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'Uwais al-Qarni' or "Oveys Gharani" (Arabic: أويس القرني) (died 657 A.D.) was a Muslim resident of Qaran in Yemen who lived during the lifetime of Muhammad. His grave is in Baykan, Siirt Turkey. Although his life was insignificant from a worldly point of view, he is renowned and honored among both Shia and Sunni Muslims, Sufis in particular, for his piety, practice of ''zuhd'' (asceticism), and love for Muhammad. The Oveyssi Sufi order is held as an example that love can be attained through the heart and people who are not part of the Muslim umma can also be Muslims from the heart. His order is still in existence today with an unbroken lineage, presently under the exclusive leadership of Salaheddin Ali Nader Shah Angha; he is bearer of the cloak that Muhammad sent to Uwais. The school now has over half a million students worldwide.

Contents

Life

Notes

See also

External links

Life

Uwais embraced Islam during Muhammad's lifetime but he could not present himself before Muhammad because he looked after his elderly, blind mother and thus remained deprived of the honour of companionship. It is said that he spent his hours in solitude, fasting, night vigil and ''salat'' (prayers). In honour of Muhammad, who at the Battle of Uhud in 625, had lost two of his teeth, Uwais al-Qarni drew out his own teeth. Muhammad called him the best of the ''Tabieen'' (successors) and he advised his companions to, “Get him to pray for your forgiveness.”
In a Hadith Qudsi recorded by the Companion Abu Hurayra, Muhammad said, speaking on behalf of his Lord:
"Allah, Exalted and Mighty is He, loves of His creation the God-fearing, the pure in the heart, those who are hidden, and those who are innocent, whose face is dusty, whose hair is unkempt, whose stomach is empty, and who, if he asks permission to enter to the rulers, is not granted it, and if he were to ask for a gentle lady in marriage, he would be refused, and when he leaves the world it does not miss him, and if he goes out, his going out is not noticed, and if he falls sick, he is not attended to, and if he dies, he is not accompanied to his grave."
They asked him, "O Messenger of Allah, how can we find someone like that?" He said, "Uwais al-Qarani is such a one."
Concerning the hadith of Muhammad, "More people shall enter Paradise through the intercession of a certain man from my Community than there are people in the tribes of Rabi`a and Mudar,"^[1] al-Hasan al-Basri said: "That is Uwais al-Qarni."
At times, Muhammad would say of him. "I feel the breath of the Merciful, coming to me from Yemen." Shortly before Muhammad died, he directed Umar ibn al-Khattab (second Caliph) and Ali ibn Abi Talib (the first Imam of the Shi'a) to take his cloak for Uwais.
Following the death of Muhammad in 632, Umar and Ali set out on a quest to find Uwais, who was residing alone in the desert. When they found Uwais, he was engaged in prayer, and they waited until he finished his devotions. They then asked for his blessings, gave him Muhammad's greeting and enjoined him to pray for the Muslim ''ummah'' (community).
According to Hujwiri¹, Farid al-Din Attar², and Sheikh Mohammad Ghader Bagheri³, the first recipient of Mohammad’s Cloak was Uwais al-Qarni.
In so doing, Muhammad confirmed the method of heart to heart communication through which Uwais had received the essence of Islam. The method of the passing of the Cloak represents two significant elements in the teachings of Muhammad which constitute the method of instruction of the School of Islamic Sufism--cognition must take place inwardly, and cognition must be confirmed--as it was in the case of Uwais, and Ali.
In the famous book of poetry, “Masnavi”, by Jalaleddin Rumi, the following is said by Mohammad about Uwais Qarni:

The Prophet Mohammad says that the breeze brings O’men!
The divine perfume from Yemen.
The scent of Ramin comes from Uwais
The fragrance of God from Uwais.
Uwais’ heavenly perfume from God,
Overjoyed the heart of the Prophet of God.
Forsaking his mortal being willingly
that earthly (Uwais) become heavenly.4

Uwais al-Qarni says, “Keep watch over thy heart”, (Arabic: عليك بقلبك) "Alayka bi-Ghalbik".
Uwais al-Qarni said, “Hidden invocation (''al-du`a fi dhahr al-ghayb'') is better than visiting and meeting," because hypocrisy (''riya'') might enter in the latter two.
The method of the passing of the Cloak represents two significant elements in the teachings of Muhammad which constitute the method of instruction of the School of Islamic Sufism--cognition must take place inwardly, and cognition must be confirmed--as it was in the case of Hazrat Uwais, and Amir al-Mumineen Hazrat `Ali.
Since that time, the cloak and the method of receiving knowledge through the heart, symbolizing the highest level of divine illumination, and conferring honor, recognition and respect on the recipient, has been handed down through an unbroken succession of Sufi masters.
Not long after this meeting Uwais left his homeland of Qaran and came to Kufa, in modern day Iraq. One day he was seen by Harim ibn Hayyan, but after that nobody saw him until the period of the first Muslim civil war (656-661). He fought for Ali ibn Abi Talib against the army of Muawiyah and was killed at the Battle of Siffin in 657.^[2] Other accounts relate that he died in an expedition accompanying `Umar ibn al-Khattab, may allah be pleased with him, to Azerbaijan.

Notes

1. Hujwiri , Kashf al-Mahjub, (Tehran, Tahoori Publication, 1979)
2. Attar, Sheikh Farid al-din, Tazkerat al-Olia, (Tehran, Amir Kabir Publication, 1964)
3. Baghiri Namini, Sheikh Mohammaad Ghadeer, Aghtab Oveyssi, (Tehran, Amin Pubication. 1973)
4. Jalaledin Rumi, Massnavi, (Persian edition, 1925, Sepehr Publication) p. 716,line 18261. Narrated by Imam Ahmad in al-Zuhd
2. Attar, ''Muslim Saints and Mystics'', trans. A.J. Arberry, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1983

See also

★ Maktab Tarighat Oveyssi Shahmaghsoudi

★ Sufism

★ Salaf

★ Tabi‘in

External links

★ Maktab Tarighat Oveyssi Shahmaghsoudi (School of Islamic Sufism)

★ The Extreme Mourning of Uwais al-Qarni, Shia Website

★ Islamic Sufism Genealogy, November 2004, Tehran University Publications

★ The Uwaisi Transmission of Spiritual Knowledge (Naqshbandi-Haqqani website)

★ About Uwais al-Qarni, from "The Children Around the Table of Allah," by Shaykh Muhammad Sa'id al-Jamal ar-Rifa'i