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ALLAH Hazrat Jlbra’il Hazrat Khwaja Muhammad Rasul Allah Hazrat Khwaja ‘Ali Wali Allah Hazrat Khwaja Hasan Basri Hazrat Khwaja ‘Abd al-Wahid bin Zayd Hazrat Khwaja Fuzayl bin ‘Iyaz Hazrat Khwaja Ibrahim Adham Hazrat Khwaja Huzayfa Mar’ishi Hazrat Khwaja Hubayra Basri Hazrat Khwaja Mumshad ‘Ulu Dinwari Hazrat Khwaja Abu Ishaq Shami Hazrat Khwaja Abu Ahmad Abdal Chishti Hazrat Khwaja Abu Muhammad Chishti Hazrat Khwaja Abu Yusuf Chishti Hazrat Khwaja Qutbuddin Mawdud Chishti Hazrat Khwaja Hajji Sharif Zindani Hazrat Khwaja ‘Usman Harvani Hazrat Khwaja Mu’inuddin Hasan Sanjari-Ajmiri Hazrat Khwaja Qutbuddin Mas’ud Bakhtiyar Kaki Hazrat Khwaja Fariduddin Ganj-i Shakar Ajhodani Hazrat Khwaja Nizamuddin Mahbub-i Llahi Badauni Hazrat Khwaja Nasiruddin Chiragh Dihlavi Hazrat Shaykh al-Masha’ikh Kamaluddin ‘Allama Hazrat Shaykh al-Masha’ikh Sirajuddin Hazrat Shaykh al-Masha'ikh ´Ilmuddin Hazrat Shaykh al-Masha’ikh Mahmud Rajan Hazrat Shaykh al-Masha’ikh Jamaluddin Jamman Hazrat Shaykh al-Masha’ikh Hasan Muhammad Hazrat Shaykh al-Masha’ikh Muhammad A’zam Hazrat Shaykh al-Masha’ikh Yahya Madani Hazrat Shaykh al-Masha’ikh Shah Kalim Allah Jahanabadi Hazrat Shaykh al-Masha’ikh Nizamuddin Awrangabadi Hazrat Shaykh al-Masha’ikh Maulana Fakhruddin Hazrat Shaykh al-Masha’ikh Ghulam Qutbuddin Hazrat Shaykh al-Masha’ikh Nasiruddin Mahmud Kali Shah Hazrat Shaykh al-Masha’ikh Muhammad Hasan Jili Kalimi Hazrat Shaykh al-Masha’ikh Abu Hashim Madani Hazrat Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan Hazrat Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan |
The Chain of Transmission within a Sufi order is of central importance in the Sufi work. It is a major conduit of the baraka of any genuine Sufi school, and links the mureeds of that order with the combined spiritual power of their spiritual antecedents and with the unseen transformative forces that transpire behind the outward manifestation of the Chain, which is called the Silsila ("chain" or "pedigree"). A "lineage-holder" within a Sufi order will have the Silsila of the lineage committed to memory, and the Silsila is recited at pivotal occasions such as the group zikr of the order and especially at initiations. Working backward, experientially contacting and effacing oneself in each being in the Chain is considered a necessary development of the practice known as "Tasawwuri Murshid."
The representation of the Chain of Transmission is called the "Shajara" ("Tree"). The Shajara which appears here is that of Hazrat Pir-o-Murshid 'Inayat Khan's primary spiritual lineage, though he was initiated into the four major Sufi lineages represented in India. It is worth noting that at each juncture, there may be several shaykhs deputized to carry on a lineage. A shajara is a tracing of initiatic ancestry rather than a representation of the full flow of baraka from the Source.