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Qadari School See mutazili school; theology.

qadi See crime and punishment; fiqh; sharia.

Qadiri Sufi Order

The Qadiri tariqa is one of the oldest and most

widespread of the Sufi orders. It is named after

abd al-qadir al-Jilani, a pious Hanbali jurist

who lived in baghdad in the 11th and 12th centu-

ries. Abd al-Qadir was a Sufi ascetic and popular

preacher, but he did not establish a formal Sufi

organization in his lifetime. The development of

the order that bears his name occurred in the cen-

turies after his death, beginning with the efforts of

his sons and other followers in iraq, with Bagh-

dad as the center of their activity. A 14th-century

biography credits his sons with spreading the

Qadiri order throughout Islamdom, but it is more

likely that it did not really begin to spread until

the 14th century. Stories about Abd al-Qadir’s

miraculous powers gained wide circulation. Indi-

vidual Qadiri shaykhs trained disciples, drawing

from the teachings, meditation techniques, and

ritual practices that were in circulation among

other Sufi groups. Eventually the order acquired

a more formal hierarchy and system of rituals

and techniques, but it retained enough flexibility

to adapt to different cultural environments. It

traced its spiritual genealogy from Abd al-Qadir

back to mUhammad, through ali bin abi talib (d.

661) and a number of other prominent Sufis and

descendants of Muhammad’s household.

The first branches outside of Iraq may have

been in syria, egypt, and yemen, and the Mongol

invasions of the 13th and 15th centuries prob-

ably helped the order spread eastward to iran,

aFghanistan, and india and westward to North

Africa. The first branches in India were in the

northwest and the Deccan, and they were favored

by Muslim ruling elites in cities and towns.

Among the most prominent Indian Qadiris were

Muhammad Ghawth of Uchch (d. 1517), credited

with introducing the order in India, and Miyan

Mir (d. 1635), who was attributed with healing

powers and claimed to be in spiritual contact

with Abd al-Qadir. He later became the teacher of

the Mughal prince dara shikoh (d. 1659), who

was deeply interested in both Muslim and Hindu

mysticism. The Qadiris also established branches

in Central Asia, China, and Southeast Asia, where

they still exist. In Iraq the Ottoman Turks lavishly

restored the shrine of Abd al-Qadir in 1535, but

the order did not found any hospices in Istanbul,

the Ottoman capital, until the 17th century. From

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