Salaam Sis Jo Elle. I happen to have first hand experience with the reason for the picture above. But instead of cluttering up this JE, I'll refere you to a very well presented reasoning in the JE of Buzzaz titled "QED: Creation is a love story" at naseeb.com uid=94561754215910 (Delete the space after the "& ".)

It says without saying what you are asking. This question itself can lead you to the knowledge you lack and - knowing you - would like to have, and I encourage for you to seek out why those names are there. As a useful start, I recommend this JE to all of the readers of this discussion. Definitely something to be gained therein.

Lastly, I have seen an elaborately framed "lineage of masters" of the Shadhili 'tariqah' in the home of one Amir Darwish and his wife Hebah Saleh (both tied to the man I consider a charlatan: Nuh Ha Mim Keller,) in which the tariqah claims to take lineage from Abu Bakr (R) and no one else. Which is where additional proof for my other concern comes from (hey, Idries Shah spoke of newly invented "taraiq" which were claiming lineages which are known never to have existed!) but this is not the place to raise this. I have discussed it in another JE here and had Termi_Nader attempt to shut me down, at which point I agreed that I disagree and disengaged.

As I said, no sectarian problems here. The ways of the lord as numerous as the souls of men. You may be right and I may be wrong.

May God guide us all.

And jst for the record brother, this event of Ghadir-e-Khum(mankunto maula.. ) is denied by Muftis of these days. Its call a "week hadith" but its still in sahih.

And abt shias not "truly appreciating" the status of Ali(as) is due to the lack of ppls intelligences. Shias respect of the Family of Prophet is commonly replace with "Shirk" and "Bidaah" by most muslims, Thus the incapability of understanding the shias view of the family.

Hence, i suggest everyone to gain knowledge, not only from their own books and scholars, but from others too.

Status of Ali....and the status of panj tan paak, is out of human understanding, we can go as far as our mind let us, but their status is way beyond tat.

And "ones who truly appreciate the status of Ali", Well, brother, tat i have seen in the pages of history, denying the testimony of Ali and Fatima binte Mohammad (AS) in the matter of Fidak, has clearly shown the "appreciation" of the panj tan paak.

When you love someone, you love those whom he loves. The prophet quite definitely loved the punj tan paak most. Although there is no heridity in Islam, yet, the punj tan paak were gifted by God such special rank, that not just because of lineage, but also because of their own exalted status, they are considered second only to the Prophet(sm) himself in respect.

Once, as per a story i heard, when Umar was caliph, his son came to visit him in office but he refused saying im busy. Hz Hussain also came to visit, but seeing that Umar is not meeting his own son, turned back without sending message. When Umar learnt through his gaurd that Hussain had also come, he went after him, bare feet, bare head, and asked him why did u turn away: It is for you that these hair on my head exist (idiomatically meaning that you are the purpose of why we all exist).

Notwithstanding the fact that Sufi muslims, mostly being sunni, do not agree with much of shia arguments regarding right of Ali over first 3 caliphates, yet, we are the ones who truly appreciate the status of Ali, and the true meaning of Man kunto maula wa Ali o maula !! No mistake about that.

Honestly I don't fully know what the picture means, but I do know that the Chishti silsila starts with Caliph Ali and passes through Hazrat Hasan, and the Shadhili starts with Caliph Ali and passes through Imam Husayn, and the Qadiri starts with Caliph Ali and passes through Imam Husayn, and Fatima (ra) received the Muslim spiritual community as her wedding dowry (is our spiritual mother), so perhaps the picture comes from this.

But again, the Naqshbandi doesn't pass through Caliph Ali or his sons (pbut), and it's just as legitimate. So I don't know.

Ok, then from what I'm aware they play the same role as they do in all of Sunni Islam, with the exception of Ali (as), who has a more direct connection through his role in spreading most (but not all) of the tariqas.

My Question is wht does the Five, has to do wth sufism...? its not intented towards Hzt Abu Bakr (RA) or Imam Ali (AS)...

I'm definitely not the best to answer this, but I believe the best approach is to say that Imam Ali (as) plays a role in Sufism in that all but one tariqah stem from the knowledge which passed through him from Nabi Muhammad (saw). This follows the hadith of the Prophet: "I am the city of knowledge and 'Ali is the gate." His family must then be respected not just out of respect for him, but because of all they achieved in their own rights, and for the knowledge they gained through proximity to RasulAllah and Ali.

The other tariqah, Naqshbandi, partially stems to Imam Ali (as) but more so through Abu Bakr (as) according to the ahadith: "the sun never rose nor set on anyone better Abu Bakr except prophets" (Tarikh al-Khulafa' of Suyuti) and "Abu Bakr does not precede you in anything in the way of prayer or fasting but in a secret rooted deep in his heart." (Manaqib as-Sahaba of Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal) and "whatever Allah poured into my heart, I poured into the heart of Abu Bakr as-Siddiq."

Even though the orders stem to these two, Sufi Islam pays equal respect to all of the 4 righteous Caliphs and Companions and, as far as I'm aware, does not place the same importance on heredity as Shi'ism does.

Does anyone need to ask the importance of the punj tan paak?