The first of seven feast is Hadji Abd al-Khalik b.Abd al-Jamil Gijduvani (1103-1179). He is the founder of an independent school of mysticism in Maverannahr, known as the Hajjagan, whose follower in two centuries became the famous Sufi Bahaaddin Naqshband (1318-1389).
Father of Abdalhalik Gijduvani is Imam Abdujalil Hadji and his mother were from Byzantium (Rum, later Turkey), the father was a hereditary imam. He was considered as an authoritative fakih and has honorable nickname of Abd al-Jalil – Imam and raised his lineage to Imam Malik bin Anasu (713-795). The mother of al-Gijduvani was one from the rulers of Rum.
Al-Gijduvani was born in 1103 in small village Gizhduvan located 47 km from Bukhara and now it is one of the major cities of the Bukhara region. At nine years old he learned the Koran by heart, by ten years old he was actively involved in Sufi sorrow. He arrived in Bukhara at 22 y.o., specifically to become the muris of the famous mystic Abu Yakub Yusuf al-Hamadani (1048-1140). Then he became his spiritual deputy as the fourth caliph.
There are several assumed opinions about the number of written works of Gijduvani. Some believe that there are four, five, some that are much more. This is due to the fact that al-Gijduvani, as often practised in the East, did not give any names to his writings. This was the reason that the copyists of his works were forced to give them their names. Abdalkhalik Gijduvani’s works are kept in the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan. These are the unique works of spiritual richness where Sheikh al-Gijduvani prescribes everyone who has taken the path of knowing the Divine thought “to turn from the affairs of the world and begin to search for the light of truth”. For this reason it is necessary first of all to suppress all passions and fully control and know your thoughts.
Al-Gijduvani has continued the spiritual teachings of Yusuf al-Hamadani, introduced a silent dhikr, formulated eight rules, the basic principles of the spiritual and religious teachings that underlie in the tajikata hajagon. And the first four of them, according to al-Gijduvani, were formulated by Yusuf Hamadani, and he only finalized them.
A significant influence on the formation of Abdalkhalik Gijduvani’s views was provided by the teachings of the Khorasan school of malamathia (to follow the righteous path, renouncing the worldly) and calandria (always on the road, both physically and spiritually, to accept voluntary poverty). Each Sufi must necessarily obey the orders of the Shari’ah, the Sunnah of the Prophet, must study the Fiqh and Hadith, etc. He created a strict code of conduct for his followers: to avoid the false Lies, to pray with his community, not to be an imam or a muadzin, unobtrusive, to monitor their appearance, not to argue with anyone, not to strive for fame, and so on.
Abdalhalik Gijduvani is buried in Gijduvan at the feet of his mother. Next to the burial of Hazrati, Sheikh Abdalkhalik Gijduvani, in 1432-1433 Temurid Mirzo Ulugbek ordered to build a madrasah, a mosque, a minaret. Nearby there was a chillahona (a place for solitary forty-day rations).
In 2003 under the auspices of UNESCO, by the decision of the Government of Uzbekistan, the 900th anniversary of Abdalkhalik Gijduvani was widely celebrated all over the world. By the jubilee on the mazar, large restoration works were carried out, a beautiful garden was created, where many Muslims and tourists come. The burial place of Abdalkhalik Gijduvani has turned into a place of settlement of world importance.
Other sightseeings of Bukhara
Other places to see in Bukhara
Other cities of Uzbekistan