Shami-Damulla (died 1932) (russian: Шами-дамулла) was a nickname for Sa‘id ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahid ibn ‘Ali al-‘Asali al-Tarablusi al-Shami al-Dimashqi, an important figure in the development of Islamic fundamentalism in Soviet Central Asia. Among his followers was Ziyauddin Babakhan, the second mufti of the Spiritual Administration of the Muslims of Central Asia and Kazakhstan. Before settling in Central Asia in 1919, Shami-Damulla travelled to Iran, Afghanistan and

Kashmir Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...

. Originally from Cairo, he was an Al-Azhar educated scholar. Shami-Dulla seems to have been influenced by the movement during the 15-20 years that he lived in Xinjiang; the

Salafist The Salafi movement or Salafism () is a reform branch movement within Sunni Islam that originated during the nineteenth century. The name refers to advocacy of a return to the traditions of the "pious predecessors" (), the first three generati ...

movement was particularly influential in

Xinjiang Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...

where it was a counter to

Sufism Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, r ...

. He moved to

Tashkent Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of ...

in 1919 with the support of the Russian consul in

Kashgar Kashgar ( ug, قەشقەر, Qeshqer) or Kashi ( zh, c=喀什) is an oasis city in the Tarim Basin region of Southern Xinjiang. It is one of the westernmost cities of China, near the border with Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Pakistan ...

References

Further reading