8th of Bahman 1392 corresponding to 26th of Rabi-ul-awal 1435 is the 105th death anniversary of His Holiness Hazrat Hajj Sultan Mohammad Gonabadi “Sultan Ali Shah”.
Sufism or tasawwuf, as it is called in Arabic, is generally understood by scholars and Sufis to be the inner, mystical, or psycho-spiritual dimension of Islam.
The Nimatullahi Sultan Ali Shahi Gonabadi Order is the largest Mystical order in Iran.
Hazrat Seyed Nourod-din Shah Nematollah Vali is considered the greatest Sufi master and one of the most elequent Iranian poets of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries A.D. In Sufism he belonged to the Ma’rufi Order and was a disciple of Sheikh Abdullah Yafei, who died in Mecca in 768 A.H. (1362 A.D.).
The Ma’rufi Order is traced back through Sheikh Ma’ruf Karkhi to Imam Reza, the eighth Shi’ite Imam, and from the latter to Imam Ali (peace be with him). The Sufi instructions and teachings of Shah Nematollah Vali were wellcomed at a time when some people called themselves Sufis whithout knowing the truth about Sufism. Therefore, with the advent of Shah Nematollah Vali the Ma’rufi Order came to be widely recognized and accepted in Iran and many Islamic countries of those days, and many became his disciples. That is why thereafter the Ma’rufi Order became known as “Nematollahi.”
After Shah Nematollah’s death,his son, Shah Khalilollah who was his successor, moved to Dakan in India where the Order thrived for more than three centuries, when the current master, Rida, Ali Shah Dakani sent two of his authorized sheikhs to Iran, after which the Order continued there.
One of the most famous saints in the history of Sufism was Sayyid Shah Ni’matullah Wali (A.H. 731-831/1338-1428 C.E.), and all Shi’ia orders of Sufism trace their ancestry to the his Order, which has subsequently become known as the Ni’matullahi Order. The uninterrupted record of the chain of authorization of this Order can be traced to Ma’ruf Karkhi, who was the authorized sheikh of Imam Reza (A.H. 148-202/765-818 C.E.). Shah Ni’matullah Wali is the author of more than three hundred works about the mysteries of Sufism according to a Shi’ia interpretation. He was the renewer of this Order, and most of the Sufis of his day in the other orders submitted to him. Most of The Shi’ia Sufis after him have followed his way and have even followed his style and method in their writings.
The period of guidance of His Holiness was for approximately 16 years, during this period no Sheikh or authorized person was appointed. His Holiness personally undertook the initiation of the seekers of truth and it was because of this reason the number of fuqara during the guidance of His Holiness were but a very few. Although the number was insignificant, but each of them were a perfect manifestation of eagerness, affection and love.
His Holiness “Saadat Ali Shah” in the year 1280 travelled to Khorasan and on this trip, His Holiness Sultan Ali Shah Gonabadi had the honor to meet Mr. Saadat Ali Shah and was attracted to him spiritually and after the return of His Holiness Saadat Ali Shah to Isfahan.
His Holiness Sultan Ali Shah in the year 1284 (AHL) with the intention to visit the Holy Shrines started from Gonabad and after reaching Isfahan went to meet his honorable Master with eagerness and for sometime under the divine guidance of His Holiness was engaged in the purification and refinement of the heart and reached the summit of perfection and attained the decree for spiritual guidance and to be the successor of His Holiness Saadat Ali Shah.
His Holiness Saadat Ali Shah after a while due to the increase of persecution of the enemy was compelled to leave his own country. From Isfahan in the year 1289 he visited by way of Baku and Tiflis and Istanbul to glorious Mecca and radiant Madina , thereafter by way of Jabel to the Holy Shrines and from there returned to Iran and took up residence in Teheran and due to ill health in the year 1293 his honorable spirit left this world to join his Beloved and in the shrine of Hazrat Abd-ul-Azim, in the courtyard of Imamzadeh Hamzeh, in the cemetery reserved for the fuqara was buried. The poet Roshan Isfahani has chanted the date of his death as “gather Ali, Rahmat and Saadat and the year of his death will be known”.
In more recent centuries, one of the vicegerents of Shah Ni’matullah Wali is Hajj Mullah Sultan Muhammad Gonabadi, whose spiritual title is Sultan ‘Alishah (A.H. 1251-1327/1835-1909 C.E.).
During the period of Hajj Mulla Sultan Mohammad Gonabadi known as “Sultan’ Ali Shah”(born in Gonabad, Khorasan 1251 A.H./1835 A.D.), the Nematollahi order regained its prominence and today is referred to as the Nematollahi Gonabadi or Sultan’ Ali Shahi’it is the largest and most popular of the Sufi orders and schools of though in Iran.
” I wish I could show you when you are lonely or in darkness the astonishing light of your own being.” – Hafez
MASTER’S OF NEMATULLAHI SOLTAN ALI SHAHI GONABADI ORDER:
The Holy Prophet Muhammad ibn Abdullah
Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib
Imam Hasan ibn Ali
Imam Husain ibn Ali
Imam Ali ibn Husayn Zayn al-Abidin
Imam Muhammad ibn Ali al-Baqir
Imam Jafar ibn Muhammad al-Sadiq
Imam Musa ibn Jara al-Kazim
Imam Ali ibn Musa al-Rida
Imam Muhammad ibn Ali al-Jawad
Imam Ali ibn Muhammad al-Naqi
Imam Hasan ibn Ali al-Askari
Imam Hujjat ibn al-Hasan al-Mahdi
Shaykh of Shaykhs Abu al-Qasim Junayd
Shaykh Abu Ali Rudbari
Shaykh Abu Ali al-Katib
Shaykh Abu Uthman al-Maghribi
Shaykh Abu al-Qasim Gurkani
Shaykh Abu Bakr al-Nassaj
Shaykh Ahmad Ghazzali
Shaykh Abu al-fadl Baghdadi
Shaykh Abu al-Barakat
Shaykh Abu Masud al-Andalusi
Shaykh Abu Madyan al-Maghribi
Shaykh Abu al-Futuh al-Baghdadi
Shaykh Kamal al-Din al-Kufi
Shaykh Abu Bakr Salih Barbari
Shaykh Abdullah Yafii
Shah Nimatullah Wali
Shah Khalilullah I
Shah Muhibbullah I
Shah Atiyyatullah I
Shah Khalilullah II
Shah Shams al-Din Muhammad I
Shah Muhibbullah II
Shah Shams al-Din Muhammad II
Shah Atiyyatullah II
Shah Shams al-Din Muhammad III
Shaykh Mahmud Deccani
Shaykh Shams al-Din Deccani
Shaykh Rida Ali Shah Deccani
Shaykh Masum Ali Shah Deccani
Shaykh Nur Ali Shah I
Shaykh Husayn Ali Shah
Shaykh Majdhub Ali Shah
Shaykh Mast Ali Shah
Shaykh Rahmat Ali Shah
Shaykh Muhammad Kazim Saadat Ali Shah
Shaykh Hajj Mulla Sultan Muhammad Sultan Ali Shah
Shaykh Hajj Mulla Ali Nur Ali Shah II
Shaykh Hajj Muhammad Hasan Salih Ali Shah
Hadrat Hajj Sultan Husayn Tabandah Rida Ali Shah
Mawlana Hajj Ali Tabandah Mahbub Ali Shah
Mawlana Dr. Nur Ali Tabandah Majzoub Ali Shah
Majzooban Noor, Nematollahi Gonabadi Sufi Order News Site, would like to express its sincere condolences at this grievous loss to the presence of the Holy great Qutb of Nematollahi Gonabadi Order, Haj Dr. Noor Ali Tabandeh, “MajzoobAliShah” and all the brothers and sisters in faith.