Hadrat Khawaja Moinuddin Chisti (R.A) - Sufism Biographies

Khawaja Moinuddin wasborn in Sajiz village on Monday the 14 of Rajab
A.H. 537 and had his early education and upbringing in Khorasan. His
father died when he was 15. He had two brothers. On the divisionof the
property left by his father, he got a garden and a water-mill and made
a living by theincome derived from it. On contact with Ibrahim Kanduzi
(the ecstatic) majzub. Who one day came to his garden, he lost
interest in wordy possessions, sold the garden and other belongings
and distributed the proceedsamong the poor. He thenset out in search
of God. He first went to Bokhara and then to Samarkand where he learnt
the Quran by heart and acquired worldly knowledge. He them proceeded
to Iraq adding to his knowledgein the company o scholars and religious
persons like Shaikh Najmuldin Kubra, ShaikhAbdul Qadir Jilani, Shaikh
Ziauddin and Shaikh Shahabuddin Suharwardi. In Harvan village he
become disciple of Hardrat Shaikh Usman Harvani.
From Ghazna, Khawaja Moinuddin reached Lahore and stayed near the
Mazzars of Shailkh Hussain Zanjani and Shaikh Ali Usman Hajveri.He
remained in Lahore for some months and leftfor Delhi where he stayed
near the tomb of Shaikh Rashid Makki which had a mosque adjacent to
it. Delhi and Ajmer were then under the sovereignty of Raja Prithvi
Rai(also known as Rai Pithora), whose agents created hinderances in
the way of Khwaja Moinuddin and his companions, but he overcame all
these obstacles. Under Khawaja Sahib's influence, Hindus embraced
Islam in large numbers, including some of Rai Pithora's countries and
nobles; Apprised of this, Rai Pithora ordered Khawaja's arrest. Or,
hearing of it, Khwaja Moinuddin said: I have handed Pithora to
Muslims; soon after, Sultan Shahabuddin Ghori defeated Rai Pithora at
Tarawari in A.H. 588. Rai Pithora was captured near the bank of
Sarasvati river and put to death. After the victory, Islam spread all
over India. Under influence of Moinuddin and his spiritual
descendants, as many as 9 million Hindus were converted to Islam.
Today the descendants of these converts count more then 36. Khwaja's
life style was that of extreme simplicity, his hermit-like dress was
double stitched and was usually patched with rages. In his early
asceticdays, he would fast for 7 days on end, and break the fast with
a piece of bread. Khawaja Moinuddin slept little. Usually he offered
his morning prayers with the ablution performed for the previous
eveningprayer. He had the Quranin the morning and at night.
The Chistia silsila originated form the town of Chisht situated in
Afghanistan. Some 66 miles East of Herat, Chisht is now a small
village on the banks of river Hari Rood known, as Khawaja Chisht.
Chishita order flourishedin the sub-continent, while its other
branches did not survive for long in other Islamic countries. Shaikh
Abu Ishaque Shami (d. 329 A.H.) pioneered silsila Chishtia.
In the Indo-Pakistan sub-continet, it was Kahwaja Moinuddin Sijziwho
laid foundations of the Chishti silsila and worked out its
principlesat Ajmer which was thenthe seat of Chauhan Rajput politics
power. Khawaja Sahib was the embodiment of Islamic virtues and had
gained fame for this remarkablespiritual achievements. He also
performed numerous Karamat (miracles).
Prof. Khaleeq Ahmad Nizami writes: 'Ajmer was not merely the seat of
Chouhan power; it was religious centre alsowhere thousands of pilgrims
assembled from far and near, Shaikh Moinuddin's determination to work
out the principles of Islamic tassawuf at a place of such political
and religious significance shows greatself confidence. The Kahawaja
worked in themidst of a Hindu population which looked ask once at
everyforeigner. Khawaja Moinuddin's stay in Ajmer must have been a
serious trial for the promotion of Islam. On his success or failure in
Ajmer depended the future of the Islamic sufic movement in Hindustan."
The ruler and the high cast Hindus disliked Khawaja Sahib nevertheless
the common peoples flockedto him. Khawaja Moinuddin's life was that of
simplicity, piety and devotion to the cause of Islam. He alwayslaid
stress to assist the helpless and to feed the hungry.
He had an extraordinary capacity of overlooking faults and for
remissions.He held his disciples and Khalifas most dear. Food was
cooked in abundance in his public kitchen and the poor, travelers,
strangers, students, guest, beggars,had their fill. For his kitchen he
did not take asingle pie from anyone. When all was spent, he lifted
the corner of his prayer carpet for the deceased and burial , when all
had left the graveyard he sat by himself by the grave.
At the mention of the Day of Resurrection he fell to weeping and
sometimes cried cloud. Kahwaja Sahib followed religious injunctions
andwas very particular about observing religious ceremonies. He
recited the Duaa frequently and advised his disciples to do the same.
When he expatiated on the sayings of the Holy Prophet (S.A.W) he was
overcome with tears. He was transported when he referred to the life
of the Prophet (S.A.W). He has said somewhere in his writings: the
presence of the Holy Prophet. There would beno place for a person;
where will he go "he said". Having said this Khawaja Sahib cried
aloud.
All though his life, Khawaja Sahib was transported by love of Allah;
he was equally carried away by his love of the holy Prophet (S.A.W).
SAMAA or music is permissible in Chishti traditions. Khawaja had a
taste for it. It is recorded in Dalil-ul-Arifin that once,
whenresiding in Hazrat Abu Yousuf Chishti's monastery, hearing the
following verses in the musical assembly he remained in a state of
trance for two days.
"The lover is carried wayby the longing for the beloved
And is transported by the memory of his love.
Tomorrow when the people would fell lost onthe Day of Resurrection.
Thy name will resound in the breast and ears."
Khawaja Sahib maintains that music leads to insight into Creator. It
is a blessing inthree ways, i.e. illumination, states and signs; and
these pertain to the soul heart and thebody.
TEACHINGS
Khawaja Mo'in-ud-Din Chishti's teachings are extremely illuminating ,'
They may be summarized as follow:-
1. To Trust in God and noto desire any thing from anyone else:
2. One who is God's friend must be found to have the following
attributes:, Company of the righteous generosity, kindness
andcourtesy.
3. Three thing are the ornament of the soul: Befriending the enemy,
hiding one's own poverty and sorrows andsufferings from others,
complete trust in God;
4. The steadfast disciple is one who says the morning prayer and is
intoxicated by its enjoyment and memory till the next morning;
5. To be subject to some calamity or disease is a token of sound faith;
6. Love the poor, and avoid lying the backbiting;
7. God loves him who loves poverty and sickness.
8. One who repudiates prayer and the law of God is an infidel;
9. Alms giving is more praise-worthy than a thousand voluntary prayers;
10. Abusing a believer is like adultery with one's own mother or
sister, the prayer of such a person is not heard.
11. One who helps the needy is the friend of God. If a person engaged
in prayer or a religious duty is approaching by a needy person, he
should stop his prayer or religious duty, and attend to him and help
him according to his means;
12. The highest piety is to remember death;
13. Three persons shall never in-hale the fragrance of paradise; the
dervish who tells lies, a miser and a fraudlent merchant;
14. In addition to the prescribed acts of worship (prayer and fast),
the following five acts of devotion are incumbent upon the sufic.
Serving one's parents, reciting the Qu'ran respecting and be-friending
the ulema, paying a visit to Khana Ka'ba, devotion to the spiritual
guide;
15. Apart from other sinful acts, the neophyte must abstain from these
sins: laughing in a graveyard, eating and drinking there, for it is a
place of warning, oppression, and not to tremble on taking God's name;
16. The proof of the Arif's love is this that apart from repeating
God's name he should beattached to nothing else;
17. For the Ahl-e-Tariqat on the way to Saluk the following ten things
are imperative: Observance of paryer and fast, fear of God,
Steadfastness in Shari'at, abstinence in food, less sleeping, les
talking, less intercourse with people, search for truth, desire for a
perfect spiritual guide, respect, resignation, love an avoidance of
excess;
18. Likewise the following are necessary for Ahl-e-Haqeeqat: To be
perfect in ma'rfat to abstain from doing harmand giving pain to
others, holding such converse with people as may do them good here and
the world to come, to be courteous, to cultivate privacy, love and
hold others dear and think one self to be less than others,
submissions to the will of God, patience and resignance in adversity,
humility, sympathy and pity, contentment and reliance on God, frequent
recital of Darud;
19. To recite Darud frequently;
20. Praise God and perform routine duties before the spiritual guide
and abstain from relating his experience to anyone else;
21. Reading the writings of the auliya is beneficial.
It is related in Sair-ul-Aqtab that on the night Hardrat Kahawaja
Moin-ud-Din passed away, he shut the doors of his closet after evening
prayer and directed his friends not to come there. His special
intimates lingered near the closet and they heard all along the
thumping of feet heard when the lovers of God are in a state of
ecstasy. Late in the nightthe sound stopped. Afterthe morning prayer
his special disciples knockedat the door the called out but received
no reply from within. They broke open the door thefound that Hadrat
Khawaja had passed away. On his forehead was written in characters of
light "Haza Habib Ma'fi hubb Allah. (God's beloved emerges in His
love).
He died on Monday, the sixteh of Rajab 633 A.H. The greatest miracle
of Hazrat Khawaja Mo'in-ud-Din Chishti Ajmeri is that due to the
efforts ofthe line established by him as many as nine million persons
embraced Islam. His second miracles was thatwhatever sinner and
dissolute he looked at forthwith repented of his sins for ever. Dargah
of Chishti still Khawaja Mo'in-ud-Din vibrates with spiritual power.

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Some types of haraam transactions

What are the types of haraam transactions? Please quote the evidence for that.
Praise be to Allaah.
There are many types of haraam transactions, and it is not possible to
list them all in this brief answer. On our website, in the section on
haraamtransactions you will find many of these transactions.
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) mentioned a
useful principle concerning thismatter, which will help one to
understand the issue and by referring toit the issue will become
clear.
He (may Allah have mercy on him) said in Majmoo' al-Fataawa (29/22):
The second principle concerning contracts, both halaal and haraam: the
basic principle in thisregard is that Allah has forbidden us in His
Book to eat up one another's property unjustly (cf. 2:188); He
condemned the rabbis and monks who ate up the people's wealth
unjustly; He condemned the Jews for consuming usury (riba) when they
had been forbidden to do so, and for eating up the people's wealth
unjustly.This includes everything that is eaten up or consumed
unjustly in transactions and donations, and whatever is taken without
consent.
Eating up or consuming wealth unjustly in transactions is of two
types, which Allah mentioned in His Book. They are usury (riba) and
gambling.
The prohibition on usury, which is the opposite of charity, is
mentioned at the end of Soorat al-Baqarah, Soorat Aal 'Imraan and
ar-Room. The Jews are condemned for it in Soorat an-Nisa', and the
prohibition on gamblingis mentioned in Soorat al-Maa'idah.
Then the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him)
explained in detail that which Allah had mentioned in general terms in
His Book. The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him)
forbade ambiguoustransactions, as was narrated by Muslim and others
from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him). Ambiguous
transactions are those of which the outcome is unknown, which leads to
the same negative outcomes as gambling, namely enmity and resentment,
in addition to consuming wealth unlawfully, which is a type of
oppression or wrongdoing. Ambiguoustransactions involve wrongdoing,
enmity andresentment.
As for usury, the prohibition on it in the Qur'an is more
emphatic.Hence Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the
meaning):
"O you who believe! Be afraid of Allah and give up what remains (due
toyou) from Riba (usury) (from now onward), if you are (really)
believers.
And if you do not do it, then take a notice of war from Allah and His Messenger"
[al-Baqarah 2:278-279].
The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) included it
among the major sins, aswas narrated in as-Saheehayn from Abu Hurayrah
(may Allah be pleased with him). Allah stated that some good things
that had been permitted to the Jews became forbidden to them because
of their wrongdoing, their preventing people from following the path
of Allah, and their consuming people's wealth unlawfully. And He, may
He be glorified and exalted, said that Hewill destroy riba (usury) as
He gives increase for charity (cf. 2:276). Both matters are tried,
tested and true in people's experience. End quote.
So the basic principle is that any transaction thatincludes either of
these two forbidden matters – usury (riba) or gambling – or that is a
trick to get around the prohibition on these two things, comes under
the heading of haraam transactions.
Examples of transactions that are haraam becauseof usury (riba)
include: 'Eenah transaction [which means to sell something for a price
to be paid at a later date, then to buy it back for a lower price to
be paid immediately]; selling debts; combining a sale contract with a
loan; andthe like.
Examples of transactions that are haraam becauseof gambling include:
sales of unknown items; and sales of things that one cannot deliver.

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Ruling on the wudoo’ ofone who washes his arms from the wrists to the elbows, and does not wash the hands

In my community and in the Muslim world, many Muslims make the mistake
of only washing from the wrist to the elbows in elbows instead of
washing the hands also in wuduu. Although I try to tell people,
sometimes we are led by different people in prayer(we do not have an
imam). So if I do not know if this person does wuduu correctly or not,
should I pray behind him anyway? Does it depend on how much doubt I
have? Someitmes I may already know the brother who is going to lead us
and I have a big feeling he does wuduu in hte worng way yet should I
ask him as he is about lead prayer.
Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly:
The parts of the body that must be washed in wudoo' are mentioned in
the verse in which Allah, may He be exalted,says (interpretation of
the meaning): "O you who believe! When you intend to offer As-Salat
(the prayer), wash your faces and your hands (forearms) up to the
elbows, rub (by passing wet hands over) your heads, and (wash) your
feet up to ankles" [al-Maa'idah 5:6].
Allah, may He be exalted,has made it obligatory to wash the arms up to
the elbows after washing the face, and this cannot be done except by
washing the arms from the fingers upto the elbows. The one who limits
it to washing them from the wrists to the elbows has not performed
this obligation.
With regard to washing their hands at the beginning of wudoo', this is
Sunnah, and cannot suffice for the obligatory action, according to the
majority of scholars, contrary to the Hanafi view.
The majority of scholars are of the opinion that itis obligatory to
wash theparts of the body in wudoo' in the correct order as mentioned
in the verse: washing the face, then washing the arms, then wiping
over the head, then washing the feet.
Based on that, it is not valid to regard washing the hands at the
beginning of wudoo' as being sufficient and not washing them again
with the rest of the of the arm, because that leads to failure to
follow the proper sequence, washing of the face in the middle of
washing the arms. What is required is to wash the entire arm, after
washing the face.
To sum up: if a person does wudoo' and washes his hands, then rinses
his mouth and nose, and washes his face, then he washes his arms from
the wrists to the elbows, his wudoo' is not valid according to most of
the scholars.
Shaykh Ibn Jibreen (may Allah preserve him) was asked: What is the
rulingon one who washes his arms from the wrist to the elbow, without
washing his hands, thinking that his washing of his hands at the
beginning of wudoo' is sufficient? Does he have to repeat wudoo'?
He replied: It is not permissible when doing wudoo' to wash the
forearm only, without the hand. Rather when he has finished washing
his face, he should start to wash the arms, and he should wash each of
them from the fingertipsup to the elbow, even if he washed his hands
before his face, because washing them the first time is Sunnah, and
washing them after the face is obligatory. If a person only washes his
arms from the wrist to the elbow, then he has not completed wudoo' as
required, and he has to repeat his wudoo' after completing it, or
hehas to wash what he omitted if only a short time has passed (since
he completed it), so he should wash the hands and what comes after
that.
End quote from al-Lu'lu' al-Makeen min Fataawa Shaykh Ibn Jibreen, p. 77
Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Here we
should point out something that many people neglect, as they wash the
arm from the wrist to the elbow, thinking that they had finished
washing the hands before washing the face, but this is not correct. It
is essential to wash the arm from the fingertips to the elbows.
End quote from al-Liqa' ash-Shahri, 3/330
And Allah knows best.

The Sick and Ailing in Islam - Visiting the Sick

The Prophet (S) has said:
When you visit a sick person, comfort him, though this does not alter
his destiny, but it will calm him his worries and refresh his spirit.
Such ethereal support, according to al-Akili (1993) helps the human
spirit, builds up will of the patient, and empowers his
psycho-physiological process to defeat the illness. The religion Islam
has strongly recommended its followers to constantlyvisit the sick,
and the rewards attached to suchan act are limitless. The reason for
this behavior is not only related to the fact that the sick person
gets company and confidence, but the stronger relationship is to one's
energy system, and the interaction with the fields of energy of the
sick person and its rate of vibration.
An emotional mental trauma can create interruptions in the flow of
energy within an ailing person and may surface as physical pain,
illness, or disease. When someone is ill, he suffers a big hole in his
energy and chances are that the force fields have slowed down and are
not spinning quite so fast (Lindgren et. al., 1997 & Weston, 2000).
This hole can be filled up with higher sources of energy,i.e. the
healthier people who come to visit the sick person, and various other
elements, or meditation and prayer. For instance, we have seen that
the Prophet (S) always advised the sick to stand up and pray to the
Almighty.
Grad (1965) of McGill University in Montreal observed in his
experiments that if depressed psychiatric patients held the flasks
ofwater (which was later poured on barley seeds), the growth of the
seeds was retarded. The opposite was the case if spiritually and
emotionally balanced healers held the flasks of water. Weston (1998)
writes that a depressed person or any person with an evil thought or
lustful intention releases detrimental info-energy that is powerful
enough to cause a disturbance in someone else's energy system. These
experiments have concluded that the energy surrounding a sick person
is blocked, the force fields being unstable with low vibrations. The
information within the energy is also agonizing.
Because the sick person's energy will have low-charged, weak, and
unstable fields of energy,he may naturally draw and attract stronger
and much free flowing energy from the higher energy source, the
healthier friend or relative. There is also a possibility that a sick
person's energy flow is inthe opposite and wrong direction. This
visitor's energy will go on to balance and reduce blockages that exist
in the energy centers of the sick person.
If more healthy people and friends visit the sick person, the weak
energy can completely be transformed and the sick person may feel
vibrant and active and the energy will begin spinning clockwise
indicating the start of healing. This is why we have Muslims visiting
the sick always in a group, and in his presence, there is recitation
of Qur'an, or invocations. These types of practices are deeply rooted
and contain powerful ingredients to heal a sick person at the energy
level.
It is recorded in history that when the American Indians needed to
replenish their energy, they would go into the woods; arms extended,
and absorb as much energy from the trees as possible . Apparently,
Deepak Chopra (1998) in Healing the Heart recommends daily walking
around the woods in the morning, and that the trees at that particular
time have fresh and unadulterated energy to release and allow free
flowing energy communication with the person. Weston (1998) also
recommends putting one's arms around a tree to draw energy.
Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird (1989), in their book The Secret
Life of Plants, quote an experiment in which a few unhealthy plants
were kept in the middle, surrounded by a large group of healthy
plants. Because the healthy plants emitted stable, strong and highly
charged energy that almost instantly interacted with the sick plant's
weak energy, the sick plants got stronger and healthier day by
day.This change can be strongly attributed to theenergy interactions,
the higher vibratory source feeding the lower source - the blocked and
low-charge energy replaced with pure and steady source of energy.
Results of a study, which were published in the year 2000 in the
journalHorttechology, says that people in roomswith houseplants and a
view of trees could tolerate more physical pain than those in
surroundings without any plants or trees. The Washington State
University conducted this study. Clearly, there was arelationship
between theenergy in plants and trees and the energy within an ailing
person.
Tompkins and Bird (1989)quote yet another experiment by Marcel Vogel,
in which the experimenter paid some attention to a particular leaf,
and none to other leaf, the control. He found out that the leaf
towhich there was no attention paid appeared flaccid, turning brown
and beginning to decay. The leaf on which there was focused attention
was radiantly vital and green, just as if it had been freshly plucked
from the garden.
There was indeed some kind of power that was keeping the leaf in a
healthy state, and that power was the energy interaction between the
person and the plant. Simply the person attending to it observed
significant growth in a leaf. Vogel continued his experiments in
different situations and found similar results. In some experiments,
the leaves that were attended to by human attention appeared to even
heal their wounds caused by being ripped off from thetree.
Islam has also been kind enough to advise the healthy people and
relatives to refrain from staying for a long time with a sick person.
Not only would this act make the sick person lethargic, there could be
a reversal effect, in that the sick person's energy may absorb too
much free flowing and balanced energy from the healthy person thus
lowering his healthy and vibratory nature. This may further cause
short-term illness or lethargy because of the excessive amounts of
highly charged energy being drained from the healthy person.
Praying for the Sick
We have already noted the benefits of prayer, even if the ailing
person is in another continent. Itis customary for Muslims to ask
their brethren to remember them in their prayers, and Muslims pray in
congregation for each other all the time. Inparticular, when someone
is sick, then Muslims gather together and pray for that sick andailing
person. According to Weston (1998), a group of people, saying prayers
has the followingeffect on the group, its surroundings, and the
persons the prayer may be offered to:
When you pray with other family members, you form a sacred group
energy field. The energy released bathes everyonein that room. It
flows intothe carpet, the walls, and furniture, leaving a residue of
it present at alltimes. This sacred group energy field is filled with
information, the information from the intent and content of your vocal
prayers together.
Group power, according to Weston (1998) can achieve same healing
results as that of one world-class healer. Scientists accept this
typeof prayer, with intention (as the person's name is being
mentioned), as proven acts that provide healing to the recipient.
Several specific studies have already been quoted in the earlier
sections, but one large meta-study is quoted below.
Recently, studies were identified by an electronic search of the
MEDLINE, PsychLIT, EMBASE, CISCOM, and Cochrane Library Databases from
their inception to the end of 1999 and by contact withresearchers in
the field. Studies with the following features were included; random
assignment, placebo or other adequate control, publication in
peer-reviewed journals, clinical (rather than experimental)
investigations, and use ofhuman participants. Two investigators
independently extracted data on study design, sample size, type of
intervention, type of control, direction of effect (supporting or
refuting the hypothesis), and nature of the outcomes.
A total of 23 trials involving 2774 patients met the inclusion
criteria and were analyzed. Heterogeneity of the studies precluded a
formal meta-analysis. Of the trials, five examined prayer as the
distant healing intervention, 11 assessed non- contact therapeutic
touch, and seven examined other forms of distant healing. Of the 23
studies, 13 (57%) yielded statisticallysignificant treatment effects,
nine showed no effect over control interventions, and one showed a
negative effect.
The study concluded that the methodological limitations of several
studies make it difficult to draw definitive conclusions about the
efficacy of distant healing. However, given that approximately 57% of
trials showed a positive treatment effect,the evidence thus far merits
further study. This study appeared in the Annals of Internal Medicine
2000.

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