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

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

The Iraqi historian Abbas al-Azzawi indicates in an article that he had seen a list of the books belonging to Mawlana Khalid, in which he did not find anything of the books by the extremist Sufis (al-ghulat min al-mutasawwifa). Then, praising Mawlana Khalid, he adds, "far be it from him that he inclines to such books." (34) The sentence here is not clear since Azzawi does not specify what "such books" means. But in the preceding pages in the same article, he quotes the above-mentioned Shaikh Alusi, stating that Mawlana Khalid had a pure faith, and "he did not believe in unity, unification and incarnation", which explains Azzawi's doubts. This is undeniably contradictory to the assertions of other sources that several of Ibn Arabi's works were in Mawlana Khalid's library. (35)

Although most of the leading Siraj ad-Dini Shaikhs have been good poets and active letter writers, there is not a single comprehensive work about the philosophical and theoretical aspects of the Naqshbandi order among their writings. Most of the letters and treatises were written to reply to deputies, followers and friends. In many cases they are devoted to explain questions related to the shari'a, or simply to give instructions on everyday issues. A number of these letters were written to the rulers of the time (including the Ottoman Sultan and the Qajar Shah) to ask a favour or simply to send them a few words of courtesy. The letters and treatises of Shaikh 'Umar Diya' ad-Din are probably the most comprehensive among the writings of the Siraj ad-Dini Shaikhs. In a few of them he discusses briefly the questions of fana' and lata'if and other related topics, but the question of wahdat al-wujud is not dealt with anywhere.

The Cultural Heritage

In addition to hundreds of letters and a great number of treatises, Mawlana Khalid also wrote tens of poems in Kurdish, Arabic and Persian. These were collected and printed in Istanbul in 1260/1844, only eighteen years after his death. Even in his letters, Mawlana Khalid usually quotes lines of poetry. Often these are lines by known poets such as Hafiz, Mawlana Jalal ad-Din Rumi, Shah-i Naqshband, Shabustari, Jami, Bidel-i Bukhari and others. But he enriches many of his letters with lines of his own poetry. The addition of these lines of poetry clearly indicates Mawlana's sophistication and appreciation of poetry and the impact of words as a whole.

This tradition was further developed by the Naqshbandi Shaikhs of Hawraman, the Siraj ad-Dini Shayk family. Already in the 1830s Shaikh Uthman Siraj ad-Din I had turned his home region into an important center of Sufism and culture attracting a great number of poets and scholars. Shaikhs in the family who succeeded him during the last one and a half centuries continued to promote Kurdish culture. Among their disciples there have always been great scholars and poets who participated in the spreading of the order, creating great works that constitute the grounds of Kurdish Sufi literature, which is an important feature of Kurdish culture as a whole. Many of these poets and scholars dwelled permanently in the Naqshbandi khanaqahs or visited frequently and stayed for long periods.