We revere and love inherently all the 124,000 Prophets of Allah sent to all communities, and we love the countless intimate friends of Allah. We welcome them into our mystic circle of remembrance. The following are those most often invoked before dhikr.
The Beloved Prophet Muhammad, Allah’s Mercy to all Creation and the Distributor of the Light of Prophecy into all hearts; may Allah’s sublime peace shower upon him, the shining members of his household, his blessed community, and all humanity.
Adam the Pure, the vessel of all Divine Names
Eve the Pure, Mother of Humanity
Noah, Savior of Humanity in the Ark of Prophecy
Blessed Abraham, the Great Friend, Father of True Religion
Ishmael and Isaac, the Holy Sacrifices to Allah
Hazreti Hagar and Hazreti Sarah, Mothers of the faithful
Noble Moses, who speaks with Allah and receives the Life-Giving Law
Hazreti Maryam, the one who brings forth the Living Word of Love
The Beloved Jesus, Spirit of Allah and Ressurector of Dead Hearts
Blessed Amina and Abdullah, parents of the Illumined Prophet
Hazreti Fatima the Radiant, daughter of the Prophet, and first khalifa; her sisters Zayneb, Rukaya and Umm Khulthum
The twelve noble wives of the Prophet:
Hazreti Khadija, First Witness
Hazreti Aisha the Beloved, transmitter of his religion
Hazreti Hafsa, Hazreti Zaynab, Hazreti Umm Salama, Hazreti Sawda, Hazreti Juwayriyah, Hazreti Zaynab bint Jahsh, Hazreti Umm Habiba, Hazreti Safiyyah, Hazreti Maryam Qibtiyah, and Hazreti Maymunah
Seyyida Zaynab, the daughter of Hazreti Fatima and Hazreti Ali
The four Rightly Guided Khalifs:
Hazreti Abu Bakr, as-Siddiq, who testifies to the Truth
Hazreti Omar, the Just, discerner of the Truth
Hazreti Osman, Guardian of the Two Lights
Hazreti Ali
The lineage of the Twelve Imams which followed Hazreti Ali—this is the direct genetic line of the Prophet through his daughter Fatima:
Hazreti Hasan and Hazreti Huseyn, beloved grandsons of the Prophet, the mystic martyrs of Islam
Hazreti Ali Zayn al-Abidin
Hazreti Muhammad al-Baqir
Hazreti Jafar al-Sadiq
Hazreti Musa al-Kazim
Hazreti Ali al-Rida
Hazreti Muhammad al-Jawad, al-Taqi
Hazreti Ali al-Naqi, al-Hadi
Hazreti Hasan al-Askari
Hazreti Muhammad al-Mahdi, Master of the Age
The great friends of Allah, and founders of mystic lineages, may Allah be pleased with them all:
Hazreti Uways al-Qarani
Hazreti Hasan al-Basri
Hazreti Rabia al-Adawiya
Hazreti Beyazit Bestami (Abu Yazid)
Hazreti Ibrahim Adham
Hazreti Mansur al-Hallaj
Hazreti Junayd Bagdadi
Hazreti Ahmed Rufai
Hazreti Abdul Qadir Geylani
Hazreti Muinuddin Chisti
Shaykh al-Akbar Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi
Hazreti Shems Tabrizi
Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi
Hazreti Ahmed Bedawi
Ibrahim Dusuqi
Hazreti Yunus Emre
Hazreti Aziz Mahmud Hudai
Hazreti Hajji Bektash
Hazreti Abul Hasan
Hazreti Muhammad Shah Naqshiband
Hazreti Omar al-Halveti
Hazreti Sunbul Yusuf Sinan
Hazreti Ahmed Tijani
Hazreti Ahmadou Bamba
Hazreti Merkez Efendi
Hazreti Ali Alauddin al-Kostendili al-Halveti, shaykh of our founding Pir
Mother of our founding Pir, Amina Teslima al-Jerrahi
Pir Muhammad Nureddin al-Latif al-Jerrahi
Muzaffer Ashki al-Aziz al-Jerrahi, Pir to the West
Nur al-Anwar al-Malik al-Jerrahi, Pir of the New Humanity
Ya Hazreti Maryam!
Ya Hazreti Fatima!
All stations, all degrees, all attributes may belong to whomever God wills equally among women as among men.
They share all degrees, including that of the Qutbiyya.
- The Shaykh al-Akbar, Muhyiddin Ibn al-Arabi
The following are women saints whom we introduce with a brief description because so little is written and known about them. Many of these lives were recorded in a book on women saints by Abu Abdu-r-Rahman as-Sulami which had been lost until a few years ago.
Hazreti Sayyida Nafisa was the great grand-daughter of the Holy Prophet’s grandson, Hasan, upon them be peace. She was given special gifts of intercession so that her prayers for others, particularly the poor, were always fulfilled. The people of Egypt invited her to live amongst them and she remained there until her death. Her tomb near Cairo is a place of pilgrimage, and is one of the portals to the Essence. She said before passing away, “I will break my fast on the nectar of the Eternal and Blessed Abode, inshallah.”
Hazreti Rabia al-Adawiya of Basra is known for her consummate love and wisdom. She was the teacher of the leading saints of the time. A glimpse of her station is within one of her recorded prayers: “O Lord! Whatever worldly good You desire to bestow on me, please give it to my enemies. Whatever pleasures of Paradise you desire to bestow on me, please give it to the faithful ones. As for me, I desire from You only You. Let Heaven be denied to me, but do not deny me Yourself.” She passed away in 801 CE.
Hazreti Maryam of Basra was a companion of Rabia al-Adawiya. She would remain standing in ecstatic worship throughout the entire night, reciting Allah's own heart-melting exclamation, “How profoundly loving and kind is Allah toward His servants (Holy Quran 42.19)!”
Hazreti Rayhana the Enraptured had inscribed upon her blessed breast: “You are my Intimate Companion, my only Aspiration, and my limitless Happiness. O Allah, my heart refuses to love anything but You....”
Hazreti ‘Afiyya the Infatuated used to cry out, “The lover is never weary from confiding in her Beloved, and nothing is of interest to her other than the Beloved. O my Supreme Desire! O my Uncontainable Desire! O my Only Desire!”
Hazreti Fatima of Nishapur taught in Mecca. She declared, “The conventionally religious believer is one who lives in the hope that Allah will witness her. I however am a gnostic—one who lives only for Allah and who desires only to witness Him ceaselessly.” The saints Abu Yazid al-Bistami and Dhul Nun al-Misri praised her exalted station, and the latter also said, “She is my teacher.” Fatima passed away in 838 CE.
Hazreti Fatima al-Juwayriyya taught, “My station of gnosis is concealed from humanity. Through desire and longing for my own Supreme Source, I have ceased all inner turmoil and am consciously inseparable from Truth.” She passed in the beginning of the 10th Century, CE.
Hazreti Dhakkara (“the Invoker”) was called a majnuna, a woman mad with love for God. She expressed, “The core of my awareness has become lost in Divine Light. Although the coarser outer heart may still offer mild complaints, the inner heart is utterly at peace, absorbed in absolute silence!”
Hazreti al-Wahatiyya Umm al-Fadl taught the great spiritual masters of her time. She said, “If you desire knowledge of Allah, do not pursue your own individual desire for peace. You must live your knowledge of Allah, and this means dying to your false sense of individuality.”
Hazreti ‘Unayza of Baghdad transmits her own spiritual practice: “Be fully present with Allah in every moment, until the undeniable recognition dawns that it is Allah alone who is perpetually and infinitely present with you.”
Hazreti A’isha al-Hiri of Nishapur transmits to us this powerful understanding: “When one feels lonely in solitude, it is because of lack of intimacy with one’s Lord. When one turns to the Omnipresent Source of Love, all feeling of isolation or alienation vanishes completely.” She passed away in 957 or 958 CE.
Hazreti Fatima Umm al-Yumn enlightens us with these practical words, “No action benefits the slave as much as seeking sustenance from lawful sources. Nothing is as fulfilling to the lover as the certainty that all nourishment and fulfillment come directly from Allah.”
Hazreti ‘Amra of Farghana was the unique one of her time in ethical conduct, spiritual states, and clairvoyance. She taught, “Remain always in touch with the imperturbable silence of your spiritual heart; do not be distressed by the events of the world. Then the Divine wisdom and purpose for each event will be unveiled to you, and you will effortlessly contemplate Allah as All in All.”
Hazreti Zubda (“Essence”) al-Harith taught, “The heaviest burden for the slave of Allah is in turning away from her Source, while the lightest, most relieving choice is always to turn to Allah in loving surrender. So why not relinquish, with finality, that which is heavy, in exchange for that which is light?”
Hazreti Lubaba the Devotee of Syria reveals her state of intimacy with God: “Since Allah has bestowed upon me knowledge of Him, I am ceaselessly preoccupied with Him. I would be completely ashamed if He ever saw me preoccupied with other than Him.”
Hazreti Nuna Fatima al-Muthanna was one of the first mystic guides of Ibn al-Arabi, who praised her, “She was indeed a mercy to the world.” She told him, “Allah has given me a special gift of al-Fatiha—I can wield its power in any way I wish.” Ibn al-Arabi also recorded that although Allah had offered his entire Kingdom to her, she refused it saying, “You Allah are All—everything else is inauspicious for me.”
Hazreti Babajan (“Holy Master”) was born into a Muslim family in Baluchistan, where she studied as a hafiza, one who knows the Quran by heart. She left home at age eighteen to escape marriage and wandered for many years. In this time she became the disciple of a Hindu master and then later a Sufi master. After years of living as a holy beggar, she travelled to Mecca to offer the Pilgrimage. She returned to India and settled in Poona, eventually establishing herself under a large tree from where she did not move. A small protective shelter was built around her, and disciples came from around the world to receive the light of her guidance. She initiated the well-known sage, Meher Baba. Hazreti Babajan once proclaimed from her station of baqa bi-Llah, subsistence in Allah, “It is I who have created all! I am the Source of everything in creation. I am the Truth.”
“Our most profound and humble greetings, salams, and kisses to the earth where the feet of these holy mothers have walked....”
- Shaykh Nur, Atom from the Sun of Knowledge