Neither did Shaykh Bahauddin Zakariyya consider it necessary to open
his doors to all and sundry. He did not tolerate
qalandars,
(mystic wanderer)
for he believed that everyone should work and earn a living instead of opting
for a life of dependency. But his successors, like Shaykh Ruknuddin, were
more tolerant.They felt that it was the demands of the
qalandars
and dervishes
that justified the Shaykhs’ monetary possessions.
The culture of the Chishti
jamaat khanas
was somewhat different and
everyone was welcomed there. Even if there was nothing in the
jamaat
khana
to offer to the visitor, a glass of water would be presented with
apologies.The Chishtis believed in and practiced the principle of the equality
and brotherhood of all men, for all were God’s creatures in equal measure.
In this ideology, there was no room for discrimination between one and the
other.They were all God’s servants, seekers of truth and deserving of respect.
The concept of
wahdat al wujud
was not really present in the Sufi thought
of the subcontinent till almost the 14
th
century. Iraqi, a
khalifah
of Bahauddin
Zakariya and a great poet who was familiar with the ideas of of Ibn ‘Arabi,
introduced them in his writings. Before that, the most studied text ‘
Awariful
Ma’arif,
and other contemporary texts spoke of the oneness of a mystic with
God only in the terms of love, using the metaphor: “Lover, love and beloved
are all one”. Each aspirant to the Sufi path was required to begin his spiritual
course with
tawba
(repentance). This was done under the guidance of the
pir
, and the
salik
was asked to submit to the divine will. The two orders
differed to some extent as regards the details of these rituals.
The Suharwardis attached great importance to
salat
(prayer) and
dhikr
(remembrance of God) as far as the purification of the soul was concerned.
They believed that fasting in the month of Ramadan was sufficient for this
purpose. This annual training course, if performed properly, would suffice
The Suh r awa r d i Or d e r 148
