Uwais al-Qaranī

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Uwais al-Qaranī ( Arabic أويس القرني, DMG Uwais al-Qaranī ; 7th century ) was an Islamic mystic (see also Sufism ) and contemporary of the prophet Mohammed . He is considered the very first Sufi.

According to tradition, Uwais comes from the place Qaran in Yemen , hence its name al-Qarani . When he heard about the Prophet Mohammed and his teachings, he asked his blind mother, who was in need of care, for permission to visit him. She replied that he had given her permission to see the prophet once and then return home immediately, since she was sick at the time and no one could have looked after her in his absence. If the prophet is at home, he will meet him; if he is not at home, he should return to Yemen immediately.

So Uwais set out on a three-month journey on foot from Yemen to Medina , the city of the prophet. When he arrived at Mohammed's house, his wife Aisha opened the door and said that her husband was not at home but was returning from a trip and would not arrive until a day later.

But Uwais did not want to break his promise to his mother. So he instructed Aisha to convey his greetings to the prophet and immediately set off again. In this way, Uwais al-Qarani never got to meet the Prophet alive.

Later it was reported in the traditions that Uwais al-Qarani received his "second coat" after the death of the Prophet Mohammed and that he was the origin of an invisible line of transmission. According to tradition, he then lived as a hermit in the desert. The oldest Sufi order ( tariqa ) is said to go back to him, but there is no scientific evidence of these early Sufis today. The organization Maktab Tarighat Oveyssi Shahmaghsoudi , according to its own statement a school of Islamic Sufism , sees itself in the tradition of Uwais al-Qarani with a direct spiritual line ( silsila ) that goes back to him. It is an international, educational, non-profit organization with centers around the world.