Sufi History in Daghestan
Sufism has an age-long history which has yet only
recently become the subject of study. However the last few years have seen a
certain amount of work done, for example, the publication of important articles
on the history and practice of Sufism in Daghestan, especially in the 18th-20th
centuries, Sufi treatises by Dagestani authors. The research sources pool has
grown. The Eastern Literature publishing house in Moscow has released an
important monograph by a Dagestani author Alikber Alikberov on the early
history of Sufism in Daghestan.
As is well-known, 1400-year-old Islam has played a
tremendous role in the spiritual, economic and political life of Daghestan at
many historical stages. The environment where Islam was developing determined
its special face and was conducive to the stability of this monotheistic
religion spreading among confessional pluralism.
Historical and cultural links between the Middle
East (especially the Arab Caliphate) and Dagestan in the pre-Mongolian time
have not been thoroughly studied so far. Recent discoveries and previously
known materials allow us to glimpse into the history of spiritual communication
between the peoples of Daghestan and many centers of Islamic culture.
Both political and economic factors actively
promoted the cultural communication. Partial inclusion of Daghestan into the
Arab Caliphate, and then into the Seljuk Empire triggered the cultural
development in all its regions and encouraged a wide dissemination of the
cultural achievements of the epoch and an active formation of new ideological
movements in Daghestan.
The history of Islam has several periods. Each of
them is very peculiar. Classical Islamic era is one of the major historical
stages. The period dates back to the introduction of the Muslim teachings at
the beginning of 7th century and the formation of the Arab Caliphate until its
fall in 1258 under the attacks of the Mongolian troops.
It was this period that became the subject of
investigation by Alikber Alikberov. The study is based on the unique Arabic
manuscript ‘Rayhan al-Haqaiq wa-Bustan al-Daqaiq’ (‘Basil of Truths and Garden
of Subtleties’) - Sufi Encyclopedia written by a Sufi from Derbent, Abu Bakr
Muhammad, the son of Musa al-Darbandi.By numerous facts the monograph shows
that Islam was spreading widely in the region mainly as Sufism. In that
historical context Sufism incorporated Muslim dogmas and introduced them into
the local environment. Sufism, which played a huge role in the 10th-12th
centuries in the Muslim world, grew from elite ideas and movements into the
‘confession of the masses’ according to the researchers. The Derbent of the
11th - the second half of the 13th century was a Sufi city.
Sufism in Daghestan in the 11th - first half of the
13th centuries is extensively covered in ‘Epoch of Classical Islam in the
Caucasus’.
This publication highlights that the later Sufism,
i.e. in the second half of the 13th-17th centuries, has been poorly studied.
Until recently there wasn’t even a talk about researching it primarily due to
the absence of sources. However, gradually accumulated facts changed the
attitude to the issue.
In spite of their scarcity, the monuments of
epigraphy and narrative texts showed a fairly strong position of Sufism in
Daghestan at that time.
Sufism is generally regarded as the phenomenon of
‘urban culture’. Daghestan, meanwhile, provides a different concept, as the
‘demand’ for the Sufi ideas emerges in the rural area (starting from the 12th
century and gets especially strong in the 15th-17th centuries). It is evidenced
graphically by the memorial texts on the tomb of Shaykh Ahmad ibn al-Husayn in
Derbent (11th century) and on the Sufi Shaykhs’ graves in the Tatil’village
(12th century), construction of khanak – Sufis’ dorm in Rutul (12th century),
‘pirs’- sanctuaries in Akhty, Khnov, Rutul, Tpig, Mishlesh, Orta-Stal (XV-XVII
century.), the tomb of Shaykh Asildar in Arkas (15th century).
In 861/1456-57 Mahmood of Khinalug wrote a
historical treatise on the political events in the region. The work was based
on the ‘reliable ascension line’ recorded in
the presence of about two hundred people (out of villages Ikhir, Kurush, Maza,
Rutul, Kurakh) - and they all were Sufis.
Recently there have been discovered ziyarats of
shaykhs in Sogratl dating back to the 12th century. (the information is
provided by Ahduhanov); Murshids’ Shaykh, ‘the Qutb of Qutbs’ (‘the Pole of
Poles’) of Shaykh Muhammad (the Machada village, 1634, the information is
provided by Sheyhmagomedov).
Shaykh Muhammad, the son of Musa is one of the most
advanced representatives of the Sufi hierarchy. He was recognized as a
spiritual authority of his time. Shaykh Muhammad seems to be part of Naqshbandi
Tariqa.
There are many Sufi Tariqa. One of the most popular
is Naqshbandi Tariqa. As al-Kurdi notes in al-Mawahib as-Sarmadiya, the name of
this Sufi brotherhood comes from the word ‘Naqshbandi’ (meaning ‘a pattern on
the heart’) and is associated with the name of Bahauddin Al – Bukhari
(1318-1389), the biggest figure in Central Asian Sufism.
Then the Tariqa became widespread outside Central
Asia as well. Actually, the role of Sufism in Daghestan can be illustrated by
the ‘geography’ of works written by an outstanding thinker of the Muslim world
and Sufi ideologist al-Ghazali (1058-1111). The manuscripts were preserved in
different Daghestan regions in public and private collections and in mosques.
Al-Ghazali's Ihya ‘Ulum al-Din (The Revival of the Islamic Sciences) had the
most profound, intense, long-lasting and large-scale effect.
Daghestan has got the earliest copies of this
ethical-dogmatic treatise. The Foundation of Oriental Manuscripts at the
Institute of History, Archaeology and Ethnography of the Daghestan Science
Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences houses one of the oldest, if not the
oldest at all, manuscript of Ihya ‘Ulum al-Din. Here are two books (Kitab) of
the fourth part (Rub), called Al-Mundzhiyat (The Saviors).
The first part was rewritten on 20Dhu 'l-Kada, 586
\19 December, 1190 and the second on 7 Dhu 'l-Hidjdja, 586 /5 January, 1191, in
the place clearly stated in the manuscript: “the City of the World, Baghdad”.
All the remaining copies of Ihya ‘Ulum al-Dinmet in Daghestan: made in 1495 in
the Shira village by Harun, son of Ahmad, in 1497 by the same Harun al-Shira;
in 1505 in the Akusha village by Idris, son of Ahmad al-Akusha; in 1510 by
Idee, son of Muhammad al-Zirihgeran; in 1673 by Khidhir, son of Manat from the
Mugi village; in 1679 by Muhammad, son of Muhammat.
Further on there are 11 manuscripts of another
great work by al-Ghazali Minhaj al-Abidin (‘The Path of the Worshippers’). Its
earliest copy was made by the above mentioned Idris, son of Ahmad from Akusha,
in 1497, and later, in 1682, in the Gotsatl village at the Madrasa of “our
Imam, honorable Ustaz accomplished in sciences, Mala Muhammad the son of Umar
from the Tsad village.
Foreign Muslim writers also provide some
interesting information here. A Turkish traveler Evliya Celebi (the 17th
century) who visited North Caucasus twice (in 1641-42 and 1666-67) describes a
fortress on the Koisu river, where there are three balnearies, a tavern, and
seven elementary schools, three madrasas, two tekkes of Naqshbandi Order
dervishes, three inns for merchants. Sufis also lived in another village under
the rule of the son of Karabudak Khan. The latter “in a secluded corner of the
mansion indulged in prayers, studied history, the Hadith; from dusk till dawn
he studied under the tutelage of Dagestani worthiest scholars”.
A monument to Shaykh Muhammad (died in 1634 or
1635) gains a special importance as a trace of Naqshbandi brotherhood in the
early 17th century.
It is necessary to mention another work by
al-Ghazali - his legal treatise Al-Wajiz (The Short Commentary). This work was
rewritten in 1310 in the Middle East, in Caesarea (in Turkey or Palestine), and
was brought to Dagestan by the famous conqueror Timur at the end of the 14th
century who handed it to the head of the village Mugi to abide by it fairly.
Finally, in Dagestan, they found five manuscripts
of Jawahir al-Qur’an (The Jewels of the Quran), rewritten in the 17th century
in the villages Akusha, Karata, Mulebki, Urib.
We see that the Dagestani, especially the 15th –
17th centuries, were very interested in the works by al-Ghazali, a great
scientist of the Middle Ages. It turns out that al-Ghazali’s earliest books are
traced back to the 12th – 14th centuries, to the cities of the Middle East,
especially Baghdad. Afterwards, in the 15th – 17th centuries, the flow of
manuscripts from the Arab countries stopped, and Dagestan started to make
copies locally.
The location of the manuscript copying centers is
peculiar too. In the 15th century manuscript copying of books was concentrated
mainly in the villages Dargwa (Kubachi, Akusha, Shiri), but in the 16th – 17th
centuries it spread to the Avar, Lak, Tabasaran villages. However, the texts of
the 18th century could not be found. The reason for the loss of interest in
al-Ghazali's works has yet to be found.
The interest to al-Ghazali's ideas in the 12th –
17th centuries can be explained not only by the rule of Shafi Madhhab in
Daghestan and the adaptability of Sufism to the local pre-Islamic cults, but
also by fact that the Daghestani went to study to the Caliphate, mainly to
Baghdad, at al-Ghazali’s Madrasa al Nizamiyya.
State support for Sufism had a major impact on the
science and the manuscript culture. Moreover, it defined for long the scope and
the themes of manuscripts flowing into Daghestan and copied here by the local
scribes (katibs). Writings by al-Ghazali ranked rather high in this flow.
Sufi brotherhoods in Daghestan have shown,
especially in recent years, their vitality, love for peace, perseverance in the
protection of the unity of Dagestan. Our historical overview will help to
understand better the role of Sufism in the spiritual and social life of the
Dagestani society nowadays.
Amri Shihsaidov
Professor, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Chief Researcher atthe Institute of History, Archaeology and Ethnography of the Daghestan Science Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Honoured Science Worker of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Daghestan
Professor, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Chief Researcher atthe Institute of History, Archaeology and Ethnography of the Daghestan Science Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Honoured Science Worker of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Daghestan