Suhrawardis and the Chishtis using it as a handbook to train disciples. Baba
Farid taught it to his pupils together with another text,
Lawa’ih,
a lost text
of Qadi Hamiduddin Nagori, which was then considered to be the most
advanced text on mysticism. In principle, the traditions of both the orders
were not opposed to each other, though they favoured and laid stress on
different sets of practices.
The life of the disciples was organized around the
khanqah
, which included
the living quarters of the presiding shaykh, dormitories for the followers
and pilgrims, cells for meditation, a communal kitchen and a dining hall.
The Chishtis preferred to use the term
jamaat khana
rather than
khanqah
,
but both were essentially interchangeable. Most of the Chishti hospices
were originally built in places far removed from urban centres, and any
urban activity around them was a later development mostly due to the
popularity of the shrine.
The Suharwardi
khanqahs
were as a rule established with the help of
grants, for the Suhrawardis accepted gifts from rulers and wealthy
merchants.They therefore had no dearth of money, for riches were treasured
as future assets, a principle diametrically opposite to that followed in Chishti
hospices, where nothing was to be kept for the next day. It is said that
Shaykh Bahauddin Zakariya was probably the richest saint of medieval India
and his lifestyle differed considerably from the austere, God-trusting
atmosphere of his Chishti neighbours. His
khanqah
was well run. He had
fixed hours for reception. Instead of devoting himself to continuous
austerities, he preferred to keep a well-filled granary in order to be able to
live lavishly. He believed there was nothing wrong with possessing wealth,
for it could not corrupt a Suhrawardi Sufi if he was totally devoted to the
spiritual ideal.
2
[2]
see the earlier section on controversy between Bahauddin Zakariya and a Chishti saint, Sheikh
Hamiduddin Suvali of Nagaur, on the issue of property
