Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani

Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani (470 or 471–561 AH / 1077 or 1078–1166 CE) was a Hanbali jurist, ascetic, preacher, and Sufi master based in Baghdad, to whom the Qadiriyya order is attributed Mujam al-Muallifin+1.

Lineage and Early Life

He was Abu Muhammad Abd al-Qadir ibn Abi Salih Abd Allah ibn Janki Dust al-Jili al-Baghdadi Majallat al-Buhuth al-Isl…+1. The nisbas al-Jili, al-Jilani, and al-Kaylani refer to the region of Gilan behind Tabaristan, where he was born Mawsuat al-Firaq al-Munta…+1. Some lineages extend his ancestry back to al-Hasan ibn Ali or al-Husayn ibn Ali Fawat al-Wafayat+1. His maternal grandfather was the ascetic Abu Abd Allah al-Sawma'i Mukhtasar Tabaqat al-Hana…+1. While sources widely place his birth in 470 or 471 AH, other reports give 490 or 491 AH Dhayl Tabaqat al-Hanabila…+1. He traveled to Baghdad as a young man in 488 AH to pursue higher learning Mawsuat al-Firaq al-Munta…+1.

Education and Spiritual Training

In Baghdad, he studied Hanbali jurisprudence, legal theory, and disputation under prominent jurists, including Abu Sa'd al-Mukharrimi, Abu al-Khattab al-Kalwadhani, Abu al-Wafa Ibn Aqil, and Abu al-Husayn ibn al-Farra Majallat al-Buhuth al-Isl…+1. He studied hadith under masters such as Abu Ghalib al-Baqillani, Ja'far ibn Ahmad al-Sarraj, and Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn al-Muzaffar ibn Sawsan, and studied literature and philology under Abu Zakariyya al-Tibrizi Fawat al-Wafayat+1.

He subsequently pursued a period of seclusion, rigorous asceticism, and wandering in the wilderness, and accompanied the ascetic master Hammad al-Dabbas, from whom he received spiritual instruction Fawat al-Wafayat+1. He also received the Sufi cloak (khirqa) from his teacher Abu Sa'd al-Mukharrimi Mukhtasar Tabaqat al-Hana…+1.

Teaching, Preaching, and Students

Al-Jilani began holding public preaching sessions around 520 or 521 AH, quickly gaining widespread popularity Mawsuat al-Firaq al-Munta…+1. Abu Sa'd al-Mukharrimi entrusted his madrasa in the Bab al-Azaj quarter of Baghdad to him; as the gatherings outgrew the facility, he held assemblies outside the city walls before the madrasa was eventually enlarged by public support al-Taj al-Mukallal min Ja…+1. In 528 AH, he officially assumed teaching and issuing legal verdicts (ifta') there Fawat al-Wafayat+1.

Numerous scholars and ascetics transmitted from him and attended his circles, including Abu Sa'd al-Sam'ani, Umar ibn Ali al-Qurashi, Muwaffaq al-Din Ibn Qudama, Abd al-Ghani al-Maqdisi, Abu Talib Abd al-Latif ibn al-Qubbayti, and his sons Abd al-Razzaq and Musa Tarikh al-Islam+1. When Ibn Qudama and Abd al-Ghani al-Maqdisi arrived in Baghdad in early 561 AH, al-Jilani accommodated them in his madrasa, where they studied under him for just over a month until his death Siyar Aalam al-Nubala+1.

Standing and Scholarly Profile

Biographers recognized al-Jilani as the leading Hanbali figure and spiritual authority of his era in Baghdad Mawsuat al-Firaq al-Munta…+1. Ibn al-Sam'ani described him as a pious, upright jurist, constant in remembrance and reflection Mawsuat al-Firaq al-Munta…+1. Izz al-Din ibn Abd al-Salam observed that the miraculous occurrences (karamat) ascribed to him were transmitted with unmatched frequency Fawat al-Wafayat+1. Ibn Qudama likewise remarked that he had not seen anyone more deeply revered by the public for the sake of religion Siyar Aalam al-Nubala+1. Later historians such as Ibn Kathir noted his piety and uprightness while observing that later devotees exaggerated some of the extraordinary states and sayings attributed to him al-Bidaya wa al-Nihaya.

In theology and jurisprudence, al-Jilani adhered strictly to the Hanbali school and the doctrines of early traditionalists (salaf), expressing these positions in works such as al-Ghunya li-Talibi Tariq al-Haqq ("Sufficient Provision for Seekers of the Path of Truth") and Futuh al-Ghayb ("Revelations of the Unseen") Mawsuat al-Firaq al-Munta…+2.

Death

Al-Jilani died on the night of Saturday, 8 Rabi' al-Akhar 561 AH (1166 CE), at the age of ninety Mujam al-Muallifin+1. He was buried that night inside his madrasa at Bab al-Azaj in Baghdad Mirat al-Zaman fi Tawarik…+1.