S T R I V I N G F O R D I V I N E U N I O N

This book examines the theological, philosophical and Islamicmystical dimensions of the Suhraward sf order from thethirteenth to fteenth centuries. The Suhrawards were a legallygrounded and intellectually vibrant sf order whose mystical pathwas based on exchanges and debates on the Qurn and on theProphets customs. This created a unique self-understanding, whichdeveloped specic sf spiritual exercises. The book analyses theirinterpretation of sacred texts the Qurn, adths, sunn, andmalfuz. a and discusses important new ways of thinking about thesf hermeneutics of the Qurn and its contribution to Islamicintellectual and spiritual life.

Qamar-ul Huda is Assistant Professor of Islamic Studies andComparative Theology at Boston College. He writes aboutmedieval Islamic texts and mystical sf treatises. He is currentlyworking on sf commentaries of the Qurn and translating anumber of sf treatises dealing with the Suhraward sf path.

RECTO RUNNING HEAD

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R O U T L E D G E C U R Z O N S F S E R I E SSeries Editor: Ian Richard Netton

Professor of Arabic Studies, University of Leeds

The RoutledgeCurzon Sf Series provides short introductions to a varietyof facets of the subject, which are accessible both to the general reader andthe student and scholar in the eld. Each book will be either a synthesisof existing knowledge or a distinct contribution to, and extension of,knowledge of the particular topic. The two major underlying principles ofthe Series are sound scholarship and readability.

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BEYOND FAITH ANDINFIDELITY

The Sf Poetry and Teaching ofMahmud ShabistariLeonard Lewisham

AL-HALLAJHerbert W. Mason

RUZBIHAN BAQLIMysticism and the Rhetoric of

Sainthood in Persian SusmCarl W. Ernst

ABDULLAH ANSARI OFHEART

An Early Sf MasterA.G. Ravan Farhadi

THE CONCEPT OFSAINTHOOD IN EARLY

ISLAMIC MYSTICISMBernd Radtke and John OKane

SUHRAWARD AND THESCHOOL OF ILLUMINATION

Mehdi Amin Razavi

PERSIAN SF POETRYAn Introduction to the Mystical

Use of Classical PoemsJ.T.P. de Bruijn

AZIZ NASAFILloyd Ridgeon

SFS AND ANTI-SFSThe Defence, Rethinking and

Rejection of Susm in the ModernWorld

Elizabeth Surriyeh

REVELATION,INTELLECTUAL INTUITION

AND REASON IN THEPHILOSOPHY OF MULLA SADRA

An Analysis of the al-hikmah al-arshiyyahZailan Moris

DIVINE LOVE IN ISLAMICMYSTICISM

The Teachings of al-Ghazali and al-Dabbagh

Binyamin Abramahov

STRIVING FOR DIVINE UNION

Spiritual Exercises for Suhraward SfsQamar-ul Huda

S T R I V I N G F O RD I V I N E U N I O N

Spiritual exercises for Suhraward sfs

Qamar-ul Huda

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First published 2003 by RoutledgeCurzon, an imprint of Taylor & Francis

11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE

Simultaneously published in the USA and Canadaby RoutledgeCurzon

29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001

RoutledgeCurzon is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group

2003 Qamar-ul Huda

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any

electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafterinvented, including photocopying and recording, or in any

information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

The publisher makes no representation, express or implied, with regard to the accuracy of the information contained in this

book and cannot accept any legal responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions that may be made.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication DataA catalogue record for this book is available

from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication DataHuda, Qamar-ul, 1968

Striving for divine union: spiritual exercises for Suhraward Sus/Qamar-ul Huda.

p. cm. (RoutledgeCurzon Su series)Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. Suhrawardyah. 2. Susm. I. Title. II. Series.BP189.7.S6 H83 2002

297.48dc21 2002075507

ISBN 0700716866 (hbk)ISBN 0700716874 (pbk)

This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005.

To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledgescollection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.

ISBN 0-203-99487-6 Master e-book ISBN

DEDICATED TO MY LOVING PARENTS,ANWARUL AND SHAFIA HUDA

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In your travels youll encounter the stations of endless misfortune, not too far is the comfort station of Suhraward

CONTENTS

List of plates xAcknowledgments xiTransliteration notes xiii

Introduction: striving for divine union: spiritual exercises for Suhrawardh sfs 1

Suhraward studies 4Why study the Suhraward sfs? 6The goal of this book 7

1 The life of Shaikh Ab Hafs Umar al-Suhraward 13

Islamic education: a Hanbal scholar and sf 14Shaikh al-Islm and political statesman under

Caliph al-Nsir 18Caliph al-Nsirs involvement with futuwwa

groups 19Political and diplomatic trips 30Shaikh al-Suhrawards relationship with the

Nizr Ism ls 35

2 Awrif al-Marif: the sf manual of Shaikh Ab Hafs Umar al-Suhraward 41

The sf background of Shaikh Ab HafsUmar al-Suhraward 42

Shaikh Ab Hafs Umar al-Suhraward:Awrif al-Marif 44

The taawwuf of Shaikh al-Suhraward 45Shaikh al-Suhraward on prayers 56

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Explanations of spirituality (rhniyyt) 59Knowledge of the spirit and soul 60On proper etiquette db 62Practicing the art of patience sabr 72Poverty and asceticism faqr wa uhd 76

3 Sacred identities in the Suhrawardyya order 83

Religious identities and rituals 83Characteristics of Suhraward sacred identities 89Historical panegyric poetry 90The sacred identity and sacred place of adths with

sf poetry 92Natiyy poetry as a source of imagery 94The prophet as the intercessor in sf natiyy

poetry 100Suhrawardyya dhikr rituals 101

4 The Suhrawardyya silsil in Multan and Ucch 109

Suhraward sources 109Suhraward silsil genealogy from the Prophet

Muhammad 115Suhraward shaikhs in Multan (thirteenth to

fourteenth centuries) 116State politics and Suhraward sfs 118The Suhrawardyya silsil under Sultn Iltutmish 119The clash of Shaikh Rukn al-dn and Aiba Kishlus

rebellion 125The Suhrawardyya silsil expansion into Ucch 129

5 Multan Suhraward taawwuf spiritual exercises 137

Suhraward taawwuf 137Taawwuf exercises 146Purifying the heart 148Khulast al-rifn and Al-Awrd texts 153The practice of spiritual exercises dhikr 157Salutations for Shaikh al-Suhrawards death

celebration urs 164Salutations to Shaikh as-Sfyya wa Shaikh al-Islm

Shaikh Ab Hafs Umar al-Suhraward 169Katam Sharf Khajghn silsil Suhrawardyya

(ramat Allh alh) 170

CONTENTS

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Appendix A Praises for God; Remembrance of prayers 173Appendix B Prayer for enlightenment; Prayer for

shab-e bart 177

Notes 179Bibliography 199Index 213

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PLATES

1 A Sf in Ecstasy in a Landscape xiv2 Heavenly and Earthly Drunkenness 823 The Muslim Conquest of Multan in India 1084 (and cover) Sfs by a Mountain Spring 136

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This work is about Suhraward taawwuf and their quest for anIslamic spiritual way of life. I am rst and foremost thankful to theSuhraward sfs for their enormous contribution to taawwuf andtheir inspiring legacy to the history of knowledge. This researchproject began during my doctoral studies at the University ofCalifornia, Los Angeles, and I am very grateful to my teachers:Professors Michael Morony, Afaf Lut-Sayyid Marsot, StanleyWolpert, and Nasir Jairazbhoy. There were others who supportedme by their valuable criticism; they are Stanford J. Shaw,Mahmood Ibrahim, Hossein Ziai, Patrick Geary, Ron Mellor, andJames Galvin.

This work would never have come together without the immenseassistance of Hakm Muhammad Msa, Iqbal Mujaddadi, ShahAwais Ali Soharwardy, the late Syed Muhammad RiazuddinSoharwardy, Naeem Tahir Soharwardy, and the SoharwardiyaFoundation in Lahore. I owe a great debt to Qamar Jaleel whoassisted me in my research and gave thoughtful advice throughoutthe project. Muhammad Razzaq, Mushtaq Muhammad, NadeemAkbar went out of their way in making my stay comfortable.Junaid Ashraf and sons did a fabulous job in typing the Arabic andPersian examples. I am indebted to the staff of each of these insti-tutes and libraries who were courteous in directing me to thematerial: Punjab University Library, Public Library, IranPakistanInstitute of Persian Studies, Bahauddin Zakariyy University,Islamic Research Institute, Quaid-e Azam University, and the IqbalAcademy. Very special thanks to Doctors Zafar Ishaq Ansari,Muhammad Suheyl Umar, Mohammad H. Tasbihi, and AhmadMunzavi for all their generous guidance and wisdom.

It is impossible to name all the teachers who have contributed tomy education; but Robert Costa, John R. Carter, Coleman Brown,

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Jerry Balmuth, Wanda Berry, Josiah Young, Rosemary RadfordRuether, Mary Hunt, and Gustavo Gutirrez had a tremendousimpact on my development and thirst for knowledge.

At various times and interesting intersections of my life, Kamran Aghaie, Sunil Sharma, Imran Razi, Touraj Daryaee, IsabelOConnor, and Cynthia Villagomez listened to my intellectualqueries and gave me insightful feedback. Omid Sa, Hugh TalatHalman, Arthur Buehler, Marcia Hermansen, Alan Godlas, andShahzad Bashir have imparted their wisdom at various meetings. Ithank the Journal of Islamic Studies and the Journal of the Historyof Susm for publishing sections of Chapters 1 and 2. Also, I appre-ciate assistance from Los Angeles County Museum of Art andHarvard Universitys Sackler Museum in permitting me to repro-duce photographic materials.

I thank my parents, Mr Anwarul and Mrs Shaa Huda for beingthe most loving and compassionate parents any child can ask for;it was their unconditional love that directed me to taawwufstudies. Finally, I owe my sincerest gratitude to my wife, Rena, forall her love and patience that she has given me over the years. Sheespecially knows all the sacrices that were required for thisproject, and I could not have done it without her inspiration.

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TRANSLITERATION NOTES

It is difcult to satisfy everyone when it comes to transliteratingArabic, Persian and Urdu languages. I have followed the Inter-national Journal of Middle East Studies system for transliteration.All long vowels are marked with a macron; the ayn and hamza aretransliterated respectively in accordance with the standards used byIJMES. The Persian and Urdu ifa is expressed by -e or -i. TheArabic words ending in h and t marba are written with a nala. The waw is transliterated as -o in Persian and Urdu. Due to thefrequency of the word sf, I have not italicized the word or put adot under the s. Generally, I italicized all non-English words, evencommon words like shar , Qurn, and imm. Instead of usingshaykh, I opted to use shaikh. I decided to make plurals of translit-erated words by adding -s to avoid confusing the non-expert withnew vocabulary words. All dates are given in the Common Erasystem for easy reference.

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Plate 1 A Sf in Ecstasy in a Landscape, ca. 16501660. Iran, Isfahan. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The Nasli M. Heeramaneeck Collection, Giftof Joan Pavlevsky M.73.5.582. Photograph 2001 Museum Associates/LACMA.

INTRODUCTION

Striving for divine union: spiritualexercises for Suhraward sfs

The study of Islam is usually limited to the legal, philosophical,political, sociological, literary, religious and historical aspects ofthe tradition. When I inquired into spiritual dimensions of Islamwithin the larger doctrinal tradition, the supercial dichotomybetween ulam the trained scholars and sfs (mystics of Islam)was the accepted model of presenting the subject. Some legitimatesfs were masters of the inner spiritual life of Islam, while theulam were the true religious authorities of the Islamic tradition.In recent years, excellent scholarship by Carl Ernst, WilliamChittick, and Annemarie Schimmel and many others has demon-strated the false pretense in documenting constructions of anti-sf rhetoric.1 The modern period is lled with many complexities of secular versus religious thinking, science versus philosophy,western versus eastern civilizations, developed versus underdevel-oped societies, male versus female, and so on, which has set a cycleof dichotomous models as the natural way of studying traditions.As a result, there is a center of authorities that has control overreal knowledge and then on the periphery are opposition groupswho are perceived, understood, and presented as fringe irrationalesoteric minded individuals. However, many individuals whocharacterized the sf tradition in these denitions, which are trans-parent categories, have constructed it with modern agendas ornever studied the basic concepts of sf knowledge.

Within the Islamic tradition, modern reformers have argued thatsfs are the one single reason for weakening Islam and initiated the decline of Islamic thought.2 These reformers hold sfs respon-sible for the collapse of Islamdom which paved the way for Euro-pean domination. Reformers argue some major repetitive themes such as the factionalism of the sf institution khnaqh, the cult

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worship of sf shaikhs, and the convergence of philosophy withmystical theology. Essentially, modern Muslim reformers call for a process of internal purication of Islamic thought, practice, and education in order to return to the glory days of high Islamdomculture.3

One of the main historical problems that still exist in studyingthe sf tradition is the acceptance of the ulam versus sf para-digm. Scholars like Ira Lapidus, Marshall Hodgson and FazlurRahman used this two-tiered model where there is a normativeofcial religion organized under the authority of the clerics anddesigned for the cultural elite.4 Any deviation from the main-stream ofcial religion is an aberration from the original doctrinesof Islam and such practices are followed by the masses orcommonly referred to as popular religion. Until recently, sfswere categorized under the title of popular religion which wasbased on xed, superstitious, misguided beliefs and practices in-uenced by other religious traditions. It was suggested that thepeople who practiced these sf beliefs were illiterate, anarchistic,and opponents to the religion of the literate clerics. Also, the masseswho took part in popular religion were not susceptible to histori-cal changes or capable of contributing intellectually to the tradi-tion.5 Fazlur Rahman argued that the appeal of the sf traditionwas due to the deceptive and spiritual demagogy of sf shaikhssupports this line of thinking. He stated the following:

Instead of being a method of moral self-discipline andelevation and genuine spiritual enlightenment, Sfism wasnow transformed into veritable spiritual jugglery throughauto-hypnotic transports and visions just as at the level ofdoctrine it was being transmuted into a half-delirioustheosophy.6

Fortunately, Sf studies have progressed since Rahman withworks specializing in sf thought, mystical theology, sf author-ity, the taawwuf path, ethics, epistemology, and analysis of modelsof the sf journey. Some recent works by Th. Emil Homerin, ValeriHoffman, Vincent Cornell, and Stephen Hirtenstein have given theeld of Sf studies a new way of thinking about sfs and theirreligious practices.7 These works are important in many respectsbecause these authors, and others, have analyzed sf authority, themystical teachings of sf shaikhs, the conduct of sf disciples withmediating sf shaikhs, critical theories of sf theology, and sf

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epistemology. This current work builds upon the works of pastscholars and their interests in the sf tradition, and moves to incor-porate the various intellectual, religious, political, philosophical,literary, artistic, and theological contributions to the tradition ofIslam.

The eld of Sf studies still has a number of problematic andoutdated theories regarding the perception of sf theology and thetaawwuf path. It is not my claim here that all scholarship producedby researchers concerned with data information and social roles ofsfs is absolutely invaluable to the understanding of the sftradition. Rather, these types of works are useful in providing asocial historical context of the tradition. The main problem withdata-oriented scholarship is that it is tied with an area studiesapproach toward taawwuf and it sets supercial and isolatedcategories on the sf shaikh, the arqa, and the larger theologicalaspects of taawwuf tradition. In some works, there is no cohesivebridge between one arqa to another arqa or there is no connec-tion to the larger intellectual, religious, and philosophical Islamiccontext. As a result, the achievements of sf shaikhs and their sforders are unique only to Egypt, to Turkey, or to Iran, or it ispresented as a special case study within the entire Islamic tradition.8

The pendulum often swings the other way too; that is, one sfshaikhs metaphysical or taawwuf theories inuenced all scholar-ship in the region and touched every life in the Islamic community.As in area studies, generally speaking, the scholarship on the sftradition suffers from narrow interpretations and courageousconclusions of uniqueness while neglecting what the sf traditionmeans to human existence and to the human spirit.

As an example, Ira Lapiduss work on the history of Islamicsocieties is an important contribution because of its depth and inte-grated overview of various sections of Islamic communities. In thearea of the sf tradition, he situates sf as members in socialorganizations and part of the larger society. During the medievalMiddle Eastern urban eras, he categorized sfs into three areas of society: rst there were sfs who were part of the ulam group; second there were sfs who led ascetic lives, and third therewere sfs who were considered to be extreme in every practice and belief.9 Also, Richard Eaton built on the social function of sfs in India by studying their multi-level relationships and func-tion in society. Eaton demonstrated that sfs acted as reformists,warriors, literati, wealthy landowners, and ascetic dervishes. Withmuch criticism to his interpretation of sf documents, Eaton

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concentrated on sfs as social actors who performed a variety offunctions for the state.10 While all of these categories are pertinentto making sense of the social context, it does not explain the uidityof sfs at various cross-sections of Islamic society; more import-antly, it does not address how their taawwuf gave sacred meaningto their lives.

Clearly Sf studies has developed enormously since the works ofLapidus and Eaton, but what has persevered in the scholarship arethe ulam sf relationship models and the social roles of sfs indifferent cross-sections of society. In consistency with these models,the perception of sfs as primarily intoxicated, dancing, sociallywithdrawn ascetics is still conjured up in contemporary works. Thisidea is continued with sfs or dervishes who needed no spiritualguidance from a teacher, and essentially, the belief that the taawwuftradition is nothing more than an individual journey without anyboundaries or religious instruction. Some of the problems that areassociated with the individual sf journey without any structure tothe Islamic doctrines and law are tied to western studies of mysti-cism like that of William James and Evelyn Underhill and the inu-ence of their own traditions on their work.11 Given the rampantRm-mania in contemporary American Sfism and in New AgeReligious movements, the perception of sfs with absolutely no the-ological base in the Qurn, shar or adhering to the sunn of theProphet is alien to the history of the sf tradition.12 Some contem-porary works on taawwuf, specically on Rm, never or hardlymention the theological roots of the sf shaikh or his sf orderbeing studied, and rarely will one see the correlation of the sfshaikhs theosophy with the Qurn, and adths and sunn of theProphet. This is a major problem when one is content with won-derful mystical statements on reunion with God and being detachedfrom the world, but there is no critical analysis of the theology andphilosophy of the shaikhs taawwuf within the Islamic context.

Suhraward studies

Within the area of Suhraward studies, the majority of works havefocused on one gure who coalesced Persian philosophy, the sftradition, and reason with the Greek intellectual tradition. SinceOtto Spies published Three Treatises on Mysticism by ShihabuddinSuhrawerdi Maqtul, Shihb al-dn al-Suhrawards (d. 1191)philosophy of illumination (ikmat al-Ishrq) has been revivedand studied by John Walbridge, Mehdi Amin Razavi, Hossein Ziai,

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and Henry Corbin.13 Many of these works are studies of history ofphilosophy and focus upon logic, syllogism, and epistemology crit-icism and not on Shihb al-dn al-Suhrawards taawwuf as itpertains to the Islamic religious tradition. In this list of Shihb al-dn al-Suhrawards texts is Emile Maaloufs monograph entitledRislat Maqmt al-fya The Sf Stations related to theauthors ideas on metaphysics, sf stations and states, and teach-ings.14 Another study that concentrated on this single guresillumination mysticism is William M. Thackstons The mystical andvisionary treatises of Shihabuddin Yahya Suhraward.15 While thesebooks bring a critical understanding of ishrq philosophy withother humanistic philosophies, one does not know more aboutSuhraward taawwuf in a larger Islamic doctrinal context.

The serious problems in Suhraward studies have been the satu-ration of the study of only one thinker and the scholarly neglect ofanalyzing the larger Suhraward sf orders in the Middle East andin South Asia. To assume that there are no Suhrawards afterShihb al-dn al-Suhraward or that ishrq philosophy is the foun-dation of all Suhraward sfs, common statements among scholarsof Persian sfism, reinforces the inuence of modern culturalagendas in area studies. Fortunately, recently a small group ofscholars has focused on other important members of theSuhraward sf order. Kitb db al-Murdn of Ab al-Najb al-Suhraward was translated by Menahem Milson; Richard Gramlichwrote an excellent textual analysis of Umar al-Suhrawards trea-tise in Die Gaben der Erkenntnisse des Umar as-Suhraward(Awrif al-Marif); and Aisha Yusuf Manais doctoral thesisfocused on al-Suhrawards life and taawwuf in Ab Hafs Umaral-Suhraward: hay tuh wa-taawwufu.16 Angelika HaartmannsAn-Nsir li-Din Allh focused on the policies of caliph al-Nsirand included references to al-Suhraward; and, in Damascus, Dar al-Anwar published al-Suhrawards text Rasail alam al-huda wa aqidt arbb al-tuqa.17 There is a good amount ofsecondary sources written in Urdu and Punjabi, mainly because the Suhraward sf are still an active sf order in South Asia.Scholarship and critical research is not precisely the same as it isin western academia, however, since these works mainly reviewSuhraward shaikhs and their respective taawwuf theologies. Someof these works are: Muhammad din Kalams Suhraward Auliy ;Nr Amad Khn Faridis Shaikh Baha al-dn Zakariyy Multanand Tazkira of Sadr ad-dn Arif; Muhammad Yusuf SuhrawardsTaawwuf wa Sf Ijamh zedeen f Shn-e Qalandar; and Seyyed

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Ab Fez Qalandar Al Suhrawards Anwar-e Suhrawardyy,Tazkirt Suhrawardyy and Tarf Suhrawardyya.18

With this in mind, this work focuses on shaikh Ab Hafs Umaral-Suhraward, a prominent sf thinker of the twelfth and thir-teenth century who was designated Shaikh al-Islm under caliphal-Nasir of the Abbasid dynasty and established the Suhrawardyyasf order in Baghdad. Shaikh Ab Hafs Umar al-Suhrawardwrote a succinct and an inuential sf treatise of that time and itwas widely distributed and studied by other sf orders. Shaikh al-Suhrawards Awrif al-Marif was widely read because it servedas a manual for taawwuf practices and studying sf theology.Shaikh al-Suhrawards work contains instructional guidelines forinternal and external discipline for sfs to follow in every aspectof life. For instance, in performing the ablution ritual for prayer,al-Suhraward explains what the believer needs to recite and thinkin almost every component of the ritual.

While washing his hands, the believer says: God, I only askyou for happiness and blessing and I seek refuge with youfrom misfortune and disaster. While rinsing his mouth hesays: My God, Bless Muhammad and help me to reciteyour book and to remember you often. While taking thewater into the nostrils one says: O my God, Bless Muham-mad and let me experience the fragrance of Paradise whenyou are content with me. While blowing out the water onesays: My God, bless Muhammad. I take refuge with youfrom the stench of Hell re.19

Shaikh al-Suhrawards description demonstrates a taawwufthat is deeply committed to the minute details of faith because everyact and thought advances the sf disciple toward the Creator. Thetaawwuf beliefs of al-Suhraward are a combination of living a lifein this world and observing strict taawwufshar guidelineswhich is understood as a comprehensive discipline.

Why study the Suhraward sfs?The Suhraward sfs still exist in the Islamic world and have madeimmense intellectual, historical, literary, political, economical, andspiritual contributions to the Islamic tradition. Their sf orderstretches from many corners of the world, now in both western andeastern societies, and have historically been scholars of shar , qh,Qurnic and adth studies, philosophy, metaphysics, theology,

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logic and reason, ethics, and taawwuf. While their original sfkhnaqhs were in Iran and Iraq, they rapidly expanded and our-ished in Syria, Anatolia, and in South Asia. A study of the historyof Suhraward sfs and of their theological taawwuf in theseregions and in different periods is needed for an understanding oftheir enormous contribution to the Islamic tradition.

The goal of this work is to move beyond the dichotomous models of ofcial versus popular religion by viewing Shaikhal-Suhraward and the Suhraward sfs as members of societyconcerned with taawwuf and upholding the shar and sunn ofthe Prophet. This work examines sources that prove that, at times,Suhraward sfs were members of the cultural elite and pivotalpolitical gures of the state enterprise, but at other times there wereSuhrawards who secluded themselves from political activities andthe luxuries of materialism. Eatons social function of sf is appro-priate to the extent of identifying the social status of sfs; however,this work takes the next step by incorporating the spiritual questof Suhrawards and their distinct Suhraward taawwuf beliefs. Thetheoretical limits of this study are not restricted to the dualisticmodel of world-embracing sfs versus world-rejecting sfs. It isclear that from early Suhraward history they professed the ideasof living and enjoying the worldly life but within the connes of astructured, disciplined guidance of elder sf shaikhs who knewqh, shar , Qurnic and adth studies, and kept the spiritualityof the Prophet in the forefront of their taawwuf.

This work is interested in the ways in which Suhrawards inter-preted their taawwuf and as sfs how they made each con-struction into a sacred experience. Whether it is political activities,social charities, or anti-social behavior, the way Suhraward sfsviewed the world as manifestations of the sacred (and through theirrituals they symbolically united with the holy) is critical for thisstudy. Annemarie Schimmels work on sf poetry dedicated to theProphet (natiyy) is signicant to this study because we can under-stand the sf creation of a mystical imitatio Muhammadi thatbecame the sacred object of return.20 In the same manner, this workis concerned with the sacredness Suhraward sfs created in theirtaawwuf and how it was understood in their achievements.

The goal of this book

It is important to deconstruct Shaikh al-Suhrawards sf theologyby analyzing his Qurnic interpretations and his understanding of

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the sayings of the Prophet or adths within a sf context. Asystematic examination of al-Suhrawards sf exegesis of theQurn and the different methodologies he applies to his particularsf theosophy is discussed in Chapter 2. The function of the textis to aid in the daily spiritual exercises of the sf way (taawwuf)and in the spiritual and intellectual growth of the Suhrawardyyamembers. I demonstrate that al-Suhrawards sf treatise containsa wide range of sf theology; from Qurnic hermeneutics, adthinterpretations or tafsr, rational arguments on epistemology,different levels of spirituality, proper etiquette, correct methods ofsubsisting with God, to disparaging criticism of other sf orders.All of these theological points, and others, are important argumentsfor his particular interpretation of a Suhraward taawwuf.

I argue that al-Suhrawards Awarif al-Marif is much more than a sf manual for spiritual union with the divine, but that al-Suhrawards authority on adths and knowledge of the Prophetallowed him to write one of the most denitive taawwuf spiritualguidebooks on the Prophet. The traditional use of adths in legal,philosophical, poetical, and religious texts has been historicallyapplied to standard Islamic discourse; however, adths in a sfspiritual manual are mainly used to mirror the model of theProphets mystical spirituality. Shaikh al-Suhrawards intensive useof adths are a signicant feature of remembering and re-enactingthe Prophet Muhammad so that Suhraward sfs could move frommerely imagining the Prophet to embodying the Prophets spiritu-ality. While Shaikh al-Suhraward strongly advocated the delicatememorization of the Qurn for ritualistic prayers and incorpora-tion of the Qurn into spiritual exercises (dhikr), when it comes to adths, sfs commit adths to memory in order to cultivate a closer kinship to the Prophet and maintain his sacred presence atevery moment and at all times.

The geographical area that is of concern is rst Baghdad duringthe period of the Abbasid dynasty in the twelfth century. Thesecond part of the study focuses on Multan during the DelhiSultanate period. The chronological period extends from early thir-teenth century to the late fourteenth century, to be specic, the timewhen Shaikh Umar al-Suhraward is appointed the shaikh al-Islmunder caliph al-Nsir. This study begins with the original founderof the Suhraward order and analyzes the Suhrawards over fourgenerations up to Shaikh Rukn ud-dn Ab Fat.

The primary sources used in this study are mainly Suhraward sftreatises and sf hagiographical literature. Suhraward literature

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included a wide variety of biographies, dictionaries, recorded con-versations of Suhraward shaikhs, and their legal opinions. In thesesources Suhraward sfs elaborate on proper ritual procedures andsupply theories on practicing the perfect form of mystical Islam ortaawwuf. Suhraward poetry is an enormous eld of informationthat discloses the meaning of the sacred for Suhraward poets. Thesepoems contain personal commentaries of either the disciple of thepoet or the sf himself. For some have argued that hagiographicaland sf literature are lled with exaggerations and excessive devo-tion to the sf shaikhs. However, these sacred texts cannot be dis-missed as unreadable for scholarly research, rather they serve to beinstructional for readers and devotees alike.21 If one is to only readthese sacred texts as instructional guides to condition the humanpsyche, then one fails to understand how these texts bring about anawareness, a new enlightenment to the reader.

In Chapter 1, this study investigates Shaikh al-Suhrawardspolitical career in the context of working toward consolidatingcaliph al-Nsirs empire and simultaneously attempting to estab-lish the Suhraward sf order. It examines the dynamics of this sfstate relationship on two levels. On the popular level, al-Suhrawards social and religious inuence contributed to thedefeat of anarchistic tyn groups and at the same time unied the decentralized futwwa institution. In addition he workedtoward building a positive, coalescing relationship with the alien-ated Nizr Isml community. On a political level Shaikhal-Suhraward advocated and popularized a specic religious beliefthat equated the caliph as the main defender of shar . This sectiondiscusses al-Suhrawards reformist ideas connecting the two areasof taawwuf and politics, and how these changes were critical forconsolidating the power base of the caliphate. It demonstrates thatfrom the beginning the Suhraward were a politically driven sforder because of their deep commitment to defending shar andthe authority of the caliph. This chapter highlights the political,social and religious climate in which Shaikh al-Suhraward wasinvolved and it shows a growth in Suhraward taawwuf. It empha-sizes the critical point that taawwuf, according to the shaikh, doesnot necessarily have to be compromised or sacriced if properlyunderstood and practiced.

Chapter 2 examines al-Suhraward sf religious and culturalattitudes that became normative for the Suhraward order. Atextual analysis of al-Suhrawards treatise, Awrif al-Marif,demonstrates his understanding of an ideal world and what

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methods are involved in achieving it. Shaikh al-Suhraward believedthat his arqa was more than an organization for sfs to learnspiritual purity, but every single action and thought was related tothe larger purpose of returning to the divine. To him, this meantthat sfs and non-sfs were responsible for controlling them-selves at every moment, in every place. Shaikh al-Suhrawardsemphasis on an internal and external structure for the individualrequired a strict observance to hierarchies, rituals, worship,political authority, social etiquette, shar , Qurn, adths, andtaawwuf practices, all for the purpose of preparing for the momentof unity. These concrete views of living in this world to create anideal world served to be the religious ideological foundation forsuccessive Suhraward sfs.

The main concern for Chapter 3 is the eastward expansion ofthe Suhraward order to Multan by al-Suhrawards primarykhalif Shaikh Bahauddn Zakariyya. An analysis of MultaniSuhraward biographical collections (tazkirt), recorded sfconversations (malfzt), and a collection of religious opinions(maktbat), illustrates how successive Suhrawards recollected,interpreted, imagined, and practiced a particular type of Suhra-ward taawwuf. This demonstrates both a continuity in theSuhraward taawwuf tradition, as well as signicant changes thatwere required to adjust to the challenges of Multan and Ucch inthe Delhi Sultanate period. Unlike Shaikh al-Suhrawards supremeauthority in thirteenth-century Baghdad, Multani Suhrawards inthe mid-thirteenth-century and fourteenth century were confrontedwith unstable and altering governments and intense competitionfrom other sf orders and ulam . In addition, being situated in apredominantly non-Muslim region allowed Suhrawards to takepart in unprecedented cultural and religious exchanges. It demon-strates that Suhraward taawwuf in many ways adjusted to a newcultural, social, economical, and political region, but the taawwufof political activism, defending the shar , and following the sunnof the Prophet were all equally important in institutionalizing thesf order.

After the discussion of the Suhraward orders adjustment andassimilation to Multan, Chapter 4 concentrates on the ways inwhich Suhraward taawwuf consisted of symbolic meanings thatcommunicated an aspect of their spiritual beliefs. It is concernedwith Suhraward rituals as living and breathing symbols that werepurposely constructed to be a part of a larger whole. This chapterillustrates the continuity of Suhraward rituals with the larger

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historical sf tradition in order to have their taawwuf associatedwith past prominent sf shaikhs. Suhraward dhikr and salmrituals, recitation of Natiyy poetry, tasliyt, khtam an-nubuwwa,and the ninety-nine names of the prophet are all interconnectedrituals to access the pre-eternal light of Muhammad (nr Muham-mad). Through these various rituals, which had to be conducted ata special time and place, Suhraward sfs were creating a sacredmoment to bring them back to the Prophet.

And nally, Chapter 5 shifts from verbal symbols of sacredpoetry to concrete spiritual exercises for Suhrawards in Multanand Ucch. Shaikh Zakariyys emphasis was different from hispredecessor al-Suhraward who focused on sf theories and theevidence of taawwuf in the Islamic tradition. However, ShaikhZakariyys emphasis was to have Suhrawards maintain a stead-fast practice of spiritual exercises (dhikr) in order to cultivate ahabit of remembrance of God, and through this recollection sfswere attempting to embody the model of the Prophet. Zakariyystexts were specic recitations of the Qurn or dhikr al-Qurn forSuhrawards to master the knowledge of the inner and outer mean-ings of the Qurn. This chapter examines the ways in which sfspiritual exercises were meant to purify the heart and prepare forthe moment of Gods presence.

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1THE LIFE OF SHAIKH AB HAFS UMAR

AL-SUHRAWARD

The original gure who established the Suhraward sf arqa wasShaikh Ab Najb al-Suhraward, the uncle of Ab Hafs Umaral-Suhraward. Ab Najb al-Suhraward was born in 1097 in thetown of Suhraward, which is west of Sultaniyya, in the provinceof al-Jibal, Iran. Shaikh Abn-Najb (d. 1168) became involvedwith the sf tradition with his association with Shaikh Ahmad al-Ghazl, the brother of the well-known Ab amid al-Ghazl,educator and scholar at the Nizmyya madrasa in Baghdad. It wasShaikh Ahmad al-Ghazl who invited Shaikh Ab Najb to becomehis disciple and advance in his studies of taawwuf. No sooner had he become procient in sf spirituality, than Shaikh Ab Najbal-Suhraward built a khnaqh on the banks of the Tigris river,and wrote the popular sf manual db al-Murdn, that describesthe importance of disciplined sf behavior. Shaikh Ahmad al-Ghazl, Shaikh Ab Najb and their contemporary Ainul-Quzt,all belonged to the Junyd school of taawwuf. But contrary toJunyds mystical tradition of sobriety (sahw) they were all moreinclined toward mystical intoxication or sukr.1 Preachings andwritings by Shaikh Ainul-Quzt infuriated the shar -mindedscholars and he was imprisoned in Baghdad. Ainul-QuztsTamhidt treatise argued that his doctrine of fan was neitherpantheism nor introducing the contingent being into Gods Being.2

Ainul-Quzt asserted that he was not different from earlier sfsbut rmly agreed in many of areas of taawwuf with the greatscholar Ab amid al-Ghazl (d. 1111). In 1131 Ainul-Quztwas murdered at the age of thirty-three and never had the oppor-tunity to defend his sf ideas on taawwuf in a public trial setting.

The nephew of Shaikh Ab Najb al-Suhraward was Ab HafsUmar al-Suhraward who was born in the month of Rajab, 523Hijri, or January 1145. Under his uncles direction, he studied

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theology with one of the prominent theologians of the time, ShaikhAbdul-Qdir Jiln. After a systematic study of taawwuf andlegal studies the young al-Suhraward was initiated into taawwufby his uncle, Shaikh Ab Najb al-Suhraward. It was not longbefore the budding scholar of taawwuf would encounter criticismfrom senior theologians and legalists. In his late teenage years, al-Suhraward came across vigorous opposition from the greatestHanbal theologian in Baghdad, Abdur Rahmn ibn al-Jawz(11261200),3 who was also a master interpreter of jurisprudence(qh) and adths (muadth). Abdur Rahmn ibn al-Jawz was aprolic author and preacher, and held a considerable amount ofreligious and political inuence with the Abbsid Caliphs as thedesignated Shaikh al-Islm. Aside from the religious differencesbetween Ibn al-Jawzs legalist thought and Jilns taawwufunderstanding of Islm, Shaikh ibn al-Jawz accused al-Suhra-wards teachings of furthering the cause of philosophical heresy inIslamic intellectual circles. Criticisms against al-Suhraward werenot isolated events, but according to Ibn al-Jawzs Naqd al-Ilm wal-ulam and Talbs Ibls he went so far as to condemn non-Sunn sects and even attacked a large number of Sunnjurisconsults, shar -minded folks and leading sfs including Ablib al-Mlik, Qushir and Ab amid al-Ghazl.4 The turningpoint to Ibn-al-Jawzs public service came when caliph al-Nsir(11791225) reversed the policy of blind support for Ibn al-Jawz,and instituted more of a middle-of-the-road and centrist policyoutlined by Shaikh Ab Hafs Umar al-Suhraward. Like Ibn al-Jawz, Shaikh Umar al-Suhraward served as politicalreligiousadvisor in the capacity of Shaikh al-Islm, as which he assisted theAbbsid administrations goal of consolidating power in globalIslamic politics. Under the ercely political caliph al-Nsir, ShaikhUmar al-Suhraward was sent abroad to the courts of the Ayyubidal-Mlik al-dil I Saifual-dn (12001218) in Egypt, of theKhwarazm-Shh, Al al-dn Muhammad (12001220) and of theSeljuk ruler of Konya Al al-dn Kay-Qubaz I (12191237). Inreturn caliph al-Nsir built an extensive khnaqh for Shaikh al-Suhraward and his family with a number of additions such asa bathhouse and a garden.

Islamic education: a Hanbal scholar and sf

The sf writings of caliph al-Nsirs personal advisor Ab HafsUmar al-Suhraward are important in understanding the ideological

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side to al-Nsirs policies. Shaikh al-Suhraward was the founder of a sf arqa that had easily attracted a substantial number offollowers and become a distinguished order.5 As an author of awidely popular sf manual, al-Suhraward became the leadingauthority in taawwuf Islm and sf theology. In his sf beliefs,al-Suhraward was quite conservative and spoke out against thephilosophical speculative orientation of his contemporaries, such as Ibn-Arab. He was a strong supporter for obeying Islamic law(shar ) as the legitimate form for society to be structured and for true religious understanding. With shar and other related dis-ciplines such as theology, Qurnic tafsr, and sunn studies,al-Suhraward believed that they all must be strictly observed for realinner spiritual ascension. For him, the shar was not only a set oflegal codes to memorize, understand, and enact, but it entailed adeeper understanding of the divine path that leads the individualback to the creator. Shaikh al-Suhraward believed that thoseindividuals who argued over the insignicant minuscule elements of the shar were lost in human argumentation and missed theobvious divine essence. He explicitly opposed the philosophicalspeculation of the Faylasfs, because an untrained person could put forth an interpretation that is totally false from the Islamic prin-ciples. Even with these discrepancies, Shaikh al-Suhraward wastolerant of all kinds of sf beliefs and practices, but was interestedin those who followed the particular Suhrawardyya taawwufway of obeying the shar and adhering completely to the sunn ofthe Prophet.

Shaikh al-Suhraward viewed sf beliefs as a way to perfect devo-tion in which one can fully enjoy divine beauty; taawwuf was therecreation of a divine connection one had previously experienced ina pre-existent time. To him this did not contradict the use of goodsense and the ability to lead a practical life by embracing the bene-ts of this world. He encouraged living in a sf lodge, khnaqh,while at the same time earning an income by working. Within thekhnaqh there were several administrative and clerical positionsthat provided a salary, but the khnaqh institution was supportedby charitable foundations (awqf) and could not employ all of itsdisciples, but more often the disciples who dedicated their lives tothe order took on the limited positions.6 The khnaqh had a pri-mary shaikh al-sfyy who was the spiritual leader of the organi-zation. The shaikh al-syy usually had at least two assistantscalled the khdim al-mushaf and the khdim al-ruba al-sharfa, who

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assisted in prayers and supplications, du and dhikr, and distribu-tion of Qurns for recitation and study. Some of the additionaladministrative roles performed by sfs in the khnaqh were: lead-ing the daily prayers (imm), announcing the daily prayers(muezzin), reciting the Qurn (qr), washing and preparing theprayer rugs (khdim al-sajda), reciting the funeral services (ktibal-ghyba), and being in charge of food preparation (hawij kshi).7

Shaikh al-Suhraward preached a balanced code for sf living,one that was set as an example by the Prophet Muhammad. TheProphet Muhammad was the primary model for sfs to mirrorthemselves on because he embodied human perfection and ultimatedivine guidance. For shaikh al-Suhraward there were only a fewadvanced spiritual devotees who were able to pray all night andwork all day. For the rest of the believers, according to Shaikh al-Suhraward, all they had to do was to combine following thesunn of the Prophet and studying the Qurn with certain sfpractices, such as dhikr, as part of their daily routine. On thedebatable issue of whether sfs should maintain a celibate lifestyle,he felt that only the sf shaikhs were qualied to judge their disci-ples on whether they were spiritually equipped to take on thatchallenge. His defense in opposing the practice of celibacy was thatit was not practiced by the Prophet Muhammad himself; however,Shaikh al-Suhraward thought it was permissible for the few elitespiritually advanced sf elders. But one area he was very adamantabout counteracting was the lifestyle of the nomadic beggingQalandars, who were extremely controversial at this time becauseof their antinomian characteristics and outward disrespect for theshar . While the Qalandars (sometimes called Dervishes) were notsfs associated with the state or organized arqts, they were moreor less connected through deep individual conviction of their ownpersonal journey. For al-Suhraward, the Qalandars disregard forthe state was far from any reasonable interpretation of the madbsand their awkward ascetic way of life could not have had any asso-ciations to any of the shar -obeying established sf arqt.

For many political theorists during this time like al-Mward,who believed that an effective caliph should designate power toregional sultns in order to maintain a centralized authority, Shaikhal-Suhraward felt that the caliph was the central focus of theshar .8 With the aid of expert advisors, the shaikh felt that the caliph had the sole authority to determine internal and inter-national policies. But for al-Suhraward, in addition to being the sole executive, judicial, and spiritual leader to implement the

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shar , the ofce of the caliphate needed to be the primary focusfor sf practices. For him, sf beliefs and practices were a part of a branch of shar and it was shar that would give spiritualguidance to the community. While caliph al-Nsirs role as theprime supreme sf was not explicitly expressed in sf terms,he was directly involved as the leader of futwwa groups. Thesefutwwa groups were the main channel for expressing lower-classinterest in the urban centers, and they were pervaded by sf teach-ings and a sf networking system. Shaikh al-Suhraward taughtthat the futwwa system was a part of the sf way, intended forordinary folks who found sf arqts too demanding for them tobecome associated. Shaikh al-Suhraward advocated that tynwere inherently part of the larger shar system, where of course,the caliph was responsible for all religious, social, and politicalactivities, and these powers were sanctioned by the divine.

Shaikh al-Suhrawards hierarchical model established the prior-ity of the futwwa, sf orders, and the caliphate in an ascendingorder. He dened the caliph as the representative or viceregent(khalfa) of God on earth. According to him, humanity is incapableof returning to God on its own without a temporal overseer. Forthis reason God chose a mediator, wasla, between Himself andhuman beings. It is the caliph who is the representative of God and has the ultimate responsibility to bring human beings from acorrupt way of living and back to Him.9 Those mediators who arenear to God provide a service for the pious collective community,jamat.10 Shaikh al-Suhraward became one of the most import-ant associates in structuring caliph al-Nsirs domestic and foreignpolicies and he went on key diplomatic missions with these ideasin mind.

Shaikh al-Suhraward taught the primacy of the Jam caliphateas the capstone for the shar structure. The caliph must be theultimate guarantor for the Islamic religious, political, and socialorder. According to al-Suhraward, the caliph was the head of alllegal institutions created by the shar . The caliph had to be the chiefscholar of all the lim scholars in the Muslim intellectual commu-nity; he needed to be an interpreter of the law by being a supremelim scholar himself. Indeed, al-Nsir undertook to be an activeteacher of adth reports, and al-Suhraward makes the point ofciting caliph al-Nsir as the last link in the isnd documenta-tion in the aadths he used. With the assistance of al-Suhrawardand other leading Hanbal authorities caliph al-Nsir became acertied legitimate faqh (legal scholar) in all four Jam -Sunn legal

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schools (madbs). This served to underline the equal status of thefour madbs and to encourage them to admit each others valid-ity. With Shaikh al-Suhrawards supervision, caliph al-Nsircreated a cooperative program, which was to have the legal schoolsthat were historically competitive (and at times had been sanctionedby the state and others) outlawed, to ensure that select social organ-izations and sf orders worked together for the benet of the state.

Shaikh al-Islm and political statesman under Caliph al-Nsir

The active participation of Ab Hafs Umar al-Suhraward in stateaffairs raises several questions regarding the evolution of sforders and their sf beliefs. Al-Suhrawards political activitiesdemonstrate another signicant dimension to the development andinstitutionalization of sf orders during the thirteenth and four-teenth centuries. On one level he was serving as a political advisorfor the caliph of the Abbsid dynasty who needed his expertise inbuilding alliances and condence with other Muslim adminis-trations. On another level, Shaikh al-Suhraward possessed aconsiderable religious authority in both areas of legal training andtaawwuf Islm.11 The reason al-Suhraward stands out among hiscontemporaries is because he achieved a high position in the statesapparatus, and was responsible for consolidating its power base,while at the same time being able to penetrate into weak socialinstitutions. The way Shaikh al-Suhraward successfully balanceda sfstate cooperative relationship leads to a greater under-standing of the way these relationships inuenced caliph al-Nsirsadministration (11801225), and more importantly, how theserelationships affected the outcome of state policies and the expan-sion of the Suhrawardyya order. It is important to put al-Suhraward in his context as a political and religious advisor duringcaliph al-Nsirs reign in order to realize his contributions onmultiple levels.

The ideological side to the policies of the Abbsid caliph al-Nsirprovides answers to his objectives in being the caliph of unity.Shaikh Ab Hafs Umar al-Suhraward (11451236) appears tohave been one of many advisors to assist in caliph al-Nsirs aimsof consolidating his control over various Islamic institutions andregions. For caliph al-Nsir, al-Suhraward was a prominent and popular sf shaikh of his time, who could gain access into adecentralized futwwa system and shape it to serve the needs of

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al-Nsir.12 With the gradual integration of sf ideas and practicesin many futwwa groups, it would not be difcult to penetratethem and inject a sense of direction. Al-Nsirs conception of theCaliphate was that it should be the center of Islamdom towardwhich various leaders and movements should gravitate. This madeal-Suhraward a valuable political and religious advisor.13

Caliph al-Nsir was an intensely politically-oriented caliph, whoadvocated a Hanbal legal ideology because he recognized theHanbal madbs cumulative power throughout the century.Jamat-i Sunn dominance in Iraq was primarily brought about bythe momentum of their opposition to Mutzil and Ashar thoughtin earlier centuries. By the twelfth century the Hanbal madbbecame the dominant legal interpretation in Baghdad and caliphal-Nsir effectively used that power to enhance himself on multiplelevels. He used it to strengthen his own power base in futwwagroups by maintaining inuential Hanbal authorities for the trans-mission of adth, such as Shaikh Abd al-Mughth, Shaikh al-Latfal-Baghdd, and Shaikh Ibn al-Mimr.14 Shaikh Ibn al-Mimrwas a prominent chronicler of futwwa ritual and beliefs andultimately served as an important advisor to assert control over thefutwwa structure under al-Nsirs administration. In 1179,shortly after the caliph al-Nsir had made his annual visit to thetomb of Ahmad ibn-Hanbal in Baghdad, he recognized the Hanbalmadb as the legal school of the administration.

Caliph al-Nsirs involvement with futwwa groups

By the time of caliph al-Nsir in the mid-twelfth centuy, futwwagroups (pl. tyn) were institutionalized and mainly consisted ofurban lower-class men. There were several types of futwwagroups; some were dedicated to occupational associations, whilesome were formed for sports and mutual aid. Many futwwagroups consisted of young men and were essentially youth gangsthat found ways to be in solidarity and assert their independ-ence in a variety of ways. It is clear that the members in tyn weremost often poor and young men who did not have the familyconnections of notables, and some had an anti-establishmentquality to them. Futwwa groups maintained an unconditionalloyalty to members and to each other, even to the extent that youthgangs insisted on cutting ties from their family members.

Through the close association and eventual integration with thesf tradition, futwwa organizations gained a spiritual element

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that was compatible with their internal hierarchical structure. Inaddition, a sf inuence brought a cross-regional networkingsystem that enabled futwwa members to increase their politicaland social contacts beyond their immediate neighborhoods. By the eleventh century, many futwwa organizations had adoptedaspects of sf language for expressing loyalty and magnanimity,which they transformed into loyalty to God. Some historians of thetime interpreted the futwwa as a sort of lesser sf way for thoseunable to achieve the full mystical way. Sometimes futwwa clubscame to have their own sf ceremonies. The futwwa had becomeessentially the sf dimension of organizations.15

In 1182, caliph al-Nsir recognized a dissident branch of thefutwwa that had existed in Baghdad since the tenth century andcalled it niqbat al-futwwa. He was a member of the group, as were Shaikh Abd al-Jabbr and Shaikh Ibn Ysuf Slih(d. 1187) the very person who invested al-Nsir with the libs al-futwwa. The famous chronicler, Ibn al-Jawz, observed sf traitsin the futwwa of Ayyrun Fityn. There were rules of purity,respect for ones brother, and the swearing of oaths. He called themthe protectors of the poor and women.16 The Ayyrun wereinternally organized with a strong hierarchy of leadership, and theybelieved the state was corrupted by politicians who did not servethe community. From time to time the anarchistic views of theAyyrun were expressed in social unrest; they took part in lootingstate buildings, setting res in the markets, and causing violence inthe streets.17 In twelfth-century Baghdad, Ibn-Bakran was a sourceof trouble for both caliph al-Muqtaf and Sultn Masd. IbnBakrans anarchistic violence ourished in the late 1130s, but even-tually he soon found himself in a close relationship with wzraz-Zaynabs son who was bestowed the sarwl al-futwwa, aspecial sf garment.18 The Ayyrun Fityn became less of a threatunder the wzr Ibn-Hubayra, but within ten years of caliph al-Nsirs succession to the caliphate, Hanbal scholars dominated thefutwwa institution, which ensured a degree of stability and simul-taneously a decline in popular anti-state sentiments. The caliphsinltration of the futwwa institution was a major element inweakening hostile futwwa groups like the Ayyrun Fityn.

Caliph al-Nsirs involvement with the Ayyrun Fityn suggeststhat he had a systemized policy to absorb dissidents and end theirconstant uprisings by incorporating them into the mainstreamestablishment. Once caliph al-Nsir successfully exposed and pene-trated tyn, he was especially interested in coopting their inner

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unity and social system and replacing their political anarchisticphilosophy with his own. This may have very well been the reasonfor the edict of 1207. Al-Nsir wanted to root out the futwwagroups that bore arms and were linked to volunteer militia groups.For example, the adth futwwa organization in Syria oftenparticipated in battles alongside the Turkic troops to defend theirregions from hostile invasions. An uncontrolled militia futwwagroup would have threatened al-Nsirs aim of being the primaryuncontested leader of all futwwa organizations.

Al-Nsir moved to control the futwwa from within to ensurethat the past history of turbulent tyn would not pose a threatunder his administration. After twenty-ve years as an initiate inthe futwwa, in the year of 1207, he was ready to consolidate the position he had gradually gained. He declared himself the soleauthority over all futwwa organizations both in Baghdad and else-where, and any organization that did not acknowledge hisleadership was banned, and was not to be recognized as a truefutwwa.19 He also went on to encourage mutual tolerance amongMuslims, with the futwwa rather than with the ulam ; severalfutwwa organizations were told that they were integral parts ofthe Islamic umma, and that it was necessary to recognize eachothers validity.

In 1207, al-Nsir made his political objectives clear and public.Caliph al-Nsir recognized the futwwa movement itself anddeclared all other tyn illegal except his futwwa organization.He also declared himself the central authority of the futwwa.Later in the year, al-Nsir issued another decree which set forth thecode of behavior for futwwa members and declared that God had designated the caliph as having sole responsibility to maintainthe shar . And also in 1207, al-Nsir received his permission orijza as a transmitter of adth from the leaders of the four schoolsof jurisprudence. A letter to the representatives of the four schoolsof jurisprudence at the Dr al-adth in Damascus included al-Nsirs words of on conditions of sound authority.20 Thisensured him full support for uniting his administration by imposinghimself not only as an active participant but also as the leader inthe forefront of that movement.

Unlike other periods of time, this caliphs period is particularlydistinct because, on the one hand, it consists of complex relation-ships between state authority, social institutions, and religiousaffairs, and on the other, there are major transformations of socialinstitutions under the direction of the Abbsid caliph. There are

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questions as to why the futwwa organizations became an essen-tial policy issue for caliph al-Nsir. What did caliph al-Nsir benetfrom futwwa groups in social, political and religious terms? Howcould centralizing futwwa organizations with the caliph at thecenter of all authority change the function of tyn? And was itpossible for caliph al-Nsir to consolidate futwwa organizationswithout the assistance of Shaikh al-Suhraward?

These issues are very controversial for scholars like ClaudeCahen who believed that al-Nsir recognized the futwwa order inpart to spread the ideas of al-Suhraward, the principal propagan-dist of futwwa reforms and one of the most revered men of his day.21 Cahen believed that early ideas in reforming futwwaorganizations were probably not from the caliph himself, but fromshaikh al-Suhraward. To him Shaikh al-Suhraward was themastermind in designing the religious, political, and social reformsof futwwa organizations, because they increased the shaikhsopportunity to advance his particular form of sf islam to futwwamembers who were already sympathetic to sf ideals. It alsoallowed al-Suhraward to recruit members to his tarqa and expandSuhraward khnaqhs in the western regions. Cahen does notdiminish the importance of caliph al-Nsirs expansionary policies,but in regard to altering the religio-political philosophy of tyn,Shaikh al-Suhraward should be given primary credit.

One of the ways in which Cahen proved that al-Suhrawardsefforts were essential to reconstructing futwwa organizations wasby using al-Suhrawards innovative political and religious beliefsin taawwuf. To Cahen, Shaikh al-Suhraward developed a theoryfor unifying the caliphate in a way that tyn and taawwufislam were essentially one single entity. And both of these entitiesbelonged under the supervision of the caliph, where the descendingorder after the caliph was sf arqts, then the tyn which werereally a subordinate part of the sf arqts. According to Cahen,this theory certainly did not conict with al-Nsirs political ambi-tions and his conception of himself as the primary leader offutwwa organizations. Cahen believed it was through the signi-cant collaborative and intellectual efforts of al-Suhraward thatcaliph al-Nsir was successful in making himself the nal authorityin futwwa organizations, as well as expanding his power as thecaliph.

Two authors of this period who studied futwwa structure,ideas, beliefs and rituals were Ibn al-Mimar al-Baghdd andal-Khartabirti. In Ibn al-Mimars Kitb al-futwwa there are

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references to al-Suhrawards statements connecting futwwaorganizations to the shar .22 It is not surprising then to see Ibn al-Mimar use sf metaphors for internal hierarchy, where the essenceof the futwwa is in the kabr (elder or greater in rank) andibn (son or pupil). In many respects the sf spiritual model ofa pr and murd was mirrored in tyn, and in these organizationsthere was a hierarchy of its members whose main objective was touphold the precepts of Islam.23

Scholarly debate over al-Nsirs and al-Suhrawards complexroles in the futwwa organizations and over al-Suhrawardscontributions to reforming social institutions to inuence a sftheology is important to understanding the Suhraward sforder. Recently, scholars argued that caliph al-Nsirs futwwainvolvement was a part of his social reform policy to bring aboutgreater stability to the region. However, Paul Wittek believes thatal-Nsirs motives were to counteract the threat of the crusaderhostility and to unite the Islamic world by means of patronizingthe futwwa organizations.24 The main problem in Witteks theoryis that caliph al-Nsir was not in the vanguard in defending againstthe Crusaders. In fact, when Salh ad-dn requested military andeconomic support from caliph al-Nsir, to defend against theCrusader aggression, he was given a minimum and insufcientnumber of troops. In addition to this aspect, Wittek argues that al-Nsir being the caliph of Baghdad, which had a considerableamount of historical, political, and religious signicance to theglobal Islamic community was mainly interested in preserving the prestigiousness of Baghdad as the center of Islamic culture byprotecting Muslims from both Crusader invasions and anarchisticfutwwa members.25 Witteks interpretation of al-Nsir is one thatpositions the caliph in the center of Islamic politics, and as thecommander of the faithful (amir al-muminn) whose objectiveswere to protect the regional borders, even if it meant subvertingprivate social organizations like the tyn.

For some scholars Witteks arguments do not take account of the nature of the relationships between the caliph and non-governmental private social organizations. To scholars likeTaeschner, the grass-roots popularity of tyn along with theirindependent political and economic capacity was the real threat tothe established caliphate institution. According to Taeschner, caliphal-Nsirs role in the tyn was mainly to strengthen the authorityof the caliphate by being the caliph of unity.26 He thinks thecritical weakness of the futwwa was that it had a vacuum of

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power, and it was al-Nsirs aim to centralize it with him at the cen-ter.27 Taeschner treats the futwwa organizations as another areafor the caliph to assert his authority over the lower classes and dis-contented of society. For Taeschner, tyn were a perfect forum forcaliph al-Nsir to express his newly revived authority, while at thesame time serving as the caliph who united the Islamic regions.Taeschners theories may not be too far from the mark with respectto thinking that caliph al-Nsir desired to be at the center of allsocial and religious institutions, but there are weak links in the wayin which Taeschner viewed the power relationships of the caliphateand the futwwa institution. Taeschners view is a typical two-tiered model based on power struggles between political and socialinstitutions. In this model the caliphate is the dominant entity andthe futwwa institution is the subjugated entity, and it is the objec-tive of the dominant caliphate to control all parts of the weakerfutwwa system. Taeschner does not factor into his power strugglemodel that the weaker system does not always cave in to the dom-inant system. He does not consider the possibility that in all sys-tems, weak or powerful, there is a negotiation process of power andof space between the two systems.

One such scholar who challenged the theories of Taeschnerscaliphatefutwwa relationship was G. Salinger. Salinger pointedout that the main aw is understanding the Islamic caliphate systemalong the lines of a medieval European system. Salinger asserts that the caliphate was never a feudal system based on contractualrelationships between kings and vassals. He commented thatfutwwa guilds were independent organizations and could not have served as an arena for the caliph to assert political power orreinvigorate his own power.28 However, in Salingers opinion,caliph al-Nsirs gradual inuence in the futwwa is called a coupdtat. Due to uncontrollable factionalism, and disorderly publicbehavior, the state feared violent repercussions if it attempted todestroy the futwwa. Instead, Salinger believes that caliph al-Nsirdecided to penetrate the tyn and transform them from the inside. According to Salinger, the tyn had reached a point ofpotentially threatening the state, at least in terms of supportinggroups that were anti-state, and al-Nsirs annexation of tyn wasessentially a security issue. While Salingers argument is credible, itis missing an important dimension to his point, which is that bythe year 1207, the year caliph al-Nsir declared himself the leaderof all tyn groups and outlawed those groups that did not recog-nize him as the true leader, most futwwa organizations displayed

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characteristics neither of uncontrollable factionalism nor of dis-orderly public behavior. In fact the futwwa literature of this timeclearly reects more concern about proper codes, behavior andideas, as opposed to ways of breaking into factional groups ordevising methods of disrupting state business.

As mentioned earlier, Ibn al-Mimar and al-Khartabirtis worksare the only extant literature regarding futwwa organizations andprovide signicant insight into futwwa rituals and structure, aswell as into the ideas of both writers. Little is known of eitherwriter other than that they lived in caliph al-Nsirs period, andtheir works directly study futwwa groups. Ibn al-Mimar was aHanbal faqh and trained muaddith in Baghdad. There is lessinformation on al-Khartabirti other than that he was a member of the same futwwa group as caliph al-Nsirs son, al-Malik al-Muazzam Ab al-Hassan Al, to whom he dedicated his work in1216.29 Both of these handbooks discuss details of practices andceremonies, which are usually supported by Qurnic or adthquotations.

For instance, al-Khartabirti discusses the transfer of libs al-futwwa, a piece of clothing given to a younger initiate (fata), asclothing of piety or taqwa. To al-Khartabirti, a fata who wears thelibs al-futwwa must possess excellent qualities; he must worshipregularly, obey his parents, always speak the truth, pay alms-tax,is generous to those who do mischief against him, and visits sickpeople.30 He continues to elaborate that the libs al-futwwapertains to the real world where one should have the fear of God.He cites the sra al-Arf, verse 26, to support the tyn use of thelibs al-futwwa ritual.

Oh children of Adam! We have bestowed upon you fromon high the knowledge of making garments to cover yournakedness, and as a thing of beauty, but the garment ofGod-consciousness is the best of all.

According to al-Khartabirti, wearing the libs al-futwwa is onlyfor a select group of individuals who are worthy of such honor,because the cloth consisted of ve distinct qualities: truth (adiq),faithfulness (amanat), piety (taqwa), worship (ada as-salwat), andrestraint from committing adultery (tark az-zina).31

Al-Khartabirti and Ibn al-Mimar are often seen to use adth andQurnic verses to refer to the piety of the futwwa organization.Al-Khartabirti speaks of the futwwa as the tree of salvation, a

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metaphor to demonstrate the permanency of the group that is rootedin earth and has branches up to the heavens.32 To al-Khartabirti, thefutwwa connection to the tree is like that of the Qurn and this issymbolic of the signicant relationship of how the futwwa struc-ture is rmly linked to that of the divine message of God. From sral-Ibrhm, verse 24, al-Khartabirti quotes:

Do you not see how Allah sets forth a parable? It is like agood tree, whose root is rm and whose branches reachinto heaven.

For Ibn-Mimar, the individual fata members are responsible tolive up to their allegiance to the futwwa organizations. To him,tyn were originally established as an extension of faith whichwas designed to help out the needy and spend ones wealth on the poor. Since generosity was one of the major requirements forIbn al-Mimar, in his discussion of rituals he points out the signif-icance of wearing the libs al-futwwa and drinking a mixture ofsalt and water (shurb al-muradaah) and as usual he quotes theQurn to illustrate the sacredness of the ritual. From sr al-Furqn, verse 53:

This is palatable and sweet water, and the other is saltishand bitter water.

Upon drinking the shurb al-muradaah, Ibn al-Mimar writes thatthe leading shaikh would recite God has made the drink a symbolof the futwwa pact and the covenant with Him. May God cursehim who breaks the pact!33 Ibn al-Mimar combines theologicalsigns like the divine convenant with the symbolism of water infutwwa rites for its members. The symbolism is meant to connectthe fata with the signicance of zamzam, the holy well near theKaba. Within the description of this initiation process, Ibn al-Mimar quotes from the Qurn, sr 21, verse 30, which states

We have made alive everything through water

as a way to demonstrate that water has the power to purify heartsand external behavior, and one needs to nourish the body as well aspurify the soul as long as they are members of the futwwa group.

Ibn al-Mimar was more concerned with members understandingthe connection between futwwa rituals and beliefs, and how every

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single action is directly supported by the orders of God. He arguesthat any futwwa organization that is not grounded in the prin-ciples of shar a is not a true futwwa because tyn groups initiatemembers with only the highest moral qualities. And since the tyn groups that he is familiar with require the individual fatamembers rst to prove their ability to reason (aql) and demonstratetheir knowledge (ilm) of shar , this combination of the two main-tains a strong level of sound minded members who can distinguishright and from wrong.34 He even criticizes the factionalism among tyn groups such as the Bayt al-Maulidiya or the Baytash-Shuhayniya, and it is interesting to point out that he credits caliph al-Nsir with putting an end to these divisions with hisfutwwa reforms. Ibn al-Mimar explains that caliph al-Nsirsguidance under Shaikh Abd al-Jabbr, who initiated him into the Bayt ar-Rahhsiya futwwa, understood the importance ofuniting the tyn groups because they were moving further awayfrom the ideals of the futwwa.35

It is likely that Ibn al-Mimars and al-Khartabirtis extensivework was to prove that tyn groups were completely in harmonywith the Islamic shar in order to defend the institution from crit-icism. This validity of tyn groups and the issue of whether theirpractices and beliefs were in compliance with Islamic principles wasstill an important controversy for the ulam in the late thirteenthcentury. For example, one important Hanbal jurist scholar (faqih)who spoke out against tyn groups and all of the rituals that werecreated within the tyn was Shaikh Ibn-Taymya (12631328).While there is a considerable amount of scholarship on Ibn-Taymya, it is clear that recent studies show the complexity of histhought as well as the difculty in labeling him either a reformeror a proponent of a sunn orthodoxy.36 In Muhammad UmarMemons work on Ibn-Taymya, he clearly illustrates how certainscholars only focus on the later years of Ibn-Taymyas polemicalworks. During the later years of 13211326, Ibn-Taymya wit-nessed a breakdown in MuslimChristian relations where wide-spread riots fueled popular resentment. Also during this time, Ibn-Taymya was imprisoned for his contentious polemical writings,such as, The Necessity of the Straight Path against the People of Hell (Kitb iqtid as-sirt al-mustaqm mukhlafat ashb al-jahm). In Kitb iqtid as-sirtal-mustaqm, Ibn-Taymya expandsupon a theory on the subject of innovative additions (bida) to theIslamic religion which he believes stems from non-Islamic practicesand customs.37 His view of history relies heavily on degrees of

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moral correction to human beings, and he insists that ProphetMuhammads mission was to dene and exemplify the highestmoral conduct that is upheld by God. It is important not toconclude, as earlier scholars and Muslim reformers have done, thatIbn-Taymyas understanding of bida is a narrow denition of anypractice that did not exist during the Prophet Muhammads life-time.38 He is meticulous with the term and elaborates on a varietyof bida types, those kinds that are either praiseworthy (hasana),certain bida that are reprehensible (makrh) and specic bida typesthat are unlawful (tarm) according to the shar .39 Ibn-Taymyawas primarily concerned with popular practices that involved theacceptance of ideas on intercession, celebrating and adoptingcultural festivals from non-Muslim communities, alleged blessingsearned from visitation to sf tombs, beliefs attributing mysticalpowers to sf shaikhs, or membership of tyn groups, all ofwhich he considered to be customs to have derived from a non-Islamic tradition.40

With respect to the tyn groups, Ibn-Taymya criticized thefutwwa institution on the basis of whether it was ever permissibleto exist with the shar . He rejected futwwa rituals like thewearing of the libs al-futwwa and drinking the shurb al-muradaah water since he never found evidence for them in eitherthe shar or sunn of the Prophet.41 He dismissed all tyn claimsthat these practices were documented by the Prophets son-in-law,Al ibn Ab lib. In examining the tyn isnd reports thatsupported their claims of conducting libs al-futwwa and shurbal-muradaah rituals, Ibn-Taymya stated that in their chain oftransmitters there were several questionable persons. According tohim, there was an insufcient amount of information on a numberof individuals who claimed to be transmitters, and it was unwiseto attribute statements to Al ibn Ab lib when the integrity ofthese alleged transmitters is not certain. In respect to tynsdefense of using the libs al-futwwa because the Qurn discussesa garment to cover your nakedness, that could mean any typeof garment or a symbolic garment and it is not necessarily refer-ring to the tyns libs al-futwwa.42 Despite Ibn-Taymyascriticism of particular rituals and beliefs that were associated withthe futwwa institution, he approved of the tyns strongemphasis on maintaining an ethical character. However, he felt thatliving according to the shar was compulsory for every Muslimwhether he was a member of futwwa or not. Ibn-Taymya wasprimarily concerned with Muslims, whether they were sfs or fatas

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in a futwwa, anyone who, he felt, was gradually deviating fromthe source for all ontological meaning, i.e. God and the sunn ofthe Prophet. In terms of attributing the customs of an organizationas a sunn, he stated, It is imperative to differentiate betweenfollowing the Prophet and making a sunn of his practice, and apractice which though it was connected with the Prophet was notintended as a sunn and is therefore a piece of innovation (bida).43Ibn-Taymya did not agree with many areas of the specic rites ofthe tyn, especially when its proponents defended their ideas withthe Qurn and shar . But in all of his criticisms it is important torecognize that he did not condemn the institution as a whole andadvocate the dissolving of the futwwa institution.

Another contemporary Hanbal thinker and student of Ibn-Taymya, S al-Dn Idrs ibn Bidqn, was much more uncom-promising against the futwwa groups.44 Ibn-Bidqn went furtherthan Ibn-Taymya by stating that what he witnessed in the futwwagroups was the worst form of bida. According to him, anyone asso-ciated with the tyns had totally diverged from the principles ofthe shar and sunn. While Ibn-Taymya mainly argued againsttheir text sources for defending futwwa rituals, Ibn-Bidqnattacked the popular practices themselves as bida. He accused eldertyn members of practicing sodomy with younger initiate fatamembers during the ritual of libs al-futwwa. For Ibn-Bidqn, thetying of one or more knots in the ends of fatas girdle, belt or shawland being in the presence of the beardless youths was absolutelyforbidden by the Prophet.45 In the sources that are available not allof the initiation rites are written in such detail to support Ibn-Bidqns allegations, which is a major a problem in fully analyzingwhat Ibn-Bidqn observed and the futwwa texts that are extant.What is distinct is the difference in Ibn-Taymyas argumentsagainst tyn claims of having pietistic roots in the shar , whereasIbn-Bidqn nds the popular practices within the futwwa institu-tion problematic as a whole and against all Islamic principles.

Even with scholarly criticism by Ibn-Taymya and condemna-tion by Ibn-Bidqn, both of the works by Ibn al-Mimar and al-Khartabirti are interested in not only preserving the history andphilosophy of tyn, but more importantly, their writings promotea particular interpretation of Islamic worship. Both works, Kitbal-futwwa and Tuhft l-Wasaya, stress the Qurnic signicancein being members of futwwa groups and how as members theyare carrying forward, through rituals and beliefs, the message ofthe Prophet. Supporters like Ibn al-Mimar and al-Khartabirti

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proposed the futwwa as a complete religious, political and socialinstitution for individuals who were ordinarily excluded from otherorganizations.46 According to Ibn al-Mimar, futwwa groups haddiscriminatory policies in admitting certain professions, like tax-collectors, astronomers, and astrologers, to ensure that memberswould become strict adherents to the shar . But aside from havingselective admission policies, or the details of the particular ritualspracticed, or the soteriological reasons to being a member in thefutwwa groups, the futwwa institution served a function for sfslike Shaikh al-Suhraward and for politicians like caliph al-Nsir.There are complex questions as to whether caliph al-Nsir had adenite political agenda to penetrate futwwa groups and restruc-ture the entire conguration so that he would be able to assertcaliphal authority from the inside. It appears that caliph al-Nsirgradually merged the daily affairs of futwwa organizations withhis own personal interests, while demonstrating a strong interest inthe very people who made up the groups, all of which was a farmore judicious policy than totally destroying the institution andrebuilding it from the beginning.

A further understanding of the political and religious motives forcaliph al-Nsir to reform the futwwa draws attention to one of his principal advisors, Shaikh al-Suhraward.47 Thus it was al-Suhrawards efforts to disseminate the importance of obeying the shar and the caliph that enabled futwwa members to acceptand internalize these principles. Cahen asserted that al-Nsirs rolein the futwwa was to be more than a symbolic caliph that unitedJamaat-i Sunn and Shtes, sfs, Muslims and non-Muslim minori-ties and the lower classes who did not have elite connections.48

More importantly, al-Nsir wanted to place himself as the qiblaof futwwa that were legitimized by shar .49 To Cahen, caliph al-Nsirs dream was to have the futwwa function as an independentinstitution under his direction, where the caliph would be a popu-lar leader for every section of society, including the lower classes.Cahens arguments raise important issues as to whether caliph al-Nasir was interested in coopting the futwwa institution just to bethe supreme leader or was the caliph more concerned with merelybringing stability to an anarchistic decentralized institution?

Political and diplomatic trips

Caliph al-Nsir used his advisors like al-Suhraward to formalliances against the threat of his enemies, as well as to persuade

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non-aligned groups to support the caliph. Shaikh al-Suhrawardwas an important advisor for the caliph on a number of levels. First,as one of the most respected learned men of his time and a mem-ber of the famous scholarly Suhraward family, other fuqha,politicians, and ordinary people valued his opinions. Second, it isrecorded that he was a gifted orator who had a strong personality,and he used to completely captivate his audience members. Third,al-Suhrawards preaching charisma bought him much fame, andpeople would travel a great distance just to listen to him. Fourth,his wide approval with both the cultural elite and laypersonsconstructed popular narratives whereby popular myths describedby people illustrated the blessings (barakt) they could earn by just sitting in his presence.50 Whenever al-Suhraward traveled as astatesman he possessed authority on two levels. As a politicalambassador from the Abbsid court he symbolized one of thecaliphs closest advisors in political affairs. As a contemporary sfthinker with an important lineage to earlier sf shaikhs, likeShaikh Abd al-Qdir Jiln, his reputable theological authority wasgrowing with sf theosophical writings.

In the year 1207, al-Suhraward went to Egypt and Syria as apolitical delegate to meet with the Ayyubid administration. Thismission had two purposes, political and religious. There he metwith an Ayyubid delegate Qd Najm ad-dn Halil al-Hamaw tooffer caliph al-Nsirs proposal in assisting in suppressing revoltsand social disruption. Shaikh al-Suhraward also used this time topublically elaborate his theories on futwwa groups and their newroles for the state. He assured his audience members that the tynsno longer had to remain anarchical and factional groups withouta leader, but that the caliph had strong interests in supporting theprogress of futwwa groups. He was well received and offeredmany presents because of his ability to convince others of his reli-gious and political ideology. He was called the prince of his time,al-malik.51

Shaikh al-Suhraward went to the court of al-Malik az-hir inAleppo. There he was treated with another grand reception by thesultn. Al-Suhraward gave speeches on several topics to demon-strate high Abbsid culture and to promote the caliph as the mainreason for Baghdads success. In one particular speech, he discussedhow taxes were extremely low so that even the merchants did notknow that there were any