Extended Article
Interview with Shahzada Sayeed Mashuk Mainuddin,
The Spiritual Lineage of the Darbar Sharif
and Recent Humanitarian Efforts of Tariqa-e-Maizbhandaria
By Ashley Werner and Victor Sinow
The following interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
Insight: You are currently in the Darbar Sharif spiritual center in Bangladesh. How is the center connected with your Sufi order, Tariqa-e-Maizbhandaria?
Shahzada Sayeed Mashuk Mainuddin: The Darbar Sharif is the main spiritual hub in Bangladesh. It was established in the mid-1850s by Ahmad Ullah Maizbhandari. He was a scholar born in Bangladesh, but he received his education and his spiritual guidance in India. At the time, there were many tariqahs (Sufi orders) in Bangladesh that guided people towards Allah. Those tariqahs followed systems originating in the Middle East, the Levant, Andalusia and Anatolia. Ahmad Ullah Maizbhandari decided that the people of this region deserved a tariqah of their own–a pathway to God that caters to their systems and way of life. That is when he decided to start the Maizbhandari Qadiria Order. That is how this spiritual center came to be.
After Ahmad Ullah Maizbhandari, the Great Disseminator Gulamur Rahman Maizbhandari spread the tariqah across the country and into other countries, and his son Abul Bashr Al Hasan I brought literary works and poetry into the tradition.
Gulamur Rahman Maizbhandari lived most of his life in solitude. After receiving his guidance from his Master Ahmad Ullah, he ventured to the remote highlands of Chittagong alone in the mid-1870s. He lived there for twelve years, worshipping Allah and meditating. During that time, he visited various areas of present-day Bangladesh and Myanmar, offering people spiritual guidance. Even now, in those highland areas, certain tribal people are Muslims, and in the places that he used to visit and sit in meditation, the people still put out milk and bananas, as their ancestors used to do for him. Gulamur Rahman Maizbhandari left a footprint of spirituality across this whole region. Later, my grandfather travelled abroad and took the message to an international audience. That is how the tariqah came to be.
Today, people come to the spiritual center making ziyarat (pilgrimage to shrines of Muslim saints). On Thursdays and Friday, we have Zikr (remembrance of Allah) in congregation. And we have qawwalis (Sufi devotional singing) on special dates. We prepare food for visitors every day, and on Thursdays and Fridays we prepare special food, because people come here from all over the country on the weekends. People meet with my father, Shajada Dr. Seyeed Saifuddin Ahmed Maizbhandari, to take his advice and teachings. Families travel here with their children. So, this center has been a spiritual refuge. Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah.
We are also now designing the masjid (mosque) and shrine of my grandfather in Darbar Sharif. Inshallah! Once the design is developed, then we will go into construction.
Insight: Tariqa-e-Maizbhandaria has been active in advancing humanitarian works across Bangladesh. Please tell us about your recent work.
Shahzada Sayeed Mashuk Mainuddin: Earlier this year, we held the Environmental Preservation Conference. There we announced an initiative to plant trees with used pens that are designed to grow into trees when planted. We have provided the pens to various areas of the country and are thinking of providing them to schools to help teach children to write and the importance of planting trees.
We also have projects focused on cleanliness. This includes motivating people to pick up their own plastic waste and keep plastic out of drainage areas in cities, which get blocked and cause floods. We are focused on this project now before the rainy season comes. We are working in tandem with environmental leadership in Bangladesh to bring cultural change to reduce plastic waste.
We are also working to establish deeper water wells in the Western areas of the country where extreme heat has reduced well water levels. Bangladesh is experiencing one of the hottest periods in recorded history now.
Our main focus in 2025 is educating our members—in the ways of the soul, in the ways of respecting the environment, and how to respect your elders. Respect is at the core of this work. We are providing classes to our members as well as books and writing materials for schools and children that are unable to purchase them. We also run 146 orphanages across the country which provide resources to shelter, feed, and provide basic education to the children.
Shahzada Sayeed Mashuk Mainuddin is the 32nd Descendant of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu Alaihe Wasallam), the grandson of Shahjada Sayeed Mainuddin Ahmed, and one of the founding members of the International Association of Sufism. He is a representative of Qadiriya Maizbhandari Tariqa and the President of Mainia Youth Forum (MYF), a certified non-profit organization in Bangladesh. He holds an advanced degree in International Relations from Manchester University.