الطُّرُق
The brotherhoods
aṭ-ṭuruq aṣ-ṣūfiyya
The great initiatic ways of Sufism — each with its lineage, its founding master, its daily wird, its particular colour.
A brotherhood (ṭarīqa, pl. ṭuruq) is a way of spiritual initiation structured around a master and his lineage (silsila). Each brotherhood has its own practices, its rhythm, its figures. They are not rivals — each is a particular savour of one same water.
النَّقْشْبَنْدِيَّة
an-Naqshbandiyya
Naqshbandiyya
Bahāʾ ad-Dīn Naqshband · 1318–1389
Bukhara · Central Asia
The silent dhikr, transmitted from heart to heart.
“Our way is the way of the suḥba — companionship.”
coming soon
القَادِرِيَّة
al-Qādiriyya
Qādiriyya
ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī · 1077–1166
Baghdad · everywhere in the Muslim world
The way of love, open to all.
“When you find the True, you will be the servant of human beings.”
الشَّاذِلِيَّة
ash-Shādhiliyya
Shādhiliyya
Abū al-Ḥasan al-Shādhilī · 1196–1258
Maghreb · Egypt
To live the way without showing it.
“Our way is not a drawing-near through works, but an effacement before Allah.”
coming soon
التِّجَانِيَّة
at-Tijāniyya
Tijāniyya
Aḥmad at-Tijānī · 1735–1815
Algeria · Maghreb · West Africa
The centrality of the prayer upon the Prophet.
“Our way is easy through love, and difficult through exclusivity.”
المَوْلَوِيَّة
al-Mawlawiyya
Mevleviyya
Disciples of Rūmī · 13th c.
Konya · Anatolia
The whirling dervishes — the samāʿ as prayer.
“Come, whoever you are — our door is not a door of despair.”
coming soon
العَلَوِيَّة
al-ʿAlawiyya
ʿAlawiyya
Aḥmad al-ʿAlawī · 1869–1934
Mostaganem · Europe (20th c.)
The way that reached the West.
“What is difficult is to make oneself simple.”
الچِشْتِيَّة
al-Chishtiyya
Chishtiyya
Muʿīn ad-Dīn Chishtī · 1141–1230
Northern India (Ajmer)
The qawwālī, the service of the poor, universal love.
“Love everyone and love all — it is also the nature of God.”