Muhammad Uthman Siraj al-Din

{{Infobox person

| name = Muhammad Uthman Siraj al-Din]

| image = Osman Sirâceddîn en-Nakşibendi.jpg

| birth_date = 1896

| birth_place = Biyara, Ottoman Empire

| death_date = 1997

| death_place = Istanbul, Turkey

| title = *Sheikh

Beg
Effendi

| father = Muhammed Ala-ad-din al-Tavili

| relatives = *Sheikh Ali Hisam-ad-Din Naqshbandi

| family = House of Tavil

}}

Sheikh Muhammad Uthman Siraj al-Din Naqshbandi{{Efn|{{bulleted list|{{Langx|ar|محمد عثمان سراج الدين النقشبندي|translit=Muḩammad ‘Uthmān Sirāj ad Dīn an Naqshbandī|translit-std=bgn/pcgn}}|{{Langx|ota-Arab|محمد عثمان سراج الدین نقشبندی|translit=Muḥammed ‘Os̱mân Sirâceddîn Naḳşibendî|translit-std=ALA-LC}}|{{langx|ckb|محەمەد عوسمان سیراجەدین نەقشبەندی|translit=Miḧemed ‘Usman Sîracedîn Neqşbendî|translit-std=ALA-LC}}|{{Langx|fa|محمدعثمان سراج‌الدین نقشبندی}}, {{ALA-LC|fa|Muḥammad ’Us̱mān Sirāj al-Dīn Naqshbandī|}}, {{Small|BGN/PCGN:}} {{transliteration|fa|bgn/pcgn|Moḩammad ‘Os̄mān Serāj od Dīn Naqshbandī}}|{{langx|tr|Muhammed Osman Siraceddin Nakşibendi}}}}|group=lower-alpha}} (1896, Biyara, ￶– 1997, Istanbul, Turkey), nicknamed Siraj al-Din al-Thani,{{Efn|{{bulleted list|{{Langx|ar|سراج الدين الثاني|translit=Sirāj ad Dīn ath Thānī|translit-std=bgn/pcgn}}|{{Langx|ota-Arab|سراج الدین ثانی|translit=Sirâceddîn-i S̱ânî|translit-std=ALA-LC}}|{{langx|ckb|سیراجەدینی دووەم|translit=Sîracedînî Duwem|translit-std=ALA-LC}}|{{Langx|fa|سراج‌الدین ثانی|translit=Sirāj al-Dīn-i S̱āni|translit-std=ALA-LC}}, or {{Langx|fa|سراج‌الدین دوم|translit=Sirāj al-Dīn-i Duvvum|label=none|translit-std=ALA-LC}}|{{langx|tr|Siraceddin-i Sani}}}}|group=lower-alpha}} meaning the second Siraj al-Din, in honor of his great-grandfather Uthman Siraj al-Din Naqshbandi, was an Islamic scholar, mystic of the Naqshbandi order, and leader of the Sipay Rizgari militant group.{{Cite web |title=Hz. Şeyh Muhammed Osman Siraceddin (KS) |url=http://www.siraceddin.com/ |access-date=2022-10-06 |website=www.siraceddin.com}}{{Cite book |last=Shakely |first=Ferhad |url=https://isamveri.org/pdfdrg/D02049/1999_9/1999_9_SHAKELYF.pdf |title=Naqshbandis in Western and Central Asia. Change and Continuity |publisher=Swedish Research Institute in Istanbul |year=1997 |editor-last=Özdalga |editor-first=Elisabeth |location=Istanbul |pages=94–95 |chapter=The Sirāj al-Dīnī Sheikhs |quote=When sheikh 'Alā al-Dīn died in 1954, he was succeeded by his son sheikh Muḥammad 'Uthmān Sirāj al-Dīn II (1314/1896-1417/1997), who was already a well-known and established sufi leader. Sheikh 'Uthmān II was deeply learned in Islamic theology as well as in Kurdish and Persian poetry. He was, moreover, a skillful physician with wide knowledge of herbal medicine. (...) He spent the last seven or eight years of his life in Istanbul, where he died on 30 January, 1997. He was buried inside his residence, close to the khānaqāh in Istanbul. (...) Sheikh 'Uthmān was named after his great-grandfather, 'Uthmān Sirāj al-Dīn I. |author-link=Ferhad Shakely |via=Turkiye Diyanet Foundation Centre for Islamic Studies}} He belonged to one of the most influential noble households of the Middle East and Ottoman Empire, the Sheikhs of Tavil.

Biography

File:Family Tree - Tavil.png, showing Muhammad Uthman Siraj al-Din in the bottom right corner]]

= Early life =

File:Muhammed Alâeddîn Nakşibendi.jpg

Muhammad Uthman Siraj al-Din, grandson of {{Interlanguage link|Umar Diya al-Din|tr|Ömer Ziyâeddîn et-Tavilî}} and son of {{Interlanguage link|Muhammad Ala al-Din|tr|Muhammed Alâeddîn et-Tavilî}}, was descended from Muhammad ibn Abdullah through Husayn ibn Ali, making him a sayyid.Osman Sirâceddîn-i Tavilî (en-nakshibendî, el-evvel) ve Ailesi, s. 40 As he was named Uthman in honor of his great-grandfather Uthman Siraj al-Din Naqshbandi, he was given the nickname "al-Thani", which means the second in Arabic. Muhammad Uthman Siraj al-Din was of Iraqi Kurdish origin and born in 1896 in the village of Biyara, to the Sheikhs of Tavil household.{{Cite web |title=HÂLİDİYYE - TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi |url=https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/halidiyye |access-date=2022-05-18 |website=TDV İslam Ansiklopedisi |language=tr}} After studying religious sciences under the supervision and training of his father at a young age, he completed his education in the Arabic and Persian languages at the Duru and Biyara madrasas. Following the death of his father, he settled in the Biyara takiyya.Muhammed, Serbürdeki Havraman, s. 583 He fled to Iran in 1959 after getting into conflict with the Iraqi government of Abd al-Karim Qasim.{{Cite web |title=Vefât Yıldönümünde Seyyid Muhammed Osman Siraceddin Hazretleri (D. 1896-V. 30 Ocak 1997) - Yeni Akit |url=https://www.yeniakit.com.tr/yazarlar/halit-kanak/vefat-yildonumunde-seyyid-muhammed-osman-siraceddin-hazretleri-d-1896-v-30-ocak-1997-38080.html |access-date=2022-10-06 |website=www.yeniakit.com.tr |language=tr}} The Iranian government gave him asylum due to their strained relations with the Iraqi authorities, with SAVAK documents showing that the Iranian Pahlavi government viewed him as an ally and paid his pension.{{Cite web |title=شیخ محمدعثمان سراج‌الدین نقشبندی در اسناد ساواک |trans-title=Sheikh Muhammad Uthman Siraj al-Din Naqshbandi in SAVAK Documents |url=https://nassimogram.ir/sheikh-osman-in-savak-documents |access-date=2023-07-12 |website=Nassimogram}}

= Time in Iran =

Muhammad Uthman Siraj al-Din brought back to life the Duru takiyya founded by his father in Iranian Kurdistan. As a result of his travels to different parts of Iran, he established a strong bond between the members of the Khalidi Naqshbandis in the Sunni Kurdish regions and the Talish region of Iran. He had a school built for 450 students providing education in the field of Islamic sciences. At the same time, more than 100 schools were built in the region under his leadership. There was an increase in the number and activities of Naqshbandi members during the twenty-year period he was in Iran.Algar, Nakşibendîlik, s. 331-338 His sons also took up positions within the Iranian government during this time.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2022-07-01 |title=گروهک «رزگاری»؛ ترور به نام رهایی |trans-title=The "Rizgari" group; terror in the name of liberation |url=http://www.yjc.ir/fa/news/8174714 |access-date=2023-07-12 |website=Young Journalists Club |language=fa}}

Strawberry farming was introduced to Iranian Kurdistan by Muhammad Uthman Siraj al-Din Naqshbandi in the 1960s.{{Cite conference |last=Karami |first=Farhad |last2=M. |first2=Sarseifi |last3=Moradi |first3=KH. |last4=Choupani |first4=S. |last5=Avestan |first5=S. |title=Recent Progress in Strawberry Breeding in Iran |url=https://conf.uok.ac.ir/_JiroConference/Files/Conference/66/Common/ContentPage/39.pdf |conference=International Conference of Recent Advances in Strawberry |pages=417–421 |quote=In the 1960s, a noble person named "Sheikh Osman Naqshbandi" imported some strawberry plants from Europe and planted them in his famous garden located in Sarvabad, Kurdistan province (Karami & Gholami, 2012). This unknown cultivar was developed gradually in Marivan, Sanandaj, and Kamyaran regions and became known as the "Kurdistan" cultivar. |via=University of Kurdistan (Iran)}}

== Leader of Sipay Rizgari ==

After the Iranian revolution and overthrow of the Pahlavi government, he organised a militant group called Sipay Rizgari with 1000–2000 of his followers and participated in the Kurdistan conflict against the new Iranian government, planning to incite a sectarian war between Shias and Sunnis, and having formed an alliance with the Iraqi government, the Kurdish Democratic Party, and Komala.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2022-07-01 |title=گروهک «رزگاری»؛ ترور به نام رهایی |trans-title=The "Rizgari" group; terror in the name of salvation |url=http://www.yjc.ir/fa/news/8174714 |access-date=2023-07-12 |website=Young Journalists Club |language=fa}}{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=‌گروهک تروریستی رزگاری (رستگاری) |trans-title=The Rizgari (Salvation) Terrorist Group |url=https://www.habilian.ir/fa/%E2%80%8C%DA%AF%D8%B1%D9%88%D9%87%DA%A9-%D8%AA%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%B1%DB%8C%D8%B3%D8%AA%DB%8C-%D8%B1%D8%B2%DA%AF%D8%A7%D8%B1%DB%8C-%D8%B1%D8%B3%D8%AA%DA%AF%D8%A7%D8%B1%DB%8C.html |access-date=2023-07-11 |website=Habilian Association}}{{Cite web |date=14 October 2017 |title=پایانی تلخ بر فصل سرد گروهک تروریستی رزگاری |trans-title=A bitter end to the cold period of the Rizgari terrorist group |url=https://dana.ir/1213913/پایانی-تلخ-بر-فصل-سرد-گروهک-تروریستی-رزگاری |access-date=2023-04-08 |website=Šabake-ye Ettelāresāni-ye Rāh-e Dānā |language=fa}}

File:Muhammed Osman Sirâceddîn en-Nakşibendi.jpg

As a result of the victory of Iranian forces in Operation Walfajr-10, as well as previous conflict with their former allies of Komala, the Sipay Rizgari group suffered heavy casualties and was disbanded. Muhammad Uthman Siraj al-Din left for Baghdad. He then continued his activities in France and later in Turkey.TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (volume 15, HÂLİDİYYE p. 295)

= Time in Turkey =

Muhammad Uthman Siraj al-Din settled in Turkey in 1990 and held religious conversations with his domestic and foreign visitors in his guesthouse in the {{Interlanguage link|Hadımköy|tr|Hadımköy}} neighborhood of Istanbul.{{Cite web |title=Şeyh Osman Siraceddin Sani Tavili (k.s.) {{!}} Evliyalar.net - Evliya, Sahabe, Peygamber Kabirleri |url=https://www.evliyalar.net/seyh-osman-siraceddin-sani-tavili-k-s/ |access-date=2022-10-06 |language=tr}} He sought remedies for the material and spiritual ailments of the people who came to him. He asked people to work hard to earn a halal livelihood and advised young people to learn useful knowledge and sciences. People came to him for important life decisions and he would guide them with divine inspiration. He was also an expert in herbal medicine and left a written record of it.{{cn|date=May 2022}}