illicit relations with the man. In response to this
slander, the qUran defends Aisha’s innocence in
Q 24:11–20.
Muhammad died when Aisha was 18 years
old; he is reported to have died in her arms in
her chambers. After the death of the third caliph,
Uthman ibn aFFan in 655, she opposed ali ibn abi
talib’s succession to the caliphate, fighting against
him in the Battle of the Camel, Islam’s first civil
war, in 656. For this challenge to Ali, she is often
regarded by Shii Muslims with disdain. Although
Ali was victorious, Aisha’s efforts reflect her defiant
and outspoken character as well as the active role
she played in political matters. After her military
defeat, Aisha returned to medina, spending the
remainder of her life transmitting her accounts
about the Prophet. She died there in 678 at age 66
and was buried in the al-Baqi cemetery.
See also sUnnism; Women.
Aysha A. Hidayatullah
Further reading: Leila Ahmed, Women and Gender in
Islam: Historical Roots of a Modern Debate (New Haven,
Conn.: Yale University Press, 1992); Denise A. Spell-
berg, Politics, Gender, and the Islamic Past: The Legacy
of Aisha bint Abi Bakr (New York: Columbia University
Press, 1994).
Ajmer
Ajmer is a major Muslim pilgrimage center located
in central Rajasthan in the northwest of india. It
has been an urban settlement since at least the
11th century and is located in a region of con-
siderable religious significance to Hindus, Jains,
and Muslims. After Muslim armies of the Ghurid
dynasty (1149–1206) conquered the Hindu Chau-
han dynasty in 1193, Ajmer alternated between
Muslim and Hindu rulers until British annexation
in 1818.
Ajmer is most famous for being home to the
shrine (dargah) of Khawaja Muin al-Din (or Mui-
nuddin) Chishti (1135–1229), often called the
Prophet of India (nabi ul-Hind). Muin al-Din, also
known as Gharib Nawaz (the helper of the poor),
is undoubtedly the most important and popular of
India’s many Sufi saints. The Sufi order deriving
from him is known as the Chishtiyya, the largest
in South Asia, with branches in Southeast Asia,
Africa, Europe, and the Americas. The Chishtiyya
are known for their advocacy of poverty, avoid-
ance of political power, and meditative practices
involving the audition of mUsic (samaa) and
devotional songs known as qawwali. Pilgrimage to
Ajmer is claimed by some to be a substitute for the
haJJ if one is unable to afford the expense of travel
to mecca. All of the Mughal emperors supported
the tomb, sponsoring buildings and two giant
vessels for the preparation of charitable food offer-
ings to the saint. The tomb of Muin al-Din Chishti
remains one of the most important pilgrimage
sites in India, drawing Sikhs, Christians, and Hin-
dus as well as Muslims from all over the region,
the country, and the world. Since 1955, the shrine
has had the distinction of being the only major
religious site in India with its own act of parlia-
ment specifying its management system. The
Dargah Khwaja Saheb Act stipulates an adminis-
trator (nizam) along with an 11-member oversight
board. These officials work with varying degrees
of amity with the traditional managers (khudam),
descendants of the Khwaja’s close followers who
perform the ritual care of the tomb itself and the
council that oversees the qawwali. Ajmer is also
home to a famous mosque said to have been built
by Shams al-Din Iltutmish (r. 1211–36) from the
ruins of a temple known as the Two and a Half
Day Mosque, or Dhai Din ki Masjid. There are
several forts in the area, one predating the Muslim
conquest and several built afterward. Among the
later mosques is one built by the Mughal emperor
akbar (r. 1556–1605), who is said to have twice
performed the pilgrimage to Ajmer on foot from
his capital at Fatehpur Sikri near Agra.
See also delhi sUltanate; chishti sUFi order;
mUghal dynasty; sUFism; ziyara.
Anna BigelowK 26 Ajmer