Saifia, also spelled as Saifiya or Saifiyya, is a Islamic sect based in Pakistan, with a following in the United Kingdom, Europe, the United States, Canada, Fiji, India, Bangladesh, Norway and various other countries around the world. The sect follows the Hanafi school of thought (Madhhab), the Maturidi creed (Aqidah), the Naqshbandi order (Tariqa), and the sect's founder is Akhundzada Saif-ur-Rahman Mubarak.[1] [2]
The following is the chain of succession of authority (Silsila) of the Saifia sect.
| Name | Buried | Birth | Death | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Prophet Muhammad | Medina, Saudi Arabia | Mon 12 Rabi al-Awwal (570/571 CE) | 12 Rabi al-Awwal 11 AH (5/6 June 632 CE) | |
| 2 | Amir al- Mu'minin Abu Bakr al-Siddiq | Medina, Saudi Arabia | (573 C.E) | 22 Jumada al-Thani 13 AH (22 August 634 C.E) | |
| 3 | Salman Farsi | Mada’in, Iraq | (568 C.E.) | 10 Rajab 33 AH (4/5 February 654 C.E) | |
| 4 | Imam Qasim ibn Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr | Medina, Saudi Arabia | 23 Shaban 24 AH (22/23 June 645 C.E) | 24 Jumada al-Thani 101/106/107 AH | |
| 5 | Imam Jafar al-Sadiq | Medina, Saudi Arabia | 8 Ramadan 80 AH (5/6 November 699 C.E) | 15 Rajab 148 AH (6/7 September 765 C.E) | |
| 6 | Khwaja Bayazid Bastami | Bistam, Semnan province, Iran | 186 AH (804 C.E) | 15 Shaban 261 AH (24/25 May 875 C.E) | |
| 7 | Khwaja Abul-Hassan Kharaqani | Kharaqan, near Bistam, Semnan province, Iran | 352 AH (963 C.E) | 10 Muharram 425 AH (5/6 December 1033 C.E) | |
| 8 | Khwaja Abu ali Farmadi | Toos, Khurasan, Iran | 434 AH (1042/1043 C.E) | 4 Rabi al-Awwal 477 or 511 AH (10 July 1084 / 6 July 1117) | |
| 9 | Khwaja Abu Yaqub Yusuf Hamadānī | Marv, near Mary, Turkmenistan | 440 AH (1048/1049 C.E) | Rajab 535 AH (Feb/Mar 1141 C.E) | |
| 10 | Khwaja Abdul Khaliq Ghujdawani | Ghajdawan, Bukhara, Uzbekistan | 22 Shaban 435 AH (24/25 March 1044 C.E) | 12 Rabi al-Awwal 575 AH (17/18 August 1179 C.E) | |
| 11 | Khwaja Arif Reogari | Reogar, near Bukhara, Uzbekistan | 27 Rajab 551 AH (15 September 1156 C.E) | 1 Shawwal 616 AH (10/11 December 1219 C.E.) | |
| 12 | Khwaja Mahmood Anjir-Faghnawi | Bukhara, Uzbekistan | 18 Shawwal 628 AH (18/19 August 1231 C.E) | 17 Rabi al-Awwal 717 AH (29/30 May 1317 C.E) | |
| 13 | Khwaja Azizan Ali Ramitani | Khwarazm, Uzbekistan | 591 AH (1194 C.E) | 27 Ramadan 715 or 721 AH (25/26 December 1315 or 20/21 October 1321) | |
| 14 | Khwaja Muhammad Baba Samasi | Samaas, Bukhara, Uzbekistan | 25 Rajab 591 AH (5/6 July 1195 C.E) | 10 Jumada al-Thani 755 AH (2/3 July 1354 C.E) | |
| 15 | Khwaja Sayyid Amir Kulal | Saukhaar, Bukhara, Uzbekistan | 676 AH (1277/1278 C.E) | Wed 2 Jumada al-Thani 772 AH (21/22 December 1370 C.E) | |
| 16 | Khwaja Muhammad Baha'uddin Naqshband Bukhari | Qasr-e-Aarifan, Bukhara, Uzbekistan | 4 Muharram 718 AH[3] (8/9 March 1318 C.E) | 3 Rabi al-Awwal 791 AH (2/3 March 1389 C.E) | |
| 17 | Khwaja Ala'uddin Attar | Jafaaniyan, Transoxiana (Uzbekistan) | N/A | Wed 20 Rajab 804 AH (23 February 1402 C.E) | |
| 18 | Khwaja Yaqub Charkhi | Gulistan, Dushanbe, Tajikistan | 762 AH (1360/1361 C.E) | 5 Safar 851 AH (21/22 April 1447 C.E) | |
| 19 | Khwaja Ubaidullah Ahrar | Samarkand, Uzbekistan | Ramadan 806 AH (March/April 1404 C.E) | 29 Rabi al-Awwal 895 AH (19/20 February 1490 C.E) | |
| 20 | Khwaja Muhammad Zahid Wakhshi | Wakhsh | 14 Shawwal 852 AH (11/12 December 1448 C.E) | 1 Rabi al-Awwal 936 AH (3/4 November 1529 C.E) | |
| 21 | Khwaja Darwish Muhammad | Asqarar, Uzbekistan | 16 Shawwal 846 AH (17/18 February 1443 C.E) | 19 Muharram 970 AH (18/19 September 1562 C.E) | |
| 22 | Khwaja Muhammad Amkanagi | Amkana, Bukhara, Uzbekistan | 918 AH (1512/1513 C.E) | 22 Shaban 1008 AH (8/9 March 1600 C.E) | |
| 23 | Khwaja Muhammad Baqi Billah Berang | Delhi, India | 5 Dhu al-Hijjah 971 or 972 AH (14 July 1564 / 3 July 1565) | 25 Jumada al-Thani 1012 AH (29/30 November 1603 C.E) | |
| 24 | Imam Rabbani Ahmad al-Fārūqī al-Sirhindī | Sirhind, India | 14 Shawwal 971 AH (25/26 May 1564 C.E) | 28 Safar 1034 AH (9/10 December 1624 C.E) | |
| 25 | Imam Khwaja Masum al-Fārūqī | Sirhind, India | 1007 AH (1598/1599 C.E) | 9 Rabi al-Awwal 1099 AH (13/14 January 1688 C.E) | |
| 26 | Khwaja Muhammad Sibghatullah al-Fārūqī | Sirhind, India | 1033 AH (1624/1710 C.E) | 9 Rabi us sani 1122 AH (June 1710 C.E) | |
| 27 | Khwaja Muhammad Ismail | Sirhind, India | N/A | 1136AH (1724 C.E) | |
| 28 | Khwaja Masum al-Fārūqī II | Sirhind, India | (2/3 March 1700 C.E) | 5 Dhu al-Hijjah 1161 AH | |
| 29 | Shah Ghulam Muhammad | Sirhind, India | 1101 AH (1690 C.E) | 1 Shawal 1175 AH (24 April 1762 C.E) | |
| 30 | Hajji Muhammad Safi | Hadida, Yamen | 4 Dhul-Qa`dah 1156 AH (1744 C.E) | 6 Dhu al-Qidah 1212 AH (21 April 1798 C.E) | |
| 31 | Shah Zia al-Haq | Nijrab, Afghanistan | 1101 AH (1690 C.E) | 10 Muharram 1225 AH (24 April 1762 C.E) | |
| 32 | Shams al-Haq | Gulbahar, Pakistan | 1101 AH (1690 C.E) | 22 Rabi' al-awwal 1350 AH (24 April 1762 C.E) | |
| 33 | Shah Rasul Thaqalayni | Taloqan, Afghanistan | N/A | 1360 AH(1942 C.E) | |
| 34 | Mawlana Hashim Samangani | Pir Sabaq, Pakistan | 1349 AH (1930 C.E) | 9 Shawal 1391 AH (27 November 1762 C.E) | |
| 35 | Mawlana Akhundzada Saif-ur-Rahman Mubarak | Lahore, Pakistan | 20 Muharram 1344 AH (10 August 1925 C.E) | 15 Rajab 1431 AH (27 June 2010 C.E) |