Which of the following statements is incorrect in relation to Sufism?

The Sufis never accepted unsolicited grants and donations from the political elites.

The correct answer is Option 2 - The Sufis never accepted unsolicited grants and donations from the political elites.

Given options:

Option 1- A major feature of the Chishti tradition was austerity, including maintaining a distance from worldly power
Option 2- The Sufis never accepted unsolicited grants and donations from the political elites. (Incorrect)
Option 3- The Sultans had set up charitable trusts (auqaf ) as endowments for hospices and granted tax-free land (inam).
Option 4- None of the above.

Correction in option 2: The Sufis accepted unsolicited grants and donations from the political elites.

A major feature of the Chishti tradition was austerity, including maintaining a distance from worldly power. However, this was by no means a situation of absolute isolation from political power. The sufis accepted unsolicited grants and donations from the political elites. The Sultans in turn set up charitable trusts (auqaf) as endowments for hospices and granted tax-free land (inam). The Chishtis accepted donations in cash and kind. Rather than accumulate donations, they preferred to use these fully on immediate requirements such as food, clothes, living quarters and ritual necessities (such as sama‘). All this enhanced the moral authority of the shaikhs, which in turn attracted people from all walks of life. Further, their piety and scholarship, and people’s belief in their miraculous powers made sufis popular among the masses, whose support kings wished to secure. Kings did not simply need to demonstrate their association with sufis; they also required legitimation from them. When the Turks set up the Delhi Sultanate, they resisted the insistence of the ulama on imposing shari‘a as state law because they anticipated opposition from their subjects, the majority of whom were non-Muslims. The Sultans then sought out the sufis – who derived their authority directly from God – and did not depend on jurists to interpret the shari‘a.