Hadhrat Ameer Muhammad Akram Awan (RA)
Silsila Naqshbandia Owaisiah
Chain of Transmission
What is Tasawwuf
Islam Religion of PeaceHadhrat Ameer Muhammad Akram Awan (RA)
Hadhrat Maulana Ameer Muhammad Akram Awan (RA) was born on 31 December 1934 in the village of Noorpur Sethi, about 4 km form the present headquarters of the Order, Dar-ul-Irfann Munara. He received his initial education in his village school and later entered the college at Chakwal.
He spent a turbulent youth characterized by family feuds and external skirmishes. Duly dismayed by the violence and tumult, he set out in search of peace and truth. His sincere resolve was answered at the age of 24, when he met Sheikh Allah Yar Khan at a gathering. He worked in close association with his Sheikh, marked by unmatched sincerity and devotion, for twenty-five years. Sheikh Allah Yar Khan transformed the unbridled youth into a Sufi saint of high eminence, infusing deep vision and spiritual blessings into the heart of his promising student.
Silsila Naqshbandia Owaisia
Naqshbandia Owaisiah is a major branch of Naqshbandi which employs a similar method of Zikr but acquires the Prophetic blessings in the manner of Khawajah Owais Qarni(RH), who received this beneficence from the Holy Prophet-saws without a formal physical meeting. The Zikr employed by the Naqshbandia Owaisiah is Zikr-e Khafi Qalbi (remembrance of Allah’s Name within the heart) and the method is termed ‘Pas Anfas’, which (in Persian) means guarding every breath.
The Chain of Transmission of these Barakah, of course, emanates from the Holy Prophet-saws. It is necessary in all Sufi Orders that the Shaikh and the seekers must be contemporaries and must physically meet each other for the transfer of these blessings. However, the Naqshbandiah Owaisiah Order goes beyond this requirement and Sufis of this Order receive these Barakah regardless of physical meeting with their Shaikh or even when the Shaikh is not their contemporary. Yet, it must be underscored that physical meeting with the Shaikh of this Order still holds great importance in dissemination of these Barakah.
Chain of Transmission
Hadhrat Abu Bakr Siddiq (Radhi Allah-o ‘Unho, d. 13H)
Hadhrat Imam Hassan al Basri (Rahmat Allah ‘Alaihi, d. 110H)
Hadhrat Dawood Tai (Rahmat Allah ‘Alaihi)
Hadhrat Junaid Baghdadi (Rahmat Allah ‘Alaihi, d. 297 H)
Hadhrat Obaid Ullah Ahrar (Rahmat Allah ‘Alaihi, d. 895 H)
Hadhrat Maulana Abdur Rahman Jami (Rahmat Allah ‘Alaihi, d. 898 H)
Hadhrat Abul Ayub Muhammad Saleh (Rahmat Allah ‘Alaihi, d. late 10 cent H)
(Sultan ul-Arifeen) Hadhrat Allah Din Madni (Rahmat Allah ‘Alaihi)
Hadhrat ‘Abdul Rahim (Rahmat Allah ‘Alaihi, d. 1372 H)
Hadhrat Maulana Allah Yar Khan (Rahmat Allah ‘Alaihi, d. 1404 H)
Hadhrat Maulana Muhammad Akram Awan (Rahmat Allah ‘Alaihi, d. 1438 H)
Hadhrat Ameer Abdul Qadeer Awan (MZA) Present Sheikh of the Order.
What is Tasawwuf
We belong to a Sufi Order; therefore, most of our speeches and writings deal with the subject of Allah’s Zikr. It is but natural that a person likes to converse about his most favourite pursuit. It should not be misconceived that we elude the challenges of practical life or persuade others to do so. On the other hand, by Allah’s Grace, this exalted Order has presented pure Tasawwuf during the present time. The masses had already confused the meanings of Tasawwuf and it was believed that Sufis are those miserable failures in the world, who escape reality and pass their time as recluses in dark corners of oratories or mosques and that, they are incapable of self-sustenance and cannot courageously face the rigors of practical life. But this concept is not correct. The real Tasawwuf was taught by the Holy Prophet-saw himself to his students, the Companions.
According to the Quran, Companions were the exemplary Muslims. Their faith is quoted as the standard:
Those are they whose hearts Allah has proven unto righteousness, (49: 3)
Those are they who are in truth believers. (8: 4).
Islam Religion of Peace
Surah al-Furqan starts in the 18th Chapter with these verses. The Gracious Lord says, Almighty Allah possesses all the blessings, He is the Most Blessed; He, Who revealed a Book that highlights the difference between right and wrong. It has separated truth from falsehood, like day from night. He revealed it on His beloved slave-saws, so that he may caution whole humanity about the disastrous consequences of following the untruth.
Our Urdu translators, at times, casually translate ‘Nazeer’ as ‘Frightener – the one who frightens’. Here the holy Quran means, ‘revealed the Book on His slave so that he may guide those who pay heed’. I don’t understand how ‘Nazeer’ can be translated as ‘frightener’? Fright or fear can be of various types. One type of fear is that of a thief or mugger; other type may be fear of disease, it can also be fear of loss in business, yet another type may be fear of something harmful like a snake. Nazeer, however, denotes a person who informs you, in advance, about the consequences of your wrong actions; for example, if you are eating something and a person tells you that your food can cause you cholera in this season; he would be called Nazeer. It is exalted status of the holy Prophet-saws that he informs man of the damage and destruction that his disbelief, disobedience, ingratitude and cruelty will cause in this world, and also of the suffering and punishment that portray his deeds and await him, at the doorstep of his eternal life. He-saws advises man to repent and reform, else, he would be ruined by the natural consequence of his acts.
