The cornerstone of Chishti ideology is the concept of Unity of God. It supplies the motive force to their mystic mission and determines their social outlook. The early Chishti saints however did not write anything about these concepts, but Masud Baksh's Mir'at-ul-Arifeen and his poetical diwan, Nur-ul-Ain, gave currency to these ideas and his works became popular study in the Chishti khanaqahs.

   The Chishti Sufis believe in a peaceful attitude towards life, and consider retaliation and revenge as laws of the animal world. They live and work for a healthy social order, free from all dissensions and discriminations. Contact with the state is greatly discouraged. "There are two abuses among the mystics," says an early Chishti mystic, "jirrat and muqallid. Muqallid is one who has no master; jirrat is one who visits kings and their courts and asks people for money".

   The great objective of a mystic's life, according to Chishtis, is to live for Allah alone. One should neither hope for Heaven nor fear Hell. Man's love towards Allah may be of three kinds: (a) Mohabbat-e-Islami i.e. love which a new convert to Islam develops with Allah on account of his conversion to the new faith; (b) Mohabbat-e-nuwahhibi, i.e. love which a man develops as a result of his effort in the way of following the Holy Prophet Muhammad; (c) Mohabbat-e-khass, i.e. love which is the result of cosmic emotion. A mystic should develop the last one.

   The Chishti mystics do not demand formal conversion to Islam as a pre-requisite to initiation in mystic discipline. Formal conversion, they believe, should not precede, but follow a change in emotional life. The Chishti attitude contrasts sharply with, for example, the Suhrawardi principles in this respect.

   The guiding principles of the Chishti Order are encapsulated in the famous "Final Sermon" of Khwaja Muinuddin Chishti, delivered just one month before his demise.