Encyclopedia of Islam

al-Haqqani, Muhammad Nazim

  

289  J

---

copresident of the World Conference of Religion 

for Peace in 1999 and was a delegate to the United 

Nations Millennium Peace Summit in 2000.

The Haqqani Naqshbandi order now claims 

to have some 70 centers and branches in North 

America, South America, Europe (including Rus-

sia), Africa, Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia, Australia, 

and Japan. The order has small followings in 

Syria, e

gypt

, and p

akistan

. Its U.S. headquarters 

is located in Washington, D.C., and it is directed 

by his deputy Muhammad Hisham Kabbani, chair-

man of the Supreme Islamic Council of America. 

Despite his global journeys, Al-Haqqani still calls 

Cyprus his home.

Al-Haqqani was given the title “cosmic axis” 

(qutb) by Shaykh al-Daghistani, but he has since 

acquired other honorific titles from his follow-

ers that underscore his saintly status, including 

“Sultan of Saints” (Sultan al-Awliya), “Unveiler 

of Secrets,” and “Keeper of Light.” He is also 

called the religious “renewer” (mujaddid) of 

the technological age. Moreover, the Haqqani-

Naqshbandi order considers him to be the 40th 

sufi shaykh of the Naqshbandi sacred lineage, 

which they believe was inaugurated by Muham-

mad in the seventh century. Al-Haqqani lectures 

widely, and his talks are recorded and published 

in books and pamphlets and on the Internet. In 

addition to teaching about Sufi understandings 

of love, faith, compassion, wisdom, and spiritual 

practices, he has also included controversial 

statements about the coming of a third world 

war and the return of J

esUs

 and the m

ahdi

, the 

Muslim messiah. This apocalyptic strand of 

thinking can be traced to Shaykh Daghistani, his 

spiritual guide.

See also 

dialogUe

.