Abd al-Karīm ibn Hawāzin Qushayri

Biography Al Qushayri was born into a privileged Arab family from among the Banu Qushayr who had settled near Nishapur. As a young man he received the education of a country squire of the time: adab, the Arabic language, chivalry and weaponry (istiʿmāl al-silāḥ), but that all changed when he journeyed to the city of Nishapur and was introduced to the Sufi shaykh Abū ʿAlī al-Daqqāq. Daqqaq was a student of al-Nasrabadhi (d. 367/977), who was the foremost ascetic of his time in Khorasan. Al-Nasrabadhi himself was a student of Abu Bakr al-Shiblì (d. 946), the student of Junayd Al-Baghdadi.

Daqqāq later became the master and teacher of the mystical ways to Qushayri. He later married the daughter of Daqqāq, Fatima. After the death of Daqqāq, Qushayri became the successor of his master and father-in-law and became the leader of mystic assemblies in the madrasa that Abu Ali al-Daqqāq built in 1001 CE, which later became known as al-Madrasa al-Qushayriyya or "the school of the Qushayri family". Qushayri was also the student of Al-Sulami, another student of al-Nasrabadhi (d. 367/977).

Influence Laṭā'if al-Isharat bi-Tafsīr al-Qur'ān is a famous work of al-Qushayri that is a complete commentary of the Qur'an. He determined that there were four levels of meaning in the Qur'an. First, the ibara which is the meaning of the text meant for the mass of believers. Second, the ishara, only available to the spiritual elite and lying beyond the obvious verbal meaning. Third, laṭā’if, subtleties in the text that were meant particularly for saints. And finally, the ḥaqā’iq, which he said were only comprehensible to the prophets. This text placed him among the elite of the Sufi mystics and is widely used as a standard of Sufi thought.

His fame however, is due mostly to his al-Risala al-Qushayriyya (or the Epistle on Sufism). This text is essentially a reminder to the people of his era that Sufis had authentic ancestral tradition, as well as a defence of Sufism against the doubters that rose during that time of his life. Al-Qushayri repeatedly acknowledges his debt to, and admiration for, his Sufi master throughout his Risala. Daqqaq was instrumental in introducing Qushayri to another outstanding Sufi authority of Khurasan, al-Sulami, who is quoted on almost every page of the Risala. It has sections where al-Qushayrī discusses the creed of the Sufis, mentions important and influential Sufis from the past, and establishes fundamentals of Sufi terminology, giving his own interpretation of those Sufi terms. Al-Qushayrī finally goes through specific practices of Sufism and the techniques of those practices.

Shaykh Amin considers Imam al-Qushayri's work to be an inspiration to the better-known work of Al-Ghazali: Al-Muntaha fi Nukat Ula al-Nuha. Nasikh al-Hadith wa Mansukhihi Nahw al-Qulub Hayat al-Arwah wa al-Dalil ila Tariq al-Salah Shikayah Ahl al-Sunnah bi Hikayah Ma Nalahum min al-Mihnah Manthur al-Khitab fi Shuhud al-Albab

Sayings I heard the master Abu Ali al-Daqqaq say: "Al-Jurayri saw al-Junayd in a dream [after his death] and asked him: ‘How are you, Abu al-Qasim?’ He answered: ‘Gone are all those allegorical allusions (isharat), and all those unequivocal expressions ('ibarat) have vanished. Only those praises of God that we used to utter in the morning have benefited us [in the Hereafter]!’ "