Haji Syed Salman Chishty of Ajmer Sharif Represents 800 Years of
Chishty Love at Historic Gathering in the Kingdom of Morocco
RABAT, MOROCCO — : In a landmark moment for global interfaith harmony and Sufi scholarship, the 1st International Congress on Feminine Sufism concluded at the prestigious Académie du Royaume du Maroc in Rabat, Kingdom of Morocco, on 10–11 June 2026. Among the distinguished international voices at this historic gathering was Haji Syed Salman Chishty — 26th Generation Gaddi Nashin and Hereditary Key Custodian of Dargah Hazrat Khwaja Moinuddin Chishty Gharib Nawaz (R.A.) at Ajmer Sharif, Rajasthan, India, and Chairman of the Chishty Foundation, whose presence brought the living 800-year legacy of the Chishty silsila to the heart of the Arab world.
Organised jointly by the Royal Académie du Royaume du Maroc and Waliyat ONG Internationale, the Congress brought together scholars, Sufi leaders, academics, and practitioners from across the globe under the luminous theme: “Awake Memory — Light the Future.” The two-day Congress featured seven panels examining the spiritual authority, sacred heritage, and living legacy of women in the Sufi tradition, from the earliest centuries of Islamic spiritual traditions to the contemporary world.
The Congress was convened by Mr. Abdeljalil Lahjomri, Permanent Secretary of the Académie du Royaume du Maroc, and Mrs. Carole Latifa Ameer, Founder and President of Waliyat ONG Internationale, and featured among its opening addresses the distinguished Mr. André Azoulay, Senior Advisor to His Majesty King Mohammed VI of Morocco and to the late King Hassan II before him. One of Morocco’s most distinguished and longest-serving royal advisors, known globally for his work in interfaith dialogue, Mediterranean civilisational exchange, and cultural diplomacy.
Haji Syed Salman Chishty addressed the Congress on two landmark panels. On Panel 3 — “Jewels of Wisdom: Portraits of Women in Sufism”, he presented “Portraits of Sufi Women in India: Pathways of Divine Love,” tracing an unbroken spiritual lineage from Hazrat Bibi Amina (ra) and Hazrat Bibi Maryam (a.s.) through Hazrat Khadija (ra), Hazrat Aisha (ra), and Hazrat Fatima az-Zahra (a.s.), to the luminous Sufi master Hazrat Bibi Rabia al-Basri (ra), and finally to the Chishty women saints of India — Hazrat Bibi Hafiza Jamal (ra) and Hazrat Bibi Fatima Sam (ra) — whose shrines continue to receive millions of devotees at Ajmer Sharif as well as in Delhi to this day.
On Panel 7 — “From the Peace of the Heart to the Peace of the World” Haji Syed Salman Chishty delivered an address on the Chishty principle of “Peace with All” demonstrating how the 800-year unbroken practice of the langar, the open table of unconditional hospitality at Dargah Ajmer Sharif, remains one of the world’s oldest living model of interfaith peace in action.
“We came to Rabat not as visitors, but as bearers of a living flame. The women of the Chishty tradition — from Bibi Hafiza Jamal to the nameless dargah women who kept the fires of Divine Love burning across eight centuries, have always understood what the world is only now beginning to learn: that peace is not declared. It is practised. Every morning. Every open door. Every soul welcomed without exception.”
— Haji Syed Salman Chishty, Gaddi Nashin, Dargah Ajmer Sharif
VOICES FROM THE CONGRESS
Mr. Abdeljalil Lahjomri, Permanent Secretary of the Académie du Royaume du Maroc, in his inaugural address, emphasised the civilisational urgency of recovering the feminine dimension of Sufi heritage:
“The spiritual heritage of Sufi women is not a footnote in history. It is one of its most luminous chapters. This Congress is the Academy’s commitment to ensuring that chapter is never again left unread.”
— Mr. Abdeljalil Lahjomri, Permanent Secretary, Académie du Royaume du Maroc
Mrs. Carole Latifa Ameer, Founder and President of Waliyat ONG Internationale, whose vision brought this historic Congress into being, reflected on its significance for the global Sufi community:
“When a Gaddi Nashin of Ajmer Sharif stands in Rabat and speaks of Bibi Hafiza Jamal and Bibi Fatima Sam, he is not giving a lecture — he is building a bridge. Between civilisations. Between centuries. Between hearts. That is what Waliyat was created to make possible.”
— Mrs. Carole Latifa Ameer, Founder & President, Waliyat ONG Internationale
“Dialogue between civilisations is not a luxury — it is a vital necessity. Culture and spirituality are the only forces capable of building the bridges that politics alone cannot construct.”
— Mr. André Azoulay, Senior Advisor to His Majesty King Mohammed VI of Morocco
Haji Syed Salman Chishty’s participation in the Congress marks a significant moment in India’s global spiritual diplomacy. As the hereditary key custodian of one of the world’s most visited Sufi shrines — Dargah Hazrat Khwaja Moinuddin Chishty(ra) known as Gharib Nawaz(r) at Ajmer Sharif, which receives an estimated three to four million pilgrims annually from every faith and nation, his presence at the Académie du Royaume du Maroc represented not only a personal honour but a formal recognition of the Indian Chishty tradition’s centrality to the global Sufi heritage.
The Congress also featured the participation of Esin Çelebi Bayru, 22nd Generation descendant of Mevlana Rumi and President of the International Mevlana Foundation, alongside scholars, academics, and practitioners from Morocco, France, Senegal, Turkey, Sweden, South Africa, and beyond making this one of the most internationally representative gatherings of Sufi scholarship in recent memory.
The Congress concluded with the Presentation of the Rabat Call, a declaration calling upon global institutions to formally recognise, preserve, and honour the spiritual and cultural heritage of women in the Sufi tradition as an essential dimension of humanity’s shared civilisational memory.
ABOUT HAJI SYED SALMAN CHISHTY
Haji Syed Salman Chishty is the 26th Generation Gaddi Nashin and Hereditary Key Custodian of Dargah Hazrat Khwaja Moinuddin Chishty Gharib Nawaz (R.A.) at Ajmer Sharif, Rajasthan, India. He is Chairman of the Chishty Foundation (www.chishtyfoundation.org) and has represented India’s Sufi heritage at leading international platforms including the United Nations, G20, BRICS, ASEAN, Harvard University, and the Bradford and Jaipur Literature Festivals, across 75+ nations. He is known globally as Sufi Musafir — the Spiritual Traveller.
ABOUT CHISHTY FOUNDATION
The Chishty Foundation operates under its founding tagline “Love Towards All — Malice Towards None” and is dedicated to interfaith harmony, humanitarian service through the Langar Sewa, and the global promotion of Chishty Sufi values of compassion, service, and peace.
Media Contact:
Chishty Foundation • chairman@chishtyfoundation.org •
+91 9829174973
@sufimusafir • www.chishtyfoundation.org
✦Love Towards All, Malice Towards None ✦
Hazret Khwaja Gharib Nawaz(r)
