Suhrawardiyya

The Suhrawardi order (Arabic: سهروردية, Persian: سهروردیه) is a Sufi order founded by Abu al-Najib Suhrawardi (died 1168). Lacking a centralised structure, it eventually divided into various branches. The order was especially prominent in India. The ideology of the Suhrawardi order was inspired by Junayd of Baghdad (d. 910), a Persian scholar and mystic from Baghdad.

Under the Ilkhanate (1256–1335), the Suhrawardi was one of the three leading Sufi orders and was based in western Iran. The order had its own khanqahs (Sufi lodges), which helped them spread their influence throughout Persianate society. The order included prominent members such as the Akbari mystics Abd al-Razzaq Kāshānī (died 1329), Sa'id al-Din Farghani (died 1300), and the Persian poet Saadi Shirazi (died 1292).

Today, most orders have dissolved in Middle Eastern countries such as Syria. However, the order is still active in Iraq, where it recruits new members.

The presence of the Suhrawardi order in India was established by three disciples of Shihab al-Din 'Umar al-Suhrawardi, who established branches in Dehli, Bengal, and Multan. The most successful proselytizer of the order was Bahauddin Zakariya. One of his disciples, Jalaluddin Surkh-Posh Bukhari founded the Jalali branch of the order. Bahāʾ al-Dīn’s most notable disciple was the poet Fakhr al-Din Iraqi. Bahāʾ al-Dīn's descendants remained in Multān, such as his grandson Rukn-e-Alam. The line ended with the execution of Rukn al-Dīn's successor, Hūd, by the sultān due to embezzlement charges. In Uččh, Jahaniyan Jahangasht, became the most notable figure of the Multān branch, who was also a member of the Chishti order and was notably puritanical. The descendants and disciples of the Makhdum spread to Kalpī, Gujarat, and notably Dehli. The greatest presence of the Suhrawari order in India was in Kashmir. The king of Kashmir, Rinchan, was converted to Islam by Bulbul Shah.

The Suhrawardi order had a strong relationship and exerted influence over Indian rulers and governments such the Delhi Sultanate, Gujarat Sultanate, and Mughal Empire. The Suhrawardīs supported the forced conversion of Hindus and Buddhists to Islam, and its converts were mainly upper caste. Suhrawardiyya spirituality focused on dhikr and Ramadan fasting and followed classical Ṣūfī doctrine.

Sources

• Babaie, Sussan (2019). Iran After the Mongols. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1788315289.
• Sobieroj, F. (1997). "Suhrawardiyya". In Bosworth, C. E.; van Donzel, E.; Heinrichs, W. P. & Lecomte, G. (eds.). The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Volume IX: San–Sze. Leiden: E. J. Brill. pp. 784–786. ISBN 978-90-04-10422-8.
• Feuillebois, Ève (2018). "ʿIzz al-Dīn Kāshānī". In Fleet, Kate; Krämer, Gudrun; Matringe, Denis; Nawas, John; Rowson, Everett (eds.). Encyclopaedia of Islam (3rd ed.). Brill Online. ISSN 1873-9830.