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 in Herat Province, Afghanistan. It is the administrative center of Chishti Sharif District.
History
The Chishti Order of Sufi m ...
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). 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 influen ...
was later buried.
Masters and students
Abu Ishaq Shami's teacher was
Mumshad Al-Dinawari, whose own teacher was
Abu Hubayra al-Basri, 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. In South Asia
Moinuddin Chishti
Chishtī Muʿīn al-Dīn Ḥasan Sijzī (1143–1236 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 of Islam, TH ...
, 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 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 ...
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 ...
References
External links
Soofie (Sufi)
Year of birth unknown
940 deaths
Chishtis
Syrian Sufi saints
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