have been influenced primarily by its remoteness. It lay far away from
from the usual routes and was free of the intense political activity that
marked big urban centres like Lahore or Delhi, which the founders of the
Chishti orders abhorred. This decision, then, followed the traditions laid
down by the founders of the Chishti order.
Khwaja Muinuddin’s simple, ascetic life attracted all and sundry,
irrespective of their religion. The Muslims and the Hindus, the conqueror
and the conquered, all were reminded of the social and moral values, which
were universal in nature.The Khwaja did not attach importance to material
power and wealth. He laid stress only on piety, simplicity, lawful earning,
devotion to God and service to mankind. His teachings thus appealed to all:
Hindus and Muslims, rich and poor, high and low. He addressed basic human
nature, which is common to all human beings.
He believed, like Rabia Basri, in the concept of ecstatic love for God.
He held that one who loved God in the true sense could not fail to love His
creatures. According to him, the most exalted kind of worship was to help
the poor and the needy and to feed the hungry. These are his precepts as
recorded in
Siyar al Awliya
(1388): “If one wishes to protect himself from
this conflagration (of hell) he must worship Allah. There is no better way
than this.” He was asked what was meant by this kind of worship: “To listen
to the plight of the oppressed, to help the needy and to fill the stomachs of
the hungry. The man who does these three things may consider himself a
friend of Allah. Firstly, he should have generosity like a river; secondly,
kindness like the sun and, thirdly, humility like the earth. The man who is
blessed is the man who is generous. The man who is respected is the man
who is clean. The man who removes the burden of others is the real
