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"SIYAR UL-AQTAB" IS AN IMPORTANT SOURCE ON THE CHISHTI ORDER
Hilola Abdulxayevna Yuldasheva
Docent, Tashkent state university of Oriental studies, Uzbekistan
Annotation:
This article analyzes important sources that show that by the 9th century, the
theoretical foundations of Sufism were developed, the practical, spiritual and psychological
exercises of Sufis, methods of self-education and training were formed, and the concepts of
tariqat, enlightenment, and truth emerged, forming a set of views on these three parts of Sufism -
Sufism was established as a separate science.
Key words:
Sufism, Chishtiyya order, conversion to Islam, concepts of tariqat, Prophet's Sunnah
Introduction:
In the early period of Sufism, the great contributions of Zunnun Misri (796-861),
Bayazid Bistami (died 875), Junayd Baghdadi (died 910), Hakim Termizi (died at the end of the
9th century), and Mansur Hallaj (858-922) were made in developing the foundations of the
maqamat and tariqa, defining the teachings and tasks of Sufism, and spreading divine truths
among the people. Later, such sheikhs as Abusaid Abdulkhair (967-1049), Ahmad Yassawi (died
1166), Yahya Suhrawardi (1155-1191), Ibn al-Arabi (1165-1240), Najmiddin Kubra (1145-1221),
and Bahauddin Naqshband (1389-1318) created new schools and lineages of Sufism. As is known,
there are various schools of Sufism. Among them are the Yassawiyya (Ahmad Yassawiyya),
Kubrawiyya (Najmiddin Kubro), Suhrawardiyya (Shahobiddin Suhrawardiyya), Mawlaviyya
(Jaloliddin Rumiyya), Juvanmardlik or Futuwwat (Pahlawon Mahmud, a prominent representative
of this order in Central Asia), Naqshbandiyya (Bahouuddin Naqshband), and other orders.
In Eastern Khorasan in the 12th-13th centuries, the Chishtiyya order also emerged and developed
in India. It is one of the most influential orders in India. The word "Chishtiyya" comes from the
name of the village of "Chisht" in Herat, and the founder of this order was Sharifuddin Abu Ishaq
Shami (died 1097), a disciple of Hazrat Karimuddin Sheikh Mumshad Alawi Dinavari (died 299
AH). He was known among Sufis as "Sharifuddin", but later he became known to the people as
Abu Ishaq Shami Chishti. However, Abdulhakim Shari'i Juzzani, in his book "Sufiism and Man",
says that this order was founded by Khoja Ahmad Abdol.
The manuscripts of the Tashkent Islamic University contain a valuable source entitled "Siyar ul-
Aqtab" by Hidaya Abdurahim ibn Hakim ibn Chishti al-Usmani. It was found that this work
contains additional new information that complements the information about the Chishti order
mentioned in scientific literature today. It names Abu Ishaq Shami Chishti as the founder of this
order and provides detailed information about him. For example, on pages 33b and 34a of the
work, there is the following quote: "Hazrat Alavi gave him great grace, and at that hour a voice
came, O Abu Ishaq, you are acceptable to my service, and that's how it happened that many
people reached the address of his state, and his blessed breed became the head of the Chishti, and
this chain became famous and popular with Chishti after Abu Ishaqdin." Jihatdinkim rushed to the
service of the Piri of Shams and Saints and went to the state of footloose in Baghdad and
immediately said Piri, what are you doing? He said: "The servants say Abu Ishaq Shami." I said
with great grace, you are Khwaja Chisht, and the Islam of Chisht is the blessing of your work.
During my career, he found caliphate, and then he visited Chisht with the permission of his elder,
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and he became famous as Khwaja Chisht.
Also, as written in this work, after Abu Ishaq Shami Chishti, this sect was founded by Hazrat Abu
Ahmad Chishti (260-355 A.H.), one of his disciples, and his disciple and son, Khwaja Abu
Muhammad ibn Khwaja Abu Ahmad Chishti (d. 404 A.H.), after him, their disciple Nasiruddin
Khwaja Abu Yusuf Chishti (375-459 A.H.). and Hazrat Qutbuddin Khoja Mawdud Chishti (d. 527
H.) and his descendants continued it. Hazrat Khwaja Mu'iniddin Husayni Hasan al-Sanjari Chishti
Ajmiri (1142-1236) later went to India and developed the Chishti sect. Mu'inuddin Hasan al-
Husayni Sanjari Chishti Ajmiri was known in India by the nickname "Hindul Nabi". However, as
Abdulhakim Shari'i Juzzani writes in his book "Sufi and Man", Mu'inuddin Hasan Chishti Ajmiri
was also known in India by the name "Khojai Gharibnavoz". He was born in Siyistan and received
his religious education in Khorasan. He chose the path of Sufism while living in Nishapur, lived in
Baghdad for several years, received Sufism education from Khwaja Usman Haruni and went to
India in 1193. When Mu'inuddin arrived in India, he chose Ajmer (Rajputana) as his residence and
center of activity and began to spread the teachings of the order. One of his disciples, Qutbuddin
Bakhtiyor Koki Oshi (d. 635 AH, some sources 633 AH), founded two centers of the Chishti order
in Delhi and Hamiduddin Noguri in Noguri. The first center was close to Islamic culture, while
the second center adapted to the conditions of rural life in India, including a vegetarian diet.
Qutbuddin Bakhtiyor Koki Oshi's disciple, Fariduddin Masud Shakarganj (1175-1265), founded
another center in Ajudh Khan (Punjab), which was based on strict discipline, asceticism, and
asceticism.
Main part:
The Chishtiyya is based on strict Sunni Islam and is one of the 12 orders whose
spiritual lineage goes back to Abu Bakr Siddiq (572-634) on the one hand and Ali ibn Abi Talib
on the other.
By the second half of the 13th century, the Chishtiyya order had spread widely in Gujarat, Uttar
Pradesh and Bihar. The Chishtiyya order also gained great influence in these areas. The
Chishtiyya order was supported not only by Muslims but also by Hindus in India. This is because
conversion to Islam was not required for membership in the Chishtiyya order.
The Chishtiyya order reached the peak of its development during the reign of Sheikh Nizomuddin
Awliya (who died in Delhi in 1325) and spread to both the east and west of India. By this time,
Sheikh Nizomuddin Awliya founded the "Nizamiyya" order, which was a branch of the
Chishtiyya order. Later, this order became independent and had its own branches.
After the death of Nimazuddin Awliya, the son of Ghiyasuddin Tughluq Shah I, the founder of the
Tughluq dynasty, the Delhi Sultan Ghiyasuddin Muhammad ibn Tughluq Shah II (1325-1351) put
strong pressure on the Chishtia order, dispersed it to the provinces, and ordered them to devote
themselves to propagating Islamic teachings in political spheres and spreading it abroad. Thus, the
most important stage of the Chishtia order ended with its spread to the provinces in 1325.
By the 15th century, the "Sabiriya" order, founded by Alauddin Ali Ibn Ahmad as-Sabir (d. 1291),
which was considered a branch of the Chishtia order, became widespread in Uttar Pradesh. It
should be noted that this order is one of the most enduring among the orders that emerged from
the Chishti order. Among the famous figures of this order, we can cite Muhammad Ilyas
Kandhlawi (died 1944) and Sheikh Abdulquddus (died 1537).
At the beginning of the 18th century, Sheikh Kalimullah Jahanbodi (1660-1729) revived the
Nazmiya order, which had emerged on the basis of the Chishtia order. His propaganda was quite
successful, and his followers restored the Nazmiya order in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Sindh, and the
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Deccan. One of the representatives of the revived Nazmiya order was Ghulam Haidar Ali Shah
(died 1908).
By the 14th century, the Chishtia order also had its own Nazmiya in Mecca. However, only
Indians who came to worship joined the Chishtia order in Mecca; the Chishtia order did not
achieve success among other nationalities there.
Although the Chishtia order was active in India, several groups also appeared in Afghanistan, and
by the second half of the 19th century, several groups also appeared in Isfahan, Iran.
The Chishti worldview was based on the theory of "unity of being" founded by Ibn al-Arabi. Their
manners, similar to those of other orders, consisted of dhikr, zabti nafs (control of the ego),
muraqabah, and an Indian custom, chilla, in which a monk would hang himself by the feet in a
well for forty days.
Every order that was formed in India was not immune to the influence of religious customs that
had existed in that region since ancient times. The Chishti order that developed there adopted the
practices of the yogis, the idea of passing the odd year without getting married, and a
number of other local customs. By the 13th century, the custom of rubbing the khaki foot of a
respected person in the eye, which was part of the Indian custom, was also adopted by the Chishti,
and it was considered obligatory for a disciple to rub the khaki foot of his murshid in the eye.
It is known that the concepts of maqamat and status occupy an important place in tariqa. In the
Chishti sect, there are statuses (addresses, stations) that represent the stages of spiritual maturity of
the tax.
In the work "Siyar ul-Aqtab" the following 12 positions of the Chishtiyya sect are mentioned.
These are:
1.The status of the Taibs. This is the status of Adam a.s. status.
2. Status of monuments. This status is Idris a.s. status.
3. Status of ascetics. This is the status of Isa a.s. is the status.
4. Status of consents. This status Ayyub a.s. status.
5. Status of workers. This status is Yunus a.s. status.
6. Status of loyalists. This status Yusuf a.s. status.
7. Status of thinkers. This is the status of Shuaib (a.s.).
8. The status of the righteous. This is the status of David (a.s.).
9. The status of the devotees. This is the status of Noah (a.s.).
10. The status of the Arifs. This is the status of Hizr (a.s.).
11. The status of the Shakirs. This is the status of Abraham (a.s.).
12. The status of the lovers. This is the status of Muhammad (pbuh).
According to this work, a person who has entered the Chishti order must meet the following
requirements and complete 10 stages. These are:
1. Seeking the Almighty.
2. Seeking the perfect guide.
3. Manners.
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4. Pleasure- not going against the will of God.
5. Love- the rising of a strong rebellion in the heart. The servant's love for God is to reveal His
secrets and revere Him.
6. Taqwa- is the purification of God and sincerity.
7. Abiding by the Sharia.
8. Eating little and speaking little.
9. Seclusion- being separated from others and being alone.
10. Prayer and fasting.
Also, the "People of Truth" in the tariqa must go through 10 stages. These are:
1. Enlightenment- perfect knowledge and reaching God Almighty.
2. Wara'- not hurting anyone and not speaking badly about anyone.
3. Sincerity- Showing the right path and speaking the truth to people.
4. Humility- Reducing contentment and humility, modesty.
5. Solitude- Choosing solitude.
6. Poverty- Seeing oneself as poor and inferior to everyone while treating others as dear and
respected.
7. Acceptance and submission- Accepting fate without opposing God's will.
8. Patience- Endurance, being patient even when a difficult day comes and not complaining to
anyone.
9. Raja- Hope, hoping that the heart will reach the beloved in the future.
10. Tawakkul- Considering all good and bad things as from Allah and relying on the Lord.
The Chishti say that a dervish needs four things. The first is to make his eyes blind so that he does
not see the faults of people. The second is to make his ears deaf so that he does not hear what
should not be heard. The third is to make his tongue mute so that he does not say what should not
be said. The fourth is to keep his feet bare so that he does not go anywhere at the whim of his own
desires.
These rules and positions are described in detail on pages 84b, 85a, 85b, 104b of Hidaya
Abdurahim ibn Hakim ibn Chishti al-Uthmani's "Siyar ul-Aqtab".
The Chishti were forbidden to smoke tobacco, consume intoxicants, and drink alcohol. They
would hold short meetings and wear colorful clothes.
The Chishti order is based on the theory of Sharia, Tariqat, and Haqiqat. The transition from
discipleship to murshid consisted of two stages.
-The first: acceptance.
-The second: dedication.
The dedication ceremony was held after the disciple had studied for 1,000 days.
In the order, the disciple was supposed to become a part of the sheikh who was his mentor. In the
first stage of discipleship, the disciple had to have an extremely strong love for his mentor and
consider him as his ideal. The disciple had to speak, pray, eat, walk like his mentor, and always
keep him in his thoughts. After that, the disciple spiritually became his mentor.
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When transferring from a murid to a murshid, the murshid in the chishitiya suluq dresses his
murid with the "khirqa of pride and will".
N. Kamilov in his "Tasawwuf" (First Book) defines the khirqa as follows: According to Sheikh
Saididdin Farghani, the khirqa (special clothing of dervishes) is of two types:
Khirqa of will and khirqa of Tabarruk.
Khirqa of will, that is, khirqa of leuk, is received from one pir. Khirqa of will indicates belonging
to a certain person's leuk. Khirqa of tabarruk can be received from many sheikhs. Similarly,
burak, hats, and shirts were also accepted as a gift of tabarruk.
Conclusion:
In the work "Siyar ul-Aqtab", the khira is described as follows: "...the khira was
given to our Prophet (peace be upon him) on the night of the Ascension, and he, by divine decree,
put it on Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him)." In the Chishti order, the khira of will was
thus passed on from one disciple to another.
The Chishti did not have any contact with the government and did not accumulate wealth.
However, it should be noted that being poor was forbidden in the Chishti order. Although the
Chishti accepted offerings from ordinary people, they did not take anything from wealthy
individuals.
The sheikhs of the order considered the teachings of the Holy Quran, the hadiths of the Prophet
(peace be upon him), the practice of the Prophet's Sunnah, as well as the fight against
superstition and innovation as their main goals and tasks.
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