Book Review

Khawaja Moinudeen Chishty: Ajmer’s Benefactor of the Poor
By Dr. T.R. Shangari
Publisher: Punjab: Radha Soami Satsang Beas, 2023.
ISBN:978-81-19078-30-1

Moinudeen Chishty was born in 1142 into an affluent family in Iran. His parents had a spiritual bent of mind, and he grew up in that atmosphere. He had a good education in the local Islamic school (madrasa) and, by age nine, had memorized the Quran. His father died when he was just fifteen. After experiencing a spiritual awakening after a meeting with a travelling dervish, he sold his lands, distributed the proceeds to the poor, and searched for a murshid or spiritual guide. He visited many lands, met many leading Sufis and scholars, and completed advanced studies in Islam. Eventually, he met his murshid Usman Harooni, of the Chishty order, whom he served for the next twenty years. When Moinudeen was fifty-two years of age, Harooni declared Chishty as his successor. After further travel, Chishty settled in Ajmer in Rajasthan, India, where he taught and served the poor until he died in 1238. Since then, hundreds of thousands of people have travelled to Chisty’s shrine in Ajmer each year to pay their respects. He is remembered for his simple philosophy: “Be as generous as the river, as warm as the sun, and as hospitable as the earth.”

Prepared with assistance from the Chishty Centre in Ajmer, this book captures the basics and the intricacies of the Sufi path through the words of one of its great masters. It begins with a brief introduction to Sufism, covering its history, basic teachings, and the phenomenon of the Sufi order (silsila), including the Chishty order, followed by a biography of Moinudeen Chishty and summary of his teachings, quoting from his works in both prose and poetry. Next appear several writings surviving from Chishty’s time, among them a composition by Chishty’s spiritual successor Bakhtiyar Kaki, seven enlightening letters Chishty wrote to him, and the text of Chishty’s final sermon. But the bulk of the book is selections from Chishty’s poetry.

Reflecting the principle of “oneness of being” (wahdat al-wujud), fundamental to the teachings of the Chishty order and many other Sufis, Chishty writes,

The very thought of “I am; I exist as a separate entity from God” is deceptive. There is no duality, no separate entity. There is one entity alone, and that is the Truth of God. As long as you continue to see yourself, you will not see God; when you no longer see the self intervening, then God will reveal Himself to you.

And,

Do not say, in this world of duality, oneness does not exist;
if you look with the eye of your heart,
in every place you see only Him.

On the seeker’s need for a murshid:

Do not step into this wilderness
  without a Friend, O Moin!
Do not travel alone! Wait, for He has come
  just to be your companion.

Chishty taught that three spiritual practices are essential for the seeker: ritual prayer (ibadat), remembrance (zikr), and contemplation (shaghl). He calls zikr the backbone of the spiritual life. Chishty encourages us in zikr, adopting the voice of God:

Pray, that is, remember Me in your heart. Know Me to be present in your body. Give place to My love in your head. I have created you for this purpose, that you may know Me, glorify Me, and love Me.

A person should spend his life in God’s zikr, always feeling God’s presence close to him, and not waste time trying to fulfil worldly desires. Chishty writes,

If you wish to become one with God,
repeat his Name each moment.
You will attain union with Truth
when you attain union with God’s Name.

Chishty urges us to become a mirror for God’s beauty. Even our body plays a part. “The body is both the cause of separation from God and the means of merging back into Him: Do not consider yourself dust, for dust is darkness. Look – you, yourself, are the very mirror of God’s beauty.” To polish the mirror one must keep close watch on one’s mind in contemplation.

For Chishty, the path to God is to live in God’s will, learn how to love, and lose the self so that we may be able to listen to the voice of God and ultimately achieve oneness. Love and living in God’s will are interconnected for him. He often quotes the advice of Mansur al-Hallaj on how to succeed in love: “Align your will to the will of the Beloved and become so absorbed in His love that you are completely oblivious of all the suffering you undergo. This is how you can succeed in love.” Chishty describes the voice of God with various poetic images:

The drumbeat of My love resounds in both worlds,
remove the cotton wool from your ears
and listen to its call.

The flute of Love’s mystery can be heard again in my heart.
With heart and soul, I have established a relationship
with your flute.

Chishty’s surrender to God wiped out all his desires, even the desire to see God: “I never desired to see Him because once I have handed myself over as His slave, what business does a slave have with desire?”

Chishty tells us that it is God who gives us love and draws us to Him:

The declaration of Love has been inscribed
  on each heart
that has come to this transient world
  from the beginning of time.
“I love Him, He loves me”– why such commotion over this
if He is not the one to initiate that love?
I offer Wine to lovers and then pull them towards Me;
  if they do not come then, distressed,
I go to them Myself.”

Some of Chishty’s most beautiful poetry is on the self-annihilation (fana) and oneness that come as love reaches its culmination. Self-annihilation erases the boundaries between self and God, and ultimately one realizes that there is only Him:

With no hesitation, the heart disclosed the secret of love;
when I peered within my heart, it was only Him,
  only Him!

If you are trapped in the fallacy of ‘me’ and ‘you,’
leave behind such senseless thought –
  ‘me’ and ‘you’ are only Him!