path is, in principle, open to every one. According to the Sufis anybody can
attain the higher forms of religious knowledge, but if one is to do it the Sufi
way, it must be done under the guidance of a
shaykh
, also called a
murshid
or
pir
. The
salik
receives the rite of initiation from his
shaykh
or
murshid
, who
in turn has received it from his
shaykh
and so on, with the chain of
transmission of spiritual influence (
barakah
) going back to the Prophet
himself. The Sufis believe that the Prophet conferred this right on only
some of his companions, in particular the caliphs Abu Bakr and Ali, who in
turn passed it on to their followers. In this way, this right has been passed
on in unbroken succession up to the present day.This chain of succession is
known in Arabic as
silsila
5
,
and it is a living tradition transmitted personally
from master to disciple
.
A disciple is thus above all a seeker, or
talib
6
, then
a traveller, or
salik
, and finally, if God so pleases, a gnostic, or
arif.
But the
spiritual realization cannot be achieved without the initiation, counsel, and
guidance of the
shaykh,
or spiritual master.
Those aspiring to follow the Sufi path approach a
shaykh
to be initiated
into a spiritual lineage or,
silsila
. As every lineage goes back to the Prophet,
all the orders
(silsilas)
are necessarily traced to one or the other of the
companions whom the Prophet initiated himself. In the early phase of Sufism
there were many great Sufi masters and they had their followers, but the
movement was not institutionalized. The regular orders began to be
established only in the 11
th
and 12
th
centuryAD and the first great Sufi order
was the Qadri order, or
tariqa,
founded by ShaykhAbdul Qadir Jilani (1071-
1166).This was followed by the Suhrawardi order of Abu’l Najib Suhrawardi
(1098-1168) and the Naqshbandi order of Khwaja Baha’ ud din Naqshbandi
5
silsila
is a term, besides
tariqa
which is used to describe a Sufi order or a Sufi lineage.
6
from the Arabic root, t-l-b,
to seek
