Shaykh Sayyid Jamaluddin al-Ghumuqi al-Husayni

Shaykh Sayyid Jamaluddin al-Ghumuqi al-Husayni (may God sanctify his innermost being) is the thirty fifth Shaykh in the Naqshbandi Golden Chain.

He was born in the district of Kubu, in Ghazikumuk, Daghestan, in 1788 AD. From the first day he came into this world, he was in a state of witnessing, and lived his whole life in an unveiled state. He took his power through his family lineage to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), being Hasani and Husayni by descent, and taking the spiritual power of the order of the Prophet through Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (may God be pleased with him) and Ali ibn Abi Talib (may God be pleased with him).

Shaykh Jamaluddin was tall and thin. He had a very fair complexion, with a white beard and red eyes. His voice was soft and sweet. When he was young, he was taught by the scholars and Sufis of Daghestan, becoming a scholar in both exoteric and esoteric knowledge. He could speak more than fifteen languages, including Arabic, Persian, Urdu, Pashtu, Hindi, Russian, Turkish, Armenian, Daghestani dialect and Circassian dialect.

He memorized the Holy Quran by heart and was a reference in its explanation. He was also an expert in the Traditions of the Holy Prophet, of which he had memorized 775,000 Traditions and was also an expert in Islamic law. He was a skilled mathematician and scientist, with particular mastery in physics. He was also a renowned homeopathic physician.

For a while, he was the private secretary of the governor of the State of Ghazikumuk but he decided to leave that position, because he said, “God gave me the power to see with two special eyes, the power to see into the seven heavens and to see through the earth. I cannot work for an oppressor.” After leaving the governor, he committed himself to the Naqshbandi Order, which was flourishing at that time. Soon he was attracting large crowds to hear him speak about Sufism and in a short period of time, he had become famous.

God granted him two eyes in addition to those in his head. One eye was below his navel, the other one was above his navel. When he was an infant, the women of Ghazikumuk would come to see these two eyes. With the eye above his navel, he could see the heavenly knowledge and was given the spiritual power to transport himself into the Divine Presence with complete vision, without any self-effacement. He was able to look at the Divine Secrets with complete self-awareness and speak about them to his followers. If they asked a question, he would answer with certainty after looking at these Divine Secrets. He used the eye below his navel for any questions concerning the world of the spiritual beings known as ‘jinn’.

Shaykh Jamaluddin was already a Saint and a Spiritual Pole in the time of his Shaykh. He held that station for forty years. His Shaykh, Shaykh Ismail ash-Shirwani, showed him all kinds of secret knowledge, important for the training and raising of his followers. During the lives of the two other great Caliphs of Shaykh Ismail, Shaykh Khas Muahammad and Shaykh Muhammad Effendi, he continued to be the Saint carrying the main secret of the Naqshabndi Order. However, it was only after Shaykh Muhammad Effendi passed away, that he was given permission to become the Master of the Order.

Shaykh Jamaluddin directed the fight against the oppressing Russian army, by supporting Imam Shamil for nearly forty years. Shaykh Jamaluddin demonstrated his support, by giving his daughter, Zahida, in marriage to the Imam. The Imam’s ranks consisted solely of Naqshbandi disciples.

Shaykh Abdullah ad-Daghestani related, “The success of Imam Shamil against the oppressor was due to the spiritual support that he received from Shaykh Khas Muhammad, Shaykh Muhammad Effendi al-Yaraghi and Shaykh Sayyid Jamamluddin al-Ghumuqi, through the support of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). No single force was able to defeat him as long as he was granted that spiritual support. One time Shaykh Muhammad Effendi sent a message to Imam Shamil via Shaykh Jamaluddin al-Ghumuqi, ‘Always keep your connection with us; you will defeat everyone. Otherwise, you will be defeated.”

In his book, ‘Muslim Resistance to the Tsar, Shamil and the Conquest of Chechnia and Daghestan’, Gammer states, “Shamil was a ‘Khalifa’ in the Naqshbandi-Khaladi Order. Although he was an Imam, he was, as a ‘murid’ bound to complete obedience to his ‘murshid’, Jamaluddin al-Ghazi-Ghumuqi.
. . . He (Imam Shamil) also had a growing number of troops at his disposal to carry out his policy. This ability, and readiness, to enforce his will, coupled with his title, legitimacy and the support of the spiritual head, Sayyid Jamaluddin, made any opposition futile . . . the foundations of a State had begun to emerge.”

During his time as leader, Imam Shamil transformed the bickering villages of the region into a united country. He continued to rule until 1859, when the Emperor of Russia offered Imam Shamil a peaceful surrender. Whereas previous enemies of the Empire had been imprisoned, killed or exiled, Shamil became a national celebrity in Russia. He went on Hajj and was given a hero’s welcome in Mecca. He died in Mecca and was buried in the cemetery of the Companions, al-Baqi.

In 1859, Shaykh Jamaluddin decided that the people of Daghestan, Kazan, Chechnia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and other areas should emigrate ‘en-masse’ to Turkey and Arab countries. Shaykh Jamaluddin, his family and the family of Imam Shamil moved to the district of Uskadar, on the Asian side of Istanbul, from where he spread the Naqshbandi Sufi teachings all over Turkey.

At that time, all the houses of Istanbul were made of wood. One day a large fire swept through the district of Uskadar, causing people to flee from their houses, to save themselves. When he was asked to leave, Shaykh Jamaluddin calmly replied, “There is no way that I will leave because my house will not be destroyed. This house was built from the money that was earned by my own hands – a house which is built with pure, lawful money will never burn.” The entire district burnt, but his house remained untouched by the flames. That house, which is well known in the district, has been preserved until today.

Shaykh Jamaluddin’s behavior with his family and his disciples was always impeccable. He kept the best of manners with them, not reacting to the complaints of his family nor criticising his disciples. He tried to make them all happy. He was famous for being able to tell about someone’s future, present or past. People’s ancestry were unveiled to him like a book, which he would convey. He wrote a book entitled, ‘The Rules of Conduct of the Disciples in the Naqshbandi Order’.

One day shortly before his death, he called his wife and daughter. He said, “Today I have done a great work, and it has taken all my power and left me very weak. When you read the newspaper, you will see that a big ship ran aground in the Bospherous. No one died, as they were saved by an unknown person. I was that person, and you will hear about it.” He then passed away. The next day his daughter, with astonishment and sorrow, read the story in the newspaper, about how a large ship had grounded and an unknown person saved all those on board. That newspaper is still kept by his descendants.

Shaykh Jamaluddin died in 1869 AD at the age of eighty. He was buried near to the family of Imam Shamil in Uskadar.  Sometime after his death, the location of his grave was lost. It was only discovered when Shaykh Sharifuddin moved to Rashadiya, in Turkey, forty years after Shaykh Jamaluddin had passed away. Shaykh Sharifuddin saw a vision in which he was being brought to a cemetery, in Uskadar, where a person appeared to him dressed in a green cloak, saying, “I am Shaykh Jamaluddin. You have to reveal the location of my grave.”
Shaykh Sharifuddin asked, “How will I know your grave?”
He replied, “This is the graveyard of Karaca Ahmad, a Saint who is buried here”, pointing to a place a nearby. He then said, “My son, try your best to discover the location of my grave.”
The next day, Shaykh Sharifuddin wrote to people in Istanbul, telling them to dig in a particular place. They dug and found the headstone of the grave, marked with Shaykh Jamaluddin’s name.

Shaykh Jamaluddin passed the secret of the Golden Chain of the Naqshbandi Order to Shaykh Abu Ahmed as-Sughuri.

May God be well pleased with him.

 

Source:- ‘The Naqshbandi Way – History and Guidebook of the Saints of the Golden Chain’ by Mawlana Shaykh Hisham.