Silsila - Chain of Authority

Chain of Authority

For Muslims, the Chain of Authenticity is an important way to ascertain the validity of a saying of the Prophet Muhammad (also known as a Hadith). The Chain of Authenticity relates the chain of people who have heard and repeated the saying of the Prophet Muhammad through the generations, until that particular Hadith was written down (Ali abu Talib said that Ai’ysha said that the Prophet Muhammad said…). A similar idea appears in Sufism in regards to the lineage and teachings of Sufi masters and students. This string of master to student is called a silsila, literally meaning “chain”. The focus of the silsila like the Chain of Authenticity is to trace the lineage of a Sufi order to the Prophet Muhammad through his Companions: Ali abu Talib (the primary link between Sufi orders and the Prophet), Abu Bakr, and Umar (three of the Four Righteously Guided Caliphs). When a Sufi order can be traced back to the Prophet through one of the three aforementioned Companions the lineage is called the Silsilat al-Dhahab (dhahab meaning gold) or the “Chain of Gold” (Golden Chain). In early Islamic history, gold was an extremely desired prize and was used for currency, to show wealth and power, and for scientific purposes including medicine. Thus, gold was the most desired commodity in the material world, just as the Golden Chain is the most desired commodity of Sufi orders.

When Sufism began in the second century of Islam, according to some experts, it was an individual choice; many Sufis aimed to be more like the Prophet Muhammad by becoming ascetic and focusing their lives fully on God; more so than the Five Daily Prayers and usual prescripted religious practices. This often included removing oneself from society and other people in general. As Sufism became a greater movement in Islam, individual Sufis began to group together. These groups (also known as orders) were based on a common master. This common master then began spiritual lineage, which is a connection between a Sufi order in which there is a common spiritual heritage based on the master’s teachings (i.e., ‘path’ or ‘method’) called tariq or tariqah. . As the number of Sufi orders grew, there arose a need for legitimacy of the orders to establish each order was following the teachings of the Prophet directly; thus the idea of the Silsilat al-Dhahab. If a Sufi order is able to trace its student to master lineage back to one of the three major caliphs (and in particular Ali abu Talib) who provide a straight link to the Prophet Muhammad (because of their Companion status with him) then the order is considered righteous and directly following the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad. In possessing the Golden Chain, a Sufi order is able to establish their order prominently in the mystical world.

Many Sufi orders contain the Golden Chain, most claiming spiritual lineage through the Prophet Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law Ali abu Talib. A few examples of these orders from the Southern Asia region are: the Chishtiyya, the Qadiriyyah, and the Suhrawardiyyah orders. However, there is one particular order that claims spiritual lineage through the Caliph Abu Bakr, the Naqshbandiyyah order of South Asia. They are a unique Sufi order because they are the only order that traces their spiritual lineage through Abu Bakr, who was generally seen as more of a political leader than a spiritual leader.