prayer and
dhikr
(remembrance
).
Shaikh Farid often said that if women
could be
khalifas
, she would definitely qualify for this honour.
Baba Farid had seven very distinguished
khalifah,
Shaikh Nizamuddin
Awliya being the most prominent.
The Khalifas of Baba Farid
On the authority of Amir Khwurd, author of
Siyar al Awliya’
(1388),
Baba Farid had only seven
khalifas
, for not all his disciples qualified for the
title of
khalifah
. The disciples were classified into three different groups on
the basis of how they were chosen to become disciples.The most outstanding
of these were the ones whom God had inspired the Shaykh to select.These
were the
Rahmani Khalifas
. The second group was formed of those whom
the Shaykh chose himself on the basis of their personal merits, while the
third group consisted of disciples whom the Shaykh accepted on the
recommendation of others. According to Amir Khwurd, only those of the
first two groups were
khalifas
in the true sense.
Shaykh Najibuddin Matawakkil, a younger brother of Baba Farid and his
khalifah
, lived in Delhi and led the life of an ascetic. He was learned, very
pious and extremely poor. He had many disciples. From time to time he
visited Ajodhan to receive the blessings of Baba Farid. He died in Delhi and
his grave is located close to that of Khwaja Qutbuddin. Sultan Mohammad
binTughlaq built a tomb over his grave.
Maulana Badruddin Ishaq, another
khalifah
of Shaykh Farid as well as
being the Shaykh’s son-in-law, managed the affairs of the
jamaat khana
in
Ajodhan, where he used to teach the Qur’an. He was also a resident of
Delhi and had received a proper religious education. He died soon after his
mentor’s death.
Th e Ch i s h t i Or d e r 82
