Khwaja Haji Dost Muhammad Qandhari (

Pashto Pashto ( , ; , ) is an eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family, natively spoken in northwestern Pakistan and southern and eastern Afghanistan. It has official status in Afghanistan and the Pakistani province of Khyb ...

: ) was an Afghan Sufi master in the

Naqshbandi Naqshbandi (Persian: نقشبندیه) is a major Sufi order within Sunni Islam, named after its 14th-century founder, Baha' al-Din Naqshband. Practitioners, known as Naqshbandis, trace their spiritual lineage (silsila) directly to the Prophet ...

tradition in the 19th century (1801–1868).

Biography

Dost Muhammad was born and received his early education in Kandahar in Afghanistan. While still a young man he encountered the great Indian Naqshbandi master

Ghulam Ali Dehlavi Shah Abdullah alias Shah Ghulam Ali Dehlavi (1743–1824, Urdu:) was a Sufi Shaykh in Delhi during the early 19th century. He was a master of the Naqshbandi tradition His father wanted to make him a disciple of Qādri,. Biography He was born ...

(1743–1824) in the Prophet's Mosque in Medina. He reported that Ghulam Ali's spiritual energy (''fayz'') was so strong that it caused him to become restless and disturbed, to the extent that he was hardly able to move from his place. Returning to India, he continued to be subject to ecstatic states, some of which lasted for several weeks. Ghulam Ali died, however, before Dost Muhammad could become a disciple. So instead he applied to Ghulam Ali's successor

Abu Sa'eed Mujaddidi Rampuri Abu or ABU may refer to: Aviation * Airman Battle Uniform, a utility uniform of the United States Air Force * IATA airport code for A. A. Bere Tallo Airport in Atambua, Province of East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia People * Abu (Arabic term), a kun ...

. At the time Abu Sa'eed was leaving for the Hajj and sent Dost Muhammad to his son (and successor)

Shah Ahmed Sa'eed Dehlvi Shāh (; ) is a royal title meaning "king" in the Persian language.Yarshater, Ehsa, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII, no. 1 (1989) Though chiefly associated with the monarchs of Iran, it was also used to refer to the leaders of numerous Pers ...

(1802–1860). Within 14 months of staying with his Shaykh, Haji Dost Muhammad became Ahmed Sa'eed's ''khalifa'' in the Qandahar region of Afghanistan. Following the assassination in 1842 of Shah Shuja, the ruler of Afghanistan (and client of the British), Dost Muhammad was forced to leave the country. (These same events also forced the departure from Afghanistan of his most celebrated disciple, Sayyid Muhammed Shah

Jan-Fishan Khan Saiyed Muhammed Khan, better known by his title as Jan-Fishan Khan, was a 19th-century Afghan noble chieftain (nawab)Obituary of Idries Shah, The Independent (London) of 26 November 1996., pp. 19–26 He participated in the First Anglo-Afghan ...

Paghmani). Ahmed Sa'eed advised Dost Muhammad to establish himself in a place where "both Pashto and Punjabi are spoken". Following this instruction, Dost Muhammad settled in the village of

Musazai Sharif Musazai sharif is a town and union council of Dera Ismail Khan District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependenc ...

, near to Dera Ismail Khan (now in Pakistan), where he established a teaching centre and is buried.

Death and Successor

Dost Muhammad's successor was Khwaja Muhammad Usman Damani, to whom he gave unrestricted permission to teach "the methods of the Naqshbandiyya Mujaddidiya Ma'sumiyya Mazhariyya and the Qadiriyya, Chistiyya, Suhrawardiyya, Kubrawiyya, Shattariyya, Madariyya, Qalandariyya and other Sufi lineages". He also handed over to him all his Islamic centers including Musazai Sharif, his personal library and other assets. Haji Dost Muhammad died on 22

Shawwal Shawwal () is the tenth month of the Islamic calendar. It comes after Ramadan and before Dhu al-Qa'da. ''Shawwāl'' stems from the Arabic verb ''shāla'' (), which means to 'lift or carry', generally to take or move things from one place to an ...

1284 AH (17 February 1868) and was buried in Mussa Zai Sharif, district

Dera Ismail Khan Dera Ismail Khan (; Urdu and , ), abbreviated as D.I. Khan, is a city and capital of Dera Ismail Khan District, located in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is the 10th largest city of Pakistan and third or fourth largest in the province of Khy ...

in present-day

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. In ''The Way of the Sufi'',

Idries Shah Idries Shah (; , , ; 16 June 1924 – 23 November 1996), also known as Idris Shah, Indries Shah, né Sayyid, Sayed Idries el-Hashemite, Hashimi (Arabic: ) and by the pen name Arkon Daraul, was an Afghans, Afghan author, thinker and teacher in ...

attributes this "sentence of the Khajagan" to Dost Muhammad (who he calls Qandahari): "You hear my words. Hear, too, that there are words other than mine. These are not meant for hearing with the physical ear. Because you see only me, you think there is no Sufism apart from me. You are here to learn, not to collect historical information."

Spiritual chain of succession

Haji Dost Muhammad Qandhari belonged to the Mujaddidi order of

Sufism Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

, which is the main branch of

Sufi tariqah. His spiritual lineage goes to

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

, through Shaikh

Ahmad Sirhindi Ahmad Sirhindi (1564 – 1624/1625) was an Indian Islamic scholar, Hanafi jurist, and member of the Naqshbandī Sufi order who lived during the era of Mughal Empire. Ahmad Sirhindi opposed heterodox movements within the Mughal court such as D ...

, the

Mujaddid A ''mujaddid'' () is an Islamic term for one who brings "renewal" () to the religion. According to the popular Muslim tradition, it refers to a person who appears at the turn of every century of the Islamic calendar to revitalize Islam, clean ...

of eleventh Hijri century. The complete lineage is as under: # Sayyadna

(died 11 AH, buried Madinah SA (570/571 - 632 CE)) # Sayyadna

Abu Bakr Abd Allah ibn Abi Quhafa (23 August 634), better known by his ''Kunya (Arabic), kunya'' Abu Bakr, was a senior Sahaba, companion, the closest friend, and father-in-law of Muhammad. He served as the first caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate, ruli ...

Siddiq, (d. 13 AH, buried Madinah, SA) # Sayyadna

Salman al-Farsi Salman Farsi (; ) was a Persian religious scholar and one of the companions of Muhammad. As a practicing Zoroastrian, he dedicated much of his early life to studying to become a magus, after which he began travelling extensively throughout Weste ...

, (d. 35 AH, buried Madaa'in, SA) # Imam

Qasim ibn Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr Al-Qāsim ibn Muḥammad ibn Abī Bakr () (born 36 or 38 AH and died 106 AH or 108 AH; corresponding to 660/662 and 728/730) The Four Imams by Muhammad Abu Zahrahchapter on Imam Malik was a jurist in early Islam. In the Naqshbandi Sufi or ...

(d. 107 AH, buried Madinah, SA) # Imam

Jafar Sadiq Ja'far al-Sadiq (; –765) was a Muslim hadith transmitter and the last agreed-upon Shia Imam between the Twelvers and Isma'ilis. Known by the title al-Sadiq ("The Truthful"), Ja'far was the eponymous founder of the Ja'fari school of Islamic ...

, (after which moved to Iran; d. 148 AH buried Madinah, SA) # Shaikh

Bayazid Bastami Bayazīd Ṭayfūr bin ʿĪsā bin Surūshān al-Bisṭāmī (al-Basṭāmī) (d. 261/874–5 or 234/848–9), commonly known in the Iranian world as Bāyazīd Basṭāmī (), was a Sufi from north-central Iran.Walbridge, John. "Suhrawardi a ...

, (d. 261 AH, buried Bistaam, Iraq (804 - 874 CE)) # Shaikh Abul Hassan Kharqani, (d. 425 AH buried, Kharqaan, Iran) # Shaikh Abul Qasim Gurgani, (d. 450 AH, buried Gurgan, Iran) # Shaikh Abu Ali Farmadi, (after which he moved to Turkmenistan; d. 477 AH, buried Tous, Khorasan, Iran) # Khwaja Abu Yaqub Yusuf Hamadani, (d. 535 AH, buried Maru, Khorosan, Iran) # Khwaja Abdul Khaliq Ghujdawani, (d. 575 AH, buried Ghajdawan, Bukhara, Uzbekistan) # Khwaja Arif Reogari, (d. 616 AH, buried Reogar, Bukhara, Uzbekistan) # Khwaja Mahmood Anjir-Faghnawi, (d. 715 AH, buried Waabakni, Mawralnahar) # Shaikh Azizan Ali Ramitani, (d. 715 AH, buried Khwaarizm, Bukhara, Uzbekistan) # Shaikh Muhammad Baba Samasi, (d. 755 AH, buried Samaas, Bukhara, Uzbekistan) # Shaikh Sayyid Amir Kulal, (d. 772 AH, buried Saukhaar, Bukhara, Uzbekistan) # Shaikh Muhammad Baha'uddin Naqshband, (d. 791 AH, buried Qasr-e-Aarifan, Bukhara, Uzbekistan (1318–1389 CE)) # Shaikh Ala'uddin Attar Bukhari, (buried Jafaaniyan, Mawranahar, Uzbekistan) # Shaikh Yaqub Charkhi, (d. 851 AH, buried Charkh, Bukhara, Uzbekistan) # Shaikh Ubaidullah Ahrar, (d. 895 AH, buried Samarkand, Uzbekistan) # Shaikh

Muhammad Zahid Wakhshi Muhammad Zahid Vakhshi (; 852-936 AH) was a Sufi of the Naqshbandī Sufi order. He lived in Vakhsh (or Vakash), a small town in present-day Tajikistan, about 100 km South of the capital Dushanbe. Naqshbandī The Sufi order from Khwa ...

, (d. 936 AH, buried Wakhsh, Malk Hasaar) # Shaikh Durwesh Muhammad, (d. 970 AH, buried Samarkand, Uzbekistan) # Shaikh Muhammad Amkanaki, (after which moved to India; d. 1008 AH, buried Akang, Bukhara, Uzbekistan) # Shaikh Muhammad Baqi Billah Berang, (d. 1012 AH, buried Delhi, India) # Shaikh Ahmad Faruqi Sirhindi, (d. 1034 AH, buried Sarhand, India (1564–1624 CE)) # Muhammad Masum Sirhindi, (d. 1079 AH, buried Sarhand, India) # Muhammad Saifuddin Faruqi Mujaddidi, (d. 1096 AH, buried Sarhand, India) # Hafiz Muhammad Mohsin (Delhi, India, d. 1147 AH) # Sayyid Nur Muhammad Badayuni, (India, d. 1135 AH) #

Mirza Mazhar Jan-e-Janaan Mirzā Mazhar Jān-i Jānān (), also known by his laqab Shamsuddīn Habībullāh (13 March 1699 – 6 January 1781), was a renowned Hanafi Maturidi Naqshbandi, Naqshbandī Sufi poet of Delhi, distinguished as one of the "four pillars of Urdu p ...

, (Delhi, India, d. 1195 AH) # Abdullah Dahlawi, alias

Shah Ghulam Ali Dehlavi Shah Abdullah alias Shah Ghulam Ali Dehlavi (1743–1824, Urdu:) was a Sufi Shaykh in Delhi during the early 19th century. He was a master of the Naqshbandi tradition His father wanted to make him a disciple of Qādri,. Biography He was born ...

, (d. 1240 AH) # Shaikh Abu-Saeed Faruqi Mujaddidi, (buried in Delhi, India, d. 1250 AH) # Shaikh Shah Ahmed Saeed Faruqi Mujaddidi, (buried in

Madinah Medina, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (, ), also known as Taybah () and known in pre-Islamic times as Yathrib (), is the capital of Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ...

, d. 1277 AH) # Khwaja Dost Muhammad Qandhari, Musa Zai Sharif, (Dera Ismail,

, d. 1284 AH)

His Khulafa

:* Khwaja Muhammad Usman Damani, his successor :* Mawlana Rahim Bakhsh Punjabi, who was sent to take charge of Khanqah Mazharia in Delhi :* Mawlana Amanullah Herati (his spiritual legacy is still active in Iran) :* Mawlana Ahmed Deen, teacher of Sayyad Laal Shah Hamdani :* Mawlana Muhammad Adil (he entered the tariqah after a long debate with the shaykh) :* Mawlana Nizamuddin

References

* *

External links

Jalwa Gah-e-Dost (Urdu) 2nd edition (2008) by Khwaja Muhammad Tahir Abbasi

Photograph of the grave (''mazar'') of Dost Muhammad in Musazai Sharif
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dost Muhammad 1800s births 1868 deaths People from Kandahar Naqshbandi order 19th-century Muslim scholars of Islam Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam Afghan Sufis Afghan Sufi saints Sufi teachers Sufism in Pakistan Shattariyya