During his 1672 visit to Hezhoi, Khoja Afaq played an important role in the life of a certain Ma Laichi (1673-1753), a Hezhou Hui of extraordinary talent who went on to found one of the earliest and most influential Naqshbandiyya orders in China, the Khufiyya menhuan. According to Sufi tradition, Ma Laichi was born to a childless couple after receiving Khoja Afaq’s blessings, and was later raised and trained by one of his disciples, Ma Tai Baba (“Great Father”), who later gave him his daughter in marriage and passed on to him the leadership of the mystical path that he had received from Khoja Afaq. From 1728-81, Ma Laichi went on to the pilgrimage to Mecca, Yemen, and Bukhara where he studied several Sufi orders, and became particularlly influenced by Mawlana Makhdum, a man of uncertain origin, who Fletcher hypothesizes may have been Indian. When he returned from his polgrimage, Ma Laichi established the most powerful of the Khufiyya menhuan, the Huasi (“flowery mosque”) branch, propograting the order for 32 years among the Hui and Salar in Gansu and Qinghai, before his death in 1766 at the age of 86. The menhuan is still quite active and centered in Linxia Hui Autonomous Region, Gansu, at the tomb of Ma Laichi, which was restored in 1986.
Originating in an earlier Central Asian and Yemeni Naqshbandi Sufism, the Khfiyya order was permeated with an emphasis on a more passive participation in society, the veneration of saints, the seeking of inspiration at tombs, and the silent dhikr (“rememberance,” properly “Khafiyya,” the “silent ones) There are now over 20 sub-branch menhuan throughout China, with mosques in Yunnan, Xinjiang, and Beijing. Most Khufiyya orders are concentrated in Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia, and Xinjiang with several of the original Khufiyya practices in some outlying areas such as northern Ningxia beginning to lose their distinctiveness over time.
ref: Atabaki, Touraj. Mehendale, Sanjyot. Central Asia and the Caucasus. pub: Routledge (2005)
Where are these housed and what else can you see?
Badshahi Masjid:
Badshahi Mosque (The Imperial mosque of Aurangzeb Alamgir) is situated to the west of the Lahore Fort. It is built on a raised platform, set on arches, and is considerably elevated above the surface of the ground. The handsome and stately gateway to the east, made of red sand-stone and marble, is approached by a magnificent flight of large circular steps, paved with a beautifully variegated stone from Kabul, known as Abri. The mosque has been built in imitation of the mosque of Al Walid in Mecca. Above the arched entrance are many small turrets of red sand-stone and marble, and a tablet of white marble on the outer face of this entrance has the following inscription, in large letters, below the Kalima of the Muslim creed: The mosque of the victorious and valliant king Muhy-ad-din Muhammed Alamgir. Constructed and completed under the superintendence of the humblest servent of the royal household, Fidai Khan, Koka, in 1084 A.H.”
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The relics of the Prophet (S) and his successors, in the upper story of the archway are kept, in glass cases, the relics of the Prophet Muhammed (S) and of some of his successors and the leaders of the faith of Islam. They comprise a green turban worn by the Prophet Muhammed (S), with a cap, round which it was tied; a green coat worn by him; a dawk or wadded counterpane, with white and red stripes, used by him, his white trousers, a slipper of Muhammed (S); the mark of his foot impressed on a sandal coloured stone, and his white banner, with verses of Quran embroidered on it.
There are also the first chapter of the Quran, in the hand-writing of Ali, in Kufi characters, on a white paper; his cap with a turban tied round it, and a Tawiz (Talisman) belonging to him, written on an old paper.
There are the embroidered handkerchiefs of Fatima, daughter of Muhammed (S), and her embroidered carpet; Surahs Yasin and Wassafat, in Kufi characters, written by Hussein; his handkerchief, sprinkled with blood; a turban worn by Ghaus-ul-Azam, his quilt and his prayer carpet; some red earth from Kerbela; a decayed tooth, believed to be of Awais Karni; a cover of the prophet’s tomb, and the covers of the tombs of Hasan, Husein, and Ghaus-al-Azam.
The Muslims pay the highest respect to these relics of the leaders of their faith. They were kept in the Sheesh Mahal (Palace of Mirrors) in the fort, but were subsequently made over to the Muslims and are now kept at this place.
“Haramayn” is the word used in Ottoman Manuscripts to refer to Mecca and Medina; it means “the two harams-sanctuaries.” Mecca is a sanctuary because of the Ka’ba, and Medina was declared a sanctuary after the Prophet’s emigration to this city. The Ottomans referred to Jerusalem, which was the first direction for prayer (qibla), as “the third of the Haramayn.”
The Ottomans were emotionally connected with these two holy cities and this connection was reflected in their national traditions and international policies. Starting from the time of Sultan Celebi Mehmed, every year a caravan of royal gifts (Surre Alayi) was sent to the holy lands as a sign of respect. Sultan Mehmed II the Conqueror demanded that the Mamluks renovate the conduits that carried water to the Hijaz, or that they leave the renovation to the Ottomans. The Mamluks’ refusal to do this brought the two countries to the brink of war.
Following the conquest of Egypt by Selim I (Yavuz Sultan Selim) in 1517, the governor of Mecca sent an envoy to deliver the keys of the city to the Sultan and expressed his allegiance on July 12, 1517; it is from this date that the Ottoman rule over the holy lands, a rule lasting for four centuries, started. Selim I sent the envoy back with a caravan of two hundred thousand gold coins and a great quantity of foodstuffs.
Selim I attended the Friday prayer in the Grand Mosque (Ulu Cami) of Aleppo after defeating the Mamluks in Marj Dabiq. The imam proclaimed the sultan to be “Ruler of the Haramayn” while delivering the Friday sermon given in the presence of Abbasid Caliph Al-Mutawaqqil. Selim I correct the imam saying that he was the “Servant of the Haramayn”. This gives an idea about the respect the Ottomans felt towards the region in comparison to the Mamluks, who had adopted the title “Protector of the Haramayn”.
Selim I is quoted as having said, “We are a nation who has sacrificed our lives for the unity of Muslims” For centuries, the Ottomans were a unique power that protected the Islamic world from outside attacks; a fact that has strengthened the allegiance of Muslims to Istanbul until the time when the Great Ottoman State (Devlet-i Aliye) collapsed. Halil Inalcik reports the following events in his “The Ottoman Empire: The Classical Age 1300-1600: In 1517, while Selim I was in Cairo, the Protuguese fleet entered the Red Sea to attack Mecca. The governor of Mecca was about to leave the city when the people of Hijaz asked for help and protection from the Ottoman admiral Selim Reis. The port of Jeddah was successfully defended against the Portuguese.
The Ottomans already had a fleet in the Mediterranean; Selim I ordered that another fleet be built in the Suez to ensure Ottoman rule over the Red Sea and the protection of the Haramayn, which was further strengthened after Aden and Yemen were annexed.
In the sixteenth century, the Muslim rulers of Sumatra and India demanded support from the Ottomans against the Portuguese , and in their letters they addressed the sultan as the “protector of Islam”. Turkish khanates to the north of the Black Sea complained to the Ottomans about the Russian obstruction of their pilgrimage route to Mecca through the Crimea. The Ottomans launched a campaign to the Volga basin to establish security for the pilgrims.
Excerpted from the “Yildiz Albums of Sultan Abdul Hamid II Mecca-Medina”
There was a close bond between Mawlana Ala ad-Din and the venerable Shaikh Abd al-Kabir Yamani. At the beginning of his spiritual career, Shaikh Abd al-Kabir used to leave his native Yemen and travel about in the Arab and Persian lands. After twenty years of wandering, he became a resident in the vicinity of the Sacred Shrine [in Mecca]. At the time, he seems to have been the meeting point of visitors to the blessed sites. Mawlana Ala ad-Din was frequently in contact with him, during his residence at the Sacred Shrine [Haram].
The Shaikh asked Mawlana: “What is wrongdoing [zulm]?”
“Putting something in a place that is not its proper place.”
“The place in which to remember the Truth is the heart. It is wrongdoing to put anythin gother than the Truth into that place.”
The Shaikh also asked: “What is rememberance [zikr]?”
“It is the affirmation of Oneness [Tawhid].”
“This is not remembrance; it is worship [ibada].”
“What is remembrance, then? You tell me!”
“Remembrance is acknowledging that it is not possible for Him to be truly acknowledged.”
The Sheykh went on to say: “It is necessary to emphasize ignorance, and to formulate the intention to perform the ritual prayer by saying ‘I shall worship Allah, whom I am incapable of truly knowing!’”
-Rashahat Ain al-Hayat
the truth on 
m.a.kidwai,CME/IND.RLY.(retd.) on 
