Sayyid Alauddin Attar was a

Sufi Saint The term ''wali'' is most commonly used by Muslims to refer to a saint, or literally a "friend of God in Islam, God".John Renard, ''Friends of God: Islamic Images of Piety, Commitment, and Servanthood'' (Berkeley: University of California Press ...

from

Bukhara Bukhara ( ) is the List of cities in Uzbekistan, seventh-largest city in Uzbekistan by population, with 280,187 residents . It is the capital of Bukhara Region. People have inhabited the region around Bukhara for at least five millennia, and t ...

and

Shaykh Sheikh ( , , , , ''shuyūkh'' ) is an honorific title in the Arabic language, literally meaning "elder (administrative title), elder". It commonly designates a tribal chief or a Muslim ulama, scholar. Though this title generally refers to me ...

of the

Naqshbandi Sufi order 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 ...

. He was a descendant of

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 ...

and son in law of his master and predecessor Khwaja Bahauddin Naqshband.

Biography

Alauddin Attar was born in

Khwarezm Khwarazm (; ; , ''Xwârazm'' or ''Xârazm'') or Chorasmia () is a large oasis region on the Amu Darya river delta in western Central Asia, bordered on the north by the (former) Aral Sea, on the east by the Kyzylkum Desert, on the south by ...

in a

Sayyid ''Sayyid'' is an honorific title of Hasanid and Husaynid lineage, recognized as descendants of the Islamic prophet Muhammad through his daughter Fatima and Ali's sons Hasan ibn Ali, Hasan and Husayn ibn Ali, Husayn. The title may also refer ...

household. His father was Khwaja Muhammad Khwarezmi who has also been an

Islamic scholar In Islam, the ''ulama'' ( ; also spelled ''ulema''; ; singular ; feminine singular , plural ) are scholars of Islamic doctrine and law. They are considered the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious knowledge in Islam. "Ulama ...

and

. Khwaja Alauddin Attar was born as Muhammad ibn Muhammad, who then changed his name with the grace of his master

Bahauddin Naqshband Baha' al-Din Naqshband (; 1318–1389) was the eponymous founder of what became one of the largest Sufi Sunni orders, the Naqshbandi. Early life Baha al-Din was born in March 1318 in the village of Qasr-i Hinduvan, near Bukhara. Like the maj ...

, due to his superiority as

. Ala, denotes superiority, and din, religion, which was entitled to him. Alauddin Attar started learning

Islamic Sciences The Islamic sciences () are a set of traditionally defined religious sciences practiced by Islamic scholars ( ), aimed at the construction and interpretation of Islamic religious knowledge. Different sciences These sciences include: * : Islami ...

from a very young age and accomplished his studies as a young teenager graduating from all contemporary teachers in

. After his father's demise, he gave all his inheritance from his father to his little brothers. He then got to know

, who realized his talent. Alauddin and his master had a very strong emotional relationship that held lifelong. Historical sources compare this relationship with the relationship

Jacob Jacob, later known as Israel, is a Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions. He first appears in the Torah, where he is described in the Book of Genesis as a son of Isaac and Rebecca. Accordingly, alongside his older fraternal twin brother E ...

had to his son

Joseph Joseph is a common male name, derived from the Hebrew (). "Joseph" is used, along with " Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the modern-day Nordic count ...

, for Bahauddin had no son of his own. Bahauddin was so anstonished because of Alauddin's potential as Saint that legends say, he had seen

himself in a dream, who ordered him to give his daughter's hands in marriage to his descendant Alauddin. Alauddin issued Khwaja Hasan and Khwaja Hussein, who were the spiritual and judicial heirs of Bahauddin, for he only had two daughters.

Ancestry

According to old historical sources Khwaja Alauddin's ancestry traces back to

after 19 generations. His lineage is as follows: *

Fatima al Zahra Fatima bint Muhammad (; 605/15–632 CE), commonly known as Fatima al-Zahra' (), was the daughter of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his wife Khadija. Fatima's husband was Ali, the fourth of the Rashidun caliphs and the first Shia imam. ...

and

Ali ibn Abi Talib Ali ibn Abi Talib (; ) was the fourth Rashidun caliph who ruled from until Assassination of Ali, his assassination in 661, as well as the first imamate in Shia doctrine, Shia Imam. He was the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muha ...

* Imam Hussein ibn Ali * Imam Ali ibn Hussein Zayn al Abideen * Imam Muhammad Al-Baqir *

Imam Jafar al-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 j ...

* Imam Musa Al-Kadhim * Al-Amir Sayyid Mir Ibrahim ibn Musa al-Murtadha * Sayyid Abu Bakr * Sayyid Abdul-Haq * Sayyid Jafar * Sayyid Muhammad Rumi * Sayyid Abdullah * Sayyid Musa * Sayyid Hussein * Sayyid Qasim * Sayyid Abu Bakr Reza * Sayyid Abdullah Zarbaksh * Sayyid Muhammad Khwarezmi * Sayyid Alauddin Attar

Legacy

He taught many accomplished scholars, like Khwaja Yaqub Charkhi, dedicated himself to many charity projects and advised the contemporary rulers, who asked him for advices. His descendants follow his footsteps until today. His descendants are prominent

Sufi saints Sufi saints or wali (, plural ʾawliyāʾ أولياء) played an instrumental and foregrounding role in spreading Islam throughout the world. In the traditional Islamic view, a saint is portrayed as someone "marked by pecialdivine favor ... ...

Islamic scholars In Islam, the ''ulama'' ( ; also spelled ''ulema''; ; singular ; feminine singular , plural ) are scholars of Islamic doctrine and law. They are considered the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious knowledge in Islam. "Ulama ...

Grand Mufti A Grand Mufti (also called Chief Mufti, State Mufti and Supreme Mufti) is a title for the leading Faqīh, Islamic jurist of a country, typically Sunni, who may oversee other muftis. Not all countries with large Sunni Muslim populations have Gra ...

s, preachers,

commanders Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries, t ...

and

diplomats A diplomat (from ; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state, intergovernmental, or nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or international organizations. The main functions of diplomats a ...

. His bloodline and line of succession goes through his two sons Hasan and Hussein.Archived a
Ghostarchive
and th
Wayback Machine

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Atar, Sayyid Alauddin Sufi saints 1330s births 1400s deaths Naqshbandi order