“Al-Athar” — a Monument of Muhammad al-Yaragi’s Written Heritage

Abstract

This paper is devoted to the source research analysis of the collection works and letters of a famous Dagestani Sheikh Muhammad al-Yaragi, which are written in Arabic and known as ‘Al-Athar’. Despite a keen interest in the personality of the sheikh, practically nothing was known about the content of this book, the only one extant from his written heritage. Meanwhile, the research of these collected works allows us to provide unique insight into the views and beliefs of this famous sheikh. In this regard, the authors examined in detail the structure of ‘Al-Athar’, having determined the genre variety of the manuscript materials included in it. The collection consists of two qasids, texts of several duas and instructions, a biography of the sheikh written by his son, as well as his extensive correspondence with various Dagestani theologians and communities. The collection ends with a small work in poetic form by Jamaluddin al-Gazigumuki, in which he quotes his silsila, i. e. a consistent chain of succession of the sheikhs of the Naqshbandi tariqa. The materials under research provide interesting information about the political and spiritual life of Dagestan society in the first half of the 19th century. At the same time, they provide an insight into the resumption of the interrupted Sufi tradition in the region.