Q. How do you explain the historical inconsistencies in the published Naqshbandi transmission of initiation called the “unbroken” Golden Chain (silsilat adh-Dahab) tracing back to the Prophet Muhammad (S), when in fact, it appears to be historically impossible and broken?
A. There is more than one line of transmission to the Naqshbandi Golden Chain. In the Qudsiyya, the book of dicta by the spiritual master Khwaja Baha al-Din Shah Naqshband (1318-1389), Khwaja Muhammad Parsa (d. 1460) traced the spiritual genealogy of the Tariqat i-Khwajagan through three parallel lines known as the silsilat adh-dhahab (golden chain)-one leading through Abu Bakr Siddiq, another through ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib, and a third through ‘Ali and his descendents, the biological progeny of the Prophet Muhammad.
According to “Hacegan Hanedani”, by H. L. Shushud, Istanbul 1958, originally published in “Systematics”Volume 6, No. 4 March 1969 by J. G. Bennett, Sultan al-Arifin Bayaid al-Bistami (804-874, 77/78 CE) was initiated by Imam ‘Ali ibn Musa al-Rida (765-818). “The Darvishes: Or Oriental Spiritualism” By John Pair Brown, confirms on p. 141, that Bayazid al-Bistami lived until the year 874/877/878, placing him as an authorized deputy of Imam ‘Ali ibn Musa al-Rida during the life times of the succeeding Imams from the biological progeny of the Prophet Muhammad, namely Imam Muhammad al-Taqi (d.835 CE), Imam ‘Ali al-Hadi (d.868 CE), Imam Hasan al-Askari (846–874 CE), and Imam Muhammad ibn Hasan al-Mahdi (869-), whose birth was documented by Khwaja Muhammad Parsa in Fasl al-Khitab [Arabic]: Fadhail Khulafa wa Ahlul Bayt, on p. 592.
Bayazid al-Bistami was a follower of the school of Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq (702–765), not his direct student. The book ‘Religion and Identity in South Asia and Beyond: Essays in Honor of Patrick Olivelle’ lists the historical transmission of spiritual knowledge tracing back to Sultan al-Arifin Abu Yazid al-Bistami through Khwaja Abul Hasan ‘Ali al-Kharqani as the following on p. 292,
1.Abu Yazid al-Bistami (804-877/78)
2.Khwaja Muhammad al-Maghrabi (864-)
3.Khwaja al-’Araabi Abu Yazid al-‘Ishqi Iraqi (917-)
4.Khwaja Abul Mudhaffar at-Turk at-Tusi (938-)
5.Khwaja Abul Hasan ‘Ali ibn Ja’far ibn Salman al-Kharqani (963-1034)
Among other books, in the Maqamat Mazhari, Shah Ghulam ‘Ali Mawlana ‘Abd Allah ad-Dahlawi (1743–1824), the teacher of Mawlana Khalid al-Baghdadi (1779–1827), documented Khwaja Abul Qasim al-Jurgani (-1058) as the link connecting Khwaja Abu ‘Ali al-Farmadhi (1042/3-1085) to Khwaja Abul Hasan al-Kharqani (d. 1034).
The following is a more historically accurate transmission of the Golden Chain down to the venerable Khwaja Baha al-Din Naqshband Bukhari:
1.Abu Yazid al-Bistami (804-877/78)
2.Khwaja Muhammad al-Maghrabi (864-)
3.Khwaja al-‘Araabi Abu Yazid al-‘Ishqi Iraqi (917-)
4.Khwaja Abul Mudhaffar at-Turk at-Tusi (938-)
5.Khwaja Abul Hasan ‘Ali ibn Ja’far ibn Salman al-Kharqani (963-1034)
6.Khwaja Abul Qasim al-Gurgani (-1058)
7.Khwaja Abu ‘Ali al-Farmadi (1042/3-1085)
8.Khwaja Abu Yaqub Yusuf al-Hamadani (1048/49-1141)
9.Abul Abbas, al-Khidr (-present)
10.Khwaja ‘Abdul Khaliq al-Ghujdawani (-1180)
11.Khwaja ‘Arif ar-Riwakri (-1219)
12.Khwaja Mahmud al-Anjir al-Faghnawi (-1315)
13.Khwaja ‘Ali ar-Ramitani (1198-1315/1321)
14.Khwaja Muhammad Baba as-Samasi (-1354)
15.as-Sayyid Amir Kulal (-1370)
16.as-Sayyid Khwaja Baha al-Din Shah Naqshband Bukhari (1318-1389)
And Allah Knows Best!
Sayyid Ahmed Amiruddin