Abdul Qadir Gilani

1077 or 1078 in the town of Na'if, Rezvanshahr in Gilan, Persia, and died in 1166 in Baghdad. His epithet, Gilani refers to his place of birth, Gilan, while the epithet, Baghdadi, referring to his residence and burial in Baghdad.

Training under Abu Saeed Mubarak Makhzoomi and Ibn Aqil is recorded. Abu Madyan is recorded as having studied under Abdul Qadir Gilani. The recorded working language is Arabic. The field of work recorded is Sufism. Works named in the authority record are Futuh al-Ghayb, Al-Ghunya, Al-Fuyudat al-Rabbaniyya and Al-Fath Ar-Rabbani.

He had the honorific title of Muḥi al-Dīn, denoting his status according to many Sufis as a reviver of Islam. According to Sufi Hagiography, Abdul Qadir held the highest position in the hierarchy of Awliya (Sufi saints) having achieved the spiritual rank (Maqam) of the succour (Ghawth).

Gilani was born in 1077 or 1078, though details of his early life and family background are uncertain, sources indicate that his father (or grandfather) was known by the nickname Jangi Dust, suggesting a Persian lineage. His nisba, al-Jilani, denotes origin from Gilan, a region on the southwestern coast of the Caspian Sea in present-day Iran. During his stay in Baghdad, Gilani was called ajami (non-Arab), which according to Bruce Lawrence may be because he spoke Persian alongside Arabic. According to the al-Nujūm al-ẓāhira by the 15th-century historian Ibn Taghribirdi (d. 1470), Gilani was born in Jil in Iraq, but this account is questioned by French historian Jacqueline Chabbi. Modern historians (including Lawrence) consider Gilan to be his birth place. The region was then politically semi-independent and divided between local chieftains from different clans. Gilani is claimed to be a descendant of Muhammad through his grandson Hasan ibn Ali, this claim is generally accepted within the Muslim community, including followers of the Qadiriyya order. Some scholars, including Lawrence, consider this claim inconsistent with Gilani's apparent Persian background, and suggest that it may have been emphasized or constructed by the later Hagiographers.

Gilani spent his early life in Gilan, the province of his birth. In 1095, he moved to Baghdad where he studied Hanbali jurisprudence under Abu Saeed Mubarak Makhzoomi and Ibn Aqil. He also studied hadith with Abu Muhammad Ja'far al-Sarraj. His Sufi spiritual instructor was Abu'l-Khair Hammad al-Dabbas. After completing his education, Gilani left Baghdad and reportedly spent twenty-five years in ascetic retreat and wandering in the deserts of Iraq.

• Illustration — Hadhrat al-Qadiriyya in Baghdad in 1925 Al-Gilani died in 1166 and was buried in Baghdad. His urs (death anniversary) is traditionally observed annually on 11 Rabi' al-Thani. During the reign of the Safavid Shah Ismail I, in 1508, Gilani's shrine was destroyed. However, in 1535, Ottoman sultan Suleiman the Magnificent commissioned the construction of a new shrine over his grave, which remains in existence today.

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