Abu Ishaq Shami () (died 940) was a Muslim scholar who is often regarded as the founder of the Sufi
Chishti Order
The Chishtī Order ( fa, ''chishtī'') is a tariqa, an order or school within the mystic Sufi tradition of Sunni Islam. The Chishti Order is known for its emphasis on love, tolerance, and openness. It began with Abu Ishaq Shami in Chisht, a ...
. He was the first in the Chishti lineage (''
silsila
Silsila ( ar, سِلْسِلَة) is an Arabic word meaning ''chain'', ''link'', ''connection'' often used in various senses of lineage. In particular, it may be translated as "spiritual genealogy" where one Sufi Master transfers his ''khil ...
'') to live in
Chisht
Chishti Sharif (also known as Chisht-e Sharif or Chisht) is a town situated on the northern bank of the Hari River, Afghanistan, Hari River in Herat Province, Afghanistan. It is the administrative center of Chishti Sharif District.
History
The ...
and so to adopt the name "Chishti", so that, if the Chishti order itself dates back to him, it is one of the oldest recorded Sufi orders. His original name, Shami, implies he came from
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
(
ash-Sham
Syria (Hieroglyphic Luwian: 𔒂𔒠 ''Sura/i''; gr, Συρία) or Sham ( ar, ٱلشَّام, ash-Shām) is the name of a historical region located east of the Mediterranean Sea in Western Asia, broadly synonymous with the Levant. Other s ...
). He died in Damascus and lies buried on
Mount Qasiyun, where
Ibn Arabi
Ibn ʿArabī ( ar, ابن عربي, ; full name: , ; 1165–1240), nicknamed al-Qushayrī (, ) and Sulṭān al-ʿĀrifīn (, , 'Sultan of the Knowers'), was an Arab Andalusian Muslim scholar, mystic, poet, and philosopher, extremely influenti ...
was later buried.
Masters and students
Abu Ishaq Shami's teacher was
Mumshad Al-Dinawari
Khwāja Mumshād ʿUlū Ad-Dīnawarī ( fa, ), also known as Karīm ad-Dīn Munʿim ( ar, كريم الدين منعم), was a prominent Sufi of the 9th century. He was born in Dinavar, Iranian Kurdistan present day Iran province. He was discip ...
, whose own teacher was
Abu Hubayra al-Basri
Abu Hubayra Amin ad deen al-Basri (Urdu ابو ہبیرہ امین الدین البصری ) was great Sufi of Chishti Order from Basra Iraq. He was disciple of Khwaja Sadid ad-Din Huzaifa al-Marashi and teacher of Khwaja Mumshad Uluw Al Dīnawa ...
, a disciple of
Huzaifah Al-Mar'ashi who was in turn a disciple of
Ibrahim ibn Adham
Ibrahim ibn Adham also called Ibrahim Balkhi (); c. 718 – c. 782 / AH c. 100 – c. 165 is one of the most prominent of the early ascetic Sufi saints.
The story of his conversion is one of the most celebrated in Sufi legend, as that of a prin ...
(''Abu Ben Adhem'' In the western tradition.) The Chishtiyyah ''silsila'' continued through Abu Ishaq Shami's disciple
Abu Aḥmad Abdal Chishti
Abu Aḥmad Abdal Chishti ( ar, ) was a Sufi of the Chishti Order in the 10th century CE and a disciple of Abu Ishaq Shami and the master of Abu Muḥammad Chishti.
He died in 966 CE.
He was Syed and his father was ruler of Fargana. He died in ...
. In South Asia
Moinuddin Chishti
Chishtī Muʿīn al-Dīn Ḥasan Sijzī (1143–1236 Common Era, CE), known more commonly as Muʿīn al-Dīn Chishtī or Moinuddin Chishti, or by the epithet Gharib Nawaz (),Blain Auer, "Chishtī Muʿīn al-Dīn Ḥasan", in: ''Encyclopaedia o ...
, whose '' silsila'' goes back to Abu Ishaq Shami, was the founding father who brought
Chishti
The Chishtī Order ( fa, ''chishtī'') is a tariqa, an order or school within the mystic Sufism, Sufi tradition of Sunni Islam. The Chishti Order is known for its emphasis on love, tolerance, and openness. It began with Abu Ishaq Shami in Ch ...
teaching to the region and he remains the most revered saint of the Chishti order in India and Pakistan.
[ Omer Tarin in the Introduction to his essay on ]Nizamuddin Auliya
Muhammad Nizamuddin Auliya (sometimes spelled Awliya; 1238 – 3 April 1325), also known as Hazrat Nizamuddin, and Mahbub-e-Ilahi () was an Sunni Muslim scholar, Sufi saint of the Chishti Order, and is one of the most famous Sufis from the India ...
, Dargah Nizamuddin pubs, Delhi, 2017. np
Quotes
Some of Abu Ishaq Shami's sayings are:
* “Starvation excels all in bliss.“
* “The worldly people are impure while the
dervishes
Dervish, Darvesh, or Darwīsh (from fa, درویش, ''Darvīsh'') in Islam can refer broadly to members of a Sufi fraternity (''tariqah''), or more narrowly to a religious mendicant, who chose or accepted material poverty. The latter usage i ...
are pure in their souls. These two different natures cannot therefore mingle.”
See also
*
Sufism
Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, r ...
References
External links
Soofie (Sufi)
Year of birth unknown
940 deaths
Chishtis
Syrian Sufi saints
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