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Chishti Order

May 20, 2023

"Chishti" redirects here. For people with the surname, see Chishti (surname).

The Chishtī Order (Persian: چشتی chishtī) is a tariqa, an order or school within the mystic Sufi tradition of Sunni Islam. The Chishti Order is known for its emphasis on love, tolerance, and openness.[1] It began with Abu Ishaq Shami in Chisht, circa 930 AD in a small town near Herat, a strategic city in then Eastern Persia, which later became independent and then part of Afghanistan.

Chishti Order
Seal emblem of the Chishti order
AbbreviationChishti
Formationc. 930 AD
TypeSufi order
HeadquartersHerat, Afghanistan
Key people
Abu Ishaq Shami – founder
Tomb of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti, renowned saint of Chishti order

The Chishti Order is primarily followed in Afghanistan and the Indian subcontinent. It was the first of the four main Sufi orders (Chishti, Qadiri, Suhrawardi and Naqshbandi) to be established in this region. Khwaja Muinuddin Chishti introduced the Chishti Order in Ajmer (Rajasthan, India) sometime in the middle of the 12th century. He was eighth in the line of succession from the founder of the Chishti Order, Abu Ishaq Shami. There are now several branches of the order, which has been the most prominent South Asian Sufi brotherhood since the 12th century.[2]

In the last century, the order has spread outside Afghanistan and the Indian subcontinent. Chishti teachers have established centers in the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Australia, Eastern and Southern Africa.

Guiding principles

The Chishti shaykhs have stressed the importance of keeping a distance from worldly power.[3] A ruler could be a patron or a disciple, but he or she was always to be treated as just another devotee. A Chishti teacher should not attend the court or be involved in matters of state, as this will corrupt the soul with worldly matters. In his last discourse to his disciples, Khawaja Moinuddin Chishti said:

Never seek any help, charity, or favors from anybody except God. Never go to the courts of kings, but never refuse to bless and help the needy and the poor, the widow, and the orphan, if they come to your door.[4]

Chishti practice is also notable for Sama: evoking the divine presence by listening to and losing oneself in a form of music and poetry, usually Qawwali.[5] The Chishti, and some other Sufi orders, believe that Sama can help devotees forget self in the love of Allah. However, the order also insists that followers observe the full range of Muslim obligations; it does not dismiss them as mere legalism, as some strands of Sufism have done.[5]

However some Qadiris point out that the Chishti Order and Moinuddin Chishti never permitted musical instruments, and cite a Chishti, Muhammad Ibn Mubarak Kirmani, the Mureed of Khwaja Fareed al-Deen Ganj-e-Shakar, who wrote in his Siyar al-Awliya that Nizamuddin Auliya said the following:[6]

"Sima' (to listen to Qawwali) is permissible if a few conditions are met. The singer must be an adult and not a child or a female. The listener must only listen to everything in the remembrance of Allah. The words that are sung must be free from obscenity and indecency and they must not be void. Musical instruments must not be present in the gathering. If all these conditions are met, Sima' is permissible".

“...Someone complained to the Sultan of the Mashaa’ikh that some of the dervishes danced in a gathering where there were musical instruments. He said, they did not do good as something impermissible cannot be condoned".

— Siyar al-Awliya[6][7]

Furthermore, Nizamuddin Auliya said:[6]

Musical instruments are Haram.

— Fawa'id al-Fu'aad[6][8]

Practices

The Chishtis follow five basic devotional practices (dhikr).[9]

  1. Reciting the names of Allāh loudly, sitting in the prescribed posture at prescribed times (dhikr-i jali)
  2. Reciting the names of Allāh silently (dhikr-i khafī)
  3. Regulating the breath (pās-i anfās)
  4. Absorption in mystic contemplation (murā-ḳāba)
  5. Forty days or more days of spiritual confinement in a lonely corner or cell for prayer and contemplation (čilla)
 
Old man busy in zikr

Literature

Early Chishti shaykhs adopted concepts and doctrines outlined in two influential Sufi texts: the ʿAwārif al-Maʿārif of Shaykh Shihāb al-Dīn Suhrawardī and the Kashf al-Maḥjūb of Ali Hujwīrī. These texts are still read and respected today. Chishtis also read collections of the sayings, speeches, poems, and letters of the shaykhs. These collections, called malfūẓāt, were prepared by the shaykh's disciples.[10]

Spiritual lineage

Main article: Chishti-Sabri Silsila

Sufi orders trace their origins ultimately to the Islamic prophet Muhammad, who is believed to have instructed his successor in mystical teachings and practices in addition to the Qur'an or hidden within the Qur'an. Opinions differ as to this successor. Almost all Sufi orders trace their origins to 'Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib, Muhammad's cousin.

The traditional silsila (spiritual lineage) of the Chishti order is as follows:[11]

  1. Muḥammad
  2. Ali ibn Abu Talib
  3. Al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī (d. 728, an early Persian Muslim theologian)
  4. 'Abdul Wāḥid ibn Zaid Abul Faḍl (d. 793, an early Sufi saint)
  5. Fuḍayl ibn 'Iyāḍ ibn Mas'ūd ibn Bishr al-Tamīmī
  6. Ibrāhīm ibn Adham (a legendary early Sufi ascetic)
  7. Khwaja Sadid ad-Din Huzaifa al-Marashi Basra Iraq
  8. Abu Hubayra al-Basri Basra Iraq
  9. Khwaja Mumshad Uluw Al Dīnawarī
  10. Abu Ishaq Shamī (d. 940, founder of the Chishti order proper)
  11. Abu Aḥmad Abdal Chishti
  12. Abu Muḥammad Chishti
  13. Abu Yusuf Nasar-ud-Din Chishtī
  14. Qutab-ud-Din Maudood Chishtī
  15. Haji Sharif Zindani (d. 1215)
  16. Usman Harooni (d. 1220)
  17. Mu'īnuddīn Chishtī (Moinuddin Chishti) (1141–1230 or 1142–1236)
  18. Qutab-ud-Din Bakhtyar Kaki (1173–1228)
  19. Farīduddīn Mas'ūd ("Baba Farid", 1173 or 1175–1266)

After Farīduddīn Mas'ūd, the Chishti order divided into two branches:

History

 
Mughal princess Jahan Ara's tomb (left), Nizamuddin Auliya's tomb (right) and Jama'at Khana Masjid (background), at Nizamuddin Dargah complex, in Nizamuddin West, Delhi

The Encyclopedia of Islam divides Chishti history into four periods:

  • Era of the great shaykhs (circa 597/1200 to 757/1356)
  • Era of the provincial khānaḳāhs (8th/14th & 9th/15th centuries)
  • Rise of the Ṣābiriyya branch (9th/15th century onwards)
  • Revival of the Niẓāmiyya branch (12th/18th century onwards[12])

The order was founded by Abu Ishaq Shami ("the Syrian") who taught Sufism in the town of Chisht, some 95 miles east of Herat in present-day western Afghanistan.[13] Before returning to Syria, where he is now buried next to Ibn Arabi at Jabal Qasioun,[14] Shami initiated, trained and deputized the son of the local emir, Abu Ahmad Abdal.[15] Under the leadership of Abu Ahmad's descendants, the Chishtiya, as they are also known, flourished as a regional mystical order.[14]

The founder of the Chishti Order in South Asia was Moinuddin Chishti. He was born in the province of Silistan in eastern Persia around 536 AH (1141 CE) into a sayyid family claiming descent from Muhammad.[16] When he was just nine, he memorized the Qur'an, thus becoming a hafiz. His father died when he was a teenager; Moinuddin inherited the family grinding mill and orchard. He sold everything and gave the proceeds to the poor. He traveled to Balkh and Samarkand, where he studied the Qur'an, hadith, and fiqh.[17] He looked for something beyond scholarship and law and studied under the Chishti shaykh Usman Harooni (Harvani). He moved to Lahore and then to Ajmer, where he died. His tomb, in Ajmer, is the Dargah Sharif, a popular shrine and pilgrimage site.

Moinuddin was followed by Qutab-ud-Din Bakhtyar Kaki and Farīduddīn Mas'ūd 'Baba Farid'. After Fariduddin, the Chishti Order of South Asia split into two branches. Each branch was named after one of Fariduddin's successors.

  1. Nizamuddin Auliya – the Chishti Nizami branch
  2. Alauddin Sabir Kaliyari – the Chishti-Sabiri branch

It was after Nizamuddin Auliya that the Chishti Sufism chain spread throughout the Indian Peninsula. Two prominent lines of transmission arose from Nizamuddin Auliya, one from his disciple Nasiruddin Chiragh Dehlavi and the other from another disciple, Akhi Siraj Aainae Hind, who migrated to West Bengal from Delhi on Nizamuddin Auliya's order. Siraj Aanae Hind was followed by his notable disciple Alaul Haq Pandavi settled in Pandava, West Bengal itself. From this chain of transmission another prominent sub-branch of Chishti way emerged known as Ashrafia Silsila after the illustrious saint Ashraf Jahangir Semnani, who was the disciple of Alaul Haq Pandavi in the thirteen century A.D. Later, yet other traditions branched from the Chishti lineage; in many cases they merged with other popular Sufi orders in South Asia.

As a result of this merging of the Chishti order with other branches, most Sufi masters now initiate their disciples in all the four major orders of South Asia: Chishti, Suhrawadi, Qadri, and Naqshbandi. They do however teach devotional practices typical of the order with which they are primarily associated.

The Chishti order has also absorbed influences and merged at times with various antinomian faqiri Sufi groups, especially the Qalandar. Some Chishtis both past and present have lived as renunciants or as wandering dervish.[18]

The first Chishti master in the West was Ḥazrat Pīr-o-Murshid 'Ināyat Khān, who came to the West in 1910 and established centers in Europe and the U.S. His lineage-successors were Pīr Vilāyat 'Ināyat Khān (d. 2004) and Pīr Zīa 'Ināyat-Khān, the current head of the 'Ināyatīyya. This tariqat is unusual in that it accepts seekers of all faiths without asking conversion to formal Islam, a controversial practice but which is customary in the Nizāmi branch going back to Nizāmuddīn Auliya and later made written policy by Shah Kalīmullāh Jahanabadi in the early 1700s CE.

In 1937 the Sufi imam Al-Hajj Wali Akram founded the First Cleveland Mosque, made his Sufi affiliation public and during the 1950s started to introduce new members to the Chishti, making the mosque the first public Sufi center of the United States.[19][20] In more recent times, a more contemporary expression of traditional Chishti Sufi practices can be found in the establishment of the Ishq-Nuri Tariqa[21] in the 1960s, as a branch of the Chishti-Nizami silsila.[22]

In addition, a number of mixed-Sufi type groups or movements in Islam, have also been influenced by the Chishti Order proper.[23] The best known and most widespread example is of the Jamaat Ahle Sunnat, a Sunni Muslim sect with a huge international following, which is in essence not a proper Sufi organization, though adopting many Sufi customs and traditions.[24]

Indo-Islamic rulers

From the 14th century onwards (during the rule of the Tughluqs), the Chishti Order came to be associated with political prosperity for the Indian subcontinent's Muslim kingdoms. The Delhi Sultanate, Bahmani Sultanate, Bengal Sultanate, and various provincial dynasties associated themselves with Shaikhs of the Chishti Order for good fortune. Shrines of prominent Shaikhs were patronised by ruling dynasties, who made pilgrimages to these sites. Often the founding member of a kingdom paid respects to a Chishti Shaikh as a way of legitimising their new state, and this Shaikh became closely associated with the whole dynasty. For example, fourteen successive Bengal Sultans considered Shaikh 'Ala Al-Haq to be their spiritual master.[25]

Several rulers of the Mughal dynasty of South Asia were Chishti devotees, and they associated with the Order in a similar fashion to the Mughals' predecessors. The emperor Akbar was perhaps the most fervent of them. It is said to be by the blessing of Shaikh Salim Chishti that Akbar's first surviving child, the future Jahangir, was born. The child was named Salim after the sheikh and was affectionately addressed by Akbar as Sheikhu Baba.[citation needed]

Akbar also credited the Chishti Shaikhs with his victory at the Siege of Chittorgarh.[25] Akbar had vowed to visit the Chishti dargah, the tomb of Moinuddin Chishti, at Ajmer if he were victorious. He fulfilled his vow by visiting the dargah with his musicians, who played in honor of the sheikh.

Shah Jahan's daughter, Jahanara Begum Sahib, was also a devout follower of the Chishti Order. Shah Jahan's son Aurangzeb patronised various Chishti shrines.

Other notable Chishti shaykhs

See also

 
Wikiquote has quotations related to Chishti Order.

Notes

  1. ^ Ernst, Carl W. and Lawrence, Bruce B. (2002) Sufi Martyrs of Love: The Chishti Order in South Asia and Beyond Palgrave Macmillan, New Yorks 1234567 4039-6026-7
  2. ^ Rozehnal, Robert. Islamic Sufism Unbound: Politics and Piety in Twenty-First Century Pakistan. Palgrave MacMillan, 2007. Print.
  3. ^ Sufi martyrs of love By Carl W. Ernst, Bruce B. Lawrence, p. 4.
  4. ^ Chishti, Hakim Moinuddin (1991). The Book of Sufi Healing. Rochester: Inner Traditions International. ISBN 0-89281-324-5.
  5. ^ a b Sufi martyrs of love By Carl W. Ernst, Bruce B. Lawrence, p. 5.
  6. ^ a b c d Hussain, Zahid (22 April 2012). "Is it permissible to listen to Qawwali?". TheSunniWay. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  7. ^ Muhammad bin Mubarak Kirmani. Siyar-ul-Auliya: History of Chishti Silsila (in Urdu). Translated by Ghulam Ahmed Biryan. Lahore: Mushtaq Book Corner.
  8. ^ Nizamuddin Auliya (31 December 1996). Fawa'id al-Fu'aad: Spiritual and Literal Discourses. Translated by Z. H. Faruqi. D.K. Print World Ltd. ISBN 9788124600429.
  9. ^ Nizami, K.A. -0141 "Čishtiyya." Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C. E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, and W. P. Heinrichs. Brill, 2011. Brill Online. Augustana. 6 April 2011.
  10. ^ Böwering, Gerhard. "Cestiya." Encyclopaedia Iranica. Online Edition. Vol. 5. 1992. Web. <http://www.iranica.com/articles/cestiya>.
  11. ^ Muhammad Zakariya Kandhalvi. Mashaikh-e-Chisht. Trans. Majlisul Ulama of South Africa., available at Scribd
  12. ^ Nizami, K.A. "Čishtiyya". Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C. E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, and W. P. Heinrichs. Brill, 2011. Brill Online. Augustana. 6 April 2011 <http://www.brillonline.nl/subscriber/entry?entry=islam_COM -0141>.
  13. ^ ORIGIN OF CHISHTIES 27 August 2010 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 15 August 2008.
  14. ^ a b The Sufis of Britain: an exploration of Muslim identity By Ron Geaves. Cardiff Academic Press, 2000, p. 87.
  15. ^ Encyclopaedia of Indian philosophy, Volume 2 By Vraj Kumar Pandey. Anmol Publications, 2007, p. 78.
  16. ^ Nizami, K.A. "Čishtī, Ḵhwādja Muʿīn al-Dīn Ḥasan". Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C. E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, and W. P. Heinrichs. Brill, 2011. Brill Online. Augustana. 6 April 2011 <http://www.brillonline.nl /subscriber/entry?entry=islam_SIM-1623>.
  17. ^ Haeri, Muneera. The Chishtis: A Living Light. Oxford University Press, USA, 2000. Print.
  18. ^ Frembgen, Jurgin Wasim. Journey to God: Sufis and Dervishes in Islam. Oxford University Press, USA, 2008, pp. 94–95. ISBN 978-0-19-547642-2.
  19. ^ Miller, Rasul (18 March 2020). "Sufi Al-Hajj Wali Akram: 20th Century Black American Muslim Pioneer". Archived from the original on 28 November 2020. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
  20. ^ Miller, Rasul. "The Black American Sufi: A History". Archived from the original on 5 May 2020. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
  21. ^ Popular in South Asia, in particular parts of Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. See Annemarie Schimmel, in article 'The Chishti Sufis of South Asia—Tradition and Evolution in the 20th Century' in Anderoon: Sufi Journal, Vol 82, np, nd
  22. ^ Schimmel, as cited above
  23. ^ M Z Akhund 'Sufis in the Subcontinent and their impact on Islamic society' Lahore, Navratna Pubs, Urdu Bazar, 1957. pp 12, 109–115
  24. ^ Akhund, 114–115
  25. ^ a b Maxwell., Eaton, Richard (2004). Temple desecration and Muslim states in medieval India. Hope India Publ. pp. 22–31. ISBN 81-7871-027-7. OCLC 705284564.
  26. ^ *Hayate Makhdoom Syed Ashraf Jahangir Semnani(1975) Second Edition (2017) ISBN 978-93-85295-54-6, Maktaba Jamia Ltd, Shamshad Market, Aligarh 202002, India
  27. ^ Ahamed Mohiyudheen Noorishah Jeelani
  28. ^ Omer Tarin article in 'Muse India' journal online. Special Sufi literature feature,V. No73, May–June 2017]

References

  • Haeri, Muneera (2000) The Chishtis: a living light Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, ISBN 0-19-579327-7
  • Ernst, Carl W. and Lawrence, Bruce B. (2002) Sufi Martyrs of Love: The Chishti Order in South Asia and Beyond Palgrave Macmillan, New York, ISBN 1-4039-6026-7. Excerpts
  • Farīdī, Iḥtishāmuddīn (1992) Tārīk̲h̲-i iblāg̲h̲-i Cisht Āl Inḍiyā Baz-i Ḥanafī, Delhi, OCLC 29752219 in Urdu with biographies
  • Āryā, Ghulām 'Alī (2004) Ṭarīqah-i Chishtīyah dar Hind va Pākistān: ta’līf-i Ghulām‘alī Āryā Zavvār, Tehran, ISBN 964-401-200-3 in Persian
  • Chopra, R.M., "SUFISM", 2016, Anuradha Prakashan, New Delhi. ISBN 978-93-85083-52-5.

May 20, 2023
chishti, order, chishti, redirects, here, people, with, surname, chishti, surname, chishtī, order, persian, چشتی, chishtī, tariqa, order, school, within, mystic, sufi, tradition, sunni, islam, known, emphasis, love, tolerance, openness, began, with, ishaq, sha. Chishti redirects here For people with the surname see Chishti surname The Chishti Order Persian چشتی chishti is a tariqa an order or school within the mystic Sufi tradition of Sunni Islam The Chishti Order is known for its emphasis on love tolerance and openness 1 It began with Abu Ishaq Shami in Chisht circa 930 AD in a small town near Herat a strategic city in then Eastern Persia which later became independent and then part of Afghanistan Chishti OrderSeal emblem of the Chishti orderAbbreviationChishtiFormationc 930 ADTypeSufi orderHeadquartersHerat AfghanistanKey peopleAbu Ishaq Shami founder Tomb of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti renowned saint of Chishti order The Chishti Order is primarily followed in Afghanistan and the Indian subcontinent It was the first of the four main Sufi orders Chishti Qadiri Suhrawardi and Naqshbandi to be established in this region Khwaja Muinuddin Chishti introduced the Chishti Order in Ajmer Rajasthan India sometime in the middle of the 12th century He was eighth in the line of succession from the founder of the Chishti Order Abu Ishaq Shami There are now several branches of the order which has been the most prominent South Asian Sufi brotherhood since the 12th century 2 In the last century the order has spread outside Afghanistan and the Indian subcontinent Chishti teachers have established centers in the United Kingdom United States Canada Australia Eastern and Southern Africa Contents 1 Guiding principles 2 Practices 3 Literature 4 Spiritual lineage 5 History 6 Indo Islamic rulers 7 Other notable Chishti shaykhs 8 See also 9 Notes 10 ReferencesGuiding principles EditThe Chishti shaykhs have stressed the importance of keeping a distance from worldly power 3 A ruler could be a patron or a disciple but he or she was always to be treated as just another devotee A Chishti teacher should not attend the court or be involved in matters of state as this will corrupt the soul with worldly matters In his last discourse to his disciples Khawaja Moinuddin Chishti said Never seek any help charity or favors from anybody except God Never go to the courts of kings but never refuse to bless and help the needy and the poor the widow and the orphan if they come to your door 4 Qawwali at Nizamuddin Auliya s shrine Chishti practice is also notable for Sama evoking the divine presence by listening to and losing oneself in a form of music and poetry usually Qawwali 5 The Chishti and some other Sufi orders believe that Sama can help devotees forget self in the love of Allah However the order also insists that followers observe the full range of Muslim obligations it does not dismiss them as mere legalism as some strands of Sufism have done 5 However some Qadiris point out that the Chishti Order and Moinuddin Chishti never permitted musical instruments and cite a Chishti Muhammad Ibn Mubarak Kirmani the Mureed of Khwaja Fareed al Deen Ganj e Shakar who wrote in his Siyar al Awliya that Nizamuddin Auliya said the following 6 Sima to listen to Qawwali is permissible if a few conditions are met The singer must be an adult and not a child or a female The listener must only listen to everything in the remembrance of Allah The words that are sung must be free from obscenity and indecency and they must not be void Musical instruments must not be present in the gathering If all these conditions are met Sima is permissible Someone complained to the Sultan of the Mashaa ikh that some of the dervishes danced in a gathering where there were musical instruments He said they did not do good as something impermissible cannot be condoned Siyar al Awliya 6 7 Furthermore Nizamuddin Auliya said 6 Musical instruments are Haram Fawa id al Fu aad 6 8 Practices EditThe Chishtis follow five basic devotional practices dhikr 9 Reciting the names of Allah loudly sitting in the prescribed posture at prescribed times dhikr i jali Reciting the names of Allah silently dhikr i khafi Regulating the breath pas i anfas Absorption in mystic contemplation mura ḳaba Forty days or more days of spiritual confinement in a lonely corner or cell for prayer and contemplation cilla Old man busy in zikrLiterature EditEarly Chishti shaykhs adopted concepts and doctrines outlined in two influential Sufi texts the ʿAwarif al Maʿarif of Shaykh Shihab al Din Suhrawardi and the Kashf al Maḥjub of Ali Hujwiri These texts are still read and respected today Chishtis also read collections of the sayings speeches poems and letters of the shaykhs These collections called malfuẓat were prepared by the shaykh s disciples 10 Spiritual lineage EditMain article Chishti Sabri Silsila Sufi orders trace their origins ultimately to the Islamic prophet Muhammad who is believed to have instructed his successor in mystical teachings and practices in addition to the Qur an or hidden within the Qur an Opinions differ as to this successor Almost all Sufi orders trace their origins to Ali ibn Abi Ṭalib Muhammad s cousin The traditional silsila spiritual lineage of the Chishti order is as follows 11 Muḥammad Ali ibn Abu Talib Al Ḥasan al Baṣri d 728 an early Persian Muslim theologian Abdul Waḥid ibn Zaid Abul Faḍl d 793 an early Sufi saint Fuḍayl ibn Iyaḍ ibn Mas ud ibn Bishr al Tamimi Ibrahim ibn Adham a legendary early Sufi ascetic Khwaja Sadid ad Din Huzaifa al Marashi Basra Iraq Abu Hubayra al Basri Basra Iraq Khwaja Mumshad Uluw Al Dinawari Abu Ishaq Shami d 940 founder of the Chishti order proper Abu Aḥmad Abdal Chishti Abu Muḥammad Chishti Abu Yusuf Nasar ud Din Chishti Qutab ud Din Maudood Chishti Haji Sharif Zindani d 1215 Usman Harooni d 1220 Mu inuddin Chishti Moinuddin Chishti 1141 1230 or 1142 1236 Qutab ud Din Bakhtyar Kaki 1173 1228 Fariduddin Mas ud Baba Farid 1173 or 1175 1266 After Fariduddin Mas ud the Chishti order divided into two branches Chishti Sabri who follow Alauddin Sabir Kaliyari Sabiri Sabriya branch Chishti Nizami who follow Nizamuddin Auliya Nizami Nizamiya branch History Edit Mughal princess Jahan Ara s tomb left Nizamuddin Auliya s tomb right and Jama at Khana Masjid background at Nizamuddin Dargah complex in Nizamuddin West Delhi The Encyclopedia of Islam divides Chishti history into four periods Era of the great shaykhs circa 597 1200 to 757 1356 Era of the provincial khanaḳahs 8th 14th amp 9th 15th centuries Rise of the Ṣabiriyya branch 9th 15th century onwards Revival of the Niẓamiyya branch 12th 18th century onwards 12 The order was founded by Abu Ishaq Shami the Syrian who taught Sufism in the town of Chisht some 95 miles east of Herat in present day western Afghanistan 13 Before returning to Syria where he is now buried next to Ibn Arabi at Jabal Qasioun 14 Shami initiated trained and deputized the son of the local emir Abu Ahmad Abdal 15 Under the leadership of Abu Ahmad s descendants the Chishtiya as they are also known flourished as a regional mystical order 14 The founder of the Chishti Order in South Asia was Moinuddin Chishti He was born in the province of Silistan in eastern Persia around 536 AH 1141 CE into a sayyid family claiming descent from Muhammad 16 When he was just nine he memorized the Qur an thus becoming a hafiz His father died when he was a teenager Moinuddin inherited the family grinding mill and orchard He sold everything and gave the proceeds to the poor He traveled to Balkh and Samarkand where he studied the Qur an hadith and fiqh 17 He looked for something beyond scholarship and law and studied under the Chishti shaykh Usman Harooni Harvani He moved to Lahore and then to Ajmer where he died His tomb in Ajmer is the Dargah Sharif a popular shrine and pilgrimage site Moinuddin was followed by Qutab ud Din Bakhtyar Kaki and Fariduddin Mas ud Baba Farid After Fariduddin the Chishti Order of South Asia split into two branches Each branch was named after one of Fariduddin s successors Nizamuddin Auliya the Chishti Nizami branch Alauddin Sabir Kaliyari the Chishti Sabiri branchIt was after Nizamuddin Auliya that the Chishti Sufism chain spread throughout the Indian Peninsula Two prominent lines of transmission arose from Nizamuddin Auliya one from his disciple Nasiruddin Chiragh Dehlavi and the other from another disciple Akhi Siraj Aainae Hind who migrated to West Bengal from Delhi on Nizamuddin Auliya s order Siraj Aanae Hind was followed by his notable disciple Alaul Haq Pandavi settled in Pandava West Bengal itself From this chain of transmission another prominent sub branch of Chishti way emerged known as Ashrafia Silsila after the illustrious saint Ashraf Jahangir Semnani who was the disciple of Alaul Haq Pandavi in the thirteen century A D Later yet other traditions branched from the Chishti lineage in many cases they merged with other popular Sufi orders in South Asia As a result of this merging of the Chishti order with other branches most Sufi masters now initiate their disciples in all the four major orders of South Asia Chishti Suhrawadi Qadri and Naqshbandi They do however teach devotional practices typical of the order with which they are primarily associated The Chishti order has also absorbed influences and merged at times with various antinomian faqiri Sufi groups especially the Qalandar Some Chishtis both past and present have lived as renunciants or as wandering dervish 18 The first Chishti master in the West was Ḥazrat Pir o Murshid Inayat Khan who came to the West in 1910 and established centers in Europe and the U S His lineage successors were Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan d 2004 and Pir Zia Inayat Khan the current head of the Inayatiyya This tariqat is unusual in that it accepts seekers of all faiths without asking conversion to formal Islam a controversial practice but which is customary in the Nizami branch going back to Nizamuddin Auliya and later made written policy by Shah Kalimullah Jahanabadi in the early 1700s CE In 1937 the Sufi imam Al Hajj Wali Akram founded the First Cleveland Mosque made his Sufi affiliation public and during the 1950s started to introduce new members to the Chishti making the mosque the first public Sufi center of the United States 19 20 In more recent times a more contemporary expression of traditional Chishti Sufi practices can be found in the establishment of the Ishq Nuri Tariqa 21 in the 1960s as a branch of the Chishti Nizami silsila 22 In addition a number of mixed Sufi type groups or movements in Islam have also been influenced by the Chishti Order proper 23 The best known and most widespread example is of the Jamaat Ahle Sunnat a Sunni Muslim sect with a huge international following which is in essence not a proper Sufi organization though adopting many Sufi customs and traditions 24 Indo Islamic rulers EditFrom the 14th century onwards during the rule of the Tughluqs the Chishti Order came to be associated with political prosperity for the Indian subcontinent s Muslim kingdoms The Delhi Sultanate Bahmani Sultanate Bengal Sultanate and various provincial dynasties associated themselves with Shaikhs of the Chishti Order for good fortune Shrines of prominent Shaikhs were patronised by ruling dynasties who made pilgrimages to these sites Often the founding member of a kingdom paid respects to a Chishti Shaikh as a way of legitimising their new state and this Shaikh became closely associated with the whole dynasty For example fourteen successive Bengal Sultans considered Shaikh Ala Al Haq to be their spiritual master 25 Several rulers of the Mughal dynasty of South Asia were Chishti devotees and they associated with the Order in a similar fashion to the Mughals predecessors The emperor Akbar was perhaps the most fervent of them It is said to be by the blessing of Shaikh Salim Chishti that Akbar s first surviving child the future Jahangir was born The child was named Salim after the sheikh and was affectionately addressed by Akbar as Sheikhu Baba citation needed Akbar also credited the Chishti Shaikhs with his victory at the Siege of Chittorgarh 25 Akbar had vowed to visit the Chishti dargah the tomb of Moinuddin Chishti at Ajmer if he were victorious He fulfilled his vow by visiting the dargah with his musicians who played in honor of the sheikh Shah Jahan s daughter Jahanara Begum Sahib was also a devout follower of the Chishti Order Shah Jahan s son Aurangzeb patronised various Chishti shrines The passing of Shah Jahan attending him his daughter Princess Jahanara The Mughal Emperor Akbar was a great patron of the Chishti Order Other notable Chishti shaykhs EditQutb ud deen Modood Chishti 527 A H Haji Shareef zandani 612 A H Usman Harooni 617 A H Moinuddin Chishti Qut ul aqtab Qutb ud deen Bakhtiyar kaki 635 A H Delhi India Fareed ud deen Mas ood Ganj E Shakar 668 A H Pak Patan Sharif Pakistan Naseer ud deen Mahmood Charagh Dehlavi 757 A H Delhi India Tajuddin Chishti Chishtian Sharif Pakistan Amir Khusro Delhi India Akhi Siraj Aainae Hind Dist Malda West Bengal India Alaul Haq Pandavi Dist Malda West Bengal India Nur Qutb Alam Dist Malda West Bengal India Ashraf Jahangir Semnani 26 Kichaucha Uttar Pradesh India Burhanuddin Gharib Maharashtra India Bande Nawaz Gulbarga India Salim Chishti Fatehpur Sikri India Noor Muhammad Maharvi1205 A H Mahar Sharif Pakistan Muhammad Suleman Taunsvi 1267 A H Taunsa Sharif Pakistan Ata Hussain Fani Chishti Bihar India Khwaja Ghulam Farid Mithankot Pakistan Muhammad Shamsuddin Sialvi 1300 A H Sial Sharif Pakistan Ahamed Mohiyudheen Noorishah Jeelani Noori Maskan Hyderabad 27 circular reference Meher Ali Shah Golra Sharif Pakistan 28 Inayat Khan Vadodara Gujarat Haji Imdadullah Muhajir Makki Muzaffarnagar India Makkah Saudi Arabia See also Edit Wikiquote has quotations related to Chishti Order Islam portalWaris Shah Sabri Brothers Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan Hakim Ahmad Shuja Sufi Ruhaniat International Syed Waheed ashraf Ajmer rape caseNotes Edit Ernst Carl W and Lawrence Bruce B 2002 Sufi Martyrs of Love The Chishti Order in South Asia and Beyond Palgrave Macmillan New Yorks 1234567 4039 6026 7 Rozehnal Robert Islamic Sufism Unbound Politics and Piety in Twenty First Century Pakistan Palgrave MacMillan 2007 Print Sufi martyrs of love By Carl W Ernst Bruce B Lawrence p 4 Chishti Hakim Moinuddin 1991 The Book of Sufi Healing Rochester Inner Traditions International ISBN 0 89281 324 5 a b Sufi martyrs of love By Carl W Ernst Bruce B Lawrence p 5 a b c d Hussain Zahid 22 April 2012 Is it permissible to listen to Qawwali TheSunniWay Retrieved 12 June 2020 Muhammad bin Mubarak Kirmani Siyar ul Auliya History of Chishti Silsila in Urdu Translated by Ghulam Ahmed Biryan Lahore Mushtaq Book Corner Nizamuddin Auliya 31 December 1996 Fawa id al Fu aad Spiritual and Literal Discourses Translated by Z H Faruqi D K Print World Ltd ISBN 9788124600429 Nizami K A 0141 Cishtiyya Encyclopaedia of Islam Second Edition Edited by P Bearman Th Bianquis C E Bosworth E van Donzel and W P Heinrichs Brill 2011 Brill Online Augustana 6 April 2011 Bowering Gerhard Cestiya Encyclopaedia Iranica Online Edition Vol 5 1992 Web lt http www iranica com articles cestiya gt Muhammad Zakariya Kandhalvi Mashaikh e Chisht Trans Majlisul Ulama of South Africa available at Scribd Nizami K A Cishtiyya Encyclopaedia of Islam Second Edition Edited by P Bearman Th Bianquis C E Bosworth E van Donzel and W P Heinrichs Brill 2011 Brill Online Augustana 6 April 2011 lt http www brillonline nl subscriber entry entry islam COM 0141 gt ORIGIN OF CHISHTIES Archived 27 August 2010 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 15 August 2008 a b The Sufis of Britain an exploration of Muslim identity By Ron Geaves Cardiff Academic Press 2000 p 87 Encyclopaedia of Indian philosophy Volume 2 By Vraj Kumar Pandey Anmol Publications 2007 p 78 Nizami K A Cishti Ḵhwadja Muʿin al Din Ḥasan Encyclopaedia of Islam Second Edition Edited by P Bearman Th Bianquis C E Bosworth E van Donzel and W P Heinrichs Brill 2011 Brill Online Augustana 6 April 2011 lt http www brillonline nl subscriber entry entry islam SIM 1623 gt Haeri Muneera The Chishtis A Living Light Oxford University Press USA 2000 Print Frembgen Jurgin Wasim Journey to God Sufis and Dervishes in Islam Oxford University Press USA 2008 pp 94 95 ISBN 978 0 19 547642 2 Miller Rasul 18 March 2020 Sufi Al Hajj Wali Akram 20th Century Black American Muslim Pioneer Archived from the original on 28 November 2020 Retrieved 15 May 2021 Miller Rasul The Black American Sufi A History Archived from the original on 5 May 2020 Retrieved 15 May 2021 Popular in South Asia in particular parts of Pakistan India and Bangladesh See Annemarie Schimmel in article The Chishti Sufis of South Asia Tradition and Evolution in the 20th Century in Anderoon Sufi Journal Vol 82 np nd Schimmel as cited above M Z Akhund Sufis in the Subcontinent and their impact on Islamic society Lahore Navratna Pubs Urdu Bazar 1957 pp 12 109 115 Akhund 114 115 a b Maxwell Eaton Richard 2004 Temple desecration and Muslim states in medieval India Hope India Publ pp 22 31 ISBN 81 7871 027 7 OCLC 705284564 Hayate Makhdoom Syed Ashraf Jahangir Semnani 1975 Second Edition 2017 ISBN 978 93 85295 54 6 Maktaba Jamia Ltd Shamshad Market Aligarh 202002 India Ahamed Mohiyudheen Noorishah Jeelani Omer Tarin article in Muse India journal online Special Sufi literature feature V No73 May June 2017 References EditHaeri Muneera 2000 The Chishtis a living light Oxford University Press Oxford UK ISBN 0 19 579327 7 Ernst Carl W and Lawrence Bruce B 2002 Sufi Martyrs of Love The Chishti Order in South Asia and Beyond Palgrave Macmillan New York ISBN 1 4039 6026 7 Excerpts Faridi Iḥtishamuddin 1992 Tarik h i iblag h i Cisht Al Inḍiya Baz i Ḥanafi Delhi OCLC 29752219 in Urdu with biographies Arya Ghulam Ali 2004 Ṭariqah i Chishtiyah dar Hind va Pakistan ta lif i Ghulam ali Arya Zavvar Tehran ISBN 964 401 200 3 in Persian Chopra R M SUFISM 2016 Anuradha Prakashan New Delhi ISBN 978 93 85083 52 5 Portals Religion Islam Education Psychology Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Chishti Order amp oldid 1151149197, wikipedia, wiki, book, 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