Ajmer Sharif Controversy: Who was Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti who spread Sufism in India?
By Prabha
An Ajmer court on Wednesday (November 27) accepted a petition by Hindu Sena, which claimed that there is a Shiva temple under the iconic Ajmer Sharif Dargah, and a survey should be conducted to find it. A similar survey was demanded for the Shahi Mosque of Sambhal. A similar survey was demanded for the Gyanvapi Mosque of Banaras. There is a similar demand for Mathura. But here we are talking about Ajmer Sharif Dargah.
There is a difference between a dargah and a mosque. A mosque is a place where namaz is offered. A dargah is a place where an important religious personality is buried, his grave is called a dargah. Most such dargahs belong to great Sufi saints. Some of them are also very famous. Such dargahs are not only in India. But such dargahs in India-Pakistan have international fame. Ajmer, Rajasthan houses the dargah or tomb of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti, one of the most important figures in the spread of Sufism in the Indian subcontinent.
Moinuddin was born in 1141 AD in Sistan, a kingdom in Persia (Iran) bordering present-day Afghanistan. Orphaned at the age of 14, Moinuddin’s spiritual journey began after a chance meeting with a wandering mystic named Ibrahim Kandoji. While breaking bread with the old mystic, Moinuddin asked if there was anything more to life than loneliness, death and destruction. Kandoji replied that “every human being must try to discover and experience this truth for himself.” (Mehru Jafar, The Book of Moinuddin Chishti, 2008).
After this, he set out on the path of seeking this truth and spirituality. By the age of 20, Moinuddin had traveled far and wide, studying theology, grammar, philosophy, ethics and religion in the madrasas of Bukhara and Samarkand.
His journey took him to Khwaja Usman Harooni, a Sufi master of the Chishti order, near Herat (present-day Afghanistan). In Khwaja Usman, Moinuddin found a mentor, undergoing years of rigorous spiritual discipline under his guidance. He was eventually initiated into the Chishti Silsila (tradition of that spiritual lineage). His master left but Moinuddin adopted the Chishti Silsila of Sufism.
While traveling in Afghanistan, Moinuddin eventually accepted Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki as his first follower. With Qutbuddin, he moved to Multan where he stayed for about five years, studying Sanskrit and talking to Hindu scholars, and then moved to Lahore, where he spent much time at the shrine of the scholar Ali Hujwiri.
From Lahore, Moinuddin travelled to Delhi and then to Ajmer, the capital of the Chauhan empire at the time. He was around 50 years old when he reached Ajmer (sometime in 1191, according to Mehru Jafar). While many say that the city was at its peak during this time under the rule of Prithviraj III, the Chauhan dynasty was also coming to an end by that time.
The Chauhan dynasty came to an end after it was defeated by Muhammad of Ghor in the Second Battle of Tarain (present-day Haryana) in 1192. Muhammad of Ghor’s forces went on a killing spree, plundering the Chauhan capital and leaving behind a trail of misery.
Seeing these conditions in Ajmer, Moinuddin was shaken and decided to stay here and help the people of the city. Along with his wife Bibi Ummatullah, whom he met in Ajmer, he built a mud hut in the city and started serving the needy. History tells that “Bibi and Muinuddin’s modest house made of mud soon became a shelter for all those who did not have a roof, shelter or food, and for those who were looking for solace and peace. Mehru Jafar wrote- His amazing acts of generosity and selflessness earned Muinuddin the title of Garib Nawaz or friend of the poor.
For example, “…a large langarkhana or open kitchen for the homeless was supervised by Bibi Ummatullah, the wife of Khwaja. Here every human being, regardless of religion or status, was welcomed and fed.” Getting two meals a day was a great need at that time. When people did not have much work or even small employment opportunities.
Moinuddin also interacted with Hindu saints and faqirs, noting how much he had in common with these people who, like him, were not afraid to express their utmost devotion to their Creator, and rejected all orthodoxy. His teachings, which emphasized equality, divine love and service to humanity, transcended sectarian boundaries at a time when the subcontinent was undergoing Islamic conquest and significant political upheaval. Moinuddin confined himself to Sufism. He did not come under the influence of any emperor or king. He mainly spread the spirit of love, compassion, social justice of Hazrat Ali, the son-in-law of the Prophet, and his son Hussain, who was martyred at Karbala. Moinuddin’s ashars are inscribed in the Ajmer Dargah, which reflects his thinking.
Sufism arose between the seventh and tenth centuries as a counterweight to the growing worldliness of the Muslim community. Sufis adopted a more ascetic and devotional form of Islam. Eventually the Sufi order was organized into various groups linked by the teachings of a teacher or Wali.
The Chishti order was founded in the 10th century by Abu Ishaq Shami in the town of Chisht, near Herat. But it was Moinuddin and his disciples who led to its spread across the subcontinent. Among his most prominent disciples was Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki (1173-1235), who established the base of the Chishti order in Delhi. Kaki became a central figure in the spiritual life of the region as the spiritual guru of Iltutmish, the third Sultan of Delhi. The Qutub Minar is said to be named after Kaki, whose dargah is located next to the iconic Qutub Minar in Mehrauli.
Kaki’s disciple Baba Fariduddin (1173-1265) spread the teachings of the Chishti order in Punjab (India-Pakistan). Baba Farid was given the name Ganj Shakar or ‘Treasure of Sweetness’ by Moinuddin. Other notable disciples included Hamiduddin Nagauri, who served as the spiritual leader in Nagaur.
Nizamuddin Auliya (1238-1325), whose teachings and dargah remain in Delhi and whose Urs is held every year. His successor Chirag Dehlavi (1274-1356) carried forward Moinuddin’s message even after his death in 1236.
And the influence of the Chishti order can be seen in the patronage it received from rulers throughout history. Among the Mughal emperors, Akbar is said to have particularly revered Moinuddin. He made numerous visits to the dargah, beautified Moinuddin’s tomb and helped revive the city of Ajmer.
“The pilgrimage of members of the Mughal royal family made Ajmer so popular that the rich and powerful soon filled the city with more mosques and countless guesthouses,” wrote Mehru Jafar. Khwaja Moinuddin’s teachings still resonate in India-Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Syria. His emphasis on love and compassion resonated deeply in a religiously diverse region. His integration of Indian cultural practices into Islamic spirituality helped bridge the gap between Hindu-Muslim communities.
