The Khalwatiya: One Path, Various Branches  

The Concealed Pole, the Known Mohammedian Seal, the Seal of Special Mohammedian Sainthood, Shaykh Abil Abbas Sidi Ahmed Tijani (may Allah be pleased with him)

This Page is dedicated to my Shaykh, the Concealed Pole, the Known Mohammedian Seal, Shaykh Abil Abbas Tijani (may Allah sanctify his secrets) who has been a teacher of the Khalwatiya between 1187/1772  and 1196/1781. During these eight years, Sidna Shaykh Tijani (may Allah be pleased with him) initiated the Khalwatiya to the Allama Sidi Mohammed ibn al-Mishri Sibai (d. 1224/1809) and the Holy Mediator Sidi al-Haj Ali Harazem Berrada al-Fasi (d. 1212/1797) before he announced in 1196/1781 (46 in age) that his Ancestor the Holy Prophet (peace and blessing be upon him) authorized him in a daylight vision to establish his own order, the Tariqa Ahmediya Mohammediya Ibrahimiya Hanifiya, and not use any of the chains of authority of teacher-to-disciple that were the main stay of all the Sufi orders, bypassing the early Sufi masters. He was commanded by the Holy Prophet  (peace and blessing be upon him) to renounce all the orders that he was affiliated to and told him that he was to take the path directly from him, "You owe no favour to any of the Shaykhs of the path, for I am myself your medium and provider in every truth. Abandon all that you have taken from all other tariqas and hold fast to this tariqa without seclusion (khalwa), or retirement from people ('uzla), until you reach your promised maqam, and you are as you are, without hardship, difficulty, or strive, and abdicate all the saints."

One of the most widespread and ramified orders of Sufism is that of the Khalwatiya, which remained for generations one of Islam’s most important orthodox paths along with the Shadhiliya, the Qadiriya, and the Naqshbandiya. The very foundation of Sufism originated, of course, in Baghdad, but later succeeded in different parts of the world to take shape as institutions with standardized infrastructure, internal hierarchy of members and cloisters.  Sidi Abul Qacem al-Junaid (d. 297/882) appeared at the point of each initiatory Sufi chain, which mostly bear the names of their founders, who extended the scope and veneration of their names in distinct geographical areas; the Qadiriya in the Arab Peninsula and South East Asia, the Naqshbandiya in Eastern Arabia and the Caucasus, the Ahmediya Tijaniya and the Shadhiliya, of course, in the Maghreb, much of Africa, and South East Asia. The historical development of the Khalwatiya, on the other hand, may be conveniently divided into three periods, the first dating from the activity of Shaykh Abu Najib Suhrawardi (d. 563/1168) and flow of the order in Persia and India, the second the time of its origins and diffusion in the Caucasus, Anatolia, and Azerbaijan from the late fourteenth century to the end of the seventeenth century, the third from the late fifteenth century to the mid-nineteenth century in Egypt and the Maghreb. By the birth of this born-global Ahmediya Tijaniya of ours, it had lost its momentum. The page sheds lights on the complete history of the Khalwatiya in the Islamic world, especially in Caucasus, Anatolia, and Arabia including the Maghreb where a significant numbers of scholars joined the Khalwatiya path at the end of the eighteenth century.

The School of Abu Najib Suhrawardi: the Beginning

A descendent of the first caliph of Islam, Sidna Abu Bakr Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him), the venerated master, the grand mystic, the giant scholar,  Abu Najib Sidi Abdelqahir ibn Abdellah Suhrawardi al-Bikri (d. 563/1168 in Baghdad) was born in 1097 in the small town of Suhraward, near Zanjan, which is located west of Sultaniya, in the province of al-Jibal (in present day Iran).  After the Shaykh studied Islamic law in Baghdad, he started to teach esoteric knowledge at the Nidamiya Medrasa in 545/1150. Then after he established his order, the Suhrawardiya. And when he was initiated into Sufism at the hands of Shaykh Sidi Omar Bickri, he, then set up a retreat by the river Tigris, where he gathered disciples, which eventually came to be the Sufi order of Suhrawardiya. Sidi Omar Bickri is connected to the Holy Prophet (peace and blessing be upon him) through Sidi Wajduddin al-Qadi, Sidi Mohammed al-Bikri, Imam Taifa Sidi Abul Qacem al-Junaid (d. 297/882), Sidi Sari Saqati, Sidi Ma’ruf al-Karkhi, Sidi Dawud al-Jili, Sidi Habib al-Ajami, Sidi Hassan al-Basri, and Imam Sidna Ali Ibn Talib (may Allah glorifies his face).

Suhrawardi had also Sidi Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (d. 526/1111) as a teacher. Sidi Ahmed ibn Ali ibn Yusuf al-Buni (d. 621/1225) states in his work Manba’ Usul al-Hikmah (Source of the Essentials of Wisdom) that that he acquired his knowledge of the esoteric properities of the letters (ilm al-‘Huruf) from his personal teacher Abu Abdellah Shams al-Din al-Asfahani. Al- Asfahani’s chain is the following: Sidi Abu Abdellah Shamsuddin al-Asfahani, Sidi Jalaluddin Abdellah al-Bistami, Sidi al-Sarajani, Sidi Qasim al-Sarajani, Sidi Abdellah al-Babani, Sidi Asilluddin al-Shirazi, Sidi Abu al-Najab Suhrawardi, Sidi Abu Hamid al-Ghazali. Al-Ghazali himself took Sufism from Sidi Abi Ali al-Farimidi who in turn received it from Sidi Abul Hassan Ali ibn Ahmed Kharqani (d. 425/1033), who received it from the spirituality of Sidi Abi Yazid al-Bistami (d. 260/874), who received it from the spirituality of Sidi Jaafar Sadiq (d. 147/765), who received it from Sidi al-Qacem ibn Mohammed ibn Abi Bakr Siddiq, who received it from the companion Sidi Salman al-Farisi, who received it from the Righteous Caliph Sidna Abi Bakr Siddiq who received it from the Holy Prophet (peace and blessing be upon him). Thus the Junaidiya-Suhrawardiya was known for distinct rules and disciplines and methods. Shaykh Abu Najib Suhrawardi insisted on certain prerequisites before he would consider anyone as a potential pupil. In order to be considered as a candidate and accepted as a student, one was required to have solid knowledge of Islamic laws and Islamic theological doctrines. The disciplinary rules of the school are eight principles. 

A disciple must constantly observe the following: (1.) Ritual purity (ablution, a process of cleansing prior to prayer), (2.) Fasting , (3.) Silence , (4.) Seclusion , (5.) Invocation , (6.) Heart to heart connection with his shaykh at all times, (7.) Impure thoughts and impulses are to be put aside as they occur , (8.) Surrender him to the will of Allah and never refuse or question what Allah has imposed upon him, (9.) Moderation in eating and drinking when breaking a fast, and maintaining a bare minimum of sleep. Folks of people joined the Suhrawardiya under the founder's nephew Sidi Abu Hafs Omar ibn Habash Suhrawardi (d. 631/1234). Abu Hafs Omar studied theology from the prominent Sufi teacher Shaykh al-Qutb Mawlana Abdellqadir Jilani (d. 1166/1166) and was eventually initiated into Sufism by his uncle. He was born in 548/1154 in Suhraward. He spent a few years in southwest Anatolia, associated with Seljuq rulers and then moved to Aleppo in 578/1183. There, he was received by Malik az-Zahir al-Din, the son of Saladin Ayyubi. At the age of thirty-two, he completed his magnum opus Hikmat al-Ishraq ("Theosophy of the Orient of Light") in 581/1186. Certain other works, especially his Hayakil al-nur (Temples of light), are also of much importance for the doctrine. In addition, his best extant Sufi text, “Awarif al-Ma’arif” (The Benefits of the Spiritually Learned) was one of the more popular Sufi books of his time, and after his death it became the standard preparatory textbook for Sufi novices.

“The law (shari’a) requires adab (courtesy). Where adab is not found there is no law, no faith, and no God consciousness.” —Abu Hafs Omar Suhrawardi, Awarif al-Ma’arif

In 596/1200, the Abbasid caliph al-Nasir (d. 621/1225) designated Suhrawardi as "Shaykh al-Islam," the prestigious position that administered the religious affairs for the state, which resulted in Suhrawardi advocating for Sufi—state cooperation and emphasizing the role of his own Sufi order at the forefront of Islamic religious politics. The Shaykh, took recourse to active life, renounced reclusion and excessive fasting, maintained close contacts with the authorities, and undertook diplomatic missions and political settlement of conflicts. His luxurious cloister in Baghdad, with gardens and bath houses, was specially built for him by Caliph an-Nasir, on whose behalf Abu Hafs travelled as an ambassador to the Ayyubid Sultan Malik al-Adil I of Egypt, to Khwarezm-Shah Mohammed of Bukhara and to Kaiqubad I, the Seljuk ruler of Konya. His son is buried in Tashkent (Khwarezm). His tragic downfall came in 586/1191 when he was accused of corrupting the religion and laying claim to prophecy. The exact charges, which led to his martyrdom, are a matter of scholastic controversy.

After Suhrawardi was martyred, followers of his teachings went underground for a generation. But in the middle thirteenth century two major commentaries on Hikmat al-ishraq appeared, the first by Sidi Shams al-Din Shahrazuri and the second by Sidi Qutb al-Din Shirazi, the next two major figures of the Suhrawardiya. From that time on, the teachings of this school became widespread, especially in Persia itself from which Suhrawardi had hailed. Such figures as al-Allama Sidi al-Hilli and Sidi Jalal al-Din Dawani wrote commentaries on Suhrawardi in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The founder of the School of Isfahan, Sidi Mir Damad, who lived in the Safavid period that began in Persia in 904/1499 and lasted until the eighteenth century, was influenced by Suhrawardi. Shaykh Sidi Mulla Sadra, his student, wrote one of the major works of the Suhrawardiya, his annotations on the Suhrawardiya.

Sidi Abu Hafs Omar Suhrawardi directed his disciples Sidi Jalaluddin Bukhari (“Shah Mir Surkh-Posh”; 689/1291) and Sidi Bahauddin Zakariya al-Hachimi d. 660/1262) to make Multan, Punjab, Pakistan, the center of his activity —at a time when Sidi Abul Hassan Shadhili (d. 656/1241) and Sidi Muhyiddin b. Arabi (d. 636/1221) were active in the Maghreb. They had many followers there, including Sidi Fathallah Shirazi and Sidi Mohammed Sharif Hirawi. Sidi Bahauddin Zakariya was born at Kot Kehror, a town of Layyah District near Multan around 565/1170. His grandfather Shah Kamaluddin Ali Shah arrived Multan from Mecca en route to Khwarezm where he stayed for a short while. He was appointed a caliph only after 17 days of stay at Abu Hafs’ zawiya in Baghdad. Sultan Iltutmish (“Altamash”; 633/1236), the third Muslim Turkic sultan of the Sultanate of Delhi and the third ruler of the Mamluk dynasty, appointed him as "Shaykh al-Islam" after the invasion of Multan and topple its ruler, Qabacha. During the Mongol invasion he became the peace negotiator between invaders and Muslim army. In India, the Suhrawardiya attracted even the attention of Hindus and the Parsis.

Likewise, the teachings of the Suhrawardiya spread widely in the Ottoman Empire, especially in Anatolia, and produced some notable figures such as Sidi Ismail Anqarawi, who lived in the seventeenth century. Another Suhrawardi, Shaykh Sidi Fakhruddin Iraqi buried at Konya received formal initiation into the Sufi way under Sidi Bahauddin Zakariya. Sidi Fakhruddin Iraqi lived in Multan for 25 years as one of the Suhrawardis, composing poetry. As Shaykh Bahauddin was dying, he named Sidi Fakhruddin Iraqi to be his successor. When it became known that Iraqi had been named head of the Suhrawardiya, some in the order became jealous and denounced him to the Sultan who sought to have Iraqi arrested. Sidi Fakhruddin Iraqi fled the area with a few close companions, and they eventually made their way to Mecca and Madinah. Later they moved north to Konya, in what is now Turkey. This was Konya at the time of the Qutb Sidi Jalaluddin Rumi (d. 672/1273). Iraqi often listened to Sidi Jalaluddin teach and recite poetry, and later attended Rumi's funeral.

Sidi Jalaluddin Rumi was born on the Eastern shores of the Persian Empire on 603/1207 (in the city of Balkh in what is now Afghanistan), and finally settled in the town of Konya. Rumi's father Sidi Mohammed ibn Hussein Khatibi, (“Baha' al-Din Walad”), was an outstanding Sufi in Balkh. He is the author of the Ma'arif, a masterpiece of Sufism. When Rumi was about twelve or thirteen years old, Baha al-Din Walad left the Eastern provinces of Persia with his whole family and a group of disciples and travelled westward. It is said that in Naishapur (Iran) he met the renowned Persian Sufi poet Sidi Farid al-Din al-Attar and presented Jalaluddin to him. The family settled for some time in Aleppo and Damascus, where Rumi is said to have studied. He perhaps met al-Qutb al-Kamil Sidi Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi (d. 636/1221) or his students. From Syria the family travelled to Laranda, where Rumi's mother, Sayyida Mumine Khatun, died.

Sidi Baha' al-Din died in Konya when Rumi was 24 years of age. Around a year after his father's death, Rumi met Sidi Burhan al-Din Muhaqqiq Tirmidhi (d. 637/1240), who was himself a disciple of his father. For nine years Rumi practiced Sufism as a disciple of Burhan al-Din until the latter died in 1240. During this period Rumi also travelled to Damascus and is said to have spent four years there. In about 641/1244 Rumi's life was transformed through his encounter with Sidi Shams ad-Din Tabrizi, a wandering master who was formerly from Tabriz (Iran), who had entered Konya that year after spending some time in Baghdad. Shams ad-Din was a mysterious and powerful Sufi, who fled social connections. For over two years he and Shams ad-Din were very closely associated, living in the same house. Shams ad-Din disappeared unexplainably in 644/1247. Even his death remains a mystery and he has several tombs which have remained sites of pilgrimage, to this day. Sidi Jalaluddin Rumi subsequently composed approaching to 30,000 verses of poetry, the Lyrics of Shams of Tabriz, expressing his feelings at the disappearance of his master. After the death of Shams, Rumi met an illiterate goldsmith, Sidi Salahuddin Zarkub (d. 655/1258). Sidi Husam ad-Din Chelebi became leader of the Mawlawiya order upon Rumi's death in 672/1273.

Although Sidi Fakhruddin al-Iraqi was nominally the head (in exile) of a large and respected Sufi order, he humbly became the disciple of another Sufi master— Sidi Sadruddin Qunawi, who also lived in Konya at the time. Sidi Sadruddin Qunawi was the son-in-law of the recently deceased Sufi philosopher al-Qutb al-Kamil Sidi Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi of Andalusia (d. 636/1221). Sidi Sadruddin Qunawi was perhaps the preeminent Sufi teacher in Konya at the time, even better known than his neighbor Sidi Jalaluddin Rumi. Iraqi was deeply devoted to Shaykh Qunawi and to the teachings of Shaykh al-Akbar Sidi Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi. Shaykh al-Akbar had numerous masters including Sidi Abdurrahman al-Tamimi al-Fasi (d. 1206), Moulay Boushayb as-Sarya (d. 561/1146), Sidi Abu Yaaza Yalnour (d. 572/1157), and Sidi Abu Madyan al-Ghawt (d. 594/1179) –all from Morocco. It was a series of speeches Shaykh Qunawi delivered on the esoteric meaning of Ibn 'Arabi's great works that inspired Iraqi to compose his own masterpiece of commentary and poetry named the Lama'at (Divine Flashes). When Sidi Fakhruddin Iraqi died he was buried near Sidi Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi's tomb at Damascus, Syria.

Demise of the Suhrawardiya and Rise of the Khalwatiya

On the doctrinal plane, Shaykh Sidi Omar al-Khalwati (“Abu Abdellah Sidi Siraj al-Din Omar b. Ikmal al-Din al-Ahji”; d. 800/1397), was probably the founder in only a restricted sense, as he transferred the name of the order from the Suhrawardiya into the Khalwatiya, a title that permanently passed on to his followers. Sidi Omar al-Khalwati emphasizes the importance of meditation and withdraw for spiritual communion, - in other words, to be alone with God. Thus the order takes its name from the Arabic word khalwa, a method of retreat. Khalwa of this sort may go well to the initial three centuries of Islam; it is certain that it was being generally practiced by Sufis at least by the end of the fifth/eleventh century, and its origins go back much before that time. Sidi Omar al-Khalwati took the khirqa from Sidi Mohamed Balisi, who had it from Sidi Ibrahim Zahid Kilani, Sidi Jamaluddin Tabrizi, Sidi Chabudin Mohammed Shirazi, Sidi Ruknuddin Mohammed Najachi, Sidi Qutbuddin Abhari, Sidi Abu Najib Suhrawardi (d. 563/1168).

“I was a hidden treasure and I longed to be known. So I created the Creation so that I may be known.” (Hadith Qudsi); “In the beginning was Allah, and beside Him there was nothing - and He remains as He was.” (Hadith); “Divine unity (tawhid) is the return of man to his origin, so that he will become as he was before he came into being. (Al-Junayd); “The blessed heart in no way falsified that which he saw.” (Quran 53:11); “Then he approached (Allah) and came closer, And was at a distance of but two bow-lengths or (even) nearer.” (Quran 53:8-9) “When you threw, it was not your act, but Allah’s. (Quran 8:17) “Those who swear allegiance to you (O Holy Prophet), do indeed in fact swear allegiance to Allah; Allah’s Hand of Power is above their hands.” (Quran 48:10) "Travel beyond the confines of this life and see the vastness of His kingdom beyond space. Let your ear listen to what it has not heard before, and your eye see what it has not seen, until it leads you to where you see the One of the world and all the worlds. Express your passion for the One from your heart and soul until you see the Reality with the eye of certainty. There is only One and nothing but Him, He is Alone and there is no God but Him." (Sidi Mohammed ibn Ali al-Baqir)

A retreat (khalwa) is the backdrop for the Khalwatiya order. “Khalwa” basically refers to a solitary retreat in places like caves; “And your Lord revealed to the bee saying: Make hives in the mountains” (Quran 16:68), or in other places like zawiyas (“In houses that Allah allowed to be raised and in which His name is mentioned.  He is exalted therein morning and afternoon by men who are not distracted by business and selling from the remembrance of Allah” (Quran 31:36-37). The khalwa is held either for 7 or 40 days during which a disciple does extensive spiritual exercises under the direction of a master. A khalwa is traditionally for 40 days. The primary model for Khalwati accounts of retreat was the Prophet’s (peace and blessing be upon him) prayer and fasting in the cave of ‘Hira for 40 days. The number 40 is very significant. It describes a different reality to different sciences. In mathematics 40 is an octagonal number, and the sum of the first four pentagonal numbers, it is a pentagonal pyramidal number, and a semiperfect number. 40 is also a repdigit in base 3 (1111). (In Sufi terms, number 1111 is the multiplication of the 11 letters of the Greatest Concealed Name. According to Sufi literature, the Greatest Name contains 11 letters and it is read 11/111/1111 times. “I did see eleven stars." [Quran 12:4]. Number 111 stands also for the digit of Mohammedian Sciences.”) In science 40 is the atomic number of zirconium. In Islam 40 is repeated a number of times.

• The Holy Prophet (peace and blessing be upon him) said through so many chains from the Companions Sidna Ali, Sidna Ibn Abbas, and others, “Whoever wholly dedicates to Allah 40 days, the wellsprings of wisdom shall appear from his heart to his tongue."

• Forty is the age of Prophethood (nubuwa). The Holy Prophet (peace and blessing be upon him) was 40 years old when he first received the revelation delivered by the archangel Gabriel. “Mohammed was not the father of any man among you. He was a messenger of God and the final prophet. God is fully aware of all things.” (Quran 33:40)

•  Forty is the age of the “Absolute Poleship" (al-Qutbaniya al-'Udhma). “We enjoined the human being to honor his parents. His mother bore him arduously, gave birth to him arduously, and took intimate care of him for thirty months. When he reaches maturity, and reaches the age of forty, he should say, "My Lord, direct me to appreciate the blessings You have bestowed upon me and upon my parents, and to do the righteous works that please You. Let my children be righteous as well. I have repented to You; I am a submitter." (Quran 46:15),

• The Holy Prophet (peace and blessing be upon him) was praying and fasting in the cave for 40 days,

• Prophet Sidna Musa (peace be upon him) spent 40 days on Mount Sinai where he received the 10 commandments. "And when We appointed (a period of) forty nights with Moses."(Quran 2:51), “We summoned Moses for thirty nights, and completed them by adding ten. Thus, the audience with his Lord lasted forty nights” (Quran 7:142),

• Forty was the number of days that Prophet Ilyas spent in the wilderness before God appeared to him in a cave on Mount Sinai (also known as Mount Horeb),

• Sayyida Khadija was 40 years old when she married the Holy Prophet (peace and blessing be upon him),

• Allah Most High revealed to the Holy Prophet (peace and blessing be upon him) to keep away 40 days from Sayyida Khadija. During these days, he fasted and engaged only in worship and prayer. At the end of 40 days, the Holy Prophet (peace and blessing be upon him) ate a heavenly apple, then Lady Khadija became pregnant of Sayyida Fatimah, chieftain of womankind. Shaykh Abil Abbas Tijani said as reported in Jawahir al-Maani: “As for the fact that Fatima did not menstruate, it was due to the formation of her genital fluid, which originated from the Prophet eating one of the apples of the Garden of Paradise. That is why the Prophet said about her "She is a human houri".    

• When Allah Most High commanded the Holy Prophet (peace and blessing be upon him), to call his close relatives (Ahl al-Bayt) for Islam - "And warn your nearest relatives" (Quran 26:214), the Prophet told Sidna Ali ibn Abi Talib to prepare a meal and invite their relatives, who numbered 40.

• Qudsi Hadiths are 40 in number,

• Guided Viceregency (Khilafa Rachida) lasted for 40 years after the death of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessing be upon him),

• Imam Sidna Ali ibn Abi Talib died at the year 40 after Hijra.

• Prophet Ibrahim (peace be upon him) spent 40 days in a fire. "We said: O fire! Be cool and a means of safety for Ibrahim” (Quran 21:69),

• Prophet Sidna Musa (peace be upon him) traveled 40 years in the desert,

• People of Israel wandered 40 years in the desert. “Allah said: ‘Therefore will the land be out of their reach for forty years; in distraction will they wander through the land: but sorrow thou not over these rebellious people.’" (Quran 5:26),

• Prophet Sidna Yunus was in a whales mouth for 40 days. “Then the big Fish did swallow him, and he had done acts worthy of blame. Had it not been that he (repented and) glorified Allah, He would certainly have remained inside the Fish till the Day of Resurrection.” (Quran 37:144),

• Prophets Sidna Dawud and Sidna Suleiman each ruled for forty years,

• Forty was the number of days that the Messiah Sidna Isa (Jesus) was tempted in the desert by Satan,

• Prophet Sidna Isa walked the desert and fasted in the wilderness for 40 days,

• The Dajjal roams around the Earth in 40 days, 40 days that can be as many as 40 months, 40 years,  

• The Holy Prophet (peace and blessing be upon him) said that one who memorizes and preserves forty hadith relating to their religious needs shall be raised by Allah as a learned scholar on the Day of Resurrection.

• “The Holy Prophet (peace and blessing be upon him) beat a drunk with palm-leaf stalks and shoes. And Abu Bakr gave (such a sinner) 40 lashes.” (Bukhari 8:764, Narrated Anass bin Malik)

• The Holy Prophet (peace and blessing be upon him) said "If anyone drinks wine Allah will not accept prayer from him for forty days, but if he repents Allah will forgive him." (Tirmidhi Nasa'i, Ibn Majah)

• The Holy Prophet (peace and blessing be upon him) said that the prayers of a person who gossips would not be accepted for forty days and nights.

• Umm Salamah, wife of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessing be upon him), said, "Women experiencing post-natal bleeding would refrain from formal prayer for 40 days or 40 nights. (Sahih Muslim, vol. 1, pg.191, no.662)

There are many conditions of khalwa, according to the Khalwatiya Order: 

• Entering the place of khalwa the way a mosque is entered, performing ablution before entering it, seeking help from the spirit of the Sufi master. “For each one of them we provide; we provide for those and these from your Lord's bounties. Your Lord's bounties are inexhaustible.” (Quran 17:20) “There is a mosque whose foundation was laid from the first day on piety; it is more worthy of thy standing forth (for prayer) therein. In it are men who love to be purified; and Allah love those who make themselves pure.” (Quran 9:108) “When Moses came to the place ( Mount Tur ) appointed by Us, and his Lord addressed him, he said: "O my Lord! Show (Thyself) to me, that I may look upon Thee." (Quran 7:143)

• The khalwa place should be clean, peaceful, dark, and the retreater should surrender all worldly and exterior religious affairs, as the first step toward surrendering his own existence. “Indeed Allah does not change His favour upon any nation until they change their own condition.” (Quran 13:11) “In houses that Allah allowed to be raised and in which His Name is mentioned.  He is exalted therein morning and afternoon by men who are not distracted by business and selling from the remembrance of Allah” (Quran: 31:36-37) “Which none shall touch but those who are clean” (Quran 56:79) “Truly did Allah fulfill the vision for His Messenger: You shall enter the Sacred mosque, if Allah wills, with minds secure, heads, shaved, hair cut short, and without fear. For He knew what ye knew not and He granted besides this a speedy victory.” (Quran 48:27) “We see the turning of thy face to the heavens: now shall We turn thee to a Qibla that shall please you.” (Quran 2:144)

• Assiduity in dhikr must be maintained in order that the Remembered One may, at the final stage, make Himself manifest to the retreater. The heart of the retreater must be perpetually attached to the Holy Prophet (peace and blessing be upon him) or his master, who has been appointed by Allah to guide him, so Sufis allege. He is to keep each retreater's company constantly, spiritually as well as physically. “I am looking at you all the time” “Tell the believing men that they shall subdue their eyes” (Quran 24:30) “And those who believe in Allah and His messengers― they are the Sincere (Lovers of Truth) and the witnesses (who testify), in the eyes of their Lord” (Quran 57:19). "There has already been for you a Sign in the two armies that met: one was fighting in the cause of Allah the other resisting Allah; these saw with their own eyes twice their number. But Allah doth support with His aid whom He please In this is a warning for such as have eyes to see." (Quran 3:13) “Take warning then, O ye with eyes (to see).” (Quran 59:2)

• "The retreater should also visualize the meanings of the words of the invocation, if he is capable of understanding them.  If not, he should listen to what he is remembering with his tongue, in order to keep his mind from drifting away from his purpose." (Jawahir al-Ma’ani)

• The retreater must keep silent throughout the forty days of his khalwa even if he goes out for some reason. “(Zakariya) said ‘O my Lord! Give me a Sign." "The Sign", was the answer "shall be that you shall speak to no man for three nights, although thou art not dumb.’” (Quran 98:10)

In his book, Journey to the Lord of Power, Sidi Muhyiddin b. Arabi (d. 636/1221) discusses the stages through which the Sufi passes in his khalwah,

"The Sufi should shut his door against the world for 40 days and occupy himself with remembrance of Allah, that is to keep repeating, "Allah, Allah..." Then, "Almighty God will spread before him the degrees of the kingdom as a test. First, He will discover the secrets of the mineral world. If he occupies himself with dhikr, He (God) will unveil to the secrets of the vegetable world, then the secrets of the animal world, then the infusion of the world of life-force into lives, then the "surface sign" (the light of the Divine Names, according to Abdul-Karim al-Jili), then the degrees of speculative sciences, then the world of formation and adornment and beauty, then the degrees of the qutb. Then he will be given the divine wisdom and the power of symbols and authority over the veil and the unveiling. The degree of the Divine Presence is made clear to him, the Garden and Hell are revealed to him, then the original forms of the son of Adam, the Throne of Mercy. If it is appropriate, he will know his destination. Then he will reveal to him the Pen, the First Intellect, then the Mover of the Pen, the right hand of the Truth. (The "Truth" as defined by al-Jili is that by which everything is created, none other than God most High.)

Global influence

If Sidi Omar al-Khalwati taught the path to many students such as Sidi Mohammed Abram al-Khalwati, who followed his favorite style of meditation in a hollow tree (not every khalwa needs to be in a building) and revered him greatly, he was not the man to propel an order very far in the institutional sense. This task was reserved to the second master, Shaykh Sidi Yahya Shirvani (d. 867/1463), from Shamakhi (Azerbaijan) in the Caucasus. In contrast with Omar al-Khalwati, a rather shadowy figure who is said to have died about 800/1397 in Tabriz or Herat, Shaykh Yahya Shirvani, Contemporary of Sidi Mohammed al-Jazouli (d. 869/1454), is a well-attested historical personality. In his time, the Caucasus, Azerbaijan, and Anatolia were regions of great religious ferment and movement, areas of much political instability. A number of factors obtaining in those regions at the time are worth brief consideration.

In the wake of the depredations of the Mongols and then of Timur, the settled elements of the population in these places had taken second place before an influx of Turkish-speaking nomads. They circulated in and among the big towns, such as Ardabil and Tabriz in Azerbaijan and Shamakhi and Baku in Shirvan. Migrants from the East, the nomads had brought with them a Turkish folk Islam, a simplistic set of beliefs which had little in common with the Sunni orthodoxy of the period, whether of the Anatolian Saljuq type or the standard Shafi'i variety of Persia itself. In an unsettled, nomad-dominated society which was free to move East and west anywhere north of the boundaries of the Mamluk domains, the nomad, the learned man (‘alim), or the Sufi shaykh could go almost where he liked. As they moved, religious and social ideas also moved. The towns and cities of this vast region all had their "holy men," Sufi shaykhs. The meetings of these religious leaders, gatherings for the dhikr, enabled the local shaykhs to win many adherents. It was in a situation much like this that the activities of Shaykh Shirvani were taking place. Like the religious and social spheres, the political scene too was fluid. Safavid ghazis or march warriors from Ardabil were periodically raiding and slaving along the northern confines of Shirvan under their leaders Shaykhs Junayd and Haydar, much as the Ottomans were doing further west. These two shaykhs were helped along politically by their family ties to the White Sheep Turcoman dynasty. With the decay of the White Sheep, the Safavids under Isma'il were able; by 1500, to mold their brotherhood into the state.

About 1460, Sidi Yahya Shirvani moved from Shamakhi to Baku after dispute with a rival Sufi. After settling at Baku, Yahya soon created a significant Khalwati centre. According to the Ottoman historian and hagiographer Ahmad Tashkóprüzade, Sidi Yahya; "attracted around him ten thousand people. He sent his khalifas to all parts of the region, and was the first person to do this..." Sidi Yahya also had a number of disciples like Sidi Ilyas of Amasya and Sidi Zakariya al-Khalwati, who were instrumental in moving the headquarters of the Khalwati nucleus to Amasya in north central Anatolia after their shaykh's death in 867/1463. Their move from Baku to Amasya may have been connected with Pir Ilyas's personal origins, or if they had been the allies of the Safavids in the last campaign of Shaykh Junayd in 1460, when he was defeated and killed by the Shirvanshah Sultan Khalil. The problem is to define the exact relation between the Safavids and Khalwatiya, which have a number of things in common, such as similar practices, doctrines, and joint origins.

With the transfer of the Khalwati nucleus to Amasya, the inner circle of the order gave it a decisive new direction. To follow the careers of these men, Sidi Dede Omar Aydini or Aydinli, Sidi Habib Qaramani, and Pir Sidi Ahmad al-Erzinjani (also known as Mulla Piri) is to see the next stage of the development of the Khalwatiya. One important figure, however, remained behind in Azerbaijan. This was Dede Omar Aydini Rawshani. He had begun his education as a theological student at Bursa, according to Tashko had sent his son Bayazid there as governor, to learn something of the practical side of government. Another son, Jem, had been sent to Konya for the same purpose. The princes were their father's representatives in their respective provinces. They were guided by the older members of a little court. Here, surrounded by his own following, each prince would make ready for the great test of his life, the day when his father would die and he would be called to the throne. By custom, the prince who reached Istanbul first and held it succeeded, killing his remaining brothers to prevent civil war.

If Prince Bayazid was a worldly person, he was inclined at intervals to mysticism and the company of mystics. Within his court at Amasya were; a great number of shaykhs of brotherhoods who vied with each other for his attention and favor. One of them was a gifted pupil of Sidi Ahmad al-Erzinjani, Shaykh Sidi Mohammed Jamal al-Din al-Aqsara'i (better known as “Chelebi Khalifa”; d. 905/1500), who had also studied under Sidi Ala al-Din Ali al-Qaramani. By the age of the Qutb Sidi Abdellaziz Tabba'a (d. 914/1499) when Chelebi Khalifa eventually succeeded to the highest rank among the Khalwatis of Amasya, gaining the title of Shaykh al-Sajjada. Like the other courtiers of Amasya, the Khalwatis were aware of the increasing hostility being shown in the late 1470s by Mehmet the Conqueror (Mohammed al-Fatih) to his son Bayazid. The Sultan frequently interfered in the provincial affairs of Amasya: in 1478 he condemned to death three men who were close to Bayazid. One was caught and executed, but two escaped, perhaps warned in time by the prince.

Another affair of the same time which must have fueled the resentment of the ruler against Bayazid was the episode of Sidi 'Ala al-Din Ali, elder brother of Sidi Dede Omar Rawshani (d. 929/1523) and one of the teachers of Chelebi Khalifa. From Karaman, like his brother, Sidi Ali al-Din Ali was a great Sufi teacher—according to Tashkóprüzade he could "send people into ecstasy with a word or a glance." When this remarkable Khalwati shaykh turned up in Istanbul (some time between 1475 and 1480), the Sultan became very suspicious. With the exception of a few Qaramanlis, like his grand vazir Qaramanli Mehmet Pasha, persons from this region were suspect. It had just been reincorporated into the Ottoman Empire a few years before, having been an independent emirate. And Mehmet II's intelligence service had doubtless informed him that Dede Omar in Tabriz  had been a friend of his old enemy Uzun Hasan, and an intimate of Sultan Yaqub and Saljuq Khatun. As a Sufi, he might not necessarily favor the dynasty. As Tashkóprüzade reports: "the Shaykh ['Ala al-Din] went to the city of Qustantiniya (Constantinople) in the time of Sultan Mehmet Khan. The important and the influential gathered around him, and the rest of the people, too. Sultan Mehmet Khan feared him, that some misfortune might befall the state, and politely ordered him to go elsewhere..."

In the spring of 885/1481, Bayazid and his court at Amasya were much disturbed by rumors from Istanbul that Qaramanli Mehmet Pasha had suggested to his master that the throne should pass to Jem. Bayazid was to be killed. As allies of Bayazid, the Khalwatiya and Chelebi Khalifa now deliberately entered the obscure world of high Ottoman politics, where intrigue, treachery, and murder were commonplace. Bayazid gave credence to the stories from Istanbul, and Tashkóprüzade tells us that he repeatedly pleaded with Chelebi Khalifa to do something to assure his political future. Chelebi Khalifa now emerges but in a new role. By his ability to peer into the future (firasa), to see in a vision what the ruler, his vazir, and their man were doing, Chelebi Khalifa was able to anticipate and to frustrate their moves. Bayazid won in the end, and when the news reached Amasya of the unexpected deaths of Mehmet II and the minister, Bayazid took the road for Istanbul.

The thirty-year reign of "Sufi Bayazid" (885/1481-916/1511), was the real heyday of the Khalwati order in Ottoman Turkey. The sultan himself attended Sufi circles. It may be that the tradition of Khalwati membership among certain urban classes of the Ottoman military, the upper ranks of the civil service, and aristocratic persons generally began in this era. Basking in royal favor, the Khalwatiya had no need to be anything but orthodox. Chelebi Khalifa saw to it that the order consolidated its position. At royal request, the headquarters of the order were moved from Amasya to Istanbul, and when Chelebi Khalifa and his men reached the capital, they were presented with a former Byzantine church to remodel into a zawiya or Sufi lodge. Royal favor for the Khalwatiya could not have been more marked: the rebuilding of the former church was entrusted by Bayazid to his vazir Khwaja Mustafa Pasha, and the zawiya, to be the citadel of the Khalwatis in Istanbul for a very long time, was known by the minister's name. Bayazid turned over his son Ahmad to Chelebi Khalifa to be educated. Thus Bayazid repaid the huge political debt he owed to the order.

About 905/1500, Chelebi Khalifa, who had served as the head of the order in its most crucial move and through an important period of establishment in the capital, died. There was no political contest within the order over the succession, as would sometimes happen in the future; in many orders such disputes led to splits and schisms and new branches. The succession to the carpet of the shaykh al-sajjada passed finally to Chelebi Khalifa's son-in-law, Shaykh Sidi Sunbul Sinan (d. 935/1529). Sinan was a man of much spiritual power, and after the death of the order's royal patron in 1511, these qualities would be much in demand. The demise of Bayazid was clearly a watershed for the Khalwatiya. If the order was too well rooted, too powerful, and too well-liked by the population to be overturned, it would nevertheless be the target of serious attacks from both the new Sultan, Selim I, and the ulama, which would shake it, but not discredit it. "And if there is a party among you who believes in the Message with which I have been sent and a party which does not believe hold yourselves in patience until Allah does decide between us: for He is the best to decide." (Quran 7:87)

Selim I was suspicious of his father's vazir, Khwaja Mustafa Pasha, and had had him killed. He knew that Khwaja Mustafa had helped his brother Ahmad in the succession contest, and believed that the vazir had been implicated in the unsolved mystery around the death of his uncle Jem. The Khalwatiya was closely associated with the old regime: indeed their principal zawiya had been built by the obnoxious minister. Selim now decided to have it torn down. According to a miracle of Sidi Sinan workmen sent for the task were confronted by a very angry Khalwati shaykh who turned them away. Hearing that the workmen could not or would not do the work of demolition, the Sultan jumped on his horse and went himself to the zawiya. Here he encountered Sidi Sinan in his Sufi dress or khirqa and hundreds of silent disciples. Selim was speechless. His anger left him, because of the spiritual power of Sunbul Sinan. The two men were reconciled and the order for the destruction of the Khalwati convent was canceled. Here again, the political power of the Shaykh and his order had been demonstrated to the ruler, who recoiled, which is the real point of the anecdote.

If the short but eventful reign of Selim I had not been a very favorable period for the Khalwatiya, the age of Sulayman the Magnificent (1520-1566) and that of his son Selim II (1566-1574) was an era of favor. But by the time of Sulayman, the leaders of the Khalwatiya had learned that they could not be too closely identified with one monarch, for if they did they risked a time of disfavor under the next one. In the case of Sulayman Qanuni, the sultan may have been guided to the Khalwatiya by his mother, the Crimean princess Aishe Sultan, who had come into contact with the important Khalwati shaykh Sidi Muslih al-Din Merkez Efendi, later to be the successor of Sidi Sunbul Sinan at the convent of Mustafa Pasha. Although Sulayman had interests in other brotherhoods, he maintained his ties to the Khalwatiya.

During the reigns of Sulayman and Selim II the Khalwatiya expanded both in the capital and in the provinces. It acquired or had built a number of new zawiyas in Istanbul, and many more elsewhere. As new areas were conquered by the Ottoman armies, new extensions and branches of the Khalwatiya appeared to keep pace with the additions to the Dar al-Islam. In Egypt, the Gulshaniya branch of the order under Sidi Ibrahim Gulshani was making progress, and numbers of followers of Sunbul Sinan had settled in Albania. The surroundings of Istanbul itself, and Anatolia and Rumelia now supported an increasing number of Khalwati centers. The old branch at Amasya was still functioning, while at Kastamuni, the mushrooming suborder of the Shabaniya, named for its founder Sidi Shaban Veli, enlisted many adherents. In Bulgaria the Khalwatis could be seen in the upper Maritsa Valley and the vicinity of Sofia. Edirne (Adrianople) Stip, Philoppopolis, and Tatar Pazarjiq were also among the important Ottoman provincial towns having settled groups of Khalwatis.

The famous Khalwati shaykh, Sidi Niyazi al-Misri (d. 1105/1694) was doubtless the most famous of the Anatolian Khalwatis of the late seventeenth century. He was renowned for his poetry and his mystical achievements. Most important, perhaps, he opposed the government, having the sort of personality of its earlier leaders, in tune with the masses and their religious aspirations. Some of his public statements could have been made by Shaykh Sidi Badr al-Din himself. He had connections with many brotherhoods, including the Qadiriya and Naqshbandiya, likewise the Bayramiya, which was considered by many Turks to be a barely camouflaged branch of the Safaviya in Turkey. He was closest, however, to the Khalwatiya branch of his first teacher, who had belonged to the Sha'baniya. About 1079/1669, a trader who admired him built a zawiya for him in Kiitahya. Three years later, he made some public remarks having political implications, based on a piece of clairvoyance (firasa). For this he was banished to Rhodes. After a short time he returned, but was banished to Lemnos in 1086/1676 for a similar offense. After fifteen years of exile, he was allowed to return home again in Aigi. On a visit to Adrianople in 1101/1690, during a war with Austria, Niyazi's unabashed public statements caused his second and final exile to Lemnos in 1693, where he died the following year.

Khalwati Influence in Egypt

The Khalwatiya began to make its mark in the urban centers of Egypt just before 905/1500. The first Khalwatis to reach Egypt were a trio of Turks, all of them students of Chelebi Khalifa’s master, , Sidi Dede Omar Rawshani (d. 929/1523) in Tabriz; Sidi Shahin al-Khalwati (d. 953/1547), Sidi Shams al-Din Mohammed Damirdash al-Mohammedi (d. 930/1523), and Sidi Ibrahim b. Mohammed Gulshani (d. 940/1534). The first two were Azeri Turks from Azerbaijan, while Gulshani came from a village near Diyarbakir. All three of them seem to have arrived in Egypt by the time of the sultan Qansawh al-Ghawri, about 905/1500. The great Sufi Qutb, Sidi Abdelwahhab Sha’rani (d. 973/ 1565) says that Sidi Shahin al-Khalwati had been a Mamluk in Sultan Qaytbay’s army (ca. 1465-1495). Sidi Shahin al-Khalwati had been one of the intimates of Qaytbay, but military life did not agree with his contemplative nature, and he eventually requested that the sultan grant him his freedom so that he could devote himself to prayer. Having been affranchised, he went back to Tabriz and joined Sidi Omar Rawshani, who initiated him into the Khalwatiya. He then returned to Egypt, where he became a companion of Mohammed Damirdash. After his spiritual master's death, Shahin built a zawiya for himself under the Muqattam Ridge near Cairo. There he built a place of worship for himself; it is said that he stayed in the hills for 30 years, never descending to Cairo.

“Allah possesses a drink which is reserved for his intimate friends (awliya): when they drink they become intoxicated, when they become intoxicated they become joyful, when they become joyful they become sweet, when they become sweet they begin to melt, when they begin to melt they become free, when they become free they seek, when they seek they find, when they find they arrive, when they arrive they join, and when they join there is no difference between them and their Beloved.” (Imam Sidna Ali Ibn Talib, may Allah glorifies his face)

Sidi Shahin al-Khalwati (d. 953/1547) stood in the old tradition of Sufism. Sidi Abdul Ghani Nabulsi (d. 1143/1731) cites as proof the fact that he performed the major ablutions before each of the five daily prayers. Sidi Abdelwahhab Sha’rani declares that in his old age, Sidi Shahin al-Khalwati was very well known. He was frequently visited by vazirs and great amirs an honour (unheard of in Egypt at the time, according to the chroniclers), "and no one else had this reputation at this period in Egypt. He made many revelations, but was very silent; one could sit by him for an entire day without hearing a word from him. He went almost entirely without sleep, wore dirty clothing, and was very withdrawn from people..." All the same, Sidi Shahin al-Khalwati had had a number of students at one time, but was much concerned with "alchemical manipulations," which alienated them, according to Sidi Abdulghani al-Nabulusi (d. 1143/1731). The personality of the unworldly shaykh, the advanced mystic, is very tangible in the case of Shahin al-Khalwati. His reputation of remarkable spirituality was certainly well founded.

Although Sidi Shahin's very piety may have been the main reason why he could not achieve the isolation he sought so desperately, the Muqattam seems to have offered a hospitable environment to his devotions - more hospitable, certainly, than the rough-and-tumble camaraderie of the Mamluks' ranks. The mountain may well have been more conducive to contemplation at the time; at any rate, it is said to be especially blessed. Muslim tradition holds that, on the night God spoke to Moses, He addressed all the mountains thus: "I have spoken to one of My prophets atop one of you," whereupon they all stretched themselves to their fullest height in pride -- except Gabal Tur in Sinai, which shrank as a sign of humility. Then God inspired each of the mountains to bestow a gift upon it. Only the Muqattam gave up everything it had -- every river, every tree and every plant. This is why, writes Ibn Al-Zayyat, "it became as bald as you see it today." In recompense for such generosity, God planted within it the roots of Paradise. From Sidi Abdelwahhab Sha’rani also, something of the style and manner of Sidi Damirdash al-Mohammedi (d. 930/1523) can be seen. Contemporary to Sidi Abdellah Ghazwani (d. 935/1520), Damirdash was much less advanced a Sufi than Shahin al-Khalwati, but he was far better at organizational and institutional tasks. Like many Turks before him in the Mamluk era, he managed to integrate himself easily into Egyptian society and attract the support of native Egyptians. Generosity, as well as piety, makes him an attractive figure. He was famous for his orchard, which he and his wife cultivated. The produce of the orchard was not destined for Damirdash or his wife or children, "but for the unfortunate, wayfarers, and travellers." With a view toward permanence, the orchard was eventually made into a waqf, which was divided into thirds, a third of the gains earmarked for the upkeep of the orchard, a third for Damirdash's descendants, and a third for the poor who lived at Damirdash's zawiya. In Damirdash's character, generosity and organizational skill were joined to extreme piety. Sidi Abdelwahhab Sha’rani says that Damirdash—a close friend of his—slept only a little, and that he got up and washed in the mornings long before dawn, and would then recite the whole of the Quran.

Damirdash's mosque and zawiya can still be seen and are located in Cairo between the Husayniya quarter and the tomb of Shaykh al-Ghawri. Although it was on the outskirts of the town when it was built, it is now in the center of the city. In his Khitat al-Tawftqiya al-jadida, the nineteenth-century Egyptian writer Ali Pasha Mubarak describes it as it was about 1887. Not only did the building include fifty khalwa for Sufis, but had "a minaret, and the tomb of Ustadh Damirdash, situated on the north side of the minbar (pulpit), surrounded by a wooden enclosure, which is the objective of many pilgrims. His mawlid (birthday festival) takes place in the month of Sha'ban and lasts for three days. At this time the Sufis enter the khalwas dressed for fasting and staying awake, and making their wirds (special prayers) in isolation... They only come out for prayers with the congregation, but when the last night arrives they emerge to join in the sessions of the dhikr and to shake hands with the people. That is a custom which has continued until now." Like many other Khalwati figures and Sufis of other orders, Damirdash was buried in his own zawiya. After his death, his descendants continued to maintain the family zawiya. Two centuries later, they had become prominent members of the upper classes of the city, consorting with walls and pashas.

Shaykh Damirdash al-Mohammedi not only had the support of such unique personalities as Shahin al-Khalwati, but also of a remarkable Egyptian follower, Sidi Ahmed b. Mohammed Karim al-Din al-Khalwati (d. 986/1578). He came to the notice of Shaykh Damirdash by his fine singing at the dhikr. The Shaykh trained Karim al-Din in the khalwa. The hagiographer al-Munawi declares that Karim al-Din had such a powerful sainthood and authority such a concentration of power that "predatory animals fled from him." Karim al-Din was also a confidant of al-Qutb Sidi Abdelwahhab Sha’rani, and when Sha'rani died, Karim al-Din went into seclusion. His prestige among the people of Cairo near the end of his life was so great that when he appeared on the street, there were scenes approaching mass attention. Throngs followed him, hoping to kiss his hands or feet. He died when he was nearly ninety, "when the whole city went to his funeral and carried his body from his zawiya at the Aq Sunqur Bridge near the mosque of Hussayn Pasha Abu Isba' to the Azhar, where he was prayed over and then brought back and buried in his zawiya." Presumably this place, like the mosque of Damirdash, soon became a place of resort for believers.

Not long after the establishment of the Damirdashiya branch of the Khalwati order in Egypt, the activities of the order were reinforced by the arrival of the Gulshaniya, so called after its founder, Shaykh Sidi Ibrahim b. Mohammed Gulshani (d. 940/1534). Born at Diyarbakir, Gulshani left home at an early age to study in Transoxiana, but got only as far as Tabriz. Here he made a good impression on Mawlana Hassan, Qadi 'Askar of Sultan Uzun Hassan. His intelligence and ability attracted both men's attention, and it was he who was sent to fetch Dede Omar Rawshani when Uzun Hasan invited him to Tabriz. This proved to be a turning point in Gulshani's life, and he became one of Shaykh Rawshani's khalifas, like Damirdash and Shahin al-Khalwati. Gulshani taught for a time at Rawshani's zawiya in Tabriz, but with the political decline of the White Sheep Dynasty, he found himself under increasing pressure from the Safavids after his master's death, perhaps because he was too closely associated with the Aq Quyunlu. With his son Sidi Ahmad Khayali, he finally fled to Diyarbakir, and then to Egypt via Jerusalem.

On reaching Egypt, Shaykh Gulshani met Sidi Damirdash and Sidi Shahin al-Khalwati who asked him to stay. He was likewise invited to remain by the Chief Qadi, 'Abd al-Barr ibn Shihna. For a time, Gulshani stayed at Qubbat al-Mustafa not far from Birkat al-Hajj (about 11 miles northeast of Cairo), forming a circle of adherents and gaining the goodwill of the Mamluk ruler, Qansawh al-Ghawri. At length, Gulshani moved to Cairo and settled in the Mu'ayyadiya Quarter, where he started to build a zawiya opposite the Mosque of al-Mu'ayyadiya. This was to become the center of the Gulshaniya tariqa. Within the structure, as Damirdash had done, Gulshani built himself a mausoleum, domed and tiled, and many khalwas for his disciples.

In this establishment, there seems to have been more emphasis on public charity, at least on the feeding of the poor, than elsewhere. Ali Pasha Mubarak describes this building, which in his day still had resident dervishes, a weekly dhikr session, and an annual mawlid for the founder. Like the Damirdash order, it was a personal control of endowment (waqf): Ali Pasha reproduces the original waqf document that was preserved there. It shows that Gulshani's zawiya was once an important and well-populated structure. Not only did it have an imam and a mu'adhdhin, but also two doorkeepers, a prayer reader, a supervisor of the waqf (mubashir), a baker and a cook, and a "tablesetter for the poor," a revenue collector—probably because the zawiya owned extensive properties—servants for the khalwas, a water carrier, and some other personnel.

After the Ottoman conquest of Egypt in 922/1517, Gulshani continued to teach at his zawiya as he had under the Mamluks. In fact, his son Sidi Ahmad married the widow of the last Mamluk sultan, Tuman Bay. Through his influential authority, Shaykh Gulshani attracted to his circle many Ottoman cavalrymen and Janissaries. They had such total belief in Gulshani, al-Munawi says, that they were ready to fight one another in order to drink what remained of his washing water. It is possible that Gulshani went himself, or sent representatives along with the Ottoman forces, to encourage them and to build up their morale by encouraging them to do their duty as Muslims. These were not restricted to the Khalwatiya and its branches, but included men from all orders.

By the age of sultan Sulayman the Magnificent (1520-1566), Sidi Ibrahim b. Mohammed Gulshani was important enough to have attracted the attention, and the dislike, of the Ibrahim Pasha, the Ottoman viceroy in Egypt. The viceroy obtained an order compelling Gulshani to leave for Istanbul. In spite of his advanced age, Gulshani was forced to go. In the end, he was less damaged than enhanced by the pasha's intrigue, and won the support of Kamal Pasha Zade, the Shaykh al-Islam, and of other influential officials. While in Istanbul, Gulshani regained his eyesight through treatment. He also won a following in Istanbul because of his preaching, and the favorable attention of the Sultan himself, and the Gulshaniya formed a branch in Turkey as a result. Eventually, he was permitted to go back to Egypt, where he continued to supervise the construction of his zawiya. He died in Shawwal 940/April 1534, aged about 104, and was succeeded by his son Sidi Ahmad Khayali, who died in 977/1569-70. According to Sidi Abdelwahhab Sha'rani, Gulshani was "illiterate, very taciturn, and barely articulate." Nevertheless, a number of literary works in Persian and Turkish are attributed to him, likewise a diwan in Arabic; these are still unpublished. After the death of Ahmad Khayali, the Gulshaniya must have lost momentum in Egypt, although it languished until the 1880s, in the time of Ali Pasha Mubarak.

The final phase in the development of the Egyptian Khalwatiya opened during the middle of the eighteenth century. In this period, it was probably the most important and influential order in Egypt. The final phase of the order's development is associated with the name and career of a Damascene shaykh, Ghawt Zaman, al-Qutb, Sidi Mustafa ibn Kamaluddin al-Bakri (d. 1162/1749), a Khalwati and also a descendent of the first caliph of Islam, Sidna Abu Bakr Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him). Al-Bakri was a frequent traveler in Palestine in Egypt and the Hijaz, accompanied on some of these journeys by Raghib Pasha, a rising Ottoman politician. Contemporary of the Ghawt Sidi Tuhami b. Mohammed Wazzani (d. 1127/1712), al-Bakri had had two important masters himself; one was the famous Sidi Abdulghani al-Nabulusi (d. 1143/1731) a master of the Naqshbandi order; the other was Sidi Mustafa Andawi Tabibi, a Khalwati shaykh from Aleppo, Syria. The latter is connected to Sidi Omar al-Khalwati (d. 800/1397) through his father Sidi Ali Efendi Qurra Pasha Andawi Tabibi, Sidi Ismail al-Jermi (buried next to the companion Sidi Bilal al-Habashi in the outskirts of Amman-Jordan in a village called Bader), Sidi Omar al-Fudadi, Sidi Muhyiddin al-Qastamuni, Sidi Chaaban Qastamuni, Sidi Khayruddin Naqadi, Sidi Jamaluddin al-Khalwati (“Jalabi Sultan al-Qumdus”), Sidi Mohammed ibn Bahauddin Shirvani,  Sidi Yahya al-Bacoubi, Sidi Sadruddin al-Jiyyani, Sidi al-Haj Eizddin, Sidi Mohammed Abram al-Khalwati - student of Sidi Omar.    

Before the middle of the eighteenth century, Sidi Mustafa ibn Kamaluddin al-Bakri had launched his own branch of the Khalwatiya, the Bakriya. The Bakriya was a huge success, and in the mid-1142/1730s, Sidi Mustafa al-Bakri was visited in Jerusalem by the man who was to succeed him in at the end of the century: Shaykh al-Azhar, Ghawt Zaman, al-Qutb, Sidi Mohammed b. Salim al-Hifni Shafi’i (“al-Hifnawi”; d. 1181/1768), who soon emerged as a leading member of the Khalwatiya. On a number of occasions, al-Bakri visited al-Hifnawi in Cairo: as with Karim al-Din al-Khalwati, these were the occasions of mob scenes, the crowds attempting to touch al-Bakri or obtain his blessing. On the last of these visits, in 1162/1749, al-Bakri died in Cairo and is buried in the great Qarafa cemetery, where his tomb is still visited regularly.

The revival of the Khalwatiya in Egypt, inspired by al-Bakri and sustained by his pupil al-Hifnawi coincided with stirrings of reform and change, not only in Egypt, but elsewhere in the Islamic world. Some of these changes were accelerated by European encroachment and pressures, others by the visible decay of the Ottoman Empire. After 922/1517, despite the Ottoman turning from Persian to Arab culture, Egypt and its capital lost much prestige. Istanbul was now the capital of the Islam world: Cairo was merely an appendage. Already bleak, the Egyptian situation had been made worse by unfortunate political developments, i.e. the echoes of the anti-Sufi activities of the Wahhabis, and worsening of overall religious applications in the East.  

No other writing depicts the inferiority of Eastern Dar al-Islam than Moroccan journey literature. Shaykh Mohammed ibn Hajj al-Abdari al-Fasi’s criticism of the East is perhaps the most severe. What is striking in al-'Abdari's writing is his deep pessimism coupled with an unmistakable feeling of abhorrence at the state of affairs in the Muslim East. His ability to write poetry adds another dimension to the impression of despondency his Rihla conveys. The sense of unease toward certain answerable innovations practiced in the Mashriq is tangible everywhere. The decadence that has begun to engulf Dar al-Islam is depicted with rare perspicuity. His depiction of the religious fervor of the populace, touching, rubbing, and licking the blackstone as well as the mass hysteria around the well of Zamzam is equally grotesque. Al-'Abdari has nothing but contempt for these "Bida' wa Manakir" as he calls them. He is par­ticularly appalled by the dirt that is disgracing the Holy Mosque (as black as a kitchen), and the little care people take of the most sacred places matters of religious decisions. Abu al-Hassan Mohammed b. Ahmad b. Jubayr al-Kinani al-Andalusi al-Shatibi al-Balansi, otherwise known as Ibn Jubayr, gives us detailed information about the state of lawlessness in the Mashriq and the exploitation of pilgrims by unscrupulous profiteers. However, as a true Maghribi nationalist, Ibn Jubayr insists that only the Maghrib (Andalusia included) knows true Islam.

Abi al-Qasim al-Tajibi was also greatly amazed at the way the people of the Mashriq recite the Quran, particularly the Egyptians. Ibn Batuta's Rihla to the East is of course a masterpiece. He was a native of Tangier, and spent 28 years of his life traveling throughout the Muslim East. He was also named Qadi of the Moroccan Rakb to the Hijaz. In his conclusion Ibn Batuta reasserts the superiority of the Maghrib over the Muslim East in matters of religion, good government and prosperity. In his Ma' al-Mawa'id (al-Rihla al-'Ayyashiyya), the Imam Sidi Abu Salim al-'Ayyashi (1038/1628-1909/1679) described his difficulties in hiding his exasperation at not being able to hear the Khutba due to a shouting mob (Su'arb nun darb wa shatm bi al-alfaz). In al-Madinah, he takes umbrage at the vociferous Egyp­tian contingent and its trumpet blasting when celebrat­ing the East. He is particularly ireful at the Egyptian women who mingle with men immodestly. He then con­cludes sententiously, "Wa bi’l jumla fa ‘awwam al-Misriyyin min ab'ad al-ghawgha' 'an isabat al-sawab."

As most Maghribi Journeyers, al-Ishaqi is a vehement critic of the Muslim East, due to conflicting reactions to certain practices deemed unorthodox and deviationist. However, what is new in al-Ishaqi's trenchant polemic is a statement he makes regarding the state of knowledge in the Mashriq which he pessimistically dismisses as decadent of not altogether absent. The people of the Hijaz, claims al-Ishaq, are "A'ajim," that is "Barbarians," who have no heart and know no religion. He then remarks laconically that Islam exists only in the Maghrib, because its people strictly follow Malikism (fi al-furu') and Asharism (fi al-'aqida), which has enabled them to avoid religious aberrations, unlike the Mashriq where "Bida', wa firaq dalla, wa shiya'..." are everywhere to be found; Maghribi ulama', adds al-Ishaqi, are free from preposterous dogmatic inter­pretations, but know instead their Fiqh, Usul, Tafsir (commentaries) and i'rab (grammar).

The stand on Wahhabism by Sultan Moulay Sulayman’s (d. 1238/1822) minister, Sulayman al-‘Hawwat, is in a sense more parochial and consequently ill-disposed to the excesses by the Wahhabis. The author extols the merits of Sultan Moulay Sulayman’s erudition and suavity, an obvious attempt to dissoci­ate the Sultan from Wahhabism. Moreover, Sulayman's affability and conciliatory posture according to al-Hawwat, "enabled Mawlay Ibrahim son of Sultan Moulay Sulayman and his entourage to perform the pilgrimage in 1227/1811 (during the time of the residence of the Concealed Pole Sidna Shaykh Abil Abbas Ahmed Tijani in Fez) in the land of Sulayman where they arrived in safety protected by the glory of religion. His host (Ibn Su'ud) presumably hastened to welcome his eminent visitor.

“It is little wonder that the East scintillated in bedazzlement of Mawlay Sulayman's glory, the inheritor of the land of the West. Sa’ud [comments al-Hawwat] is that Sultan of al-Yamama, a sectarian who has repudiated the edicts of Malik... Malik whose doctrine is faultless... Praise the Lord we have an Imam (Sulayman) whose rule was based on cognition and who gave the caliphate to the more meritorious.”

Al-Hawwat dwells then on the greatness and superiority of the Maghrib,

“The East [proclaims al-Hawwat] wishes to be the West... Muslims, praise Sulayman for his impeccable rule... the Maghrib prides itself over the East for its religiosity... for the absence of Maks tax and other accretions... this has encouraged Easterners to travel to the West... wishing to be ruled by our praiseworthy Sultan whose radi­ance has glimmered in the Hijaz... and Saud could only bow to the lion's cub [Mawlay Ibrahim].”

This conviction was compounded by domestic developments in Egypt, the dislocation of daily life, and the violence from the Mamluks. Thus it is not surprising that they saw challenges to Islam from two sources. And, as if further proof of Muslim weakness were needed, it was supplied by the French invasion of Egypt in 1213/1799. The Egyptian ulama and Sufi masters had neither battalions to strike back at the unwanted foreigners, nor any effective force to protect their own people from the ravaging Mamluks. But at least they could call for Jihad, widening the activities of their brotherhoods. In the light of these developments, the Islamic revival was centered on the Azhar by Shaykhs al-Bakri and al-Hifnawi. The Khalwatiya served as the organizational framework for the revival and one of its most important channels of action. Based on his position as a director and coordinator of Sufi orders in Egypt, he would, according to al-Jabarati, meditate differences between the shaykhs of the Ahmediya, Rifaiya, Burhamiya and Qadiriya.

After al-Bakri himself, the first of the standard-bearers of the new style Khalwatiya-Bakriya was, of course, Sidi Mohammed b. Salim al-Hifnawi (1690-1768) shaykh of the Azhar. Himself a great source of sainthood and authority, al-Hifnawi was clearly the most effective promoter of the Khalwatiya. A man of good education, a prolific writer and commentator, al-Hifnawi had a long list of noted students. Like al-Bakri, al-Hifnawi had an impressive and charismatic personality, and was concerned with the woes and hardships of the people of Egypt. In turn, they regarded him as one of their best supports against the Egyptian government of the day. The hagiographer Abd al-Rahman al-Jabarti ‎(d. 1240/1825) quotes an anecdote attributed to Raghib Pasha about al-Hifnawi being "Egypt's roof against disaster" and the many stories about him show just how much he was loved and admired by his contemporaries. In him, the Khalwatiya had reverted to something like the Sufism of an Omar al-Khalwati, coupled with the political skill of a Sunbul Sinan.

Among the better known of men who helped propagate the Khalwatiya in Egypt and beyond were Sidi Ahmad ibn Mohammed Dardir (d. 1786/1200) and others. Sidi Ahmad Dardir was also a student of al-Hifnawi. Jabarti includes a long list of Dardir’s writings, one of which was a commentary on Damirdash al-Mohammedi's Risala fi-tawhid. Dardir was a Maliki from Upper Egypt, and at one time was the chief of the students from that area in the Azhar and the director of their waqf. He was also famous in other Maliki regions, and sometimes received gifts from the Sharifian ruler of Morocco. The sultan  Sidi Mohammed ibn Abdellah bestowed on him lavish presents and generous religious endowments. Dardir inspired many disciples by his kindness and generosity, and frequently defended many of the common people of Cairo against oppressors and plunderers, which enhanced his popularity. Even now, he is remembered by the people of the city. Dardir founded a zawiya in Cairo on his return from the pilgrimage in 1199/1784-85. In the conventional manner, he is buried there, with a disciple, Sidi Ahmad al-Siba'i Ayyan. The zawiya, according to Ali Pasha Mubarak, contained two libraries of "precious books." The zawiya still exists and is situated in the Ka'kiyyin Quarter, not far from the Mosque of Sidi Yahya al-'Uqab. Dardir had many followers, some of whom started suborders of their own. One was founded by al-Siba'i, another by al-Shubrawi, and another by al-Hajj Ahmad Khalid al-'Imrani some time before 1266/1850 and is called the Khalidiya after him. A constellation of further sub groupings also existed inspired by the teaching of Dardir: the Lassiya, the Dayfiya, the Musallamiya, and the Sawiya. Of these orders, the most imminent was the Sawiya, named for Sidi Ahmad al-Sawi (1764-1825).

Khalwati Influx into the Maghreb

Despite constant interactions with Sufi masters of the East during the Hajj and scientific Rihla (journeys), Maghrebi scholars and merchants found greater spiritual comfort in Shadhili Sufism which was compatible to the Maliki dogma of jurisprudence. Now, under al-Hifnawi, the Khalwatiya appealed to a number of Sufis in the Maghreb. 

By the end of the eighteenth century, the outpourings of the new Khalwati overflowing would not only filter into the Khalwatiya in Arabia, but would also flood into Tunisia as far as Morocco. Many scholars of Fez who made the pilgrimage visited Cairo on their way to Mecca. In Cairo they met the Khalwati shaykhs, who were the leading Sufis and scholars at that lime. In 1186/1771 Shaykh Sidi Ahmed Tijani has met with Shaykh al-Kurdi and Shaykh Samman at Cairo and Madina respectively. Sidi Ahmad ibn Abdellaziz al-Hilali al-Sijilmasi (d. 1174/1761) received an ijaza from Shaykh al-Bakri. He also studied Hadith with Shaykh al-Hifni. Back in Fez he often quoted to his students hadiths that he had learned from al-Hifni. Sidi Ahmed b. Muhammad al-Siqilli (d. 1177/1762), the leading Sufi in Morocco in the middle of the eighteenth century, was initiated by Shaykh al-Hifni to the Khalwatiya. Shaykh al-Hifni gave him license to propagate the wird. On his return to Fez, al-Siqilli taught his disciples the mystical litanies he had learned from Shaykh al-Hifni. Al-Siqilli passed on his Khalwati silsila to Sidi Abdelwahhab al-Tazi (d. 1198/1783), who was the teacher of both Sidi Ibn Idriss and Sidi Mohammed al-Sanusi. But al-Tazi was initiated also to the Khalwatiya directly by Shaykh al-Hifni himself, and also studied with Shaykh Mahmud al-Kurdi. Ibn Idriss has also acquainted with Sidi Hassan ibn Hassan Bey al-Qina'i, a pupil of al-Kurdi. The historian Mohammed b. al-Tayyib al-Qadiri, the author of Nashr al-Mathani also recei­ved an ijaza from Shaykh al-Hifni. In his biography of al-Hifni, al-Qadiri paid tri­bute to al-Hifni's contribution to the Maghrib in the two fields of Hadith and tasawwuf. The Qadi Ibn Suda (d. 1209/1795), the senior scholar in Fez met the Shaykh Sidi Mohammed al-Samman. Through their influence on leading Moroccan 'ulama the Egyptian Khalwatiya contributed to the reformist thrust in Fez under the two sul­tans Sidi Mohammed (d. 1204/1790) and his son Mawlay Sulayman (d. 1238/1822).  

A number of factors are worth concise consideration.

Besides the Arabian Peninsula, Maghribis have engaged in active trading in Egypt and the Levant. Many of them have settled down in various Islamic commercial centers where they formed thriving business communities. Nowhere has the Maghribi presence been felt more, strongly than in Egypt, the final pilgrimage relay on the African continent. Culturally, the Holy Lands have acted as a center for intellectual exchanges, breeding and feeding the pilgrims with ideas that have kept not only Arabic cul­ture alive, but have also encouraged religious reformism in the Abode of Islam. Indeed the search for the pur­pose of authenticating Hadith is an important aspect of the "scientific Rihla". The large contingent of Maghribis at the Ruwwaq of al-Azhar mosque and at the Haramayn played an active role in the dissemination of the latest literary and religi­ous currents of men. The Maghribis had reputable representatives who often caught the admiration of their Eastern coreligion­ists. Others stayed only temporarily while on their way to or from the Haramayn, to study or teach. Such was the case of Sidi Abdelwahhab Tazi al-Fasi (d. 1198/1783 in Fez) and Shaykh al-Jama'a, the Nasirite Sidi Mohammed al-Tawudi b. Suda (d. 1209/1795), whose audience at al-Azhar, where he taught Maliki Fiqh, included Mohammed al-Kurdi, Mohammed al-Amir al-Kabir, al-Fayyumi, Shaykh al-Islam al-Zabidi and al-Jabarti ‎(d. 1240/1825). 

The Hajj also had tremendous political implica­tions, for it was at Mecca and Madinah that politico-religious doctrines from all over Dar al-Islam circulated. Throughout the ages, Muslim monarchs have used the Hajj Caravan   (Rakb al-Hajj) as an important instrument of influence. Its main political functions were to un­derline the Caliph or the Sultan's greatness and worthi­ness as leader of the Muslim Community and also as protector of the Holy Places. The Caravan was usually led by an Amir al-Hajj, an official named by the ruler and responsible for the safety of the Rakb. The Caravan itself was organized like a moving city, with the amir, a judge, two notaries a secretary, and an official charged with the care of the animals, another in charge of provisions, a saddler, a chef with a staff of cooks, and even an inspector of weights and measures. 

One of the most   notable Hajj Caravans has until recently been the Egyptian Rakb. Beginning in 664/1266 the Egyptian Caravan was accompanied by a Mahmal, a glittering wooden litter, magnificently decorated and containing an embellished copy of the Quran. The Caravan carried the Kiswa or an adorned draping, richly embroidered by Coptic artisans, and destined to cover the Ka'aba. The departure of the Mahmal from Egypt was always accompanied by great festivities which often degenerated into orgiastic celebrations. The Moroccan Rakb (Rakb al-Hajj al-Maghribi) would customarily assemble at Fez where pilgrims from around the Sharifian Empire and as far as Sijilmasa would congregate; while heading for Cairo, the Moroccan Rakb would then be joined by the Caravans of Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli. Sometimes the various Rakb would travel alone this happened quite frequently on the way back from the Hijaz. As for the number of Maghribi pil­grims that formed these caravans, it varied with time anywhere from 500 to 12,000 Hajji. There were also a few pilgrims who traveled by sea, often using Christian ships commissioned for the purpose of transporting pilgrims to Alexandria.

As we have seen, our Maghribi journeyers’ task in writing their journeys was to inform. It could be said that they did not fail in their avocation. The aston­ishing ability of some to produce works of unexampled beauty and creativity cannot mask the fact that whether through reverie, cold reason, or mystic inspiration, all journeyers have labored to produce a valuable addition to the literature, of their time. But more important, each journeyer has served as a one-man pioneer, attempt­ing to bridge the gap between East and West. Inevitably, personal feelings and reflexes were injected into their writing, making it the more valu­able, for it translated a rather typical Maghribi stand vis-a-vis the Muslim East: an instinctive religious indebtedness and acknowledgment coupled with a traditionally suspicious and ethnocentric mind that the Iberian crusades helped perpetuate. If their judgments on certain issues seemed undeservedly severe, it was often due to their uncom­promising religious ardor, kneaded by centuries of strict Maliki Fiqh. Upon their arrival to the East, the Maghribi Journeyers who had always glorified the House of the Prophet (peace and blessing be upon him) and his descendents, found that Sharifism car­ried little weight in the Mashriq. Moreover, they found that the supreme position of the Caliphate was in the hands of 'A'ajim, an anathema in their eyes. Even the language of the Quran was not as widely spoken. It is no wonder, then, that Moroccans in particular felt a certain pride in their origins and in their Sultan, a true Sharif and Commander of the Faithful. It created in them the feeling of being a part of a true Muslim community, under a vigilant shield, that of Malikism.

Despite their generally strong criticism of the Mashariqa and their objectionable customs, added to the precariousness of traveling conditions, the Maghribis continued to look to the East for inspiration, particularly in the religious sphere. The catalyst for all that followed was the Haramayn, often if not always the focal point of the journey. The revival of the Khalwatiya-Bakriya order and Hadith in the eighteenth century in the Hijaz and in Egypt, was the result of a joint Maghribi-Mashriqi effort at purifying Islam. After all, unorthodox Sufism had infected the minds of Maghribis and Mashriqis alike, hence the oppositional movements to it sprung from all regions of Dar al-Islam. The Maghrib Journeyers-Fuqaha'-Sufis have acted as go betweens, contributing and learning, but mostly sus­taining the religious bonds between the Maghrib and the Mashriq.

It was in a situation like this that the Khalwatiya-Bakriya entered the Maghreb, for the first time at the hands of the Hussaynid sharif, Ghawt Zaman, al-Qutb, Moulay Ahmed Siqilli al-Fasi (“Sqalli”; d. 1177/1762). The Shaykh was born in 1112/1701 at Fez. He studied under the greatest legists of al-Qarawiyyine, having the noted scholars al-Allama Sidi Abul Mahasin Abdelwahhab Tazi (d. 1197/1783), al-Allama Sidi Abdelhadi al-Iraqi, and al-Allama Sidi Abdelmajid Zibadi, and Shaykh al-Jama'a Sidi Mohammed at-Tawdi ibn Souda (d. 1209/1794). A perfumes salesman at the Attarine District, Moulay Ahmed Siqilli performed his pilgrimage to Mecca in company of al-Iraqi and Zibadi in the year of 1158/1745. In Cairo, he met, of course, with the Khalwati Shaykh Sidi Mohammed b. Salim al-Hifnawi who initiated him into his order and gave him the authorization to initiate it to others. Based in the Zawiya of Sidi Abi Iyyad Benjalloun (d. 1162/1748), the Khalwatiya-Bakriya-Siqilliya has been largely a Fasi urban order represented by noted theologians, such as Sidi Mohammed b. Yunus Sharifi, Sidi Mohammed b Ali Alami, Sidi Mohammed b. Hmida, Sidi Ali ibn Mahmud Salawi, Sidi Abdelkarim b. Ali al-Yazighi, Sidi Mohammed Matiri, Sidi Mohammed al Hassani Sijilmasi Tarablusi, Sidi al-Mahdi al-Iraqi, Sidi Mohammed b. Said Ben Yaysun. Thus the Siqilliya has had such far-reaching impact on its members; living in luxury, wearing expensive clothes, and eating choice food. “Asceticism is not that you should not own anything, but that nothing should own you.” (Imam Sidna Ali Abu Talib, may Allah glorifies his face)

Sidi Abul Hassan Ali Harazem Berrada (d. 1212/1797), Sidna Shaykh, Mawlana Abil Abbas Ahmed Tijani (1150/1735-1230/1815) met with the Qutb Moulay Ahmed Siqilli in 1171/1756 (aged 21). Sidna Shaykh Tijani, who met during his initial five-years-voyage to Fez, al-Qutb Moulay Tayyeb b. Mohammed al-Wazzani  (d. 1181/1766), Sidi Abdellah b.  al-Arabi Ben Abdellah (d. 1188/1778), Sidi Mohammed b. Abdullah al-Tuzani (d. 1171/1756), Sidi Ahmed al-Tawwash (d. 1206/1791), Sidi Mohammed ibn al-Hassan al-Wanjali al-Zabibi (d. 1185/1770, had also met with Shaykh Siqilli at the Mosque of the Qarawiyyine, but he did not even bother to speak with him for he was not sure of his exact position in the spiritual hierarchy at the time. He was informed later, however, that he was the Qutb of his Time. He was also informed that Siqilli was the very first Qutb to be buried inside the walls of Fez. 

Another near disciple of Sidi Mohammed b. Salim al-Hifnawi (d. 1181/1768) that Mawlana Shaykh Abil Abbas Ahmed Tijani (1150/1735-1230/1815) managed to meet on his way to the pilgrimage of 1186/1771 was the Moroccan-origin mystic, Sidi Mohammed ibn Abdurrahman al-Azhari al-Idrissi al-Hassani (d. 1280/1793 in Ayat Ismail, Ain Dafla), who initiated the 37-years Tijani the Khalwatiya order. Named “al-Azhari” after the Azhar Mosque where he had lived nearby for years, the shaykh was dispatched by al-Hifnawi to the Sudan and India to spread the order.  In 1183/1769, he was ordered to return to his own country to teach the pure doctrines of the Khalwatiya, which al-Azhari did with great success. Based in the village of Zwaza, Shaykh Al-Azhari he initiated numerous names including Sidi Ali ibn Isa, Sidi Abdurrahman Bash Tarizi, Sidi Mohammed ibn Azuz al-Burji, Sidi Mohammed al-Umali, Sidi Mohammed ibn Abdurrahman Disi, Sidi Ashur al-Khinqi, Sidi Mohammed Abil Qacem al-Hifnawi, and Sidi al-Makki ibn Azzuz al-Byrji Tunusi, Sidi Abdelhamid ibn Badis.  

The journey of Mawlana Shaykh Abil Abbas Ahmed Tijani (1150/1735-1230/1815) to the East brought him also to Tunis, home of the Khalwati Shaykh, Sidi al-Haj Faraj Tunusi, student of Shaykh Sidi Mohammed al-Hifnawi. The latter had no permission to meet any body save four people including Sidi Abd Samad al-Ra'hwi, who was the envoy between the master and Sidna Shaykh Tijani. Thus the Shaykh Faraj gave Sidna Shaykh Tijani a special permission to use the Idrissid Names, the 99 Divine Names, and the Dumyati Qasida. Sidi Faraj’s chain of these litanies went directly to Shaykh Sidi Mohammed al-Hifnawi, tracing the special authorization of Khalwati shaykhs back to the Holy Prophet Sidna Mohammed (peace and blessing be upon him), a condition that is indispensable for the transmission of the initiatic divine secret. No doubt such special authorization would have provided Sidna Shaykh Tijani additional momentum to get together with the Qutb Sidi Mahmoud al-Kurdi (d. 1186/1771), the pole of Khalwatiya order in Cairo, with the intention of submission to his leadership and embracement of the Khalwatiya in accordance with all its norms. All of this was based on the dream he had of him in Tunis. Upon leaving, Shaykh Tijani sent a message through Sidi Abd Samad al-Ra'hwi to his own master, informing him of his intention to travel to Cairo and asking for his guarantee, which the Shaykh granted. He then took the sea and reached his destination safely.

Abil Fadail Sidi Mahmoud ibn Yazid al-Kurdi all-Kurani al-Iraqi al-Misri (d. 1186/1771) had been a pupil of both al-Bakri and al-Hifnawi. Jabarti declared that al-Kurdi had a personal magnetism "in which high and low believed." He was able to see the Prophet at will in dreams and had reached the highest stage of mysticism (kamal), and "had obtained many strange revelations." Jabarti also says that al-Kurdi was the direct heir of al-Hifnawi, for it was he who "carried on spiritual guidance and the opening of the mystical path after the death of his shaykh. By his guidance, many traveled over it... and those who came later followed him." Jabarti also tells us that the Shaykh continued to perform the ritual prayer of the Qadiri order of Sidi Ali al-Qusayri to which he had belonged from his youth, even after his attainment of high position in the Khalwatiya as a caliph of the order, until he was ordered by the Holy Prophet (peace and blessing be upon him) to abdicate the Qadiri wird. In addition to the one and only Mawlana Shaykh Abil Abbas Ahmed Tijani (1150/1735-1230/1815), Shaykh al-Kurdi had other caliphs including Sidi Hassan ibn Hassan Bey al-Qina'i and Al-Allama Sidi Abdellah Sharqawi, Shaykh of the Azhar from 1207/1793 to 1226/1812.

At their first encounter, Shaykh Sidi Mahmud al-Kurdi, addressed Sidna Shaykh Abil Abbas Tijani as a beloved one of God in this world and the hereafter. Sidna Shaykh asked him how he knew this to be true, and was informed that God was the ultimate source. Then Sidna Shaykh narrated fully to him the dream he had in Tunisia, in which he had seen Shaykh al-Kurdi and been told that his own essence was of copper, which Shaykh al-Kurdi promised to turn into gold. Then after the elapse of a few days, Shaykh al-Kurdi asked Sidna Shaykh of his desire. His response was the station of the "Absolute Poleship" (al-Qutbaniya al-'Udhma). The Shaykh told him that he was already more advanced than the above mentioned station (i.e. Sealness of Special Mohammedian Sainthood; “Khatm al-Wilaya al-Mohammediya”). Shaykh al-Kurdi narrated to Sidna Shaykh Tijani an account of his errand and the reasons for his encounter with his master Shaykh al-Hifni and his master Shaykh al-Bakri. On his return from the pilgrimage to Cairo, where Shaykh Tijani went to pay homage to Shaykh al-Kurdi, he was well received and was asked by his master to take a seat in front of him. He was also told to come to his house daily. Shaykh al-Kurdi always asked Shaykh Tijani questions on issues of a controversial nature, which he easily resolved on the basis of his store of knowledge. As a result of this his reputation spread, and Cairo scholars, attracted by his growing reputation, sought him out in great numbers. Prior to his departure Shaykh al-Kurdi granted Sidna Shaykh a full ijaza (license) to teach the Khalwatiya tariqa. He declined the offer at first, but when offered it a second time, he apparently accepted and was given a silisla.

The Qarafa Cemetery- Burial Place of Shaykh al-Kurdi, al-Qutb al-Bikri and al-Qutb al-'Hifni

Another influential Khalwati teacher of Mawlana Shaykh Abil Abbas Ahmed Tijani (1150/1735-1230/1815) was the Qutb of His Time, the Grand Patron Saint of Khalwatiya order, Sidi Mohammed b. Abdelkarim Samman (d. 1189/1774). Sidna Shaykh Tijani has met with Shaykh Samman at Madina during the pilgrimage of 1186/1771. Having been informed of the presence of Shaykh al-Samman by the Shadhili Gnostic Sidi Ahmed ibn Abdellah al-Hindi (d. 1187/1773), Sidna Shaykh sought a meeting with him. Shaykh Samman was equally a pupil of Shaykh al-Hifnawi. He was born and raised in Medina. A descendent of the first caliph of Islam, Sidna Abu Bakr Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him), Samman got his name one day when he and his followers were without food. Samman let down a pail into a well, which came up filled with butter. With this, he managed to feed himself and his disciples, who gave him the name of Samman ("butter merchant"). In Egypt, he had been a student of Shaykh al-Hifnawi and of Shaykh al-Kurdi, and had also taken the Khalwatiya from al-Bakri during one of his visits to the Hejaz.

The Qutb Sidi Mohammed b. Abdelkarim Samman was the guardian of the Prophet's blessed grave (peace and blessing be upon him) and the author of several Sufi works but it was especially as the founder of a new order that he became influential. Upon his meeting with Sidna Shaykh Abil Abbas Tijani, he gave him a special permission in the 99 Divine Names, the Ahzab of Shaykh Shadhili (d. 656/1241), the Wadhifa of Shaykh Zarruq (d. 899/1484), the Dalail al-Khayrat of Shaykh al-Jazouli, and the al-Dur al-’Ala of Shaykh Ibn Arabi al-‘Hatimi (d. 636/1221), and other arcane pearls. Sidna Shaykh was told of what lay ahead of him in the realm of excellence by Shaykh al-Samman. He told Sidna Shaykh that he is the Dominant Pole (al-Qutb al-Jami') and gave him good tidings that he will realize his aspiration and obtain the "Absolute Poleship" (al-Qutbaniya al-'Udhma). This was followed by his request that Sidna Shaykh agree to meet with him and then spend three days in seclusion. At the end of this period he, Shaykh Samman, would instill in him full spirituality. Sidna Shaykh excused himself from this, however, and was then asked to make his request, which he did, and he was given the required assistance. 

Shaykh Samman founded a number of zawiyas in the Hejaz and in Yemen and attracted a great number of followers. One of them, Sidi Ahmad al-Tayyib ibn al-Bashir (d. 1238/1823) spread the Sammaniya in the Sudan, along the banks of the Blue and White Niles, and in the vicinity of Umm Durman. Other shaykhs like Sidi Adam al-Kinani carried the message of Samman to Eritrea and southwestern Abyssinia. The Sammaniya also had branches in Sinnar and elsewhere. At one time the Sudanese Sidi Mahdi Mohammed Ahmad was an adherent of one of these branches. Another Fasi student of Sidi Mohammed al-Hifnawi Sidi Abul Mawahib Abdelwahhab Tazi (d. 1198/1783; buried in the Tal’a district, Fez). He was himself the successor of the famous Qutb Moulay Abdellaziz Dabbagh al-Idrissi al-Hassani al-Fasi (d. 1132/1717), whose spiritual experiences are described in Kitab al-Ibriz. Shaykh Tazi’s student Sidi Ahmed ibn Idriss al-Idrissi al-Hassani al-Fasi (d. 1252/1837 in Yemen) has also acquainted with the Khalwati Shaykh Sidi Hassan ibn Hassan Bey al-Qina'i, a pupil of Sidi Mahmoud al-Kurdi (d. 1186/1771). According to Raf’a Niqab Ba’ada Kashf al-Hijab 'Amman Talaaqa bi-Shaykh Tijani mina-l As'hab, a who's who encyclopaedia of the companions of Mawlana Shaykh Abil Abbas Tijani by al-Allama Sidi Ahmed ibn al-'Iyyashi Skirej al-Fasi (d. 1363 /1944), Sidi Ahmed ibn Idriss has taken some precious arcane secrets from Shaykh Tijani in Fez. Ibn Idriss’ successor Sidi Mohammed al-Sanusi al-Idrissi al-Hassani (d. 1275/1859) had himself taken the Holy Quran from Sidna Shaykh Abil Abbas Tijani in Fez. He has also attended Sidna Shaykh’s funeral on Thursday, the 17th of Shawal, 1230/1815.