World of Tasawwuf
In the time of the Prophet, Tasawwuf was a reality without a name, today Tasawwuf is a name, but few know its Reality
SILSILA AL CHISTIYA
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
CHISTIYA SAINTS & SHAYKHS
KHAWAJA ABU ISHAAQ AL-SHAMS CHISTI [d.329 H - 940 CE]
KHAWAJA ABU AHMAD ABDAL CHISTI [d.356 H - 967 CE]
KHAWAJA ABU MUHAMMAD BIN ABI AHMAD [d.411 H - 1020 CE]
KHAWAJA QUTB AL-DIN AL-MAWDUD CHISTI [d.527 H - 1133 CE]
KHAWAJA HAJI SHAREEF AL-ZANDANI [d.612 H - 1215 CE]
KHAWAJA SHAYKH UTHMAN AL-HAROONI [d. 617 H - 1220 CE]
KHAWAJA MU'IN AL-DIN CHISTI AL-AJMERI [d.627 H - 1230 CE]
KHAWAJA QUTB AL-DIN BAKHTIYAR KAKI [d.633 H - 1236 CE]
KHAWAJA 'BABA FARID' FARID AL-DIN [d.663 H - 1265 CE]
KHAWAJA NIDAM AL-DIN AWLIYA [d.725 H - 1325 CE]
KHAWAJA AMIR KHUSRO [d.725 H - 1325 CE]
KHAWAJA NASIR AL-DIN CHIRAGH AL-DILHI [d.757 H - 1356 CE]
KHAWAJA GESU DARAZ 'BANDA NAWAZ' [d.825 H - 1422 CE]
SILSILA AL QADIRIYA | SILSILA AL ASHRAFIYA | SUFI ORDERS | SUFIS & SHAYKHS
Introduction
Chistiya : The Sufi Martyrs of Love
The subject of this book is the Chishti Sufi order. The order is comparable to many other Sufi brotherhoods, the paths of devotion that have been motivated by Islamic ideals over the past millennium in countries ranging from Morocco to China. Although this movement takes its name from Chisht, a remote town in central Afghanistan, the Chishti lineage of masters and disciples is associated above all with South Asia (modern-day India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh). The Chishti order has been the most widespread and popular of all the Sufi traditions in this vast region, ever since Mu'in al-Din Chishti settled in the town of Ajmer in northwestern India at the end of the twelfth century.
Many others have written about both Sufism and the Chishtiyya. This book differs from them in two major ways. First, we use many texts produced by the Chishtis and their supporters that have been previously ignored or slighted. Second, we deliberately abandon the numbingly circular arguments, so prevalent in the literature, about a privileged "golden age" of Sufism in general and the Chishti order in particular. Instead, we advance a new historical periodization of five "cycles" in the development of the Chishtis. Our thesis is that a Sufi order such as the Chishtiyya is more than a parasitical legitimation of power or a nostalgic reverence for bygone saints; it is instead a complex of spiritual practice, historical memory, and ethical models, which continues to evolve from its medieval Islamic origins in response to the political, ideological, and technological transformations of the contemporary world.
The problematic that frames this book is structured by the two disparate bibliographies that are appended to it. The European-language materials, which are listed as comprehensively as possible, illustrate the approach of an Orientalist scholarship that is focused largely on the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, a period that -- paradoxically -- is almost entirely lacking in contemporary documentation and is known only from later texts. The Persian and Urdu bibliography does not pretend to completeness; we had finally to provide but a sample of the dozens, if not hundreds, of titles of Chishti manuscripts listed in catalogs of major libraries. The list presented here, in topical form and historical order, is nevertheless large enough to suggest a picture almost the reverse of the Western scholarly dossier (and this includes scholarship from South Asia, which is mostly written according to Western Orientalist methods). Instead of being concentrated in the early period, the original Persian works expand and multiply in number and geographical extent right up to the end of the nineteenth century (see, for example, the numerous biographies of Shaykh Sulayman Taunsawi), and Urdu continues to be an important medium for Chishti Sufism today. The only modern scholar to tackle the vast literary production of the later Chishtis was K. A. Nizami, in his Urdu history of the Chishti order. We feel that this complete asymmetry between Western scholarship and the Chishti literary tradition is symptomatic of a historiographical disconnect, which this book will attempt to repair. At the outset let us make clear our intent, stating both what this book is and what it is not. It is a methodological inquiry into Sufism that focuses on one particular regional Islamic mystical movement, the Chishti brotherhood. It is not a documentary history in the usual sense. It is a stocktaking that also includes a projection of agendas for research. It is not a treatment of Sufism as a subset of either Islamic orthodoxy or heresy. Above all, it is an appreciation of a centuries‑old spiritual journey that is also a widespread movement that continues to influence many Muslims (and non-Muslims) today.
What is Chishti Sufism? It is both an experience and a memory. It is the experience of remembering God so intensely that the soul is destroyed and resurrected. It is also the memory of those who remembered God, those who were devoted to discipline and prayer, but above all, to remembrance, whether they recited the divine name (zikr) or evoked his presence through song (sama').
This book is about the great ones and their sanctified passion or experience of God. It is also about the memory that has shaped how we remember their passion. In most other versions of this story, a few great ones are singled out from the earliest period, and it is through their lives that the whole of Chishti Sufism is appreciated. But the experience is not limited to one period or one group of heroes; it has historical resonance in many periods and in many places beyond South Asia.
Typically, historians of South Asian Islam ask whether Chishti Sufism began in Chisht or Makkah or Ajmer, Arabia or India. For a historian, the answer is obvious: Every movement begins somewhere, and this movement "clearly" began in India. For the phenomenologist, geographical origin is unimportant, since the basic category is Sufism, from which Chishti Sufism derives as a subset, and its location matters less than its profile.
But imbedded within this experience is a historical memory, available at all times and in all places to those who link themselves to the great ones. They are linked through tombs, or tomb cults, places where the great ones were "married" to God and where others can find access to God, through remembering those who remembered God with their whole being. There is a difference between the great ones and others, but it is not a temporal difference. It is a difference in the experience of burning the heart and destroying the soul through complete submission to the divine.
The Chishti experience is not limited to Sufis, or Muslims, or South Asians. Other audiences have also participated in Chishti experience of the divine. One group consists of South Asian Muslim devotees, pilgrims at the shrine of Farid ad-Din Ganj-i Shakar in Pakpattan (Pakistani Punjab). Shaykh Farid (d. 1265) is the Great One who recited to his future chief disciple and successor, Nizam ad-Din Awliya' (d. 1325), the verse quoted in our epigraph. Today, at the multi-day annual festival celebrating his "marriage" with God, cowrie shells (once used as the smallest units of currency) are thrown over the crowd, to imitate the moment when Shaykh Farid ad-Din went into ecstasy, on realizing that Nizam ad-Din Awliya' had just attained a status rare even among the great ones, the nearly unprecedented state of becoming the beloved of God Himself. This is clearly an event that is significant for insiders to Islam and to Chishti Sufism.
Another group consists of non-Muslim South Asians who appreciate and also appropriate Chishti spiritual experience. The same Shaykh Farid ad-Din is so highly respected by Sikhs that they have incorporated his Punjabi verses for their holy scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib. Similarly, Hindus flock in great numbers to the shrine of Khawaja Mu'in al-Din at his urs [death anniversary]. The Chishti order has had and continues to have a powerful impact beyond the esoteric teachings of Sufism, and even beyond Islam. There are also non‑Muslims who are not from South Asia. By this means, aspects of the Chishti experience go beyond South Asia to venues unforeseen by the North Indian founders in the thirteenth century.
Even Muslims with a reformist or even an anti-Sufi attitude have connections with the Chishtiyya. Islamic scholars at the scripturally oriented academy of Deoband trace their teachers through the Chishti lineage even as they denounce the basic Chishti religious practices -- especially tomb pilgrimage and listening to qawwali -- as forms of idolatry. The pietistic missionaries of the Tablighi Jama'at and the fundamentalists of the Jama'at-i Islami grudgingly acknowledge the ethical purity of the great ones while vehemently rejecting their saintly power, their rituals, and also their meditative practices.
Despite its inclusiveness, the Chishti order is set apart from other Sufis and other Muslims in two major dimensions. The first concerns the ethical relations of the great ones to institutional power, and the second is the distinctive modality of their spiritual practices, expanding remembrance (zikr) to include versified song (sama' - qawwali).
The first distinctive dimension has occupied both Chishti adepts and scholars of Sufism. In premodern India, the symbol of power -- social, economic, and political -- was the king, or sultan. The sultan was not only a ruler but also a patron of art, artists, and religious specialists. For the Chishtis, unlike other Sufis, avoidance of the sultan meant avoiding the corruption of the soul by earthly power, which contrasted with the destruction of the soul by divine power, the goal of the Chishti way. One could avoid the sultan, but could one avoid obeying him? It is this ethical dilemma that has been summarized by a fourteenth-century Chishti adept, Yusuf Gada:
Know that contentment is a kingdom, a mansion full of pearls and jewels.
Do not yourself go near the Sultan; know that the Sultan is such a one (that)
When you long for the Sultan, there will be fear and danger for you.
Never seek kindness and generosity from kings;
When you take a village or land, you will fall down in front of a door.
Do not follow the King's employment, know that there is continuous misfortune in it;
You will see little ease, more discomfort and punishment.
When someone else wears an official robe,
You should not consider him trustworthy.
When you go into the Sultan's assembly, you must guard your tongue;
Do not say anything in front of him, and when you come out be as one who is deaf.
Do not go to Kings uncalled; if they summon you, go instantly;
Obey their commands; know that this category is obligatory.
If anyone is obedient in a just act which the King demands,
Consider this better and more than sixty years of private worship.
The practice of avoiding kings, but also obeying them, was acknowledged by the great ones as an ideal, but it was not always honored in practice. Descendants of a leading Chishti master in South India, for instance, accepted land grants that in effect made them rural gentry. Perhaps no Chishti master was as renowned for his withdrawal from society at large and the company of kings in particular as Shaykh Farid ad-Din of Pakpattan. Stories of his rigid ascetic practice include the performance of the 40-day upside‑down meditation. Yet even "Shaykh Farid Ganj-i Shakar was forced by his circumstances to permit his disciples to circulate a begging bowl and collect food, [even though] no Chishti saint before him had permitted such a practice." Similarly, centuries later, in the third cycle of the Indian Chishtiyya, another master renowned for his abstemious behavior and rigorous self‑reliance, Shah Kalim Allah of Delhi, became so sick that he, too, had to forgo dependence on donations and rent out property in order to recover his health.
If we dwell on such examples of compromised ideals, we will miss the other distinctive dimension of Chishti identity, its religious practice. It is aggressive rather than defensive, dependent not on economic survival but on constant pushing of personal boundaries; it is a ceaseless search for the divine other. To engage that other, to destroy and resurrect the soul, was the deepest mission of the Chishti spiritual experience, and in its pursuit the Chishtis followed a single ritual activity more zealously than did any other brotherhood in the subcontinent. That practice was sama', evoking the divine presence through song or listening to qawwali. Sama' cannot be separated from meditation through recollection (zikr) of the Divine Names. As Shaykh Nizam ad-Din explained, it is linked to one of the names of God, al‑Wajid. It is he alone, al-Wajid, who induces ecstasy (wajd), when the devotee listens to music performed under the correct conditions. Then music ceases to be mere notes or words. It becomes an unfolding of the cosmos from its highest sphere, "the angelic sphere" of the spirits, to the lowest sphere, the human heart and the bodily limbs, which experience nothing less than spiritual bliss in sama'. For Shaykh Nizam ad-Din, the only spiritual practice to which sama' can be compared is the practice of Qur'an:
If there is a particular genius to the Chishti order, it is that it manages to accommodate the practice of sama' to the rigors of a male community that also observes the full range of Muslim obligations. The title of this book, Sufi Martyrs of Love, alludes to the most famous incident of devotional inspired ecstasy in the history of Chishti Sufism, when one day in a sama' session in Delhi in 1235, Qutb ad-Din Bakhtiyar Kaki heard this verse recited over a period of three days:
Each moment find new life from beyond.
Though in the death throes of his passion for God, Qutb ad-Din "revived" momentarily at five points during the final days of his life. Each time after completing his obligatory prayers he went back into the semicomatose state of ecstasy created by this Persian couplet sung in a session of mystical sama' until at last, as the Sufis say, he surrendered his soul to God.
Among those who found a way to effectively marry Sufi ecstasy and Islamic religious duty was Shaykh Nizam al-Din, alayhir rahman known to his followers as 'Mehboob al-Ilahi' [the Beloved of God]. While both avoidance of kings and engagement in sama' were crucial to Nizam al-Din, what distinguishes him as a spiritual master was his ability to find, attract, and then train worthy successors. Indeed, the success of the Chishtiyya from the thirteenth century on lay precisely in the ability of the first cycle of masters to train worthy successors. None of the initial five Chishti masters of North India was succeeded by a blood relative; rather, they chose as their principal successor one who had worked with them on the path of abstinence and prayer, meditation and listening, the path that came to mark their distinctive spiritual labour.
To its adherents, what was distinctive about the
Chishti order was its religious practice. One early Chishti saint has tried to
summarize the lifestyle of his precursors in prose, though he then shifts to
verse:
The style of life (of Chishti masters) is to build
a house in a city or town and call the people away from vanity towards God. They
always turn away from the world and those who seek it. Their distinctive sign is
the practice of spiritual discipline and ascetic striving. They aim at poverty
and denial, and they keep company with the poor and beggars, giving them food. They celebrate the urs [death anniversaries] of their masters, and they greatly
prefer the poor to the rich. They themselves wash the hands of the stranger, and
themselves provide fire and food to the poor. They never give the rich man a
place higher than the poor man. Through
their internal concern from the heart, the disciple turns away from love of the
world, and they soon make the disciple repent.
One who is among the
Chishti disciples
Has a character from heaven.
Without is law, within
is divine presence --
Besides these two, how could there be a third?
They bring each and every one to morality,
Even though
the mosque be next door to a church.
Like Noah in the storm of worldly sorrow,
Their generous spirit provides a spacious ship.
Ashraf, part of this noble family,
Has become less base as he grows in purity.
The author of this passage, Sayyad Makhdoom Ashraf Jahangir Semnani (d. 1405 CE), recognized that not everyone would be able to adhere to this high standard, and he made concessions for those disciples who had to earn a living to support themselves and their families. Yet what he stresses is the enduring attraction of this ethical and spiritual ideal as the core of Chishti experience.
Abu Ishaq Shams Chisti
Khawaja Shaykh Abu Ishaq Sharf al-Din Shami [d.329H/940CE] 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l-ridwan
Hadrat Khawaja Abu Ishaq Shami is one of the first amongst Chisti Sufi order, to call himself Chisti. The name Shami implies he came from [Shams] Syria or even from Damascus (ash-Sham). His title was Sharf al-Din or Sharif-ud-Deen. He was an embodiment of Uloom-e-Zahiriyah and Uloom-e-Batiniyah. It is reported that Khawaja Abu Ishaq Shami Rahmatullahi alayh had met a Sufi dervish who directed him to settle in Chisht, [Chisht is a small town, near Herat, Afghanistan] and acccordingly thus he is known as Abu Ishaq Shami Chishti. He was a great Zaahid. He would go days sometimes without eating and is known to say that;
He also said that;
His spiritual guide and Master was Shaykh Ilw Mumshad Dinwari Rahmatullahi alayh. When Khawaja Shaykh Abu Ishaq Shami Rahmatullahi alayh contemplated to take the oath of allegiance [bay't] he made Istikhaara for 40 days in succession. He then heard a voice saying:"If you desire to reach the destination, go to Mumshad Dinwari." When his Shaykh, Khawaja Mumshad Rahmatullahi alayh asked his name, he replied: "Abu Ishaq Shami." The Shaykh said: 'From today you will be known as Abu Ishaq Chishti because the people of Chisht will acquire guidance from you and your Silsilah will be known as Chishtiya until the day of Qiyamah' [Judgement].
Some of his (Abu Ishaq Shami) sayings are:
'Starvation excels all in bliss (this shows the ascetic character of classical Sufism) The worldly people are impure while the dervishes are pure in their souls'
'These two different natures cannot therefore mingle'
(Excerpt taken from chishti.ru
There are urband legends that his karamat [miracles] gave good fortune to those in his majlis (gathering), as they were deemed to never ever commit sins again. Some persons who were in ill health entering his majlis would also be cured. Such was his reputation that whenever Khawaja Abu Ishaq contemplated going on a journey, as many as hundred or even more people would accompany him.
He died in 14th Rabi al Thani 329 Hijri [940 C.E.] in Sham/Damascus and lies buried in Akkah on Mount Qasiyun, where later on also Shaykh al Akbar Muhiy al-Din Ibn al-Arabi Rahmatullahi alayh was buried. Looking at the date of his death we can say that the Chishtiyya order is one of the oldest, if not the oldest now still existing Sufi order. His khulafaa are Khawaja Shaykh Abu Ahmad Abdal, Khawaja Abu Muhammad, Khawaja Taj al-Din and others [Allah be pleased with them].
His spiritual successor is Shaykh Abu Ahmad Abdal Chishti Rahmatullahi alayh. The father of the shaykh for some time tried to keep him back from the Sufi path. He of course did not succeed as his son became an eminent Sufi. Another legend relates the shaykh for thirty years was totally absorbed in meditation and hardly slept. He breathed his last on the 3rd of Jamada II at the age of ninety-five in 356 A.H. (corresponding to the 16th of May 967 C.E.). He was buried at Chisht in Afghanistan.
Abu Ahmad Abdal Chishti
Khawaja Shaykh Abu Ahmad Abdal Chishti [d.356H/967CE] 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l-ridwan
Shaykh Abu Ahmad Abdal was the son of Sultan Farsanafah, born in Chisht on 6th Ramadan 260 Hijri. Shaykh Abu Ahmad Abdal Chishti was a student and the spiritual successor of Khawaja Shaykh Abu Ishaq Shams Chishti Rahmatullahi alayh.
The father of the shaykh [Sultan] for some time tried to keep him back from the
Sufi path. He of course did not succeed as his son became an eminent
Sufi in his own right.
There is not a great deal known about Shaykh Abu Ahmad Abdal Chisti Rahmatullahi alayh, however it is related that he hardly slept for thirty years as he was totally absorbed in worship and meditation. Khawaja Abu Muhammad Bin Abi Ahmad [d.411] was the main student and successor of Khawaja Abu Ahmad Abdal Chisti.
Shaykh Abu Ahmad Abdal Rahmatullahi alayh breathed his last on the 3rd of Jamada II at the age of ninety-five in 356 Hijri. (corresponding to the 16th of May 967 C.E.). He was buried at Chisht in Afghanistan.
Abu Muhammad bin abi Ahmad
Khawaja Abu Muhammad bin Abi Ahmad [331- 411 H] aka Waliyud Deen aka
Naasihud Deen was a renowned saint of the Chishti Order. He was a student and successor of Abu Ahmad Abdal [d.356H] and
murshid [spiritual guide] of Abu Yusuf Bin Samaan [d.459H] who was also his
sister's son. He was born in the month of Muharram [331 Hijri-940 CE]. At the age of
7, he became a student of Abu Ahmad Abdal. He is also reported to have
participated in the army of Sultan Mahmood Ghaznavi.
Khawaja Abu Muhammad bin Abi Ahmad Rahmatullahi alayh died on the 4th Rabi' al-awwal (some say Rajab in the year 411 Hijri, [1020 Common Era]. He was of 80. He is buried in the town of Chisht, near Herat, Afghanistan.
Abu Yusuf Nasir al-Din
Abu Yusuf Nasir al-Din Bin Samaan Al-Husaini [d. 459H/1067CE]* 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l-ridwan
Khawaja Shaykh Abu Yusuf Bin Samaan al-Husaini aka Nasiruddin was an early day
Sufi Saint, a successor to his maternal uncle and murshid Abu
Muhammad Bin Abi Ahmad [d.411H - 1020CE], eleventh link in the SufiSilsilah
of Chishti Order, and
the father and guide of Khawaja Maudood Chishti.
Khawaja Abu Yusuf Nasir al-Din Bin Samaan rahmatullahi alayh was born in the city of Chisht.
His year of birth is unknown but is estimated to be around 375 Hijri. He received
his education from his maternal uncle Abu Muhammad Bin Abi Ahmad.
* His date of death is disputed but one account says he died on 3rd Rajab 459 Hijri [1067 Common Era]. He is laid to rest in Chisht, near Herat in Afghanistan.
Qutb al-Din Mawdud Chisti
Khawaja Shaykh Qutb al-Din Mawdud al-Chisti [d.527H/1133CE] 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l-ridwan
Hadrat Khawaja Mawdud al-Chishti aka Shams Sufiyaan,
Chiraag Chishtiyaan, was a great sufi saint and a learned Islamic scholar of his time. He was a successor to his
father and murshid ABU YUSUF NASIR AL-DIN BIN SAMAAN, in
the Chishti silsila, and the murshid of KHAWAJA
HAJI SHAREEF AL-ZANDANI Rahmatullahi alayh.
He was born around 430 Hijri in the city of Chisht, Afghanistan. He initially received education from his noble father Khawaja
Abu Yusuf Nasir al-Din Samaan Rahmatullahi alayh, and by the tender age of seven [7] he had memorised the complete Qur'an al karim. He went onto complete his education
at the age of 16. Khawaja Mawdud al-Chishti Rahmatullahi alayh was particularly known for his very strict adherence to observing the shari'ah [Islamic Law]. Whenever he desired to do anything, he always first
supplicated in the court of Allah the Almighty. Legend has it that if anybody stayed in his Khanqah for at least three
days, all their difficulties were removed, and they became perfect [kamil] sufis by
attaining nearness to Allah.
Hadrat Khawaja al-Mawdud Chisti Rahmatullahi alayh
became the mureed [disciple] of Hadrat Khawaja Nasir al-Din Yusuf Chisti Rahmatullahi alayh. After he became a mureed, his murshid [master] addressed him by saying,
"Oh! Qutbuddin Moudood, adopt of the path of the faqr." (The word
faqr is literally translated as poverty, but in the language of tasawwuf,
it means to be rich with Allah. It is for one to have total trust in Allah, and
not to be dependant on any other but Allah) faqr is the way of the true dervishes.
The more one travels on the path of faqr, the higher one's status becomes. The Beloved Messenger of Allah Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam is the leader of all the ambiya [Prophet's] 'alaihim as-salaam and dervishes, and he adopted this path. He said; "Faqr is my pride,"
and after returning from the night of mi'raj [ascension], he performed 'Fajr Salaah' [dawn prayer] with all
the sahaba al-kiram [Noble Companions] behind him, and afterwards made du'a [supplication] to Allah by
saying;
Some of Qutb al-Din Mawdud Chisti Rahmatullahi alayh's scholarly work includes two books by the name of 'Minhaj al-Arifin' and 'Khulasat al-Shari'ah'. Khawaja Qutb al-Din Mawdud Chisti Rahmatullahi alayh died around Rajab 527 Hijri and is buried
in his place of birth; Chisht, nr Herat in Afghanistan.
Courtesy : CHISTI SABIREE
Haji Shareef al-Zandani
Hadrat Shaykh Khawaja Haji al-Shareef al-Zandani [ d.612 H / 1215 CE] 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l-ridwan
Khawaja Haji Shareef al-Zandani
Rahmatullahi 'alayh was a great Sufi of his time. He was born in the city of Zandanah, Iraq. He was a mureed [disciple] of KHAWAJA
QUTB AL-DIN AL-MAWDUD CHISTI [Maudood] al-Chishti [d. 527 Hijri] Rahmatullahi 'alayh. When he was bestowed with the ''khirqa'' [sufi cloak) of khilafat a divine voice is said to have called out;
Khawaja Haji
Shareef al-Zandani Rahmatullahi 'alayh was a master in the field of the undertaking of mujaheda and
riyazat. He used to perform his salaah with great love and used to get
so engrossed in it, that even if someone tried to disturb or harm him he would
be totally unaware of it. The people questioned him as to the reason for his
engrossment to such a level, to which he replied;
He used to
often cry and fall unconscious in the fear of his creator. Upon regaining
consciousness the mureeds used to ask him as to the reason for this excessive
crying. He used to reply by saying;
He has created Jinn and Man only so that they may Worship Him,
... and this means that we should be worshipping Him day and night.
Look what we are doing! I do not know what my condition will be on the day of
Qiyamat. Outwardly I have adorned the garment of the dervishes, I fear that
Allah, on the day of Qiyamat must not make me feel ashamed of myself in front of
the dervishes and one of the dervishes must not say that Hajee Shareef
WAS a friend of Allah. This type of love and friendship in our path is
not correct but an act of shirk. This is the reason why everyone is not allowed
to wear the apparel of the dervishes. Only those dervishes in whose heart lies
nothing but the love of Allah and his Rasool (Salallahu alaihi wasallam) are
permitted to wear it."
Whenever the poor
and needy visited Khawaja Haji
Shareef al-Zandani Rahmatullahi 'alayh he showed them so much of
love and respect that the people present would be left surprised. So much was
his love towards them that he used to take the dust from their feet and place it
on his eyes and while in this act he used to say,
He never
associated with the rich and wealthy. Like all the grand
masters he adopted the path of faqr, [contemplation] which is generally translated to mean
poverty but according to tasawwuf it is to be outwardly poor but spiritually being
rich with Allah. When he was
asked by the people about this he used to say:
Hazrat Khawaja Haji Shareef al-Zandani Rahmatullahi 'alayh passed away on the 3rd of Rajab 612 H, at the grand age of 120 years. He bestowed the Khilafat of the Chishtiya order upon his beloved mureed Hadrat Khawaja Uthman al-Harooni Rahmatullahi 'alayh.
KHAWAJA SHAREEF AL ZANDANI: THE SHAYKH, THE JEW & THE SEVEN BRIDES
COURTESY: CHISTI-SABIREE
Khawaja Uthman Haroon
Hadrat Khawaja Abu Mansur Uthman al-Harooni al-Chisti [d.617 H/1220 CE] 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l-ridwan
- First is the renunciation of this world;
- Second is the renunciation of the world hereafter;
- Third is the renunciation of the desires of the self;
- Fourth is the renunciation of everything other than God.
His advice was simple and his message was as simple and that was "Live".
To help his disciples live a better life, Khawaja Usman Harooni gave discourses at times to guide them towards a better path. Of his many teachings, prominent are:
- Once the Friend becomes your friend, the whole universe becomes yours. Then it is necessary that you should become unmindful of everything else except the Friend, should ever be with Him and should follow Him faithfully.
- According to him, the faithful is one who keeps three things dear to his heart: mendicancy, illness and death.
- It is best to not weep or wail in times of difficulty. In fact, according to the witness of Hadrat Abdullah Ansari, the Beloved Prophet Mohammed Peace and Blessings upon him & his family has laid down that the one who weeps and wails in times of trouble and tribulation invites the curse of Allah upon himself.
- The one who feeds the hungry is dear to Allah. Allah fulfills a thousand wants and frees such a person from hell-fire.
- He who gives food to a dervish becomes free from all sins.
Namee danam key akhir chun dam e deedar mi raqsam
Magar nazam baeen zoqey key peshey yar mi raqsamBiya jana tamasha kun key dar ambohey ja bazan
Basad saman e ruswaee sarey bazar mi raqsamKhusha rindi key pama lash kunam sad parsaee raa
Zahey taqwa key maan ba jubba o dastar mi raqsamTuwan qatil key az behrey tamashan khun e man rezee
Manan bismil key zerey khanjar ey khun khar mi raqsamManam Usman e Harooni wa yar e shaikh e mansooram
Malamat mee kunad khalqey waman bardar mi raqsam
I do not know why at last to have a longing look I dance,
But I feel proud of the fondness that before the Friend I dance.Thou strikest the musical instrument and lo !
everytime I dance,
In whatever way Thou causest me to dance, o Friend,
I dance.Come O Beloved ! see the spectacle that in the crowd
of the intrepid and daring,
With a hundred ignomies in the heart of the market I dance.Blessed is recklessness that I trample underfoot
the very many acts of virtue,
Hail to piety that with the robe and the turban I dance.I am Usman e Harooni and a friend of Shaykh Mansur,
They revile and rebuke and upon the gallows I dance.
Khawaja Gharib an Nawaz
Chishti, Muin al-Din Hasan Khawaja al-Ajmeri al-Sanjari [d.627 H/1230 CE] 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l-ridwan
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Qutb al-Din Bakhtiyar Kaki
Hadrat Khawaja Qutb al-Din Bakhtiyar Kaki [d.633 H/1235 CE] 'alayhi al-rahmah
wa'l-ridwan
Hadrat Khawaja Qutb al-Din Bakhtiyar Kaki Rahmatullahi alayh was born in 569 A.H. in a town called "Aush" or Awash in Mawar-un-Nahar (Transoxania). Khawaja Qutb al-Din's Rahmatullahi alayh original name was "Bakhtiyar" but his title was 'Qutb al-Din.' The name "Kaki" to his name was attributed to him by virtue of a miracle that emanated from him at a later stage of his life in Delhi. He also belonged to the direct lineage of the Beloved Messenger of Allah Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam, descending from Sayyadina Hadrat Imam Husayn radi Allahu ta'ala anhu.
Hadrat Khawaja Bakhtiyar Khaki Rahmatullahi alayh was one and half year old when his father passed away. His mother arranged for him very good education and training. When Hadrat Khawaja Mu'in al-Din Hasan Chishti radi Allahu anhu came to Isfahan, 40 days before his demise, he took oath of allegiance on his hands and got Khilafat and Khirqa [dress of a religious mendicant] from him. Thus, he was the first spiritual successor of 'Sutan al Hind' - Hadrat Khawaja Gharib-o-Nawaz, Sayyad Mu'in al-Din Hasan al-Chishti radi Allahu anhu.
Thereafter, his murshid [spiritual master] asked him to go to India and stay there. Following this order, he came to Delhi and stayed there. It was the period of Sultan Shamsuddin Iltutmish.
Hadrat Khawaja Bakhtiyar Kaki Rahmatullahi alayh used to offer 95 Rakaahs of Salaah during the 24 hours of day and night, along with 3 000 Durood Shareefs every night upon the soul of the Beloved Prophet Muhammad Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam. During the first 3 nights of his first marriage, he could not maintain the Durood Shareef. The Beloved Prophet Muhammad Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam sent a visionary message to a pious person named Rais Ahmed, asking Hadrat Bakhtiyar Kaki Rahmatullahi alayh the reasons for his not reciting the Durood Shareef. Hadrat Bakhtiyar Kaki Rahmatullahi alayh divorced his wife as a mark of repentance and thereafter broke off all worldly ties and devoted his full time to the devotion of Almighty Allah and the Beloved Prophet Muhammad Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam.
Shaykh Nur Bux has written in his book entitled "Silsila tuz'zah ":
"Bakhtiyar Aushi was a great devotee, mystic and awliya [friend] of Allah. In private and public he was indulged in the remembrance of Allah. He was habituated to eat little, sleep little and speak little. He was a towering personality in the world of tasawwuf."
He had no parallel in abandoning the world and suffering poverty and hunger. He kept himself engrossed in the remembrance of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. Whenever someone came to him he would come back to his senses after a while and was then able to talk with him. After a very brief exchange he would show his inability to continue any longer and slipped into the same state of absorption once again.
Once Hadrat Khawaja Qutb al-Din Rahmatullahi alayh was coming back with his relatives and disciples after offering Eid Salaah that he, all of a sudden, halted at a place in silence. After a while his relatives submitted: "Today is the Eid day. Many people would be awaiting his arrival. Having heard this Hadrat Khawaja Rahmatullahi alayh came out of his lost state and uttered, 'From this piece of land I have the smell of the perfect men.'" Thereafter, he came home and after the meal was over, he asked the people to call the owner of the land to him. When the owner came to him, he purchased that piece of land from him. Later, Khawaja Bakhtiyar Rahmatullahi alayh was buried in the same soil.
Death also came to him in an unusual manner. It is stated that once in an assembly of Sama (Qawwali) he happened to hear a verse of Hadrat Ahmad Jam with the meaning: "Those who are killed with the dagger of surrender and pleasure get a new life from the Unseen."
Hadrat Khawaja Bakhtiyar Kaki Rahmatullahi alayh was so much absorbed in and inspired with this verse that from that day on he kept on reciting it in a state of unconsciousness and gave his life in the same state. He remained in this state of Wajd for 3 consecutive days and passed away on the 4th day. This was on the 14th of Rabi-ul-Awwal 633 A.H. On account of his extra-ordinary death, Hadrat Khawaja Qutb al-Din Bakhtiyar Kaki Rahmatullahi alayh is known as "Shaheed-e-Muhabbat" or Martyr of Allah's Love.
'BABA FARID'
KHAWAJA SHAYKH 'BABA FARID AL-DIN GANJ-E-SHAKAR [D.1179] Rahmatullahi 'alayh
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Hadrat Baba Farid al-Din Ganj-e-Shakar Rahmatullahi 'alayh was born on the 29th
It has been narrated that a miracle occurred before his birth proving his Sainthood.
During his studies, Hadrat Khawaja Qutb al-Din Baktiar Kaki Rahmatullahi 'alayh of
It is narrated that when Hadrat Baba Farid Rahmatullahi 'alayh visited Madina
Because of political upheavals in Delhi, he was obliged to shift the centre of the
Once Hadrat Khawaja Qutb ad-Din Rahmatullahi 'alayh ordered Hadrat Baba Farid
Once, due to utter weakness, Hadrat Baba Farid Rahmatullahi 'alayh helped
It is also narrated that once a trader was taking a caravan of camels laden
One of the devotees of Hadrat Baba Farid Rahmatullahi 'alayh named Muhammed
One day some poor people came from Arabia to see Baba Farid Rahmatullahi
He fasted throughout his life and maintained his nightly prayers and devotions.
On the 5th of Muharram, during the Isha prayer [evening prayer] ] while in the An old woman that was one of the devotees of the Saint presented a piece of
His Mazaar Shareef [noble shrine] is in Pak Pattan, Pakistan. Hadrat Sabir Pak, |
Nidam al-Din Awliya
Mahboob-e-Ilahi Hadrat Khawaja Shaykh Nizam al-Din al-Awliya [d.725 H./1325 C.E.]
"In Allah's garden you gather roses,
Being drunk with divine mysteries:
Hadrat Mehboob-e-Elahi -- the beloved of Allah,
'O, how I long for the attar of your company''
Hadrat Nizam al-Din Awliya [d. 1325 C.E] represents in many ways the pinnacle of the Chishti Order of the Sufis. Hadrat Baba Farid, his spiritual guide, said to him on appointing him as his successor: "Be like a big tree, so that Allah's creation, the human beings in their vast multitudes, may find rest and solace under your shadow." This partly explains why he admitted so many (according to some, including Barani, too many) men into the Chishti order as his disciples. Another reason has been clearly formulated in this way: "History, nonetheless, bears out the wisdom of his open-ended policy . . . To far-flung areas of Uttar Pradesh, Rajastan, Gujarat, Bihar, Bengal and the Deccan, Hadrat Nizam al-Din Awliya sent able disciples well versed in the Chishti practices, yet sensitive to the needs of the local populace."
With regard to the Sufi path, Hadrat Nizam al-Din Awliya taught the following:
Let us discuss these three qualities one by one.
Sufism is, in its essence, the way of love. Love is considered to be a spiritual alchemy by means of which the baser qualities of a human being are transformed into higher ones. In this respect it suffices to say that Hadrat Nizam al-Din Awliya is known as 'Mahboob-e-Elahi' the beloved of Allah. Of course the spiritual status of a beloved is much higher than that of a lover.
'Intelligence' changed in the hands of Hadrat Nizam al-Din Awliya into wisdom. His wisdom manifested itself in the shape of service to humanity. About him it has been said:
About 'knowledge', the third faculty of a dervish, it can be said that Hadrat Nizam al-Din Awliya was one of the greatest scholars of his day. He wanted to become a Qazi, but gave it all up in his pursuit of inner knowledge. After becoming a Murid (spiritual disciple) of Hadrat Baba Farid, he lived in extremely poor circumstances. Seeing him, a former friend expressed great surprise as he remembered Hadrat Nizam al-Din Awliya as one who had begun a very promising career as a scholar. When Hadrat Nizam al-Din Awliya told all of this to Hadrat Baba Farid, his murshid (spiritual guide) suggested that he should recite the following couplet to his friend:
You are not my fellow traveller.
Tread your own path
May you be affluent.
And I downtrodden.
Then Hadrat Baba Farid ordered him to take a tray of food from the kitchen and carry it on his head to his friend. After doing so, he recited the verse. This deeply moved his friend.
One day, someone told a story of a certain saint who expired while slowly repeating the name of Allah. The eyes of Hadrat Nizam al-Din Awliya, who was listening to this story, filled with tears and he recited this quatrain:
I come running to the end of Your street,
Tears are washing and washing my cheek.
Union with You -- what else can I seek?
My soul I surrender as Your name I repeat.
1. Early Years
After leaving their homeland the city of Bokhara, the paternal grandfather of Hadrat Nizam al-Din Awliya -- Khawaja Ali -- and the maternal grandfather of Hadrat Nizam al-Din Awliya -- Khawaja Arab -- along with their family, came to India. At first they lived in Lahore, but later they took up their residence in Badayun (East of Delhi). Khawaja Arab married his daughter Bibi Zulaitaikha to Khawaja Ali's son Khawaja Ahmad.
The birth of Hadrat Nizam al-Din Awliya took place on the last Wednesday of the month of Safar, i.e., the 27th of Safar 636 A.H. (1238 C.E.) Up to this day, his birthday celebration takes place. His shrine is bathed and the water thereof is distributed among the visitors.
Hadrat Nizam al-Din Awliya's father expired when Hadrat Nizam al-Din Awliya was five years old. His mother brought him to a school where he learned to recite the Noble Qur'an. In a short time he mastered the seven ways of recitation of the Noble Qur'an. Then he studied Arabic grammar, Ahadith (traditions of the Prophet Mohammed, peace be upon him), commentary of the Qur'an and logic. At the age of twelve, he received the "turban of excellence." He was so sharp-witted, wise and understanding that he was given the title "Debater, capable of defeating the congregation." He became distinguished in the science of Tafsir (commentary on the Qur'an), in the knowledge of Ahadith, in Fiqh (Islamic Jurisprudence), mathematics and astronomy. Khawaja Shamsul Malik was among his most learned teachers. He received a testimony of knowledge of Ahadith from Maulana Kamaluddin. [2]
Although in that period, Hadrat Nizam al-Din Awliya used to sit among the ulama (the scholars of Islam), he was more interested in the inner life. He often used to say: "In the days of youth, I used to live in the company of the ulama, but in my heart the thought used to come that I should go away from their company and turn my face to the Divine Teacher." [3]
One day a certain Qawwal (Sufi musician), with the name of Abu Bakr, came from Multan (Pakistan) to Hadrat Nizam al-Din 's teacher. The teacher asked for information about the Sufi Shaykhs of Multan. Abu Bakr answered thus: "I have lived in the company of Hadrat Shaykh Bahauddin Zakaria of Multan and I have sung mystical couplets for him. In his Khanqah (Sufi monastery) the worship of Allah is very devoted, so much so that even the girls who knead the flour, while doing so, are occupied with the Zikr (remembrance of Allah). From there I went to Ajodhan (the present Pak Pattan in Pakistan). There I got the privilege of meeting Hadrat Baba Fariduddin Gang-e-Shakar," That sovereign of love of God has conquered the world and the light of his moon has illuminated that area."
"When I heard these words of praise in regard to Baba Fariduddin Ganj-e-Shakar," Hadrat Nizam al-Din Awliya says, I developed a sudden and intense love for him and I began to repeat his name after every Namaz (prayer)."