Abu Ishaq Shami (; died 940) was a Muslim scholar who is often regarded as the founder of the Sufi
Chishti Order
The Chishti order () is a Sufi Tariqa, order of Sunni Islam named after the town of Chishti Sharif District, Chisht, Afghanistan where it was initiated by Abu Ishaq Shami. The order was brought to Herat and later spread across South Asia by Mu ...
. He was the first in the Chishti lineage (''
silsila
''Silsila'' () is an Arabic language, Arabic word meaning ''chain'', ''link'', ''connection'' often used in various senses of :wikt:lineage, lineage. In particular, it may be translated as "spiritual genealogy" where one Sufi Master transfe ...
'') to live in
Chisht and 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, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
(
ash-Sham). He died in Damascus and lies buried on
Mount Qasiyun, where
Ibn Arabi
Ibn Arabi (July 1165–November 1240) was an Andalusian Sunni
Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest com ...
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 (''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 () 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 Ch ...
.
In South Asia,
Moinuddin Chishti
Mu'in al-Din Hasan Chishti Sijzi (; February 1143 – March 1236), known reverentially as Khawaja Gharib Nawaz (), was a Persians, Persian Islamic scholar and Sufism, mystic from Sistan, who eventually ended up settling in the Indian subcontin ...
, whose ''silsila'' goes back to Abu Ishaq Shami, was the founding father who brought
Chishti
The Chishti order () is a Sufi order of Sunni Islam named after the town of Chisht, Afghanistan where it was initiated by Abu Ishaq Shami. The order was brought to Herat and later spread across South Asia by Mu'in al-Din Chishti in the city ...
teaching to the region.
See also
*
Sufism
Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism.
Practitioners of Sufism are r ...
References
External links
Soofie (Sufi)
Year of birth unknown
940 deaths
Chishtis
Syrian Sufi saints
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