with all the emotions awakened, it was easier for his spiritual guide to
divert these emotions towards true love, that is, to God. On the other
hand, it was difficult to direct towards and focus on God a person who was
not charged with emotions to start with, for such a person was engaged
with the world at so many points that severing his multiple connections
was next to impossible. But one in love was already focused and totally
concentrated upon a single point.
Taking this concept too far was not without risk, for it might have
invited a desire to free oneself from and set oneself above the laws of the
shariah,
which were necessary to bind society together. Perhaps Jami himself
had realized this danger for in his later days he moderated his views.
Khwaja Baqi Billah
The conquest of India by Babur in 1526 gave a considerable impetus to
the development of the Naqshbandi order. Both the new emperor and a
large number of his Central Asian soldiers were the spiritual followers of the
disciples of Ubaidullah Ahrar. Some eminent Naqshbandiya Sufis followed
the military in their move from Central Asia to India. However, during
the reign of Humayun the Naqshbandis lost some of their royal patronage,
for Humayun favoured a local Sufi lineage called the Shattariya.This changed
once again in favour of the Naqshbandis with the ascendance of Akbar.
The organizer of the order in India was Khwaja Baqi Billah (1563-1603),
who was seventh in the line of succession from Khwaja Bahauddin
Naqshband, its founder. Baqi Billah was born in Kabul, which was then a
part of the Mughal Empire with Mirza Muhammad Hakim, a younger
brother of Akbar, acting as the viceroy. As dictated by the traditon, Baqi
Billah first studied the religious sciences with the eminent
ulama
of Kabul
