The Naqshbandi Shaikhs of Hawraman and the heritage of Khalidiyya-Mujaddidiyya in Kurdistan

International Journal of Kurdish Studies, Jan, 2005 by Farhad Shakely

The first great problem to face Mawlana Khalid and his newly established suborder was the hostile attitude taken by the leader of the Qadiri order in Kurdistan, Shaikh Ma'ruf Node with all the complicated consequences the conflict implied, as was mentioned previously.

Shaikh Uthmin Siraj ad-Din I had to deal with this conflict and with the new situation as a whole when Mawlana Khalid left for Damascus and died thereafter in 1242/1827. The reconciliation reached at between Mawlana Khalid and Shaikh Ma'ruf, obviously, put an end to any open dispute between the two men and their followers further. The position of Siraj ad-Din as the main representative of the order in Kurdistan necessitated starting new and friendly relations with the Qadiri order. This new attitude marks the two orders' relations in the coming decades and among the succeeding generations. Among the letters sent by Siraj ad-Din to different people we find a letter to Haji Shaikh Kak Ahmad (1207-1305), son of Shaikh Ma'ruf Node, which contains many friendly and sincere expressions. (19)

Shaikh Abd ar-Rahman Talabani (d. ca 1275/1858) of Karkuk (Kirkuk) was one of the prominent leaders of the Qadiri order, with whom Siraj ad-Din was on good terms. This relation was developed further when Siraj ad-Din sent his son Umar to study at the Talabani Takya (takka) in Karkuk, where he lived within Shaikh Abd ar-Rahman's family and studied in the company of his son, 'Ali, who afterwards succeeded his father and became the leader of the Qadiri order. Shaikh Umar Ziya' ad-Din later married a niece of Shaikh Hasan Qarachewar of Qadir Karam, Karkuk, who also was a leader of the Qadiri order.

In a letter to the Naqshbandi deputies and novices in the Juwanro region, Shaikh Uthman Siraj ad-Din reminds them that their order is a combination of five orders, including the Qadiri and that Shaikh Sirhindi regarded Had[section]rat-i Ghawth, i. e. Shaikh Abd al-Qadir Gilani (d. 561/1166), the all-embracing means without whom nobody would be favoured on the path. (20) Apparently some people have behaved rudely with the dervishes of Shaikh Abd ar-Rahman (probably Shaikh Abd ar-Rahman Talabani). The Shaikh orders his followers "to treat them as a beggar treats a king." He further tells them that he regards himself as the ground under the feet of the lowest of the Shaikh's dervishes (Khak-i qadam-i 'adna darvishi ... danesta va midanam).

Shaikh Umar Ziya' ad-Din, in a letter to one of his deputies, emphasizes that there is no difference between the Qadiri and the Naqshbandi orders, and whoever makes such a difference, he bears the signs of misfortune. (21) In another letter, addressed to Shaikh Hasan Qarachewar, a leader of the Qadiri order, he begs him for tawajjuh (attention) and describes himself as a servant (chakar). (22)

This genuine and friendly relationship between the Qadiris and the Naqshbandis was not limited to the leaders of the two orders. The Kurdish Sufi poet Mawlawi (1221/1806-1300/1882) was a deputy of Shaikh Uthman Siraj ad-Din I and his son Shaikh Muhammad Baha' ad-Din, but, at the same time, he was a good friend of Shaikh Abd ar-Rahman Talabani and Shaikh Kak Ahmad, both great leaders of the Qadiri order, visited them and sent letters to them. He wrote poems praising Shaikh Abd ar-Rahman and wrote two elegies when the Shaikh died. (23) His friendship with the family continued even after the death of the Shaikh. Mawlawi visited Shaikh Ali Talabani and on one occasion he stayed several months in the Qadiri takya in Karkuk.