Sultan ul-Awliya al-Ghawth Mawlana ‘Abd Allah al-Fa'iz ad-Daghestani
(qadas Allahu sirrahul 'aziz)

                 
                                                 The venerable Mawlana 'Abd Allah ad-Daghestani with Mawlana Shaykh Nazim

Mawlana ‘Abd Allah al-Fa'iz ad-Daghestani (Dec. 14, 1891-Sept. 30^th 1973) The 39^th GrandShaykh of the Naqshbandi Sufi Order.  He was born in the Caucasian region of Daghestan (then part of the Russian Empire) in 1891. Both his father and elder brother were medical doctors, the latter being a surgeon in the Imperial Russian Army. The venerable Ghawth Sultan ul-Awliya Mawlana ‘Abd Allah was raised and trained by his maternal uncle, Shaykh Sharafuddin ad-Daghestani (1875-1936), the 38^th GrandShaykh of the Naqshbandi Tariqa. The venerable Mawlana showed remarkable spiritual aptitude from a young age and this attracted the attention of many local people.

Sometime in the 1900s the venerable Mawlana ‘Abd Allah’s family (indeed his whole village) wearied of the repression imposed on Daghestan by the Russian government and decided to make Hijrah (emigration) to the Ottoman Empire. They first settled in the northwestern Anatolian city of Bursa, and then after a year moved to a place called Reşadiye (now known as Güneyköy). A new village was established that was populated by Daghestani refugees. Shortly thereafter, Mawlana ‘Abd Allah’s father died and at the age of fifteen he was married to a Daghestani girl named Halima.

His Seclusions

In 1910, after merely six months of marriage, Shaykh Sharafuddin ordered Mawlana ‘Abd Allah ad-Daghestani into sacred seclusion (khalwat) for five years. This practice included severe austerities that were intended to raise his spiritual rank.

He successfully completed this seclusion and when he returned to secular life he found the Ottoman Empire embroiled in the First World War. Along with many young men of his village, the venerable Mawlana ‘Abd Allah ad-Daghestani entered into military service and took part in the Battle of Gallipoli. During a firefight he was severely wounded by Allied fire and he endured a near death experience that only led to a deeper understanding of Reality.

In 1921 the venerable Mawlana was instructed by Shaykh Sharafuddin to enter another long seclusion for that would last for five years. He completed this and, as it has been described, “the power of his spiritual attraction increased. He became so renowned that even during his Shaykh's lifetime, people used to come from everywhere to learn from him.” He was then granted a license (ijazah) to be a master, a Shaykh, in the Naqshbandi Path and became the major Caliph of his maternal uncle, the venerable Shaykh Sharafuddin ad-Daghestani (qadas Allahu sirrahul aziz).

Migration

With the anti-Sufi regulations in the new Turkish Republic impeding religious practice, Mawlana Shaykh ‘Abd Allah began to contemplate leaving the country. After the death of Shaykh Sharafuddin in 1936, a delegation came to Reşadiye from King Farouk to pay their condolences, as he (the venerable Shaykh Sharafuddin) had many murids in Egypt. One of the delegation married a daughter of the venerable Mawlana and the family moved to Egypt.

The venerable Mawlana then resided in Egypt until his daughter’s divorce. The family then left Egypt for Syria. In Syria, the venerable Mawlana resided for a time in Aleppo and from there moved to Homs and then finally to Damascus near the tomb of great saint Sa’d ad-Din Jibawi. There he established the first tekke for his branch of the Naqshbandi Order.

In 1943 the venerable Mawlana moved to a house on Jabal Qasioun mountain, a house that was bought by his first Syrian murid and later one of his caliphs, Shaykh Husayn Ifrini (rahmatullahi alahi) and built with his caliphs a mosque beside it, Masjid al-Mahdi. This blessed house and the mosque next to it still stand, and it is now the site of his blessed tomb.

Meeting Al Mahdi

The venerable Mawlana Shaykh Nazim said,

"Once I was in Madinah with Grand Shaykh for a seclusion. He was ordered to be invited by Mahdi (AS). From Madinah to that place it takes forty days. It is an area with quicksand. You cannot step on it. You will be pulled down like water. At that time I was with the Grand Shaykh for a seclusion and he took me to that place but not by walking or by car but by saying, "Close your eyes and open them again," because at that time we were using spiritual powers. In a second of time we were there and Mahdi (AS) opened his arms to greet us and to stop us from coming inside. The entrance was forty meters wide. His hands reach to his knees. That was the introduction, a physical meeting. From that time on he ordered me to be there spiritually. My spirit never moves away from that meeting. My spiritual body went into the cave but my physical body returned. Now one of my spiritual bodies is with them. As much as it is necessary for me to be there or there or there, the way he orders, my spiritual body will be there, but one of my spiritual bodies never moves away from there."

His Passing

Over the years the venerable Ghawth Sultan ul-Awliya Mawlana Shaykh ‘Abd Allah ad-Daghestani became well known throughout Damascus for his spiritual teachings and he attracted many thousands of individuals who sought out relief from the weight of worldly life. He left this temporal abode on September 30th, 1973, and appointed the venerable Burhan l-Kurama’ Ghawthu l-Anam Mawlana Shaykh Muhammad Nazim Adil al-Haqqani as his major Caliph, ordering him to carry the secret of Naqshbandi Chain into the 21^st century. 

Sultan ul-Awliya Mawlana Shaykh Àbd Allah al-Faizi ad-Daghestani