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{{Short description|Sufi mystic order in Sunni Islam}}
{{Islam}}
{{Sufism}}

[[Image:Al-Jawahir al-Khams.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The book ''Jawahir-i khams'', (The Five Jewels).]]

The '''Shattari''' or '''Shattariyya''' are members of a [[Sufi]] [[Mysticism|mystical]] [[tariqah]] that originated in [[Persia]] in the fifteenth century C.E. and developed, completed and codified in India. Later secondary branches were taken to Hejaz and Indonesia. The word '''Shattar''', which means "lightning-quick", "speed", "rapidity",<ref name="ShahTheSufis">{{cite book
| last = Shah
| first = Idries
| author-link = Idries Shah
| title = [[The Sufis]]
| publisher = [[Octagon Press]]
| year = 1999
| isbn = 0-86304-074-8}} See Appendix II: The Rapidness. First published in 1964.</ref> or "fast-goer"<ref name="HeritageOfIndia">{{cite book
| last = Sharma
| first = Suresh K. and Sharma, Usha
| title = Cultural and Religious Heritage of India: Islam (Volume 5)
| publisher = Mittal Publications
| location = New Delhi
| page = 1349
| isbn = 81-7099-955-3}} Eight-volume set.</ref> shows a system of [[spiritual practice]]s that lead to a state of "completion",<ref name="SufismSaintsAndShrines">{{cite book
| last = Subhan
| first = John A.
| title = Sufism - Its Saints and Shrines
| publisher = Lovenstein Press
| year = 2007
| pages = 306–309
| isbn = 978-1-4067-7267-8}}</ref> but the name derives from its founder, [[Sheikh]] [[Abdullah Shattar|Sirajuddin Abdullah Shattar]] (d. 1406 CE).

Unlike other Sufis, the Shattariyya do not subscribe to the concept of [[Fanaa (Sufism)|fana]] (annihilation of the ego). "With the sect of Shattaris, the ''[[Salik]]'' (seeker, aspirant) descends, of himself, in his own knowledge - there is no annihilation of self with them".<ref name="Islamic Sufism">{{cite book
| last = Ali-Shah
| first = The Sirdar Ikbal
| title = Islamic Sufism
| publisher = Tractus
| year = 1933
| page = 221
| isbn = 978-2-909347-07-3}} Quoting Khaja Khan's book on Tasawwuf.</ref><ref name="Khan" group="N">In that book, however, Khan is not recommending this course of action, seeing it as a "thorny path" (p15) and commenting that "Imagination and judgment are upset, and a man is liable to become an Egotist (Self expressionist). This path is therefore abjured." (pp15–16).</ref>

==History==
[[Idries Shah]], writing in ''[[The Sufis]]'', states that the Shattari technique or "the Rapidness" originated with the [[Naqshbandi]] Sufi Order.<ref name="ShahTheSufis"/>

The spiritual lineage of this order is a chain of transmission (''[[silsila]]'') said to pass from [[Muhammad]] through [[Bayazid Bastami]] (753-845 [[Common Era|CE]]).<ref name="MedievalIndiaQuarterly">{{Cite book
| title = Medieval India Quarterly
| publisher = Aligarh Muslim University, Dept. of History
| year = 1950
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=c7M_AAAAMAAJ&q=Hazrat+Bayazid+Bustami+shattar
| access-date = 2009-08-04}} v. 1-5 - 1950, p56.</ref> The Shattari order is thus a branch of the Tayfuri Khanwada.<ref name="SufismSaintsAndShrines"/> It was reputedly founded by [[Sheikh]] [[Abdullah Shattar|Sirajuddin Abdullah Shattar]] (d. 1406 CE), great grandson (fifth generation) of Sheikh [[Shahab al-Din Suhrawardi|Shihabuddin Suhrawardi]].<ref name="SufismSaintsAndShrines"/> (Founder of Suharwardiya Khaanwad). He was seventh lineage disciple to Bayazid Bustami and was honored with Khilafat (Spiritual Deputyhood) from all of the 14 Sufi Tayfuriya orders (Khanwaads or Gharaanaas). Shattar was deputized and given the honorific "Shattar" by his teacher Sheikh Muhammad Taifur in recognition of the austerities he faced in achieving this station ([[Maqam (Sufism)|maqām]]).<ref name="HeritageOfIndia"/>

Originating in [[Persia]], the order and its teachings were later brought to [[India]] by Sheikh Abdullah Shattar.<ref name="ReadingInIndianHistory">{{cite book
| last = Yasin
| first = Mohammad
| title = Reading in Indian History
| publisher = Atlantic Publishers & Distributors (New Delhi)
| year = 1988
| page = 42
}} No ISBN. ASIN: B0006ERVCA.</ref> According to [[Idries Shah]], Shattar made India his home in the fifteenth century. His procedure was to approach the chief of a Sufi group and say, 'Teach me your method, share it with me. If you will not, I invite you to share mine.'"<ref name="ShahTheSufis"/>

One of the order's distinguished masters was the 16th century Sufi,<ref name=ImagingSound>{{cite book
| last = Wade
| first = Bonnie C.
| title = Imaging Sound: An Ethnomusicological Study of Music, Art, and Culture in Mughal India (Chicago Studies in Ethnomusicology)
| publisher = [[University of Chicago Press]]
| year = 1998
| pages = [https://archive.org/details/imagingsoundethn00wade/page/113 113–115]
| isbn = 0-226-86840-0
| url-access = registration
| url = https://archive.org/details/imagingsoundethn00wade/page/113
}} See [https://books.google.com/books?id=4JGY8Yd2ChoC&dq=Muhammad+Ghaus+Tansen&pg=PA113 google book search].</ref> Shah [[Muhammad Ghawth]] (d. 1562/3 C.E.) (14th Ramadan 970 hijri). Ghawth developed the Shattariyya more fully into a "distinctive order";<ref name="SufiOrdersOfIslam"/> and also taught the [[Mughal Empire|Mughal Emperor]] [[Humayun]],<ref name="ReadingInIndianHistory"/><ref name="EncyclopediaReligionEthics">{{cite book
| last1 = Hastings
| first1 = James
| editor1-last = Selbie
| editor1-first = John A.
| title = Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, Part 21
| publisher = Kessinger Publishing, LLC
| year = 2003
| page = 69
| isbn = 0-7661-3700-7}} See [https://books.google.com/books?id=PciGnGPiOo8C&dq=Ghawth+1563&pg=PA69 google book search].</ref> He wrote the book ''Jawahir-i khams,'' (The Five Jewels).<ref name="MysticismContested">{{cite book
| editor1-last = De Jong
| editor1-first = Frederick
| editor2-last = Radtke
| editor2-first = Bernd
| title = Islamic Mysticism Contested: Thirteen Centuries of Controversies and Polemics (Islamic History and Civilization)
| publisher = Brill
| year = 1999
| isbn = 90-04-11300-2}} See the chapter Persecution and Circumspection in Shattari Sufism by Carl W. Ernst</ref> The influence of the Shattari Order grew strong during Ghawth's leadership and spread through South Asia.<ref name="SufisAndSaints">{{cite book
| last = Kugle
| first = Scott Alan
| title = Sufis and Saints' Bodies: Mysticism, Corporeality, and Sacred Power in Islam (Islamic Civilization and Muslim Networks)
| publisher = [[University of North Carolina]] Press
| year = 2007
| pages = 130–131
| isbn = 978-0-8078-5789-2}} See [https://books.google.com/books?id=HJ1vpC_SeLcC&dq=shattari+order&pg=PA130 Google book search].</ref>

Ghawth later became the tutor of the Mughal emperor [[Akbar]]'s favorite and legendary musician, [[Tansen]] as well. Although Tansen was a Hindu by birth, Shah Ghawth adopted him as an orphan and tutored him in both Sufism and music, appointing him as one of the Khalifa (spiritual deputy) of Mohammad Ghouse.<ref name="IndianMusicand">{{cite book
| last = Choadhury
| first = Pandit Birendra Kishore Roy
| title = Indian Music and Mian Tansen
| publisher = privately published
| year = c. 1958
}}</ref> Tansen was buried in Ghawth's tomb complex.<ref name=ImagingSound/>

A later successor was [[Wajihuddin Alvi]] (d. 1018 AH / 1609 CE), also known by the title 'Haider Ali Saani'. He was born in [[Champaner]], an ancient city of Eastern Gujarat. He later moved to [[Ahmedabad]] where he received and imparted knowledge in Islamic studies. He became a prominent scholar of his times and a Mufti. Royals of that time came to him for an opinion on complex religious issues. He lived a simple life and always kept a humble profile. He used to share whatever came to him with the poor and the needy. He was buried at [[Wajihuddin's Tomb]], built by one of his followers, Syed Murtuza Khan Bukhari, in Khanpur, Ahmedabad. A saint, he wrote many books and founded an educational institution (''[[Madrasah|madrasa]]'').<ref name="SufiOrdersOfIslam">{{cite book
| last = Trimingham
| first = John Spencer and Voll, John O.
| title = The Sufi orders in Islam
| publisher = [[Oxford University Press]] USA
| year = 1998
| pages = 97–98
| isbn = 0-19-512058-2}}</ref>

In the late sixteenth/early seventeenth century C.E. a secondary branch of Shattariyya was formed in Medina by Sibghatallah ibn Ryuhallah [[indian people|al-Hindi]] al-Barwaji (d.1606 C.E.), a Naqshbandi shaykh. His disciple [[Abu'l-Mawahib al-Shinnawi]] (d. 1619)<ref>Suha Taji-Farouki; A Prayer for Spiritual Elevation and Protection By Muhyiddin Ibn 'Arabi.</ref> continued the order there. The Shattaris went on to play an important role in Medina through the seventeenth century C.E. under [[Ahmad al-Qushashi]], al-Shinnawi's successor, and then [[Ibrahim al-Kurani]] (d. 1689 C.E.) who was also initiated into other orders including the Naqshbandiyya, [[Qadiriyya]] and [[Chishtiyya]]. Al-Kurani's disciple [[Abd al-Rauf al-Sinkili|Abd al Ra'uf Singkel]] was authorised by him to introduce the Shattariyya to Indonesia.<ref name="SpiritualElevationandProtection-30–34">{{cite book
| last = Taji-Farouki
| first = Suha
| title = A Prayer for Spiritual Elevation and Protection
| publisher = [[Anqa Publishing]]
| year = 2006
| pages = 30–34
| isbn = 0-9534513-0-5}}</ref> The Shattariyya became popular in Aceh and Java, particularly in Pamijahan and [[Cirebon]] (where it became closely associated with the court).<ref name="SignsoftheWali">{{cite book
| last = Christomy
| first = Tommy
| title = Signs of the wali: narratives at the sacred sites in Pamijahan, West Java
| publisher = ANU E Press
| year = 2008
| isbn = 978-1-921313-69-1}}</ref>

Ibrahim al-Kurani's son, Muhammad Abu'l Tahir al-Kurani (d.1733 C.E.) inherited his father's position as head of the Medina Shattariyya as well as the role of teacher in the Prophet's mosque and Shafi'i mufti in the city. Among his students was the great Indian Naqshbandi reformer [[Shah Waliullah Dehlawi|Shah Waliullah Dihlawi]] (d.1763 C.E.).<ref name="SpiritualElevationandProtection-37">{{cite book
| last = Taji-Farouki
| first = Suha
| title = A Prayer for Spiritual Elevation and Protection
| publisher = [[Anqa Publishing]]
| year = 2006
| page = 37
| isbn = 0-9534513-0-5}}</ref> Abu'l Tahir initiated Shah Waliullah into the Naqshbandiyya in Medina. He also initiated him into the [[Shadhiliyya]], Shattariyya, [[Suhrawardiyya]] and [[Kubrawiyya]].<ref>{{cite journal
| last = Buehler
| first = Arthur F.
| year = 1997
| title = The Development of the Naqshbandiyya-Mujaddidiyya in India: How the Punjab Became the Center of Nineteenth-Century International Naqshbandi Activity
| journal = Journal of the Iqbal Academy Pakistan
| volume = 38
| issue = 1
}}</ref>

==Method==
The Shattariyya subscribed to six fundamental principles:<ref name="TheSufiMystery">{{cite book
| last = Shushtery
| first = Professor A. M. A.
| editor= Nathaniel P. Archer
| title = The Sufi Mystery
| publisher = [[Octagon Press]]
| year = 1980
| page = 72
| isbn = 0-900860-79-0}}</ref>

''(i)'' One should not believe in self-negation but adhere to self-affirmation.

''(ii)'' Contemplation is a waste of time.

''(iii)'' Self-effacement is a wrong idea: one must say nothing except "I am I." Unity is to understand One, see One, say One and to hear One. A Sufi of this order must say "I am one" and "There is no partner with me."

''(iv)'' There is no need to oppose to the ego (''nafs'') or of ''mujaheda'' (struggle, participation in ''[[jihad]]'' with oneself).

''(v)'' There is no such state as annihilation (''fana'') since this would require two personalities, one wishing for annihilation and the other in whom annihilation takes place, which is dualism and not unity.

''(vi)'' One should not abstain from eating certain foods but instead should consider one's ego, its attributes and actions as identical with those of the Universal Ego. The animal soul is not an obstacle for reaching God.

The Shattariyya held to the principle of ''wahdat al-wujud'' (Unity of Existence) expounded by [[Ibn Arabi]]. [[Abu'l-Mawahib al-Shinnawi]] was an outspoken adherent of this doctrine.<ref name="SpiritualElevationandProtection-31">{{cite book
| last = Taji-Farouki
| first = Suha
| title = A Prayer for Spiritual Elevation and Protection
| publisher = [[Anqa Publishing]]
| year = 2006
| page = 31
| isbn = 0-9534513-0-5}}</ref> And Shinnawi's successor, [[Ahmad al-Qushashi]] was described by the contemporary Damascene scholar Muhammad Amin al Muhibbi as "The Imam of those who expound the unity of existence".<ref>{{cite journal
| last = El-Rouayheb
| first = Khaled
| year = 2007
| title = Opening the gate of verification: intellectual trends in the 17th century Arab-Islamic world
| journal = International Institute for Asian Studies Newsletter
| issue = 43
| page = 11
}}</ref>

Some aspects of Shattari teaching sought to utilize parts of [[Nath Yoga]] and other forms of yogic mystical practice to give rise to a highly sophisticated, distinct and intense Indian 'mystical' [[Sufi]] method, as compared to the more usual and less intense 'jurist' Sufi methods or orders of Iraq, Arabia, Turkey and northern Africa. Sheikh [[Baha' al-Din Shattari]] (d. 1515 C.E.) incorporated Indian spiritual practices into his ''Risala-i Shattariyya'' (The Shattari Treatise). Later ''[[The Pool of Nectar]]'' (traced by [[Carl Ernst]] to the Hindu ''[[Amrtakunda]]''), was translated into Persian by [[Muhammad Ghawth]]. This translation was a systematic account of yogic mantras and visualization practices, assimilated and incorporated into the conceptual structure of Sufi tradition, and included an account of the [[chakras]] together with the practices required to activate them, with Sufi [[Wird (Sufism)|wazifas]] substituted for the traditional yogic [[mantras]].<ref name="CarlErnst">{{cite journal
| last = Ernst
| first = Carl W.
| year = 2005
| title = Situating Sufism and Yoga
| journal = Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society
| issue = Series 3, 15:1
| pages = 15–43
}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Muhammad Ghawth]]
* [[Wajihuddin Alvi]]
* [[Ali Sher Bengali]]
* [[Shah Manjhan]]
* [[Yusuf Bengali]]

==References==
{{reflist|colwidth=35em}}

==Notes==
{{reflist|group="N"}}

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book
| last = Trimingham
| first = John Spencer and Voll, John O.
| title = The Sufi orders in Islam
| publisher = [[Oxford University Press]] USA
| year = 1998
| pages = 97–98
| isbn = 0-19-512058-2}}

{{Commons category|Shattari}}

[[Category:Sufi orders]]
[[Category:Spiritual practice]]

Shattari - Revision history

Ajay Kumar: Created a new article