THE GUIDE Bibi Sahiba — What'shername

Excerpt from the biography of Bibi Sahiba
written in 1816 by her son Shah Fazlullah Qandahari.

In the late 18th century, Bibi Sahiba was one of the most important and influential people in the entire Afghan Empire. Honored as “the first and the most perfect” Sufi guide, Bibi Sahiba the Great’s spiritual and cultural influence can hardly be overstated. So how is it possible that she’s now as unknown in modern Kabul and Kandahar as she is anywhere else?

Bibi Sahiba’s story is astonishing enough on its own — but mind-blowing context from guest Professor Waleed Ziad, along with special musical guests Zeb Bangash and Shamali Afghan, helps us uncover why pretty much everything you know about Afghanistan is wrong.

A complete transcript of this episode is available here.

All photos by Waleed Ziad unless otherwise indicated. Used by permission.

The shrine and Sufi Center of Hazratji Qandahari, from Bibi Sahiba’s sacred lineage, Qandahar, Afghanistan (Lithograph, James Rattray, 1848)

The shrine on Bibi Sahiba’s grandson, ‘Abd al-Rahim Qandahari — The shrine of Bibi Sahiba’s grandson, ‘Abd al-Rahim Qandahari (d. 1896), Matiari on the Indus, Pakistan

The royal citadel at Bukhara, Uzbekistan.

The shrine of Imam ‘Ali at Mazar-e Sharif, Afghanistan, where Bibi Sahiba was buried

Mazar e Sharif — The shrine of Imam ‘Ali at Mazar-e Sharif, Afghanistan, where Bibi Sahiba was buried

The Valley of Farrukhshah, Nijrab, Afghanistan, where her son Ziya ul-Haq taught, and was martyred in the First Anglo-Afghan War.

Waleed Ziad is Assistant Professor and Ali Jerrahi Fellow in Persian Studies in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Prior to this, he was an Islamic Law and Civilization Research Fellow at Yale Law School. He completed his PhD in the Department of History at Yale University, where his dissertation won the university-wide Theron Rockwell Field Prize, one of two most prestigious awards across disciplines. In the last decade, Ziad has conducted fieldwork on historical and contemporary religious revivalism and Sufism in over 120 towns across Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, and Pakistan. His forthcoming books include Hidden Caliphate: Sufi Saints beyond the Oxus and Indus, In the Treasure Room of the Sakra King: The Native Copper Coinage of Northern Gandhara, Beyond the Khutba and Sikka: Sovereignty and Coinage in Sindh, and The Arch-Saint of the Afghan Empire, Her Teacher, and Her Son (in progress). His articles on historical and ideological trends in the Muslim world have appeared in the New York Times, International Herald Tribune, the Wall Street Journal, Foreign Policy, Christian Science Monitor, The Hill and major dailies internationally.

Music featured in this episode:

All music for THE GUIDE generously provided by Zeb Bangash, Shamali Afghan and Zain Ali.

Music featured in this episode:

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