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.
الشيخ يوسف دا كوستا
Shaykh Yūsuf Da Costa (Cape Town)
Cape Town
Appointed by Nāẓim al-Ḥaqqānī as khalīfa for Southern Africa, renewed under Mehmet Âdil; former associate professor at the University of the Western Cape; led township outreach of the order in South Africa
Sources for this person
The chain up to the Prophet
Dates are given where the sources give them. Years are CE; the Hijri year is in each name's detail.
Route 1 of 3, the best-sourced: Naqshbandiyya. Tap a rule to read its basis, sources and checks.
Sources differ on 12 links of this route.
- The Prophet Muhammadمحمد632
- Shaykh Sharaf al-Dīn al-Dāghistānīشرف الدين الداغستاني
one sourcein Naqshbandiyya
initiation · Shaykh Sharaf al-Dīn al-Dāghistānī to Shaykh ʿAbd Allāh al-Fāʾiz al-Dāghistānī · One source
Next entry in the order's own chain.
the community's own account: naqshbandi.org, 'Origins' (Naqshbandi Haqqani Order's own golden chain)Checked against
- naqshbandi.org Origins, chain list · agreesOrder's own account only; no independent source read.
Shaykh ʿAbd Allāh al-Fāʾiz al-Dāghistānīعبد الله الفائز الداغستانيone sourcein Naqshbandiyya
initiation · Shaykh ʿAbd Allāh al-Fāʾiz al-Dāghistānī to Shaykh Nāẓim ʿĀdil al-Ḥaqqānī · One source
Next entry in the order's own chain; Nāẓim is its last listed historical shaykh.
the community's own account: naqshbandi.org, 'Origins' (Naqshbandi Haqqani Order's own golden chain)Checked against
- naqshbandi.org Origins, chain list · agreesPage ends the chain at Nāẓim ʿĀdil al-Ḥaqqānī.
Shaykh Nāẓim ʿĀdil al-Ḥaqqānīناظم عادل الحقاني2014one sourcein Naqshbandiyya
successor of · Shaykh Nāẓim ʿĀdil al-Ḥaqqānī to Shaykh Yūsuf Da Costa (Cape Town) · One source
VOC FM: Da Costa was appointed khalīfa for Southern Africa by Nāẓim, authority renewed when Mehmet Âdil became murshid. Second report (2017) places the order's township dhikr 'under the auspices of' Da Costa. Appointment, not initiation, is what is sourced.
VOC FM (Cape Town), 'Muslim community mourns passing of Shaykh Yusuf Da Costa', 4 Dec 2018 (archived)VOC FM, 'CT youth rise in spiritual orders, fighting extremism', 8 May 2017Checked against
- VOC FM 2018 condolence report, article · agreesStates the appointment as khalīfa and its renewal; report draws on the order's statement.
- VOC FM 2017, article · agreesNames him as leading the Naqshbandī township dhikr; does not mention khilāfa.
Shaykh Yūsuf Da Costa (Cape Town)الشيخ يوسف دا كوستا
Other routes (2)
Route 2 of 3: Naqshbandiyya
Sources differ on 11 links of this route.
- The Prophet Muhammadمحمد632
- Shaykh Sharaf al-Dīn al-Dāghistānīشرف الدين الداغستاني
one sourcein Naqshbandiyya
initiation · Shaykh Sharaf al-Dīn al-Dāghistānī to Shaykh ʿAbd Allāh al-Fāʾiz al-Dāghistānī · One source
Next entry in the order's own chain.
the community's own account: naqshbandi.org, 'Origins' (Naqshbandi Haqqani Order's own golden chain)Checked against
- naqshbandi.org Origins, chain list · agreesOrder's own account only; no independent source read.
Shaykh ʿAbd Allāh al-Fāʾiz al-Dāghistānīعبد الله الفائز الداغستانيone sourcein Naqshbandiyya
initiation · Shaykh ʿAbd Allāh al-Fāʾiz al-Dāghistānī to Shaykh Nāẓim ʿĀdil al-Ḥaqqānī · One source
Next entry in the order's own chain; Nāẓim is its last listed historical shaykh.
the community's own account: naqshbandi.org, 'Origins' (Naqshbandi Haqqani Order's own golden chain)Checked against
- naqshbandi.org Origins, chain list · agreesPage ends the chain at Nāẓim ʿĀdil al-Ḥaqqānī.
Shaykh Nāẓim ʿĀdil al-Ḥaqqānīناظم عادل الحقاني2014one sourcein Naqshbandiyya
successor of · Shaykh Nāẓim ʿĀdil al-Ḥaqqānī to Shaykh Yūsuf Da Costa (Cape Town) · One source
VOC FM: Da Costa was appointed khalīfa for Southern Africa by Nāẓim, authority renewed when Mehmet Âdil became murshid. Second report (2017) places the order's township dhikr 'under the auspices of' Da Costa. Appointment, not initiation, is what is sourced.
VOC FM (Cape Town), 'Muslim community mourns passing of Shaykh Yusuf Da Costa', 4 Dec 2018 (archived)VOC FM, 'CT youth rise in spiritual orders, fighting extremism', 8 May 2017Checked against
- VOC FM 2018 condolence report, article · agreesStates the appointment as khalīfa and its renewal; report draws on the order's statement.
- VOC FM 2017, article · agreesNames him as leading the Naqshbandī township dhikr; does not mention khilāfa.
Shaykh Yūsuf Da Costa (Cape Town)الشيخ يوسف دا كوستا
Route 3 of 3: Naqshbandiyya
Sources differ on 10 links of this route.
- The Prophet Muhammadمحمد632
- Shaykh Sharaf al-Dīn al-Dāghistānīشرف الدين الداغستاني
one sourcein Naqshbandiyya
initiation · Shaykh Sharaf al-Dīn al-Dāghistānī to Shaykh ʿAbd Allāh al-Fāʾiz al-Dāghistānī · One source
Next entry in the order's own chain.
the community's own account: naqshbandi.org, 'Origins' (Naqshbandi Haqqani Order's own golden chain)Checked against
- naqshbandi.org Origins, chain list · agreesOrder's own account only; no independent source read.
Shaykh ʿAbd Allāh al-Fāʾiz al-Dāghistānīعبد الله الفائز الداغستانيone sourcein Naqshbandiyya
initiation · Shaykh ʿAbd Allāh al-Fāʾiz al-Dāghistānī to Shaykh Nāẓim ʿĀdil al-Ḥaqqānī · One source
Next entry in the order's own chain; Nāẓim is its last listed historical shaykh.
the community's own account: naqshbandi.org, 'Origins' (Naqshbandi Haqqani Order's own golden chain)Checked against
- naqshbandi.org Origins, chain list · agreesPage ends the chain at Nāẓim ʿĀdil al-Ḥaqqānī.
Shaykh Nāẓim ʿĀdil al-Ḥaqqānīناظم عادل الحقاني2014one sourcein Naqshbandiyya
successor of · Shaykh Nāẓim ʿĀdil al-Ḥaqqānī to Shaykh Yūsuf Da Costa (Cape Town) · One source
VOC FM: Da Costa was appointed khalīfa for Southern Africa by Nāẓim, authority renewed when Mehmet Âdil became murshid. Second report (2017) places the order's township dhikr 'under the auspices of' Da Costa. Appointment, not initiation, is what is sourced.
VOC FM (Cape Town), 'Muslim community mourns passing of Shaykh Yusuf Da Costa', 4 Dec 2018 (archived)VOC FM, 'CT youth rise in spiritual orders, fighting extremism', 8 May 2017Checked against
- VOC FM 2018 condolence report, article · agreesStates the appointment as khalīfa and its renewal; report draws on the order's statement.
- VOC FM 2017, article · agreesNames him as leading the Naqshbandī township dhikr; does not mention khilāfa.
Shaykh Yūsuf Da Costa (Cape Town)الشيخ يوسف دا كوستا
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 Shaykh Yūsuf Da Costa (Cape Town)
No one is recorded below this person in the sources read.
How to cite
Mashraba Reader, Atlas of transmission, “Shaykh Yūsuf Da Costa (Cape Town)”, https://www.mashraba.org/atlas/figure/yusuf-da-costa (data of 31 October 2026).