Abd al-Karm ibn Hawzin Qushayri

'Abd Ul Karim ibn Hawazin al-Qushayri, (Persian: () also Kushayri) was

born in 986 CE in Nishapur which is in the Khurasan province of Iran. This region was
widely known as an epicenter of Islamic civilization up to the 13th Century CE.

Biography
As a young man he received the education of an average young man of that time, but
that all changed when he journeyed to the city of Nayasabur an d was introduced to the
Sufi shaykh Abu Ali al-Dakkak.] Al-Dakkak later became the master and teacher of the
mystical ways to al-Qushayri. He later married the daughter of Al-Dakkak, Fatima. After
the death of Abu Ali al-Dakkak, Al-Qushayri became the successor of his master and
father in law and became the leader of mystic assemblies. The madrasa that Abu Ali alDakkak built in 1001 CE became known as Al-Madrasa al-Qushayriayya or the
madrasa of the Qushayri family. In later years al-Qushayri performed the pilgrimage as
well as traveling to Baghdad and during these travels he heard hadith. Upon his return
he began teaching hadith, which is something he is famous for. He returned to Baghdad
where the Caliph had him perform hadith teachings in his palace. Political unrest in the
region forced him to leave Naysabur, but was eventually able to return and lived there
until his death in 1072. He left behind six sons and numerous daughters between
Fatima and his second wife and was buried near al-madrasa al-Qushayriayya next to
his father in-law Abu Ali al-Dakkak.

Famous Works
Lata'if al-Isharat bi Tafsir al-Qur'an is a famous work of al-Qushayri that is a complete
commentary of the Qur'an. He determined that there were four levels of meaning in the
Qur'an. First, the Ibara which is the meanings of the text meant for the mass of
believers. Second, the ishara, is only available to the spiritual elite and lies beyond the
obvious verbal meaning. Third, lataif, which was subtleties in the text that were meant
particularly for saints. And finally, the haqaiq, which he said was only comprehensible
by the prophets. This text placed him among the elite of the Sufi mystics and is widely
used as a standard of Sufi thought.
His fame however, is gained mostly from his Risala, or ar-Risala al-Qushayriya, or AlQushayri's Epistle on Sufism.] This text is essentially a reminder to the people of his era
that Sufis had authentic ancestral tradition as well as defending Sufism against the
doubters that rose during that time of his life. It has sections where al-Qushayri
discusses the creed of the Sufis, mentions important and influential Sufis from the past,
and important terminology to Sufism and al-Qushayris interpretation of these Sufi

terms. Al-Qushayri finally goes through specific practices of Sufism and the techniques
of those practices. This text has been used by many Sufi saints in later times as a
standard and is shown by the many translations into the numerous Muslim languages.