Question:
Dear Shaykh Gibril, Recently I was told that all of the Qaadiriyy Turuq have defective silsilas because al-Jiilaaniyy only gave ijaazah in tasawwuf to a few Hanbali mureeds of his and he did not give any ijazah to any non-Hanbali mureed. Can you elaborate on this? wa as-salaam
Answer:
Trying to undermine such a well-known silsilah is like trying to pave the sea. Both the premise and the conclusion are baseless, in addition to which there is no logical link between them. Even supposing there were only Hanbalis khalifas their own khalifas could have been non-Hanbalis.
The claim also implies that all the Shadhili silsilas are defective as well, since Shaykh Abd al-Qadir is the great-great-grandshaykh of Shaykh Abu al-Hasan al-Shadhili. Furthermore, Shaykh Muhyi al-Din said he received an Uwaisi khilafa from Shaykh `Abd al-Qadir and he was not Hanbali.
We seek refuge in Allah from all such absurd sweeping statements that fall under the hadith of the Prophet (upon him blessings and peace):
“Whoever claims the people have perished (halaka al-nas), he is the first one to perish.”
Allah subhan wa taala has made the Qadiri silsila the mainstay of Islam in the African continent, so whatever “defectiveness” is in it has greater baraka than any correct pedant can have in his whole lifetime.
Hajj Gibril Haddad
