name	Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti
religion	Islam
alias	Hazrat Khwaja Gharīb Nawāz
location	Ajmer, Northern India
title	غریب نواز ''Gharīb Nawāz،'' سُلطان الہند ''Sultan-ul-Hind'' (emperor of India) ''Shaikh,'' Khalifa
period	Late 12th century and early 13th century
predecessor	Usman Harooni
successor	Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki
birth date	1141
birth place	Khorasan (in modern Afghanistan) or Isfahan (in modern Iran)
death date	1230
death place	Ajmer }}

''Sultan-ul-Hind,'' Hazrat Shaikh Khwaja Syed Muhammad Mu'īnuddīn Chishtī (Persian/Urdu: ) was born in 1141 and died in 1230 CE. Also known as ''Gharīb Nawāz'' (), or 'Benefactor of the Poor', he is the most famous Sufi saint of the Chishtī Order of the Indian Subcontinent. He introduced and established the order in South Asia. The initial spiritual chain or ''silsila'' of the Chishti order in India, comprising Mu'īnuddīn Chishtī, Bakhtiyar Kaki, Baba Farid and Nizamuddin Auliya (each successive person being the disciple of the previous one), constitutes the great Sufi saints of Indian history.

Early life and background

Khwaja Mu'īnuddīn Chishtī is said to have been born in 536 A.H./1141 CE, in Chishti in Sistan region of Afghanistan. He was a Sayed, a descendant of Muhammad through Ja'far aṣ-Ṣādiq. He grew up in Persia. His parents died when he was only fifteen years old. He inherited a windmill and an orchard from his father. During his childhood, young Mu'īnuddīn was different from others and kept himself busy in prayers and meditation. Legend has it that once when he was watering his plants, a revered Sufi, Shaikh Ibrāhim Qundūzī (or ''Kunduzi'') -- the name deriving from his birth place, Kunduz in Afghanistan -- came to his orchard. Young Mu'īnuddīn approached him and offered him some fruits. In return, Sheikh 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.

He became the Murid (disciple) of Usman Harooni.

Journeys

Mu'īnuddīn Chishtī 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. He became a disciple of the Chishtī saint 'Uthmān Hārūnī. They travelled the Middle East extensively together, including visits to Mecca and Medina.

Journey to India

Mu'īnuddīn 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 Sultan Shahāb-ud-Din Muhammad Ghori, and settled down there. In Ajmer, he attracted a substantial following, acquiring a great deal of respect amongst the residents of the city. Mu'īnuddīn Chishtī practiced the Sufi Sulh-e-Kul (''peace to all'') concept to promote understanding between Muslims and non-Muslims.

Establishing the Chishtī order in India

The Chishtī order was founded by Abu Ishaq Shami (“the Syrian”) in Chisht, some 95 miles east of Herat in present-day western Afghanistan. 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 Chishtī 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 Emperor Akbar (1556–1605) that Ajmer emerged as one of the most important centers of pilgrimage in India. The Mughal Emperor undertook an unceremonial journey on foot to accomplish his wish to reach Ajmer. The Akbarnāmah records that the Emperor's interest first sparked when he heard some minstrels singing songs about the virtues of the Walī (Friend of God) who lay asleep in Ajmer.

Mu'īnuddīn Chishtī authored several books including ''Anīs al-Arwāḥ'' and ''Dalīl al-'Ārifīn'', both of which deal with the Islamic code of living.

Quṭbuddīn Baktiyār Kākī (d. 1235) and Ḥamīduddīn Nagorī (d. 1276) were Mu'īnuddīn Chishtī's celebrated Khalīfas 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 Baktiyār's prominent disciples was Farīduddīn Ganj-i-Shakar (d. 1265), whose dargāh is at Pakpattan, (Pakistan). Farīduddīn's most famous disciple was Nizāmuddīn Auliyā' (d. 1325) popularly referred to as Mahbūb-e-Ilāhī (God's beloved), whose dargāh is located in South Delhi.

From Delhi, disciples branched out to establish dargāhs 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 Chishtī dargāhs the Ajmer dargāh took on the special distinction of being the 'mother' dargah of them all.

Dargah Sharif

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, became the target of a terrorist bomb attack in October 2007 by suspected Hindutva militants.

In popular culture

A Bollywood movie ''Jodhaa Akbar'' (2008), directed by Ashutosh Gowariker, includes a qawwālī in praise of Moinuddin Chishti ("Khwāja Mērē Khwāja"). It depicts the Emperor Akbar being moved by the song to join the whirling-dervish-like dance that accompanies the song. The song is composed by A.R. Rahman.

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', Amir Khusrau, Muhammad Hussain-i Gisūdarāz Bandanawāz, Ashraf Jahāngīr Simnānī, Aṭā' Hussain Fānī and Shāh Jamāl Bābā Bahaya Aurangabadī.

Today, hundreds of thousands of people – Muslims, Hindus, Christians 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

#'Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib #Al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī #'Abdul Wāḥid Bin Zaid Abul Faḍl #Fuḍayll ibn 'Iyāḍ Bin Mas'ūd Bin Bishr al-Tamīmī #Ibrāhīm bin Adham #Ḥudhayfah al-Mar'ashī #Amīnuddīn Abū Ḥubayrah al-Baṣrī #Mumshād Dīnwarī Start of the Chishtī Order: #Abū Isḥāq al-Shāmī #Abū Aḥmad Abdāl #Abū Muḥammad bin Abī Aḥmad #Abū Yūsuf bin Sam'ān al-Ḥusaynī #Maudūd Chishtī #Sharīf Zandānī #'Uthmān Hārūnī #Mu'īnuddīn Chishtī

Others buried in the Maqbara enclosure

The famous Mughal generals Sheikh Mīr and Shāhnawāz Khān were buried in the enclosure of Mu'īnuddīn Chishtī's Maqbara after they died in the Battle of Deorai in 1659. Shāhnawāz Khān was the Emperor Aurangzeb's father-in-law.

See also

Ajmer Dargah attack

Ali Hujwiri

Ata Hussain Fani Chishti

Fariduddin Ganjshakar

List of famous Sufis

List of Sufism related topics

Nizamuddin Auliya

Qadiriyyah

Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki

Sayyid

Sufism

Urs (Ajmer)

References

External links

Anees-ul-Arwah by Mu'īnuddīn Chishtī

Category:Arab people Category:Dargahs in India Category:Indian Sufis Category:Indian people of Arab descent Category:Mujaddid Category:Sufi shrines in India Category:1141 births Category:1230 deaths

de:Muinuddin Chishti ms:Moinuddin Chishti pl:Mu'in ad-Din Cziszti sv:Muinuddin Chishti te:ఖ్వాజా మొయినుద్దీన్ చిష్తి ur:خواجہ معین الدین چشتی

name	Abdul-Qadir Gilani
religion	Islam
birth date	1077 CE (Common Era)
birth place	Gilan, Iran
death date	1166 CE
death place	Baghdad, Iraq
title	Sheikh, Ghaus-e-Azam
works	Al-Ghunya li-talibi tariq al-haqq wa al-din, etc. }}

Al-Syed Muhiyudin Abu Muhammad Abdal Qadir al-Gilani al-Hasani wal-Hussaini , (, ''Abdolqāder Gilāni'') (also spelled Abdulqadir Gaylani, Abdelkader, Abdul Qadir, Abdul Khadir - Jilani, Jeelani, Jilali, Gailani, Gillani, Gilani, Al Gilani) or simply known as Ghaus-e-Azam (470–561 AH) (1077–1166 CE) was a Persian Islamic preacher, Sufi sheikh and the figurehead of the Qadiri Sufi order, but he from and honoured by all Sufi order. He was born on a Wednesday the 10th Rabi at-Thani in 470 AH, 1077 CE, in the Persian province of Gilan (Iran) south of the Caspian Sea.

Lineage and Biography

Abdul-Qadir ibn Abi Salih Musa ibn Abdullah ibn Yahya ibn Muhammad ibn Abu Muhammad AbuBakr Dawud ibn Musa ibn Abdullah ibn Musa Jawni ibn Abdullah ibn Hassan al-Muthanna ibn Hassan ibn Ali ibn Abi Talib, and this on his father side so you can see why they call him al-Hassani due to his tracing up to Muhammad's grandson Hassan ibn Ali. On his mother side, she is the daughter of a saintly person Abdullah Sawmai who was a direct descendant of Imam Husain ibn Ali making the Shaykh also al-Husayni due to this.

Al-Gilani was born in 1078 CE (471 AH) in a small town of Iranian Gilan Province. His ancestors were Syeds who settled in Gilan (arabacized to ''Jilan'') hence the epiphet of ''al-Jilani''. His complete name ''Al-Syed Muhiyudin Abu Muhammad Abdal Qadir al-Gaylani al-Hasani wal-Hussaini'', ''Muhiyudin'' his title for being known popularly as ''"the reviver of religion"'', Abu Muhammad his Kunya or nickname (meaning 'father of Muhammad'), ''al-Gaylani'' denoting the region he hailed from although however he also had the epiphet ''al-Baghdadi.'' (denoting also the city of Baghdad where he was now residing in and therefore also geographically recognised through, eventually being buried there), and ''al-Hasani wal-Hussaini'' affirming his lineal descent from both Syed Imam Hasan and Imam Hussain, the grandsons of Muhammad.

His father, Syed Abu Saleh Musa al-Hasani was a direct descendant of the Syed Imam Hasan. He was an acknowledged saint of his day ''"..and was popularly known as Jangi Dost, because of his love for Jihad"'' ''Jangi dost'' thereby being his sobriquet

His mother ''Ummal Khair'' Fatima, daughter of Syed Abdullah Sawmai az-Zaid a descendant of Syed Imam Hussain through Imam Zain ul Abideen, he was known himself as a ''"great saint of his time and a direct descendant of Hazrat Imam Husain, the Great Martyr of Karbala"''

Education

He spent his early life in the town of his birth. At the age of eighteen he went to Baghdad (1095), where he pursued the study of Hanbali law under several teachers. The Shaikh received lessons on Fiqh from Abu Ali al-Mukharrimi, Hadith from Abu-Bakar-bin-Muzaffar, and tafsir from the renowned commentator, Abu Muhammad Jafar. When he was on the way going to "Baghdad" with a large convoy (Qafila), a group of thieves attacked the convoy and took all of their precious belongings, one of the thieves came to him (Sheikh Abdul-Qadir Gilani) and asked him "Boy, tell me what you have in your luggage". He replied "I have forty dinars." The thief searched all of his luggage and could not find the dinars. He then took the boy to his sardar (master) and told him that this boy (Sheikh Abdul-Qadir Gilani) claims he has forty dinars, but after searching his belongings I could not find the dinars. The sardar (master) then asked, "Boy, do you lie?" He replied "No, I am not lying, the dinars were sewn by my mother on the inner side of my shirt." Then one of the thieves checked and found the money. The sardar then asked him. "Boy, you could have lied to us and could have saved your money, why you didn't lie?" Sheikh Abdul-Qadir Gilani replied "Before I started my journey, my mother advised me to tell the truth even if someone tries to kill me as Allah frowns upon those who do not speak the truth." After listening to this the sardar began to cry, as this little boy had so much fear of Allah that he did not lie in such a situation. He felt guilt for all his wrongdoings and felt the fear of Allah so the sardar then gave back all of the looted things to their owners.

In Tasawwuf (the sciences of the heart), his spiritual instructor was Shaikh Abu'l-Khair Hammad bin Muslim al-Dabbas. From him, he received his basic training, and with his help he set out on a spiritual journey.

After completion of education, Abdul-Qadir Gilani abandoned the city of Baghdad, and spent twenty-five years as a wanderer in the desert regions of Iraq as a recluse.

Later life

He was over fifty years old by the time he returned to Baghdad in 1127, and began to preach in public. He moved into the school belonging to his old teacher al-Mukharrimii; there he engaged himself in teaching. Soon he became popular with his pupils. In the morning he taught hadith and tafsir, and in the afternoon held discourse on science of the hearts and the virtues of the Qur'an.

He busied himself for forty years in the service of Islam from 521 to 561 AH. During this period hundreds of thousands of people converted to Islam because of him and organized several teams to go abroad for dawah purposes.

He was also the teacher of Ibn Qudamah whom he also designated as a Caliph of his Sufi order. Ibn Qudamah also later fought as a general in Sultan Saladin Ayyubi's army and conquered Jerusalem from the Christian dominance.

Death

The sheikh died on Saturday night 1166 (11 Rabi' istani 561AH) at the age of ninety one years (by the Islamic calendar), and was entombed in a shrine within his Madrassa in Baghdad. His Shrine and Mosque are in what used to be the school he preached in, located in Babul-Sheikh, Resafa (East bank of the Tigris) in Baghdad, Iraq. Worldwide the Sufi orders celebrate Ghouse-al-azham day on 11th at-thani closest to his birthday not his death-date for respect and elevation of their Shaykh which is 10th of Rabi at-Thani in the islamic calendar

Al-Gilani succeeded the spiritual chain of Junayd Baghdadi. His contribution to thought in the Muslim world earned him the title ''Muhiyuddin'' (lit. "The reviver of the faith"), as he along with his students and associates laid the groundwork for the society which later produced stalwarts like Nur ad-Din and Saladin.

Family

The Shaikh had four virtuous wives and forty-nine children, twenty-seven sons and twenty-two daughters. The most famous of his sons are Shaikh Abdul-Wahab, Sheikh Abdul-Razzaq, Shaikh Abdul-Aziz, Shaikh Isa, Shaikh Musa, Sheikh Yahya, Sheikh Abdullah, Sheikh Muhammed and Sheikh Ibrahim. His sons and grandsons reached the Indian sub-continent throughout the years preaching Islam in his method (Arabic=Tareqa,طريقة). As they have reached the Western part of the Arab world of North Africa and Morocco, and parts of the Horn of Africa (Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Somalia (a country that predominantly professes to the Qadiriyyah order only in the Sufi sect though small patches of Ahmed ibn Idris' order is found) ). In Somalia the order is subdivided to Zaylaiyyah order and Uwaisiyyah order.

Among the Sufis, who came to India from Baghdad, and who belonged to the family of Shaykh Abd-ul-Qadir Jilani Shah Badr Dewan whose real name was Hasan, and whose honorific title was Badr-ud-Din, is one of the top most Sufis. He stayed near Batala, and laid the foundation of Masania, a kind of inn in his times, but later populated by his children, grand children and great grand children, became a village of its own culture.

Works

Some of Jilani's more well known works include:

Al-Ghunya li-talibi tariq al-haqq wa al-din (Sufficient Provision for Seekers of the Path of Truth and Religion)

Al-Fath ar-Rabbani (The Sublime Revelation)available for download (urdu)

Malfuzat (Utterances)

Futuh al-Ghaib (Revelations of the Unseen) available for download (urdu) (English)

Jala' al-Khatir (The Removal of Care)

Bahajja-Tul Asrar (Ground Secerets)

Sir Al-Asrar (Secret of Secrets) Available for Purchase in English

Bibliography

Utterances of Shaikh Abd al-Qadir al-Jīlānī (Malfūzāt) / transl. from the Arabic by Muhtar Holland Malfūzāt

Author: Muhtar Holland (1935-) Year: 1994, Publisher: Kuala Lumpur : S. Abdul Majeed & Co, ISBN 1-88221-603-2

Fifteen letters, khamsata ashara maktūban / Shaikh Abd Al-Qādir Al-Jīlānī ; translated from the Persian into Arabic by Alī usāmu ́D-Dīn Al-Muttaqī ; and from Arabic into English by Muhtar Holland, Kamsata ašara maktūban

Author: ʿAlāʾ al-Dīn ʿAlī b. ʿAbd al-Malik al- Muttaqī al-Hindī (ca1480-1567); Muhtar Holland (1935-) Year: c1997 Edition: 1st ed Publisher: Hollywood, Fla : Al-Baz Pub ISBN 1-88221-616-4

The removal of cares = Jalā Al-Khawātir : a collection of forty-five discoures / Shaikh Abd Al-Qādir Al-Jīlānī ; transl. from the Arabic by Muhtar Holland

Jalā al-Khawātir Author: Muhtar Holland (1935-) Year: c1997 Publisher: Ft. Lauderdale, Fla : Al-Baz Pub Extent: xxiii, 308 p Size: 22 cm ISBN 1-88221-613-X

The Sultan of the saints : mystical life and teachings of Shaikh Syed Abdul Qadir Jilani / Muhammad Riaz Qadiri

Author: Muhammad Riyaz Qadiri Year: 2000, Publisher: Gujranwala : Abbasi Publications, Size: 22 cm, ISBN 969-851016-8

The sublime revelation = al-Fath ar-Rabbānī : a collection of sixty-two discourses / Abd al-Qādir al- Jīlānī ; transl. from the Arabic by Muhtar Holland, al-Fath al-Rabbānī

Year: 1998 Edition: 2nd ed, Publisher: Ft. Lauderdale : Al-Baz Publishing, ISBN 1-88221-602-4

Al-Ghunya li-talibi tariq al-haqq wa al-din (Sufficient Provision for Seekers of the Path of Truth and Religion), (Arabic), Part I, II, Abd Al-Qadir Al-Gaylani, Pub. Dar Al-Hurya, Baghdad, Iraq, 1988.

Al-Ghunya li-talibi tariq al-haqq wa al-din (Sufficient Provision for Seekers of the Path of Truth and Religion)

(Arabic), Introduced by Dr. Majid Irsan Al-Kilani, Pub. Dar Al-Khair, Damascus-Bairut, 2005.

Encyclopædia Iranica

See also

Qadiriyyah

Hazrath Machiliwale Shah

Moulana Sahvi Shah

Ali Hujwiri

Sufi Barkat Ali

List of notable personalities

Mohammad Ali Mojtahedi Gilani, founder of Sharif University of Technology

Ardeshir Mohassess, cartoonist

Ebrahim Heshmat, Governor of Lahijan in Soviet Republic of Gilan

Mirza Kuchek Khan, Founder of Constitutionalist movement of Gilan

Arsen Minasian

Hazin Lahiji, poet

Hengameh, singer

Mohammad Taghi Bahjat Foumani, Twelver Shi'a Marja

Al-Jilani

Mahmoud Behzad

Majid Samii, brain surgeon in Germany

Pejman Nouri, football player

Mohammad Moin, prominent Iranian scholar of Persian literature and Iranology

Sirous Ghayeghran, Former Captain of Iranian national Football team

Ghafour Jahani, Footballer

Hushang Ebtehaj, contemporary poet

Mardavij, former king of Iran

Shams Langeroodi, contemporary poet

Fazlollah Reza, 2nd Head of Sharif University of Technology

Ahmad (HajAgha) Koutchesfahani, founder of Iranian Telephone Company of Rasht

Yousaf Raza Gillani Prime Minister of Pakistan. His forefathers migrated from the province of Gilan.

Hazrat Pir Sayyid Abdul Qadir Gilani, Prominent Islamic Scholar In The U.K

Hazrat Syed Qalandar Ilm Ali Shah Jilani, Sufi Saint ^{Article deleted.}

References

External links

160 Names and Titles of 'Abdu-l Qadir al-Jilani

Website dedicated to Shaikh Muhyi'din 'Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani

Dedicated to his lineage, life, works and progeny

Website regarding Shaykh Abdul-Qadri al-Gilani and his descendants.

Website dedicated to the Lovers & Followers of the Great Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jilani

A complete website regarding Ghaus ul Azam and Gilani Syeds.

Ghauth ul Azam

A Site of Web Links About Ghouse Azam Dastagir rz.

A web site links related to Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jilani

Excerpts/Books by Abdul Qadir Jilani

His Works

English translations of some of his works Al-Baz

A Diwan

Branches and affiliated organisations of the Qadiri Order

'Arusiyyah - Qadiriyyah (Founder: Imam al-'Arus Sayyid Muhammad)

Darul Ehsan (Founder: Hazrat Abu Anees Muhammad Barkat Ali)

Qadiri - Rifa'i (Founder: Muhyiddin Ansari)

Sarwari - Qadri Order (Founder: Hazrat Sultan Bahu)

International Qadiri Order

Category:Iranian Sufis Category:Iranian religious leaders Category:Theologians Category:Sufi religious leaders Category:Muslim theologians Category:Hanbalis Category:1077 births Category:1166 deaths Category:Iraqi people of Iranian descent Category:People from Gilan Province

ar:عبد القادر الجيلاني az:Əbdülqədir Geylani ca:Abd-al-Qàdir al-Jilaní de:Abd al-Qadir al-Dschilani fa:عبدالقادر گیلانی fr:Abd al Qadir al-Jilani id:Syekh Abdul Qadir Jaelani it:Abd al-Qadir al-Gilani ku:Evdilqadirê Geylanî ml:ശൈഖ് അബ്ദുൽ ഖാദിർ ഗീലാനി ms:Abdul Qadir Jailani ps:عبدالقادر ګيلاني pt:Abdul-Qadir Gilani ru:Абд ал-Кадир Гилани ckb:شێخ عەبدولقادری گەیلانی sv:Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani ta:முகைதீன் சாசையத் அப்துல் காதர் சிலானி te:అబ్దుల్ ఖాదిర్ జీలాని tr:Abdülkâdir Geylânî uk:Абдул Кадір Ґілані ur:شيخ عبدالقادر جيلانی