him into a number of Sufi
silsilas
, Ahmed Sirhind travelled to Delhi and
visited Khwaja Baqi Billah. The Khwaja recognized his spiritual potential at
a glance and expressed a great interest in him. On his part, Ahmad Sirhindi
perceived the excellence of the Khwaja’s spiritual attainments and decided
to become his disciple. The Khwaja gave him his full attention and it did
not take Ahmad Sirhindi more than a few months to complete his training
in the Naqshbandi order. Thereafter, he was appointed by the Shaykh as his
khalifah
and presented with a
khirqa
(gown) as a symbol of having completed
his spiritual training.
The initiation into the Naqshbandi order was an event of major
importance in his life. His religious outlook was transformed and he became
convinced that the Naqshbandi discipline was the shortest, the fastest, and
the only way to the ultimate pinnacle of spiritual achievement. This was
because the Naqshbandi Shaykh shared his advanced stage of spiritual
development with his disciples who were just setting out on their spiritual
journey. This sharing set the beginners on the fast track to spiritual
attainment.
Feeling himself well provided with spiritual sustenance, Shaykh Ahmad
returned to Sirhind and began disseminating his
pir’s
teachings. Imbued with
a sense of purpose, he devoted himself to the cause of God, guiding and
reforming his fellow men to the best of his ability. To this end he built a
mosque and a large residence (
haveli
) to serve as the centre of his activities.
He chose different ways of communicating his message — conversation,
meetings, sermons, letters, books, etc.His greatest concern was themiserable
state of Muslim society, which, vitiated by un-Islamic practices, followed
religion in the letter but not in the spirit. In his view, this situation was due
to mixing freely with non-Muslims and the consequent degeneration of the
Th e Na q s h ba n d i Or d e r 170
