Origin from 1367
The Ni'matullahi, also spelled Nimatollahi or Nematollahi, is a Sufi order originating in Iran, named after its fourteenth century founder and qotb Shah Nimatullah, who settled and is buried in Mahan, Kerman Province, where his tomb remains an important pilgrimage site. Shah Nimatullah was a disciple of the Suhrawardiyya Sufi Abd-Allah Yafi'i, and the order traces a chain of succession claimed to extend back to Ma'ruf al-Karkhi; from its founding it rejected seclusion and quietism in favor of meaningful participation in society. Moojan Momen estimated Iran's Nimatullahi population in 1980 at between 50,000 and 350,000, and after Javad Nurbakhsh and other dervishes emigrated following the 1979 Iranian Revolution the order attracted followers outside Iran, mostly in Europe, West Africa and North America, its first khaniqah outside Iran having been established in San Francisco in 1975.
Facts
Origins
Origin Period Origin Period FounderShah Nimatullah (Nur ad-Din Ni'matullah Wali) 1 Status
Status TodayLiving tradition, practised today 1 Practice
Liturgical Language Classification
Kind of order ApostolateSpiritual Direction and Dhikr 1 Belief
Defining Doctrinal PositionAn interior path (tasawwuf) pursued within the schools of law 2 Organisation
OrdinationAuthority conferred by initiation rather than by ordination 2 Connections
Belongs to Tradition
Governed By Polity
Source New World Encyclopedia: Sufism
Originated In
Source Ni'matullahi (Wikipedia)
Rooted In
Source Ni'matullahi (Wikipedia)
Uses Liturgical Language
Sources
1. Ni'matullahi (Wikipedia)
Lead paragraph
It was established by its founder, \Shah Nimatullah\" in the \"14th century CE\""
Lead paragraph, founding clause
established by its founder, \Shah Nimatullah\" in the \"14th century CE\""
Originated In: Iran, Opening sentences of the entity description
The Ni'matullahi, also spelled Nimatollahi or Nematollahi, is a Sufi order originating in Iran, named after its fourteenth century founder and qotb Shah Nimatullah, who settled and is buried in Mahan, Kerman Province, where his tomb remains an important pilgrimage site.
Rooted In: Sufism, Lead section
The order is named after its 14th-century CE Sunni founder and qutb, Shah Nimatullah (Nūr ad-Din Ni'matullāh Wali), who settled in and is buried in Mahan, Kerman Province, Iran, where his tomb is still an important pilgrimage site.
View the Source2. Islamic Mysticism: A Short History
Alexander Knysh, Brill
New World Encyclopedia: Sufism
New World EncyclopediaGoverned By Polity: Silsila (The Chain of Spiritual Descent), Sufism article, Sufi orders and their chains of transmissionQuote, Governed By Polity: Silsila (The Chain of Spiritual Descent), Sufism article, Sufi orders and their chains of transmission
Almost all traditional Sufi orders trace their "chains of transmission" back to the Prophet via his cousin and son-in-law Ali ibn Abi Talib (except the Naqshbandi order which traces its origin to caliph Abu Bakr ).
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