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For the Sufis the great Master, the true Master, is none other than the Prophet (sal) himself, who taught the essential doctrines of esoteric Islam to his Companions, who in turn passed them on to succeeding generations. It is from this source that the Sufis trace their inspiration and their teachings. The Companions also transmitted the grace, blessing, or spiritual influence (barakah) which the Prophet (sal) received from Allah at the beginning of his mission and which he thereafter conveyed to his disciples through the bay'at ar-ridwan (the "Pact of Felicity"), made at Hudaybiyyah (Quran 48:10). The chain of transmission whereby the original pact made with the Prophet is passed on form Shaykh to Shaykh is called a Silsilah, an initiatic chain. All authentic Sufi orders are linked into such a chain.
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