Shaykh Farid took great pains in training his chief disciples, for it was
they who would shoulder the responsibility of communicating the message
to the people. He held the Sufi responsible for the worldly and spiritual
well-being of his followers. This demanded a close relationship between
the teacher and the taught, because only then could the latter have a proper
understanding of moral values. However, he did not approve of too many
formalities in the initiation of a disciple. He was opposed to the initiation
custom of shaving the head of the novice. To him, true initiation consisted
of merely holding the hands of the disciple and praying for his spiritual
success.
Shaykh Farid had a large family. He had two wives and was survived by five
sons and three daughters, some of his children having died in infancy. His eldest
son, Nasiruddin, who was an agriculturalist, was a highly spiritual person. He
spent much of his time engaged in prayer and meditation. Shaykh Nasiruddin’s
son, Shaykh Kamaluddin, settled in Dhar in Malwa. There he earned great
renown as a Sufi and was popular both with the masses and the nobility. Sultan
Mahmud Khilji of Malwa, one of his admirers, had a tomb erected over his
grave.
His second son, Shihabuddin, was associated with Nizamuddin Awliya.
The third son, Badruddin Sulaiman also followed the Chishti path. His family
produced several renowned Sufis, owing to whom the Chishti order spread
throughout India. Badruddin’s son, ShaikhAlauddin, a great Sufi of his times,
spent his whole life engaged in spiritual exercises aimed at self-mortification.
He was held in high esteem by Sultan Muhammad binTughlaq, who built a
tomb for him after his death near the burial place of his grandfather.
Of Shaykh Farid’s three daughters, one, Bibi Sharifa was widowed at an
early age and did not remarry. She dedicated herself to a life spent in
