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

THE SPIRITUAL SOVEREIGN OF MULTAN
with tears and took leave of his friend. In less than a week he was
leading Nizamuddin’s funeral prayer.
Although intimacy with the rulers enriched Ruknuddin’s khānqāh
and consolidated his influence, it ultimately brought him misfortune
(which once again confirmed the correctness of the Chishtis’ attitude
towards authority). In the year 1328 the Governor of Multan, Kishlu
Khan, rose in rebellion against Muhammad bin Tughluq. Ruknuddin,
as had once his grandfather before him, sided with the ruler of
Delhi. Having allowed himself to be involved in political conflict, he
consented to his younger brother ‘Imaduddin (who bore a resemblance
to Muhammad bin Tughluq in face and figure) becoming
a substitute for the Sultan in the royal palanquin at the time of the
battle of Abuhar. ‘Imaduddin was killed, and the Sultan, having taken
advantage of premature rejoicing and confusion in the camp of the
enemy, was able to gain victory. Unintentional complicity in his own
brother’s death broke Ruknuddin down: he completely withdrew
from temporal affairs and did not even wish to intercede on behalf
of the inhabitants of Multan, who became a victim of the Sultan’s
august anger. The hundred villages, granted by Muhammad bin
Tughluq to the khānqāh in Multan as reward for the assistance
rendered, were little consolation to him.
In the year 1333 the cloister in Multan was visited by Ibn Battuta,
who talked to the saint and contributed a lot to the dissemination of
his fame in the western lands of Islam. In the conversation with Ibn
Battuta, Ruknuddin spoke in the main about humility and control
over one’s lower or animal soul, repeating the āyat: ‘And I do not
regard my soul free from [shortcomings], the soul is certainly an
enjoiner of evil except that [soul on which] my Fosterer has had
mercy’ (12: 53). Maybe feelings of guilt and repentance were still
tormenting him. The Arab traveller learnt from the saint’s disciples
the story of his miraculous escape in Afghanpur and that of his
brother’s death, which he has recounted in his travel notes (Ibn
Battuta 1929: 207–9).
The same Ibn Battuta recounted in his Rih˝la that Ruknuddin had
nominated his grandson, Shaikh Hud, as a successor, but that his
nephew Shaikh Isma‘il had challenged the claim. Muhammad bin
Tughluq gave his verdict in favour of Shaikh Hud whom an
unpredictable Sultan later suspected of the financial misuse of awqāf
income and issued orders for the seizure of the property of the
Multani khānqāh. The disgraced Shaikh Hud planned to flee beyond
the frontiers of the subcontinent, to Transoxania, but his plan was
disclosed. This time the infuriated Sultan accused Shaikh Hud of
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