Francais | English | Espanõl

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the founder of Sufism in India. For the preceptor of the Mughal Emperor, Aurangzeb, see Moinuddin Chishti (Khuldabad).

Khawaja Moinuddin Chishti (Persian: خواجہ معین الدین چشتی ) was born in 1141 and died in 1230 CE, also known as Gharib Nawaz (Persian: غریب نواز ), is the most famous Sufi saint of the Chishti Order of South Asia. He was born in 536 A.H./1141 CE, in Sajistan, Khorasan (other accounts say Isfahan) in Persia. He was a direct descendent of the Prophet Muhammad.

He was one of the most outstanding figures in the annals of Islamic mysticism and founder of the Chistiyya order in India.

Khawaja Moinuddin Chishti visited the seminaries of Samarkand and Bukhara and acquired religious learning at the feet of 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. In 1220 he became the disciple of the Chishti Khawaja Uthman Harooni. They traveled the Middle East extensively together, including visits to Mecca and Medina.

Moinuddin Chishti turned towards India, reputedly after a dream in which the Holy Prophet told him to do so, and, after a brief stay at Lahore he reached Ajmer where he settled down. There he attracted a substantial following, acquiring a great deal of respect amongst the residents of the city. Today, hundreds of thousands of people, Muslims, Hindus and others, from the Indian sub-continent assemble to his tomb on the occasion of his urs (death anniversary).

He apparently never wrote down his teachings in the form of a book, nor did his immediate disciples do so. But he laid the foundations of the Chishtiyya order in Ajmer, India, where common people flocked to him in large numbers. His firm faith in Wahdat al-wujud (Unity of Being) provided the necessary ideological support to his mystic mission to bring about emotional integration of the people amongst whom he lived.

The central principles that became characteristics of the Chistiyya order are based on his many teachings and practices. They lay stress on renunciation of material goods; strict regime of self-discipline and personal prayer; participation in Sama 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 when the Mughal Emperor undertook an unceremonial journey on foot to accomplish his humble wish to reach the place. The Akbarnama records that the emperor’s interest was first sparked when he heard some minstrels singing songs about the virtues of the holy man who lay asleep in Ajmer. Emperor Akbar was a Sufi mystic who firmly believed that all existence is one, and that love of God and one’s brethren was more important than narrow religious rituals.

Khawaja Moinuddin Chishti authored several books including ‘Anis al-Arwah’ and ‘Daleel al-Arefeen’ both of them dealing with Islamic code of living.

Khawaja Qutbuddin Baktiyar Kaki (d. 1235) and Hamiduddin Nagori (d. 1276) were Khawaja Moinuddin Chishti’s celebrated Khalifa or disciples who continued transmitting the teachings of their master through their disciples, leading to the widespread proliferation of the Chistiyya order in India.

Among Khawaja Qutbuddin Baktiyar’s prominent disciples was Fariduddin Ganj-i-Shakar (d. 1265), whose dargah is at Pakpattan (Pakistan). And Fariduddin’s most famous disciple was Nizamuddin Awliya (d. 1325) popularly referred to as Mahboob-i-Ilahi (God’s beloved) whose dargah is located in old Delhi.

From Delhi, the 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 in the south. But from all the network of Chishti dargahs Ajmer dargah took on the special distinction of being the ‘mother’ dargah of them all.

[edit] Descendant And Sajjada Nashin Dargah Moinuddin chishti

(Short History Sajjada Nashin And Descendant khwaja Sahib 1922 to...........) Sheikh UL mushaikh hazrat dewan sayed Alley rasool ali khan (R h) hold been the sajada nashin ajmer sharif from 1923 to 1947.After the creation of Pakistan the descendant of hazrat Khawaja ghareb nawaz (R.h) migrated to the Pakistan.He stayed with sheikh UL Islam qamar ud din (R h)(sargodha) till 1960.then these people shifted to Peshawar.Where after the death of Hazrat Dewan Sayed Alley Rasool Ali Khan (R h) in 1973,

his son Hazrat Dewan Sayed Alley mujtaba Ali Khan (R h) appointed as sajada nashin ajmer sharif.He followed the footstep of his great father. You services have been admitted national and international level .a foundation store was laid down for a complex with the name gulshan sultan UL hind ajmeri complex, in 1992 for a perament thresh hold of astana-e-alliya moenia chishtiya ajmeri this astana has been quenching the spiritual the people.He died at the age of 81 year when he was reciting the holy quran after the death of hazrat dewan sayed alley mujtaba Ali Khan (R h) ,

his son hazrat dewan sayed Alley habib Ali Khan appointed as sajada nashin ajmer sharif. He had got a degree in ma (Arabic) from the University of Peshawar. He distinguished himself and got gold madel. genealogically he linked with hazrat Muhammad (P.B.U.H) at 37 generation and at 39 with sisila e tareeqat.

The work ancestor of hazrat khawaja ghareb nawaz (R h) is a golden chapter of our history along with his ancestors. His descendants have been also working on his mission.All Pakistani especially the people of attack rawalpindi and Islamabad are lucky that the descendent of hazrat khawaja ghareb nawaz (R h) is among them. They proved that they are real vicegerents of the hazrat khawaja ghareb nawaz (Rh) by showing an excellent management administration and people of spiritual qualities of highest order before the creation of Pakistan.

[edit] External links

• Chistiya Mission
• The Life Of Khwaja Sahib r,a
• Sajjada Nashin And Descendant of Khawaja Gharib Nawaz Ajmer Sharif
• The Sufi Saint's (R.A.) Mission
• Claimed linage of Moinuddin Chishti
• The Life of Moinuddin Chishti
• Khuddam of Khawaja Gharib Nawaz
• Sufiajmer.org Site dedicated to Khawaja Moinuddin Chishti
• Photographs of the shrine of Khawaja Moinuddin Chishti
• Khwaja-e-Khwajagaan
• The Chishti website

de:Muinuddin Chishti

sv:Muinuddin Chishti ur:خواجہ معین الدین چشتی