SUCCESSION

His murshid bestowed upon him the khilafat of the Chistiya Silsila, and declared him his successor.  After placing the cloak of khilafat on him, Hazrat Abu Ishaaq Chisti (Radi Allahu Anhu) said:  “O Abu Ahmed!  You are my son, and whatever spiritual grace I have received from my murshid, I have given it to you.”  Thereafter he held Khwaja Abu Ahmed’s (Radi Allahu Anhu) hand, and faced the Qibla, and supplicated:  “O Allah!  Abu Ahmed is a servant of your court.  Whatever I was bestowed with, I have given it to him.  I am now entrusting him to you.  You make him successful.”  A voice from the unseen said:  “O Abu Ishaaq!  We have accepted Abu Ahmed and have made him our friend.  The treasures of Ma’rifat has been placed in his heart.”  When Hazrat Abu Ishaaq Chisti (Radi Allahu Anhu) heard this, he became very pleased, and declared:  “Abu Ahmed is greater and wealthier than the worldly kings of Arabia and Persia.  I swear by Allah, even if the kingdom of Hazrat Sulaiman (Alaihis Salaam) was offered to me, I would have refused.  Hazrat Muhammad (Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam) is the king of all the Derwesh, but he lived in poverty.  Who are we to accept the worldly pleasures.”

LIFE

Khwaja Abu Ahmed Chisti (Radi Allahu Anhu) was always found crying in the fear of Allah.  Once a person said to him:  “O Abu Ahmed!  You are a beloved of Allah.  By your one glance, a non-believer becomes a muslim.  Then why do you cry so much out of fear?”  Hearing these words, he began to cry even more, and said to that person:  “Barsia Zahid, and Baljam bin Ba’ud were friends of Allah, and they were also bestowed with great spiritual power by Allah, and many were freed from hell due to them.  Due to some reason, when Allah looked at them with displeasure, they lost their imaan, and their fate has remained very famous.  Therefore, I cry out of fear for Him, because Allah is very just and whoever he wishes to keep near, he keeps near, and whoever he wishes to keep far, he keeps them distant.”

Like all the other Masha’ikh e-Chist, he loved the listening of sama.  His mefile-e-sama had such an effect that if a sinner attended it he would become pious, if a sick attended he would be cured.  He believed that whatever he had attained was due to sama.  He once said, “If I declare the secrets of sama the people would not ask Allah for anything besides sama.”

MIRACLE

Once Hazrat Abu Ahmed (Radi Allahu Anhu) was passing through a jungle that was infested with non-believers, who hated muslims.  If a muslim was found passing through, they used to be captured, totured, and sometimes they were thrown into burning fire.  When Hazrat Abu Ahmed (Radi Allahu Anhu) passed through, he was also captured.  He was asked by them:  “Are you a muslim?”  He replied:  “All praise be to Allah!  Yes, I am muslim, and I am the reciter of the kalima.”  The kuffar then told him:  “We have taken the oath of “lath and uzza” (these were the idols that the pagan Arabs worshipped – these were destroyed by the Holy Prophet – Salallahu Alaihi Wasallam) that we will not leave any muslim that passes here alive, and we are going to throw you into burning fire, and if you come out alive we will then believe that it is true that, a true reciter of the kalima will not burn in hell.”  Hazrat Abu Ahmed (Radi Allahu Anhu) then told them that:  “Indeed, you are speaking the truth, because the fire of hell will not touch one who recites the kalima sincerely.”  When he said this, the kuffar got angry at him, and told him:  “If you are a true muslim, why don’t you enter into the fire, so that we may see your fate.”  Immediately Hazrat Abu Ahmed (Radi Allahu Anhu) entered into the blazing fire, and engaged himself in namaaz.  When the kuffar saw that the fire became cool, and did not harm the Khwaja, they immediately repented, and became muslims and sincere mureeds of Hazrat Abu Ahmed (Radi Allahu Anhu).

DEMISE

Hazrat Khwaja Abu Ahmed Chisti (Radi Allahu Anhu) passed away on the 1^st of Jamadil Akhir, and his mazaar is situated in the village of Chist in Afghanistan.  He bestowed the khilafat of the Chistiya Silsila on his dear mureed, Hazrat Khwaja Muhammad Chisti (Radi Allahu Anhu).