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

THE SPIRITUAL SOVEREIGN OF MULTAN
It can be said that possession of property, which was rejected
by the Chishtis, was programmatic for the Suhrawardis. Shaikh
Ruknuddin (Baha’uddin Zakaria’s grandson), who had been the head
of the fraternity for a long time, considered that spiritual preceptors
should possess three treasures:
Firstly, they should have wealth (māl), in order to satisfy the
believers’ requirements. If a dervish lacks money, how can
he gratify a qalandar, when he asks for sherbet? These people
will insult him, for which they will be punished on the day
of the Last Judgement. Secondly, preceptors should possess
knowledge (‘ilm) in order to carry on learned discourses with
the ‘ulāmā. Thirdly, they should be endowed with mystic
state (h˝āl) in order to produce an impression on dervishes.
(Hamid Qalandar 1959: 74–5)
Shaikh Nasiruddin Chiragh-i Dihli, who narrated this Suhrawardi
‘programme’ to Hamid Qalandar, adds on his own, that for Chishtis
wealth is of no use, whereas ‘ilm and h˝āl are indeed indispensable.
The Chishtis were averse to government service (shughl) and
regarded only the income from unasked offerings (futūh˝) and from
the cultivation of waste plots of land (ih˝yā) as ‘just’. They did not have
an aversion even to beggary (let us recollect the zanbīl, with which
Shaikh Farid’s disciples used to go about the neighbourhood). They
considered peasant’s work and small-scale trade as the best occupation
for laymen, provided prices fixed were ‘fair’ and the merchant
was content with minimum profit. They supported ‘Ala’uddin
Khalji’s strict economic policy that had introduced fixed prices
and had suppressed the black market, and considered that even tax
collectors should show clemency to taxpayers. Suhrawardis who had
repudiated beggary lived on awqāf, i.e. generous grants of land on
the part of the government and rich donations of commercial and
vocational corporations. The social and ethical value of productive
labour and encouragement of personal enrichment were important
aspects of their preaching, which attracted the ‘bazaar elite’ to the
ranks of the fraternity.
Finally, the Chishtis used to proclaim non-collaboration with the
powers that were often in opposition to the state, did not pay visits
to Sultans and did not invite them to their cloisters. Of course, being
absolutely faithful to this principle was not possible, and from time
to time the Chishtis had to interfere in the political situation, as was
done by Nasiruddin Chiragh-i Dihli in order to enthrone Firoz Shah
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