1984)
* Peter the Great (1986)
* Harem (1986), as Sultan Hassan
* The Possessed (1988)
* The Jewel of the Nile (1988)
* Al-aragoz (the puppeteer) (1989)
* The Opium Connection (1990)
* Memories of Midnight (1991)
* Mowaten masri (An Egyptian Citizen) (1991)
* Beyond Justice (1992)
* Grand Larceny (1992)
* Mayrig (1992)
* Dehk we le'b we gad we hob (Laughter, Games, Seriousness and Love) (1993)
* Lie Down With Lions (1994)
* Catherine the Great (1995)
* Gulliver's Travels (1996)
* Heaven Before I Die (1997)
* Mysteries of Egypt (1998)
* The 13th Warrior (1999)
* The Parole Officer (2001)
* Monsieur Ibrahim et les fleurs du Coran (2003)
* Hidalgo (2004)
* Imperium: St Peter (2005)
* Fuoco su di me (2005)
* Shaka Zulu: The Last Great Warrior (2005)
* One Night with the King (2006)
* The Crown Prince (2006)
* Hanan W Haneen (TV Series - Egypt) (2007)
* The Ten Commandments (TV series) (2007)...as Jethro
* The Last Templar (TV Series) (2008)
* Hassan & Marcus (2008)
* 10,000 BC (2008)
* The Traveler (2009)
Sharif's books include:
* The Eternal Male (1977)
* Omar Sharif's Life in Bridge (1983)
* Omar Sharif talks Bridge (2004)
* Bridge Deluxe II play with Omar Sharif (Instruction manual)
Omar Sharif see Sharif, Omar
Michael Demitri Shalhoub see Sharif, Omar
Shalhoub, Michael Demitri see Sharif, Omar
Michel, Shalhoub see Sharif, Omar
Chalhoub, Michel see Sharif, Omar
Michel Chalhoub see Sharif, Omar
Sharif, Omar (Michael Demitri Shalhoub) (Michel Shalhoub) (Michel Chalhoub) (b. April 10, 1932, Alexandria, Egypt - d. July 10, 2015, Cairo, Egypt). Egyptian film actor with worldwide success. His original name was Michel Shahoub, and he was educated at Victoria College in Cairo. He was working in the lumber business when he was offered a lead role in an Egyptian film in 1954. In this film, Fatin Hamama was a co-star. She was to become his wife.
Omar Sharif was an Egyptian actor of international acclaim, known for his dashing good looks and for his iconic roles in such films as Lawrence of Arabia (1962) and Doctor Zhivago (1965).
Shalhoub was born in Alexandria, the only son of a prosperous lumber merchant. When he was four years old, he moved with his family to Cairo, where he attended English schools. With early aspirations of being an actor, Shalhoub participated in theater productions in secondary school. At the urging of his father, he worked for the family’s lumber business after graduating. In 1953, his acting dreams were realized when he was cast opposite Egyptian star Faten Hamama in Siraa fil-wadi (1954; “Struggle in the Valley”). He began his acting career using a pseudonym, which went through several variations and eventually was rendered consistently in English as Omar Sharif. Sharif went on to star in several more films with Hamama, whom he married in 1955 (the couple divorced in 1974).
Sharif quickly rose to stardom in his native Egypt, appearing in more than 20 films before garnering international acclaim as Sherif Ali in David Lean’s epic Lawrence of Arabia. His portrayal of the loyal Arab chief earned him an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actor. Following this breakthrough role, Sharif was much in demand to play a variety of characters, including a Spanish priest in Behold a Pale Horse (1964) and the Mongolian conqueror in Genghis Khan (1965). Among Sharif’s most famous roles is the title character in Doctor Zhivago, Lean’s adaptation of Boris Pasternak’s novel of the same name. Starring opposite Julie Christie, Sharif portrayed a poet-doctor in the middle of a love triangle. He later was cast as a German military man in The Night of the Generals (1967), Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria in Mayerling (1968), and revolutionary Che Guevara in Che! (1969). Sharif was also well known for his portrayal of Nick Arnstein, husband to Barbra Streisand’s Fanny Brice in Funny Girl (1968). He reprised the role of Arnstein in the film’s sequel, Funny Lady (1975).
Sharif continued to appear both on-screen and on television into the 21st century, though he appeared in few notable roles after the mid-1970s. Instead, he devoted much of his time to the card game bridge, releasing books, videos, and video games on the subject. Beginning in the 1970s, Sharif published a syndicated column about bridge. He also wrote an autobiography, L’Éternel Masculin (1976; The Eternal Male), with Marie-Thérèse Guinchard.
Sharif was born Michael Shalhoub in Alexandria, into a wealthy Egyptian Catholic family. Sharif's family has widely been reported to be Egyptian-Lebanese, though Sharif has said that he is Egyptian and the reports to the contrary are incorrect. Sharif graduated from Alexandria’s Victoria College, then from Cairo University with degrees in both mathematics and physics. In 1955, Omar El-Sharif converted to Islam and then married Egyptian actress Faten Hamama. The couple had one son, Tarek El-Sharif, who appeared in Doctor Zhivago as Yuri at the age of eight. They separated in 1966 and the marriage ended in 1974. Sharif never remarried; he stated that since his divorce, he never fell in love with another woman, and that, although he lived abroad for years, it was not possible for him to fall in love with a woman who was not Egyptian. In a 2007 interview, Sharif denied rumors that he had become atheist. He’s remained a firm believer in God and Islam, and had performed a Umrah (pilgrimage to Mecca) three or four years earlier.
Sharif's filmography includes:
* Shaytan al-Sahra (1954)
* Sira` Fi al-Wadi (The Blazing Sun or Struggle in the Valley or Fight in the Valley) (1954)
* Ayyamna al-Holwa (Our Best Days) (1955)
* Siraa Fil-Mina (1956)
* Ard al-Salam (1957)
* The Lebanese Mission (Châtelaine du Liban, La) (1957)
* La anam (I Do Not Sleep) (1958)
* Goha (1958)
* Fadiha fil-zamalek (Scandal in Zamalek) (1959)
* Sayedat el kasr (Lady of the Castle) (1959)
* Seraa fil Nil (Struggle on the Nile) (1959)
* Bidaya wa nihaya (1960)
* Hobi al-wahid (My Only Love) (1960)
* Esha'a hob (Rumor of Love) (1960)
* Nahr al-Hob (The River of love) (1960)
* A Man in our House (A Man in our House) (1961)
* Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
* Behold a Pale Horse (1964)
* The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964)
* Doctor Zhivago (1965)
* The Yellow Rolls-Royce (1965)
* Genghis Khan (1965)
* The Night of the Generals (1967)
* More Than A Miracle (1967)
* Funny Girl (1968)
* Mayerling (1968)
* Che! (1969)
* The Appointment (1969)
* Mackenna's Gold (1969)
* The Last Valley (1970)
* The Horsemen (1971)
* The Burglars (1971)
* The Mysterious Island (L'Ile Mysterieuse) (TV miniseries) (1973)
* Juggernaut (1974)
* The Tamarind Seed (1974)
* Crime and Passion (1975)
* Funny Lady (1975)
* The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976), uncredited cameo
* Ashanti: Land of No Mercy (1979)
* Bloodline (1979)
* S-H-E (1979)
* Oh Heavenly Dog (1980)
* The Baltimore Bullet (1980)
* Pleasure Palace (1980)
* Green Ice (1981)
* Top Secret! (1984)
* Peter the Great (1986)
* Harem (1986), as Sultan Hassan
* The Possessed (1988)
* The Jewel of the Nile (1988)
* Al-aragoz (the puppeteer) (1989)
* The Opium Connection (1990)
* Memories of Midnight (1991)
* Mowaten masri (An Egyptian Citizen) (1991)
* Beyond Justice (1992)
* Grand Larceny (1992)
* Mayrig (1992)
* Dehk we le'b we gad we hob (Laughter, Games, Seriousness and Love) (1993)
* Lie Down With Lions (1994)
* Catherine the Great (1995)
* Gulliver's Travels (1996)
* Heaven Before I Die (1997)
* Mysteries of Egypt (1998)
* The 13th Warrior (1999)
* The Parole Officer (2001)
* Monsieur Ibrahim et les fleurs du Coran (2003)
* Hidalgo (2004)
* Imperium: St Peter (2005)
* Fuoco su di me (2005)
* Shaka Zulu: The Last Great Warrior (2005)
* One Night with the King (2006)
* The Crown Prince (2006)
* Hanan W Haneen (TV Series - Egypt) (2007)
* The Ten Commandments (TV series) (2007)...as Jethro
* The Last Templar (TV Series) (2008)
* Hassan & Marcus (2008)
* 10,000 BC (2008)
* The Traveler (2009)
Sharif's books include:
* The Eternal Male (1977)
* Omar Sharif's Life in Bridge (1983)
* Omar Sharif talks Bridge (2004)
* Bridge Deluxe II play with Omar Sharif (Instruction manual)
Omar Sharif see Sharif, Omar
Michael Demitri Shalhoub see Sharif, Omar
Shalhoub, Michael Demitri see Sharif, Omar
Michel, Shalhoub see Sharif, Omar
Chalhoub, Michel see Sharif, Omar
Michel Chalhoub see Sharif, Omar
Sharif Pasha
Sharif Pasha (Muhammad Sharif Pasha) (1823/1826 - April 20, 1887, Graz, Austria). Egyptian statesman of Turkish origin. He was sent to Paris from higher education together with the future khedives Sa‘id Pasha, Isma‘il Pasha and ‘Ali Mubarak Pasha, and served for some time in the French army. After the inauguration of constitutional government in Egypt in 1878, he formed three cabinets. After the defeat of ‘Urabi Pasha he came into conflict with the British and resigned in 1884.
Muhammad Sharif Pasha was an Egyptian statesman, and originally a Circassian. He served as Prime Minister of Egypt three times during his career. His first term was between April 7, 1879 and August 18, 1879. His second term was served from September 14, 1881 to February 4, 1882. His final term was served between August 21, 1882 and January 7, 1884.
Sharif, who was from Kavala in northern Greece, filled numerous administrative posts under Said Pasha and Ismail Pasha. He was better educated than most of his contemporaries, and had married a daughter of Colonel Sèves, the French non-commissioned officer who became Suleiman Pasha under Mehemet Ali.
As minister of foreign affairs he was useful to Ismail, who used Sharif's bluff bonhomie to veil many of his most insidious proposals. Of singularly lazy disposition, he yet possessed considerable tact. He was in fact an Egyptian Lord Melbourne, whose policy was to leave everything alone.
Sharif's favorite argument against any reform was to appeal to the Pyramids as an immutable proof of the solidity of Egypt financially and politically. His fatal optimism rendered him largely responsible for the collapse of Egyptian credit which brought about the fall of Ismail.
Upon the military insurrection of September 1881 under Urabi Pasha, Sharif was summoned by the khedive Tawfiq to form a new ministry. The impossibility of reconciling the financial requirements of the national party with the demands of the British and French controllers of the public debt, compelled him to resign in the following February.
After the suppression of the Urabi Revolt he was again installed in office (August 1882) by Tawfiq, but in January 1884 he resigned rather than sanction the evacuation of the Sudan. As to the strength of the Mahdist movement he had then no conception. When urged by Sir Evelyn Baring (Lord Cromer) early in 1883 to abandon some of the more distant parts of the Sudan, he replied with characteristic light-heartedness: "Nous en causerons plus tard; d'abord nous allons donner une bonne racleé a ce monsieur" (We'll talk about that later, first we're going to give this gentleman (i.e. the Mahdi) a good thrashing).
Sharif died in Graz, Austria, on April 20, 1887.
Muhammad Sharif Pasha see Sharif Pasha
Sharif Pasha (Muhammad Sharif Pasha) (1823/1826 - April 20, 1887, Graz, Austria). Egyptian statesman of Turkish origin. He was sent to Paris from higher education together with the future khedives Sa‘id Pasha, Isma‘il Pasha and ‘Ali Mubarak Pasha, and served for some time in the French army. After the inauguration of constitutional government in Egypt in 1878, he formed three cabinets. After the defeat of ‘Urabi Pasha he came into conflict with the British and resigned in 1884.
Muhammad Sharif Pasha was an Egyptian statesman, and originally a Circassian. He served as Prime Minister of Egypt three times during his career. His first term was between April 7, 1879 and August 18, 1879. His second term was served from September 14, 1881 to February 4, 1882. His final term was served between August 21, 1882 and January 7, 1884.
Sharif, who was from Kavala in northern Greece, filled numerous administrative posts under Said Pasha and Ismail Pasha. He was better educated than most of his contemporaries, and had married a daughter of Colonel Sèves, the French non-commissioned officer who became Suleiman Pasha under Mehemet Ali.
As minister of foreign affairs he was useful to Ismail, who used Sharif's bluff bonhomie to veil many of his most insidious proposals. Of singularly lazy disposition, he yet possessed considerable tact. He was in fact an Egyptian Lord Melbourne, whose policy was to leave everything alone.
Sharif's favorite argument against any reform was to appeal to the Pyramids as an immutable proof of the solidity of Egypt financially and politically. His fatal optimism rendered him largely responsible for the collapse of Egyptian credit which brought about the fall of Ismail.
Upon the military insurrection of September 1881 under Urabi Pasha, Sharif was summoned by the khedive Tawfiq to form a new ministry. The impossibility of reconciling the financial requirements of the national party with the demands of the British and French controllers of the public debt, compelled him to resign in the following February.
After the suppression of the Urabi Revolt he was again installed in office (August 1882) by Tawfiq, but in January 1884 he resigned rather than sanction the evacuation of the Sudan. As to the strength of the Mahdist movement he had then no conception. When urged by Sir Evelyn Baring (Lord Cromer) early in 1883 to abandon some of the more distant parts of the Sudan, he replied with characteristic light-heartedness: "Nous en causerons plus tard; d'abord nous allons donner une bonne racleé a ce monsieur" (We'll talk about that later, first we're going to give this gentleman (i.e. the Mahdi) a good thrashing).
Sharif died in Graz, Austria, on April 20, 1887.
Muhammad Sharif Pasha see Sharif Pasha
Shari‘i, al-Imam Abu ‘Abd Allah Muhammad al-
Shari‘i, al-Imam Abu ‘Abd Allah Muhammad al-(al-Imam Abu ‘Abd Allah Muhammad al-Shari‘i) (767-820). Founder of the Shafi‘i school of law. He belonged to the tribe of Quraysh and was a Hashimi, thus remotely connected with the Prophet. He acquired a thorough knowledge of the old Arab poets, knew the Muwatta of Malik ibn Anas by heart, and remained with him in Medina until the latter’s death in 796. In Yemen, he was involved in ‘Alid intrigues and was imprisoned in Raqqa by the ‘Abbasid Caliph Harun al-Rashid in 803. After his release, he became intimate with the celebrated Hanafi Muhammad al-Shaybani, went via Harran and Syria to Egypt and in 810 to Baghdad where he set up successfully as a teacher. In 814, he returned to Egypt. Saladin had a great madrasa built in his honor at the foot of the Muqattam Hills in al-Fustat. Al-Shafi‘i may be described as an eclectic who acted as an intermediary between the independent legal investigation and the traditionalism of his time. He is regarded as the founder of the “Principles of Jurisprudence” (in Arabic, usul al-fiqh), laid down in his Treatise. Unlike the Hanafis, he sought to lay down the rules for reasoning by analogy (in Arabic, qiyas) and rejected human interpretation (in Arabic, istihsan).
Imam Abu 'Abd Allah Shari'i, al- see Shari‘i, al-Imam Abu ‘Abd Allah Muhammad al-
Shari‘i, al-Imam Abu ‘Abd Allah Muhammad al-(al-Imam Abu ‘Abd Allah Muhammad al-Shari‘i) (767-820). Founder of the Shafi‘i school of law. He belonged to the tribe of Quraysh and was a Hashimi, thus remotely connected with the Prophet. He acquired a thorough knowledge of the old Arab poets, knew the Muwatta of Malik ibn Anas by heart, and remained with him in Medina until the latter’s death in 796. In Yemen, he was involved in ‘Alid intrigues and was imprisoned in Raqqa by the ‘Abbasid Caliph Harun al-Rashid in 803. After his release, he became intimate with the celebrated Hanafi Muhammad al-Shaybani, went via Harran and Syria to Egypt and in 810 to Baghdad where he set up successfully as a teacher. In 814, he returned to Egypt. Saladin had a great madrasa built in his honor at the foot of the Muqattam Hills in al-Fustat. Al-Shafi‘i may be described as an eclectic who acted as an intermediary between the independent legal investigation and the traditionalism of his time. He is regarded as the founder of the “Principles of Jurisprudence” (in Arabic, usul al-fiqh), laid down in his Treatise. Unlike the Hanafis, he sought to lay down the rules for reasoning by analogy (in Arabic, qiyas) and rejected human interpretation (in Arabic, istihsan).
Imam Abu 'Abd Allah Shari'i, al- see Shari‘i, al-Imam Abu ‘Abd Allah Muhammad al-
Sharqawa
Sharqawa. Name of a marabout family in central Morocco. They were members of the Shadhiliyya order and were active in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Their religious center was in Boujad (in Arabic, Abu’l-Ja‘d) in the Tadla. It became one of the most frequented sanctuaries in Morocco.
Sharqawa. Name of a marabout family in central Morocco. They were members of the Shadhiliyya order and were active in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Their religious center was in Boujad (in Arabic, Abu’l-Ja‘d) in the Tadla. It became one of the most frequented sanctuaries in Morocco.
Shattariyah
Shattariyah (Shattariyya) (Shattari). Sufi order of importance in India and Indonesia, the Shattariyah is in the Tayfuri line of Sufi orders that follow the mystical tradition of Abu Yazid al-Bistami (d. 874) and was called the Bistamiyah in Ottoman Turkey and ‘Ishqiyah in Iran and Central Asia (the principal exponent in Transoxiana was Abu Yazid al-‘Ishqi). The foundation of the Shattari order is attributed to the eponymous ‘Abdullah Shattari (d. 1485), who claimed hereditary descent from Shihab al-Din Suhrawardi (d. 1244). The title shattari is said to have been given him by his spiritual master, Muhammad ‘Arif Tayfuri, in recognition of the rapidity with which ‘Abdullah advanced on the Sufi path. As such, the word should probably be read shuttari (from shuttar, plural of shatir, meaning “skillful,” “clever”).
‘Abdullah Shattari is said to have made a theatrical migration to India during the reign of the Timurid sultan Abu Sa‘id (r. 1451-1469), wearing royal robes and accompanied by a retinue of black-gowned mystics beating drums and waving banners. He maintained a close relationship with Sultan Ghiyasuddin Khalji (r. 1469-1501), dedicating his book Lata’if-i ghaybiyah to the king and providing him with spiritual aid during the siege of Chitor. The Mughal emperor Humayun erected a mausoleum for him at Mandu in Malwa. ‘Abdullah was succeeded by his son, Abulfath Hadyatullah Sarmast (d. 1497), and by a much more influential disciple, Muhammad ibn ‘Ala Qadin Tirhuti (d. 1495). The latter is said to have been initiated into the Shattari order during ‘Abdullah Shattari’s journey to Bihar around 1475. Muhammad Qadin actively propagated the Shattariyah until his death and was the most important figure in its spread in Bihar, which ranks second only to Gujarat as a center of Shattari activity in India. He wrote two major works, Ma‘adin al-asrar and Awrad-i Qadin Shattari. An annual fair is held on the anniversary of his death at a tomb atop a Buddhist stupa in Basharh, Punjab; the date of this festival is reckoned according to the Hindu/Buddhist calendar.
The most important figure in the formation of the Shattari order is Muhammad Ghaus of Gwalior (d. 1562), fourth in line from ‘Abdullah Shattari. Both Muhammad Ghaus and his brother and fellow Shattari Shaykh Bahlul (also known as Shaykh Phul, d. 1538) were held in high esteem by Emperor Humayun, which caused them much trouble. Shaykh Bahlul was executed by Humayun’s brother Hindal, and Muhammad Ghaus was forced to flee from northern India to Gujarat when Humayun was overthrown in 1539 by Sher Shah-Suri. While in Gujarat, Muhammad Ghaus established important Shattari centers in Ahmadabad and Bharoch (Broach). He visited Agra briefly in 1558 after Akbar had restored Mughal rule and then returned to Gwalior. Akbar built an imposing tomb over his grave. Tan Sen, the most famous figure in the history of Hindustani classical music, was a devotee of Muhammad Ghaus and is buried near him.
Muhammad Ghaus was a rigorous ascetic who spent twelve years in solitary meditation in the Chunar hills near Benares (Varanasi). He was also a productive author to whom the following works are attributed: Ja-wahir-i khamsa, Risala-yi mi‘rajiyah, Bahr ul-hayat, Kalid-i makhazin, Dama’ir, Basa’ir, Kanz ul-wahdat, and Awrad-i ghausiyah. Jawahir-i khamsa is the most important and exists in a popular Arabic version in addition to the Persian original. It deals with Sufi doctrines and practices as well as astrological issues in connection with the divine names. Risalah-yi mi’rajiyah describes a spiritual journey and contains some ecstatic utterances; it is reminiscent of a similar work by Abu Yazid al-Bistami, from whom the Shattariyah is derived. The Bahr ul-hayat is a Persian translation of the Hatha-yoga treatise Amrtakunda and is probably the first translation of a Hindu religious work undertaken by a Muslim.
Muhammad Ghaus’s heterodox beliefs and active interest in yogic practices earned him the condemnation of the ‘ulama’ of Gujarat. He was vindicated by one of them, Shah Wajihuddin (d. 1589), a reputable religious scholar who became his main successor. Wajihuddin was a prolific author credited with approximately three hundred works. His famous madrasah at Ahmadabad attracted such important Sufis as ‘Abd al-Haqq Muhaddis Dihlavi (d. 1642) and survived until 1820. His shrine at Khanpur is a major pilgrimage center for Gujarat. His festival is held on the last day of Muharram and the first of Safar.
Wajihuddin discarded many of the ecstatic and yogic practices of his teacher and forbade his disciples to accept non-Muslims as folowers. He promulgated a form of Sufism that subordinated itself to the precepts of Islamic law, bringing the Shattariyah much closer to the vastly more popular Qadiri order to which he had originally belonged. A secondary branch of the Shattariyah, which continued to emphasize the more heterodox of Muhammad Ghaus’s practices, came to be known as the Ghausiyah.
Wajihuddin was succeeded by two disciples, Muhammad ibn Fadlullah Burhanpuri (whose At-tuhfa al-mursala ila’n-nabi was influential in spreading Sufism in Indonesia) and Shah Sibghatullah of Bharoch (d. 1607). Shah Sibghatullah migrated to Medina, where he built a khanqah (Sufi convent), using money given to him either by the rulers of Bijapur and Ahmadnagar, or else by the local representative of the Ottoman sultan. It was largely through his disciple Ahmad Shinnavi (d. 1619) that the Shattariyah spread outside India.
In 1643 ‘Abdurra’uf ibn ‘Ali (d. about 1693) of Singkep in Sumatra made a pilgrimage to Mecca, where he became a disciple of Ahmad Qushshashi (d. about 1661), the successor of Ahmad Shinnavi. He stayed with Qushshashi until the latter’s death nineteen years later, when ‘Abdurra’uf returned to Aceh in Sumatra where he actively promoted the Shattariyah. He wrote several treatises in Malay, including the first known Malay translation of the Qur’an with a commentary. The Shattariyah was the first Sufi order to establish itself in Java, and ‘Abdurra’uf’s shrine remains an important Sumatran and Javanese pilgrimage site.
A major source of information on the Shattariyah is Gulzar-i abrar, a biographical work written by a spiritual descendant of Muhammad Ghaus named Muhammad Ghausi (d. after 1633). Descriptions of the sect’s beliefs and practices are also found in As-salsabil al-mu’in by Muhammad al-Sanusi and in Irshadat al-‘arifin by Muhammad Ibrahim Gazur-i Ilahi.
The Shattariyah is perhaps the most thoroughly Indian of the Sufi orders, having embraced wholeheartedly the Indian cultural milieu and Hindu -- especially yogic -- ideas. ‘Abdullah Shattari is said to have studied yoga and composed songs in Indian vernaculars. Later Shattari shaykhs went so far as to allow their disciples to use Sanskrit and Hindi formulae in dhikr (Sufi prayer). Meditation exercises involving yogic postures and breath control were certainly practiced by Muhammad Ghaus. These have been described by Sanusi as a dhikr exercise called the jujiyah (i.e., yoga). Among the Shattaris, mystical practice is directly related to magical and supernatural powers, and many of their shaykhs (including the sober Wajihuddin) are remembered as exorcists and healers.
The Shattariyya Ṣūfī (Muslim mystic) order may also derive its name from the Arabic word shāṭir (“breaker”), referring to one who has broken with the world.
Most Muslim mystics emphasize the servantship of man and the lordship of God, the fana (“dissolution”) of self and the baqāʾ (“subsistence”) of God. The Shaṭṭārīyah, on the contrary, stress the self, personal deeds, personal attributes that make a person godlike, and personal union with God. They maintain that fana would imply two selves, one that is to be annihilated and another that is to be readied for the final stage of the vision of God; and that such duality is opposed to the tawhid (“unity”) on which Ṣūfism is based. They also reject the Ṣūfī practice of mujāhadah (“struggle with the carnal self”), saying that excessive focusing on the self distracts from the more important goals of knowledge of God through personal experience and ultimate union.
The word Shattar means "speed", "rapidness" or "fast-goer" and is a system of spiritual practices which lead quickly to a state of 'completion'. Unlike other Sufi turuq the Shattaris did not subscribe to the concept of fana (self effacement, annihilation in the Divine). With the sect of Shattaris, the Salik (seeker, aspirant) descends, of himself, in his own knowledge - there is no annihilation of self with them.
The Shattaris subscribed to six fundamental principles:
(i) One should not believe in self-negation but adhere to self-affirmation.
(ii) Contemplation is a waste of time.
(iii) Self-effacement is a wrong idea. Man must say nothing except "I am I." Unity is to understand One, see One, say One and to hear One. A Sufi of this order must say "I am one" and "There is no partner with me."
(iv) There is no necessity of opposition to Nafs (the self) nor of Mujaheda (effort).
(v) There is no such state as annihilation (fana), for that requires two personalities; one wishing annihilation and the other in whom annihilation takes place, which is dualism and not unity.
(vi) One should not abstain from eating certain food. He must instead consider his ego and its attributes and actions as identical with those of the Universal Ego. The animal soul is not an obstacle for reaching God.
The Shattaris held to the principle of wahdat al-wujud (Unity of Existence), as expounded by Ibn Arabi. Abu'l Mawahib al Shinnawi was know to be an outspoken adherent of this doctrine. And Shinnawi's successor, Ahmad al-Qushashi was described by the contemporary Damascene scholar Muhammad Amin al Muhibbi as "The Imam of those who expound the unity of existence".
Some aspects of Shattari teaching sought to combine parts of Nath Yoga and other forms of Hindu mystical practice with Sufi methods. Shaykh Baha' al-Din Shattari (d. 1515 C.E.) incorporated Indian spiritual practices into his Risala-i Shattariyya (The Shattari Treatise). Later The Pool of Nectar, an ancient text traced by Carl Ernst back to the Hindu Amrtakunda, was translated into Persian by Muhammad Ghawth. Muhammad Gwath's translation was "a systematic account of yogic mantras and visualization practices, assimilated and even incorporated into the conceptual structure of Sufi tradition". It included an account of the Yogic chakras, and the practices required to activate each one, with Sufi wazifas substituted instead of the traditional Hindu mantras.
The Shattari silsilah branches into a number of lines, including Gujarati, Hijazi, Jawi (Indonesian) and others. This is the succession of the Shattaris of Medina.
1. The Prophet Muhammad
2. Imam Ali
3. Amir al-Muminin Hussein
4. Zain al-abidin
5. Imam Muhammad Baqir
6. Imam Jafar al-Sadiq
7. Abu Yazid al-Bastami
8. Muhammad al-Maghribi
9. Abu Yazid al-Ishqiyyah
10. Abd al Muzafar Turki al-Tusi
11. Abu'l hasan al-Kharaqani
12. Hassan al-Hudaqly
13. Muhammad Ashiq
14. Muhammad Arif
15. Abdalllah Shattari Mast
16. Alauddin Kazan
17. Abu'l Fattah Hidayatallah Sarmast
18. Shah Zahur Hajji Huzur
19. Shah Muhammad Gwath Gwaliyari
20. Wajihuddin Gujarati
21. Sibghatallah al-Barwaji
22. Abu'l Mawahib al Shinnawi
23. Ahmad al-Qushashi
24. Ibrahim Kurani
25. Muhammad Abu'l Tahir Kurani
Shattariyya see Shattariyah
Shattari see Shattariyah
Shattariyah (Shattariyya) (Shattari). Sufi order of importance in India and Indonesia, the Shattariyah is in the Tayfuri line of Sufi orders that follow the mystical tradition of Abu Yazid al-Bistami (d. 874) and was called the Bistamiyah in Ottoman Turkey and ‘Ishqiyah in Iran and Central Asia (the principal exponent in Transoxiana was Abu Yazid al-‘Ishqi). The foundation of the Shattari order is attributed to the eponymous ‘Abdullah Shattari (d. 1485), who claimed hereditary descent from Shihab al-Din Suhrawardi (d. 1244). The title shattari is said to have been given him by his spiritual master, Muhammad ‘Arif Tayfuri, in recognition of the rapidity with which ‘Abdullah advanced on the Sufi path. As such, the word should probably be read shuttari (from shuttar, plural of shatir, meaning “skillful,” “clever”).
‘Abdullah Shattari is said to have made a theatrical migration to India during the reign of the Timurid sultan Abu Sa‘id (r. 1451-1469), wearing royal robes and accompanied by a retinue of black-gowned mystics beating drums and waving banners. He maintained a close relationship with Sultan Ghiyasuddin Khalji (r. 1469-1501), dedicating his book Lata’if-i ghaybiyah to the king and providing him with spiritual aid during the siege of Chitor. The Mughal emperor Humayun erected a mausoleum for him at Mandu in Malwa. ‘Abdullah was succeeded by his son, Abulfath Hadyatullah Sarmast (d. 1497), and by a much more influential disciple, Muhammad ibn ‘Ala Qadin Tirhuti (d. 1495). The latter is said to have been initiated into the Shattari order during ‘Abdullah Shattari’s journey to Bihar around 1475. Muhammad Qadin actively propagated the Shattariyah until his death and was the most important figure in its spread in Bihar, which ranks second only to Gujarat as a center of Shattari activity in India. He wrote two major works, Ma‘adin al-asrar and Awrad-i Qadin Shattari. An annual fair is held on the anniversary of his death at a tomb atop a Buddhist stupa in Basharh, Punjab; the date of this festival is reckoned according to the Hindu/Buddhist calendar.
The most important figure in the formation of the Shattari order is Muhammad Ghaus of Gwalior (d. 1562), fourth in line from ‘Abdullah Shattari. Both Muhammad Ghaus and his brother and fellow Shattari Shaykh Bahlul (also known as Shaykh Phul, d. 1538) were held in high esteem by Emperor Humayun, which caused them much trouble. Shaykh Bahlul was executed by Humayun’s brother Hindal, and Muhammad Ghaus was forced to flee from northern India to Gujarat when Humayun was overthrown in 1539 by Sher Shah-Suri. While in Gujarat, Muhammad Ghaus established important Shattari centers in Ahmadabad and Bharoch (Broach). He visited Agra briefly in 1558 after Akbar had restored Mughal rule and then returned to Gwalior. Akbar built an imposing tomb over his grave. Tan Sen, the most famous figure in the history of Hindustani classical music, was a devotee of Muhammad Ghaus and is buried near him.
Muhammad Ghaus was a rigorous ascetic who spent twelve years in solitary meditation in the Chunar hills near Benares (Varanasi). He was also a productive author to whom the following works are attributed: Ja-wahir-i khamsa, Risala-yi mi‘rajiyah, Bahr ul-hayat, Kalid-i makhazin, Dama’ir, Basa’ir, Kanz ul-wahdat, and Awrad-i ghausiyah. Jawahir-i khamsa is the most important and exists in a popular Arabic version in addition to the Persian original. It deals with Sufi doctrines and practices as well as astrological issues in connection with the divine names. Risalah-yi mi’rajiyah describes a spiritual journey and contains some ecstatic utterances; it is reminiscent of a similar work by Abu Yazid al-Bistami, from whom the Shattariyah is derived. The Bahr ul-hayat is a Persian translation of the Hatha-yoga treatise Amrtakunda and is probably the first translation of a Hindu religious work undertaken by a Muslim.
Muhammad Ghaus’s heterodox beliefs and active interest in yogic practices earned him the condemnation of the ‘ulama’ of Gujarat. He was vindicated by one of them, Shah Wajihuddin (d. 1589), a reputable religious scholar who became his main successor. Wajihuddin was a prolific author credited with approximately three hundred works. His famous madrasah at Ahmadabad attracted such important Sufis as ‘Abd al-Haqq Muhaddis Dihlavi (d. 1642) and survived until 1820. His shrine at Khanpur is a major pilgrimage center for Gujarat. His festival is held on the last day of Muharram and the first of Safar.
Wajihuddin discarded many of the ecstatic and yogic practices of his teacher and forbade his disciples to accept non-Muslims as folowers. He promulgated a form of Sufism that subordinated itself to the precepts of Islamic law, bringing the Shattariyah much closer to the vastly more popular Qadiri order to which he had originally belonged. A secondary branch of the Shattariyah, which continued to emphasize the more heterodox of Muhammad Ghaus’s practices, came to be known as the Ghausiyah.
Wajihuddin was succeeded by two disciples, Muhammad ibn Fadlullah Burhanpuri (whose At-tuhfa al-mursala ila’n-nabi was influential in spreading Sufism in Indonesia) and Shah Sibghatullah of Bharoch (d. 1607). Shah Sibghatullah migrated to Medina, where he built a khanqah (Sufi convent), using money given to him either by the rulers of Bijapur and Ahmadnagar, or else by the local representative of the Ottoman sultan. It was largely through his disciple Ahmad Shinnavi (d. 1619) that the Shattariyah spread outside India.
In 1643 ‘Abdurra’uf ibn ‘Ali (d. about 1693) of Singkep in Sumatra made a pilgrimage to Mecca, where he became a disciple of Ahmad Qushshashi (d. about 1661), the successor of Ahmad Shinnavi. He stayed with Qushshashi until the latter’s death nineteen years later, when ‘Abdurra’uf returned to Aceh in Sumatra where he actively promoted the Shattariyah. He wrote several treatises in Malay, including the first known Malay translation of the Qur’an with a commentary. The Shattariyah was the first Sufi order to establish itself in Java, and ‘Abdurra’uf’s shrine remains an important Sumatran and Javanese pilgrimage site.
A major source of information on the Shattariyah is Gulzar-i abrar, a biographical work written by a spiritual descendant of Muhammad Ghaus named Muhammad Ghausi (d. after 1633). Descriptions of the sect’s beliefs and practices are also found in As-salsabil al-mu’in by Muhammad al-Sanusi and in Irshadat al-‘arifin by Muhammad Ibrahim Gazur-i Ilahi.
The Shattariyah is perhaps the most thoroughly Indian of the Sufi orders, having embraced wholeheartedly the Indian cultural milieu and Hindu -- especially yogic -- ideas. ‘Abdullah Shattari is said to have studied yoga and composed songs in Indian vernaculars. Later Shattari shaykhs went so far as to allow their disciples to use Sanskrit and Hindi formulae in dhikr (Sufi prayer). Meditation exercises involving yogic postures and breath control were certainly practiced by Muhammad Ghaus. These have been described by Sanusi as a dhikr exercise called the jujiyah (i.e., yoga). Among the Shattaris, mystical practice is directly related to magical and supernatural powers, and many of their shaykhs (including the sober Wajihuddin) are remembered as exorcists and healers.
The Shattariyya Ṣūfī (Muslim mystic) order may also derive its name from the Arabic word shāṭir (“breaker”), referring to one who has broken with the world.
Most Muslim mystics emphasize the servantship of man and the lordship of God, the fana (“dissolution”) of self and the baqāʾ (“subsistence”) of God. The Shaṭṭārīyah, on the contrary, stress the self, personal deeds, personal attributes that make a person godlike, and personal union with God. They maintain that fana would imply two selves, one that is to be annihilated and another that is to be readied for the final stage of the vision of God; and that such duality is opposed to the tawhid (“unity”) on which Ṣūfism is based. They also reject the Ṣūfī practice of mujāhadah (“struggle with the carnal self”), saying that excessive focusing on the self distracts from the more important goals of knowledge of God through personal experience and ultimate union.
The word Shattar means "speed", "rapidness" or "fast-goer" and is a system of spiritual practices which lead quickly to a state of 'completion'. Unlike other Sufi turuq the Shattaris did not subscribe to the concept of fana (self effacement, annihilation in the Divine). With the sect of Shattaris, the Salik (seeker, aspirant) descends, of himself, in his own knowledge - there is no annihilation of self with them.
The Shattaris subscribed to six fundamental principles:
(i) One should not believe in self-negation but adhere to self-affirmation.
(ii) Contemplation is a waste of time.
(iii) Self-effacement is a wrong idea. Man must say nothing except "I am I." Unity is to understand One, see One, say One and to hear One. A Sufi of this order must say "I am one" and "There is no partner with me."
(iv) There is no necessity of opposition to Nafs (the self) nor of Mujaheda (effort).
(v) There is no such state as annihilation (fana), for that requires two personalities; one wishing annihilation and the other in whom annihilation takes place, which is dualism and not unity.
(vi) One should not abstain from eating certain food. He must instead consider his ego and its attributes and actions as identical with those of the Universal Ego. The animal soul is not an obstacle for reaching God.
The Shattaris held to the principle of wahdat al-wujud (Unity of Existence), as expounded by Ibn Arabi. Abu'l Mawahib al Shinnawi was know to be an outspoken adherent of this doctrine. And Shinnawi's successor, Ahmad al-Qushashi was described by the contemporary Damascene scholar Muhammad Amin al Muhibbi as "The Imam of those who expound the unity of existence".
Some aspects of Shattari teaching sought to combine parts of Nath Yoga and other forms of Hindu mystical practice with Sufi methods. Shaykh Baha' al-Din Shattari (d. 1515 C.E.) incorporated Indian spiritual practices into his Risala-i Shattariyya (The Shattari Treatise). Later The Pool of Nectar, an ancient text traced by Carl Ernst back to the Hindu Amrtakunda, was translated into Persian by Muhammad Ghawth. Muhammad Gwath's translation was "a systematic account of yogic mantras and visualization practices, assimilated and even incorporated into the conceptual structure of Sufi tradition". It included an account of the Yogic chakras, and the practices required to activate each one, with Sufi wazifas substituted instead of the traditional Hindu mantras.
The Shattari silsilah branches into a number of lines, including Gujarati, Hijazi, Jawi (Indonesian) and others. This is the succession of the Shattaris of Medina.
1. The Prophet Muhammad
2. Imam Ali
3. Amir al-Muminin Hussein
4. Zain al-abidin
5. Imam Muhammad Baqir
6. Imam Jafar al-Sadiq
7. Abu Yazid al-Bastami
8. Muhammad al-Maghribi
9. Abu Yazid al-Ishqiyyah
10. Abd al Muzafar Turki al-Tusi
11. Abu'l hasan al-Kharaqani
12. Hassan al-Hudaqly
13. Muhammad Ashiq
14. Muhammad Arif
15. Abdalllah Shattari Mast
16. Alauddin Kazan
17. Abu'l Fattah Hidayatallah Sarmast
18. Shah Zahur Hajji Huzur
19. Shah Muhammad Gwath Gwaliyari
20. Wajihuddin Gujarati
21. Sibghatallah al-Barwaji
22. Abu'l Mawahib al Shinnawi
23. Ahmad al-Qushashi
24. Ibrahim Kurani
25. Muhammad Abu'l Tahir Kurani
Shattariyya see Shattariyah
Shattari see Shattariyah
Shawar, Abu Shuja’
Shawar, Abu Shuja’ (Abu Shuja’ Shawar) (d.1169). Vizier of the last Fatimid Caliph al-‘Adid li-Din Allah. He had to flee from Cairo in 1163, returned with the support of Nur al-Din Mahmud Zangi but came into conflict with Nur al-Din’s general Shirkuh. Shawar appealed for help to Amalric I, king Jerusalem, who forced Shirkuh to return to Syria. In 1167, Shirkuh invaded Egypt for a second time and defeated Shawar, but the latter, again allied to the Franks, succeeded in getting Shirkuh to leave once more. In 1168, Nur al-Din sent Shirkuh into Egypt for the third time with the avowed object of driving out the Franks, whose demands had provoked a rupture with Shawar, who purchased their departure. When the Caliph al-‘Adid made a persona appeal to Nur al-Din for help, Shirkuh’s entourage, notably his nephew Saladin, decided upon Shawar’s death.
Abu Shuja' Shawar see Shawar, Abu Shuja’
Shawar, Abu Shuja’ (Abu Shuja’ Shawar) (d.1169). Vizier of the last Fatimid Caliph al-‘Adid li-Din Allah. He had to flee from Cairo in 1163, returned with the support of Nur al-Din Mahmud Zangi but came into conflict with Nur al-Din’s general Shirkuh. Shawar appealed for help to Amalric I, king Jerusalem, who forced Shirkuh to return to Syria. In 1167, Shirkuh invaded Egypt for a second time and defeated Shawar, but the latter, again allied to the Franks, succeeded in getting Shirkuh to leave once more. In 1168, Nur al-Din sent Shirkuh into Egypt for the third time with the avowed object of driving out the Franks, whose demands had provoked a rupture with Shawar, who purchased their departure. When the Caliph al-‘Adid made a persona appeal to Nur al-Din for help, Shirkuh’s entourage, notably his nephew Saladin, decided upon Shawar’s death.
Abu Shuja' Shawar see Shawar, Abu Shuja’
Shayba, Banu
Shayba, Banu (Banu Shayba). Name of the keepers of the Ka‘ba.
Banu Shayba see Shayba, Banu
Shayba, Banu (Banu Shayba). Name of the keepers of the Ka‘ba.
Banu Shayba see Shayba, Banu
Shaybani, Abu ‘Abd Allah Muhammad al-
Shaybani, Abu ‘Abd Allah Muhammad al-(Abu ‘Abd Allah Muhammad al-Shaybani) (Muhammad al-Shaybani) (Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Shaybānī) (749/750-804). Hanafi jurist. At an early age, he studied under Abu Hanifa in Kufa. The Hanafi school owes its spread of popularity to al-Shaybani and to Abu Yusuf Ya‘qub al-Ansari (d. 798).
Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Shaybānī was one of the most important disciples of Abu Hanifa (the eponymous founder of the Hanafi school of Islamic jurisprudence), and Abu Yusuf, as well as an eminent jurist.
Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan was born in Wāsiṭ, Iraq. Soon afterwards his family moved to Kufa, the home town of Abū Ḥanīfa, and Muhammad grew up there.
Though he was born to a soldier, he was much more interested in pursuing an intellectual career, as opposed to a military one. Shaybani began studying in Kufa as a pupil of Abu Hanifa. When al-Shaybani was 18, however, Abu Hanifa died after having taught him for only two years.
Shaybani then began training with Abū Yūsuf, his senior, and the leading disciple of Abu Hanifa. He also had other prominent teachers as well: Sufyan al-Thawrī and al-Awzāʿī. Shaybani also later visited Medina, and studied for two to three years with Malik ibn Anas, founder of the Maliki school of Fiqh. Thus, as a result of his education, al-Shaybani became a jurist at a very early age. According to Abu Hanifa's grandson Ismail, he taught in Kufa at age twenty (c. 770).
Al-Shaybānī moved to Baghdad, where he continued his learning. He was so respected that Caliph Harun al-Rashid appointed him qadi (judge) of his capital city Ar-Raqqah (around 796). Al-Shaybānī was relieved of this position in 803. He returned to Baghdad and resumed his educational activities. It was during this period he exerted his widest influence. He taught Muhammad ibn Idris ash-Shafi`i, the most prestigious of his pupils. Even later, when ash-Shafi'ī disagreed with his teacher and wrote the K. al-Radd ʿalā Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan ("Refutation of Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan [al-Shaybānī]"), ash-Shafi'i still maintained immense admiration for al-Shaybani.
Al-Rashid re-instated al-Shaybānī in a judicial position. The latter accompanied the caliph to Khorasan, where he served as qadi until his death in 805 at Rayy. He died the same day and the same place as the eminent philologist and grammarian al-Kisāʾī. Thus, al-Rashid remarked that he "buried law and grammar side by side."
Al-Shaybani's works, known collectively as zahir al-riwaya, were considered authoritative by later Hanafis. They are al-Mabsut, al-Jami al-Kabir, al-Jami al-Saghir, al-Siyar al-Kabir, al-Siyar al-Saghir, and al-Ziyadat.
Al-Shaybani wrote Introduction to the Law of Nations at the end of the 8th century, a book which provided detailed guidelines for the conduct of jihad against unbelievers, as well as guidelines on the treatment of non-Muslim subjects under Muslim rule. Al-Shaybani wrote a second more advanced treatise on the subject, and other jurists soon followed with a number of other multi-volume treatises.
Abu 'Abd Allah Muhammad al-Shaybani see Shaybani, Abu ‘Abd Allah Muhammad al-
Muhammad al-Shaybani see Shaybani, Abu ‘Abd Allah Muhammad al-
Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Shaybānī see Shaybani, Abu ‘Abd Allah Muhammad al-
Shaybani, Abu ‘Abd Allah Muhammad al-(Abu ‘Abd Allah Muhammad al-Shaybani) (Muhammad al-Shaybani) (Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Shaybānī) (749/750-804). Hanafi jurist. At an early age, he studied under Abu Hanifa in Kufa. The Hanafi school owes its spread of popularity to al-Shaybani and to Abu Yusuf Ya‘qub al-Ansari (d. 798).
Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Shaybānī was one of the most important disciples of Abu Hanifa (the eponymous founder of the Hanafi school of Islamic jurisprudence), and Abu Yusuf, as well as an eminent jurist.
Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan was born in Wāsiṭ, Iraq. Soon afterwards his family moved to Kufa, the home town of Abū Ḥanīfa, and Muhammad grew up there.
Though he was born to a soldier, he was much more interested in pursuing an intellectual career, as opposed to a military one. Shaybani began studying in Kufa as a pupil of Abu Hanifa. When al-Shaybani was 18, however, Abu Hanifa died after having taught him for only two years.
Shaybani then began training with Abū Yūsuf, his senior, and the leading disciple of Abu Hanifa. He also had other prominent teachers as well: Sufyan al-Thawrī and al-Awzāʿī. Shaybani also later visited Medina, and studied for two to three years with Malik ibn Anas, founder of the Maliki school of Fiqh. Thus, as a result of his education, al-Shaybani became a jurist at a very early age. According to Abu Hanifa's grandson Ismail, he taught in Kufa at age twenty (c. 770).
Al-Shaybānī moved to Baghdad, where he continued his learning. He was so respected that Caliph Harun al-Rashid appointed him qadi (judge) of his capital city Ar-Raqqah (around 796). Al-Shaybānī was relieved of this position in 803. He returned to Baghdad and resumed his educational activities. It was during this period he exerted his widest influence. He taught Muhammad ibn Idris ash-Shafi`i, the most prestigious of his pupils. Even later, when ash-Shafi'ī disagreed with his teacher and wrote the K. al-Radd ʿalā Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan ("Refutation of Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan [al-Shaybānī]"), ash-Shafi'i still maintained immense admiration for al-Shaybani.
Al-Rashid re-instated al-Shaybānī in a judicial position. The latter accompanied the caliph to Khorasan, where he served as qadi until his death in 805 at Rayy. He died the same day and the same place as the eminent philologist and grammarian al-Kisāʾī. Thus, al-Rashid remarked that he "buried law and grammar side by side."
Al-Shaybani's works, known collectively as zahir al-riwaya, were considered authoritative by later Hanafis. They are al-Mabsut, al-Jami al-Kabir, al-Jami al-Saghir, al-Siyar al-Kabir, al-Siyar al-Saghir, and al-Ziyadat.
Al-Shaybani wrote Introduction to the Law of Nations at the end of the 8th century, a book which provided detailed guidelines for the conduct of jihad against unbelievers, as well as guidelines on the treatment of non-Muslim subjects under Muslim rule. Al-Shaybani wrote a second more advanced treatise on the subject, and other jurists soon followed with a number of other multi-volume treatises.
Abu 'Abd Allah Muhammad al-Shaybani see Shaybani, Abu ‘Abd Allah Muhammad al-
Muhammad al-Shaybani see Shaybani, Abu ‘Abd Allah Muhammad al-
Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Shaybānī see Shaybani, Abu ‘Abd Allah Muhammad al-
Shaybani, Abu ‘Amr Ishaq al-
Shaybani, Abu ‘Amr Ishaq al- (Abu ‘Amr Ishaq al-Shaybani) (c.719-820). Foremost of the grammarians of Kufa. He compiled a large collection of poetry and linguistic data, gathered among the nomad Arabs. His Book of the (letter) Jim, the unfinished part of an Arab dictionary, is one of the earliest books in the Arabic language.
Shaybani, Abu ‘Amr Ishaq al- (Abu ‘Amr Ishaq al-Shaybani) (c.719-820). Foremost of the grammarians of Kufa. He compiled a large collection of poetry and linguistic data, gathered among the nomad Arabs. His Book of the (letter) Jim, the unfinished part of an Arab dictionary, is one of the earliest books in the Arabic language.
Shaybanids
Shaybanids . Uzbek (Mongol) dynasty in Transoxiana and Afghanistan (r. 1500-1599). Their main capital was Samarkand. The Shaybanids were descendants of Prince Shayban (the grandson of Jenghiz Khan and the brother of Batu Khan [Batu ibn Juci]), to whom the latter granted Hungary. His line (r. 1226-1659) comprised the khans or tsars of Tiumen and, for a while, the khans of the Golden Horde. Muhammad Shaybani Khan (r. 1500-1510), founder of the Transoxianan khanate, ruled Turkestan from 1487 to 1493, bringing an end to Timurid rule by conquering Samarkand (in 1497, and finally in 1501) and Herat (in 1507), occupied Tashkent in 1503, and advanced as far as Kuna Urgench in 1505. He died trying to seize Khorasan from the Safavids. His successors stabilized the empire. His line ruled in Bukhara from 1540, experiencing its cultural and political apogee under Abdallah II (r. 1556-1598). Abdallah was khan of Bukhara from 1556 and in 1583 he reunited the empire. In the confusion that followed his death, the main Shaybanid dynastic line collapsed and was inherited by the related Jalayirids (Astrakhanids) in 1599. Shaybanis were Sunnis and waged war with the Shi‘a Safavids of Persia.
The Shaybanids are the patrilineal descendants of Shayban (Shiban), the fifth son of Jochi and grandson of Genghis Khan. Until the mid-14th century, they acknowledged the authority of the descendants of Batu Khan and Orda Khan, such as Uzbeg Khan. The Shaybanid horde was converted to Islam in 1282 and gradually assumed the name of Uzbeks.
As the lineages of Batu and Orda died out in the course of the great civil wars of the 14th century, the Shaybanids under Abu'l-Khayr Khan declared themselves the only legitimate successors to Jochi and put forward claims to the whole of his enormous ulus, which included parts of Siberia and Kazakhstan. Their rivals were the Timurids, who claimed descent from Jochi's thirteenth son by a concubine. Several decades of strife left the Timurids in control of the Great Horde and its successor states in Europe, namely, the Khanates of Kazan, Astrakhan, and Crimea.
However, the Shaybanids under Muhammad Shaybani were able to rest control of Samarkand, Bukhara and (for a time) Herat from the Timurids, establishing the Shaybanid dynasty as rulers of the independent Khanates of Bukhoro and Khwarezm (Khiva).
The Shaybanid dynasty was an Uzbek dynasty, whose members ruled the Khanate of Bukhara (1505–1598), the Khanate of Khwarezm (Khiva) (1511–1695) and the Khanate of Sibir (1563–1598).
The Shaybanid dynasty traces its origins generally to the Shaybanids, descendants of Genghis Khan through his grandson Shayban (Shiban). By the 15th century, one branch of the Shaybanids moved south into Transoxiana, from whence, after a century of conflict, they managed to oust the Timurids. Abu'l-Khayr Khan (who led the Shaybanids from 1428 to 1468) began consolidating disparate Uzbek tribes, first in the area around Tyumen and the Tura River and then down into the Syr Darya region. His grandson Muhammad Shaybani (ruled 1500-10), who gave his name to the Shaybanid dynasty, wrested Samarkand, Herat and Bukhara from Babur's control and established the short-lived Shaybanid Empire. After his death at the hands of Shah Ismail I, he was followed successively by an uncle, a cousin, and a brother, whose Shaybanid descendants would rule the Khanate of Bukhara until 1598 and the Khanate of Khwarezm (Khiva) until 1695.
Another state ruled by the Shaybanids was the Khanate of Sibir, whose last khan Kuchum was deposed by the Russians in 1598. He escaped to Bukhara, but his sons and grandsons were taken by the Tsar to Moscow, where they eventually assumed the surname of Sibirsky. Apart from this famous branch, several other noble families from Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan (e.g., Princes Valikhanov) petitioned the Russian imperial authorities to recognize their Shaybanid roots, but mostly in vain.
Shaybanids . Uzbek (Mongol) dynasty in Transoxiana and Afghanistan (r. 1500-1599). Their main capital was Samarkand. The Shaybanids were descendants of Prince Shayban (the grandson of Jenghiz Khan and the brother of Batu Khan [Batu ibn Juci]), to whom the latter granted Hungary. His line (r. 1226-1659) comprised the khans or tsars of Tiumen and, for a while, the khans of the Golden Horde. Muhammad Shaybani Khan (r. 1500-1510), founder of the Transoxianan khanate, ruled Turkestan from 1487 to 1493, bringing an end to Timurid rule by conquering Samarkand (in 1497, and finally in 1501) and Herat (in 1507), occupied Tashkent in 1503, and advanced as far as Kuna Urgench in 1505. He died trying to seize Khorasan from the Safavids. His successors stabilized the empire. His line ruled in Bukhara from 1540, experiencing its cultural and political apogee under Abdallah II (r. 1556-1598). Abdallah was khan of Bukhara from 1556 and in 1583 he reunited the empire. In the confusion that followed his death, the main Shaybanid dynastic line collapsed and was inherited by the related Jalayirids (Astrakhanids) in 1599. Shaybanis were Sunnis and waged war with the Shi‘a Safavids of Persia.
The Shaybanids are the patrilineal descendants of Shayban (Shiban), the fifth son of Jochi and grandson of Genghis Khan. Until the mid-14th century, they acknowledged the authority of the descendants of Batu Khan and Orda Khan, such as Uzbeg Khan. The Shaybanid horde was converted to Islam in 1282 and gradually assumed the name of Uzbeks.
As the lineages of Batu and Orda died out in the course of the great civil wars of the 14th century, the Shaybanids under Abu'l-Khayr Khan declared themselves the only legitimate successors to Jochi and put forward claims to the whole of his enormous ulus, which included parts of Siberia and Kazakhstan. Their rivals were the Timurids, who claimed descent from Jochi's thirteenth son by a concubine. Several decades of strife left the Timurids in control of the Great Horde and its successor states in Europe, namely, the Khanates of Kazan, Astrakhan, and Crimea.
However, the Shaybanids under Muhammad Shaybani were able to rest control of Samarkand, Bukhara and (for a time) Herat from the Timurids, establishing the Shaybanid dynasty as rulers of the independent Khanates of Bukhoro and Khwarezm (Khiva).
The Shaybanid dynasty was an Uzbek dynasty, whose members ruled the Khanate of Bukhara (1505–1598), the Khanate of Khwarezm (Khiva) (1511–1695) and the Khanate of Sibir (1563–1598).
The Shaybanid dynasty traces its origins generally to the Shaybanids, descendants of Genghis Khan through his grandson Shayban (Shiban). By the 15th century, one branch of the Shaybanids moved south into Transoxiana, from whence, after a century of conflict, they managed to oust the Timurids. Abu'l-Khayr Khan (who led the Shaybanids from 1428 to 1468) began consolidating disparate Uzbek tribes, first in the area around Tyumen and the Tura River and then down into the Syr Darya region. His grandson Muhammad Shaybani (ruled 1500-10), who gave his name to the Shaybanid dynasty, wrested Samarkand, Herat and Bukhara from Babur's control and established the short-lived Shaybanid Empire. After his death at the hands of Shah Ismail I, he was followed successively by an uncle, a cousin, and a brother, whose Shaybanid descendants would rule the Khanate of Bukhara until 1598 and the Khanate of Khwarezm (Khiva) until 1695.
Another state ruled by the Shaybanids was the Khanate of Sibir, whose last khan Kuchum was deposed by the Russians in 1598. He escaped to Bukhara, but his sons and grandsons were taken by the Tsar to Moscow, where they eventually assumed the surname of Sibirsky. Apart from this famous branch, several other noble families from Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan (e.g., Princes Valikhanov) petitioned the Russian imperial authorities to recognize their Shaybanid roots, but mostly in vain.
Shaybani Khan
Shaybani Khan (Uzbek Khan Shaybani) (Shah Beg Khan Uzbek) (Muhammad Shaybani) (Abu'l-Fath Muhammad) (b. c. 1451 - December 2, 1510). Khan of the Uzbegs (r.1500-1510). He conquered Transoxiana from the last Timurids, defeated the future Mughal Emperor Babur in 1499 and starved Samarkand into surrender. In 1509, he was defeated by the Safavid Shah Isma‘il.
Shaybani Khan was a khan of the Uzbeks (from 1500) who continued consolidating various Uzbek tribes and laid foundations for their ascendance in Transoxiana. He was a descendant of Genghis Khan through his grandson Shayban and considered the Timurids as usurpers of the Genghisid heritage in Central Asia. His native Turkic name was Shabaq (wormwood, whence Shaibak, thence Shaybani--a pseudo-authentication of the Turkic name into a more prestigious Arabic tribal name of Shayban).
Continuing the policies of his grandfather, Abu'l-Khayr Khan, Shaybani ousted the Timurids from their capital Samarkand by 1500. He fought successful campaigns against the Timurid leader Babur, founder of the Mughal Empire. In 1505, he recaptured Samarkand and in 1507 also took Herat, the southern capital of the Timurids. Shaybani conquered Bukhara in 1506 and established the short-lived Shaybanid Empire. In 1508-09, he carried out many raids northward, pillaging the land of the Kazakh Khanate. However, he suffered a major defeat from Kazakhs under Kasim Khan in 1510.
Shah Ismail I from the Safavid dynasty of Persia was alarmed by Shaybani's success and moved against the Uzbeks. In the Battle of Marv (1510), Muhammad Shaybani was defeated and killed when trying to escape. Ismail had Muhammad Shaybani's body parts sent to various areas of the empire for display and had his skull coated in gold and made into a jeweled drinking goblet which was drunk from when entertaining.
At the time of Shaybani's death, the Uzbeks controlled all of Transoxiana, that is, the area between the Syr Darya and Amu Darya rivers. After capturing Samarkand from Babur, Shaybani married Babur's sister, Khanzada Begum. Babur's liberty to leave Samarkand was made contingent upon his assent to this alliance. After Shaybani's death, Ismail I gave liberty to Khanzada Begum with her son and, at Babur's request, sent them to his court. For this reason Shaybani was succeeded not by a son but by an uncle, a cousin and a brother whose descendants would rule Bukhara until 1598 and Khwarizm (later named Khiva) until 1687.
It should be noted that after Genghis Khan’s death in 1227, his vast empire fell to pieces. In Afghanistan some local chiefs succeeded in establishing independent principalities, and others acknowledged Mongol princes as suzerains. This state of affairs continued until the end of the 14th century, when Timur (Tamerlane) conquered a large part of the country.
Timur’s successors, the Timurids (1405–1507), were great patrons of learning and the arts who enriched their capital city of Herāt with fine buildings. Under their rule Afghanistan enjoyed peace and prosperity.
Early in the 16th century the Turkic Uzbeks rose to power in Central Asia under Muḥammad Shaybānī, who took Herāt in 1507. In late 1510 the Ṣafavid shah Ismāʿīl I besieged Shaybānī in Merv and killed him. Bābur, a descendant of Genghis Khan and Timur, had made Kabul the capital of an independent principality in 1504. He captured Kandahār in 1522, and in 1526 he marched on Delhi. He defeated Ibrāhīm, the last of the Lodī Afghan kings of India, and established the Mughal Empire, which lasted until the middle of the 19th century and included all of eastern Afghanistan south of the Hindu Kush. The capital was at Agra. Nine years after his death in 1530, the body of Bābur was taken to Kabul for burial.
During the next 200 years Afghanistan was parceled between the Mughals of India and the Ṣafavids of Persia—the former holding Kabul north to the southern foothills of the Hindu Kush and the latter, Herāt and Farāh. Kandahār was in dispute for many years.
Uzbek Khan Shaybani see Shaybani Khan
Shah Beg Khan Uzbek see Shaybani Khan
Muhammad Shaybani see Shaybani Khan
Abu'l-Fath Muhammad see Shaybani Khan
Shaybani Khan (Uzbek Khan Shaybani) (Shah Beg Khan Uzbek) (Muhammad Shaybani) (Abu'l-Fath Muhammad) (b. c. 1451 - December 2, 1510). Khan of the Uzbegs (r.1500-1510). He conquered Transoxiana from the last Timurids, defeated the future Mughal Emperor Babur in 1499 and starved Samarkand into surrender. In 1509, he was defeated by the Safavid Shah Isma‘il.
Shaybani Khan was a khan of the Uzbeks (from 1500) who continued consolidating various Uzbek tribes and laid foundations for their ascendance in Transoxiana. He was a descendant of Genghis Khan through his grandson Shayban and considered the Timurids as usurpers of the Genghisid heritage in Central Asia. His native Turkic name was Shabaq (wormwood, whence Shaibak, thence Shaybani--a pseudo-authentication of the Turkic name into a more prestigious Arabic tribal name of Shayban).
Continuing the policies of his grandfather, Abu'l-Khayr Khan, Shaybani ousted the Timurids from their capital Samarkand by 1500. He fought successful campaigns against the Timurid leader Babur, founder of the Mughal Empire. In 1505, he recaptured Samarkand and in 1507 also took Herat, the southern capital of the Timurids. Shaybani conquered Bukhara in 1506 and established the short-lived Shaybanid Empire. In 1508-09, he carried out many raids northward, pillaging the land of the Kazakh Khanate. However, he suffered a major defeat from Kazakhs under Kasim Khan in 1510.
Shah Ismail I from the Safavid dynasty of Persia was alarmed by Shaybani's success and moved against the Uzbeks. In the Battle of Marv (1510), Muhammad Shaybani was defeated and killed when trying to escape. Ismail had Muhammad Shaybani's body parts sent to various areas of the empire for display and had his skull coated in gold and made into a jeweled drinking goblet which was drunk from when entertaining.
At the time of Shaybani's death, the Uzbeks controlled all of Transoxiana, that is, the area between the Syr Darya and Amu Darya rivers. After capturing Samarkand from Babur, Shaybani married Babur's sister, Khanzada Begum. Babur's liberty to leave Samarkand was made contingent upon his assent to this alliance. After Shaybani's death, Ismail I gave liberty to Khanzada Begum with her son and, at Babur's request, sent them to his court. For this reason Shaybani was succeeded not by a son but by an uncle, a cousin and a brother whose descendants would rule Bukhara until 1598 and Khwarizm (later named Khiva) until 1687.
It should be noted that after Genghis Khan’s death in 1227, his vast empire fell to pieces. In Afghanistan some local chiefs succeeded in establishing independent principalities, and others acknowledged Mongol princes as suzerains. This state of affairs continued until the end of the 14th century, when Timur (Tamerlane) conquered a large part of the country.
Timur’s successors, the Timurids (1405–1507), were great patrons of learning and the arts who enriched their capital city of Herāt with fine buildings. Under their rule Afghanistan enjoyed peace and prosperity.
Early in the 16th century the Turkic Uzbeks rose to power in Central Asia under Muḥammad Shaybānī, who took Herāt in 1507. In late 1510 the Ṣafavid shah Ismāʿīl I besieged Shaybānī in Merv and killed him. Bābur, a descendant of Genghis Khan and Timur, had made Kabul the capital of an independent principality in 1504. He captured Kandahār in 1522, and in 1526 he marched on Delhi. He defeated Ibrāhīm, the last of the Lodī Afghan kings of India, and established the Mughal Empire, which lasted until the middle of the 19th century and included all of eastern Afghanistan south of the Hindu Kush. The capital was at Agra. Nine years after his death in 1530, the body of Bābur was taken to Kabul for burial.
During the next 200 years Afghanistan was parceled between the Mughals of India and the Ṣafavids of Persia—the former holding Kabul north to the southern foothills of the Hindu Kush and the latter, Herāt and Farāh. Kandahār was in dispute for many years.
Uzbek Khan Shaybani see Shaybani Khan
Shah Beg Khan Uzbek see Shaybani Khan
Muhammad Shaybani see Shaybani Khan
Abu'l-Fath Muhammad see Shaybani Khan
Shaykh
Shaykh. See shaikh.
Shaykh. See shaikh.
shaykh al-Islam
shaykh al-Islam. See Shaikh al-Islam.
shaykh al-Islam. See Shaikh al-Islam.
Shaykhi
Shaykhi (Shaikhi) (Shaykhiyah). Name of dissenting Shi‘i theologians in Persia, followers of Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsa‘i (d.1826). The sect was founded by Shaykh Ahmad and Sayyid Kazim (Siyyid Kazim) of Rasht. They were opposed to the doctrines of the Akhbariyya. According to them, the twelve Imams are the effective cause of creation, all the acts of the divinity being produced by them. Their doctrines prepared the way for those of the Bab.
Shaikhi was a prominent school of Twelver Shi‘a theology founded by Shaikh Ahmad Ahsa’i (1753-1826). Ahsa’i, a Shi‘a Arab born in Bahrein, had studied in Najaf and Karbala before settling in Iran for a period of fifteen years. His teachings rapidly gained a large following from among the intellectually progressive ulama (religious scholars) and the ruling classes.
Ahsa’i borrowed from Muslim philosophers and mystics the idea of the Perfect Man and developed his own conception of the Perfect Shi‘ite, a specially gifted being whose conscious knowledge of the divine is immune from error by virtue of his spiritual affinity to the Hidden Imam. ‘The each historical age its own Perfect Shi‘ite,” was the common Shaikhi belief.
Ahsa’i’s successor, the Iranian-born Kazim Rashti (d. 1844), further elaborated the Shaikhi view of evolutionary cycles of progressive revelation of esoteric truth. He argued that, although the prophet Muhammad’s prophecy was the last and his law the most perfect, religion must undergo changes in order to fit mankind’s needs and the exigencies of the time. When Rashti died, dispute over his succession split the school into two branches. The largest accepted the leadership of Muhammad Karim Khan Kirmani, a Qajar prince who further expanded the concept of the Perfect Shi‘ite, or Fourth Pillar, as the ideal leader of the community, until he was forced to retreat behind outward profession of orthodoxy. A moderate, though minor, branch developed in Azerbaijan.
It is not known whether Ahsa’i’s and Rashti’s views were meant to be studied in the context of “existential time” and not “chronological time;” as mere ideas, as Shaikhi apologists claimed in response to orthodox denunciation; or whether they were to be applied concretely, as the subsequent radical movementof the Babis proclaimed. Kirmani Shaikhism itself survived as a socially conservative, apolitical school of theory until it was closed down by the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran in 1979. But the Shaikhi allegorical interpretation of basic Shi‘ite doctrines and, more importantly, the belief that religious laws have to undergo constant adjustment to the times and conditions of society, proved to be supremely attractive to future generations of lay secularist Iranians who were committed to social reforms and who played a major role in the Constitutional Revolution of 1905.
Shaykhism began from a combination of Sufi and Shi‘a doctrines of the end times and the day of resurrection. Today the Shaykhi populations retain a minority following in Iran and Iraq. In the mid 19th century many Shaykhis converted to the Bábí and Bahá'í religions, which regard Shaykh Ahmad highly.
The primary force behind Shaykh Ahmad's teachings is the Twelver Shi'a belief in the occultation of the Twelfth Imam. Twelver Shi'ah believe there were twelve Imams starting with Ali and ending with Muhammad al-Mahdi. While the first eleven Imams died, the twelfth is said to have disappeared, to return "before the day of judgment" and "fill the Earth with justice and make the truth triumphant". This messianic figure is called the Mahdi.
The Shaykhís believed that since Muslims require the guidance of the Mahdi, there must be an individual on Earth who is capable of communicating with him. This personage would be described as the "perfect Shi'a", and Shaykh Ahmad was the first to adopt that position. Due to this unique capability, the leader of the sect attained a quasi-divinity in the eyes of his followers.
It is not clear whether it was Shaykh Ahmad or his successor, Sayyid Kazim Rashti, who predicted that the coming of the Mahdi was nearing.
Shaykhí teachings on knowledge are similar in appearance to that of the Sufis, save that where the Sufi "wayfarer" arrogates to himself the role of interpreting and adjudicating truth, Shaykh Ahmad was clear that the final arbiter for interpretation and clarity was the 12th Imam.
For Shaykh Ahmad, then, the Shi`ite learned man is not simply a mundane thinker dependent on nothing more than the divine text and his intellectual tools for its interpretation. The Learned must have a spiritual pole (qutb), a source of grace (ghawth), who will serve as the locus of God's own gaze in this world. Both pole and ghawth are frequently-used Sufi terms for great masters who can by their grace help their followers pursue the spiritual path. For Shaykh Ahmad, the pole is the Twelfth Imam himself, the light of whose being is in the heart of the Learned. The oral reports, he notes, say that believers benefit from the Imam in his Occultation just as the earth benefits from the sun even when it goes behind a cloud. Were the light of the Imam, as guardian (mustahfiz), to be altogether extinguished, then the Learned would not be able to see in the darkness.
Shaykh Ahmad's perspectives on accepted Islamic doctrines diverged in several areas, most notably on his mystical interpretation of prophesy. The "Sun" and "Moon" and "Stars" of the Qur'an's eschatological suras are seen as allegorical, where common Muslim interpretation is that events involving celestial bodies will happen literally at the Day of Judgment. In other writings, Shaykh Ahmad synthesizes rather dramatic descriptions of the origin of the prophets, the primal word, and other religious themes through allusions and mystical language. Much of this language is oriented around trees, specifically the primal universal tree of Eden, described in Jewish scripture as being two trees. This primal tree is, in some ways, the universal spirit of the prophets themselves.
The symbol of the pre-existent tree appears elsewhere in Shaykh Ahmad's writings. He says, for instance, that the Prophet and the Imams exist both on the level of unconstrained being or preexistence, wherein they are the Complete Word and the Most Perfect Man, and on the level of constrained being. On this second, limited plane, the cloud of the divine Will subsists and from it emanates the Primal Water that irrigates the barren earth of matter and of elements. Although the divine Will remains unconstrained in essential being, its manifest aspect has now entered into limited being. When God poured down from the clouds of Will on the barren earth, God thereby sent down this water and it mixed with the fallow soil. In the garden of the heaven known as as-Saqurah, the Tree of Eternity arose, and the Holy Spirit or Universal Intellect, the first branch that grew upon it, is the first creation among the worlds.
This notion of beings with both divine and ephemeral natures presages a similar doctrine of the Manifestation in the Babi and Bahá'í Faiths, religions whose origins are rooted in the Shaykhi spiritual tradition.
Shaykh Ahmad, at about age forty, began to study in earnest in the Shi'a centers of religious scholarship such as Karbala and Najaf. He attained sufficient recognition in such circles to be declared a mujtahid, an interpreter of Islamic Law. He contended with Sufi and Neo-Platonist scholars, and attained a positive reputation among their detractors. Most interestingly, he declared that all knowledge and sciences were contained (in essential form) within the Qur'an, and that to excel in the sciences, all knowledge must be gleaned from the Qur'an. His views resulted in his denunciation by several learned clerics, and he engaged in many debates before moving on to Persia where he settled for a time in the province of Yazd. It was in Isfahan that most of this was written.
Shaykh Ahmad led the sect for only two years before his death. His undisputed successor Siyyid Kazim also led the Shaykhís until his own death (1843). Siyyid Kázim said that he would not live to see the Promised One, but, according to the Bábís, his appearance was so imminent that Siyyid Kázim appointed no successor, instead instructing his followers to spread across the land and search him out.
Siyyid Kázim did not explicitly appoint a successor. Rather, convinced that the Mahdi was in the world, he encouraged his followers to seek him out. Many of the Shaykhis expected Mullá Husayn, one of his favorite pupils, to take on the mantle. Mullá Husayn, however, declined the honor, insisting on obedience to Siyyid Kazim's final commands to go out in search of the Mahdi. Many of the followers of Shaykh Ahmad spread out as did Mullah Husayn. By 1844, two perspectives had emerged and camps arose based on the differing claims of two individuals.
On May 23, 1844, during his search for the Mahdi, Mullah Husayn encountered a young man in Shiraz named Siyyid Alí-Muhammad. Ali-Muhammad had visited some of Siyyid Kazim's classes, and later tellings assert that Siyyid Kazim implied a connection between his own predictions about the Mahdi and this Alí-Muhammad attending his class. Ali-Muhammad, in that same May 23 meeting, took the title of the Báb and claimed to be the Mahdi outright. Mullá Husayn ultimately accepted this claim, as did many leading Shaykhi students. Most of these went on to become the earliest Bábís. The Báb was ultimately labeled a heretic, thrown into prison and was executed on July 9, 1850. Most of the Bábís turned to the well known Bábí community leader Bahá'u'lláh who founded the Bahá'í Faith in claiming that he was the one prophesied by the Báb. Both Babís and Bahá'ís regard Shaykhi thought as a precursor to their own religious traditions.
Haji Karim Khan Kirmani (1809/1810-1870/1871) became the leader of the main Shaykhi group that did not follow the Bab. He became the foremost critic of the Bab, writing four essays against him. Baha'u'llah in turn described Karim as "foolishness masquerading as knowledge" Karim repudiated some of the more radical teachings of Ahsai and Rashti and moved the Shaykhi school back towards the mainstream Usuli teachings. Karim Khan Kirmani was succeeded by bis son Shaykh Muhammad Khan Kirmani (1846-1906), then by Muhammad's brother Shaykh Zaynal 'Abidln Kirmani (1859-1946). Shaykh Zayn al-'Abidin Kirmani was succeeded by Shaykh Abu al-Qasim Ibrahimi (1896-1969), who was succeeded by his son 'Abd al-Rida Khan Ibrahimi who was a leader until his death.
Bábis and then Bahá'ís see Shaykhism as a spiritual ancestor of their movement, preparing the way for the Báb and eventually Bahá'u'lláh. In this view Shaykhism has outlived its eschatological purpose and is deemed by Babis and Baha'is no longer relevant.
The current leader of the Shaykhiya is Ali al-Musawi, who heads a community with followers in Iraq - mainly Basrah and Karbala - Iran and the Persian Gulf. Basrah has a significant Shaykhi minority, and their mosque is one of the largest in the city holding up to 12,000 people. The Shaykhiya were resolutely apolitical and hence were allowed relative freedom under Saddam Hussein. Since the 2003 Invasion of Iraq and subsequent Iraqi Civil War they have been targeted by Iraqi nationalists who accused them of being Saudis on the grounds that Ahmad al-Ahsai was from present-day Saudi Arabia. They responded by creating an armed militia and asking all local political groups to sign a pact allowing them to live in peace. This was done at the al-Zahra conference in April 2006. In a move away from their traditional apolitical stance, a Shaykhi political party stood in the Basra governorate election in 2009. They came in third, winning 5% of the votes and 2 out of 35 seats.
In Iran Shaykhism is regarded as the third Twelver Shi'a denomination after Usulism and Akhbarism. In their public explanations the Shaykhis have come so close to normative Usuli doctrine that Usulis have expressed some wonder at why the Shaykhis have maintained their separate existence.
Shaikhi see Shaykhi
Shaykhiyah see Shaykhi
Shaykhi (Shaikhi) (Shaykhiyah). Name of dissenting Shi‘i theologians in Persia, followers of Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsa‘i (d.1826). The sect was founded by Shaykh Ahmad and Sayyid Kazim (Siyyid Kazim) of Rasht. They were opposed to the doctrines of the Akhbariyya. According to them, the twelve Imams are the effective cause of creation, all the acts of the divinity being produced by them. Their doctrines prepared the way for those of the Bab.
Shaikhi was a prominent school of Twelver Shi‘a theology founded by Shaikh Ahmad Ahsa’i (1753-1826). Ahsa’i, a Shi‘a Arab born in Bahrein, had studied in Najaf and Karbala before settling in Iran for a period of fifteen years. His teachings rapidly gained a large following from among the intellectually progressive ulama (religious scholars) and the ruling classes.
Ahsa’i borrowed from Muslim philosophers and mystics the idea of the Perfect Man and developed his own conception of the Perfect Shi‘ite, a specially gifted being whose conscious knowledge of the divine is immune from error by virtue of his spiritual affinity to the Hidden Imam. ‘The each historical age its own Perfect Shi‘ite,” was the common Shaikhi belief.
Ahsa’i’s successor, the Iranian-born Kazim Rashti (d. 1844), further elaborated the Shaikhi view of evolutionary cycles of progressive revelation of esoteric truth. He argued that, although the prophet Muhammad’s prophecy was the last and his law the most perfect, religion must undergo changes in order to fit mankind’s needs and the exigencies of the time. When Rashti died, dispute over his succession split the school into two branches. The largest accepted the leadership of Muhammad Karim Khan Kirmani, a Qajar prince who further expanded the concept of the Perfect Shi‘ite, or Fourth Pillar, as the ideal leader of the community, until he was forced to retreat behind outward profession of orthodoxy. A moderate, though minor, branch developed in Azerbaijan.
It is not known whether Ahsa’i’s and Rashti’s views were meant to be studied in the context of “existential time” and not “chronological time;” as mere ideas, as Shaikhi apologists claimed in response to orthodox denunciation; or whether they were to be applied concretely, as the subsequent radical movementof the Babis proclaimed. Kirmani Shaikhism itself survived as a socially conservative, apolitical school of theory until it was closed down by the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran in 1979. But the Shaikhi allegorical interpretation of basic Shi‘ite doctrines and, more importantly, the belief that religious laws have to undergo constant adjustment to the times and conditions of society, proved to be supremely attractive to future generations of lay secularist Iranians who were committed to social reforms and who played a major role in the Constitutional Revolution of 1905.
Shaykhism began from a combination of Sufi and Shi‘a doctrines of the end times and the day of resurrection. Today the Shaykhi populations retain a minority following in Iran and Iraq. In the mid 19th century many Shaykhis converted to the Bábí and Bahá'í religions, which regard Shaykh Ahmad highly.
The primary force behind Shaykh Ahmad's teachings is the Twelver Shi'a belief in the occultation of the Twelfth Imam. Twelver Shi'ah believe there were twelve Imams starting with Ali and ending with Muhammad al-Mahdi. While the first eleven Imams died, the twelfth is said to have disappeared, to return "before the day of judgment" and "fill the Earth with justice and make the truth triumphant". This messianic figure is called the Mahdi.
The Shaykhís believed that since Muslims require the guidance of the Mahdi, there must be an individual on Earth who is capable of communicating with him. This personage would be described as the "perfect Shi'a", and Shaykh Ahmad was the first to adopt that position. Due to this unique capability, the leader of the sect attained a quasi-divinity in the eyes of his followers.
It is not clear whether it was Shaykh Ahmad or his successor, Sayyid Kazim Rashti, who predicted that the coming of the Mahdi was nearing.
Shaykhí teachings on knowledge are similar in appearance to that of the Sufis, save that where the Sufi "wayfarer" arrogates to himself the role of interpreting and adjudicating truth, Shaykh Ahmad was clear that the final arbiter for interpretation and clarity was the 12th Imam.
For Shaykh Ahmad, then, the Shi`ite learned man is not simply a mundane thinker dependent on nothing more than the divine text and his intellectual tools for its interpretation. The Learned must have a spiritual pole (qutb), a source of grace (ghawth), who will serve as the locus of God's own gaze in this world. Both pole and ghawth are frequently-used Sufi terms for great masters who can by their grace help their followers pursue the spiritual path. For Shaykh Ahmad, the pole is the Twelfth Imam himself, the light of whose being is in the heart of the Learned. The oral reports, he notes, say that believers benefit from the Imam in his Occultation just as the earth benefits from the sun even when it goes behind a cloud. Were the light of the Imam, as guardian (mustahfiz), to be altogether extinguished, then the Learned would not be able to see in the darkness.
Shaykh Ahmad's perspectives on accepted Islamic doctrines diverged in several areas, most notably on his mystical interpretation of prophesy. The "Sun" and "Moon" and "Stars" of the Qur'an's eschatological suras are seen as allegorical, where common Muslim interpretation is that events involving celestial bodies will happen literally at the Day of Judgment. In other writings, Shaykh Ahmad synthesizes rather dramatic descriptions of the origin of the prophets, the primal word, and other religious themes through allusions and mystical language. Much of this language is oriented around trees, specifically the primal universal tree of Eden, described in Jewish scripture as being two trees. This primal tree is, in some ways, the universal spirit of the prophets themselves.
The symbol of the pre-existent tree appears elsewhere in Shaykh Ahmad's writings. He says, for instance, that the Prophet and the Imams exist both on the level of unconstrained being or preexistence, wherein they are the Complete Word and the Most Perfect Man, and on the level of constrained being. On this second, limited plane, the cloud of the divine Will subsists and from it emanates the Primal Water that irrigates the barren earth of matter and of elements. Although the divine Will remains unconstrained in essential being, its manifest aspect has now entered into limited being. When God poured down from the clouds of Will on the barren earth, God thereby sent down this water and it mixed with the fallow soil. In the garden of the heaven known as as-Saqurah, the Tree of Eternity arose, and the Holy Spirit or Universal Intellect, the first branch that grew upon it, is the first creation among the worlds.
This notion of beings with both divine and ephemeral natures presages a similar doctrine of the Manifestation in the Babi and Bahá'í Faiths, religions whose origins are rooted in the Shaykhi spiritual tradition.
Shaykh Ahmad, at about age forty, began to study in earnest in the Shi'a centers of religious scholarship such as Karbala and Najaf. He attained sufficient recognition in such circles to be declared a mujtahid, an interpreter of Islamic Law. He contended with Sufi and Neo-Platonist scholars, and attained a positive reputation among their detractors. Most interestingly, he declared that all knowledge and sciences were contained (in essential form) within the Qur'an, and that to excel in the sciences, all knowledge must be gleaned from the Qur'an. His views resulted in his denunciation by several learned clerics, and he engaged in many debates before moving on to Persia where he settled for a time in the province of Yazd. It was in Isfahan that most of this was written.
Shaykh Ahmad led the sect for only two years before his death. His undisputed successor Siyyid Kazim also led the Shaykhís until his own death (1843). Siyyid Kázim said that he would not live to see the Promised One, but, according to the Bábís, his appearance was so imminent that Siyyid Kázim appointed no successor, instead instructing his followers to spread across the land and search him out.
Siyyid Kázim did not explicitly appoint a successor. Rather, convinced that the Mahdi was in the world, he encouraged his followers to seek him out. Many of the Shaykhis expected Mullá Husayn, one of his favorite pupils, to take on the mantle. Mullá Husayn, however, declined the honor, insisting on obedience to Siyyid Kazim's final commands to go out in search of the Mahdi. Many of the followers of Shaykh Ahmad spread out as did Mullah Husayn. By 1844, two perspectives had emerged and camps arose based on the differing claims of two individuals.
On May 23, 1844, during his search for the Mahdi, Mullah Husayn encountered a young man in Shiraz named Siyyid Alí-Muhammad. Ali-Muhammad had visited some of Siyyid Kazim's classes, and later tellings assert that Siyyid Kazim implied a connection between his own predictions about the Mahdi and this Alí-Muhammad attending his class. Ali-Muhammad, in that same May 23 meeting, took the title of the Báb and claimed to be the Mahdi outright. Mullá Husayn ultimately accepted this claim, as did many leading Shaykhi students. Most of these went on to become the earliest Bábís. The Báb was ultimately labeled a heretic, thrown into prison and was executed on July 9, 1850. Most of the Bábís turned to the well known Bábí community leader Bahá'u'lláh who founded the Bahá'í Faith in claiming that he was the one prophesied by the Báb. Both Babís and Bahá'ís regard Shaykhi thought as a precursor to their own religious traditions.
Haji Karim Khan Kirmani (1809/1810-1870/1871) became the leader of the main Shaykhi group that did not follow the Bab. He became the foremost critic of the Bab, writing four essays against him. Baha'u'llah in turn described Karim as "foolishness masquerading as knowledge" Karim repudiated some of the more radical teachings of Ahsai and Rashti and moved the Shaykhi school back towards the mainstream Usuli teachings. Karim Khan Kirmani was succeeded by bis son Shaykh Muhammad Khan Kirmani (1846-1906), then by Muhammad's brother Shaykh Zaynal 'Abidln Kirmani (1859-1946). Shaykh Zayn al-'Abidin Kirmani was succeeded by Shaykh Abu al-Qasim Ibrahimi (1896-1969), who was succeeded by his son 'Abd al-Rida Khan Ibrahimi who was a leader until his death.
Bábis and then Bahá'ís see Shaykhism as a spiritual ancestor of their movement, preparing the way for the Báb and eventually Bahá'u'lláh. In this view Shaykhism has outlived its eschatological purpose and is deemed by Babis and Baha'is no longer relevant.
The current leader of the Shaykhiya is Ali al-Musawi, who heads a community with followers in Iraq - mainly Basrah and Karbala - Iran and the Persian Gulf. Basrah has a significant Shaykhi minority, and their mosque is one of the largest in the city holding up to 12,000 people. The Shaykhiya were resolutely apolitical and hence were allowed relative freedom under Saddam Hussein. Since the 2003 Invasion of Iraq and subsequent Iraqi Civil War they have been targeted by Iraqi nationalists who accused them of being Saudis on the grounds that Ahmad al-Ahsai was from present-day Saudi Arabia. They responded by creating an armed militia and asking all local political groups to sign a pact allowing them to live in peace. This was done at the al-Zahra conference in April 2006. In a move away from their traditional apolitical stance, a Shaykhi political party stood in the Basra governorate election in 2009. They came in third, winning 5% of the votes and 2 out of 35 seats.
In Iran Shaykhism is regarded as the third Twelver Shi'a denomination after Usulism and Akhbarism. In their public explanations the Shaykhis have come so close to normative Usuli doctrine that Usulis have expressed some wonder at why the Shaykhis have maintained their separate existence.
Shaikhi see Shaykhi
Shaykhiyah see Shaykhi
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