Respected GSians.
I happened to came across the word Awaisi in one of the threads. I thought it worthwhile to share your views. My humble deliberations go as follows.
The word AWAISI is derived from the name of Hazart Awais Qarni (RA). Nowadays, it is mostly used in connection with Naqshbandi Awaisi order. But actually, it has had three different connotations which most of us dont konow. Before going further lets see who was Hazart Awais Qarni (RA).
Hazart Awais Qarni (RA) was a resident of Qarn, Yemen. His real name was Awais bin Amer. His kuniah was Abu-Umro. He never met Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (SAW) in person, yet he is considered to be a Sahabi. A Hadith in Sahih Muslim goes like like this; “It is quoted by Hazrat Umar (RA) that verily Holy Prophet (SAW) said that a man will come unto you from Yemen. His name will be Awais. He will not leave anybody behind in Yemen but his mother who had the skin disease (Bars). He prayed before Allah Almighty Who cured his mother. Whosoever amongst you meet him, should ask him to pray for his repentance”. At the end he became a staunch supporter of Hazart Ali (KAW). He participated in the battle of Siffin along with his kins in 34 Hijri and went missing afterwards. He was believed to be martyred by most of his contemporaries.
Now lets see the use of term Awaisi.
1. After the martyrdom of Hazart Awais Qarni (RA) in the battle of Siffin, his kins came to be known as Awaisi.
2. Awaisi term is also applied to those people who like Hazrat Awais (RA), attain spiritual blessings or Baatini Faiz directly from Holy Prophet (SAW). This faiz can be of further two types;
a. By those who dont have a Teacher, Shaikh or Mentor.
They may continue recieving blessings without a teacher and without following any special spiritual rituals and are just called Awaisi.
They may continue recieving blessings without a teacher but may follow some Zikar special to any silsila. Then the word Awaisi is preceded with a prefix of that silsila i.e., Naqshbandi Awaisi, Qadiri Awaisi etc.
They may continue recieving blessings but find a living a teacher and follow special rituals of that silsila e.g. Hazrat Sultan Bahu (RA) got this spiritual blessing directly from Holy Prophet and remained an Awaisi till he entered the circle of Hazrat Habib Ullah Baghdadi (RA) of Qadari silsila. In all such cases, the word Awaisi is abolished and only the name of actual silsila remains i.e., Naqshbandi Mujaddadi, Qadiri Noshahi etc.
b. By those who already have a teacher or Shaikh
Example is that of Hazrat Shah Wali Ullah (RA) who recieved spiritual blessings from his father, teacher and mentor Hazrat Shah Abdul Rahim (RA).
Then it is not called Awaisi. If it is occasional then it is called Basharat or Royat.
If it is more common and can be attained after some Zikar or Darood, it is called Hazari.
If it is intentional without any effort of Zikar or Darood, then it is called Hazoori and is extremley rare.
- Lastly, these spiritual blessings can also be attained from other Prophets, Sahaba and Saints just like Hazrat Awais Qarni (RA) got them from Holy Prophet (SAW). Then the word Awaisi is either abolished or postfixed with the name of the person betowing blessings, e.g, Awaisi Khizri or simply Khizri, in which case the blessings are directly invoked by Hazrat Khizar (AS).
Wassalam
