Atlas
About this atlas
The atlas holds the chains of transmission from the Prophet as the standard references and the classical sources record them: the Sufi orders, the chains of Qurʾān recitation, the teachers of the schools of law and ḥadīth, and the lines of the Prophet's family, with the places they spread and the living houses and teachers who carry them today. Every link shows its sources; where they differ, both readings are shown, and we do not rule on any community's claims. Ibn ʿArabī's own life, teachers and readers are on their own page.
محمد
The Prophet Muhammad
Also written: Muhammad; Prophet Muḥammad
Died 632 CE (11 AH) (sources differ) · Medina, Mecca
Head of the silsila
Sources for this person
TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (4 entries)
The chain up to the Prophet
The Prophet stands at the head of every chain.
How to read the marks
- Two sources: a solid rule. Two independent references give the same link.
- One source: a lighter rule, so labelled.
- The community's own account: a dotted rule. The order tells it; we have not yet read it against a reference source.
- A gap in the rule: the sources omit names between the two. The label says which.
- The sources differ: tap the ≠ to read each reading with its source.
- A ring: a spiritual link, without a meeting (uwaysī).
Who received from The Prophet Muhammad
14 recorded, each with the chain set it belongs to.
- Abū l-Dardāʾ ʿUwaymirأبو الدرداء
two sourcesin Qirāʾāt: the ten canonical readings
read the Qurʾān to · The Prophet Muhammad to Abū l-Dardāʾ ʿUwaymir · Two independent sources
Ibn al-Jazarī: the Companion read the Qurʾān to the Messenger of God (the isnād ends here in each chain).
Ibn al-Jazarī, al-Nashr fī l-qirāʾāt al-ʿashr, OpenITI 0833IbnJazari.Nashr.Shamela0022642-ara1, lines 3626-3636Checked against
- al-Dhahabī, Maʿrifat al-qurrāʾ al-kibār, 0748Dhahabi.MacrifaQurraKibar.Shamela0008349-ara2#L317 · agreesEntry: he read the Qurʾān in the Prophet's lifetime; first ṭabaqa.
- al-Dānī, al-Taysīr fī l-qirāʾāt al-sabʿ, 0444AbuCamrDani.TaysirFiQiraatSabc.Shamela0005527-ara1#L152-L155 · agreesRijāl of Ibn ʿĀmir: Abū l-Dardāʾ, companion of the Prophet, took from him.
- Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarīأبو موسى الأشعري662
two sourcesin Qirāʾāt: the ten canonical readings
read the Qurʾān to · The Prophet Muhammad to Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī · Two independent sources
Ibn al-Jazarī: the Companion read the Qurʾān to the Messenger of God (the isnād ends here in each chain).
Ibn al-Jazarī, al-Nashr fī l-qirāʾāt al-ʿashr, OpenITI 0833IbnJazari.Nashr.Shamela0022642-ara1, lines 3372-3377Checked against
- Ibn al-Jazarī, Ghāyat al-nihāya (same author as al-Nashr; not independent), 0833IbnJazari.GhayatNihaya.Shamela0012040-ara1.completed#L12334 · agrees (not independent)Entry: he presented his reading to the Prophet.
- al-Dhahabī, Maʿrifat al-qurrāʾ al-kibār, 0748Dhahabi.MacrifaQurraKibar.Shamela0008349-ara2#L302 · agreesListed among the first ṭabaqa, those who read to the Messenger of God.
- Aḥmad al-Tijānīأحمد التجاني1815
two sourcesin Tijāniyyaspiritual link, without meetingsources differ
spiritual link, without a meeting (uwaysī) · The Prophet Muhammad to Aḥmad al-Tijānī · Two independent sources
The order's own account, as TDV relays it: in 1196/1782 at Abū Samghūn al-Tijānī received a spiritual unveiling (keşf) in which the Prophet taught him the order's litanies and gave him authority to guide; he then declared no tie to any other ṭarīqa.
TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, Ticânî, Ahmed b. MuhammedChecked against
- Trimingham, The Sufi Orders in Islam (1971), owner text, trimingham_sufi-orders-in-islam_1971.txt#L6066-6082 · agreesAccount "said to be derived directly from Aḥmad": the call at Tlemcen in 1196/1782, permission to initiate "in a waking and not sleeping state", and the wird assigned to him.
- Trimingham, The Sufi Orders in Islam (1971), owner text, trimingham_sufi-orders-in-islam_1971.txt#L6106-6120 · agreesTijānīs have only one silsila going back to the founder; he was told to abandon all that he had taken from other shaykhs.
Where the sources differ, side by side. We do not rule between them.
- TDV: al-Tijānī says the litanies were taught to him by the Prophet in a dream (rüya); TDV elsewhere calls the event a spiritual unveiling. Members date the order's founding to 1782.TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, Ticânî, Ahmed b. Muhammed
- The order's own literature (e.g. ʿAlī Ḥarāzim's Jawāhir al-maʿānī) describes the meeting as in a waking state (yaqẓatan), not in sleep. This wording is not in the TDV entry and was not read in an open source for this atlas.the community's own account: ʿAlī Ḥarāzim Barrāda, Jawāhir al-maʿānī (order's own literature; not read here, identified via Wikipedia)
- TDV: he first taught as a Khalwatī shaykh after receiving khilāfa from Maḥmūd al-Kurdī; Ottoman Sufi sources list the Tijāniyya as a Khalwatī branch, while ʿAlī Ḥarāzim records that Khalwatī chain as taken only for blessing (tabarrukan) and the order's sources begin the silsila with the Prophet and al-Tijānī.TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, Ticânî, Ahmed b. Muhammed
- TDV: in Fez the scholar Ibn Kīrān rejected his claim to be a shaykh. TDV also reports, from his disciples' books, that he saw himself as heir to the stations of quṭb, quṭb al-aqṭāb and khatm al-wilāya (ideas TDV traces to Ibn ʿArabī), that ulema criticised him for this, and that he answered them forcefully.TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, Ticânî, Ahmed b. Muhammed
- Trimingham (1971, p. 107, citing Jawāhir al-maʿānī i. 43) quotes the order's account as permission given "in a waking and not sleeping state", which supports the reading attributed to ʿAlī Ḥarāzim above; he places the call at Tlemcen in 1196/1782 and the final fatḥ at Abū Samghūn in 1200/1786, where TDV puts the unveiling at Abū Samghūn in 1196/1782.Trimingham, Sufi Orders in Islam (1971)
- Fāṭima al-Zahrāʾفاطمة الزهراء632
two sourcesin The Prophet's family: descent and imamate linessources differ
child of · The Prophet Muhammad to Fāṭima al-Zahrāʾ · Two independent sources
Fāṭima is the Prophet's daughter; the Ehl-i Beyt article treats the Prophet, ʿAlī, Fāṭima, al-Ḥasan and al-Ḥusayn as the five of the 'people of the cloak' in the Shiʿi usage.
TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, Ehl-i BeytChecked against
- al-Dhahabī, Siyar aʿlām al-nubalāʾ (OpenITI), siyar#L36511-36513, L36569 · agreesFāṭima is the Prophet's daughter; the Prophet's line continues only through her.
- Ibn Khallikān, Wafayāt al-aʿyān (OpenITI), wafayat#L9942-9943 · agreesNames Fāṭima, daughter of the Messenger, as al-Ḥasan's mother.
Where the sources differ, side by side. We do not rule between them.
- TDV reports a Sunni position that limits the Ahl al-Bayt to the Prophet's wives, and another that includes his descendants and the Banū Hāshim.TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, Ehl-i Beyt
- TDV reports the Shiʿi usage naming the five (Prophet, ʿAlī, Fāṭima, Ḥasan, Ḥusayn).TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, Ehl-i Beyt
- Ubayy b. Kaʿbأبي بن كعب654
two sourcesin Qirāʾāt: the ten canonical readings
read the Qurʾān to · The Prophet Muhammad to Ubayy b. Kaʿb · Two independent sources
Ibn al-Jazarī: the Companion read the Qurʾān to the Messenger of God (the isnād ends here in each chain).
Ibn al-Jazarī, al-Nashr fī l-qirāʾāt al-ʿashr, OpenITI 0833IbnJazari.Nashr.Shamela0022642-ara1, lines 2836-2840Checked against
- Ibn al-Jazarī, Ghāyat al-nihāya (same author as al-Nashr; not independent), 0833IbnJazari.GhayatNihaya.Shamela0012040-ara1.completed#L789 · agrees (not independent)Entry: he read the Qurʾān to the Prophet.
- al-Dhahabī, Maʿrifat al-qurrāʾ al-kibār, 0748Dhahabi.MacrifaQurraKibar.Shamela0008349-ara2#L193 · agreesEntry: he read the Qurʾān to the Prophet.
- al-Dānī, al-Taysīr fī l-qirāʾāt al-sabʿ, 0444AbuCamrDani.TaysirFiQiraatSabc.Shamela0005527-ara1#L136-L140 · agreesRijāl of Nāfiʿ: chain ends Ubayy, then the Prophet.
- Zayd b. Thābitزيد بن ثابت665
two sourcesin Qirāʾāt: the ten canonical readings
read the Qurʾān to · The Prophet Muhammad to Zayd b. Thābit · Two independent sources
Ibn al-Jazarī: the Companion read the Qurʾān to the Messenger of God (the isnād ends here in each chain).
Ibn al-Jazarī, al-Nashr fī l-qirāʾāt al-ʿashr, OpenITI 0833IbnJazari.Nashr.Shamela0022642-ara1, lines 2836-2840Checked against
- Ibn al-Jazarī, Ghāyat al-nihāya (same author as al-Nashr; not independent), 0833IbnJazari.GhayatNihaya.Shamela0012040-ara1.completed#L8309 · agrees (not independent)Entry: he read the Qurʾān to the Prophet.
- al-Dhahabī, Maʿrifat al-qurrāʾ al-kibār, 0748Dhahabi.MacrifaQurraKibar.Shamela0008349-ara2#L272 · agreesListed among the first ṭabaqa, those who read to the Messenger of God.
- al-Dānī, al-Taysīr fī l-qirāʾāt al-sabʿ, 0444AbuCamrDani.TaysirFiQiraatSabc.Shamela0005527-ara1#L141-L144 · agreesRijāl of Ibn Kathīr: Ibn ʿAbbās from Ubayy and Zayd, from the Prophet.
- ʿAbd Allāh b. Masʿūdعبد الله بن مسعود652
two sourcesin Qirāʾāt: the ten canonical readings
read the Qurʾān to · The Prophet Muhammad to ʿAbd Allāh b. Masʿūd · Two independent sources
Ibn al-Jazarī: the Companion read the Qurʾān to the Messenger of God (the isnād ends here in each chain).
Ibn al-Jazarī, al-Nashr fī l-qirāʾāt al-ʿashr, OpenITI 0833IbnJazari.Nashr.Shamela0022642-ara1, lines 3917-3922Checked against
- al-Dhahabī, Maʿrifat al-qurrāʾ al-kibār, 0748Dhahabi.MacrifaQurraKibar.Shamela0008349-ara2#L228 · agreesListed among the first ṭabaqa, those who read to the Messenger of God.
- al-Dānī, al-Taysīr fī l-qirāʾāt al-sabʿ, 0444AbuCamrDani.TaysirFiQiraatSabc.Shamela0005527-ara1#L156-L159 · agreesRijāl of ʿĀṣim/Ḥamza: Ibn Masʿūd, from the Prophet.
two sourcesin Schools of law and ḥadīth
companionship (ṣuḥba) · The Prophet Muhammad to ʿAbd Allāh b. Masʿūd · Two independent sources
Companion of the Prophet (Siyar entry, heading read only).
al-Dhahabī, Siyar aʿlām al-nubalāʾ, entry ʿAbd Allāh b. Masʿūd (OpenITI Shamela0010906, line 32384)Checked against
- al-Mizzī, Tahdhīb al-kamāl, Shamela0003722 #L102645 · agreesIbn Masʿūd’s entry opens his sources with the Prophet.
- al-Dhahabī, Siyar aʿlām al-nubalāʾ, Shamela0010906 #L32388 · agreesSiyar: early convert and Badr veteran, i.e. a Companion of the Prophet.
- ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿAbbāsعبد الله بن عباس687
two sourcesin Schools of law and ḥadīth
companionship (ṣuḥba) · The Prophet Muhammad to ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿAbbās · Two independent sources
Companion of the Prophet; named in Siyar as teacher of Jābir b. Zayd (the Prophet link itself not read).
al-Dhahabī, Siyar aʿlām al-nubalāʾ, entry Jābir b. Zayd (OpenITI Shamela0010906, line 63513)Checked against
- al-Mizzī, Tahdhīb al-kamāl, Shamela0003722 #L96347 · agreesIbn ʿAbbās’s entry opens his sources with the Prophet.
- al-Dhahabī, Siyar aʿlām al-nubalāʾ, Shamela0010906 #L50696 · agreesSiyar: Ibn ʿAbbās kept the Prophet’s company for about thirty months and narrated from him.
6 more
- ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿUmarعبد الله بن عمر
two sourcesin Schools of law and ḥadīth
companionship (ṣuḥba) · The Prophet Muhammad to ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿUmar · Two independent sources
Companion of the Prophet (TDV Mālik names Ibn ʿUmar's rulings as Nāfiʿ's subject).
TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, 'Mâlik b. Enes'Checked against
- al-Mizzī, Tahdhīb al-kamāl, Shamela0003722 #L98639 · agreesIbn ʿUmar’s entry opens his sources with the Prophet.
- al-Dhahabī, Siyar aʿlām al-nubalāʾ, Shamela0010906 #L48157 · agreesSiyar: Ibn ʿUmar narrated much beneficial knowledge from the Prophet and his father.
- ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālibعلي بن أبي طالب661
the community's own accountin Qādiriyya
initiation · The Prophet Muhammad to ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib · The community's own account
TDV Kādiriyye states that in Qādirī ijāzas the chain reaches Ḥaḍrat ʿAlī by two routes; the step from the Prophet to ʿAlī is implied there, not stated.
TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, 'Kādiriyye'Not yet checked against a further reference.
the community's own accountin Shādhiliyya
companionship (ṣuḥba) · The Prophet Muhammad to ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib · The community's own account
Listed in the order's own silsila as relayed by Wikipedia from shazuli.com; the order's own page was not read.
Wikipedia, Shadhili (relays the chain from shazuli.com 'Spiritual Genealogy'; tertiary)Not yet checked against a further reference.
the community's own accountin Mawlawiyya (Mevlevî)
initiation · The Prophet Muhammad to ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib · The community's own account
The chain ends at ʿAlī; the step to the Prophet is the standard Sufi assumption and TDV does not spell it out.
TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, MEVLEVİYYENot yet checked against a further reference.
the community's own accountin Suhrawardiyya
initiation · The Prophet Muhammad to ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib · The community's own account
TDV states the chain reaches ʿAlī; the step from the Prophet is implied, not stated.
TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, 'Sühreverdiyye (Reşat Öngören)'Not yet checked against a further reference.
two sourcesin Qirāʾāt: the ten canonical readings
read the Qurʾān to · The Prophet Muhammad to ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib · Two independent sources
Ibn al-Jazarī: the Companion read the Qurʾān to the Messenger of God (the isnād ends here in each chain).
Ibn al-Jazarī, al-Nashr fī l-qirāʾāt al-ʿashr, OpenITI 0833IbnJazari.Nashr.Shamela0022642-ara1, lines 3917-3922Checked against
- al-Dhahabī, Maʿrifat al-qurrāʾ al-kibār, 0748Dhahabi.MacrifaQurraKibar.Shamela0008349-ara2#L148 · agreesListed among the first ṭabaqa, those who read to the Messenger of God.
- al-Dānī, al-Taysīr fī l-qirāʾāt al-sabʿ, 0444AbuCamrDani.TaysirFiQiraatSabc.Shamela0005527-ara1#L156-L159 · agreesRijāl of ʿĀṣim: al-Sulamī took from ʿAlī, among others, from the Prophet.
one sourcein Schools of law and ḥadīthsources differ
family descent · The Prophet Muhammad to ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib · One source
In the Twelver and Zaydī accounts ʿAlī is the first imam, by designation.
TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, 'Câfer es-Sâdık'Checked against
- al-Mizzī, Tahdhīb al-kamāl, Shamela0003722 #L135691 · agreesʿAlī’s Tahdhīb entry has him narrating from the Prophet; the claim of designation as first imam is Twelver/Zaydī doctrine, not tested by a prosopography.
- Ibn Khallikān, Wafayāt al-aʿyān, Shamela0001000 #L5685 · agreesIbn Khallikān calls Jaʿfar one of the twelve imams “according to the Imāmiyya”, attributing the Twelver line rather than asserting it.
Where the sources differ, side by side. We do not rule between them.
- Twelver tradition: designated by the Prophet; the imam's knowledge is inherited from the Prophet (TDV, 'Câfer es-Sâdık', summarising Shia sources).TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, 'Câfer es-Sâdık'
- ʿUthmān b. ʿAffānعثمان بن عفان656
two sourcesin Qirāʾāt: the ten canonical readings
read the Qurʾān to · The Prophet Muhammad to ʿUthmān b. ʿAffān · Two independent sources
Ibn al-Jazarī: the Companion read the Qurʾān to the Messenger of God (the isnād ends here in each chain).
Ibn al-Jazarī, al-Nashr fī l-qirāʾāt al-ʿashr, OpenITI 0833IbnJazari.Nashr.Shamela0022642-ara1, lines 3626-3636Checked against
- al-Dhahabī, Maʿrifat al-qurrāʾ al-kibār, 0748Dhahabi.MacrifaQurraKibar.Shamela0008349-ara2#L128 · agreesListed among the first ṭabaqa, those who read to the Messenger of God.
- al-Dānī, al-Taysīr fī l-qirāʾāt al-sabʿ, 0444AbuCamrDani.TaysirFiQiraatSabc.Shamela0005527-ara1#L152-L155 · agreesRijāl of Ibn ʿĀmir: al-Mughīra took from ʿUthmān, from the Prophet.
- Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīqأبو بكر الصديق634
one sourcein Naqshbandiyyasources differ
initiation · The Prophet Muhammad to Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq · One source
TDV Sıddîkıyye: in the earliest attested Khwājagān chain (Maqāmāt-i Yūsuf-i Hamadānī, attributed to Ghujduwānī) Hamadānī says the dhikr instruction 'first came to Abū Bakr's heart'; TDV traces how later Naqshbandī works explained this.
TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, 'Sıddîkıyye'Checked against
- Arthur F. Buehler, Sufi Heirs of the Prophet (Univ. of South Carolina Press, 1998), ch. 4, pp. 88, 90, 92 · agreesBuehler: Sirhindī stressed the Abū Bakr line; Bahāʾ al-Dīn named both the imams' golden chain and Abū Bakr descent.
Where the sources differ, side by side. We do not rule between them.
- Naqshbandī tradition: Maslak al-ʿārifīn (early 8th/14th c.) cites a report attributed to the Prophet, 'whatever God poured into my heart I poured into Abū Bakr's heart'; al-Qazwīnī (978/1570) adds that the Prophet taught Abū Bakr the dhikr of the heart three times in the cave of Thawr (as reported by TDV).TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, 'Sıddîkıyye'
- TDV Sıddîkıyye: the Thawr-cave narration is not found in hadith and history works, the Sufi classics or the earliest Naqshbandī sources, though later Naqshbandī circles largely accepted it.TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, 'Sıddîkıyye'
- The Naqshbandī shaykh Shihāb al-Dīn al-Marjānī of Kazan said the chain said to come through Abū Bakr has no scholarly basis (as reported by TDV).TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, 'Sıddîkıyye'
- Buehler: three of the first six links of the Bakrī silsila are historically impossible (n. 14); Dina Le Gall, cited by him, finds 16th-17th c. Naqshbandī chains often give parallel Bakrī and ʿAlid derivations.Arthur F. Buehler, Sufi Heirs of the Prophet (Univ. of South Carolina Press, 1998), ch. 4, pp. 88, 90 n. 28
one sourcein Layènespiritual link, without meetingsources differ
spiritual link, without a meeting (uwaysī) · The Prophet Muhammad to Seydina Limamou Laye · One source
The community's own account, as Wikipedia reports it: Limamou Laye was the Mahdi and the return of the Prophet Muhammad. The Layène have no initiatory silsila in the sources read.
Wikipedia, Layene (tertiary; cites Glover 2013, Thomas 2012, Laborde 1994, Bop 2005, Halverson 2020)Checked against
- Wikipedia, Layene, founder section · agreesStates the claim as community belief; no scholarly assessment given.
- Thomas 2012 (record only), title · silentTitle frames the subject as Sufism and Mahdism; text not read.
Where the sources differ, side by side. We do not rule between them.
- Wikipedia: the founder is said to have claimed to be the Mahdi, and the community holds him to be the return of the Prophet; it adds that the Layène are open to all Muslims.Wikipedia, Layene (tertiary; cites Glover 2013, Thomas 2012, Laborde 1994, Bop 2005, Halverson 2020)
- Founding date: Wikipedia 1884; an allAfrica report counts January 2026 as the 146th anniversary of the community's 'Appel', i.e. 1880. Not reconciled.allAfrica, 146e anniversaire de l'Appel de Seydina Limamou LahiWikipedia, Layene (tertiary; cites Glover 2013, Thomas 2012, Laborde 1994, Bop 2005, Halverson 2020)
- ʿUmar b. al-Khaṭṭābعمر بن الخطاب644
the community's own accountin Qirāʾāt: the ten canonical readings
read the Qurʾān to · The Prophet Muhammad to ʿUmar b. al-Khaṭṭāb · The community's own account
Ibn al-Jazarī: the Companion read the Qurʾān to the Messenger of God (the isnād ends here in each chain).
Ibn al-Jazarī, al-Nashr fī l-qirāʾāt al-ʿashr, OpenITI 0833IbnJazari.Nashr.Shamela0022642-ara1, lines 2836-2840Checked against
- Ibn al-Jazarī, Ghāyat al-nihāya (same author as al-Nashr; not independent), 0833IbnJazari.GhayatNihaya.Shamela0012040-ara1.completed#L16232 · silent (not independent)Entry gives narrations from ʿUmar and the report that Abū l-ʿĀliya read to him; no statement that he read to the Prophet.
- al-Dhahabī, Maʿrifat al-qurrāʾ al-kibār, 0748Dhahabi.MacrifaQurraKibar.Shamela0008349-ara2#L128 · silentEntry does not state this link.
How to cite
Mashraba Reader, Atlas of transmission, “The Prophet Muhammad”, https://www.mashraba.org/atlas/figure/prophet-muhammad (data of 31 October 2026).