Muslim Saints of South Asia: The eleventh to ... - blog blog blog

5
THE PEACEMAKER OF
DELHI
It is difficult to name a socio-cultural sphere on which Shaikh
Nizamuddin Awliya (1242–1325) might not have exerted ennobling
influence, whether it is religion, politics, education, literature, music
or, above all, the style of human relations. It is not only the eminent
hagiographers, Amir Hasan Sijzi, Amir Khurd, Hamid Qalandar,
‘Abdul Haqq Muhaddith Dihlawi, Dara Shikoh and others 1 who
have written accounts of Nizamuddin Awliya’s life; most of the
historians of the Delhi Sultanate have also written profusely about
him.
The eminent historiographer Zia’uddin Barani stands testimony
in Tārīkh-i Fīrozshāhī (‘Chronicles of Firoz Shah’) to the saint’s allpervading
influence on the society contemporary to him:
Shaikh Nizam-u’d-din had opened wide the doors of his
discipleship ... and admitted (all sorts of people into his
discipline) nobles and plebeians, rich and poor, learned
and illiterate, citizens and villagers, soldiers and warriors,
freemen and slaves and these people refrained from many
improper things, because they considered themselves disciples
of the Shaikh; if any of them committed a sin, he
confessed it and vowed allegiance anew. The general public
showed an inclination to religion and prayer; men and
women, young and old, shop-keepers and servants, children
and slaves, all came to say their prayers ... Many platforms
with thatched roofs over them were constructed on the way
from the city to Ghiyathpur; 2 wells were dug, water-vessels
were kept, carpets were spread, and a servant and a hafiz
was stationed at every platform so that people going to the
Shaikh may have no difficulty in saying their supererogatory
prayers ... Owing to the influence of the Shaikh, most of
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