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

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NOTES<br />

Hasan, who, while serving in Deogiri, ransomed a Hindu girl, paying<br />

five tankā <strong>to</strong> her owner, and returned her <strong>to</strong> her parents, thereby<br />

evoking praise and blessing <strong>of</strong> the Shaikh.<br />

13 In other <strong>South</strong> <strong>Asia</strong>n fraternities, for example among Suhrawardis,<br />

visi<strong>to</strong>rs were admitted <strong>to</strong> the khānqāh only during particular hours:<br />

between midday (z.ŏhr) and pre-evening (‘as˝r) obliga<strong>to</strong>ry prayers.<br />

14 Amir Khusrow, at times without sufficient grounds for the same, is<br />

traditionally considered <strong>to</strong> be the founder <strong>of</strong> qawwālī, wedding songs<br />

bābal morā (having an obvious folk origin) and lyrical poetry in<br />

Hindustani (Urdu). <strong>The</strong> invention <strong>of</strong> sitār and musical style khayāl is<br />

also attributed <strong>to</strong> him.<br />

15 From previous works <strong>of</strong> this type Amir Hasan, probably, knew<br />

Muhammad bin Munawwar’s Asrār-i tawh˝ī d (discourses <strong>of</strong> Abu Sa‘id<br />

bin Abul Khair, 1178), Malfūz.āt-i Najmuddīn Kubrā’ (1221) and Fīhi<br />

mā fīhi (collection <strong>of</strong> Jalauddin Rumi’s discourses, compiled after his<br />

death).<br />

16 From this quotation it follows that Nasiruddin had a nostalgic feeling<br />

for the recent times <strong>of</strong> his predecessor as for the ‘golden age’ <strong>of</strong> Sufism,<br />

and perceived the present as decline. Whereas objectively he had the<br />

greatest influence and power compared <strong>to</strong> all the great shaikhs <strong>of</strong><br />

the Chishtiyya. <strong>The</strong> first <strong>of</strong> the Chishtis <strong>to</strong> accept the post <strong>of</strong> shaikh<br />

ul-Islām, he saw <strong>to</strong> it that some ‘ulamā and șūfīs were allowed <strong>to</strong><br />

remain in Delhi after the forced resettlement <strong>of</strong> its population in the<br />

new capital in the Deccan. It is considered that, thanks <strong>to</strong> Nasiruddin,<br />

the mystic and intellectual tradition in Delhi was not interrupted.<br />

Besides that, his<strong>to</strong>rians ascribed <strong>to</strong> him a prominent role in the<br />

enthronement <strong>of</strong> Firoz Shah Tughluq (1351–88), who revived all the<br />

former privileges <strong>of</strong> the fraternity. In other words, Nasiruddin Chiraghi<br />

Dihli saved his order at the cost <strong>of</strong> violation <strong>of</strong> the precepts <strong>of</strong> its<br />

founders: he accepted shughl and interfered in the affairs <strong>of</strong> state.<br />

6 THE SPIRITUAL SOVEREIGN OF MULTAN<br />

1 In addition less well-known disciples <strong>of</strong> the founder <strong>of</strong> the<br />

Suhrawardiyya order were also preaching in <strong>South</strong> <strong>Asia</strong>: Maulana<br />

Majuddin Hajji, Shah Turkman Sahib and Ziauddin Rumi. Sultan<br />

Mubarak Shah Khalji endeavoured <strong>to</strong> exploit the latter in his struggle<br />

against Nizamuddin Awliya. Abu Hafs ‘Umar’s disciple was also the<br />

saint <strong>of</strong> Bengal Jalaluddin Tabrizi, who started his discipleship under<br />

Abu Sayyid Tabrizi, but after the latter’s death, shifted <strong>to</strong> Baghdad,<br />

where he became one <strong>of</strong> the most ardent murīds <strong>of</strong> Shihabuddin Abu<br />

Hafs.<br />

2 According <strong>to</strong> Surūr as-șudūr, at the maz.har Hamiduddin Suwali<br />

Nagori proclaimed: ‘“As treasure and serpent are associated in form,<br />

they should be linked in reality ... <strong>The</strong>n wealth is a serpent and one<br />

who s<strong>to</strong>red wealth in fact rears a serpent.” Baha’uddin Zakariya<br />

replied: “Although wealth is a serpent, someone who has learnt the<br />

incantation <strong>to</strong> overcome the venom, need not have any fear from<br />

the serpent.” Hamiduddin re<strong>to</strong>rted that one should not rely upon<br />

charms on the occasions when there is threat <strong>to</strong> life (meaning spiritual<br />

216

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