Eleven Naqshbandi principles

There were originally eight principles formulated by the Central Asian Sufi teacher Abdul Khaliq Gajadwani (died 1179), the last three of the eleven being added later by Baha-ud-Din Naqshband Bukhari (1318–1389), founder of the Naqshbandi Order.

They are carried out under individual tuition, expertly prescribed, monitored for changes, and carefully adjusted by a teacher, rather than being automatically performed.

[2] The principles have been brought to the attention of contemporary Western audiences through the works of the writers Idries Shah,[2][4] John G. Bennett,[5] Omar Ali-Shah[6] and J. Spencer Trimingham.

[7] The exercises were an important aspect of Omar Ali-Shah's work with groups in the modern Naqshbandi tradition in the West.

For instance, one of Ali-Shah's books of edited transcripts, The Rules or Secrets of the Naqshbandi Order, was devoted to this subject.