BAYAZID ANSARI AND ROSHANIYYA SUFI SILSILAH: A SYNTHESIS OF SPIRITUAL TECHNIQUES

Abstract

"This research article discusses the “Roshaniyya Sufi Silsilah” established and propagated by Bayazid Ansari in the first half of the sixteenth century A.D. He was a “Wahdat-ul-Wajudi Sufi” settled in Kaniguram, a town situated in the South Waziristan agency of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. He emerged during the regime of Mughal Emperor Akbar. To propagate his ideas, Bayazid initiated a movement which is called “Roshaniyya Movement”. The study aims to explore the nature and direction of Bayazid to establish the fact that he was a Sufi with an extremist approach and profound inclination towards the concept of “Wahdat-ul-Wajud”. The study presents a balanced and analytical approach of the teachings and techniques he adopted to propagate among the masses. For that purpose different approaches would be studied to grasp fully the topic under discussion. Mostly the writings of Bayazid and other primary sources have been utilized to investigate the subject from various perspectives.”