Chishti, Muʿīn al-Dīn Muḥammad

views updated

Chishti, Muʿīn al-Dīn Muḥammad (1142–1236 (AH 537–633)). Indian Sūfī, who mediated an important order (tarīqa) into India. The Sūfī movement derived from him, the Chishti(y)ya, continues to make music central: it developed the qawwāli (singers) whose songs of love and devotion to Allāh are a feature of holidays and festivals. He died at Ajmer, and his tomb is a celebrated place of pilgrimage.