Moinuddin Chishti (Urdu: معین الدین چشتی, Persian: معین الدین چشتی, Urdu: معین الدین چشتی, Arabic: ششتي
معین الدین) was born in 1141 and died in 1236 CE. Also known as Gharīb
Nawāz "Benefactor of the Poor" (غریب نواز),
he is the most famous saint of the Chishti
Order of Sufism of
the Indian
subcontinent. Moinuddin Chishti introduced and
established the order in the subcontinent. The initial spiritual chain or silsila of the Chishti order in India, comprising Moinuddin
Chishti, Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki, Fariduddin Ganjshakar and Nizamuddin
Auliya, each
successive person being the disciple of the previous, constitutes the
great Sufi
saints of Indian history.
Early life and background
Moinuddin Chishti is said to have
been born in 536 AH/1141 CE in Chisht in Herat, Afghanistan. His parents died when he was fifteen years old. He
inherited a windmill and an orchard from
his father. During his childhood, young Moinuddin was different from other
children and kept himself busy in prayers and meditation. Legend has it that once when he was watering his plants, a
revered Sufi, Ibrāhim Qundūzī—the name deriving from his birthplace, Kunduz in Afghanistan—came to his orchard. Young Moinuddin approached him and
offered him some fruits. In return, Ibrāhīm Qundūzī gave him a piece of bread
and asked him to eat it. The Khwāja got
enlightened and found himself in a strange world after eating the bread. After
this he disposed of his property and other belongings and distributed the money
to the poor. He renounced the world and left for Bukhara in
search of knowledge and higher education.
Journeys
Moinuddin Chishti visited the
seminaries of Samarkand and Bukhara and
acquired religious learning from the eminent scholars of his age. He visited
nearly all the great centers of Muslim culture,
and acquainted himself with almost every important trend in Muslim religious
life in the Middle Ages. He became a disciple of the Chishti saint Usman
Harooni. They travelled the Middle East extensively together, including visits to Mecca and Medina.
Journey to India
Moinuddin Chishtī turned
towards India,
reputedly after a dream in which Prophet Muhammad blessed him to do so. After a brief stay at Lahore,
he reached Ajmer along with Mu'izz al-Din Muhammad, and settled down there. In Ajmer, he attracted a
substantial following, acquiring a great deal of respect amongst the residents
of the city. Moinuddin Chishti promoted understanding between Muslims and
non-Muslims.
Establishing the Chishti Order in India
The Chishti Order was founded
by Abu
Ishaq Shami (“the Syrian”) in Chisht some 95 miles east of Herat in
present-day westernAfghanistan. Moinuddin Chishti established the order in India, in the
city of Ajmer in North India.
Moinuddin Chishti apparently never
wrote down his teachings in the form of a book, nor did his immediate
disciples, but the central principles that became characteristics of the
Chishti order in India are based on his teachings and practices. They lay
stress on renunciation of material goods; strict regime of self-discipline and
personal prayer; participation in samā' as a legitimate means to spiritual transformation;
reliance on either cultivation or unsolicited offerings as means of basic
subsistence; independence from rulers and the state, including rejection of
monetary and land grants; generosity to others, particularly, through sharing
of food and wealth, and tolerance and respect for religious differences.
He, in other words, interpreted
religion in terms of human service and exhorted his disciples "to develop
river-like generosity, sun-like affection and earth-like hospitality." The
highest form of devotion, according to him, was "to redress the misery of
those in distress – to fulfill the needs of the helpless and to feed the
hungry."
It was during the reign of Akbar (1556–1605)
that Ajmer emerged as one of the most important centers of pilgrimage in India.
The Mughal Emperor undertook a journey on foot to Ajmer. The Akbarnāma records that the emperor's interest in Ajmer first
sparked when he heard some minstrels singing songs about the virtues of
the wali who lay asleep in Ajmer.
Moinuddin Chishti authored several
books including Anīs al-Arwāḥ and Dalīl al-'Ārifīn,
both of which deal with the Islamic code of living.
Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki (d. 1235)
and Hamiduddin Nagori (d. 1276) were Moinuddin Chishti's celebrated caliphs or
"successors", who continued to transmit the teachings of their master
through their disciples, leading to the widespread proliferation of the Chishtī
Order in India.
Among Quṭbuddīn Baktiar Kaki's
prominent disciples was Fariduddin Ganjshakar (d. 1265), whose dargah is at Pakpattan, modern Pakistan.
Fariduddin's most famous disciple was Nizamuddin Auliya (d. 1325) popularly referred
to as Mahbūb-e Ilāhī "God's beloved", whose dargah is located in
South Delhi. Equally famous was his other disciple Ali Ahmed Alauddin Sabir
whose dargah is in Kalyar Sharif. The Sabiri silsila is spread far and wide in
India and Pakistan and to this day devotees and their descendants add the title
of Sabri to their names.
From Delhi, disciples branched out
to establish dargahs in several regions of South Asia, from Sindh in the west to Bengal in
the east and the Deccan Plateau in the south. But from all the network of Chishti
dargahs, the Ajmer dargah took on the special distinction of being the
"mother: dargah of them all.
Dargah Sharif
.JPG)
Dargah of Moinuddin Chishti, Ajmer
The dargah (shrine) of Chisti, known as Dargah Sharif or Ajmer
Sharif is an international wakf (endowment), managed under the 'Dargah Khwaja Saheb Act, 1955' of
Government of India. The Dargah Committee, appointed by the Government, manages
donations, takes care of the maintenance of the shrine, and runs charitable institutions
like dispensaries, and guest houses for the devotees. The dargah, which is
visited by Muslim pilgrims as well as Hindus and Sikhs as
a symbol of intercommunal harmony.
In popular culture
Shah ast Hussein, Badshah ast Hussein
Ruler is Hussain, Emperor is Hussain
Ruler is Hussain, Emperor is Hussain
Din ast Hussein, Dinpanah ast
Hussein
Faith is Hussain , guardian of faith is Hussain
Faith is Hussain , guardian of faith is Hussain
The song "Khwaja Mere
Khwaja" from the Hindi film Jodhaa Akbar was inspired by the life and deeds of Moinuddin
Chishti.
Sufis of the Chishtī order
He had more than one thousand
khalīfas and hundreds of thousands of disciples. Sufis of different orders
became his disciples and took ijāzah from him. Among the famous Sufis who trace
their lineage to him are: Quṭbuddīn Bakhtiyār Kākī, Farīduddīn Mas'ūd, Nizāmuddīn
Auliyā', Hazrat Ahmed
Alauddin Sabir Kalyari Amir Khusrau, Nasiruddin Chiragh Dehlavi, Muhammad
Hussain-i Gisūdarāz Bandanawāz, Ashraf Jahāngīr Simnānī and Aṭā' Hussain Fānī.
Today, hundreds of thousands of
people – Muslims, Hindus and others, from the Indian sub-continent, and from
other parts of the world – assemble at his tomb on the occasion of his 'urs (death
anniversary).
Spiritual lineage
Start of the Chishtī Order:
1.
[Adul-Ishaq
Shami Chisti Khadas-Allah –Sirrahu]
2.
[Abu
Muhammad Abdal Chishti Khadas-Allah –Sirrahu]
3.
[Abu
Muhammad bin Abi Ahmed Chishti Khadas-Allah –Sirrahu]
8.
[
Muneeruddin Haji Shareef Zandani Khadas-Allah –Sirrahu]
9.
[Qutubuddin
Yusuf Chisti Khadas-Allah –Sirrahu]
10.
Moinuddin
Chishti
Others buried in the Maqbara enclosure
The famous Mughal generals Sheikh
Mīr and Shāhnawāz Khān were buried in the enclosure of Moinuddin
Chishtī's Maqbara after they died in the Battle of Deorai in
1659. Shāhnawāz Khān was the Emperor Aurangzeb's
father-in-law.
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