Khawaja of Ajmer
Sufi Saint Hazrat Khwaja Moinuddin Chishty Gharib Nawaz was born in Seistan, Iran in 1138 in a well-respected Syed family. His lineage goes to Amirul Momineen Hazrat Imam Ali ibn abi Talib through Imam Hasan Askari, the eleventh.
Khwaja Moinuddin Chishty's family was rich and he led his childhood in comfort. However, when first his father and then his mother died in his teen, Khwaja Moinuddin Chishty's economic condition deteriorated. For a while Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti subsisted on the income from the orchard he received in inheritance.
One day when Hazrat Khwaja Moinuddin Chishty was working in his orchard, a pious dervish Ebrahim Qandoozi, came and took his seat under the shade of a tree. When Khwaja Moinuddin Chishty Gharib Nawaz saw him, he brought a bunch of grapes and presented it to the dervish. The visitor ate the grapes and was delighted. He then took something out of his bag, chewed it, and then offered it to his young host. Gharib Nawaz Khwaja Moinuddin Chishty ate it without any hesitation, and at once, the light of wisdom and knowledge dawned upon him. Immediately he disposed of all of his worldly belongings and distributed the money amongst the poor. Having thus broken all the ties with worldly affairs, he set off for Samarkand and Bukhara, then the great centers of learning for religious education and knowledge.
Khwaja Moinuddin Chishty then went in search of a Murshid (Spiritual Master) to various places. Finally, he went to a town Haroon of Nishapur, Iran, where he met a Sufi Saint Khwaja Uthman Harooni, who admitted him as his disciple. He was initiated at the age of 18 and for the next 22 years served merely as the water-boy for his convent. During that period, he was not allowed to attend the exclusive circle of his murshid. Eventually when he reached the age of 40, one day Khwaja Uthman Harooni called for him to his court, showed him his two fingers, and asked him what he was seeing in between those two fingers. Gharib Nawaz Khwaja Moinuddin Chishty relied, "I am beholding 18 thousand Galaxies."
After performing Hajj, he visited the Masjid-ul-Nabawi (Holy tomb of the Prophet) in Medina. There he meditated at the tomb for several days. During meditation, he met the Prophet Muhammad, who commanded him in these words:
"O, Moinuddin! Thou art the helper of the Faith. We hath granted thee the land of India. Go there and stay, at Ajmer. Thy stay shall remove the faithlessness and glorify the Truth."
This pleased him greatly but it worried him as well since he did not know where Ajmer was in India, and he asked the Prophet Muhammad about that. He was shown the world and the mountain near Ajmer. He was then given the title of the Chief of the Sahykhs (Qutub-ul-Masha'ikh).
Gharib Nawaz Khwaja Moinuddin Chishty left Medina for India. He continued his journey, passing through Isfahan, Bokhara, Herat and Lahore. In Lahore, he stayed at the tomb of Ali Hajveri Data Ganj Bukhsh, and meditated there for two weeks, and when he finished his meditation, he said a couplet in Farsi:
Ganj Buksh Faiz-e-Alam Mazhar-e-Noor-e-Khuda
Naqisa-ra Pir-e-Kamil, Kamila-ra Rahnuma
Trans.:
Ganj Buskh (Bestower of Spiritual Treasures) is a grace to the world; a manifestation of Divine Light.
For beginners a perfect spiritual teacher; for perfected, a leader.
On his arrival in India, the country was in a state of turmoil. On state's northwestern border the kingdom of the Ghaznavids was spreading havoc. Foreign invasions had weakened India and the social condition in India was deteriorating. Khwaja Moinuddin Chishty, arrived in Ajmer in 1165CE on his divine mission. At that time, Ajmer was ruled by Raja Rai Pithora of the Chohan dynasty. In his court, he had a large number of powerful magicians with Ajai Pal as their leader. Khwaja Moinuddin stayed on a hill close to Ana Sagar Lake now known as the Chillah Khwaja Sahib. At the arrival of Khwaja Moinuddin, there was not even a single Muslim in the state.
The Raja was not happy with his stay in Ajmer and started harassing him one way or the other. When nothing worked, he put the magicians after him. Jiapal, the Chief Pundit (priest) of the temple, came to face him along with his disciples. Khwaja Moinuddin gave him some water to drink. As soon as he drank it, his condition changed, and fell on the feet of Khwaja Moinuddin. Many in the royal court became disciples of Hazrat Gharib Nawaz Khwaja Moinuddin Chishty. Raja's daughter was one of them. These events made the Raja really upset and he ordered him to leave Ajmer. In reply to the threats Khwaja Moinuddin said," We took one out and entrusted the other".
Gharib Nawaz Khwaja Moinuddin Chishty's words proved true. Shortly after Afghan ruler Shahabuddin Ghouri invaded India and became the new ruler of the state by defeating the Raja.
From the land of idol worship i.e. Ajmer, Khwaja Moinuddin started the spiritual movement of the propagation of the Truth. His efforts bore fruit and within a short period of sixteen years, the condition of Ajmer was changed. It became the nerve center of moral and spiritual leadership in India, leveled the way for a grand religious and social revolution, and provided opportunity to countless people to lead a life of equality and brotherhood.
Gharib Nawaz Khwaja Moinuddin Chishty was kind and forgiving. Once a man came to him with the intention of murder. He read his intention spiritually, and treated him very kindly, and asked him, to do what he had intended. The man was ashamed and requested to be punished. Khwaja Moinudin replied, "The mendicant's habit is, whoever does evil to them, they treat him well." He forgave the man who later became his devotee.
In spite of his renunciation of worldly things, his monastery was famous for his generosity and magnanimity. So much food was cooked in his kitchen that a poor, a beggar, or needy never went hungry from his gate. He is also known as Gharib Nawaz (patron of the poor). A large Kitchen even today serves the hungry and the poor of all faiths from the campus of his monastery. His tomb is one of the holiest places in India where pilgrims, Muslims as well as Hindus come from every corner of South Asia to pay their homage.
Khwaja Moinuddin Chishty Gharib Nawaz went into his chamber after night prayers and closed the door. He did not permit anyone to enter. All night long, the people outside heard a mystical sound coming from inside of his room. At the approach of dawn, the sounds stopped. Sensing that there was something unusual because the door remained closed at the time of morning prayers, his devotees opened the door and found him dead. The year was 1229CE
Quotes of Hazrat Khwaja Moinuddin Chishty
A friend of God must have affection like the Sun. Because when it rises, it is beneficial to all irrespective of whether they are Muslim, Christian, or Hindu.
A friend of God must be generous like a river. We all get water from the river to quench our thirst. It does not discriminate whether we are good or bad or whether we are a relation or a stranger.
A friend of God must display the hospitality like the earth. It raises and cradles us in its lap, and yet it is always under our feet.
