Sayyid Mir Fazlullah bin Sayyid Mir Hasan Naqshbandi (born in Kabul) was a Sunni Saint and Mir and the highest Qadi (Qadi ul Qudhad) and Grand Mufti of the Emirate of Afghanistan.
Ancestry
Sayyid Mir Fazlullah is a Sayyid (a descendant of Muhammad through his daughter Fatimah and his cousin Ali ibn Abi Talib). Among his ancestors are seven of the Twelve Imams, and in another lineage eleven of the Twelve Imams, Sayyid Bahauddin Naqshband, Sayyid Alauddin Atar, and Khwaja Khawand Mahmud (also known as Hazrat Ishaan) also.
After the Battle of Karbala, the ancestors of Sayyid Mir Fazlullah, known as Ahl al-Bayt went back to Medina. From there Musa al Kazim was forced to go to Iraq. The Musavis, i.e. the descendants of Musa al Kadhim, settled to Persia. One of them was Khwaja Sayyid Mir Ismail Muhammad Hakim, father of Khwaja Sayyid Mir Latif, an ancestor of Sayyid Mir Fazlullah. The descendants of Sayyid Mir Latif immigrated to Bokhara and after that to Kabul to guide the Muslims there, where Sayyid Mir Fazlullah was born.
Sayyid Mir Fazlullah's ancestors were as said also Askari Sayyids, i.e. descendants of Imam Hasan al-Askari, through his son Sayyid Ali Akbar, whose existence was hidden, because of political conflicts. Sayyid Ali Akbars descendants also migrated to Bokhara, where the prominent Sufi saint Bahauddin Naqshband, founder of the Naqshbandi Sufi Order, was born. A descendant of Bahauddin Naqshband after 7 generations was Hazrat Ishaan, whose descendants later immigrated to variable regions of South Asia, like Khorasan, today known as Afghanistan in order to spread the Ishaqiyya Naqshbandiyya branch's teachings.
Family
His family was the highest authority of the descendants of Muhammad in Afghanistan, holding an office similar to that of the Naqib ul Ashraf in Iraq. Their title was Sayyid ul Sadaat.
His older brothers were Sayyid Mir Jan, the highest authority of the Naqshbandi Tariqa and Sayyid ul Sadaat Mir Sayyid Mahmud Agha, Deputy of Sayyid Mir Jan.
His family was especially known for their saintness and deep knowledge in Fiqh and Tariqah, which was transmitted from father to son from Muhammad. Furthermore, they initiated projects for the sake of disadvantaged people, especially orphan children. They were also inheritors of many historical relics, like clothing collections of Imam Hussein ibn Ali.
Closest Lineage
His lineage, closest in generations to Prophet Muhammad, is as follows:
Muhammad
Sayyidina Ali Al Murtadha and Sayyida Fatimah al Zahra
Imam Hasan and Imam Hussein
Imam Ali Zayn ul Abideen
Imam Muhammad al-Baqir
Imam Jafar al-Sadiq
Imam Musa al-Kadhim
Sayyid ul Sadaat Abu Qasim Sayyid Mir Hamza
Sayyid ul Sadaat Sayyid Qasim
Sayyid ul Sadaat Sayyid Ahmad
Sayyid ul Sadaat Sayyid Muhammad
Sayyid ul Sadaat Sayyid Mir Ismail Muhammad Hakim al-Tirmidhi
Sayyid ul Sadaat Sayyid Mir Latif
Sayyid ul Sadaat Sayyid Mir Muhammad
Sayyid ul Sadaat Sayyid Mir Kulal
Sayyid ul Sadaat Sayyid Mir Ahmad
Sayyid ul Sadaat Sayyid Mir Hashim
Sayyid ul Sadaat Sayyid Mir Mast Ali
Sayyid ul Sadaat Sayyid Mir Dost Ali
Sayyid ul Sadaat Sayyid Mir Muhammad Latif
Sayyid ul Sadaat Sayyid Mir Abdullah
Sayyid ul Sadaat Sayyid Mir Muhammad Shamah
Sayyid ul Sadaat Sayyid Mir Latifullah
Sayyid ul Sadaat Sayyid Mir Ruhollah
Sayyid ul Sadaat Sayyid Mir Baitullah
Sayyid ul Sadaat Sayyid Mir Nimatullah
Sayyid ul Sadaat Sayyid Mir Azimullah
Sayyid ul Sadaat Sayyid Mir Hasan
Sayyid ul Sadaat Sayyid Mir Fazlullah
Career
Sayyid Mir Fazlullah was educated by his father Sayyid ul Sadaat Sayyid Mir Hasan, transmitting the legacy of his ancestors to him until there was nothing to learn in Afghanistan.
He became Qadi and was known for his dedicated stance on the prestige and enforcement of Sharia law.
Sayyid Mir Fazlullah was internationally acknowledged and was a spiritual retreat for Sultan Abdülhamit II.
In one of his visits to Istanbul, Ottoman Empire, he held a speech, that attracted the masses in such a way, that a sign of trance and ecstasy could be seen on the faces of the audience. Upon this Sultan Abdul Hamid II, asked Sayyid Mir Fazlullah to stay in Istanbul and to become the Grand Mufti. Sultan Abdulhamid II immediately sent a letter to Amir Habibullah to ask for his transfer to Istanbul. Amir Habibullah refused, since he himself and the Afghans were dependent on Sayyid Mir Fazlullah.