Hanbalis who took the path of Tasawwuf

This article was posted by Ibn ‘Ajibah on the the SI forums. The author is unknown to us. Very beneficial read however.

1.Abdul Ghanī ibn Abdil Wāhid ibn Alī ibn Surūr ibn Hasan ibn Ja’far al-Jamā’ilī al-Maqdisī, the Hāfidh, the Muhaddith, jurist, ascetic. Born 541 Hijri.

Ibn an-Najjār said of him:
“He narrated from many and authored beautiful works in the field of Hadīth, and he was strong in memory and from the people of mastery and Tajwīd. He was well grounded in all of the sciences of Hadīth, knowing its rules, its fundamentals, its hidden defects, its authentic and inauthentic, its abrogating and abrogated, its rare wordings and its proper pronunciation, its Fiqh and its meanings, and (he was well grounded) in precision with the narrators and their conditions

al-Imām al-‘Ulaymī said in his work, al-Manhaj al-Ahmad (2/191):
“al-Muwaffaq (Ibn Qudamāh al-Maqdisi) said: ‘al-Hāfidh Abdul Ghanī and I both donned the Khirqah upon the hand of Shaykh ul Islam Abdul Qādir (al-Jilāni), and the both of us obtained Fiqh from him and benefit from his companionship, even though we only saw him for fifty nights of his life.”

2. Muwaffaq ad-Dīn Abdullah ibn Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Qudāmah ibn Miqdām ibn Nasr ibn Abdillah al-Maqdisī ad-Dimashqī as-Sālihī, born 541 Hijrī.

al-Imam al-Ulaymī said in al-Manhaj al-Ahmad (2/361):
“The jurist, the acsetic, the Imām, the Rabbānī, the Imām of Ahlus Sunnah, Muftī of the Ummah, Shaykh ul Islam, leader of the notable scholars, the notable of the devout worshippers and ascetics, the Imām of the Muhaddithūn and the last of the Mujtahidūn.”

Shaykh ul Islam Ahmad Ibn Taymiyah said:
“No one after al-Awza’ī has entered the Levant (Shām) possessing more Fiqh than ash-Shaykh al-Muwaffaq.”

al-Imām al-‘Ulaymī said in his work, al-Manhaj al-Ahmad (2/191):
“al-Muwaffaq (Ibn Qudamāh al-Maqdisi) said: ‘al-Hāfidh Abdul Ghanī and I both donned the Khirqah upon the hand of Shaykh ul Islam Abdul Qādir (al-Jilāni), and the both of us obtained Fiqh from him and benefit from his companionship, even though we only saw him for fifty nights of his life.”

3. Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Abdillah ibn ‘Isa ibn Rijal Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Yunīnī al-Ba’lī, born 572 Hijrī.

Imām Ibn Kathīr said in al-Bidāyah wan Nihāyah:
“Taqqiyuddīn, the jurist, the Hanbali, the Hāfidh, the benefitial, the well versed, the pious worshipper. He heard from al-Khushū’ī, Hanbal, Kindī, and al-Hāfidh Abdul Ghanī al-Maqdisī-who used to compliment him. He gained Fiqh from al-Muwaffaq (Ibn Qudāmah), stuck with Shaykh Abdullah al-Yunīnī and benefited from him. Shaykh Abdullah used to compliment him, bring him in the front (of the gatherings) and follow him in legal verdicts. He donned the Khirqah from the Shaykh of his Shaykh; Abdullah al-Batā’ihī, and became renowned in the science of Hadīth…”

Imām Ibn Muflih said in al-Maqsad al-Arshad (2/357):
“And he donned the Khirqah of Tasawwuf from Shaykh Abdullah al-Batā’ihī-a companion of Shaykh Abdul Qādir (al-Jilānī). He stuck closely with Shaykh Abdullah al-Yunīnī, the acsetic, the possessor of states (Ahwāl) and miracles who was called the lion of Shām.”

4 Yūsuf ibn Abdir Rahmān ibn Alī ibn Muhammad ibn Alī ibn Hammad ibn al-Jawzī al-Qurashī at-Tamīmī al-Bakrī al-Baghdādī, the jurist, the scholar of Usūl, the exhorter, born 580 Hijrī.

al-Ulaymī said:
“He donned the Khirqah from Shaykh Diyā’ ad-Dīn Abdul Wahhāb ibn Sakīnah

5. Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Abdillah ibn ‘Isā
Burhānuddīn said in al-Maqsad al-Arshad (2/356)
“He was a possessor of states (Ahwāl), miracles, litanies (Ar. Awrad), and acts of worship that he never left off or delayed past their time by anyones appearance-even if that person was from the kings. He did not believe in manifesting miracles. He used to say: ‘Just as Allah ordered the Prophets to manifest their miracles (Mu’jizāt), he ordered the Awliyā’ (allies of Allah ) to conceal their Karamāt.”

6. Alī ibn Muhammad ibn Waddāh ibn Abī Sa’d

Ibn Muflih said in al-Maqsad al-Arshad (2/261):
“The jurist, the Muhaddith, the grammarian, the ascetic, the writer and linguist…”

Then he said:
“…He heard from the Gnostic Shaykh Alī ibn Idrīs al-Ya’qūbī, and donned the Khirqah from him.”

al-Ulaymī said about him:
“He accompanied the righteous and donned the Khirqah of Tasawwuf.”

7.Muhammad ibn Abdillah ibn ‘Umar ibn Abil Qasim al-Baghdadī, born 623 Hijrī.

Ibn Muflih said in al-Maqsad al-Arshad (2/424):
“…and he donned the Khirqah of Tasawwuf.”

8. Muhammad ibn Abdillah al-Ba’lī, born 1104 Hijrī.

In an-Na’t al-Akmal it states about him:
“…the Shaykh, the righteous, the Sūfī, Abūs Sa’adāt

9. Ahmad ibn Ibrahīm ibn Nasrillah ibn Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn ’Abdil Fattāh ibn Hāshim al-Qādī al-Kinānī al-’Asqalānī, born 800 Hijrī.

Ibn Humayd said in as-Suhab al-Wābilah (1/87):
“And he donned the Khirqah of Tasawwuf with Talqīn of the Dhikr from az-Zain Abū Bakr al-Khawwāfī. He also accompanied al-Burhan al-Adkāwī and donned it (the Khirqah) from his maternal uncle.”

10. Abdul Rahmān ibn Muhammad ibn Abdir Rahmān ibn Yūsuf ibn ‘Isā ibn Tāqiyyuddīn Abdul Wāhid ibn Abdil Rahīm ibn Hamad ibn Abdil Majīd al-Qurashī al-‘Umarī al-‘Ulaymī, the author of the book al-Manhaj al-Ahmad fī Tarajim Ashab al-Imām Ahmad, born 860 Hijrī.

ash-Shaykh al-‘Ulaymī said in his above-mentioned book that he donned the Khirqah with a high connected chain all the way to Shaykh Abdul Qādir al-Jilānī. He said (2/186):
“And I took the noble Khirqah with a high and connected chain from as-Sayyid al-Jalīl Muhyīuddīn Abdul Qādir al-Jīlī (radiaAllāhu ‘anhu) from our Shaykh- the Shaykh and Imām, the remnant of the notable scholars , the blessing of the era and worshippers, the Shaykh of the reciters in al-Quds ash-Sharīf and in all of the other lands: Shamsuddīn Abū Abdillah Muhammad ibn Mūsā ibn ‘Imrān al-Muqrī al-Hanafī-may Allah envelop him in His mercy and enter him into His spacious gardens. He clothed me with it (the Khirqah) with his own two blessed hands on Yawm al-Ahad (i.e. Sunday) after Dhuhr, the 16th of Sha’bān, in the year 871 in the noble Masjid al-Aqsā-may Allah honor it and magify it- at the gate of al-Hadd from the western side…”

11. Ahmad ibn ’Abdil Azīz ibn Alī’ ibn Ibrahīm ibn Rashīd ash-Shihāb al-Qahirī, born 861 Hijrī.

In ad-Daw’ al-Lāmi’ (1/349):
“He was born approximately on one of the two Jumādās (Jumad al-Uwla or Jumad ath-Thāniyah) in the year 861. He grew up on the outskirts of Akka in Cairo. There, he grew up and memorized the Qur’an and other books such as: al-‘Umdah, al-Mughnī, the Alfiyah in grammar, the Mulhah, most of at-Tūfī and the Shatibiyyah.”

ash-Sha’rawī said, as quoted by Ibn Humayd in as-Suhab al-Wābilah (1/159):
“In the beginning of his days, he used to censure the Sūfīs, but when he gathered with Sīdī Alī al-Khawwas and others, he listened to them attentively and believed them. After that, he used to severely regret not formerly gathering with them in the beginning of his days. After this, the path was opened for him and he was given a mighty Kashf (unveiling-disclousure) before his death.”

12. Ahmad ibn Abdillah ibn Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Halabī al-Ba’lī ad-Dimashqī, born 1108 Hijrī.

Al-Imām al-Muradī said of him in Sulk ad-Durrar (1/131):
“He is the Shaykh, the Imām, the ascetic, the abstemious the jurist. He was a virtuous scholar acting according to his knowledge. He was a devout worshipper, humble, submissive, the remnant of the practicing scholars, a scholar of inheritance and Usūl. There was noone that we reached that was on his path despite the virtue which is undeniable…”

then he said:

“He took the Khalwatiyyah path from the Ustādh, the Shaykh Muhammad ibn ‘Isā al-Kinanī as-Sālihī al-Hanbalī and Shaykh Muhammad Aqīlah al-Makki and Shaykh Abdullah al-Khalīlī…”

13. Ahmad ibn Atiyyah ibn Abdil Hayy al-Qayyūm ibn Abī Bakr ibn Dhahīrah al-Makkī, born 879 Hijrī.

Shaykh Jārullah ibn Fahd said, as quoted by Ibn Humayd in as-Suhab al-Wābilah (1/187):
“He took the path of Tasawwuf and for it, he travelled to the Mashayikh of Yemen, taking from Shaykh Isma’īl al-Mushri’, and his brother Shaykh Junayd. He obtained Jadhab (divine pulling-a Sufī term) and then he came to- and then his clothing became tattered. He stuck to the Mashāyikh of Dhikr with seriousness and contentedness.”

14. Ahmad ibn Yahyā ibn Yūsuf ibn Abī Bakr ibn Ahmad ibn Abī Bakr ibn Yusuf ibn Ahmad al-Karmī.
Ibn Humayd mentioned in as-Suhab 1/277:
“al-Muhhibī said: He was from the practicing scholars and from the ascetic Awliyā. He was born in Bayt al-Maqdis in the year 1000 Hijrī. He learned the Qurān at Tūr Karam and took the Sufī path from the Gnostic knower of Allāh the Exalted, Muhammad al-Alamī.”

15. Salmān ibn Abdil Hamīd ibn Muhammad ibn Mubārak al-Baghdādī al-Dimashqī, died 785 Hijrī.

In ad-Daw al-Lāmi it states, 3/258:
“He was an upright Sūfī of the Khalwatiyah path. He was well versed in Fiqh issues and he possessed virtues.”

16. Abdul Bāqī ibn Abdil Bāqī ibn Abdil Qādir ibn Abdil Bāqī ibn Ibrahīm ibn Umar ibn Muhammad al-B`alī al-Azharī ad-Dimashqī, born 1005 Hijrī.
Ibn Humayd said in as-Suhab 2/439:
“And he took the path of Sūfiyyah from his paternal uncle Shaykh Murāduddīn al-B`alī, the Khalīfah of Shaykh Muhammad al-Alamī al-Maqdisī and he imparted the Dhikr to him.

17. Abdul Jabbār ibn Alī al-Basrī, born 1205 Hijrī
Ibn Humayd said in as-Suhab:
“The Shaykh, the righteous, the scholar, the doer, the guide, the complete, the devout, the worshipper, the abstemious, the ascetic, the upright, the bower and prostrator, the Shaykh of the Tarīqah and the Ustādh of the Haqīqah…He, may Allah be merciful with him, was removed from the worldly life and its people not looking or viewing anything of it. He would not accept any gift or position from the rulers. He used to dislike that anyone mention him among the rulers or the merchants.

18. Abdul Haqq ibn Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Ahmad ibn Umar ibn Isma`īl ibn Ahmad, born 1070 Hijrī.
Ibn Humayd said in as-Suhab 2/458, quoting from al-Muhhibī:
” al-Adhamī as-Sūfī al-Qādir known as al-Marzubānī, he was from the famous Sūfis of Shām.

19. Abdul Rahman ibn Abī Bakr ibn Dāwud ad-Dimashqī as-Sālihī, born 782 Hijrī.
Ibn Humayd said in as-Suhab 2/480:
“He took Tassawuf from his father and heard from him his written work: the etiquette of the Murīd and what is sought after, in the year 805 and from him he took the Dhikr and donned the Khirqah.

20. Abdul Rahman ibn Abdillah ibn Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-B`alī al-Halabī, the author of Kashf al-Mukhaddarāt. Born 1110 Hijrī.
Imām al-Murādī said in Sulk ad-Durrar 3/304:
“The Shaykh, the scholar, the virtuous, the righteous. He was a jurist, deeply knowledgeable in the sciences, especially the modes of recitation. He read to the virtuous Shaykh al-Musallik, Shaykh Muhammad ibn Isā al-Kimmī al-Khalwatī portions in grammar and he took from him the path of the noble Khalwatiyyah and received the Dhikr from him. He accompanied him for over 15 years and he gave him Ijāzah”

21. Abdul Rahmān ibn Umar ibn Abdil Rahmān ibn Hasan ibn Yahyā ibn Umar ibn Abdil Muhsin al-Lakhmī al-Misrī al-Hamawī-originally-al-Kinānī ad-Dimashqī, born 749 Hijrī.

Ibn Humayd said of him in as-Suhab 2/510:
“He saw Shaykh Abdullah al-Ishqī, the Shaykh of Shaykh Abdullah al-Butāmī, who gave him Ijāzah and from whom he donned the Khirqah.

22. Abdul Qādir ibn Muhammad ibn Abdil Qādir ibn Muhammad ibn Ibrāhīm al-Ansārī al-Jazīrī, born 911 Hijrī

he said of himself in his book Durar al-Farā`id al-Mandhūmah:
“I used to be completely involved with gaining knowledge, turning away from everything else. Some of my honorable Mashāyikh used to encourage me to be entirely immersed in it and to whole heartedly turn away from writing and inclining towards it because it was from the works of the children of the world who are occupied with its adornment and glitter. Whoever attaches himself to it then in no way will he be correct.

What used to help me in that and in traveling this path is that our Shaykh, our Mawlā, the knower of Allah the Exalted, the teachers of the Murīds, the example of those traveling the path of the Gnostics, Shihābuddīn Abūl Abbās Ahmad al-Harīfī az-Zinīdī ash-Shāfi`ī who gave me the Dhikr and donned me with the Khirqah. I traveled the path through service to him in that Tarīqah in my early years. I benefited from him and his blessings and I accompanied him until his death.

23. Abdul Qādir ibn Muhammad ibn Abdil Qādir al-Ja`farī an-Nāblūsī, died 844 Hijrī

Ibn Humayd said in as-Suhab 2/576:
“Sharafuddīn Qādī al-Qudāt ibn Badriddīn, the Imām, the scholar, the Allāmah, the Sūfī. He was the eldest of his fathers children and the Shaykh of the Fuqarā of the as-Samadiyyah.

24. Abdul Qādir ibn Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Isā ibn Rujīhī ibn Sābiq ibn Hilāl ibn Yūnus ibn Yūsuf ibn Jābir ibn Ibrāhīm ibn Musā`id ash-Shaybānī, born 852 Hijrī.

Ibn Humayd said in as-Suhab 2/579 quoting from Tūlūn:
“The scholar, the ascetic, the abstemious, the teacher and trainer in the path, the pillar of the travelers on the path and goal of the seekers…He memorized the Qur`ān and busied himself with knowledge, then he took the path of Tasawwuf and donned the Khirqah from a group-from them his father.