Shaykh Sharifuddin ad-Daghestani (may God sanctify his innermost being) is the thirty eighth Shaykh in the Naqshbandi Golden Chain.
Shaykh Sharafuddin (q) was born in Kikunu, in the District of Ganep, in the state of Timurhansuru, in Daghestani, Kikunu was a spiritual place, where the villagers kept the Divine Law under the guidance of their Shaykhs. on the 3rd of Dhul-Qaida, a Wednesday, 1292 H./December 1st, 1875 CE. Shaykh Muhammad al-Madani ق was his uncle and father-in-law. Long before his veiling he bequeathed to him all his disciples while he was still living. Shaykh Muhammad al-Madani (q) used to accept the opinion of Sayyidina Sharafuddin (q) in all matters.
Shaykh Sharafuddin (q) was a descendant of the family of Miqdad ibn al-Aswad RA, one of the greatest of the Prophet’s Companions, who reported forty-two Holy Traditions and was left to represent the Prophet in Medina, whenever the Prophet would travel. Shaykh Sharifuddin (q) had the mark of the hand of the Prophet SAW on his back. He inherited this from his ancestor, Miqad ibn al-Aswad RA, in the exact place where the Prophet SAW put his hand on his back and made a supplication for him and his descendants. That mark on Shaykh Sharifuddin gave out light, just as his face used to shine. He was light skinned, with blue eyes. His beard was black and in his old age, it became very white.
He (q) was born in a very difficult time; a time in which religion was banned, and spirituality had all but disappeared. Nonetheless, his mother says, “While I was giving birth he was speaking, reciting la ilaha illallah, and every time I nursed him, he used to say “Allah, Allah.” He was so famous for this miracle during his infancy, that every woman in his district used to come to see him reciting Allah, Allah while nursing. The index finger of his right hand was always extended in the position of the affirmation of the Divine Unity. From his childhood, he could hear the trees making dhikr, the stones doing dhikr, the animals doing dhikr, the birds doing dhikr, the mountains doing dhikr.
He started attending Sayyidina Abu Ahmad as-Sughuri’s (q) associations when he was six or seven years of age in Dagestan, He was very intelligent and he was immediately able to grasp the Sufi teachings that Abu Ahmad as-Sughuri (q) was delivering from the Divine Presence.
Shaykh Sharifuddin (q), together with his family and his sister’s family, left Dagestan following the incessant incursions of the Russian military into the villages of his district in the 1890’s. The emigration was full of difficulties particularly from the Russian army and also from highwaymen, who could kill without provocation. They walked overland for five months through the worst of the winter season, walking during the night and hiding through the day. In one instance, they miraculously walked through a forest full of Russian soldiers without being seen. When they arrived in Turkey, they initially stayed in Bursa. They then moved to Rashadiya, known today as Guneykoy, where they joined his uncle, Shaykh Abu Muhammad al-Madani (q), the thirty seventh Shaykh in the Golden Chain, who had previously immigrated and settled.
In Rashadiya, he was trained further by his uncle and father-in-law, Shaykh Abu Muhammad (q) , whom he helped build the village’s mosques, teaching centre and school. These were used by both the Daghestani immigrants and by students from throughout Turkey, who were welcomed into the village by his uncle. Shaykh Sharafuddin (q) was highly respected in Rashadiya, especially after he married Shaykh Abu Muhammad’s (q) daughter. As well as being known for his miraculous powers among his community and throughout Turkey, he was also widely renowned for his knowledge of Islam, with many highly regarded scholars attending his talks to gain religious knowledge. In addition to the Naqshbandiya, his uncle connected him to the five other orders he was carrying: Qadiri, Rifa`i, Shadhili, Chishti and Khalwati, He became a Master in all six of these orders at the age of 27.
Continuing the relationship that Shaykh Abu Muhammad al-Madani had established with Sultan Abdul Hamid, Shaykh Sharifuddin became an advisor to the Emperor of the Ottoman Empire. It has been recorded in both ‘Sultan Abdul Hamid II – The Last Great Ottoman Sultan’ by Muhammad Harb and ‘Osman’s Dream: The Story of the Ottoman Empire’ by C. Finkel, that “Sultan Abdul Hamid was part of the Khalidi branch of the Naqshbandi order, as were a number of his closest advisers.”
Shaykh Sharafuddin was respected even by the new secular Republic of Turkey’s regime, established by Ataturk. Where others were imprisoned for wearing the head covering of the Prophet, Shaykh Sharafuddin and his Deputy, Shaykh Abdullah ad-Daghestani, were the only two Shaykhs allowed to wear turbans in the new Republic.
Three days before he died, Shaykh Sharifuddin called Shaykh Abdullah ad-Daghestani and some other disciples to him, saying, “For three months I have been diving into the ocean of Surat al-An ‘am (the sixth chapter of the Holy Quran) to bring out from one of its verses the names of all the Saints of the Naqshbandi Order, whose number is 7,007. Praise belongs to God, I was able to obtain their names with all their titles and I have recorded them in my private notebook, which I am giving to my successor, Shaykh Abdullah. It contains the names of all the different Saints who are going to be present in the time of the Mahdi (peace be upon him).”
The next day he called his Caliph, Shaykh Abdullah ad-Daghestani (q) and said, ”O my son, this is my will. I am going to die in two days. On the order of the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, I am assigning you as my successor in the Naqshbandi Order, together with the five other Sufi Orders that I have received from my uncle. All the secrets and powers that were bestowed upon me from my predecessors in the Naqshbandi Order, I am bestowing on you. All the disciples to whom you give initiation, will be initiated in all these Orders. Soon there will be an opening for you to leave Turkey and to move to Damascus. Watch for it and seize the opportunity.” Shaykh Abdullah related, “He gave me that will, and I tried to hide it as I wished to hide myself.”
Shaykh Sharifuddin ad-Daghestani (q) was veiled from this temporary world in 1936 AD in Rashadiya. His maqam is on the top of the hill in the cemetery of Rashadiya, beside Shaykh Abu Muhammad al-Madani (q) in a small chapel that is still open to visitors today.
