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Chishti)
The Chishti Order was founded by Khwaja Abu Ishaq Shami ("the Syrian") (d. 941 C.E.) who brought sufism to the town of Chisht , some 95 miles east of Herat in present-day Afghanistan. Before returning to the Levant, Shami initiated, trained, and deputized the son of the local Amir, Khwaja Abu Ahmad Abdal (d. 966). Under the leadership of Khwaja Abu Ahmad’s descendants, the Chishtiyya as they are also known flourished as a regional mystical order specializing in sema -- ritual music and Islamic prayer combined with sacred dancing. Qawwali devotional music, very popular in the Indian subcontinent and particularly in Pakistan, spawned from the Chishtia Order.
The most famous of the Chishti saints is Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti (also spelled Muinuddin Chisti) who settled in Ajmer, India. Other famous saints of the Chishtia Order are Nizamuddin Auliya of Delhi, Fariduddin Ganjshakar of Pak Pattan , and Qutubuddin Bakhtiar Kaki . Hazrat Inayat Khan was the first to bring the Chishtia Order to North America.
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