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The Chistia Order is one of the most popular and influential mystic orders of Islam. It derives its name from CHIST, a village near Herat in Afghanistan, where the real founder, Hazrat Khwaja Abu Ishaq Chisti (RA) of Syria, had settled by the command of his spiritual guide, Hazrat Khwaja Mamshad Ali Dinwari (RA).
When Hazrat Abu Ishaq Chisti (RA) arrived at the Khanqah of Hazrat Mamshad Ali Dinwari (RA), the Sheikh asked him of his name. He replied "Abu Ishaq SHAMI", and the Sheikh then said to him, "From this day people will refer to you as Abu Ishaq CHISTI", and that he should go to Chist in Afghanistan and spread the mystic order so that people in and around Chist could receive spiritual guidance from him. Furthermore, the Sheikh said that all those people that would enter his (Khwaja Abu Ishaq Chisti) silsila, would be known as CHISTI untill the day of Qiyamah.

The Silsila is traced back to the Holy Prophet Muhammad (salallahu alaihi wa sallam) through various generations of great Sufi saints of this order. During the lifetime of the Holy Prophet (salallahu alahi wa sallam), people used to make "Baiat" (to take the oath of allegiance) upon His (salallahu alaihi wasallam) hands, pledging that they:
"Will not associate in worship, any partner with Allah; that they will not steal; nor commit adultery, nor kill their children; that they will not lie and that they will not disobey Him in any just matter." QUR'AN SLX Verse 12
This oath used to be accepted by the Holy Prophet (salallahu alaihi wasallam), and he used to make dua for the forgiveness of their sins. Allah, in response to these oaths, responded in the Qur'an stating:
"Verily those who pledge their oath to you, do in reality pledge their oath to Allah. The hand of Allah is over their hands." QUR'AN SLX VIII Verse 10
This practice of pledging continued until the Holy Prophet's (salallhu alaihi wa sallam) demise. Thereafter, people pledged their oath upon the hands of the four Rightly-Guided Caliphs viz. Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddique (RA), Hazrat Umar ibn Khattab al-Farooq (RA), Hazrat Uthmaan ibn Affan al-Ghani (RA), and Hazrat Maula Ali ibn Abi Talib Karam Allahu Wajhahul kareem.

The Chistia Order flows from Hazrat Maula Ali (RA), leading to his spiritual desendants, Khwaja Hasan Basri (RA), Khwaja Abde Wahid ibne Zaid (RA), Khwaja Fuzail ibn Ayaz (RA), Khwaja Ibrahim bin Adham (RA), Khwaja Huzaifa Mir'ashi (RA), Khwaja Hubaira Basri (RA), Khwaja Mamshad Ali Dinwari (RA), Khwaja Abu Ishaq Chisti (FOUNDER of the Order), Khwaja Abu Ahmed Chisti (RA), Khwaja Muhammad Chisti (RA), Khwaja Abu Yusuf Chisti (RA), Khwaja Maudood Chisti (RA), Khwaja Haji Shareef Zindani (RA), Khwaja Usmaan Harooni (RA), and Khwaja Muinuddin Chisti Hasan Sanjeri Ajmeri (RA).

Hazrat Khwaja Muinuddin Chisti (RA), also known as Khwaja Ghareeb Nawaaz, brought the silsila to India at the close of the 11th century, and established its centre in Ajmer. From here, the mystic order spread throughout India and became a force in the spiritual life of the people of India. After his demise, his spiritual desendants and successors, viz. Hazrat Khwaja Qutbuddin Kaki (RA), Hazrat Khwaja Fariduddin Ganje Shakar (RA), Hazrat Makhdoom Alauddin Ali Ahmed Sabir Kalyari (RA), and Hazrat Khwaja Nizamuddin Awliya Mahboobe Ilahi (RA), and their successors in turn, continued this noble mission.

THE SABIRIYA BRANCH OF THE CHISTIYA ORDER