Hazrat Abū Ya’qūb Khwājā Yūsuf al-Hamadānī quddisa sirruh (440-535 AH) was an exalted shaykh of this noble path, from whom many of the well-known Sufi masters benefited. His deputies founded the Naqshbandiyyah, Yasaviyyah and Bektāshiyyah tariqahs, and founders of the Qadri and Chishti orders also benefited from his company.
He was born in 440 AH (1048) at Būzanjird, near Hamadān (present-day Iran). He received traditional education in Islamic sciences such as jurisprudence, Hadith, Tafsir and philosophy. He was a follower of the great Imam Abū Hanīfā. Later he was trained in the Sufi path by Khwājā Abū Alī Fārmadī, who is also known to be the Sufi master of Imam Ghazali.
Among his deputies are the following:
- Khwājā Abdullāh Barqī (d. 555 AH)
- Khwājā Hasan ibn Husain al-Andāqī (462-552 AH)
- Khwājā Ahmad al-Yasavī (d. 562 AH), founder of the Yasaviyyah Sufi Order
- Khwājā Abd al-Khāliq al-Ghujdawānī, founder of the Naqshbandiyyah Sufi method
He passed away during a journey from Herāt to Merv, in a small town called Bāmiyīn. He was buried there, but later his noble body was reburied in Merv, where his tomb still stands. His exact date of death is not known. He passed away in either Rajab or Rabī al-Awwal, in the year 535 AH (1140) at the age of ninety.
He was the keeper of the staff and turban of Sayyidinā Salmān al-FārsīraziyAllāhu anhu.
The next in the Naqshbandī Mujaddidī Tāhirī spiritual golden chain is Khwāja Abd al-Khāliq al-Ghujdawānī.
Relevant Books
- Rashahāt Ain al-Hayāt
- Nafahāt al-Uns, by Mawlānā Jāmī
- Manāzil al-Sā’irīn, attributed to Khwājā Yūsuf al-Hamadānī
- Manāzil al-Sālikīn, attributed to Khwājā Yūsuf al-Hamadānī
- Maqāmāt-i Yūsuf-i Hamadānī, attributed to Khwājā Abd al-Khāliq al-Ghujdawānī