Shajrah Shareef [Golden Chain] of Silsilah Aliyah Naqshbandiya Ghaffariya Bakhshiya Tahiriya

What is Shajarah Sharif? Shajarah in Arabic, literally means means: ‘A very tall plant that has a wooden trunk, branches and leaves’ i.e a Tree… Sharif can be translated as pure or blessed. However, when used in the context of Sufism, Shajrah Sharif is referred to as an ‘unbroken chain’ or a ‘golden (unbroken) chain’. Just as the branch of a tree is connected to it’s trunk which is connected to the root of that tree, a Shajarah Sharif is a chain of masters, from the most current master (Huzoor Sajjan Sain), linking all the way back to our holy Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ), with an unbroken chain of authority. In recent times (probably a couple hundred of years), the masters of the pathway have gathered the names of their spiritual masters, and used it to write a form of Dua’ (prayer) within which they ask Allāh SWT to have mercy on them, for the sake of the spiritual masters within their respective golden chains. This means that in this ‘Due’ has within, the names of every single master that is considered a spiritual authority in that particular Silsilah (spiritual path). How was it composed? It is important to understand that in Islam, Isnad (chain or authority) is a major thing. It is something that makes our religion unique in the sense that we as Muslims, can prove exactly what statements of the Holy Prophet ﷺ that have been narrated to us, are ‘strong (sahih)’ in authority, ‘weak (da’eef)’ in authority and what statements have been ‘fabricated (maw’doo)’. How is this done? This is all done through chain of authority (Isnad). Every single person that narrates from the Prophet ﷺ must have a Shajrah i.e an unbroken chain that goes back to the Prophet ﷺ for something to be considered as strong (Sahih) by the masters of Hadith. Similarly, in spirituality, the masters have recorded the names of whom they gave their spiritual allegiance to through their words or their actions and this was a known fact in that era. For example, Khawaja Bayazid Bustami received his spiritual inheritance from Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq, who received it from Imam Qasim Ibn Muhammad Ibn Abu Bakr who received it from Salman al-Farasi who received it from Abu Bakr as Siddique who received it from the best of creation, the most beloved to Allāh, Sayyiduna Muhammad al-Mustafa ﷺ What are the benefits? As we have heard directly from our spiritual master, Huzoor Sajjan Sain himself, the benefits of reciting Shajrah Shareef are immense. Very simply, the biggest benefit is that the concentration (Tawwajuh) of the spiritual masters, i.e their gaze, is upon you whilst you recite the Shajarah Sharif. Recitation of the golden chain removes calamities, attracts blessings, and keeps you from away from harm as essentially you are asking for Allahs mercy and presenting to him the name of his friends (Awliyah), which he does not reject. Huzoor Qibla Alam has advised us to recite the Shajrah Sharif once every single day and has mentioned that were we to do so, we would see it’s blessings shower upon us. May Allāh grant us a true connection with our spiritual masters, forgive us and have mercy upon us. Ameen. Haq Sajjan Sain!