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The Naqshbandi order (Arabic: الطريقة النقشبندية, romanized: aṭ-Ṭarīqat an-Naqshbandiyya) is a Sufi order of Sunni Islam named after Baha al-Din Naqshband. They trace their silsila (chain of succesion) to Prophet Muhammad through the first caliph Abu Bakr (r. 632–634) by the way of Ja'far al-Sadiq. The Naqshbandi Sufi order is most distinguished from other Sunni schools by the high level of importance they assign to the sharia, highlighted by major Naqshbandi scholars such as Ahmad Sirhindi and Shah Waliullah Dehlawi.^[1][2]

The order is also known as the "convergence of the two oceans" or "Sufi Order of Jafar al-Sadiq".^{[3][4][5][6][7][8]} The Naqshbandi order owes many insights to Yusuf Hamadani and Abdul Khaliq Ghijduwani in the 12th century, the latter of whom is regarded as the organizer of the practices and is responsible for placing stress upon the purely silent invocation.^[9] It was later associated with Baha-ud-Din Naqshband Bukhari in the 14th century, hence the name of the order. Afterward, a branch or sub-order name was added. From 'Ubeydullah Ahrar to Imam Rabbani, the way was called "Naqshbandiyya-Ahrariyya"; from Imam Rabbani to Shamsuddin Mazhar "Naqshbandiyya-Mujaddidiyya"; from Shamsuddin Mazhar to Khalid al-Baghdadi "Naqshbandiyya-Mazhariyya"; from Mawlana Khalid onwards "Naqshbandiyya-Khalidiyya".^[10]

The Naqshbandiyya order became an influential factor in Indian Muslim life, and for two centuries it was the principal spiritual order in the Indian subcontinent. Khwaja Baqi Billah, who was born in Kabul and brought up and educated in Kabul and Samarkand, is credited for bringing the order to India during the end of the 16th century. He tried to spread his knowledge about the order but died three years later. His disciple Ahmad Sirhindi took over after his death, and it was through him that the order gained popularity within a short period of time. Shah Waliullah Dehlawi was an 18th-century member of the order.^[11]

The Naqshbandiyya order was introduced into Syria at the end of the 17th century by Murad Ali al-Bukhari, who established himself in Damascus and traveled throughout Arabia. His branch became known as the Muradiyya and was led by his descendants. In 1820, Khalid Shahrazuri rose as a prominent Naqshbandi leader in the Ottoman world and his order became known as the Khalidiyya which spread for at least two decades. In Syria and Lebanon, the leaders of every active Naqshbandiyya group acknowledged its spiritual lineage. Later, a strife between Khalid's khalifas led to disruption of the order and it divide. The Farmadiyya branch, which practices silent and vocal invocation, is still present in Lebanon and is named after Ali-Farmadi. The pre-Mujaddidi line of the Naqshbandiyya in Greater Syria came to an end when political leader Musa Bukhar died in 1973. The only branch to have survived till recently is the one based in the khanqah al-Uzbakiyya in Jerusalem.^[12]

The Naqshbandi order rose to prominence in Egypt during the 19th century. A major khanqah was constructed in 1851 by Abbas I as a favor to the Naqshbandi sheikh Ahmad Ashiq, who led the order until his death in 1883. Ahmad Ashiq practiced the Diya'iyya branch of the Khalidiyya. Two other versions of Naqshbandiyya spread in Egypt in the last decades of the 19th century: the Judiyya, led by sheikh Juda Ibrahim, and the Khalidiyya, led by Sudanese al-Sharif Isma'il al-Sinnari and his successors. These branches continued to grow and are still active today. None of the early orders survived far into the 20th century however, and all khanqahs in Egypt were closed in 1954 when the buildings were either assigned a different function or demolished.^[12]

The first known Naqshbandi murshid in Malay Archipelago was Yusuf al-Makassari, a 17th century Islamic scholar who also introduced Khalwatiyya to the region. However, the order quickly disappeared before being introduced again in the 19th century. There are two well known branches of Naqshbandiyya ini Southeast Asia. The first one is Khalidiyya, introduced by Ismail al-Minankabawi, a disciple of Abdullah al-Arzinjani in Mecca, and spread across Sumatra, Java, and Malay Peninsula. PERTI, an Indonesian Islamic organization from Minangkabau Highlands, was founded by Sulaiman ar-Rasuli and other Khalidi clerics. The other branch is Mazhariyya, named after Shamsuddin Mazhar, a Naqshbandi branch through Abu Said al-Ahmadi, one of Abdullah Dehlawi's khalifas. Mazhariyya is the main Naqshbandi branch in Madura, brought by Abdul Azim al-Maduri after studying in Mecca. Another related order is Qadiriyya wa Naqshbandiyya, a fusion of Qadiriyya and Naqshbandiyya, whose sheikhs in Banten and Lombok led rebellions against the Dutch East Indies at the end of 19th century.^[13]

Ma Laichi brought the Naqshbandi (نقشبندية) 納克什班迪 order to China, creating the Khufiyya (خفيه) 虎夫耶 Hua Si Sufi 华寺; ("Multicolored Mosque") menhuan. Ma Mingxin, also brought the Naqshbandi order, creating the Jahriyya (جهرية) 哲赫林耶 menhuan. These two menhuan were rivals, and fought against each other which led to the Jahriyya Rebellion, Dungan revolt, and Dungan Revolt (1895).^[14]

• Abdul Khaliq Ghijduwani (d. 1179), prominent sheikh whose teachings became known as the way of the Khwajas (teachers) or Khwajagan (masters).
• Abdur Rehman Shah Sailani (1871–1906), Sufi saint.
• Baha-ud-Din Naqshband Bukhari (1318–1389), the founder of the Sufi Naqshbandi Order.
• Khwaja Ahrar (1404-1490 AD), Naqshbdandi Sufi master and Islamic scholar.
• Hazrat Ishaan (1563-1642), descendant of Baha-ud-Din Naqshband Bukhari and hereditary supreme leader of the order.
• Sayyid Mir Jan (1800-1901), 7th successor of Hazrat Ishaan and Ghawth, heading the household of Bahauddin Naqshband.
• Ahmad al-Farūqī al-Sirhindī (1564–1624), commonly known as Imam Rabbani, a Mujaddid and leading Naqshbandi Sheikh from India.
• Mawlana Khalid (1779–1827), the sheikh whom all the different branches of the Order in the Middle East and Caucasus spread from.
• Shah Akbar Danapuri (1844-1914), Islamic scholar, writer and Sufi poet
• Uthman Sirâj-ud-Dîn Naqshbandi (1781-1867), was an 18th-century influential sufi, saint and Islamic scholar.
• Muhamamad Uthman Sirâj-ud-Dîn Naqshbandi (1896–1997), the great grandson of Uthman Sirâj-ud-Dîn Naqshbandi and leader of the Sipay Rizgari group during the Iran-Iraq war.^[15]

The Naqshbandi order has eleven principle teachings known as the Eleven Naqshbandi principles. The first eight were formulated by Abdul Khaliq Gajadwani, and the last three were added by Baha-ud-Din Naqshband Bukhari.^[9]

• Remembrance (Yād-kard – Persian: یاد کرد): Always orally and mentally repeating the dhikr.
• Restraint (Bāz-gasht – Persian: بازگشت): Focus on Tawhid, engaging in the dhikr of the shahada phrase – "La-ilaha il-allah".^[16]
• Watchfulness (Negāh-dāsht – Persian: نگاه داشت): Being conscientious over wandering thoughts.
• Recollection (Yād-dāsht – Persian: ياد داشت): Concentration upon the Divine presence in a condition of dhawq, foretaste, intuitive anticipation or perceptiveness, not using external aids.
• Awareness while breathing (Housh dar dam – Persian: هوش در دم): Controlling one's breathing by not exhaling or inhaling in the forgetfulness of the Divine.
• Journeying in one's homeland (Safar dar watan - Persian: سفر در وطن): An internal journey that moves the person from having blameworthy to praiseworthy properties. This is also referred to as the vision or revelation of the hidden side of the shahada.
• Watching one's step (Nazar bar qadam - Persian: نظر بر قدم): Do not be distracted from purpose of the ultimate journey.
• Solitude in a crowd (Khalwat dar anjuman - Persian: خلوت در انجمن): Although journey is outwardly in this world, it is inwardly with God.
• Temporal pause (Wuquf-i zamāni - Persian: وقوف زمانی): Keeping account of how one spends his or her time. If time is spent rightfully give thanks and time is spent incorrectly ask for forgiveness.
• Numerical pause (Wuquf-i adadi - Persian: وقوف عددی): Checking that the dhikr has been repeated in odd numbers.
• Heart pause (Wuquf-i qalbi - Persian: وقوف قلبی): Forming a mental picture of one's heart with the name of God engraved to emphasize that the heart has no consciousness or goal other than God.

• Algar, Hamid (1998). Sufism: Principles and Practice. Islamic Publications International. ISBN 1-889999-02-4.
• Bennett, John G. (1995). The Masters of Wisdom. Bennett Books. ISBN 1-881408-01-9.
• Clayer, Nathalie, Muslim Brotherhood Networks, European History Online, Mainz: Institute of European History, 2011, retrieved: 23 May 2011.
• Itzchak Weismann (2007). The Naqshbandiyya: Orthodoxy and Activism in a Worldwide Sufi Tradition. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-32243-0.
• Sheikh Hisham Kabbani (1995). The Naqshbandi Sufi Way History and Guidebook of the Saints of the Golden Chain. [kaza publications inc]. ISBN 9780934905343.
• Sufism in Central Asia A Force for Moderation or a Cause of Politicization? By Martha Brill Olcott.

• Media related to Naqshbandi order at Wikimedia Commons