Chishti Sufis and the Ideology of Faqr in the Early Fourteenth Century

Abstract

This paper discusses the sufi virtue of faqr    as evident in the malfuzat of Shaykh Nizam al-Din Awliya in the fourteenth century. It discusses the different ways in which poverty as  a virtue was practiced by the piety-minded and sufis in the early fourteenth century and the morals underlined in the term faqr that Nizam al-Din prescribed as an ideal for his disciples. By citing anecdotes from lives of historical personages, the pragmatic aspect of the concept was delineated by Nizam al-Din for his audience.