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Moinuddin Chishti

Moinuddin Chishti
Dargah of moinuddin chishti.jpg
Shrine of Moinuddin Chishti, Ajmer, India
Born 536 AH or 1142 CE
Chishti region in Herat, Afghanistan
Died 6th Rajab 633 AH
˜ March 15, 1236 CE
Tomb Of Moinuddin Chishti, Ajmer, Rajasthan, India
Other names Gharib Nawaz
Region Indian subcontinent

Moinuddin Chishti (1141 - 1236) also known as Gharib Nawaz (Benefactor of the Poor), was an imam, Islamic scholar and philosopher from South Asia. Chishti introduced and established the Chishti Order of Sufism in the Indian subcontinent. The initial spiritual chain or silsila of the Chishti order in India, comprising Chishti, Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki, Fariduddin Ganjshakar and Nizamuddin Auliya—each successive person being the disciple of the previous—includes the great Sufi saints of Indian history. Various Mughal emperors were followers of Chishti.

No reliable information is available regarding his life before he settled in Ajmer.

Moinuddin Chishti is said to have been born in 536 AH/1141 CE in Chisht in a city between Afghanistan and Iran and is a "sayyid", a direct descendant of Muhammad through Sayyid Ali Akbar. His parents died when he was fifteen years old. He inherited a windmill and an orchard from his father. During his childhood, Chishti was different from other children and kept himself busy in prayer and meditation. He later 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.

Moinuddin became the murid (disciple) of Usman Harooni.

Chishti visited the seminaries of Samarkand and Bukhara and acquired religious learning from scholars. He visited centers of Muslim culture and acquainted himself with important trends in Muslim religious life. He became a disciple of the Chishti saint Usman Harooni. They travelled the Middle East together, including visits to Mecca and Medina.


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