Muhammad Sirajuddin Naqshbandi

Muhammad Sirajuddin Naqshbandi (30 December 187912 February 1915) was a prominent Islamic scholar and Sufi shaikh of the Naqshbandi Sufi order in South Asia (present day Pakistan). He was born in 1879 and died in 1915 at Mussa Zai Sharif, Dera Ismail Khan. His legacy and influence are still widespread around the world in terms of his followers and his methodology.

Biography Born on 15 Muharram 1297 AH (30 December 1879) at Mussa Zai Sharif, Dera Ismail Khan (present day Pakistan), Muhammad Sirajuddin Naqshbandi was the son and successor of the famous Naqshbandi Sheikh Muhammad Usman Damani. He studied with Mullah Shah Muhammad and graduated at the age of fourteen. He took sulook (spiritual guidance) from his father and studied the books of tasawwuf such as the Maktubat (letters) of Imam Rabbani Shaykh Ahmed Sirhindi and the Maktubat (letters) of Khawaja Muhammad Masum. His father awarded him a khilafat (ijazah in Sufism) on 3 Dhū al-Qa‘dah 1311 AH (10 May 1894) and gave him a written ijazat-nama (sanad).

At age thirty-five, Sirajuddin fell severely ill. Seeking help, he consulted with Hakim Ajmal Khan, but unfortunately was unable to recover and died as a result of his illness - pneumonia and fever - on Friday 26 Rabi al-Awwal 1333 AH (12 February 1915). He was buried alongside his father's grave at Mussa Zai Sharif in Dera Ismail Khan.

His letters, written to various persons, are published with an Urdu translation. The collection is part of the book in which letters of his father are also included.

Spiritual chain of succession

Khwaja Sirajuddin Naqshbandi belongs to the Mujaddidi order of Sufism, which is the main branch of Naqshbandi Sufi tariqah. His spiritual lineage goes to Muhammad, through Sheikh Ahmad Sirhindi, the Mujaddid of the eleventh Hijri century.