Baha-ud-din Naqshband

Baha-ud-din Shah an-Naqshband Muhammad al-Uwaysi al-Bukhari () (1318-1389) was the founder of what would become one of the largest Sufi Sunni orders, the Naqshbandi.
Biography
Baha-ud-din was born on 18 March 1318 CE (14 Muharram, 718 AH) in the village of Qasr-i-Hinduvan (later renamed Qasr-i Arifan) near Bukhara, in what is now Uzbekistan and it was there that he died in 1389.
Lineage
Baha-ud-din was a Sayyid, a descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad through Imam Hasan al-Askari.
Harvard professor Annemarie Schimmel held the opinion of Bahauddin Naqshband being a descendant of Imam Hasan al Askari.
One registered lineage of him is the following:
Muhammad
Ali ibn Abi Talib and Fatima Al Zahra
Imam Hussain
Imam Ali Zayn al-Abidin
Imam Muhammad al Baqir
Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq
Imam Musa al-Kazim
Imam Ali al Reza
Imam Muhammad al Taqi
Imam Ali al Hadi
Imam Hasan al-Askari
Mir Sayyid Ali Akbar
Sayyid Mir Muhammad Mahmud Fakhriddin
Amir Sayyid Mir Muhyuddin
Amir Sayyid Mir Khalwati
Amir Sayyid Mir Naqi Naqib
Sayyid Mir Ilaq
Sayyid Mir Mahmud
Sayyid Burhan Qilich
Sayyid Mir Shaaban
Sayyid Mir Qasim
Sayyid Mir Zayn ul Abedin
Sayyid Mir Abdullah
Sayyid Mir Burhanuddin Qilich
Amir Sayyid Mir Jalalludin Muhammad Bukhari
Amir Sayyid Mir Muhammad Bukhari
Bahauddin Naqshband
Naqshbandi Golden Chain
He came into early contact with the Khwajagan (lit: the Masters), and was adopted as spiritual progeny by one of them, Baba Muhammad Sammasi, while still an infant. Sammasi was his first guide on the path, and more important was his relationship with Sammasi's principal khalifa (successor), Amir Kulal, the last link in the silsila, or chain of teachers, before Baha-ud-Din:
Muhammad
Sayyidna Abu Bakkar Siddique
Salman the Persian
Qasim ibn Muhammad ibn Abu Bakkar
Ja'far al-Sadiq
Bayazid Bistami
Abu al-Hassan al-Kharaqani
Abu Ali Farmadi
Abu Yaqub Yusuf al-Hamadani
Abdul Khaliq al-Gajadwani
Arif ar-Riwagri
Mahmood Anjir-Faghnawi
Azizan Ali Ramitani
Sayyid Amir Kulal
Mohammad Baba As-Samasi
Imam at-Tariqah Muhammad Baha'uddin Shah Naqshband
As a youth, Naqshbandi was recognized as an exceptional Islamic scholar before he turned 20. He traveled to Mecca for the Islamic pilgrimage Hajj at least three times. He became a respected scholar in Central Asia and received many guests and pupils to Bukhara from other parts of Central Asia.
Death
Baha-ud-din was buried in his native village, Qasr-i Arifan, in 1389. In 1544, Khan Abd al-Aziz built over his grave a tomb and surrounding buildings. The Memorial complex is located 16 kilometers from Bukhara and is today a place of pilgrimage.
References
Further reading
The Rules or Secrets of the Naqshbandi Order by Omar Ali-Shah (1992)
The Masters of Wisdom by John G. Bennett (1995)
The Naqshbandi Sufi Way, (History and Guidebook of the Saints of the Golden Chain). by Shaykh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani. Kazi Publications, USA (1995)
Classical Islam and the Naqshbandi Sufi Tradition, Shaykh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani, Islamic Supreme Council of America (June 2004), .
Other websites
The official website of Shaykh Zulfiqar Ahmad Naqshbandi the patron of Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi Order in East and West.
The official website of the Naqshbandi-Haqqani Sufi Order of America
Naqshbandia Owaisiah
Ghazwat ul-Hind
The official website of the Naqshbandiyya-Mujaddidiyya Order of the USA and Europe
1318 births
1389 deaths
Asian Sufis