Chapter-2

"Literary and Historical Importance of Ahsan-ul­Aqwal"

The organization and functioning of the Sufi orders in North India during

the Sultanate period, the history of Sufism in the Deccan, particularly

during the Bahmani period, reveals certain major divergent trends. The Sufi

started their work in a new setup in a region of spawning Muslim states.

The Bahmani Kingdom, being a revolutionary state, badly needed the

backing of the religious Muslim elite to win public confidence and support.

But since the Bahmani state was carved out of the Tughlaq Empire, it was

difficult for its political leaders to 6btain the ready approval of the 'Ulema'

who were obviously pro-Tughlaq. The Sufis, who were larger in numbers

than the 'Ulema' and also had mass, following, were the logical group to be

approached by the rulers. After 1327 A.D. the Sufis of the Deccan could not

retain their contact with their central organization in Delhi which had by

them started disintegrating.

The divergent trends among the Sufis of the Deccan took some fifty years to

manifest themselves. The Sufis did try at first to retain the pr:actices of their

North India predecessors, especially eschewing the company of rulers and

nobility, avoiding cash grants and Jagirs, observing the Shariah, and

appointing the most capable person as Khalifa-e-Khas rather than making

the passing of the torch a mere hereditary affair.

However, with the establishment of the Bahmani state, they caved in

adjusting their religious attitudes and that of their Khanqahs to the

evolving social and political ethos of the new society in transition. In the

process, they gained a new, compromised and lost some of their most

fundamental principles. An ascetic people concerned primarily with

spirituality ended up with close alliances, and in many cases matrimonial

88

relationship, with the royal houses and regularly accepted Jagirs, cash

grants, Inam lands, title and government services. Plus, these men of faith

ended up incorporating in their modus operandi the universal

characteristic of the men of wealth and means: the passing on of one's own

Gaddi to their sons- and in the absence of sons to some chosen family

member- regardless of the anointed successor's intellectual and spiritual

qualities. The long term result of these practices was that the Sufi

institution lost its spiritual, intellectual and moral vitality and their

Rawdas became merely centers of Taifah, saint cult hood.

Sufis of this region in specified period, certain other important conclusions

emerge which demand a recasting of some long held historic and academic

views. Historians and scholars have for long worked on certain firm

conclusions regarding the origin and establishment of the Chishti order by

Shaikh Burhan-ud-Din Gharib. However, the presence of a number of

highly pious and well entrenched Sufis of this order in different parts of the

Deccan long before Burhanuddin Gharib's arrival. Unlike their North Indian

counterparts, they produced a large number of full fledged mystical

treatises dealing with a number of important mystical and philosophical

issues. Besides these, they wrote commentaries on leading tracts of early

Sufis, and their own Khulfa also compiled the Malfuzat of their Pirs. These

led to the development of a vast body of literature in the Deccan. The

reasons for their academic profusion were varied: they may have been

moved by a desire to balance the orthodox literature left over from the era

of Muhammad bin Tughlaq; they were trying to sell their ideas to a new set

of people on whom they were doing missionary work; and they were

89

inspired by the mystic literature of Muin-u'd-Din Ibn 'Arabi', Jalal-ud-Din

Rumi, Abu Hamid -ul-Ghazzali and others.

The rise of the Bahmanids to power synchronizes with an era of cultural

efflorescence in the South. Brisk mystic activity of different Sufi orders- the

Chishtis, the Junaidis, the Qadiris and other-lends a peculiar charm to

history of the period. But some apparent gaps in the history of these mystic

orders have hampered total assessment of their role. It is now well

established that Muslim mystics-both in the north and the south-settled in

their respective area long before the waves of political conquest touched

those regions. In fact it was through the mystics and the merchants that

Islam established its first contact with India. If properly appreciated, this

fact would provide a new perspective to the study of Islam in India. Long

before Muhammad bin Tughlaq turned his attention to the south. Sheikh

Nizamuddin Auliya had sent some · of his disciples to Deccan to set up

Chishti mystic centre's there. Amir Khusrau presented a Mathnawi, Sahifat­

ul-Ausaf, to Prince Juna Khan (future Muhammad bin Tughlaq) in which

he lauded the climate, geographical situation and the scenic beauty of

Deogir. The mystics entered this land with new hopes and new aspirations.

The creation of a second administrative city in the South by Muhammad

bin Tughlaq paved the way for the political unification of the country and

brought about a cultural revolution which the Sufis avidly nurtured.

Scholars, poets, administrators, merchants and artisans flocked from all

directions and annihilated the distance between Delhi and Deogir. The

Bahmanid historian Isami says:

90

,,

_/U/j ;;Juh~) # ,.

~~~~fu~) ~J/ >/-'J t_/P Y/)T/t)

/ /

d-} r!) _;.:./// ~~

When Muhammad bin Tughlaq's hold over the Deccan loosened, the

Bahmani Kingdom rose up like phoenix from its ashes. It adopted regional

trappings and an era of the consolidation of regional cultural traditions

began. One of the most interesting features of Deccan history during the

Bahmanid period was the broad intellectual horizon of its scholars. They

had contact with the outside world and were coi'lversant with the latest

trends of thought. Surprisingly enough some mystic contributions of

Central Asia reached the Deccan before scholars on the north came to

know about them. Notwithstanding this broad vision and conspectus of the

intelligentsia of the region, seeds of mulki and non-mulki tension began to

sprout during this time.

The literature produced· by the Sufi saints of the Deccan during the

Bahmanid period needs a critical analysis in the light of psychohistory. It is

prolific and varied but of appalling complexity. Exteriorizing the feelings

and motives of other people may be difficult but its value in any historical

1 Futuh-at-Salatin, pp-45

91

assessment cannot be gainsaid. Five significant trends- some pulling in

opposite directions-combine and coalesce to give this literature its

distinctive position in the mystic literature of medieval India. Firstly,,

nostalgic remembrance of the elder saints of the north and a desire to

preserve their teachings and traditions; secondly, an attempt to adjust

religious thought to the new surroundings; thirdly a silent urge to broaden

of religious learning; fourthly, rejection of the Chishti tradition of avoiding

compilation of books by elder saints; and fifthly a break from the

established ideological position of the Chishti saints of the North with

reference to the role of the great mystic thinkers like Ibn 'Arabi, Shaikh

Fariduddin Attar and others, and a change in outlook towards relations

with the state. This mystic literature prudently, keeping his eye on the

"historicity" of facts assorted by him.

The medieval period it can be divided roughly into two periods of five

centuries each, the first from the eight to the thirteenth century, the

Sultanate period, and the second from the thirteenth to the eighteenth

century, covering the history of provincial Muslim Kingdoms in the country.

The political, even the social and cultural aspects of the one thousand

years of Muslim dominance of India are well-recorded; it is the potent

religious institutions about which relatively little systemic work has been

done. The leading representatives of the religious institutions were the

Ulema and the Sufis with the latter playing a key role through their

spiritual and missionary activities. Sufis were, in fact, active along the

coastal areas of South India since the early times of Islam which was

brought there by Arab traders long before it came to North India through

invading_ conquerors. It was during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries

92

that Sufis activity, as their Khanqah institution, was at its peak across

North India, with a large number of Sufis of different orders concentrated at

Ajmer, Multan, Ajodhan and Delhi. Of the different well known Sufi orders

of the time, the Chishti and the Suhrawardi orders achieved the most fame

and influence at official as well as at the mass levels. The shifting of the

capital from Delhi to Deogir (A.H. 727 I A.D.l327) caused a setback to the

Sufis who were forced to move south, to the Deccan, where they established

themselves by the end of the century, especially at Daulatabad, Gujarat,

Malwa and Gulbarga. However, in this new arena of operation-where there

were neither well entrenched states nor well established Khanqahs the

character of Sufi activity changed slowly, subtly but considerably, at the

expense of some long held Sufi principles, especially the Chishti principle of

keeping distance from the rulers to the point of boycotting them.

Despite the abundance of literature, particularly in Persian and Urdu, on

the lives and teachings of Indian Sufis little critical work had been done to

measure their Khanqahs on the people and on the ruling elite. Deccan,

which was a fertile ground for Sufis even before the establishment of

Muslim rule, became even more so after the decline *of the Tughlaq

Kingdom and the subsequent emergence of provincial Muslim and non­

Muslim regional Kingdoms in the South. Sufi activity received further

impetus after the birth of the Bahmani Kingdom under whose patronage it

shifted from Khuldabad-Daulatabad to Gulbarga and Bider, the Bahmani

capitals and the urban centre's of the time, as well as to other towns in a

widening circle of influence which continued unabated for more than three

hundred year.

93

This now brings us to the start of Muslim influence from the north to the

Deccan. There were, no doubt, Muslim attacks on the Deccan from the

North prior to 727 I 1327 A.D, but they were of a Khalji and Malik Kafur

since 696/1296 A.D were motivated by a desire to collect the abundance of

wealth possessed by the Yadavas of Deogir, Kakatiyas of Warangal, the

Pandayas and Hoysalas of further South. These attacks left hardly any

socio cultural or religious impact on the people of the area.

With the beginning of the Tughlaq era and the attacks of the Tughlaq

armies on the Deccan, the Tughlaq Empire stretched right up to south

India and entailed the appointments of his governors in the southern

kingdoms. But finding it difficult to administer the far-flung empire, he

shifted the capital to Deogir.2 Apart from its political consequences, the

change of capital proved to be the beginning of a new era as far as the

religious, social academic and the cultural life of the Deccan was

concerned. 3

Due to the arrival of a large number of intellectuals, Ulema, Sufis,

administrators, warriors, poets and artisans, the structure of the Muslim

population in the Deccan underwent a significant change, in terms of racial

and ethnic characters and socioreligious concepts.

2 H.K.Sherwani, Bahmanis of the Deccan, ( Bahmanis), p.20, the transfer of capital from Delhi to Daulatabad, journal of Indian history (

jih), 1941.

3 Bahmanis, pp.19-22.

94

With the advent of the Tughlaq dynasty (and later due to the formation of

Muslim provincial states), Muslim became very powerful and Islam started

to spread fast throughout the Deccan. The vital elements were the Islamic

missionary zeal, the work of the Sufi, the presence of the scholars, and the

encouragement and patronage given by the Muslim rulers to men of letters,

art and architecture. This gave an impetus to the Sufi institution and many

Sufi orders were established. From A.D.1300 the Deccan became a subject

of discussing in Sufi circles of Delhi. The Chishti Shaikh of Delhi deputed

their Khulfa and disciples to Daulatabad, Malwa and Gujraat. Those who

settled at Khuldabad and other areas of the Deccan were actively engaged

in spreading the message of Islam through peaceful means and by deputing

their Khulfa and disciples in the different towns of the Deccan.4 when

Muhammad bin Tughlaq permitted his people to go back to Delhi in

737/1337 A.D, a sizeable population of Turkish, afghan, Persio-Aryan and

indo Aryan stock, which had originally moved to Daulatabad, did not move

back to north and made Deccan its permanent home. In the beginning, the

population was concentrated around Khuldabad, Daulatabad and others

Jarts of Maharashtra. The shrines of the saints of the thirteenth and

"ourteenth A.D centuries still existing in Khuldabad, Daulatabad provide

~vidence. The socio cultural influence of the Deccan on the north Indian

mmigrants was such that even their language, Persian was influenced by

4 Infra, chapter 11.

95

the local dialect, and a combination of the two emerged m the Dakani

dialect in the subsequent centuries. s

The study of various primary and later sources relating to the Sufis of the

Deccan indicates that Sufis of different orders stationed at different places

produced a significant quantity of mystic literature between 1300 A.D. and

1538 A.D. though most of this valuable literature did not survive the

ravages of time, the works and titles which have came down to us indicate

the nature and extent of these works. They can be broadly classified as

original contributions, Malfuzat; genealogical tables (at times with extensive

notes), commentaries, translation and poetic compositions. They deal with

subjects like Tafsir ( exegesis),Hadith ( tradition), Fiqh (law), Qiraat (the art

of Quranic (recitation), Tasawwuf (mysticism), Kalam ( Muslim scholastic

theology), 11m al Usul (the science of principles), Lughat ( diction), Nasab

(genealogy), Arabic grammar, history and medicine.

Literary and Historical importance of Ahsan-u'l-Aqwal:

Shaikh Burhan-u;d-Din Gharib, whose Malfuzat is under study in tbjs

work was well known Sufi saint of Chishtiya order of early fourteenth

century A.D in India. Though he was a disciple (Khalifa) of Shaikh Nizam­

u'd-Din Auliya whose Khanqah is in Delhi, he went to the Deccan region to

propagate Sufi philosophy of Chishtiya order. He established his Khanqah

at Khuldabad at present day Maharashtra. M6dern authors repent that

5 HMD, p.175.

96

Shaikh Burhan-u'd-Din was the earliest Chishti saint to arrive in Deccan.

However, evidences suggest that prior to the arrival of Burhan-u'd-Din

Gharib, there were center Chishti saints who had already reached the

Deccan, long before the arrival of Muslim rulers in the North India.

Haji Rumi (d.555/ 1160 A.D), settled at Bijapur with a host of disciples and

companions. Shaikh Sufi Sarmast '(d.689 I 1260 A.D) seems to have arrived

in the Deccan from Arabia with a large number of companions in five

hundred palanquins as early as the close of the seventh century Hijrh,

thirteenth century A.D. According to local traditions it is believed that

Shaikh Satmast was the descendent of Umar, the second Caliph and,

belonged to the Chishti order. On his arrival he settled at Saher ( Sagar) in

Shahpur (Sholapur), seventy miles east of Bijapur and lived there until his

death. Amir Khurd states that Shaikh Nizam-u'd-Din Auliya defunked two

of his young disciples, Khwaja Aziz-u'd-Din and Shaikhjada Kamal-u'd-Din,

grandsons of Shaikh Farid-u'd-Din to Deogir and Malwa respectively prior

to the conquest of the Deccan by Muhammad bin Tughlaq. Both of them

worked for the propagation of Chishti mystic philosophy.6

Besides these saints, we have references to Chishti mystic activity in the

Deccan prior to Burhan-u'd-Din Gharib. Muntajil-u'd-Din Zarzari Bakhsh ·

(675-709. 1276-1309 A.D), the younger brother of Burhan-u'd-Din Gharib

was one of the senior most disciples of Shaikh Nizam-u'd-Din Auliya. He

moved to Khuldabad on the instructions of his Pir after having obtained

6 Some Aspects, pp. 198. Tringham, Vol.ll. pp-65.

97

Khalifa. He came to Khuldabad with seven hundred companions, including

men of wealth and high stature.7 His brother, Shaikh Burhan-u'd-Din

Gharib's departure to Deccan was marked by two following incidents:

"Shaikh Nizam-u'd-Din Auiiya during his last days, while performing Wadu,

enquired from Burhan-u'd-Din Gharib; " Muntajib-u'd-Din, your brother,

was he older or younger than you?", implying that he was no more. A few

days after this, the Shaikh told Burhan-u'd-Din in his Majlish, "I have

appointed you in place of your brother and it is binding upon you to leave

for Khuldabad. But Burhan-u'd-Din was reluctant to leave the company of

his Shaikh, prompting the Shaikh to enquire the reason for his reluctance.

Burhan-u'd-Din replied that he would miss the Majalis of his Pir and his

company. The Shaikh remarked: "All these disciples and Khalifa who are

sitting in this Majlis are now all yours. Take them along with you. "8

Bilgrami further writes that among those present were: Shaikh Kamal

Khajanda, Shaikh Jam, Shaikh Fakh-u'd-Din and others.

The exact date of Burhan-u'd-Din Gharib's 9 arrival at Khuldabad is not

clear from the available sources which put up his departure from Delhi

soon after the death of his Muntajib-u'd-Din in 709/1309 A.D.

Shaikh Burhan-u'd-Din was bound to abide by the orders of his Pir Shaikh

Nizam-u'd-Din Auliya. In one incident Shaikh Nizam-u;d-Din had also

7 Ghulam Ali Azad Bilgrami, Rawdat ai-Auliya (Bilgrami), p.14, Aurangabad Gazetteer, 1884 A.D, p.398.

8 Ghulam Ali Azad Bilgrami, Rawdat al Auliya, p---14

9 Bilgrami of the opinion that he was a disciple of Shaikh Farid-u'd-Din. This cannot be as Amir Khurd states he was a senior Khalifa of

Shaikh Nizam-u'd-Din Auliya and was incharge of the Kitchen. Rawdat al Aulioya, pp.14-16.

98

admonished Shaikh Burhan as the latter was guilty of not maintaining

strict discipline, "Shaikh Burhan-u'd-Din, due to his pain in his legs, sat

leaning in front of his visitors as a folded blanket. When his Pir Shaikh

Nizam-u'd-Din, came to know of this fact, he was so annoyed that he did

not talk with Burhan -u'd-Din Gharib when the latter came to meet him,

soon after, the personal attendance of Shaikh Nizam-u'd-Din Auliya

conveyed to Burhan-u'd-Din that the Pir wants him to leave the Khanqah

immediately. Burhan-u'd-Din complied with the orders of his Pir and lived

with his co-disciple. Later, he had to abandon that place as well on the

order of his master. The Shaikh was so great that a totally dejected

Burhan-u'd-Din spent his days and nights weeping. However, he was

pardoned and re-admitted into the Khanqah when Amir Khusrau, a close

disciple of the Shaikh intervened and literally begged the Shaikh to forgive

Burhan-ud-Din.IOThis happened when Burhan ud Din was seventy. Since

we know Burhan ud-Din Gharib's date of birth as 65411256 A.D this event

obviously took place in 72411324 A.D. In other words he was still in Delhi

till 724 I 1324 A.D. Therefore the earlier mentioned date of departure

709 I 1309 A.D, just after the death of his brother is not true. It thus can be

said that he moved to the Deccan between 72511325 A.D and 727 I 1327

A.Dll, the period of the change of capital by Muhammad bin Tughlaq from

Delhi to Deogir, which brought about a mass migration of people including

the Sufis.

10 Md.Suleman Siddique, The Bahmani Sufis, ldrat-e-Delhi, Hyderabad-1989, p-42.

11 S.Moinul Haq, ao.cit, p-57. Mahdi Hasan, Rise and Fall of Muhammad bin Tughlaq, pp.161-163

99

He reached Daulatabad with a group of people, prominent among them

being Amir Hasan Ali Sijzi (d.736/ 1335 A.D), an accomplished poet with

the exalted title of Sa'di-e-Hind. Among others were Pir Mubarak Karwan,

Khwaja Hasan, Khwaja Umar and Kamal-u'd-Din Samana, all of when were

disciples of Shaikh Niazam-u'd-Din Auliya, also accompanying Burhan-u'd­

Din Gharib were his own disciples, prominent among them being: Kaka

Sa'd Bakhsh, Shaikh Rukn-ud-Din bin Imad Kashani, Imad Kashani,

Khwaja Majid-ud-Din Kashami, Khwaja Burhan-ud-Din Kashani, Khwaja

Jamal-ud-Din Kashani, Farid-ud-Din Adil and Maulana Rukn-ud-Din.

Kaka Sa'id Bakhsh was the personal attendant of Shaikh Burhan-ud-Din

Gharib. When Muhammad bin Tughlaq permitted those who desired to

move back to Delhi to do so, the former was so delighted that he

immediately packed all the luggage of his master seeking his permission.

When the Shaikh heard of it, he pointed out the place of his burial to him.I2

Shaikh Burhan-ud-Din Gharib, due to his long association with Shaikh

Niam-ud-Din Auliya, strongly believed in the principle of constant religious

activity. While in Khuldabad, he explained abstract passages with great

ease to those who thronged around him. He was very fond of music and

Sarna. His disciples, who danced in a particular style, were known as

Burhanis.·13

12 Md.Suleman Siddique, The Bahmani Sufis, pp-43.

13 Ibid

100

He lived a life of celibacy. As for relations with the rules and high state

officials, he strictly followed his predecessors of the North.

Though, the mass migration of people from Delhi to Daulatabad ruined the

centralized Chishti organization at Delhi, yet it proved fruitful for the

Deccan. With the arrival of Shaikh Burnan and other eminent persons

mentioned above, Chishti activity assumed importance and also took a firm

footing at Khuldabad-Daulatabad. They soon began to propagate the

Chishti mystic doctrines, concentrating on spiritual and moral upliftment of

people. Shaikh Burhan's Malfuzat Ahsan-ul-Aqwal is a living teaching of

the Shaikh's commitment to those activities, objectives and mission. It is

compiler Shaikh Hammad Kashani, who was also Shaikh Burhan-ud-Din's

devoted and one of the closet disciples, alone admitted one thousand

disciples to the Chishti fold in Deccan. Then Shaikh Burhanuddin himself

and others who accompanied him must have done works with similar

magnitude.

Shaikh Burhanuddin goes into the annals of history as a great Sufi saint of

Chishti order. He was a great scholar and philosopher who had mastered

philosophical and religious texts. He occupies a place of pride among the

contemporary writers to whom we are heavily indebted for our knowledge of

the country and people in fourteenth century A.D. His Malfuzat, Ahsan-ul­

Aqwal is the evidence of his scholarly, philosophical and spiritual

attachment. This book is rightly classified as a classic of world literature in

general and Sufi literature in particular written in lucid and simple Persian,

Ahsan-ul-Aqwal comes at par with the two most famous Sufi literatures viz­

Fawaid- ul- Fuad and Khair- ul- Majalis.

101

The Ahsan- ul- Aqwal is full of didactic discourses for layman or amateur

Sufis. In these discourses the master gives instructions to his disciples

about different types of prayers and their outcome. He also gives

illustrations of various personalities who had got their wishes realized as a

result of such prayers. The Ahsan- ul- Aqwal helps us in understanding

the principles and preaches propagated by him in the distant south. In

Delhi the towering personality of Shaikh Nizam was himself beacons light

and an example. It was Shaikh Burhanuddin who propagated his percepts

in the Deccan in simple and popular idiom to disseminate the teaching is

the Silsilah.

The Ahsan- ul- Aqwal is divided into twenty nme majalis14 (religious

gatherings can be called as chapters also). It deals with specific themes.

The most important aspect of the Malfuz is practices and etiquettes of the

assemblies of Sufi saint: It prescribes strict discipline for the participants of

the assemblies and asks them to be completely devoted and attractive

towards the Pir, (leading Sufi) who delivers the didactic sermon. 15

About relationship between disciples and his spiritual leader, the entire

book is interspersed with illustrations and examples of incidents pertaining

14 Ahsan- ul- Aqwal, Burhanuddin Gharib, MS, Maulana Azad Central Library, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh

15 Ibid, pp-3.

102

to the spiritual mentor or Pir a source of emulations for the disciples.

However, specific directions for such relations are conspicuously missing.

Apart from few references to the relationship between Pir and Murshid, it

also throws light on customs and ceremonies associated with process of

initiation in the mystic fold. An incidence of disciples swearing with their

hands on the hand of their master for following their instructions for

attainment of spirituality and also in day to day life has been mentioned.16

All the Sufis had good relationship with the people. They brought the gap

between the common man and spirituality, to a close. The book deals

sufficiently about this relationship and how to deal with and treat common

people. The book also describes in detail about spiritual morality, principles

governing the acceptance of unasked for gifts.

Civil consequences of greed and sex, principles to be followed with

reference to audition parties prayers and penitence's behaviour with alms

seekers, behaviour of travelers, dealing with strangers, relation of Sufis

with political personalities and relation of Sufi with government servants.

The last two aspects are of great significances as all the Chishti Sufi saints

maintained respectable distance from the contemporary rulers.

161bid, pp-17.

103

The book which is under study also provides valuable information about

the spread of the religion of Islam in different parts of India and acceptance

of Islam by non-Muslim brethren through the efforts of his followers and

disciples. It is mentioned in the book. He was one of the disciples of the

great saint (Sultan-ul-Mashaikh-reference to Shaikh Burhan-ud-Din) and

the revered Shaikh dispatched him towards Burhanpur and Daulatabad to

. spread the message of Islam among the residents of that place. He also sent

Shaikh Hasan of Delhi with some of his followers and disciples. As a result

of the bounties of their arrival of their pious steps, a big chunk of the

population turned towards the teachings of Islam and became their

disciples and followers" .17

Along with non-Muslims, many Muslims also came to his fold in pursuit of

true Islam. More than one thousand Muslims became his disciples and

followers through Rukn- ud- Din Kashani.18 The book also mentions about

Burhan-ud-Din's teachings regarding rights of wife and children and family

members. The Shaikh says, "wife and children are like gardens of flowers;

if someone gets a little disappointed from the prayers to the almighty then

he should look towards his wife and children and get his heart contended,

because it is also equal to prayers."19

17 Ibid, pp-172.

18 He was one of the disciples of Shaikh Burhanuddin and later anointed as Khalifa.

19 Ahsan- ul- Aqwal, Burhanuddin Gharib,MS, Maulana Azad Central library, AMU, Aligarh, p---14.

104

Saiyed Zainuddin and Fariduddin Adib were his two most ardent and

denoted disciples. They always endeavoured to follow each and every

instruction, which were many times trivial or repeated instructions. But

they never thought of or expected any returns from him. In fact, they were

selfless followers of Shikh Burhanuddin Gharib. Sultan Muhammad Shah

Bahmani was also one of his followers. He ascribes his victories as

blessings of his Pir. It is said that under his influence, the sultan

implemented Shariat code in his empire and ordered the closure of liquor

shops. The Sultan of Delhi, Feroz Shah Tughlaq has requested him to settle

in Delhi but he did not accept the offer and declined the request politely

because he had the desire to pass his last days and take his last breath at

the Khanqah of Shaikh Burhanuddin.2o In fact his mausoleum is in

Khuldabad, near Shaikh Burhanuddin's mausoleum.

Sultan Muhammad bin Tughlaq also had immense respect for Shaikh

Burhan-ud-Din and was his great follower. The Rawdat ul Auliya describes

an incident, "once Sultan Muhammad bin Tughlaq offered Friday prayers in

the Qutb mosque at Daulatabad and proceeded to meet Shaikh Burhan-ud­

Din Gharib, but like his master and spiritual mentor, Shaikh Nizamuddin

Auliya, he also did not like the company of and closeness to Kings and

Sultan. When he heard about the royal cavalcade's arrival towards his

Khanqah, he started praying to God to create a situation whereby he could

be able to escape the audience of the Sultan. God knows what happened on

20 Rawdat ul Auliya, Ghulam Ali Azad Bilgrami, p-14.

105

the Sultan's mind, the Sultan changed his decision and his cavalcade

proceeded in the other direction. Some days later, the Sultan sent 3000

gold tankas (coin) to the Shaikh as gift but the Shaikh did not accept it.

The Sultan again sent the gift with the word that the gift was not for him

but for his followers and attendants. This time the Shaikh accepted them

and instructed his followers to distribute it among the poor and needy.2 1

Such incidences reflect that Shaikh Hammad Qalandar had no attachment

with the worldly things. He did not like the company of the rulers of his

time and thereby maintained respectable distance between spiritualism and

politics. People from different walks of life used to visit him for guidance is

spiritual and religious matters. It is said that once a traveler came to visit

him and told him that he had come to him with purpose. Firstly, he had

gone there in pursuit of religion because he was the standard bearer of

religion and secondly, in pursuit of worldly affair because kinds and nobles

were his disciples. The respected Shaikh said, one god will give you all type

of bounties. If he achieves closeness to god, all of his desires will be

automatically fulfilled. The Shaikh also laid emphasis to justice and

benevolence. Describing justice and benevolence, he said that all the people

should behave with each other in a just manner and they should bestow

benevolence on others also. He described justice as sharing equal food with

the companion on the dining mattress and benevolence emphasis taking

smaller morals compared to the companion and one should sacrifice the

better and tastier dishes for others.

21 ibid, pp-1 08.

106

The entire Ahsan-ul-Aqwal is full of such didactic and philosophical

anecdotes and discourses. These anecdotal narrations reflect the nature of

Chishti Sufi philosophy being spread in the Deccan region. It is quite

evident that as per Islamic teachings, the day to day life was not separated

from religious life. Religion was the sublime and prime essence of normal

social life. While discussing some important themes, the narrator starts

with a principle, then quotes a Rawish (practice) of the saints of his Silsilah

and then gives Burhan (argument) in support of the practices. His method

is clear and effective. The principles of " Awarif-ul-Maarif'. Which as a

matter of fact formed the basis of the Chishti mystic thought in the early

middle ages, have been briefly indicated but very carefully illustrated in this

work.

The book contains absolutely no reference to the political authorities of the

day. The general attitude of the Shaikh towards government service is in

keeping with the tradition of the Chishti Silsilah. Government servants who

worked clerical jobs and had nothing to do with the policy of the

administration were entitled to be enrolled as mere disciples. Khwaja

Ruknuddin, who was a Dabir, once expressed his desire to abandon

government service but the Shaikh advised him to continue and serve the

people. "Doing good to people is better than sitting in a lonely corner,"22 he

remarked. In this way the Shaikh stuck a fine balance between religion, day

to day social life and politics and administration.

22 ibid, p-4 7

107,,

Literary Importance:

The Malfuz of Shaikh Burhan-ud-Din Gharib was penned down in Persian

language by Maulana Hammad Kashani, who was one of his favourite

disciples. In this book the writer or more importantly, the compiler has

penned down the discourses of his master which he used to deliver to the

gatherings (Majalis) of his disciples.

The linguistic style adopted by Shaikh Burhan-ud-Din to deliver his

teachings and by Maulana Hammad Kashani to write down the discourses

is plain, simple and yet graceful. The style of narration of incidents and the

pedantic discourses is fluid and colloquial, idiomatic, simple and very pure.

The Malfuz has no literary pretension; therefore it is devoid of the

sumptuous passionate artifice and literary continuance and. is

characterized by straight forwardness and to the point narrations. As the

Malfuz conjures of philosophical, ethical and religious ideas, it was natural

that many verses from the holy Quran got mentions in it. The entire Ahsan­

ul-Aqwal is interspersed with Quranic verses in Arabic, Prophet

Muhammad's traditions (Hadith) in Arabic language. There are more than a

dozen verses from the holy Quran in it. The Ahsan-ul-Aqwal is wonderfully­

simple and highly effective for instructing persons not fully conversant with

the principle of higher mysticism. It is so clear and lucid that it can be

understood even by an amateur mystic.

The Ahsan-ul-Aqwal quotes a letter which Shaikh Burhan-ud-Din wrote to

a governor of Multan about the case of a poor person. It began "Be is

108

known to Sharafuddin Daulah." The Shaikh did not write 'Sharafuddin

Daulah because he did not know if he was really religious.23 It appears from

this Malfuz that the Chishti and the Suhrawardis used to tie their Dasters

(headdress) differently and that one could identify the Silsilah one belonged

to by merely looking at it.

In a nut shell it can be said that Shaikh Burhan-ud-Din goes into the

annals of history as a great mystic saint who had mass following and highly

instrumental in the spread of Chishti orders of Sufism in South India.

People flocked to him en-mass and became his disciples or followers and

consequently got engaged in spreading his message in the Deccan region.

Many people of North India especially Delhi either migrated with him or

followed him to the Deccan. This chain of incidents involving people's

movement between Delhi and Daulatabad opened the doors of cultural

interaction and cooperation between North India and the Deccan region,

which includes present day Maharashtra, Karnataka and some parts of

Andhra Pradesh. Shaikh Burhan-ud-Din occupies a place of eminence

among the Chishti Sufi saints due to his piety, strict discipline, and good

relation with common masses and non contact with rulers of the day. His

Malfuzat compiled by his disciple. Hammad Kashani is testimony to his

noble thinking for the society and his commitment to Chishti Sufi ideology

and philosophy. Therefore the present section of this research work can be

concluded saying that though there are neither any reference to historical

personality of that period, nor mention of political developments of that

23 Ahsan-ui-Aqwal, Burhanuddin Gharib, MS, p--80

109

period, yet it is a valuable from historical point of v1ew as it throws

significant light on the spread of Chishti Sufism in the Deccan. It also

reflects the philosophical and ideological aspirations and aspect of Chishti

form of Sufism in the Deccan region.

The language used is simple and straight as it was for novice disciples and

lay followers teachings about Sufism. It does not have literary hyperbola

and pretensions which is typical to Persian literature.

110