116-488: The Chishti order ( Persian : چشتی طريقة , romanized : Chishtī ṭarīqa ) is a Sufi order of Sunni Islam named after the town of Chisht , Afghanistan where it was initiated by Abu Ishaq Shami . The order was brought to Herat and later spread across South Asia by Mu'in al-Din Chishti in the city of Ajmer . The Chishti Order is known for its emphasis on love, tolerance, and openness. The Chishti order
232-655: A Dari dialect. In the 19th century, under the Qajar dynasty , the dialect that is spoken in Tehran rose to prominence. There was still substantial Arabic vocabulary, but many of these words have been integrated into Persian phonology and grammar. In addition, under the Qajar rule, numerous Russian , French , and English terms entered the Persian language, especially vocabulary related to technology. The first official attentions to
348-418: A dictionary called Words of Scientific Association ( لغت انجمن علمی ), which was completed in the future and renamed Katouzian Dictionary ( فرهنگ کاتوزیان ). The first academy for the Persian language was founded on 20 May 1935, under the name Academy of Iran . It was established by the initiative of Reza Shah Pahlavi , and mainly by Hekmat e Shirazi and Mohammad Ali Foroughi , all prominent names in
464-505: A language name is first attested in English in the mid-16th century. Farsi , which is the Persian word for the Persian language, has also been used widely in English in recent decades, more often to refer to Iran's standard Persian. However, the name Persian is still more widely used. The Academy of Persian Language and Literature has maintained that the endonym Farsi is to be avoided in foreign languages, and that Persian
580-417: A literary language considerably different from the spoken Persian of the time. This became the basis of what is now known as "Contemporary Standard Persian". There are three standard varieties of modern Persian: All these three varieties are based on the classic Persian literature and its literary tradition. There are also several local dialects from Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan which slightly differ from
696-409: A method dhikr and meditation, the goal of which is to obtain a feeling of peace, separation from worldly values ( dunya ), and, in general, strengthen Iman (faith). The main purpose of dhikr is to fill the heart with spiritual meaning and not simply chant the invocations with an empty heart and absent mind. When performed with awareness, the heart then becomes receptive to the activity of the tongue and
812-536: A period of several centuries, Ottoman Turkish (which was highly Persianised itself) had developed toward a fully accepted language of literature, and which was even able to lexically satisfy the demands of a scientific presentation. However, the number of Persian and Arabic loanwords contained in those works increased at times up to 88%. In the Ottoman Empire, Persian was used at the royal court, for diplomacy, poetry, historiographical works, literary works, and
928-519: A similar fashion to the Mughals' predecessors. The emperor Akbar was perhaps the most fervent of them. It is said to be by the blessing of Shaikh Salim Chishti that Akbar's first surviving child, the future Jahangir , was born. The child was named Salim after the sheikh and was affectionately addressed by Akbar as Sheikhu Baba . Akbar also credited the Chishti Shaikhs with his victory at
1044-599: A speaker of Persian. Persian is a member of the Western Iranian group of the Iranian languages , which make up a branch of the Indo-European languages in their Indo-Iranian subdivision . The Western Iranian languages themselves are divided into two subgroups: Southwestern Iranian languages, of which Persian is the most widely spoken, and Northwestern Iranian languages, of which Kurdish and Balochi are
1160-450: A speaker who refers to something briefly/incidentally), or reminder, is considered a maddah who reminds the remembering of Allah (and His Dhikr) for people, and he himself should also be reciter of dhikhr; namely, not only he ought to be a recital of Dhikr, but also he should put the audience in the situation of dhikr reminding (of Allah and likewise Ahl al-Bayt ). Idiomatically the term means "praiser of God" or "professional narrator of
1276-452: A young boy or a woman. The audible, the sound that is heard, the lyrics should not be indecent or shameful. The hearer should only hear to gain Divine nearness only and nothing else. The instruments can be any. The hearing is a voice, how can this be Haraam, how can the sounds of lyrics be Haraam? And finally there is the heart being touched and moved by this. How can this be Haraam if it brings
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#17327650579141392-615: Is a Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian subdivision of the Indo-European languages . Persian is a pluricentric language predominantly spoken and used officially within Iran , Afghanistan , and Tajikistan in three mutually intelligible standard varieties , respectively Iranian Persian (officially known as Persian ), Dari Persian (officially known as Dari since 1964), and Tajiki Persian (officially known as Tajik since 1999). It
1508-664: Is a continuation of Middle Persian , an official language of the Sasanian Empire (224–651 CE), itself a continuation of Old Persian , which was used in the Achaemenid Empire (550–330 BCE). It originated in the region of Fars ( Persia ) in southwestern Iran. Its grammar is similar to that of many European languages. Throughout history, Persian was considered prestigious by various empires centered in West Asia , Central Asia , and South Asia . Old Persian
1624-628: Is a direct descendant of Middle and Old Persian. Gernot Windfuhr considers new Persian as an evolution of the Old Persian language and the Middle Persian language but also states that none of the known Middle Persian dialects is the direct predecessor of Modern Persian. Ludwig Paul states: "The language of the Shahnameh should be seen as one instance of continuous historical development from Middle to New Persian." The known history of
1740-454: Is a type of group ceremony that consist mostly of recited spiritual poetry and Quranic recitation. According to William Chittick , "The Koran commonly refers to the knowledge brought by the prophets as “remembrance” (dhikr) and “reminder” (dhikra, tadhkir), terms that derive from the root dh-k-r". These terms appear more than forty times in the Quran to describe the Quran itself. For example,
1856-413: Is also recommended when remembering God. Since it can get difficult to keep track of the counting of the prayers, the beads are used to keep track so that the person reciting the prayer can turn all of their focus on what is actually being said - as it can become difficult to concentrate simultaneously on the number and phrasing when one is doing so a substantial number of times. Similarly, as dhikr involves
1972-850: Is also spoken natively in the Tajik variety by a significant population within Uzbekistan , as well as within other regions with a Persianate history in the cultural sphere of Greater Iran . It is written officially within Iran and Afghanistan in the Persian alphabet , a derivative of the Arabic script , and within Tajikistan in the Tajik alphabet , a derivative of the Cyrillic script . Modern Persian
2088-675: Is attested in Old Persian cuneiform on inscriptions from between the 6th and 4th century BC. Middle Persian is attested in Aramaic -derived scripts ( Pahlavi and Manichaean ) on inscriptions and in Zoroastrian and Manichaean scriptures from between the third to the tenth centuries (see Middle Persian literature ). New Persian literature was first recorded in the ninth century, after the Muslim conquest of Persia , since then adopting
2204-434: Is aware of God's presence. There are numerous conventional phrases and expressions invoking God. Reciting the Quran sincerely is also considered a kind of Dhikr. For example: "It is truly I. I am Allah! There is no god [worthy of worship] except Me. So worship Me [alone], and establish prayer for My remembrance" — Surah Taha , Ayah 14 "O believers! Always remember Allah often" — Surah Al- Ahzab, Ayah 41 "Indeed, in
2320-574: Is conducive to that, the knowledgeable person and the learning person." —Jami Al-Tirmidhi 2322 Narrated by Abdullah bin Busr that the Messenger of Allah said: "'Always keep your tongue moist with the remembrance of Allah, the Mighty and Sublime.'" — Sunan Ibn Majah 3793 Narrated by Mu'adh ibn Jabal that the Messenger of Allah said: "The People of Paradise will not regret except one thing alone:
2436-425: Is conventionally divided into three stages: Early New Persian remains largely intelligible to speakers of Contemporary Persian, as the morphology and, to a lesser extent, the lexicon of the language have remained relatively stable. New Persian texts written in the Arabic script first appear in the 9th-century. The language is a direct descendant of Middle Persian, the official, religious, and literary language of
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#17327650579142552-460: Is not actually attested until 600 years later when it appears in the Sassanid era (224–651 AD) inscriptions, so any form of the language before this date cannot be described with any degree of certainty. Moreover, as a literary language, Middle Persian is not attested until much later, in the 6th or 7th century. From the 8th century onward, Middle Persian gradually began yielding to New Persian, with
2668-475: Is one of Afghanistan's two official languages, together with Pashto . The term Dari , meaning "of the court", originally referred to the variety of Persian used in the court of the Sasanian Empire in capital Ctesiphon , which was spread to the northeast of the empire and gradually replaced the former Iranian dialects of Parthia ( Parthian ). Tajik Persian ( форси́и тоҷикӣ́ , forsi-i tojikī ),
2784-585: Is one of the earliest attested Indo-European languages. According to certain historical assumptions about the early history and origin of ancient Persians in Southwestern Iran (where Achaemenids hailed from), Old Persian was originally spoken by a tribe called Parsuwash , who arrived in the Iranian Plateau early in the 1st millennium BCE and finally migrated down into the area of present-day Fārs province. Their language, Old Persian, became
2900-578: Is permissible". "...Someone complained to the Sultan of the Mashaa’ikh that some of the dervishes danced in a gathering where there were musical instruments. He said, they did not do good as something impermissible cannot be condoned". However, this has been countered by the more historical excerpt of Nizamuddin Auliya 's quotation: The hearing, the person that is being heard should be a mature man and not
3016-696: Is primarily followed in Afghanistan and the Indian subcontinent . It was the first of the seven main Sufi orders (Chishti, Qadiri , Suhrawardi , Madariyya , Kubrawiyya , Qalandariyya and Naqshbandi ) to be established in this region. Khwaja Muinuddin Chishti introduced the Chishti Order in Ajmer ( Rajasthan , India) sometime in the middle of the 12th century. He was eighth in the line of succession from
3132-836: Is the Dargah Sharif , a popular shrine and pilgrimage site. Moinuddin was followed by Qutab-ud-Din Bakhtyar Kaki and Farīduddīn Mas'ūd ' Baba Farid '. After Fariduddin, the Chishti Order of South Asia split into two branches. Each branch was named after one of Fariduddin's successors. It was after Nizamuddin Auliya that the Chishti Sufism chain spread throughout the Indian Peninsula. Two prominent lines of transmission arose from Nizamuddin Auliya, one from his disciple Nasiruddin Chiragh Dehlavi and
3248-495: Is the appropriate designation of the language in English, as it has the longer tradition in western languages and better expresses the role of the language as a mark of cultural and national continuity. Iranian historian and linguist Ehsan Yarshater , founder of the Encyclopædia Iranica and Columbia University 's Center for Iranian Studies, mentions the same concern in an academic journal on Iranology , rejecting
3364-484: Is understood as a call to "remember" ( dhikr ) an innate knowledge of God humans already possess. The Quran uses the term dhikr to denote the reminder from God conveyed through the prophets and messengers , as well as the human response to that reminder, signifying a reciprocal interaction between the divine and human. Muslims believe the prophets deliver God's message as a reminder to humans, who, in turn, should remember and acknowledge it. There are several verses in
3480-491: The Encyclopædia Iranica notes that the Iranian, Afghan, and Tajiki varieties comprise distinct branches of the Persian language, and within each branch a wide variety of local dialects exist. The following are some languages closely related to Persian, or in some cases are considered dialects: More distantly related branches of the Iranian language family include Kurdish and Balochi . The Glottolog database proposes
3596-506: The Kalila wa Dimna . The language spread geographically from the 11th century on and was the medium through which, among others, Central Asian Turks became familiar with Islam and urban culture. New Persian was widely used as a trans-regional lingua franca , a task aided due to its relatively simple morphology, and this situation persisted until at least the 19th century. In the late Middle Ages, new Islamic literary languages were created on
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3712-616: The British colonization , Persian was widely used as a second language in the Indian subcontinent . It took prominence as the language of culture and education in several Muslim courts on the subcontinent and became the sole "official language" under the Mughal emperors . The Bengal Sultanate witnessed an influx of Persian scholars, lawyers, teachers, and clerics. Thousands of Persian books and manuscripts were published in Bengal. The period of
3828-680: The Gospel . In that vein, the Jews and the Christians are thus referred to as "the people of the Reminder" (ahl al dhikr) (16:43, 21:7). The Quran justifies the sending of numerous prophets by God by stating that human beings, similar to their forefather Adam , have a propensity to forget and become heedless . The key to confronting this shortcoming is the remembrance that God conveys through his prophets. According to Islamic beliefs, prophets have
3944-702: The Ishq-Nuri Tariqa in the 1960s, as a branch of the Chishti-Nizami silsila . In addition, a number of mixed-Sufi type groups or movements in Islam, have also been influenced by the Chishti Order proper. The best known and most widespread example is of the Jamaat Ahle Sunnat , a Sunni Muslim sect with a huge international following, which is in essence not a proper Sufi organization, though adopting many Sufi customs and traditions. From
4060-664: The Siege of Chittorgarh . Akbar had vowed to visit the Chishti dargah , the tomb of Moinuddin Chishti , at Ajmer if he were victorious. He fulfilled his vow by visiting the dargah with his musicians, who played in honor of the sheikh. Shah Jahan 's daughter, Jahanara Begum Sahib , was also a devout follower of the Chishti Order. Shah Jahan's son Aurangzeb patronised various Chishti shrines. Persian language Russia Persian ( / ˈ p ɜːr ʒ ən , - ʃ ən / PUR -zhən, -shən ), also known by its endonym Farsi ( فارسی , Fārsī [fɒːɾˈsiː] ),
4176-674: The Sultanate of Rum , Turkmen beyliks of Anatolia , Delhi Sultanate , the Shirvanshahs , Safavids , Afsharids , Zands , Qajars , Khanate of Bukhara , Khanate of Kokand , Emirate of Bukhara , Khanate of Khiva , Ottomans , and also many Mughal successors such as the Nizam of Hyderabad . Persian was the only non-European language known and used by Marco Polo at the Court of Kublai Khan and in his journeys through China. A branch of
4292-713: The Turkic , Armenian , Georgian , & Indo-Aryan languages . It also exerted some influence on Arabic, while borrowing a lot of vocabulary from it in the Middle Ages. Some of the world's most famous pieces of literature from the Middle Ages, such as the Shahnameh by Ferdowsi , the works of Rumi , the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám , the Panj Ganj of Nizami Ganjavi , The Divān of Hafez , The Conference of
4408-491: The ezāfe construction, expressed through ī (modern e/ye ), to indicate some of the relations between words that have been lost with the simplification of the earlier grammatical system. Although the "middle period" of the Iranian languages formally begins with the fall of the Achaemenid Empire, the transition from Old to Middle Persian had probably already begun before the 4th century BC. However, Middle Persian
4524-597: The " Persianized " Turko-Mongol dynasties during the 12th to 15th centuries, and under restored Persian rule during the 16th to 19th centuries. Persian during this time served as lingua franca of Greater Persia and of much of the Indian subcontinent . It was also the official and cultural language of many Islamic dynasties, including the Samanids, Buyids , Tahirids , Ziyarids , the Mughal Empire , Timurids , Ghaznavids , Karakhanids , Seljuqs , Khwarazmians ,
4640-562: The 14th century onwards (during the rule of the Tughluqs ), the Chishti Order came to be associated with political prosperity for the Indian subcontinent's Muslim kingdoms. The Delhi Sultanate , Bahmani Sultanate , Bengal Sultanate , and various provincial dynasties associated themselves with Shaikhs of the Chishti Order for good fortune. Shrines of prominent Shaikhs were patronised by ruling dynasties, who made pilgrimages to these sites. Often
4756-453: The 1990s. All people, including Muslims and Catholics, were allowed to use prayer beads inside prisons, lest their freedom of religion be violated when the prison administration forbade their possession as contraband in the penal system. The practice of carrying prayer beads became controversial when gang-members began carrying specific colors of prayer beads to identify themselves . A "dhakir" ( ذَاكِر ) or "Zaker" (literally "mentioner"'
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4872-681: The Birds by Attar of Nishapur , and the miscellanea of Gulistan and Bustan by Saadi Shirazi , are written in Persian. Some of the prominent modern Persian poets were Nima Yooshij , Ahmad Shamlou , Simin Behbahani , Sohrab Sepehri , Rahi Mo'ayyeri , Mehdi Akhavan-Sales , and Forugh Farrokhzad . There are approximately 130 million Persian speakers worldwide, including Persians , Lurs , Tajiks , Hazaras , Iranian Azeris , Iranian Kurds , Balochs , Tats , Afghan Pashtuns , and Aimaqs . The term Persophone might also be used to refer to
4988-526: The Chishti order is as follows: After Farīduddīn Mas'ūd, the Chishti order divided into two branches: The Encyclopedia of Islam divides Chishti history into four periods: The order was founded by Abu Ishaq Shami ("the Syrian") who taught Sufism in the town of Chisht, some 95 miles east of Herat in present-day western Afghanistan . Before returning to Syria, where he is now buried next to Ibn Arabi at Jabal Qasioun , Shami initiated, trained and deputized
5104-579: The Department of Corrections) in the State of New York pursuant to 42 USC Section 1983. The plaintiffs argued that prisoners have a First Amendment Constitutional right to pursue Islamic healing therapy called KASM (قاسَمَهُ | qaasama | taking an oath ) which uses prayer beads . The rosary of oaths, which Alameen developed, was used to successfully rehabilitate inmates suffering from co-occurring mental health challenges and substance abuse issues during
5220-535: The Messenger of Allah said: "Shall I tell you about the best of deeds, the most pure in the Sight of your Lord, about the one that is of the highest order and is far better for you than spending gold and silver, even better for you than meeting your enemies in the battlefield where you strike at their necks and they at yours?" The companions replied, "Yes, O Messenger of Allah!" He replied, 'Remembrance of Allah." — Jami Al-Tirmidhi 3337 Narrated by Abu Hurairah that
5336-416: The Messenger of Allah said: "People will not sit in an assembly in which they remember Allah without the angels surrounding them, mercy covering them, and Allah Mentioning them among those who are with Him." — Bulugh Al-Maram : Book 16, Hadith 1540 Narrated by Abu Hurairah that the Messenger of Allah said: "Lo! Indeed the world is cursed. What is in it is cursed, except for remembrance of Allah, what
5452-565: The Middle Ages, and is because of the lack of the phoneme /p/ in Standard Arabic. The standard Persian of Iran has been called, apart from Persian and Farsi , by names such as Iranian Persian and Western Persian , exclusively. Officially, the official language of Iran is designated simply as Persian ( فارسی , fārsi ). The standard Persian of Afghanistan has been officially named Dari ( دری , dari ) since 1958. Also referred to as Afghan Persian in English, it
5568-543: The Ottoman Empire all spoke Persian, such as Sultan Selim I , despite being Safavid Iran's archrival and a staunch opposer of Shia Islam . It was a major literary language in the empire. Some of the noted earlier Persian works during the Ottoman rule are Idris Bidlisi 's Hasht Bihisht , which began in 1502 and covered the reign of the first eight Ottoman rulers, and the Salim-Namah , a glorification of Selim I. After
5684-530: The Persian language can be divided into the following three distinct periods: As a written language , Old Persian is attested in royal Achaemenid inscriptions. The oldest known text written in Old Persian is from the Behistun Inscription , dating to the time of King Darius I (reigned 522–486 BC). Examples of Old Persian have been found in what is now Iran , Romania ( Gherla ), Armenia , Bahrain , Iraq , Turkey, and Egypt . Old Persian
5800-425: The Persian language, a language historically called Dari, emerged in present-day Afghanistan. The first significant Persian poet was Rudaki . He flourished in the 10th century, when the Samanids were at the height of their power. His reputation as a court poet and as an accomplished musician and singer has survived, although little of his poetry has been preserved. Among his lost works are versified fables collected in
5916-401: The Persian model: Ottoman Turkish , Chagatai Turkic , Dobhashi Bengali , and Urdu, which are regarded as "structural daughter languages" of Persian. "Classical Persian" loosely refers to the standardized language of medieval Persia used in literature and poetry . This is the language of the 10th to 12th centuries, which continued to be used as literary language and lingua franca under
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#17327650579146032-826: The Perso-Arabic script. Persian was the first language to break through the monopoly of Arabic on writing in the Muslim world , with Persian poetry becoming a tradition in many eastern courts. It was used officially as a language of bureaucracy even by non-native speakers, such as the Ottomans in Anatolia , the Mughals in South Asia, and the Pashtuns in Afghanistan. It influenced languages spoken in neighboring regions and beyond, including other Iranian languages,
6148-568: The Qur'an, thus becoming a hafiz . His father died when he was a teenager; Moinuddin inherited the family grinding mill and orchard. He sold everything and gave the proceeds to the poor. He traveled to Balkh and Samarkand , where he studied the Qur'an, hadith , and fiqh . He looked for something beyond scholarship and law and studied under the Chishti shaykh Usman Harooni (Harvani). He moved to Lahore and then to Ajmer, where he died. His tomb, in Ajmer,
6264-403: The Quran clarifies that "dhikr" as the human response to God's reminder is not limited to merely acknowledging the truth of tawhid (the oneness of God). Rather, the term "dhikr" also means "to mention." Thus, on the human side, "dhikr" involves not only being aware of God's presence but also expressing that awareness through language, whether spoken or unspoken. Therefore, "dhikr" encompasses both
6380-406: The Quran refers to itself as "The Wise Reminder" (al-dhikr al-ḥakīm) in 3:58, "a Reminder for the believers" (dhikra Lil mu'minin) in 7:2, and "The reminder for the worlds" (dhikra Lil 'alamin) in 6:90. The prophet Muhammad himself is described in 88:21 as a "reminder" ("So remind! thou art but a reminder"). The same terms are also used to refer to other prophetic messages such as the Torah and
6496-597: The Quran that emphasize the importance of remembering the will of God by saying phrases such as "God willing" "God knows best," and "If it is your will.' This is the basis for dhikr. Surah al-Kahf (18), Ayah 24 states a person who forgets to say, "God willing", should immediately remember God by saying, "Maybe my Lord will guide me to [something] more akin to rectitude than this." Other verses include Surah al-Ahzab (33), Ayah 41, "O you who have faith! Remember Allah with frequent remembrance", and Surah ar-Ra'd (13), Ayah 28, "those who have faith, and whose hearts find rest in
6612-428: The Sasanian Empire (224–651). However, it is not descended from the literary form of Middle Persian (known as pārsīk , commonly called Pahlavi), which was spoken by the people of Fars and used in Zoroastrian religious writings. Instead, it is descended from the dialect spoken by the court of the Sasanian capital Ctesiphon and the northeastern Iranian region of Khorasan , known as Dari. The region, which comprised
6728-427: The Sassanids (who were Persians, i.e. from the southwest) from the preceding Arsacids (who were Parthians, i.e. from the northeast). While Ibn al-Muqaffa' (eighth century) still distinguished between Pahlavi (i.e. Parthian) and Persian (in Arabic text: al-Farisiyah) (i.e. Middle Persian), this distinction is not evident in Arab commentaries written after that date. "New Persian" (also referred to as Modern Persian)
6844-407: The Seljuks, the Sultanate of Rum , took Persian language, art, and letters to Anatolia. They adopted the Persian language as the official language of the empire. The Ottomans , who can roughly be seen as their eventual successors, inherited this tradition. Persian was the official court language of the empire, and for some time, the official language of the empire. The educated and noble class of
6960-406: The U.S. His lineage-successors were Pīr Vilāyat 'Ināyat Khān (d. 2004) and Pīr Zīa 'Ināyat-Khān, the current head of the 'Ināyatīyya. This tariqat is unusual in that it accepts seekers of all faiths without asking conversion to formal Islam, a controversial practice but which is customary in the Nizāmi branch going back to Nizāmuddīn Auliya and later made written policy by Shah Kalīmullāh Jahanabadi in
7076-556: The act of this remembrance as well as the prayers used in these acts of remembrance. Dhikr usually includes the names of God or supplication from the Quran or hadith . It may be counted with either one's fingers or prayer beads , and may be performed alone or with a collective group. A person who recites dhikr is called a dhākir ( ذَاكِر ; [ðaːkɪr] ; lit. ' rememberer ' ). The Quran frequently refers to itself and other scriptures and prophetic messages as "reminders" ( dhikrah , tadhkīrah ), which
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#17327650579147192-407: The affirmation of God’s Oneness by us in our pre-eternal ontological reality. Men and women still bear the echo of this “yes” deep down within their souls, and the call of Islam is precisely to this primordial nature, which uttered the “yes” even before the creation of the heavens and the earth. The call of Islam therefore concerns, above all, the remembrance of a knowledge deeply embedded in our being,
7308-441: The area of Lake Urmia in the records of Shalmaneser III . The exact identity of the Parsuwash is not known for certain, but from a linguistic viewpoint the word matches Old Persian pārsa itself coming directly from the older word * pārćwa . Also, as Old Persian contains many words from another extinct Iranian language, Median , according to P. O. Skjærvø it is probable that Old Persian had already been spoken before
7424-426: The best form of dhikr, where dhikr is done silently and in one position without moving the body. This method of dhikr allowed it to be done whenever one could, and it avoided showing off as it was privately done. Among the biggest advocates for silent dhikr was Baha' al-Dïn Naqshband , and his form of dhikr "...required the practitioners to force internal energy into different parts within the body through concentrating
7540-457: The code fas for the dialects spoken across Iran and Afghanistan. This consists of the individual languages Dari ( prs ) and Iranian Persian ( pes ). It uses tgk for Tajik, separately. In general, the Iranian languages are known from three periods: namely Old, Middle, and New (Modern). These correspond to three historical eras of Iranian history ; Old era being sometime around the Achaemenid Empire (i.e., 400–300 BC), Middle era being
7656-512: The collapse of the Sassanid state, Parsik came to be applied exclusively to (either Middle or New) Persian that was written in the Arabic script . From about the 9th century onward, as Middle Persian was on the threshold of becoming New Persian, the older form of the language came to be erroneously called Pahlavi , which was actually but one of the writing systems used to render both Middle Persian as well as various other Middle Iranian languages. That writing system had previously been adopted by
7772-471: The confirmation of a knowledge that saves, hence the soteriological function of knowledge in Islam. The Quran also highlights that God called upon all souls to witness His lordship, so that no one can plead ignorance on the Day of Judgment : ""Lest you say on the Day of Resurrection, "As for us, we were heedless of this," or lest you say, "Our fathers associated others with God before us, and we were their offspring after them. What, wilt Thou destroy us for what
7888-416: The courts of kings, but never refuse to bless and help the needy and the poor, the widow, and the orphan, if they come to your door. Chishti practice is also notable for Sama : evoking the divine presence by listening to and losing oneself in a form of music and poetry, usually Qawwali . The Chishti, and some other Sufi orders, believe that Sama can help devotees forget self in the love of Allah . However,
8004-468: The creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of the day and night there are signs for people of reason. [They are] those who remember Allah while standing, sitting, and lying on their sides, and reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth [and pray], 'Our Lord! You have not created [all of] this without purpose. Glory be to You! Protect us from the torment of the Fire'" — Surah Al 'Imran , Ayat 190-191 Narrated by Abu Al-Darda that
8120-439: The details of which vary between Sufi orders or tariqah . An example of this is the initiation of an applicant, where the repetition of dhikr is a necessary component in the ceremony. Each order, or lineage within an order, has one or more forms for group dhikr, the liturgy of which may include recitation , singing , music , dance , costumes , incense , muraqaba (meditation), ecstasy , and trance . Common terms for
8236-404: The early 1700s CE. In 1937 the Sufi imam Al-Hajj Wali Akram founded the First Cleveland Mosque, made his Sufi affiliation public and during the 1950s started to introduce new members to the Chishti, making the mosque the first public Sufi center of the United States. In more recent times, a more contemporary expression of traditional Chishti Sufi practices can be found in the establishment of
8352-599: The extent of its influence on certain languages of the Indian subcontinent. Words borrowed from Persian are still quite commonly used in certain Indo-Aryan languages, especially Hindi - Urdu (also historically known as Hindustani ), Punjabi , Kashmiri , and Sindhi . There is also a small population of Zoroastrian Iranis in India, who migrated in the 19th century to escape religious execution in Qajar Iran and speak
8468-541: The following phylogenetic classification: Dhikr Dhikr ( Arabic : ذِكْر ; / ð ɪ k r / ; lit. ' remembrance, reminder, mention ' ) is a form of Islamic worship in which phrases or prayers are repeatedly recited for the purpose of remembering God . It plays a central role in Sufism , and each Sufi order typically adopts a specific dhikr , accompanied by specific posture, breathing, and movement. In Sufism, dhikr refers to both
8584-410: The following: "Sima' (to listen to Qawwali) is permissible if a few conditions are met. The singer must be an adult and not a child or a female. The listener must only listen to everything in the remembrance of Allah. The words that are sung must be free from obscenity and indecency and they must not be void. Musical instruments must not be present in the gathering. If all these conditions are met, Sima'
8700-577: The formation of many modern languages in West Asia, Europe, Central Asia , and South Asia . Following the Turko-Persian Ghaznavid conquest of South Asia , Persian was firstly introduced in the region by Turkic Central Asians. The basis in general for the introduction of Persian language into the subcontinent was set, from its earliest days, by various Persianized Central Asian Turkic and Afghan dynasties. For five centuries prior to
8816-476: The formation of the Achaemenid Empire and was spoken during most of the first half of the first millennium BCE. Xenophon , a Greek general serving in some of the Persian expeditions, describes many aspects of Armenian village life and hospitality in around 401 BCE, which is when Old Persian was still spoken and extensively used. He relates that the Armenian people spoke a language that to his ear sounded like
8932-452: The forms of litany employed include "hizb" ( pl. "ahzab"), "wird" ( pl. "awrad") and durood . An example of a popular work of litany is Dala'il al-Khayrat . Another type of group dhikr ceremony that is most commonly performed in Arab countries is called the haḍra ( lit . presence). A haḍra can draw upon secular Arab genres and typically last for hours. Finally, sama ` ( lit . audition)
9048-514: The founder of the Chishti Order, Abu Ishaq Shami . There are now several branches of the order, which has been the most prominent South Asian Sufi brotherhood since the 12th century. In the 20th century, the order has spread outside Afghanistan and the Indian subcontinent. Chishti teachers have established centers in the United Kingdom , United States , Canada , Australia , Eastern and Southern Africa. The Chishti shaykhs have stressed
9164-452: The founding member of a kingdom paid respects to a Chishti Shaikh as a way of legitimising their new state, and this Shaikh became closely associated with the whole dynasty. For example, fourteen successive Bengal Sultans considered Shaikh 'Ala Al-Haq to be their spiritual master. Several rulers of the Mughal dynasty of South Asia were Chishti devotees, and they associated with the Order in
9280-414: The function of reminding (dhikr) people of what they already know, while humans only need to remember (dhikr) their innate knowledge of God . This knowledge is said to be present in the divine spirit that God breathed into Adam, as the Quran states that God molded Adam's clay with His own hands and blew into him His own spirit (32:9, 15:29, 38:72). [The message of Islam] is a call for recollection, for
9396-465: The house that passed them by and in which they made no remembrance of Allah." —Shu'ab al-Iman: Book 1, Hadith 392 The Islamic prophet Muhammad is reported to have taught his daughter Fatimah bint Rasul Allah a special manner of Dhikr which is known as the " Tasbih of Fatimah ". This consists of: The Shia way of doing the Tasbih of Fatimah is: Like many other religions, the use of rosaries
9512-442: The importance of keeping a distance from worldly power. A ruler could be a patron or a disciple, but he or she was always to be treated as just another devotee. A Chishti teacher should not attend the court or be involved in matters of state, as this will corrupt the soul with worldly matters. In his last discourse to his slaves Khawaja Moinuddin Chishti said: Never seek any help, charity, or favors from anybody except God. Never go to
9628-466: The language of the Persians. Related to Old Persian, but from a different branch of the Iranian language family, was Avestan , the language of the Zoroastrian liturgical texts. The complex grammatical conjugation and declension of Old Persian yielded to the structure of Middle Persian in which the dual number disappeared, leaving only singular and plural, as did gender. Middle Persian developed
9744-473: The listener closer to Allah? The Chishtis follow five basic devotional practices ( dhikr ). Early Chishti shaykhs adopted concepts and doctrines outlined in two influential Sufi texts: the ʿAwārif al-Maʿārif of Shaykh Shihāb al-Dīn Suhrawardī and the Kashf al-Maḥjūb of Ali Hujwīrī . These texts are still read and respected today. Chishtis also read collections of the sayings, speeches, poems, and letters of
9860-432: The middle-period form only continuing in the texts of Zoroastrianism . Middle Persian is considered to be a later form of the same dialect as Old Persian. The native name of Middle Persian was Parsig or Parsik , after the name of the ethnic group of the southwest, that is, "of Pars ", Old Persian Parsa , New Persian Fars . This is the origin of the name Farsi as it is today used to signify New Persian. Following
9976-478: The mind and regulating the breath. This was to be undertaken while repeating the verbal formula that constitutes the Islamic profession of faith: 'there is no god but God, and Muhammad is the messenger of God'". Each word in the verbal statement was for a specific part of the body, such as the navel or the upper chest. The other form of Sufi dhikr is vocal dhikr performed using the tongue and body, where showing off
10092-536: The most widely spoken. The term Persian is an English derivation of Latin Persiānus , the adjectival form of Persia , itself deriving from Greek Persís ( Περσίς ), a Hellenized form of Old Persian Pārsa ( 𐎱𐎠𐎼𐎿 ), which means " Persia " (a region in southwestern Iran, corresponding to modern-day Fars ). According to the Oxford English Dictionary , the term Persian as
10208-466: The nationalist movement of the time. The academy was a key institution in the struggle to re-build Iran as a nation-state after the collapse of the Qajar dynasty. During the 1930s and 1940s, the academy led massive campaigns to replace the many Arabic , Russian , French , and Greek loanwords whose widespread use in Persian during the centuries preceding the foundation of the Pahlavi dynasty had created
10324-499: The necessity of protecting the Persian language against foreign words, and to the standardization of Persian orthography , were under the reign of Naser ed Din Shah of the Qajar dynasty in 1871. After Naser ed Din Shah, Mozaffar ed Din Shah ordered the establishment of the first Persian association in 1903. This association officially declared that it used Persian and Arabic as acceptable sources for coining words. The ultimate goal
10440-414: The next period most officially around the Sasanian Empire , and New era being the period afterward down to present day. According to available documents, the Persian language is "the only Iranian language" for which close philological relationships between all of its three stages are established and so that Old, Middle, and New Persian represent one and the same language of Persian; that is, New Persian
10556-732: The northern part of Greece). Vardar Yenicesi differed from other localities in the Balkans insofar as that it was a town where Persian was also widely spoken. However, the Persian of Vardar Yenicesi and throughout the rest of the Ottoman-held Balkans was different from formal Persian both in accent and vocabulary. The difference was apparent to such a degree that the Ottomans referred to it as "Rumelian Persian" ( Rumili Farsisi ). As learned people such as students, scholars and literati often frequented Vardar Yenicesi, it soon became
10672-542: The official language of the Achaemenid kings. Assyrian records, which in fact appear to provide the earliest evidence for ancient Iranian (Persian and Median) presence on the Iranian Plateau, give a good chronology but only an approximate geographical indication of what seem to be ancient Persians. In these records of the 9th century BCE, Parsuwash (along with Matai , presumably Medians) are first mentioned in
10788-499: The order also insists that followers observe the full range of Muslim obligations; it does not dismiss them as mere legalism, as some strands of Sufism have done. However some Qadiris point out that the Chishti Order and Moinuddin Chishti never permitted musical instruments, and cite a Chishti, Muhammad Ibn Mubarak Kirmani, the Mureed of Khwaja Fareed al-Deen Ganj-e-Shakar, who wrote in his Siyar al-Awliya that Nizamuddin Auliya said
10904-586: The order with which they are primarily associated. The Chishti order has also absorbed influences and merged at times with various antinomian faqiri Sufi groups, especially the Qalandar . Some Chishtis both past and present have lived as renunciants or as wandering dervish . The first Chishti master in the West was Ḥazrat Pīr-o-Murshid 'Ināyat Khān, who came to the West in 1910 and established centers in Europe and
11020-465: The other from another disciple, Akhi Siraj Aainae Hind , who migrated to West Bengal from Delhi on Nizamuddin Auliya's order. Siraj Aanae Hind was followed by his notable disciple Alaul Haq Pandavi settled in Pandava, West Bengal itself. From this chain of transmission another prominent sub-branch of Chishti way emerged known as Ashrafia Silsila after the illustrious saint Ashraf Jahangir Semnani , who
11136-694: The present territories of northwestern Afghanistan as well as parts of Central Asia, played a leading role in the rise of New Persian. Khorasan, which was the homeland of the Parthians, was Persianized under the Sasanians. Dari Persian thus supplanted Parthian language , which by the end of the Sasanian era had fallen out of use. New Persian has incorporated many foreign words, including from eastern northern and northern Iranian languages such as Sogdian and especially Parthian. The transition to New Persian
11252-453: The qualities they represent, cultivate a state of spiritual purity, and draw closer to God. The repetitive nature of dhikr helps to quiet the mind, focus the heart, and create a sense of inner peace and presence.To Sufis, dhikr is seen as a way to gain spiritual enlightenment and achieve annihilation of self ( fana ) in order to seek permanence in God. All Muslim sects endorse individual rosaries as
11368-588: The region during the following centuries. Persian continued to act as a courtly language for various empires in Punjab through the early 19th century serving finally as the official state language of the Sikh Empire , preceding British conquest and the decline of Persian in South Asia. Beginning in 1843, though, English and Hindustani gradually replaced Persian in importance on the subcontinent. Evidence of Persian's historical influence there can be seen in
11484-549: The reign of Sultan Ghiyathuddin Azam Shah is described as the "golden age of Persian literature in Bengal". Its stature was illustrated by the Sultan's own correspondence and collaboration with the Persian poet Hafez ; a poem which can be found in the Divan of Hafez today. A Bengali dialect emerged among the common Bengali Muslim folk, based on a Persian model and known as Dobhashi ; meaning mixed language . Dobhashi Bengali
11600-592: The remembrance of Allah.' Look! The hearts find rest in Allah's remembrance!" Sufi dhikr most commonly involves the repetition of the Names of Allah. This practice is central to Sufi spiritual exercises and is intended to foster a deeper connection with the Divine. The Names of Allah , also known as Asma'ul Husna, represent various attributes of God, such as " Ar-Rahman " (The Most Merciful) and "Al-Karim" (The Generous). By invoking these names, practitioners aim to internalize
11716-414: The remembrance of a knowledge kneaded into the very substance of our being even before our coming into this world. In a famous verse that defines the relationship between human beings and God, the Quran, in referring to the precosmic existence of man, states, “‘Am I not your Lord?’ They said: ‘Yes, we bear witness’” (7:172). The “they” refers to all the children of Adam, male and female, and the “yes” confirms
11832-789: The repetition of particular phrases a specific number of times, prayer beads are used to keep track of the count. Known also as Tasbih , these are usually Misbaha ( prayer beads ) upon a string, 33, 99, or 100 in number, which correspond to the names of God in Islam and other recitations. The beads are used to keep track of the number of recitations that make up the dhikr. In the United States, Muslim inmates are allowed to utilize prayer beads for therapeutic effects. In Alameen v. Coughlin, 892 F. Supp. 440 (E.D.N.Y 1995), Imam Hamzah S. Alameen, a/k/a Gilbert Henry, and Robert Golden brought suit against Thomas A. Coughlin III, etc., et alia (Head of
11948-537: The shaykhs. These collections, called malfūẓāt , were prepared by the shaykh's disciples. Sufi orders trace their origins ultimately to the Islamic prophet Muhammad , who is believed to have instructed his successor in mystical teachings and practices in addition to the Qur'an or hidden within the Qur'an. Opinions differ as to this successor. Almost all Sufi orders trace their origins to 'Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib , Muhammad's cousin. The traditional silsila (spiritual lineage) of
12064-613: The site of a flourishing Persianate linguistic and literary culture. The 16th-century Ottoman Aşık Çelebi (died 1572), who hailed from Prizren in modern-day Kosovo , was galvanized by the abundant Persian-speaking and Persian-writing communities of Vardar Yenicesi, and he referred to the city as a "hotbed of Persian". Many Ottoman Persianists who established a career in the Ottoman capital of Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul ) pursued early Persian training in Saraybosna, amongst them Ahmed Sudi . The Persian language influenced
12180-477: The son of the local emir, Abu Ahmad Abdal. Under the leadership of Abu Ahmad's descendants, the Chishtiya , as they are also known, flourished as a regional mystical order. The founder of the Chishti Order in South Asia was Moinuddin Chishti . He was born in the province of Silistan in eastern Persia around 536 AH (1141 CE) into a sayyid family claiming descent from Muhammad. When he was just nine, he memorized
12296-573: The standard Persian of Tajikistan, has been officially designated as Tajik ( тоҷикӣ , tojikī ) since the time of the Soviet Union . It is the name given to the varieties of Persian spoken in Central Asia in general. The international language-encoding standard ISO 639-1 uses the code fa for the Persian language, as its coding system is mostly based on the native-language designations. The more detailed standard ISO 639-3 uses
12412-717: The standard Persian. The Hazaragi dialect (in Central Afghanistan and Pakistan), Herati (in Western Afghanistan), Darwazi (in Afghanistan and Tajikistan), Basseri (in Southern Iran), and the Tehrani accent (in Iran, the basis of standard Iranian Persian) are examples of these dialects. Persian-speaking peoples of Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan can understand one another with a relatively high degree of mutual intelligibility . Nevertheless,
12528-638: The tragedies of Karbala (and Ahl al-Bayt)". To some extent, it can mean Maddah/panegyrist too. The root of the word "Dhakir" ( ذَاكِر ) is "Dhikr" ( ذِكْر ) which means remembering/praising; and the word "Dhakiri" ( ذَاكِرِيّ ) is the act which is done by Dhakir, i.e. mentioning the Dhikr (of Allah, the Ahl al-Bayt, etc.) by observing its specific principles/manners. Followers of Sufism have two main ways of engaging in dhikr: silent and vocal dhikr. Silent dhikr has been considered by many Sufi practitioners to be
12644-485: The use of Farsi in foreign languages. Etymologically, the Persian term Farsi derives from its earlier form Pārsi ( Pārsik in Middle Persian ), which in turn comes from the same root as the English term Persian . In the same process, the Middle Persian toponym Pārs ("Persia") evolved into the modern name Fars. The phonemic shift from /p/ to /f/ is due to the influence of Arabic in
12760-438: The vain-doers did?"" (7:172-73). The Quran uses the term "dhikr" to refer to both the reminder that comes from God through the prophets and the response of humans to that reminder. This word reflects a two-way communication process between the Divine and the human. The prophets deliver the message of God, which is intended to serve as a reminder to humans, and humans respond to it by remembering and acknowledging it. In addition,
12876-597: Was already complete by the era of the three princely dynasties of Iranian origin, the Tahirid dynasty (820–872), Saffarid dynasty (860–903), and Samanid Empire (874–999). Abbas of Merv is mentioned as being the earliest minstrel to chant verse in the New Persian tongue and after him the poems of Hanzala Badghisi were among the most famous between the Persian-speakers of the time. The first poems of
12992-617: Was not considered a primary concern. This dhikr could be done privately or within a group and like the Naqshband dhikr, it placed emphasis on having the verbal invocations ripple throughout the body. Similar to the Naqshband practice of dhikr, where specific words were for specific locations of the body, exists the 'four-beat' (chahar iarb) dhikr that is attributed the Kubravï master 'Alï Hamadanï . Sufis often engage in ritualized dhikr ceremonies that have stemmed from these two types of dhikr,
13108-597: Was patronised and given official status under the Sultans of Bengal , and was a popular literary form used by Bengalis during the pre-colonial period, irrespective of their religion. Following the defeat of the Hindu Shahi dynasty, classical Persian was established as a courtly language in the region during the late 10th century under Ghaznavid rule over the northwestern frontier of the subcontinent . Employed by Punjabis in literature, Persian achieved prominence in
13224-613: Was taught in state schools, and was also offered as an elective course or recommended for study in some madrasas . Persian learning was also widespread in the Ottoman-held Balkans ( Rumelia ), with a range of cities being famed for their long-standing traditions in the study of Persian and its classics, amongst them Saraybosna (modern Sarajevo , Bosnia and Herzegovina), Mostar (also in Bosnia and Herzegovina), and Vardar Yenicesi (or Yenice-i Vardar, now Giannitsa , in
13340-463: Was the disciple of Alaul Haq Pandavi in the thirteen century A.D. Later, yet other traditions branched from the Chishti lineage; in many cases they merged with other popular Sufi orders in South Asia. As a result of this merging of the Chishti order with other branches, most Sufi masters now initiate their disciples in all the four major orders of South Asia: Chishti, Suhrawadi, Qadri, and Naqshbandi. They do however teach devotional practices typical of
13456-492: Was to prevent books from being printed with wrong use of words. According to the executive guarantee of this association, the government was responsible for wrongfully printed books. Words coined by this association, such as rāh-āhan ( راهآهن ) for "railway", were printed in Soltani Newspaper ; but the association was eventually closed due to inattention. A scientific association was founded in 1911, resulting in
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