Ni'matullāhī
Iranian Sufi mystic order in Shia Islam / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Ni'matullāhī or Ne'matollāhī (Persian: نعمتاللهی) (also spelled as "Nimatollahi", "Nematollahi" or "Ni'matallahi) is a Sufi order (or tariqa) originating in Iran. The order is named after its 14th century CE Sunni founder and qotb, 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. Shah Ni'matallāh was a disciple of the Suhrawardiyya Sufi ʿAbd-Allah Yefâ'î, advancing a chain of succession (silsilah) by Sufi qotbs and pīrs — claimed to extend from Maruf Karkhi.[citation needed]
سلسله نعمتاللهی | |
Founder | Shah Nimatullah Wali |
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Founded at | Kerman, Iran (then Timurid Empire) |
From its foundation by Shah Nimatullah, the Sufi order has rejected seclusion and quietism with an established a principle of meaningful participation and service to society. [citation needed] The Nimatullahi are still active, and are self-described as “an authentic Sufi order that has been in continuous existence for over 700 years. Its centers around the world support practitioners in the mystical way.” [citation needed] According to Moojan Momen, the number of Nimatullahi in Iran in 1980 was estimated to be between 50,000 and 350,000.[1] Following the emigration of Javad Nurbakhsh and other dervishes after the 1979 Iranian Revolution, the tariqa has attracted numerous followers outside Iran, mostly in Europe, West Africa and North America, although the first khaniqah outside Iran was formed in San Francisco, California, United States in 1975, a few years before the revolution in Iran.