to another, and stressed that it was his duty to spread God’s message when
he had been given the ability and the opportunity to do so. In his case,
fleeing from the public would amount to shirking his duty and would incur
God’s displeasure.Ultimately, Nizamuddin abandoned the idea. Under Sultan
Alauddin Khalji (1296-1315) the locality became quite prosperous and
densely populated. A number of people, both rich and poor, the common
man and the elite, the soldiers and the powerful, started visiting him there.
Shaykh Nizamuddin’s continuous efforts came to fruition as people began
to change their lives. Many who had been Muslims only in name now had the
opportunity to understand the true spirit of Islam and mend their ways.
Non-Muslims were attracted by the moral and spiritual values taught by
him.The majority of them finally entered his fold, impressed as they were by
his personality, his genuineness, and particularly the spiritual interpretation
he put upon the teachings of Islam.
Shaykh Nizamuddin had little regard for temporary rulers and showed
no interest in building up good relations with the kings and nobility. Some
sultans and noblemen had great regard for the Shaykh, while others, like
Sultan Mubarak Shah and Ghyasuddin Tughlaq, took the Shaykh’s
disinterestedness to be a form of arrogance.They wanted to harm him but,
by God’s grace, they were unable to do so.
In actual fact, the popularity of Shaykh Nizamuddin was liked neither by
the political nor the religious leaders.The
ulama
(religious scholars) became
envious of him when they saw that even kings could do him no harm.They
therefore made a religious issue of the controversial practice of
sama’
(spiritual musical recital) and lodged a complaint against him with the
ruler, Ghiyasuddin Tuqhlaq.The Sultan invited religious scholars to explain
to himwhether the
sama’
was Islamic or un-Islamic.The subject was discussed
Th e Ch i s h t i Or d e r 86
