Day 10. Final day. Bahouddin Naqshbandi

Bahouddin Naqshbandi - the Founder of the Naqshbandiya Order

Muhammad ibn Muhammad Bahouddin Naqshbandi al-Bukhari (also known as Khoja Bahouddin Balogardon, Khojai Buzruk, Shokhi Naqshband) is a prominent saint (avlie) and the founder of the Naqshbandiya Order. He was born and died in Kasri Khinduvon village near Kagan (1318-1389) which later was re-named for Kasri Orifon in honor of Bahouddin Naqshbandi. He made hadj to Mecca twice.

His biography is almost unknown because he prohibited his disciples to chronicle his life and activity. He was thought to be Seyid – a direct descendant of Prophet Mohammed. He was born in a craftsman’s family. His father was a weaver and chaser (Naqshband). But it was his grandfather who played an important role in his life. He was well familiar with Sufis and paid much attention to the religious sciences. Bahouddin Naqshbandi was taught by famous counselors of that time. His first teacher was Muhammad Bobo Samosiy (1340-1345), the fifth Pir (counselor) of Bukhara. After his death Naqshbandi was taught by one of the famous leaders of the “Hojagon” Order Said Amir Kulola (appr 1288 -1371), the six Pir of Bukhara who familiarized him with the Abdulholik Gijduvani’s teachings (1103-1179). Gijduvani was the founder the “Hojagon” Order, one of the first Pirs of Bukhara; he propagated to obey the rules of the Shariah and prescriptions of Prophet Muhammad. He devoted his life to a true Allah’s path and founded 8 rules (rakhsha) in his Order.

Naqshabandi founded his Order based on these eight Order rules, having added another three additional rules. He was a supporter of simplicity treating negatively religiosity, loud zikr and forty-day fasting. The main principle of his teaching was “Dil ba eru dast ba kor” – “Heart with Allah, hands in work”. According to his teaching, the comprehension of Allah takes place though the soul while the hand should always be busy with work. The Order symbol was a heart with the word Allah inside it.

Uzbekistan widely celebrated the 675 anniversary of Bahouddin Naqshbandi in 1993. His tomb with the complex adjacent to it became a place of pilgrimage in Uzbekistan. The Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan keeps 195 scientific papers and books about Bahouddin Naqshbandi.

At a distance of 12 km from Bukhara there is a memorial complex of the Islamic saint Baha-ud-Din Naqshband (also spelled Bakhautdin Nakshbandi), the famous Asian philosopher and Sufi. The complex is a Muslim shrine where pilgrims from all the parts of the Islamic world come. Once the village Kasri Orifon was located at the site of the complex. It was famous for its pagan holidays and ancient customs…

Baha-ud-Din Naqshband lived in 1318 - 1389. He founded a Sufi order, which was later named Naqshbandi (also spelled Naqshbandiyyah, Naksibendi, Naksbandi, Nakshbandi) after him. His teachings became a polestar for many Asian people of the time and still remains topical today. The principle Baha-ud-Din Naqshband followed all his life is quite simple: ‘let the heart be with God and the hands be with work.’ It is also reflected in the symbol of the order - a heart with the word Allah inside. Baha-ud-Din Naqshband was the spiritual adviser of the great Tamerlane and taught him to be modest, decent and kind.

The famous Sufi made 32 hajj pilgrimages to Mecca, and today his mausoleum is also a Central Asian ‘Mecca’. They believe that if one walks to the mausoleum from Bukhara three times, it will equal one hajj. Believers from many Muslim countries got together at the site to pray, asking forgiveness for their sins and asking for fulfillment of their wishes.

Abdulaziz-Khan ordered to build a sepulcher over the grave of the saint and other structures around it in 1544. The construction of complex lasted almost four centuries. The main building has a rectangular inner yard with the sheikh’s mausoleum and a mosque built in the 19th c. A little further there was an iwan (a rectangular hall or space, usually vaulted, walled on three sides, with one end entirely open) with wooden pillars where the Shaybanids mausoleum was. The major domed building is the khanaka (also spelled khanqah, khaniqah, khanqa, khaneqa, khanegah or khaneqah; khanaka is a Sufi hospice and monastery) of Abdulaziz-Khan.

In the 1980s the whole complex was thoroughly restored. It consists of a madrasah, a minaret and two mosques. In the inner yard with a hauz pool stands the mausoleum of the saint. There is a lying trunk of a mulberry tree, which is believed to have been grown from Baha-ud-Din Naqshband’s staff. They say that if one crawls under the trunk with a wish made, it will certainly be fulfilled. There is also a necropolis, including sepulchers and tombs of some members of some past ruling dynasties.

The complex has a museum where you can find a lot of information on Baha-ud-Din Naqshband, his order and Sufism. There are Sufi clothes, books, cauldrons they used for cooking and many other interesting exhibits in the museum.

Almost everyone who has visited the complex usually notes the unique feeling of serenity and harmony he or she enjoyed there.