Silsila Dvd

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Earlie Schwoyer

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Aug 5, 2024, 10:43:01 AM8/5/24

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EverySufi order, or tariqa, has a silsila. Silsila originated with the initiation of tariqa which dates back to the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Most silsila trace their lineage back to his cousin and son-in-law Ali bin Abi Talib such as the Qadiriyyah, the Chishtiyya, the Noorbakhshia and the Suhrawardiyyah orders. However, the Naqshbandiyyah order of South Asia is through Abu Bakr.

Centuries ago, Arabia did not have schools for formal education. Students went to masters who taught them. Upon completion of their study, they received ijazah (permission) which acted as the certification of their education. A graduate then acted as a master having his own students or disciples. This chain of masters was known as silsila or lineage. Somewhat analogous to the modern situation where degrees are only accepted from recognized universities, the certification of a master having a verifiable chain of masters was the only criteria which accorded legitimacy:[2]

Theoretically one can only receive instruction in these practices (talqn) from an authorised teacher of the tariqa, and only after pledging a vow of obedience (bay'ah) to this shaikh. The shaykh gives his disciples permission (ijza) to practice the tariqa: he may also authorise one or more of them to teach it to others, i.e. appoint them as his khalfa or successor. In this way a hierarchically ordered network of teachers may emerge. Each sheikh can show a chain of authorities for the tariqa he teaches, his silsila or spiritual genealogy. Usually the silsila reaches back from one's own teacher up to the Prophet, with whom all tariqa claim to have originated although there have been modifications along the way. A Sufi's silsila is his badge of identity and source of legitimation; it provides him with a list of illustrious predecessors and shows how he is related to other Sufis.

For Muslims, the Chain of Authenticity is an important way to ascertain the validity of a saying of Muhammad (also known as a Hadith). The Chain of Authenticity relates the chain of people who have heard and repeated the saying of Muhammad through the generations, until that particular Hadith was written down (Ali bin Abi Talib said that 'Aisha 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 Muhammad through his Companions: Ali bin Abi Talib (the primary link between most Sufi orders and Muhammad) and Abu Bakr (the Naaqshbandiyyah order). When a Sufi order can be traced back to Muhammad through one Ali or Abu Bakr, 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.

Among Chinese Muslims, the concept of silsilah has developed into that of a menhuan (门宦): a Chinese-style Sufi order whose leaders trace a lineage chain going back to the order's founder in China (e.g., Ma Laichi given name Abu I Fateh or Ma Mingxin given name Ibrahim), and beyond, toward his teachers in Arabia.[3]

Only registered attendees will be able to join this event.

Silsila: Center for Material Histories is an NYU center dedicated to material histories of the Islamicate world. Each semester we hold a thematic series of lectures and workshops, which are open to the public. Details of the Center can be found at:

-as/as/research-centers/silsila.html

This event will be held in person at NYU in room 222, 20 Cooper Square, NY 10003. In accordance with university regulations, visitors must show a valid government-issued photo ID (children under 18 can provide non-government identification).

Artist Sama Alshaibi, a political refugee of Iraqi-Palestinian descent, learned of his travels in a book and grew interested in his journeys. Over the course of six years, she worked to retrace his path and documented 15 predominantly Muslim countries. She completed her project this spring in Morocco, where Batūtah started his expedition.

Alshaibi is an associate professor of art at the University of Arizona, living part time in Tucson and Palestine. For several years, she lived in the Middle East and north Africa doing political work, and it was exhausting. She decided to immerse herself more deeply into her art and tell stories from the region through the lens, but from a different perspective than many artists working in those areas of conflict.

"Batūtah's own crossings made me think of the original inhabitants of the desert region that pretty much surrounds all of the Middle East and north Africa," she said. "His journey imitates my own life because I've moved so much. I thought about resources being an issue of conflict, and having to vie and compete for limited resources."

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Alshaibi began using her school breaks, vacation and sabbatical time to take the trips, all the while thinking about the desert and its endangered water resources. The Arabic word "silsila" means link, and the theme is prevalent in many ways in the work, which explores the bond humans have with one another, with the natural environment and with the spiritual world. The artist often uses her body in her works as a signifier of "a motherland, the people, community or issue," she said. In these works, the land is the protagonist and she is a performer within the spaces as a "teacher, guide or mystic."

The videos are housed in black boxes and placed on plinths. One, titled "Al-Tarīqah (The Path)," shows mirror images of Alshaibi walking through the desert in different shots. The video was taken in the Tunisian salt flats in north Africa. During her travels, she sometimes she had an assistant with her. Other times, such as this instance, she was by herself. Alshaibi hired a driver who knew the region to take her to a remote area and asked him to come back for her.

"Most tourists come out to that area to take a look at where 'Star Wars' was shot," she said. "I walked for quite some time and came across a sandy space that was incredible. The landscape was soft and marshmallow-like. There was nothing around except you could see the border of Libya in the distance. There was a line that was actually a naturally occurring salt lake underneath, where the Earth is physically separating."

The title piece is an inkjet print showing Alshaibi standing in the water, her reflection crystal clear. This was shot in Egypt's Siwa Oasis, and was her third time visiting Egypt. She went before and after the revolution, and she saw the struggles. A friend of a friend was able to get her to Siwa, and a driver who was only 11 years old took her to a salt lake.

"They don't speak Arabic there so there was a lot of hand gesturing, and he finally realized I wanted to see water," she said. "It was the afternoon and nobody was there except for a little hut that serves tea in dirty glasses. The lake was completely a mirror. I had no assistance so I turned the camera on with a remote sensor."

She saw how perfectly her image was reflected in the water, and it was representative of the exhibit's title, "Silsila." With self-reflection comes the understanding of people who are different than we are, and that links us to each other, Alshaibi said.

"I'm connected to the desert," she said. "With the political issues here, of being on the border with issues, and the issues of water, the audience here in the Southwest is a sympathetic one. They understand a lot of issues that inform my work, and I felt compelled to speak a more universal language.