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

THE SPIRITUAL SOVEREIGN OF MULTAN
that a maz.har was convened, at which all the religious authorities of
Delhi, including Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki and Qadi Hamiduddin
Nagori, were present.
That the lawsuit against the saint was an extraordinary phenomenon
is indirectly testified by the fact that history has retained even
the name of the plaintiff and the perjurer – Gawhar. No one knows
what turn the case might have taken but for Baha’uddin Zakariya,
who quite ingeniously saved his fellow-mate of the Baghdad ribāţ
from disgrace. As soon as the accused entered the hall, the chairman
rushed towards him in order to pick up the shoes taken off by him.
Sultan Iltutmish reasonably observed that such a demonstration of
respect for the defendant made the maz. har meaningless. Baha’uddin
Zakariya replied to this that Jalaluddin had served their common
spiritual preceptor for seven long years, 13 and he himself for only
seventeen days, and that is why it became him, Baha’uddin, to use the
dust from under the feet of his senior colleague as surma (collyrium)
for eyes. This incident transformed the atmosphere of the trial from
the very beginning, and even Gawhar, called for interrogation, was
so shaken by the constellation of ‘ulamā and awliyā who had gathered
together, that she confessed to slander.
The result of the miscarried intrigue against Jalaluddin was
Najmuddin Sughra’s dismissal from the post of shaikh ul-Islām and
it was Baha’uddin Zakariya who replaced him. As mentioned earlier
shaikh ul-Islām was not a permanent position like șadr as-șudūr. The
Sultans of Delhi conferred this title on religious dignitaries as an
honour and recipients obtained both stipends and land. They were
not obliged to be in constant attendance at court and offered only
occasional advice to the rulers. Some shaikh ul-Islām, like Najmuddin
Sughra or Nuruddin Muhammad Ghaznawi, took a very active part
in politics and administration. To Shaikh Baha’uddin it only meant
additional finance to his khānqāh. He was not known to have been
closely involved in political matters except for recommending his
favourites to the Sultan.
After the scandalous maz.har apologies were tendered to Jalaluddin
Tabrizi, however he did not wish to remain in the capital where he
had been subjected to such a humiliation. Of what had happened to
him he spoke expressively: ‘When I came into this city I was pure
gold. Now I have turned to silver. What will I become next (if I remain
here)?’ (Amir Hasan 1992: 212). Not desirous of becoming cheap
copper, Jalaluddin set off to convert the Bengali pagans, and Iltutmish,
apparently to compensate for the moral damage, equipped him for
the journey with a detachment of the Sultan’s army.
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