Haji Dost Muhammad Qandhari

Biography

Dost Muhammad was born and received his early education in Kandahar in Afghanistan. While still a young man he encountered the great Indian Naqshbandi master Ghulam Ali Dehlavi (1743–1824) in the Prophet's Mosque in Medina. He reported that Ghulam Ali's spiritual energy (fayz) was so strong that it caused him to become restless and disturbed, to the extent that he was hardly able to move from his place. Returning to India, he continued to be subject to ecstatic states, some of which lasted for several weeks. Ghulam Ali died, however, before Dost Muhammad could become a disciple. So instead he applied to Ghulam Ali's successor Abu Sa'eed Mujaddidi Rampuri. At the time Abu Sa'eed was leaving for the Hajj and sent Dost Muhammad to his son (and successor) Shah Ahmed Sa'eed Dehlvi (1802–1860).

Within 14 months of staying with his Shaykh, Haji Dost Muhammad became Ahmed Sa'eed's khalifa in the Qandahar region of Afghanistan. Following the assassination in 1842 of Shah Shuja, the ruler of Afghanistan (and client of the British), Dost Muhammad was forced to leave the country. (These same events also forced the departure from Afghanistan of his most celebrated disciple, Sayyid Muhammed Shah Jan-Fishan Khan Paghmani). Ahmed Sa'eed advised Dost Muhammad to establish himself in a place where "both Pashto and Punjabi are spoken". Following this instruction, Dost Muhammad settled in the village of Musazai Sharif, near to Dera Ismail Khan (now in Pakistan), where he established a teaching centre and is buried.

Death and Successor

Dost Muhammad's successor was Khwaja Muhammad Usman Damani, to whom he gave unrestricted permission to teach "the methods of the Naqshbandiyya Mujaddidiya Ma'sumiyya Mazhariyya and the Qadiriyya, Chistiyya, Suhrawardiyya, Kubrawiyya, Shattariyya, Madariyya, Qalandariyya and other Sufi lineages". He also handed over to him all his Islamic centers including Musazai Sharif, his personal library and other assets.

Haji Dost Muhammad died on 22 Shawwal 1284 AH (17 February 1868) and was buried in Mussa Zai Sharif, district Dera Ismail Khan in present-day Pakistan.

In The Way of the Sufi, Idries Shah attributes this "sentence of the Khajagan" to Dost Muhammad (who he calls Qandahari):

"You hear my words. Hear, too, that there are words other than mine. These are not meant for hearing with the physical ear. Because you see only me, you think there is no Sufism apart from me. You are here to learn, not to collect historical information."

Spiritual chain of succession

Haji Dost Muhammad Qandhari belonged to the Mujaddidi order of Sufism, which is the main branch of Naqshbandi Sufi tariqah. His spiritual lineage goes to Muhammad, through Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi, the Mujaddid of eleventh Hijri century. The complete lineage is as under:

1. Sayyadna Muhammad d.11AH, buried Madinah SA (570/571 - 632 CE)
2. Sayyadna Abu Bakr Siddiq, d.13AH, buried Madinah, SA
3. Sayyadna Salman al-Farsi, d.35AH buried Madaa'in, SA
4. Imam Qasim ibn Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr d.107AH buried Madinah SA.
5. Imam Jafar Sadiq, (after which moves to Iran) d 148AH buried Madinah SA.
6. Shaikh Bayazid Bastami, d 261AH buried Bistaam, Iraq (804 - 874 CE).
7. Shaikh Abul Hassan Kharqani, d 425AH buried Kharqaan, Iran.
8. Shaikh Abul Qasim Gurgani, d.450AH buried Gurgan, Iran.
9. Shaikh Abu Ali Farmadi, (after which moves to Turkmenistan) d 477AH buried Tous, Khorasan, Iran.
10. Khwaja Abu Yaqub Yusuf Hamadani, d 535AH buried Maru, Khorosan, Iran.
11. Khwaja Abdul Khaliq Ghujdawani, d 575AH buried Ghajdawan, Bukhara, Uzbekistan.
12. Khwaja Arif Reogari, d 616AH buried Reogar, Bukhara, Uzbekistan.
13. Khwaja Mahmood Anjir-Faghnawi, d 715AH buried Waabakni, Mawralnahar.
14. Shaikh Azizan Ali Ramitani, d 715AH buried Khwaarizm, Bukhara, Uzbekistan.
15. Shaikh Muhammad Baba Samasi, d 755AH buried Samaas, Bukhara, Uzbekistan.
16. Shaikh Sayyid Amir Kulal, d 772AH buried Saukhaar, Bukhara, Uzbekistan.
17. Shaikh Muhammad Baha'uddin Naqshband, d 791AH buried Qasr-e-Aarifan, Bukhara, Uzbekistan (1318–1389 CE).
18. Shaikh Ala'uddin Attar Bukhari, buried Jafaaniyan, Mawranahar, Uzbekistan.
19. Shaikh Yaqub Charkhi, d 851AH buried Charkh, Bukhara, Uzbekistan.
20. Shaikh Ubaidullah Ahrar, d 895AH buried Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
21. Shaikh Muhammad Zahid Wakhshi, d 936AH buried Wakhsh, Malk Hasaar
22. Shaikh Durwesh Muhammad, d 970AH buried Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
23. Shaikh Muhammad Amkanaki, (after which moves to India) d 1008AH buried Akang, Bukhara, Uzbekistan.
24. Shaikh Muhammad Baqi Billah Berang, d 1012AH buried Delhi, India.
25. Shaikh Ahmad Faruqi Sirhindi, d 1034AH buried Sarhand, India (1564–1624 CE)
26. Muhammad Masum Sirhindi, d 1079AH buried Sarhand, India.
27. Muhammad Saifuddin Faruqi Mujaddidi, d 1096AH buried Sarhand, India
28. Hafiz Muhammad Mohsin
29. Sayyid Nur Muhammad Badayuni, d.1135AH
30. Mirza Mazhar Jan-e-Janaan, d.1195AH
31. Abdullah Dahlawi, alias Shah Ghulam Ali Dehlavi, d.1240AH
32. Shaikh Abu-Saeed Faruqi Mujaddidi, buried in Dehli, India, d.1250AH
33. Shaikh Shah Ahmed Saeed Faruqi Mujaddidi, buried in Madinah, d.1277AH
34. Khwaja Dost Muhammad Qandhari, Musa Zai Sharif, d.1284AH

His Khulafa