~ preface

of the staff of glasgow university, through a grant which enabled me to make a study tour in north mrica in 1960. my thanks are

also due to my colleague, professor nicola ziadeh, for his help

in reading my draft and calling my attention to mistakes and to matters which needed clarification.

]. s, t.

beirut september .1969

.

contents

abbreviations

i. the formation of schools of

mysticismi i. the chief tariqa lines

iii. the formation of ta'ifas

ıv. nineteenth-century revival

movementsv. the mysticism and theosophy of the

ordersvi. the organization of the

ordersvii. ritual and ceremonial

viii. role of the orders in the life of islamic society

ix. the orders in the contemporary islamic

world

~"

ix

1

31

67

1°5

133

166

194

218

24-5

appendices

a. relating to early silsilas .

26 i

b. Şüfis, malamatis, and qalandaris

264

c. suhrawardi silsilas

27°

d. qadiri groups

271

e. independent orders of the badawiyya and

burhaniyya 274

f. shadhili groups in the maghrib deriving from al

. j azüli

g. madyani and shadhili groups in egypt and

syria h. rifa'i ta'ifas in the arab world

276

278

280

1

viii contents

bibliography 282

indexes

glossary of arabic terms general,index

300

315

ri

l

a.i.e.o.archiv. maroc. b. b.i.f.a.o.

d. ısı. e.i.', e.!.' e.r.e.g.a.l. g.a.l.s. g.m.s.j. asiat. j.r.a.s. m.m.e.j. m.i.d.e.o.m.s.b.s.

m.w. r.e.i. r.m.m. r.s.o. z.d.m.g.

abbrevia tions

annales de l'institut d'eıudes orientales de

l'universite

d' alger.archives marocaines.ibn = son of.bulletin de l' institut français d' archeologie orientale du'

caire.der islam, berlin.encyclopaedia of islam, ıst edition, 2nd edition. hastings' encyclopaedia of religion and ethics. brockelmımn, carl, geschichte der arabischen literatur. supplement to g.a.l.e. j. w. gibb memorial series.journal asiatique, paris.journal of the royal. asiatic society, london. muq.ammad.middle east journal, washington, d.c.melanges de i:institut dominicain d' etudes orientales, cairo. mitteilungen des seminars für orientalische sprachen,

berlin.the muslim world, hartfofd.revue des etudes islamiques, paris.revue du monde musulman, paris.rivista degli studi orientali, rome.zeitschrift der deutschen morgenliindischen gesellschaft,

wiesbaden.

ii,

1.

1

:11'1

iii

i

,.

ii !

i

~"

i

the formatian of schools of

mysticism

t

he term şüfi was first applied to muslim ascetics wh~ dothed themselves in coarse garments of wool (şüf). from ıt comes the form taşawwuf for 'mysticism'. there are excellent guides

to islamic mysticism and all that is necessary by way of introduction is to give same idea of how i am us ing the terms şufi and sufism in the context of this study on the mystical ways and their expressian in orders.

i define the word şüfi in wide terms by applying it to anyone who believes that it is possible to have direct experience of god and who is prepared to go out of his way to put himself in a state whereby he may be enabled to do this. many will not be happy about this definition, but i find it the only possible way to embraceall the varieties of ı;>eople involved in the orders. '

the term sufism as used in this book is equally comprehensive. it embraces those tendencies in islam which aim at direct communion between god and man. it is a sphere of spiritual experience which runs parallel to the main stream of islamic consciousness deriving from prophetic revelation and comprehended within the shari'a and theology. this contrast is the reason for the enmity legalists have always borne towards sufism, for it means that the mystics are daiming a knowledge 'of the real (al-lfaqq, their term for god) that could not be gained through revealed religion which in islam became codified religion.

m~sticism is a particular method of approach to reality (ljaq~qa, another special sufi terrn), making use of intuitive and

emotıonal spiritual faculties which are generaııy dormant and

lat~nt uı:l~ss called into play through training under guidance.

'ı,'hıs traıı:ıng, thought of as 'travelling the path' (salak at-tariq),

aıms at dıspersing the veils which hide the self from the real and

the~eby become transformed or absorbed into undifferentiated

unıt

y it is t . .1 .: no prımarı y an ıntellectual process,

though thee?erıe~ce of the mystic led to the formulation of various typeso mystıcal philosophy, but rather a reaction against the external

i

i

..,

r

,"

i,

iiii.

i

!2 the formation of school s of mysticism

rationalization of islam in lawand systematic theology, aiming at spiritual freedom whereby man's intrinsic intuitive spiritual senses could be allowed full scope. the various ways (turuq, sing. tariqa) are concerned with this process, and it is with the historical development, practical organization, and mo des ofworship of these ways that this book is concerned.

early sufism was anatural expression of personal religion in relation to the expression of religion. as a communal matter. it was an assertion of a person's right to putsue a life of contemplation, seeking contact with the source of being and reality, over against institutionalized religion based on authority, a one-way master-slave relationship, with its emphasis upon ritual observance and a legalistic morality. the spirit of qur'anic piety had flowed into the lives and modes of expression, as in the form of 'recollection' (dhikr), of the early devotees (zuhhiid) and ascetics (nussiik). sufism was a natural development out of these tendencies manifest in early islam, and it continued to stress them as an essential aspect of the way. these seekers af ter direct experience of communion with god ensured that islam was not confined within a legalistic directiye. their aim was to attain ethical perception (we shall see how this was to recur in later developments) and this was redirected or transformed to the aim of the sufis to attain mystical perception.

sufism was a natural development within islam, owing little to non-muslim sources, though receiving radiations from the ascetical-mystical life and thought of eastern christianity. the outcome was an islamic mysticism following distinctive islamic lines of development. subsequently, a vast and elaborate mystical system was formed which, whatever it may owe to neo-platonism, gnosticism, christian mysticism, or other systems, we may truly regard, as did the sufis themselves,as 'the inner doctrine of islam, the underlying mystery of the qur'1in'.

sufism has received much attention from western scholars, yet the study of the development, writings, beliefs, and practices of the orders which are its objective expression has scarc~ly been attempted. sufism in practice is primarily contemplative and emotional mysticism. as the organized cultivation of religious experience it is not a philosophical system, though it developed such a system, but it is a 'w ay', the way of purificatioh. this practical aspect is our main concern. sufi teaching and practiee

the formation of school s of mysticism 3

d'

ff d throu

ghout the islamic world through the

growthwere ı use

d. . d h i. i r way

s which were ıssemınate among t e peop e

of partteu ad i

' .

h thmedium of religious orders, an as a re ıgıous

movethroug e

ment displayed many aspects. ...

the foundation of the orders. ıs the ~yste~ r and

relatıonshı)'

f tr and disciple, in arabıc murshıd (dırector) and

murıdo mas e

h h.

d.d f

(aspirant). it was natural to accept t e aut orıty an guı

ance o

hwho had traversed the stages (maqiimiit) of the

sufi path.t ose

h. h

.h

.m ters of the way say that every man as ın erent wıt ın

hi: the possibility for release from self and union with

god,but this is latent and dormant and cannot be released, exceptwith certain illuminates gifted by god, without guidance from a

leader.the early masters were more concerned with

experiencing thanwith theosophical theorizing. they sought to guide

rather thanteach, directing the aspirant in ways of meditation

whereby hehimself acquired ~nsight into s'piritual truth and was

shieldedagainst the dangers of illusions. sufism in practice consists offeeling and unveiling, since ma'rifa (gnosis) is reached by passage through ecstatic states. consequently teaching succeeds rather than precedes experience. abu i;iamid al-ghazali, a theorist ofethical mysticism, writes of his own realization that what is mostpeculiar to sufis 'cannot be learned but only attained by directexperience, ecstasy, and inward transformation'. the drunkenman knows nothing about the definition, causes, and conditions of drunkenness, yet he is drunk, whilst the sober man acquainted with the theory is not drunk.! ai-ghazali's own intellectual back~round, his inability to submit himself unreservedly to guidance,ımpos:d too great a barrier for him to attain direct sufi experience.teachıng about the state of ianii' (transmutation of self) willn?t help anyone to attain it, only guidance under an experienced dı~e~tor. hence the great importance the guides attached to permıssıon to recite adhkiir (mystical exercises) and undertake re~re~ts.' for thereby the burden is adjusted to the capacity of the ındıvıduaı.

a t ',- arıqa was a practicalmethod (other terms were

madhhab,~! a~a, and sulük) to guide a seeker by tracing a way of thought

g and t.

i d. .'

,ac ıon, ea ıng through a successıon of 'stages'

i ai-ghaziili al m 'dh '124-5. . - unqı mın atl-tlaliil, damascus edn., 1358/1939, pp.

4 the formation of schools of mysticisl\1

(maqiimiit, in integral association with psychological experience

called 'states', af:ıwiil) to experience of divine reality

(f:ıaqiqa)sat first a tariqa meant simply this gradual method of conternpla~tive and soul-releasing mysticism. cirdes of disciples began togather around an acknowledged master of the way, seeking train.ing through association or companionship,! but not linked to himby any initiatory tie or vow of allegiance.

two contrasting tendencies came to be distinguished as junaidi and bistami, or 'iraqi and khurasani (but must not be taken too seriously or called schools' of thought) af ter two men, abu'!qasim al-junaid (d. 298/910) and abu yazid taifür al-bistarni(d. 260/874), who captured the imaginations more than any other of their contemporaries. these two are held to embody the contrasts between the way based on tawakkul (trust) and that on malama (blame),2 between intoxicated and sober, safe and suspect, iliuminate and conformist, solitude and companionship, theist and monist, guidance under a this-world director (with a chain of transmitters to regularize in conformity with standard islamic practice) and guidance under a spirit-shaikh.

'ali al-hujwiri refers3 to bistami's teaching, which he calls taifüri, as characterized by ghalaba (rapture, ecstasy) and sukr (intoxication); whereas that derived from al- j unaid 'is based on sobriety (şaf:ıw) and is opposed to that of the tayfüris . . . it is the best-known and most celebrated of all doctrines, and all the shaykhs have adopted it, notwithstanding that there is much difference in their sayingş on the ethics of Şüfiism.'4 because he won the approval of orthodoxy as relatively 'safe', al-junaid comes to be regarded as 'the shaikh of the way', the common ancestorof most subsequent mystical congregations, even though many followed heterodox teaching; his indusion in their genealogies

i li 'ş-şul;ıba wa 'd-dars wa 'r-riwaya 'anku.2 see appendix b.3 abu 'ı-aasan 'ali al-julliibi al-hujwiri (d. c. 465/i072), kas!ıf al-maj;ıjilb,

tr. r. a. nicholson, london, i936, pp. ı84-5.4 ibid., p. ı89. junaid as the aposde of moderation (though he in

fact hem esoteric views) sought to tone downand explain away his ecstatic utterance~, see sarriij, luma', pp. 380--9°. on al-bistiimi see 'abd ar-ral;ımiin badawı, skat!;ılit aş-Şüfiyya: ı. abu yazid al-bistami, cairo, i949, which inc1udes (pp. 37-i48) a biography entided an-nür min kalimat abi raifür, attributed to as-sahlaji. the ideas of a far more significant contemporary, aı-aakim at

tirmidhi '(d. c. 295/908), fen into oblivion until resurrected by the genius of

ibn al-'arabi.

the formation of schools of mysticism

arantee of orthodoxy, for asound isniid can support awas a gu .multitude of heresıes. .th e group

s were very loose and mobıle; members travelled

es . h.

h

.'d iy seeking masters, some eamıng t eır way, ot ers

supportıng~ ;selves upon alms. but foundations came into being

whicht :ved as centres for these wanderers. in arab regions

many were:~tached to frontier-posts or hostels called ribiit;!

those in khuasan were associate d with rest-houses or hospices

(khiinaqiih2),~hilst others were the retreat (hhalwa or ziiwiya) of a

spiritualdirector. all these terms came to mean a sufi convent.

an earlyrimi was found on 'abbadan island (the name itself is

significant)on the persian gulf, which grew up around an ascetic

cal1ed 'abd al-wal:ıid ibn zaid (d. 177/793), survived his death, and became especially well known.3 other ribiiıs were found on the marches with byzantium and in north africa. centres for devotees are mentioned at damascus around 15°/767, at ramlah, capital of palestine, founded bya christian amir before a.d. 800,4in khurasan about the same time, whilst 'there appeared in alexandria an organization (tii' lfa) calling itself aş-Şüfiyya' in the yeara.h. 200.5 ,.

by the fifth/eleventh century organize d convents of a quite different character had become numerous, though they stili retained their character as collections of individuals pursuing theirown way, even though they associate d with and sought guidance from experienced men and ascribed themselves to such guides. the personnel of these places was stili impermiment and migrant, and they adopted the bare minimum of institutional rules co n-ceming their day-to-day life. such sufi 'companionship' (şuf:ıba) rules eventually became a religious obligation.6

ai-maqdisi, whose range of interests was wider than that of

5

"

r t~

ı

i

i i

i1ı

i,. i

i

i

i

i on rim/s, see chap. vi, pp. ı67-8.. khane-gah (monastery, doister).

3 ,see sarriij, luma', p. 429; al-maqdisi, p. u8; yiiqüt, iii. 598; l. massignon,

lexıque mystique, p. i57.. lami, najal;ıat al-um. ca1cutta, ı859. p. 34; though this reference

is too

iate to be of any value by itself (the book was written in a.h. 88ı

though basedupon earlier material).

: ~ı-kindi, qwjat mişr, ed, r. guest, i9i2, p. ı62. ..

he first s,:!ch work, though concerned with general ethical

relatlonshıps,a

kppears to be adab aş-şul;ıba, by as-sulami (330/94i-4i2/i02i), edited by m. j.ıster ! 954

'ai i h . . i .. hi , , i a - ujwiri refers to a number of treatıses exp aınıng t eru p.q; see kashj. p. 338.

6 the formation of schools of mysticism

most geographers, gives some information about sufi groups. be says that in shiraz 'Şüfis were numerous, performing the dhikr

(yukahbir) in their mosques af ter the friday prayer and reciting

blessings on the prophet from the pulpit'. i as an organized

movement he shows that the karramiyya2 in his time (he is writing

around a.d. 975) was more effective, having khiinaqiihs allover islamic asia,3 and it seems that it was from them that sufis adopted the khiinaqiih system. the only reference i have come across in al-maqdisi to a khiinaqiih where sufi exercises take place is, 'there was a khiinaqiih in dabil (dwin, capital of armenia] whose inmates were gnostics ('iiri/s) in the system of taşawwuf, living in the straitest poverty.'4 yet the karramiyya~as relatively short-lived (two centuries) whereas the sufi movement went on from an individualistic discipline to change the whole devotional outlook of muslims.

in the syrian jawlan mountains al-maqdisi writes: 'i met abu is~aq al-ballüti with forty men, all wearing wool, who had a place for worship where they congregated. i found out that this man was a learned jurist of the school of sufyan ath- thawri, and that their sustenance consisted of acorns (ballüt), a fruit the size of dates, bitter, which is split, sweetened, ground up and then mixed with wild barley.'s

ai-maqdisi was assiduous in seeking new experiences as well as geographical information, and the following engaging account shows that organized congregations existed in his time and thatyou needed to belong to one to gain insight into sufi experience, as

i al-maqdisi, a~an at-taqiisim (completed in shiraz in 375/985), ed. de goeje, 1906, p. 439, cf. p. 43°. a non-sufi usage of the term dhikr has to be looked for. al-maqdisi writes that in jerusalem (iliya) were 'mudhakkirün who are [piousj story-tellers (quşşiiş), and the followers of abı1 l;ianifa have a majlis dhikr in the aqşa mosque where they recite from a.book'; op. cit., p. 182, and cf. p. 327.

. foundedby muq.ammad ibn karram, d. 255/869. al-maqdisi calls them men of zuhd and ta'abbud (p. 365). it was a revivalist and ascetic school distinguished by a special mode of dress. they were by no means happy with the sufis, especially with the' quietists.

3 and even outside, for they had their own section in fatimid fustat; see al-maqdisi,p. 202.

4 op. cit., p. 379. references like the following in the section on khurasan

are common: 'the karramiyya have a group (jalaba) in herat and gharch of

the sher, ,and khawiiniq in ferghiina, khuttal, and gı1zganan, and in marv ar-rı1dh a khiinaqiih, and another in samarqand' (p. 323).

5 al-maqdisi, op. cit., p. 188.

the formatlon of school s of mysticism 7 well as showing that it was as easy to be a false sufi in those days as at any other:

lı i entered sus [in khuzistiin] i sought out the main mosque,

wen .h " .

fhd hk' shaikh whom i mıg t questıon concernıng poınts o . a ıt .see ıng a .. b

bf c .

i d b .(.it chanced that i was wearıng aj~ a o yprıot woo an a asranju!a,

d i as directed to a congregatıon of sufis. as i approached they took

~nl' ~anted that i was a sufi and.welcomed me with open

arms. theyıt ıor g "

th h

ttı d me among them and began questıonıng me. en t ey sent aman

:e b;ing food. i felt ill at ease about taking the food since i

had not

o sociated with such a group before this occasion. they

showed sur

;~ise at my reluctance and .absen~ion from t~eir

ceremoniai.ı i feltdrawn to associate myself wıth thıs congregatıon and find

out about their method, and leam the true nature [of sufism.]. so i said within myself, 'this is your opportunity, here where you are unknown.' i therefore threw off all restraint with them, stripping the veil of bashfulness from off my face. on one occasion i might engage in antiphonalsinging with them, on another i might yell with them, and at anotherrecite poems to them. i would go out with them to visit ribti!s and toengage in religious recitals,' with the result, by god, that i won a place both in their hearts and in the hearts of the people of that place to anextraordinary degree. i gained a great reputation, being visited [formy virtue] and being sent presents of garments and purses, which i

would accept but immediately hand over intact to the sufis, since i was

well off, having ample means. every day i used to spend

engaged in devotions, and what devotions! and they used to

suppose i did it out of

piety. people began touching me [to obtain baraka] and

broadcasting

my fame, saying that they had never seen a more excellent

faqir. so itwent on until, when the time came that i had penetrated into theirsecr~ts and learnt all that i wished, i just ran away from them at dead of nıght and by moming had got well clear.2

whilst some centres of withdrawal, more especially the ribii!sand kh -

hs h.hanaqa w ic were supported by endowments

(awqiif)

became. permanent centres, those which were

based upon th:

reputatıon of a particular master broke up af ter his

death. most

masters were th

1 . .ti emse ves mıgrants. there were no self-contınuave orders but

group

f 1 '. .1 "

al. .' s o peop e possessıng sımı ar splrltuaspliatıons who h

d b

...wh h a ecome dıscıples of an honoured master wıth;: t e bond of allegiance was purely personal..,

e eleventh century marks a turning-point in the

history of

ı elearly not a quest' f .

. al-maqdisi o ' ıon o acceptıng normal hospİtalİty but aritual meal.

' p. cıt., p. 415.

ii

ii

ii

.tii, i

~

,

iiı

ii

i

!

iı

8 the formation of school s of mysticismislam. among other things it was characterized by the suppressian of shi'ism, which had attained political power in the dynasties of the fiitimids of north mrica and the büyids of persia, where even then it seemed likely to become the persian form of islam. theoverthrow of political shi'ism was brought about by the se1juqrulers of turkish nomads from central asia. in a.d. ~°55 they gained control of baghdad and took over tutelage of the 'abbiisid caliph from the büyids. in the maghrib and egypt the power of the fiitimids weakened luntil finally they were overthrown by the kurd saladin in a.d. 117i.

the turks were upholders of the sunna and opponents of shi'ite tendencies. the counter-revolution they accomplished in the islamic sphere took the form of the reorganization of the madrasa from a private school, a circle around a learned master, to an official institutian to which the seljuqs ensured the recmitment of masters sympathetic to their religious policy. in these institutions the stress was placed on the religious sciences, whilst the profane sciences which had flourished equally under the early'abbasid and shi'ite dynasties were discouraged or banned. the new form of madrasa soon spread from iraq into syria, egypt,and eventually the maghrib.2 .

but islamic religious spirit could not be limited and confined within this institution alone and the cultivation of the deeper spirituallife to ok the form of the parallel institution of the organized, endowed, and supervised khiinaqiih with which the seljuqs were familiar from those of the karramiyya in central asia and iran. the institution is a means of control, but it is to their credit that they encouraged the foundation of khiinaqiihs and endowed them liberally.

the speculative sufi spirit was viewed with suspicion. the dissociation of sufis from recognized religious leaders had always

been suspected and resented by the 'ulamii' (doctors of law), and provoked a reaction to which shihiib ad-din yal)yii as-suhrawardi

[ the zirids of ifriqiya, berber vassals of the fatimids, repudiated the!r

authority. al-mu'izz's reeognition of the 'abbasid ealiph in the khutba ısaseribed to various dates between 433/1041 and 437/1°45, in far

western isıa~other namads, the murabitün, ensured the triumph of sunnism in its m~li i form when Şanhaja from westem sahara overwhelmed moroeeo (at the tıme the seljuqs were taking baghdad) and then spain (battle of zal1aqa in a.p,

1086). d2 madrasas did not inerease greatly in the maghrib until the

the formation of schools of mysticism 9

, ' i but it was the formation of esateric and mysticalfell vıctım. . .

f i i ht' ns outside the regular organızatıon o s am, toget ercongrega ıo . ,f h _' '. i'

h h liturgical organızatıon o tesama, or spıntua concert

wıt t e i'

k i k h

.for

inducing ecstasy, which w~s more ı e y to provo e t e reactıonf the orthodox than suspect ıdeas.

o b the end of the fifth century a.h. the change in the attitude of

isla~ic legalists towards a grudgi.ng .an~ qualified

a~:eptance ofsufism, begun by as-sulami and hıs. ~ıscıp!e al-qushaırı, had be.enbrought to a conclusian by al-ghazalı, whılst t~e need for. assocıations ca ring for religious needs other than the ntual sanctıfied and fixed by the law was recognized. the association of sufism in its klıiinaqiih form with the official favour of nür ad-din, saladin, and their lieutenants and successors had made sufi associations respectable. when the formation of separate congregations for liturgical 'recitals' became possible there began the 'development of an inner islam with its own leaders, hierarchy, and forms of worship. but though accommodated in this way orthodoxy and mysticism followed not only separate but divergent paths. this is shown by the parallel institutional development of madrasas and khiinaqiihs. the next stage is the formation of mystical schoolsconsisting of circles of initiates. when this reconciliation or compromise was accomplished sufism was still a way which appealed only to the few, and the sunni doctors had no conception of what was to happen when it was mediated to the people in the form of a popular mavement.

fr,om the eleventh century the ziiwiyas and khiinaqiihs which provıded temporary resting-places for wandering sufis spread

the n~~ devotional life throughout the countryside and played

a d,ecısıve role in the islamization of borderland and non-arab

regıons in central asia and north africa. by the twelfth century

many khiinaqiihs had become rich and flourishing establishmentsand ıbn

jub' h ii . .salad" . aır, ~ ° trave ed (a.d. 1183-5) ın the near east 10

ın s tıme, wrıtes of damascus:

ribtits for sufis lı' h h

num~ro th' w ıc ere go under the name of khawiiniq, arei . us. ey are ornamented palaces through all of which flow

thıs suhrawardi is to b d" .

h8arnc nisba b

y the 'h

e ıstınguıs ed from the tar/qa leaders bearing the

eplt et al-maqtül 'th m ' h . ,

colu't of qilij arslan ii and h' ' e artyr , e taught ın anataha at the'oplucal works befor h i~ son, and wrote a number of remarkable theo

crthodox 'ıılamij' of eal e was trıed and e~eeuted, martyr to the fanatidsm of

the

tlı. age of 38 in s87/ii;~po, by al-malik a?-zahir at the order of saladin, at

i i

i

lo the formation of school s of mysticism

streams of water, presenting as delightful a picture as anyone couldwish for. the members of this type of sufi organization are realiy thkings in these parts, since gad has provided for them over and aba\':the material things of life, freeing their minds from concem with the need to eam their living so that they can devote themselves to his service. he has lodged them in palaces which provide them with a foretaste of those of paradise. so these fortunates, the favoured ones among the sufis, enjoy through god's favour the blessings of this world and the next. they follow an honourable calling and their life in comman is admirably conducted. their mode of conducting their forms of wor

, ship is peculiar. their custom of assembling for impassioned musical recitals (sama') is delightfui. sametimes, so enraptured do same of these absorbed ecstatics become when under the influence of a state that they can hardly be regarded as belonging to this world at all. 1

however, it was not through such establishments that the next development i~ sufi institutionalism took place but through a single master, sametimes settled in a retreat far from the distractions of khanaqah life, sametimes in his zawiya home in the big city, frequently a wanderer travelling around with his circle of disciples. ibn }ubair occasionally mentions these humble ascetics of desert or mountain if something speciai calls them to his attention, such as when he finds christians paying tribute to their dedication to the religious iife.2

from the beginning of the thirteenth century certain centres (if we think of the centre as being a man, not a place) became the sees of tariqas, mysticai schools or teaching centres. this happened when a centreor circle became focused on one director in a new way and turned into a school designed to perpetuate his name, type of teaching, mysticai exereises, and rule of life. each such tariqa was handed down through a continuous 'chain' (sizsila), or mysticai isnad.3 the derivative shaikhs are, therefore, the spiritua! heirs of the founder.

the iink of a person with this silsila acquired an esateric character, and initiation, whereby the seeker swore an oath of allegiance to founder and earthly deputyand received in return the secret wird which concentrates the spirituai power of the chain, was the means of gaining this link. ıbn khallikan describes fuqara' having

i the travels of ibn jubair, ed. w. wright and m. ]. de goeje, '2nd edn"19°7, p. 284. '

2 ibid., p. 287.3 see appendix a for some early silsilas.

- the formatlon of schools of mysticism ii

.(' da i'ti qad) with ıbn ar-rifa'i (d. a.d. 1182),1

whosesuch a tıe uq , .

i .,d h .

. .1 . babl ythe eariiest consclous y mamtame

cam. 2sılsı a ıs pro . 1 h ı: 1m 1.

the sizsila-path was not mtended to rep ace t e ıorma us ımi.' or g

anization which the sufis regarded as a necessaryre ıgıous . th

'd'

i.on (ruk

hsa)

to human frality. ıs eve opment can beconcessı ..

d d as the beginning of the process whereby the creatıve

regar eb h ii d

. ...f

d m of the mystic was to e c anne e mto an mstıtutlon.ree o .

d. th ' ı: dthese paths never develope~ sectarıan ten en~ıes..

.eır ıoun e~saintained carefui linkswıth the orthodox mstıtutlon

and dıd~ot repudiate the farrnal duties of islam. one of their

fun~tionsin islamic life was to fill the gap ieft through the

suppresslon of shi'i sectarianism. the difference between the paths lay in such

aspects as ioyaity to the he ad . of ~he order and belief i~ a particu~ar

power-line, in types of organızatıon, methods of teachmg, peculıar

practices and ritua!. they differed considerably in their inner beliefs, but their link with orthodoxy was guaranteed by their acceptance of the lawand rituai practices of islam. all the same they formed inner coteries within islam and introduced a hierarchical structure and modes of spirituai outl~ok and worship foreign to its essential genius.

how this process of ascription came about is not clear. pupils had normally traced or ascribed3 their madhhab (method), or f,ariqa (course), to their revered teacher, for he was their guarantee o~ validity and training, but so far this had been primarily a dırect personal iink. it is true 'ali ai-hujwiri (d. c. 467/1°74) enumerates twelve schoois of sufism:

the whole body of aspirants to süfiism is composed of twelve sectstwo of which are condemned (m~rdüd), while the remaining ten ar~appr~v~d (maqbüi). the latter are the mul;ıasibis, the qaşşaris, the

ı:a~furıs, the junaydis, the nüris, the sahiis the hakimis the kharrazıs th kh ft .'.'b i' e a i ıs, and the sayyaris. all these assert the truth and

fire °

tlng to the mass of orthodox muslims. the two condemned

sects ares y, the hulülis wh d' h .

.

.'

tion

(h i i)'

d.' o erıve t eır name from the doctrıne of

mcarna. u u an mcorporat

'(. . -'

) d .the s-i' - ıon ımtızaj ,an wıth whom are connected

a ımı sect of anthropomorphists; and secondly the hallaj

'is who

, . ,

~ ~bn khal~i~an. wa!ıiyat. i. 95.ee al-waslti. tirya al h "bb' .

tb.rce silsilas culmin f ~ hı:ıu. ı ın, caıro. a.h. 13°5. pp. 5-6, which givesllre obscure figures a ~g~ı;ı ~. most of the links linking him with al-junaid\!!erc later. ,w ıe ımplıes that the chains were not invented as so many. j imasaba inta

. ma. and tasamma are the terms used.

, ii''iiiİi

i

i i

, 'iıli

i 'i

"ii,:

i, ,i'i

ii,i

i

12 the formatlon of schools of mysticism

have abandoned the sacred lawand have adopted heresy, and with whom are connected the lbal)atis and the farisis.1

but these are theoretical ways, none of which developed into silsila-tariqas. their teaphing was modified by their pupils in accordance with their own mystical experiences. in fact, al. hujwiri singles out as exceptional the transmission fröm abü '1- 'abbas as-sayyari whose 'school of Şüfiism is the onlyone that has kept its original doctrine unchanged, and the cause of this fact is that nasa and merv have never been without some person who acknowledged his authority and to ok care that his foııowers should maintain the doctrine of their founder'.i

the names of certain of these early masters were incorporated in the mystical isniids of the tariqas. the key figure in the lines of most tariqas is abu 'i-qasim al-junaid (d. a.d. 910), yet dhü 'n-nün al-mişri, though continuaııy quoted in support of mystical thought,3 is missing from the isniids. similarly, i;iusain ibn manşür al-i;iaııaj is not normaııy found in them (though a way was later attributed to him), where as al-bistami is found in the chains of many orders (for example, the naqshabandiyya).4 ai-wasiti, writing around a.d. 1320 when the ways were fully established, says that there were two distinct primitive sanads to which aıı the then existing khirqas went back, the junaidi and the bistami,s and two extinct lines, the bilaliyya and the uwaisiyya.6 the grounds for incorporation in the chains, or for their rejection, are not made clear. it is not a simple question of condemnation by orthodoxy. some figure as founders of artificial tariqas, and we have just mentioned that attributed to al-i;iallaj;7 that is, spedfie esoteric doctrines, dhikrs, and rules were ascribed to them in books of khirqa lines such as as-sanüsi's salsabil, and certain masters would claim to initiate into the dhikrs of these 'figures. one of the earliest was uwais al-qarani, a yemeni contemporary of the prophet.8 the method (tariqa or madhhab) of al-junaid was

i kashf al-ma?ıjüb, pp. 130-1. these schools are studied in the kashf on

pp. 176-266.. kashf, p, 251.3 although most of these sayings may not be authentic it must be

rememberedthat inspired inventions had,to be in line with the sufi's known genuine thought,

4 as-sanüsi, salsabil, p. 121.s ai-wiisiti, tiryaq, p. 47,

6 ibid., p. 44.,'

7 as-sanüsi, salsabil, p., ~7' d8 he was unacquainted with the prophet and is said to have been inıtıate

af ter his death (traditionally in a,h. 37) by the spirit of the,prophet, hence

r mation of schools of mysticism 13,{< the fo!ı'. . d

. h h.h.

c i huj'wiri i and is mentıone m t et ırteent centuryd. own to a , h dh

.k h.h .

h .hi[i! ~n 'a .. allah's treatise on t e ı r2 w ıc gıves t e eıg t

"id, ibın. ta f his way. this method, though, was not

confined tıpu atıons o j

.d ds

i. but was inherited by aıı the unaı ı or ers.3

to one me, i i hh t sı'zsila-tari

qas had a new e ement, not mere y t et e rue '.. .1h pil relationshıp whıch had prevaı ed so far, but

thetcac er-pu . . ffull e of director and dıscıple. a new aura emanates romtb er o~r as a wali(protege) of god, which eventuaııy,

in the third

e ma:as to become belief in his mediumship and

intercessorystage, .

f ii 'd d

. .status with god. the sufi !ıfe o r.eco e~tıon an ~e. ıtatıon nowbecomes increasingly ass?cıated wıth a ime of ascrıptıo~ so fa; asthe majority of sufi aspırants were concerned. murshıds (guıdeinitiators) bestowed the tariqa, it~ wird, ~ormulae, a~d symbol~,as from their dead master and guıded theır own pupds along hıs way in his name. this was primarily a consequence of the islamic ideal of providing oneself with an isniid of guarantee and authority. the distinction within sufism between sufis and malamatis now becomes defined, the sufis being those who submit to direction and conformity and the malamatis are those who retain their freedom,4

the change in the sufis can be seen in the nature of the bond

which unites them. the earlier groups had been linked by enth,usİasm, common devotions, and methods of spiritual discipline,wlth the aİm of stripping the soul and eliminating self to attain~ion of reality. they were, therefore, integrated by spirit andium rather than by any formalorganization, and were, in fact,very loose organizations. the change came with the development of s~ch a collegium pietatis into a collegium initiati whose members

ıscnbed themselves to their initiator and his spiritual

ancestry,ud

fu ' were prepared to foııow his path and transmit it themselves

to ture generations.

,:d'nvishes who had n d' " .&udbution is i t ( 6 oh ırect mıtıator were frequently called uwaisis.

such

.jrom ıın qnrly da te, i t ~entury?), th?ugh as a sufi figure uwais was

knowni8!osno\lsi, sals:b;1 see ashf al-mal;ıjüb, pp. 83-4. on his dhikr

attribution seeı ,i s!\c k.asm

p'8

pp, 49-50; and cf. d'ohsson, tableau, iv. 2, 619-21.t' 'p' ; ". i 9.

,.bo ara' alliih m' c::.rıo, ~357, ii. 144,' iftal;ı al-falal;ı, mnrgin of sha'riini, lata'if al-

minan,

~t !lny

time a sufi mi h b .

,nd, for example th g t- e told, 1~ a dream to convey al-]unaid's way.

j."ı:vivify the tarfq a: ~usuf ~i- .a.ıami al-küriini (d. 768/1366) 'was

the

t!?ıı cairo, a.h. 13:5° ..a 6]unaıd m egypt af ter İts obliteration';

sha'riini,,11. o. 4 see

appendix b.

i

i .1'ii

i

' i:

i

1 il

14 the formation of schools of mysticism

the transformation of sufi companionships into initiatocolleges began with the sunni triumphs over shi'ite dynas/y

(buyids in baghdad, a.d. 1°55: fatimids in egypt, a.d.

117:)8 .and was settled during the. troubled time of th~ mongol conquest~(baghdad, a.d. 1258), whıch were accompanıed by considerablsufi migrations whereby it became a rural, as well as urban, rnove~ment of the spirit. a significant feature of the change is that thgroups, about the time of saladin, to ok over the shi'ite custo~of bai'a, initiation with oath of allegiance to the shaikh. there was also some linkage with and transmi~sion from artisan futuwwa orders, anather compensatory reaction against the suppression of open shi'ism. futuwwa orders were brought into prominence by caliph an-naşir's (a.d. 1219-36) attempt to create a knightlyfutuwwa, with whose patronage the great murshid, shihiib ad-din abu i;iafş as-suhrawardi, was associated, acting as an-nasir'8 envoy in girding those grandees whom the caliph wished to honour.

the tariqas which became the most significant for the develop

ment of institutional sufism were the suhrawardiyya attributed to piya' ad-din abii najib as-suhrawardi (d.

a.d. 1168), but. developed by his nephew, the just-mentioned shihiib ad-din abü i;iafş (d. a.d. 1234); the qadiriyya attributed to 'abd al-qadiral- jilani (d. a.d. ıı66), whose line of ascription did not extend before the fourteenth century; the rifa'iyya deriving from a~mad ibn ar-rifa'i (d. a.d. ıı82); the nomadic yasaviyya of a~mad al-yasavi (d. a.d. ıı66); the kubrawiyya of najm ad-din kubra (d. a.d. 1221); the chishtiyya of mu 'in ad-din m. chishti (d. a.d. 1236), mainly confined to india;. the shadhiliyya deriving from abu madyan shu'aib (d. a.d. ıı97) but attributed to abu '1i;iasan 'ali ash-shadhili (d. a.d. 1258); the badawiyya of a~mad al-badawi (d. a.d. 1276) centred in egypt; the mawlawiyya inspired by the persian sufi poet, jalal ad-din ar-rumi (d. a.d. a.d. 1273), which was restricted to anatolia; and the central as~annaqshabandiyya, a mystical school, first called khwajagan, whıch ,owes its initial insights to yusuf al-hamadani (d. a.d.

{ orm ation of school s of mysticism 15'i'he f

'.lı ext chapter when other masters, such as.ja~mad al

dmt en h 1 d.

1 . _1- d 'ali al-kharaqani, w o p aye . an ımportant ro e ın

,za i an .l .l d f h .11

bd. i. es but do not have a sı sı a name a ter t em, wı e

un mg m .' dth recognition that ıs theır ue.

\ten e .d 1: . f

.1 1 1

.d"... ther groups contınue lor a tıme as arnı y or oca ıze

rvıany o - . . h.h 1 1: 1.

clbut unlike the qadırıyya, w ıe a so was lor ong a

0.11' ers, . 1 d h 1: . f d. .. t d familyorder, dıd not ea to t e ıormatıan o ıstınc

.ı:~rıc e .' d s h h r b'h

- .'ways such as those just mentıane . uc was t e uz i

anıyya

t~nded in slıiraz by ruzbihiin baqli (d. a.d. 12°9),

which became

;;editary from the death of the founder1but did not

spread outside fars or even survive for very long. ıbn khallikan

mentions the kiziiniyya founded in cairo by abu 'abdallah mu~ammad, known as ıbn al-kizani (d. 562/ıı67),2 as such a tariqa manque. of another he writes:ylious ibn yüsuf ibn musa'id ash-shaibani, shaikh of the fuqarii' known af ter him as the yünusiyya, was a holy man. i asked a group ofhİa followers who was his shaikh and they replied, 'he had no shaikh, hıfwas a majdhüb.' by this word they designate one who has no shaikh .~j11:' ,has been attracted (judhiba) to a life of piety and sanctity . . . he d.icd in 619 (a.d. 1222-3) in his viiiage of al-qunayya in the province ofai{a [in the jazira], where his tomb is well known and attracts pilgrims.3

~us's great-grandson, saif ad-din rajihi b. sabiq b. hilal

b.

~tırus (d. 706/1306) went to liye in damascus where he was. ~~d th~ hous~ of the wazir amin ad-dawla for his

ziiwiya as

':::1 a: a vııı:~e ın t.he ghuta. from that time his line

became aedlta~ ta lfa, wıth a branch in jerusalem, and was

still int~ce ın 15°0.4

, the rÜ2bihaniyya wa' i -':.f "

~

. '."ii wl, h i hs ~ sımp e ta ıja, a denvatıve of the

kazerüniyya.:ı' 'uc ater c an

ged ıts i .i .."'

,lll" "on d ro e mto a re ıgıo-commercıal guıld. accounts

"""9 s an grandsons of r - boh-'( h'ajıir

qa)

ar .b

uz i an w o were als o invested with the suhr;ı. e gıven y ab 'iq

_.j .

ılır 'a" zi/wwar 1 - u-. asım unaıd shirazi, shadd al-iziir fi khatttehran, 1328t -mazar (wntten 791/1389), ed. m. qazwini and

'abbas ! famous whenli~o, fp. - 227~3.9, 243-54: 'ı:he tomb-

centre in shirazix junaid shirazi'sn o att.uta vl~lted th~t clty m 13z5 (paris edn., ii. 83),

~

"khallik- tu - t~me ıt feil mto oblıvion.an, na/ayat al ,- .

~)(arnples of h' -a yan, caıro, a.h. i 199, ii. 391; tr. de si ane

'bi' ı- w ajayat, ;~ p:ıetry' are giv.en. in Şalal:ı ad-din khalil aş-Şafadi;k.ballikan o

p c't' o.: ritter, leıpzıg/lstanbul, 1931, i. 347 5

°.

al u .' ""', -

>ls al- rl b. ,

'" :ıa ı ı ta rıkh al-quds, extraçts tr. by

i ii~

16 the formatlon of school s of mysticisl\1

there were many other smail independent-lineage tariqas wh' .

had only a restricted local influence, i but those mentioned ab lchtogether with the western turkish khalwatiyya,2 were

the fou;;e,

tion iines sponsoring distinctive ways of mystical

thought ~ spiritual exercises. through the se tariqas the

sufi message :nmediated to the islamic world. as

the silsil~-founders belo?ged to two main ~chools of sufi thought whıch may be desıgnated as the junaıdi and bistaın"

schools, or the mesopotamian and central asian, though' th~

exponents were not confined to these areas. later, maghribi sufism, deriving from abu madyan (d. a.d. 1197), was to forın a third area with its own special characteristics, but though themain silsila-founder, ash-shadhili, came from the maghribhe and his successors only received recognition and encourage~ment in egypt and his line of attribution did not become popular. in the maghrib until much later.

antinomian tendencies were stronger in khorasan and central asia, though by no means exciusive to these areas, but such elements are not seen in the silsila-founders, who were frequently men trained in the legal sciences. they were strong among the large numbers of vagrant dervishes (maliinıatis, and qalandaris) unattached to any recognized master or line, who were above the law. but once silsilas were estabiished and recognized as sunni they couldincorporate all sorts of other elements.

sufism had now become a profession and this period is charac. terized by a great growth of unspecialized sufi establishments'j the popularity of the persian-type hospices in particular is asso~ ciated with the seljuq period as can be seen from any list of:

a

h. sauvaire, 1876, p. 159, mentions a zawiya-yünusiyya in jerusalem in histime (a,d, 1500). , 'f

i one sueh early family tariqa which had great influenee upon isl~mıc hj

in hadramawt and has survived until the present day is the 'alawiyya ın sou81

arabia, founded by mul:ıammad ibn 'ali of the ba 'alawi tribe (574/1~\'

653/1255) who was initiated into the way deriving from abu madyan sh? aıo~

but developed his independent way. he is said to have been the first to ınt,;

i'

duee sufi diseipline (tal;ıkim) into hadramawt (see f. wüstenfeld, die ~i/'ı~.

in süd-arabien, göttingen, 1883, p. 5; e.i.2 i.829). an example of a antı

seen~ f~mily z:!oz:;~ya whieh survived for some ti~e witho~t e:-

pan?in.g 7~~alj"

qawamıyya-balısıyya, founded by abü bakr ıbn qawam ıbn ~i,i, a faı

(584/rr88-658/1260). an aeeount of his life is given in ıbn shiikır sal-wafayat (bulaq, a.h. 1283, i. 101-2). h ptl

2 diseussion of' the khalwatiyya has been reserved for the third c asee pp. 74-8.

[~ ;ormation of school s of mysticism 17

h these were founded, i and the tendency accelerated

tes w en a. .

s fi e .,'the ayyübids. saladin welcomed sıatıc u s to gypt and

nd his followers fo~nded and, ~~d°.wed many ~hiinaqii~~,

d ziiwiyas of whıch al-maqrızı gıves a long lıst.2 mu]ır

~~~ a~as accounts of these places in j erusalı:.m,

~ebro~, .and]l)a.roascus.3 saladin in 585/118.9 endowed a

khanaqah Şalal.ıı~aın.' 1 erusalem, 4 d~vertiilg fo~ thıs purpose -

t~e p~lace, of the _latmp@l'iarch.5 his heutenant m egypt, qaraq~sh

ıbn abdallah alasmli, 'erected a ribiit at. al-maqs',6 whılst

mu?affar ad-dingfkbôri, saladin's brother-m-iaw (d. 63°/1233),

1m11t two klıiinaqiihs [at irbil] for the sufis, which housed a large. jtrnober, both of residents and visitors. festival days used to draw

. _~ther so numerous a concourse that everyone marvelied. both were -ı e.ndowed to provide all that was needed by those staying there, .ch of whom must accept his expenses when he departed. gökböri 1qod to visit them frequently and associate himself with them in con1*,1js.7

, i.bjıı khailikan then describes the pomp with which he

celebrated ~;!>;rophet'.s birthday at irbil in a.d. 12°7 when

he passed the

.ta !ıstenıng to sufi concerts. gökböri also built a khiinaqiih at{>0.8

, ' ıe difference between the institutions mentioned seems to be

~.the rimt was an arab type of hostel or training-centre;9 the

ic scljuq eonquest of northern syria and damaseus was eompleted;q a,d'

klho?1 a~d 1°79, but the isma'iii fatimid state in egypt

survivedı"] 7 1. ana

qah al b ı-' th fiby sh - a ah e rst new-type eonvent in ale ppo wa<

, ams al-khaw- l 'i '

f d'-.,.

when he waşş u u,, ree man of rıçlwan ıbn tutush, in 509/1alıab, qu::e~o~erı: o~:hat, elty; see abü dharr (d.

884/1479) in kunüz

~

cppo 1 923 6y' .8aghıb at-tabbiikh, i'lam an-nubala' fi

ta'rikh. -' , ıv. 21 -21.

tı". klıitat ed .

.~,. ' " , . a,h. 1324-6, ıv. 271-30611$ a/-}a/il alread e d '

İre, 'des~ription yd;e ~rre ~o, and ~or damaseus the translation of

,97), rimıs (pp. 377-81) am~s , 1-. asıat. ser. ix. v (1895), khanaqahs

xbo khallikan '"

i' an zawıyas (pp. 387-

403). muj'ir ad d. ,nı. 521, . 12; tr, iv. 547.-ıntrhs'

~auikiin, ii: 18'3 ' t

. ~uvaıre, 1876, pp. 77,166., r. n, 20. '"

snuvaget(tr.) lesperle 5 h '", 7 ibıd. lll. 195; tr. ii, 538,

,p al)mad al-fiisi (a.d. : c oı~ıesd lb.nac':-ch~l;ı~a, beirut, 1933,

p, 100.~ı:laram (cairo

6)373 1429) ın hıs shija' al-gharamfi akhbar

,ı.'pı. ,195 names som fift 'b - ,.

,,1-1, , were founded about '. e y rı ats ın meeea (i. 330-7),

ra gate, riimusht hthıs tıme. for example, 'the ribat of

riimushtal-fiirisi [as-siri;; ~se name was ~haikh abü 'i-qasim

ıbrahimtnale sufis ex

i " ,534], gwe ıt as a waqf in the year 529tr " ' e usıve of fem i haq ; i. 332 a

nd f ' a es, w o wear the mura qqa'a from, e, i. 232. '

16 the formatlon of school s of mysticism:

there were many other smail independent-lineage tariqas who ,

had only a restricted local influence, i but those mentioned ab ich

together with the western turkish khalwatiyya,2

were the fou:;e,

tion iines sponsoring distinctive ways of mystical

thought ~ spiritual exercises. through the se tariqas

the sufi message ~nmediated to the islamic world. as

the silsil~-founders belo?ged to two main ~chools of sufi thought whıch may be desıgnated as the junaıdi and bistaın"

schools, or the mesopotamian and central asian, though' th~

exponents were not confined to these areas. later, maghrib"

sufism, deriving from abu madyan (d. a.d. 1197), was to for~

a third area with its own special characteristics, but though themain silsila-founder, ash-shadhili, came from the maghribhe and his successors only received recognition and encourage:ment in egypt and his line of attribution did not become popular' in the maghrib until much later.

antinomian tendencies were stronger in khorasan and central asia, though by no means exciusive to these areas, but such elements are not seen in the silsila-founders, who were frequently men trained in the legal sciences. they were strong among the large numbers of vagrant dervishes (maliinıatis. and qalandaris) unattached to any recognized master or line, who were above the law. but once silsilas were estabiished and recognized as sunni they couldincorporate all sorts of other elements.

sufism had now become a profession and this period is charac; terized by a great growth of unspecialized sufi establishmentsj the popularity of the persian-type hospices in particular is assoi ciated with the seljuq period as can be seen from any list of:

h. sauvaire, 1876, p. 159, mentions a zawiya-yünusiyya in ]erusalem in hi!time (a.d. 1500). , ri

i one such early family tariqa which had great influenee upon isla,mıc i~

in hadramawt and has survived until the present day is the 'alawiyya ın sou8"

arabia, founded by mul:ıammad ibn 'ali of the ba 'alawi tribe (574/i~7.~653/1255) who was initiated into the way deriving from abu madyan sh~ al.but developed his independent way. he is said to have been the first to ınt,~

duee sufi diseipline (tal;ıkim) into hadramawt (see f. wüstenfeld, die

~lf':ı1in süd-arabien, göttingen, 1883, p. 5; e.i.' i. 829). an example of a a~]seen~ f~mily z:!'ı?~ya whieh survived for some ti~e witho~t

e:rpan?in.g ~~~ihqawamıyya-balısıyya, founded by abü bakr ıbn qawam ıbn ~i.ı, a fal(584/1188-658/1260). an aeeount of his life is given in ibn shakır sal-wajayat (bulaq, a.h. 1283, i. 101-2). .

chapt', diseussion of the khalwatiyya has been reserved for the thırd

see pp. 74-8.

e ;ormation of schools of mysticism 17 ."

h n these were founded,i and the tendeney ~ccelerated

te.s w e da. .

s fi e .the ayyübids, saladin welcome sıatıc u s to gypt and

~;~nd his followers fo~nded and ~~do.wed many ~hiinaqii~:.,

:'tr1jp., d ziiwiyas of whıch al-maqrızı gıves a long lısu mu]1r

" ~~~ a::as accounts. of these places İn j erusalc:.m,

:ıebro~, .and:aaı:nascus.3 saladin ~n 585/1 1~9 endowed a khanaqah Şalal:ıı~a ın; j erusalem, 4 divertıng for thıs purpose the palace of the latın

pıftıiarch.5 hİs lieutenant İn egypt, qaraq~sh İbn 'abdallah al

,assdi, 'erected a rimi at, al-maqs',6 whılst mu?affar ad-din

,~kböri, saladin's brother-ın-law (d. 63°/1233),built two khiinaqiihs [at irbil] for the sufis, which housed a large. -ıınbcj', both of residents and visitors. festival days used to draw

. tig$:her so numerous a coneourse that everyone marvelied. both were 1fti endowed to provide ali that was needed by those staying there, qrdı of whom must aeeept his expenses when he departed. gökböri ~ to visit them frequently and associate himself with them İn eonqm.7

1001 khallikan then describes the pomp with whİch he celebrated

~~, ~:p:rophet',s birthday at irbİl İn a.d. 12°7 when he passed the

,

",

.

,

.

,

.

,

:,

'

,

'

,

',

:ıtfii

"

'

,,.

"

,

'

"""'"

~,~ jıstenıng to sufi concerts. gökbörİ also buİlt a khiinaqiih at

~14i:p'po, 8, . ~e difference between the İnstitutİons mentİoned seems to be

,«ııı;ıt: the ribiit was an arab type of hostel or traİnin

g-centre'9 the

!'~ 'm.iıı;o scljuq eonquest of northern syria and damaseus was

eompleted, 110

1a,d'

kl

ho?1 a~d 1079, but the isma'iii fatimid state in egypt

survİved.

171. anaqah al-bal t th fi . .. sh l a, e rst new-type eonvent ın ale ppo wa,.y ams

a -khaw- l 'i 'f d

.'',..,hlln h aşş u u, ree man of rıçlwan ibn tutush in 509/

"tlihab, cq:~:e~o~erı: of ~hat. eity; see abü dharr (d. 884/1479) i~

kunüz

- ale

ppo 1 9 6y' . raghıb at-tabbakh, ['lam an-nubala' fi ta'rikh

~'--. - ' 23 ,ıv. 218-21.qrızı, klzi'a' ed a h 6 .f} . '." '.. 1324- , ıv. 271-3°6.

'ls a/-}a/ıl, aıready referr di!\.i:rc, 'deser

ı'

ptı'o d d

e to, and for damaseus the translation of

n e amas'j a . e-97), riba,s (pp. 377-8) d' - '. sıat. s r. ix. v (1895), khanaqahsı~]'bn khallikan'" i i

' an zawıyas (pp. 387-403).

m4iir ad-din' ıu. 521, . i~; tr. iv. 547.

iıkhallikan, ii.' ıt~'

3~' s~uvaıre, 1876, pp. 77, 166.

s ' tr. u. 520 7

ib'd ...

c.' ruvaget(tr.),lesperlesc '.., .1 .111.195; tr. ii. 538.

,ılw al:ı.mad al-fasi (a izoısıes d ib.nac~-chıl;ına, beirut, 1933, p. 100.

41:ı::laram (caira .d6)i373-1429) ın hıs slzija' al-gharamfi akhbar

ıılili were found~di~~ou na~e~ some fifty rimts in meeea (i. 330-7),

~ra cate. ramusht t thıs tıme. for exan,ıple, 'the rim, of ramusht

i~ al-farisi [as-sir5;h~se name was ~haıkh abü 'i-qasim ibrahim

tual e sufis ex i " ,534], gwe ıt as a waqf in the

year 529ıra'. . , c usıve of femal

hq , ı. 332 an d f . es, w o wear the mura

qq

a'a from, c . i. 232. '

~

i

i

i

.i

l

iii

.

iilı

l

18 the formatlon of schools of mysticism

khiinaqiih was the persian non-training hostel type int d

into the eities of the arab world; ziiwiya was the term

apr°l' ucsmaller establishments where one shaikh dwelt with his p ıe~,

whilst a khalwa designated the 'retreat' of a single

dervis1up;1quently a eell situated around a mosque square. a more is '

i rı

'

h ., .11

d_b

'o at~

ermıtage was sometımes ca e a ra ıla.'

mysticism was the only religious sphere where wome

n i

,

cou

find a place. there were many women sufis, of whom r-b'!al-'adawiyya (d. a.d. 801) is the best known. i during

this p~i~'there are referenees to eonvents for women. ai-irbilli2 uses tbterm khiinaqiih for eonvents for men and rimı for those of womerıthere were seven eonvents for women in aleppo alone, all foundbetween a.d. 115° and 1250.3 baghdad also had a number, <!whieh the ribii! of fatima raziya (d. 521/1127) was the bıknown. in cairo there was ribiit al-baghdadiyya, built bydaughter of al-malik a{:-~ahir baibars in 684/1285 for a shaik, ealled zainab ibnat abi 'l-barakat, known as bint al-baghdadiyand her followers,4 whieh stili exists in ad-darb al-aşfar.

maqrizi says that the first khiinaqiih in egypt was dar sa 'ı as-su'ada',s so ealled (its proper name was aş-Şalal:ıiyya) fr being situated in the eonfiseated house of sa'id as-su'ada',eunueh employed in the fatimid palaee who was enfranchised al-mustanşir and put to death in 544/1149.6 it was eonstitul a waqf in a.d. 1173. lts primary funetion was to serve as a hos for foreign sufis, but it expanded its funetions to beeome the ch''eentre of egyptian sufism. lts shaikh had the official title of sh,ash-shuyükh,7 whieh, however, was only honorifie and did imply any wider jurisdietion than that of his own establishm and later the title was frequently given to heads of other khiinaqiiı,

ı see margaret smith, riibi'a the mystic and her fellow-saints i" lı!

cambridge, 1928. '. ai-irbilli, madiiris dimishq, ed. dahman, damaseus, 1366/1947, pp. ıs 3 see j. sauvaget, les perles choisies, 1933, pp. 105-6.

4 maqrizi, khitat, iv. 293-4.. ,r .

s ibid. 273-85; ıbn khallikiin, iii. 5~i, ı. 6; ıbn khaldiin, ta tl), ip. 121; as-suyüti, ifusn al-muf:llifj.ara, ii. 141 f.

6 maqrizi, khitat, bulaq edn" ii. 415.d' ~

7 ıbn faqi aliiih al- 'umari (writing a.d. 1342-9) has preserved the i~

(waşiyya) that the ehaneellery of the egyptian mamlük sultans gaye t~alı

ash-shuyükh at the time of his appointment; see at-ta'rif bi 'l-mufta '

sharif, cai.ro, a,h. 1312, pp. 127-3°. an

,ma

tion of school s of mysticism 19ii for

d . f khiina qiihs eontinued under the bal:ıri (a.d.

ın atlon o f h a b'd ibd ther mamlük sueeessors o t e yyu ı s. n

ır?) a~ o&ün wrıtes:

id d ys of their masters, the ayyübid rulers, the

membersthe aa. h b

.ii".. k

'h dyn

asty in egypt and syrıa ave een erectıng co

eges, i ur ıs . h ı: hh

,

g of the sciences, and monastıe ouses ior t e purpose

e tcac ın i ı: .. h dbi' thepoor[sufis] to follow the ru es ior acquırıng ort o

oxi' ıng .. dof behaviour through dhıkr exercıses an supererogatory

, =-y~hey took over that [custom] ~ro~ t~e preceding

~alii?halries, they set up buildings for [t~ose ıns~ltutıons as

mo.rtmaın gıfts]gndowed [them] with lands that yıelded ıncome

[sufficıent] to pro~'$tipends for students and sufi ascetics . . . as a result, colleges and ibtic houses are numerous

in cairo. they now furnish livings for t'

j

\lrists and sufis. i

"-' 11 battüta deseribes these khiinaqiifıs and their rules, at the

of hi~'visit to cairo in a.d. 1326. he writes: 'eaeh ziiwiya2 in~ ':15 assigned to a tii'lfa of dervishes, most of whom are per

~' men of eulture and trained in the way of taşawwuf.'3 this is lin organize d group, but it is unlikely that that means a) perpetuating a partieular rule, eertainly not in the

govern~sponsored khiinaqiihs.-,.\.qalqashandi (d. a.d. 1418) describes briefly the

relationship,6 klıiinaqiihs of egypt and syria with the mamlük

authority.4these institutions were in the gift of the mamlük

rulers and, v~ry lu:rative to their heads, anyone whom the

ruler wishedsavt~c w,ıth a sinecure without affeeting his own

poeket was~tl! gıven the appointment. none of the heads of

theıışatıyya (or Şaliil:ıiyya) khiinaqiih in damaseus

(founded c.

ılh) s~ems to have been a sufi.s the first to hold

the post ,~, 0.150 carried the eharge of

mashyakhat ash-shuyükh)6 was

'. khııldiin, at- ta'rif d muh '.,

,'hesbove tran i t' ~ e . .ammad at-tımjl (caıro, 1370/1951),"'dnttuta gene sı~ ian ıs by f. rosenthal, muqaddama, ii. 435-6, n. 68.

iljlnr but in ra y ~ses th~ word ziiwiya, the term with whieh he was

kj1~n unde:e~:r to czıro ~e ,has just speeified that he is

deseribing; ca ira i ' e term hawanıq.)i} h' 939, i. 27.

q,as andi, $ııbh iv 193 ..,chs taken by th . , ,221; x1l1. 222-5 ı. he is espeeially eoneerned

~ list of head ,e ~arıous g:oups.

11-80, 301-3 ~ i~ cı ~auv~ıre, .'deseription de damas', j. asiat. ser.

!~ z89-90).' . a qas andı, $ubl;ı, xii. 4°~, iv. 193. ıbn jubair

,shandi $ubh ,., , , xıı. 4)0.

yeditepe

universitya..ıı ı--.~-

18 the formation of schools of mysticism

khiinaqiih was the persian non-training hostel type intr d ..

into the cities of the arab world; ziiwiya was the term

ap ol' uc,

smaller establishments where one shaikh dwelt with

his p ıed,;'

whilst a khalwa designated the 'retreat' of a single

dervisbup;:quently a eell situated around a mosque square. a more is '

ir

, '

h . ., .

11 d_b

' ° atıermıtage was sometımes ea e a ra ıta.mystieism was the only religious sp here where women

i'

1 sfi

cou,

find a p aee. there were many women u s, of whom r-b'l

al-'adawiyya (d. a.d. 801) is the best known. i

during this p:ri~"there are referenees to eonvents for women. al-irbillp uses tlterm khiinaqiih for eonvents for men and ribiit for those of womethere were seven eonvents for women in aleppo alone, all found!! between a.d. u5° and 125°.3 baghdad also had a number, ö whieh the ribiit of fatima raziya (d. 521/1127) was the bt known. in cairo there was ribat al-baghdadiyya, built bydaughter of al-malik a~-z;ahir baibars in 684/1285 for a shaiknealled zainab ibnat abi 'l-barakat, known as bint al-baghdadiy and her followers,4 whieh still exists in ad-darb al-aşfar.

maqrizi says that the first khiinaqiih in egypt was dar sa,

as-su'ada',5 so called (its proper name was aş-Şala1.ıiyya) frbeing situated in the eonfiseated house of sa 'id as-su 'ada',eunueh employed in the fatimid palaee who was enfranehised:al-mustanşir and put to death in 544/u49.6 it was coııstitut'a waqf in a.d. u73. its primary funetion was to serve as a hoş

, for foreign sufis, but it expanded its funetions to

become the cfeentre of egyptian sufism. its shaikh had the offieial title of sh,ash-shuyükh,7 whieh, however, was only honorifie

and did imply any wider jurisdietion than that of his

own establish~tand later the title was frequently given to heads of other khiinaq(

i see margaret smith,. rabi'a the mystic and her fellow-saints in

f,i

cambridge, 19:<\8. ;2 al-lrbijli, madilris dimishq, ed. dahman, damascus, 1366/1947. pp. i

3 see j. sauvaget, les perles choisies, 1933, pp. 105-6.

ation of schools of mysticism 19:form

, . f khiinaqiihs eontinued under the ba1:ıri

(a.d.lundatlon o f h a b

'

d bd ther mamwk sueeessors o t e yyu i s. i n

7) an o ,tıÜll writes:

'iıd d y

s of their masters, the ayyübid rulers, the members

the aa.h b

.ii

t k'

h dynast

y in egypt and syrıa ave een erectıng co

eg

o

es: ur is .h 1: h

-e. teaching of the sciences, and monastıc ouses l~r. t e

purposebl' the poor [sufis] to follow the rules for acquırıng orthodoxı ıng .k

'd

~

of behaviour through dhı r exercıses ansupererogatory

~~y~hey took over that [custom] ~ro~ t~e preceding

~alii?halties. they set up buildings for [t~ose ıns:ıtutıons as

mo.rtmaın gıfts] mdowed [them] with lands that yıelded ıncome [suffieıent] to proŞtipends for students and s~fi as?etics ',' . as a resul~, co~le.ges and asric houses are numerous ın caıro. they now furnısh lıvıngs for vjwists and sufis.1

in battüta describes these khiinaqiifıs and their rules. at the bf hi~'visit to cairo in a.d. 1326. he writes: 'eaeh

ziiwiya2 in ,,~;ıs assigned to a tii'ija of dervishes, most of whom are per

men of culture and trained in the way of taşawwuf.'3 this's an orgarıized group, but it is unlikely that that means a

,,1' perpetuating a particular rule, eertainly not in the govern

sponsored khiinaqiihs.!alqashandi (d. a.d. 1418) describes briefly the

relationshipkhi1naqiihs of egypt and syria witl,ı the mamlük

authority.4ese institutions were in the gift of the mamlük rulers

and . ry lucrative to their heads, anyone whom the ruler wished~de w.ith a sineeure without affeeting his own

poeket was

~~ gıven the- ~ppointm:nt. _n~ne of the heads of

theıyya (or Şala1.ılyya) khanaqah ın damaseus

(founded c.

.) s'::ems. to have been a sufi.5 the first to hold the

post

iso carrıed the eharge of mashyakhat ash-

shuyükh)6 was

pıaldün, at- ta 'rif d muh .

t~above transl f '. ~ 'f .ammad at-tanji (cairo, 1370/1951),

t~ta general~ lon ıs;: . rose:ıt~al, muqaddama, ii. 435-6, n. 68.1.1:, but in re y ~ses t ~ word zawıya, the term with whieh he wasown under ~~r

tto c

kaıro ~e has just speeified that he is deseribing

. e erm hawanıqro, 1939, i. :<\7. .

nandi, Şubh iv 193 :<\ ..,taken by th ' , ' :<\ i ; xill. :<\:<\:<\-5 i. he is espeeially eoneerned t of hea ' e varıous groups.. ds ın h. sauvair 'd '.io, 301-3' cf q 1

he, - eserıptıon de damas', j. asiat.

ser.f;ı8<r90).' . a qas andı, Şubj;, xii.

4°~, iv. 193. lbn jubair~hand

Ş'~. 1, ub?ı, xii. 4) o.

yeditepe

universityv ,,

20 tre formatı on of scrools of mysticisi\1

a former wazir of khwarazm, sa 'id ibn sahl al-falaki lıdetained in damascus by nur ad-din mal:ımud b. za: ,° \f:1146-73) and given the post to provide for his su

pport ~l ca,

. ' slncethese were waqf foundatıons. in 791/1392 ıbn khald

appointed to the directorship of khanaqah baibars.1 un w..whereas the khiinaqiihs were little more than hostels fo s

(and concert halls for the great) and ribiits had an in~ fi

u,

character as the establishment of a teacher or preache e

nit.

1 s fi

-'ı:r, no

necessarı y au, zawıyas were centres lor a genuine tea h"shaikh, whose successors consciously carried on his

part~ ı~ıteaching and method. whereas appointments to the headsh~u akhiinaqiihs was made by the secular authorities, the

superio~ oa ziiwiya was elected by the ikhwiin (brethren), and it was in the o

that h.ereditary succession began. .in t?~ accou~ts of

the religio:establıshments of the great muslım cıtıes, theır founders, pupiıi and successors, only of the ziiwiyas do the authors assert or impl'continuity of teaching and a particular rule of life. ıbn battütlodged in many ziiwiyas and eastem khiinaqiihs distinguished bspecific attributions: suhrawardi in isfahan (a.d. 1326), mawlaıin qonya, and numerous rifa'i establishments in anatolia ancaucasus (a.d. 1332), in damascus (!:lariri branch), as well as difounder-centre in the bata'il:ı of iraq. of qonya he writes: 'in th city is the tomb of . . . jalal ad-din, known as mawİ1ina. a. organization (tii'lfa) exists in the land of rum whose membe deriye from him,z and are known by his name, being called tj alaliyya, similar to the derivation of the 'iraqian al,ımadi:ni[= rifa'iyya], or the khurasanian i;iaidariyya. around his to .,is a large ziiwiya in which food is provided for all migrants,! these, therefore, were sufi tii'ifas in the full sense.

ıbn battuta's narrative also demonstrates how important th ,

establishments were in the expansion of muslim commerce" accommodation to their hindu environnient, and in the difi'usı:

of islam. for instance, all along the malabar coast, which ı

under hindu rulers, he was entertained in khiinaqiihs: at haun

i at- ta 'rif, ed. tanji, pp. 311-13. ıbn khaldün, though not a sufi~

acquainted with the general theory of taşawwuf. apart from a

, mation of scrools of mysticism 21i e for

" ji b ) at that of shaikh mul:ıammad an-najöri, i at

. ,13o;h ay agar) where he came actoss a company

of fuqarii',~a~ ( zaund in kanbaya (cambay in gujarat),

calicut! and

"

jariyy(t

a, anncore)

where he lodged in the khiinaqiihs of the

am rava. _

nı sufi insurance company.3eru ) h i

.f d . .

maqrizi's day (a.d. 1364-1442 t e ınes o erıvatıon were

yestablished. thus he writes of t~e fuqarii~ ~1:al:ım.ad~y'ya

ifitiyya in cairo.4 about the same tıme ~he qadırı attrıbutıon

i to expand and a branch was formed ın damascus towards

d of the fourteenth century.s sufis were frequently allowed

,use of mosques for their exercises. maqrizi says that the ;'~ar was open to sufis and dhikrs w~re performed there.6 some

, even found in madrasas, aqbuga's madrasa in the azhar g a permanent group.7nian regions do not seem to have developed the officially iored khiinaqah and the change of their sufi hostels to repretion of a holy line (stage three of change) was not marked y change of name but by the addition of an honoured tomb,:h more commonly the later khiinaqiihs were new

founda}8 in association with a tomb. later turk and mongol rulersruht the tombs of famous saints and associate d convents on'c magnificent lines.ufis trained in these institutionsfounded daughter lodges in

~ b~t\üta, cairo edn., 1928, ii. 109-10.~d, ~l, 108, on the l;iaidariyya, see below, p. 39,id, ll, 106, iis-18.iıi/aı" ed, a,h. 1326, iv. 294, referring to the ribiit known as the riwiiq,rıad ıbn sulaimiin al-batii'il;ıi (d. 691/1292) an i~troducer of the rifiitııto egypt, this building still exists outside 'biib zuwaila

,w~'a da'üdiyya founded by a l;ianbali, abu bakr ibn 'da'üd (d. 806/.il out 800/1397, but developed by his son 'abd ar~rahmiin

(d 8 56/i see h

sa ''

d

" ' "

ii'

i

'

g

al" . ' 'a' ,:une

bı'bl

'h

, erıe ou se trouvaıent un ıwan, une mosquee, des. ıot cquepour i i '

,.

et des h

b, , es ıvres constıtues en. waqf

en faveur de lai a ıtatlons pour les t ii " bl

'

parıs les g. '

i i f

"

j'l"ti

ese establishments f '

d . !w

,o.this ' abd r

unctıone as pious nİırht dubs and this is an. ar- ahmiin "-.ne of them s fi af w:ıs a l;ianbali who composed a number of

outside hisfu :1

ter hıs death the sultan chose for his successor, arnı y' subse d ', one superior b ' ' quent

ısputes over the leadership were~, iv. 54. eıng murdered in a.d. 1515,

o 7 ibid. iv. 225.

il

ııil

~

iı

ım

ii lu i~

i the kiizerÜfiiyya was one of the exceptions; see p. z36,

aın8

z his proper name is fakhr ad-din ibriihim b.,shahriyiir; born

~arııbj'a.d. izl3, died damascus, ız89, and buried near his inspirer, ıbn ai

brmation of schools of mysticism z3 ",

h se within their sphere of rule, khiinaqiihs sprang up);rtot o .

d fi. ..

w d . ~ h maj'ority wıthout e nıte ascrıptlons. an erıng

re,te hs ı: d ı:',

" for whom these khiinaqii ıorme centres ıor traınıng,. cl hos

pitality, were numerous and acted as cultural

~,an . 1"

i iooı~preading and stabıızıng s am.traetions of the sufi way declined from the time of ıad ibn tughluq (a.d. 1325-51), though not in conse

'iocf the restrictions he imposed on leaders and convent ilt seems rather that sufism had not yet taken such form i'a.ttraet indians, its outburst as a popular movement was [ılater. the decline finds expression in the retlections of

~p mal:ımüd (d. 757/1356), successor to the great shaikh"din awliyii';

ndars had arrived and were staying as guests of khwajah

'~ir ad-din for the night. (the khwajah) said, 'these days llu' of darwishes has deereased. in the days of the shaykh

,'(i.din awliya] darwishes used to eome by twenties and thirties,

,.~liaykb used to keep them as guests for three days . . . when

'. an 'urs, the shaykh [ni?iim ad-din] would invite all lash

itn of the army] and darwishes would arrive from all sides . . .

;> there are neither such soldiers, nar such slaves, nor such

l, have deteriorated. men have to wait [in vain] for the dar~p1e.'ı

zz the formatlon of schools of mysticism,

their own countries or in entirely new pasture grounds es .in india. they rarely maintained direct contact with ;he pecıinstitutionl and became independent schools with the~ot

h.. d d

.ir oc aracterıstıcs anten encıes.

'

the thirteenth century was an age of disturballce and chas the mongol hordes swept over central asian muslim stat anaf ter the other, baghdad being conquered in a.d.

1258. ~~refugees tled to those parts of the muslim world which seemore remote from the scourge. among these were anatolia in~~north-west and hindustan in the south-east. 'many sufis foua new home within the jurisdiction of the turkish sultanate n.delhi. '

indian islam seems to have been essentially a holy-man islaı these migrants in the hindu environment acquired an auraholiness, and it was this which attracted indians to them, rath than farrnal islam. there were two categories of sufis, those ass, eiated with khiinaqiihs and the wanderers. the khiinaqiihs were i, a special sense focal points of islam-centres of holiness, fervouascetic exercises, and sufi training. contrary to the arab-woriinstitutions bearing the same persian name, the indian khiinaqii. grew up around a holy man and became associated with his tariı and method of discipiine and exereises. two distinctive tariqas we formed.

mu'in ad-din chishti of sijistan (d. a.d. 1236), af ter a lifetin of wanderings, finally settled at ajmer, capital of a powerft hindu state. from him stemmed a silsila which won widespre popularity under his khalifa and successor, qutb ad-din bakhti~kiiki (d. a.d. 1235), to become eventually the leading i~dı tariqa. of other tariqas only the suhrawardi gained a followıng india. shihiib ad-din himself designated khalifas for india, t~chief being i:iamid,ad-din of najore (d. a.d. 1274). others wlnür ad-din mubiirak ghaznawi (d. 632/1234 at delhi) and ba!iad-din zakariya (d. a.d. 1z62at multan), probably the most e/f~tive organizer of the role and chain in india, with whom the persı qalandari poet, 'iraqi,2 'associated' for some twenty years.

-olia the seljuq period was significant in that the

mysticallt was vitally linked with the spread of islamic culture

gion. both persian refugees like bahii' ad-din

walad,

'ıi'

~d by riazul islam in]. pakistan or. sac. iii (1955), 204.

s';ifis

ih~"1.ve voiced complaints about spiritual dedine.

mul:ıammad ıbn

ii unpredictable and not opposed to sufis as such. this

ni~iim

~ \vas noted for his avoidance of courts and tughluq's son,

'.\smb, used to visit him when he was in a state of l,uil

(trance), and

:d (725/1325) at the beginning of tughluq's reign, the

latter's

ia'cd in carrying his bier, much to tughluq's annoyance

(ıbn

tt), subservient khtinaqtihs benefited from his patronage.

ıbn

.that rukn ad-din as-suhrawardi of multan, grandson of

bal}ii'

~, a~~epted ajtigir of 100 villages from tughluq for the

upkeep

:t;h: (ıu. 324, see als o pp. ioi-z, 201). the hagiographers

give

"~l.1arshness to naşir ad-din, successor of ni:ı;iim ad-din,

and other

xi "'as suspicious of the influence of some of these

shaikhs and

os~ regulation and supervision he exacted led to

measures of

- who interfered in politics were dealt with severely, but

one

.:.ılıat rnany of these leaders were frequently

intriguers for

"çr.

i

i i

- - - -- - -

,24 the formatı on of schools of mystıc

father of jaliil ad-din rümi, and turkish biibiis from c

is~d. .

d bl b . a i. entral'move ın consı

era e num ers ınto nato ıa during the th' "century,

especially during the time of the mongol inv ,irt~:dervish activity

was just as strong af ter the collapse of ı:ons,state of rüm. the mystics, manifesting a fervour and s .e, seldifferent from that of legalist i~lam, aspirit which also ~ırltitself in practical social aspects such as hospitality to tx.pr,and care for the sick and po or, were mediators of isla~avcl

christians of the region. they had the support of the

~oauthorities. jalal ad-din rümi was highly honoured b

y th

ee c,

of qonya and there are many references to official patrona

other courts, such as that of mujahid ad-din bihrüz ibn 'abd:'

prefect of iraq under mas 'üd ibn ghiyath, who founded a i

at baghdad.ıit is important to distinguish between the

mystical orders prı'and such corporations as trade-guilds2 and

futuwwa order craftsmanship and chivalry,3 which are known under the sterm, tii'lfa, and have similar forms of organization and poreligious aspeets. the differenee between them is one of purand intent, rather than in types of organization and linka' the tariqas are purely religious organizations, but the pur of the guilds was eeonomie assoeiation, eraftsmanship, or tı a religious tii'ija eould not strietly be at the same time a or eraft tii'lfa. this -is true in spite of the faet that ther,

i ıbn khallikiin, iii. 472." Şinf (pl. a~naf, ~unüf), l,ıirfa (pl. !:ıiraf), and regional terms like mo~

hanla, pl. hanati. theyare referred to more simply as ıa'lfas. the akhi orgi tion in anatolia was asimilar turkishfutuwwa craft corporation. the m~ were called fityan (pl. of fata, 'youth', though not strictly a youth organ except in enrolment) and the head akhi, which term, originally tnaturally became associated with arabic akhi, 'my brother', ıbn j. received hospitality from akhis (c. 1333); see travels, tr. h. a, r: gı 418 ff. on these see e.!.", art. 'akhi'. this type of organization dısapduring the 15th century with the full establishment of ottom~n po~icraft orders of a different type were an important aspect of the lıfe of s '

turkey. the kazeruniyya, though it took the name of an eminent ii devcloped rather as a religious-economic guild association; see bel?w, ~:

3 similarly theyare to be distinguished from the anatolian gmzı ~o~.

based on the futuwwa principle whose religious affiliation~

w~re w~t t ii darawish. sufis used the term futuwwa, not for

an organızatıon, r~fidown special sense of an ethical self-offering, as when

al;ımad ar- i yported as saying, 'futuwwa means working for god's sake, not

for :~ e~(ai-wasiti, tiryaq, p. 45). onfutuwwa as understood by sufis ~~~'. o ed'abdallah al-anşari al-harawi (a.d. 1006-89). mc.nazil as-sa ırın, beaurecueil, cairo, 1962, pp. 47-8; al-qusliairi, risala, p. 103.

.

i

rj j

ii

. ation of school s of mysticism 25

.qrm" .

s i and that the initial organization of the'~xceptıon , .id' . wes mueh to that of the gm s, and that theorders o .. e 1: f . i"' f ch seeular assoeıatlons. very ıorm

osocıa~nctı y su d

.i. . i h,', . t if in associations an ın a re ıgıous cu ture

t er~dıes 1 se ii i . .

'i' , to

gether for what we ca secu ar purposfs ıs gıven

,:!ietıng . i .id d .

b.. lı ter b

y re1igion. a partlcu ar gm an ıts mem ers

,ci arac i d.

a ....:.. be

linked with a partieu ar tarıqa an saınt.. t ınıtıatlonsemo

nies re1i

g

ious rites were the predomınant feature, ,eer ,: behind the banner of that tariqa that the guild

members

,~ to and from the 'id prayer-ground. t~ey were ~ot~ciations, although centred on eeonomıc and socıal iliut neither were they sufi orders.~anization of the orders, however, owes much to that of

s: these guilds had flourished under the fatimid and

!t~ite states and with the triumph of the ayyübids and ,er political shi'ism the necessity for reeognizing them ited by the sunni doetors.

we have shown that the, encouraged the sufi organization at the stage it had hed-assoeiation in khiinaqiihs. from then, when defined İjystical tradition had emerged, the organization of the

c, which were also seeular associations in some aspects

rttionship to the life of the eommunity, drew more and

,;nres from guild organization. as the latter had a grand

~if, a.nıin, or shaikh al-~irfa) and a hierarehy of appren

/tadı'), companions (şiini'), and master-craftsmen

~'so the religious orders acquired a hierarchy of noviees,

url masters. sinee legal islam tolerated the secret

.:.the initiation and oath of the guilds, it had

to accept

ıttons . of the act of allegiance to the shaikh

at-tariqa

ractıc~ was maintained. medical doctors too, without

~~ngıng to a guild, would reeeive simple

initiation;~ ın as apossible source of spiritual aid to them in

"to['~ ,?~(nii

.

"(.,ıl'

l-~

:."',

. ['c

.!

f~!"

<i~i

'igins of the corporations are stressed, the imam j a 'far. being

liuı.t in their traditions. consequently, it may on occa~ıo~ be

\iısh w,hich was the essential purpose of certain

organız~tıo~s

,:ı;a] asıan mongol-period futuwwa orders. the confuslon .is

,~ chelebi's description (a.d. 1638) of the various guilds ın

le seydbat-name, tr. von hammer, r. ii. 90-100.

",acquired by dr. rashid ad-din 'ali in a.d. 1218, given in

i see al-qushairi, risala (cairo, 1319(1902), pp. 158-9. ıbn khaı~~,;

marks, 'among the sufis some who are favored by acts of divine grace is

able to, exercise an influence upon worldly conditions. this,

how~ver~counted as a kind o(sorcery. it is effected with divine support, ec:qılattitude and approach (of these men) result from prophecy and are a cons ,

of it' (muqaddama, tr. rosenthal, iii. 167). etp2 cf. the f:ıadith qudsi: 'my saints are beneath my tents,

none kn°w but me.'

t' nof scrools of mysticism 27'rmatio '

t.s associated a new reverence for

thed' lo pmen ı

t: eve

ely

brought him into the category

of. h not mer

i:ıc h p

ular level, but also led to the popu ar'ers at t e po . .

d h l,,'

b i. f

.n thesp

ırıt of muhamma as t e ogos,

" f the e ıe ı '.~o

r ofthe universe. the celebratıon of

the. d preserve .

'

,

~ d ms at least in part, to be a compensatıon'bırth ay see, d .

, . f 'alid demonstrations af ter the

estructıon 'ppressıon o',. ıbn }

ubair (travelled a.d. 1183-5) refers toregımes. . .

d d. ib

. bl'

h d practice. i it was faırly wı esprea ın n

.ı:sta ıs e . d . 2 b .ı.' for it comes under hıs con emnatıon,

ut ıtume, ,

i.' b h

. f

t an aspect of the people s re ıg~on. . y t e

tım~ ~

a. a.d. 15°5) the mawlid ~a.d acquıred. ı,ts

ch~ra~terıstıc

fhese features and the wrıtıng of specıal

recıtatıons for

te at sufi gatherings belong to the next stage,

but the

;ti.c poem, qaşidat al-burda, by al-büşiri (d.

694/1295),~n during this time.~ding of the saint-cult with the orders and a new rever

i,the prophet is one aspect of the change. the

other isin the constitution of the body of adherents.

concern,~n spiritual welfare had led the devotee and

early sufihimself from the world, but the need for spiritual

had necessitated the association of sufis. their con

hin hospices concerned for the welfare of travellers and

bhe sick and unfortunate brought them back into the

!(ıifhe hospices with their associated tombs became the,6 religious aspirations of the ordinary man who

sought;a. of the saints. the dedicated disciples (fuqarii',

darii._!khwii~) coı:ıtiı:ıued to devote themselves to

ascetic pracduues wıthm the order, but membership was nowro embrace tertiaries or lay adherents who 'took thethe shaikh or more usually his representative (khalifa),

,ed to follow their ordinary mode of life. this meant

ı.affirmed th

eı'

r b i.

f.

h.d .

'. , . e ıe ın t e ı eals for whıch the tarıqaieoıally valu' th i

.k

..

.~ mg e m wıth the baraka of the saınts ands-u~h rules and m

d f h..'.

,,~.

fo es o wors ıp as were compatıble

wıtho a normal m

d f l'f i, o e o ı e. n towns such association

26 tre formatı on of scrools of mysticls

and now we find manifestations of spiritual power bassociated with the orders. no dear distinction can h ec,be made between the orders and saint-veneration, sin enct}proteges (awliyii' li ' lliih) are within the orders. sufisrn ce (a philosophy of election which was diluted and

adapte~royi

needs of the masses by the orders. not merely the

great \İjbut his successors who inherited his baraka (spiritual s.'were mediums of his power. with this was associated po.

(visitation) to saints' tombs. as in other aspects of sufi

thzt~

and practice there is an essential distinction between the ::which the genuine sufi approached a saint's tomb

and the;tice of the people. the mystic carries out a ziyiira for the purıof muriiqaba (spiritual communion) with the saint, finding in material symbol an aid to meditation. but the popular belie that the saint's soul lingers about his tomb and places (maqispecially associated with him whilst he was on earth or at wk he had manifested himself. at such places his intercession ca sought.

the state of sanctity (wiliiya) is characterized by the manifı tion of kariimiit, gifted spiritual powers, the earlier spiri leaders dissociated themselves from the working of such pow~ though theyall accepted the principle that saints did perf~ them as gifts from god. ai-qushairi -remarks that though phets needed mirades (mu'jiziit) to confirm the validity of 1 mission, saints were under no such necessity and ought r~~ to hi de any they had involuntarily made. the extraordın graces with which they were favoured are a confirmation of t progress and can nevertheless edify and confirm the faithful: serve to distinguish a real wali from an impostor. ıstill, a wali does not necessarily, or indeed probably, know tha~ one.2 the writings of sufis contain a vast amount on thısject of the validity of wiliiya, but we are mainly concerned \;practical aspects.

~, ttavels, 2nd edn., 1907, pp. 114-15. .l:(ya, majmü' fatdwi, cairo, a.h. 1326-9, a.d. 1908-11, i. 312.,~üti, /fum al-maqsid fi . amal al-mawlid-a kind of fatwa on the.mncludes that it is a bid'a f:ıasana, an acceptable'innovation.

28 the formatı on of school s of mysticl '

was especially linked with membership of guilds.

wh'ı sıone hand, new techniques for the individual dhikr we ı st, o

this broadening of membership led to changes in

~e ~d, the collective dhikr. the full development

of this sys::ınoadherence belongs to the next stage, when the tariqas crepresented by local organizations throughout the who~ın

ıe

id. id' ,, fl h

e sıwor

,wıe ıng an ımmense ın uence t roughout most. stra

socıety.along with the development of new forms of

devotion andacceptance parallel to ritual prayer went the process of accodating the sciences of astrology, divination, and magic-tech:which professed, not merely to reveal the secrets of the u~ilworld, but to control them. this development is especi associated with the name of al:ımad ibn 'abdallah al-b"(d. 622/1225), who put the seal to the work of his predecess operating less openly by finally systematizing the sciences divination, astrology, and magical invocation. popular wo brought all this within the range of the ordinary practitioner' became part of the equipment of the shaikhs and brethren.

it is easy to see why this aspect was so important and how « it was to islamize borrowed material. the orders stressed t power of the word of god, and hundreds of booklets have bewritten on the virtues and properties of the names of god, phrases like the basmala, or qur'anic verses (ayat al-kursi), chapters (süra ya sin). the association of these 'words', asash-shadhili's ljizb al-bal,ır or al-]aziili's dalii'il al-khairö.t, giv these magical properties. power symbolism in islam is, therefo primarily based on words.

all the same, the ideals of the orders were maintained, howe~

much they were compromised in practice. the honour whi

islam accords to jurists is reflected by the fact that certain of t

silsila founders were also professional jurists. theyand thısuccessors clung to the externals of islamic practice and ba~1their litanies solidıyon the qur'an. they played an

i~mense ~(in enriching the devotionallife of the ordinary musbid; as w~hadepts, within the sphere of the regular islamic institutıons.invested orthodox ritual with esoteric si

gnificance, for

'everyrd

me i

commanded by the law denotes a mystery'. thus not (odoes wuçlü' (ablution) signify the abandonment of pr~fane ac ~iobut every action within wuçlü' has its ethical and mystıcal mea

"t of schools of mysticism 29rmı\ti01" .

~. . dee er l11ysteries the effect of theır stress

f~°.ın. the d j the letter of the law was

morally and8pırıt ıns~ea

i,' ...;mulatıng. ,,'

i hs.o d b n concerned wıth ascetlc-l11ystıca t

eory,

suus ha e;ith illul11inating their search and

the states

were paets, . . ..

d rt'h chan

ge towards greater systematızatıon

ıs.rıence . .l e

d.d f h d.

','. .

1 ow bein

gproduce as guı es or t e

ırector '-the manua s n d f'i whilst najib ad-din as-suhrawar 1 wrote one opupı s.also

f this nature,1 adiib al-muridin, it

was his

est manu

shihiib ad-din, who ~rote w?~t. deservedl~

has been

" ' ular

guide, 'awiirif al-ma arif, the medıeval

vadeit pop

i n. d d

'~

spiritual directors. other manua s were ajm a - ın

~.

~ifö.t al-adö.b2 and ıbn al- 'arabi's al-amr al-

muj;kam,

by many 'ulama' because of its author's

reputation as an

'an.

manuals show that the ritual is now a traced-

out way,

'of life, by fallowing which the novice may attain

union with

ıunded up an a series of observances additional

to the com

rj,t\1al and duties of islam. it involves a noviciate,

during

~'the receives guidance from a shaikh, and it is

now that the

'~bat the novice must be in the hands of his

director like

sc in the hands of the washer of the dead becomes

popular. 3

~minates in initiation, which includes investment

with amantle, and headdress.

way under guidance implies a life in common

(mu'ashara)

"- dedıcated group of aspirants and adepts in a

convent under

ghect supervision of a superior. suhrawardi in the

book justone.d deals with the rules of behaviour in such an

institution.4~perior allats various pra

yer tasks su

perero

gatoryexercises

.tions fl" .

.'

'

, . o ıtanıes, praıses, and ınvocations (adhkiir,

aj;ziib, andad .tlter manual on th

i f h. .

b.11.h . i e ru es o t e novıcıate was abkarn alornuridin, by

li~rnj' ~~aıı:ı a -}aşşaş, d. 418/1027. adab aş-şuqba by

asosularni (d. 1021) ,

; it is n::ı~e ~~ manners, concerned especially with imitation of

the i'!jconcilin ~ ın conte~t, though it has its place in as-

sulami's work

.1nted b g faşa~f wıth orthodoxy.y . meıer, 'ein knigge für Şüfi's', r.s,o. xxxii (1957),

o.riginal, which is t 'b

dilted to god: 'th: trı ute to, sahl ibn 'abdalliih at-tustari (d. a.d.

9oı:shipper sho id b fi~st stage ın tawakkul (dependence upon

god) is

r. he turn s it : h e ~n the, hands of god like a corpse in the hands

of

!üftila (cair

os e wılls wıthout impulse or initiative on its part';

al" , a,h. 1

319) 6'

, chapters

' p. 7 . 29-55.

sün.1

j unaidii

iraqian tradition

iabu 'i-qasim al-gurgani (d. 469/~°76)

llabu bakr an-nassajd. 487/1094

i iabmad al-ghazali

(d: 520/1126)

i

abu 'i-husain al-busti. i .

mul:ıd al-i;iamüya, d. 1135

lı'ain al-quç!at abu 'n-najib al-hamadani as-suhrawardi

d. 525/1131d. 563/1168

i i i i quıb ad-din abu i;iafş 'ammar isma'ilal:ımad as-suhrawardi al-bidlisi al-qaşrial-abhari d. 632/1234 i

iabhariyya i. i

suhrawardiyya najm ad-din kubra(appendix c)d. 618/1221kubrawiyya

ii

i

'abd ar-ral:ıman al-isfara'ini d.717/1317 nüriyya

i'ala' ad-dawla as-simnanid. 736/1336 rukniyya

i'ali al-hamadani d. 786/1385hamadaniyya

iisl:ıiiq al-khuttalani d.826/1423 ightishashiyya

ii i ml:ıd nürbakhsh

'abdallahd. 869/1465 barzishiibadi

i dha;abiyya

ıabu fadl al-bagh~di

~iabu'l

i barakat

ii yünis

ash-shaibiinii d. 1222

i

i

isa 'd-addin aljibiiwi d. 1335 jibiiwiyya-sa'diyya

i i

inür ad-din m. ni'matallah walid. 834/1431ni 'matallahiyya

ifaiç!-bakhshtnürbakhshiyya

i shams ad-din al-liihijid. 912/1506

.j, lahidniyya

t i yüsuf ibn ayyüb

al-hamadanid. 535/1140

i i

ishaikh zahid= ıbrahim ibn rüshan d. c. 1296

lt mui)ammad

nürai-

khalwatid. 1350

i 'umar al-khalwati d. c. 1397

i khalwatiyya

i yai)ya-i shirwanid. c. 1460

i. umar rüsheni

d. 1487

--ıı

mui)ammad demcrdash d. 1524

ı Şafiyyaddin al-ardabm d.1334 Şafawiyya

iŞadr ad-din (müsa 1) d. 1393

ı 'abdallah al-anşari al-harawi, d. 481/1089

i

ı al:ımad al-yasavi d. 562/1169 yasaviyya

i luqman perendeal-khurasiini

ii

imul:ıammad 'ala' ibn ıbrahim = i;iajji bektashd. c. 1335

t bektashiyya

i ı'ali (d. 1429) mu'in ad-din 'ali

i 'qasim-i anwar'ıbrahim (d. 1447) 1356--1433

i i j unaid (d. 1460) i;iajji bairam

i d.1430i;iaidar (d. 1488) i

i bairamiyya,shiih isma 'iljilwatiyya,(d. 1524)ete.

i on qalandars, see appendix

b.

ii

30 the formation of schools of mys1' i els

a

wriid), graded according to a person's stage,

together . i

mortifications as vigils (sahr) and fasts (şiyiirn).

re is r wlt~

make periodi~ retr.eat~ (khalwa,. i'ti~iif, 'uzla,,ı"tiziil, or

a:6~:~!

= quadragesıma) ındıvıduauy ın hıs cellar, ıf highl

y

ad ı. vanc,

the socıety of the convent.

but, as may be seen from these manuals,

although the ]'

the practice of the mystical way had been

worked out th'~

of the sufis in association were stili variable,

conf~sede,

limited. there were great variations too between

the bufi establ

ments. same were rich and luxurious, favoured

by autho

whilst others fouowed the strictest principles of

poverty

unwoddliness; same had no shaikh, others were

under

authority of one leader and had become attached

to one siı

whilst others were governed by a council of elders.

then t

were wandering dervishes such as the qalandars,

who ma de

of these hostels, and had their own rules and

linkages bu!

organization. i

the chief t ar'iqa

lines" utlined theg

eneral stages in the development of,ving o. .

the sufi organization leadıng to the formatıon ot

schools

ofteaching and training we may now say

son:ıethıng abo~tao:..n.alities from whom the great tariqas derıve and theır'ilt development. we have shown that they came into

through an outstanding director being succeeded by

,( combined practical abilities along with spiritual qualities

t, who made coliections of his sayings and episodeslife, and taught their own pupils in his name. the

diffiutilizing the lives of the saints as historical

sources is well.d. hagiographa is simply biography designed,

and con~ distorted, to serve the cult of the saints. it

forms anaspect of any study of the orders since these

qualities,and manifestations are real to the believer, but

they . i the historical personality. at the same time, the historian

. rned with the effects, if not the reality, of such beliefs, since

ount for the existence of the cult and help to elucidate its

~ e~pression in an organization.mwn areas of sufi thought and practice from the

pointof subsequent tariqa development were

mesopotamia,

~; and the maghrib. anatolian forms deriye

from central. . st sufism in india, stemming originaliy from

the first:qucntly ?eveloped along lines of its own and its

phases. ) stagnatıon, and revival owed little to non-indian in

ı. mesopotamia

.8ı.ı.fism centred on baghdad, embracing syria

and exten?

egypt. lines of ascription go back through al-

iunaıd

,~di ~d. 298/910) to ma'rüf al-karkhi (d.

zoo/815) .andco,qatı (d. 251/865). it is here that sufism won a

qualıfied

~ from the doctors of islamic legalism, on the

one hand,

e work of 'abd ar-ral;ıman aş-8ulami (d. flz/l0zl),

33 the chief rariqa lines

the khorasanian traditionalist and historian of early s

disciple al-qushairi (d. 465/1072) who taught in

b ~fi

wrote books on ash'arite theology as well as

taşa~j d,i:iamid al-ghazali (d. 505/11 ii); and, on the other th all]association with the official favour of nür ad-din, 'sal r~~their lieutenants and successors, who encouraged the

deva i ı <

of parallel institutions of madrasas and khiinaqiihs. e o

the mesopotamian tradition is the nearest that we ca

an arab sufism and its objective expression, even

thou~of the leaders were not arabs. we find two main linesuhrawardi and the rifıi'i. both stand squarely in the jtradition. the rifıi 'i, with its family antecedents centred o' basran marshes, haunt of outlaws, ,stressed strongly the' ancestry of al,ımad ar-rifıi'i a~d his standing in direct succto arab sufis. it was the only tariqa in this tradition which gl any great following in the seljuqid empire. the suhrai school was distinctively urban and orthodox shafi 'i. the i:ia qadiriyya is also included since 'abd al-qadir, of persian o was a contemporary of the other two; but he does not count i of the şu1;ıba and silsila sufi ascriptions and the tariqa which c his name oiily came into e~istence later, and even then it wastime before it became a universal tariqa.

the key figure in this tradition is al,ımad al-ghaziili. the" in which he, and his equally important master, al-fiirma, combined the lines of sufi devotionalexpression is shown:

abu 'i-qiisimabu 'i-qiisimabu 'i-hasanal-gurgiini

al-qushaİri al-khar~qiini (al-karrakani)d.465/1073d. 425/1034d. 469/1076

i

i i.1 i

abu 'ali al- abu bakr anfiirmadhi at-tüsi nassiij at-tüsid. 477/1084 d. 487/1094

i ji

aqmad al-ghaziili at- tüsi. h ,.1-

2 (d at qa

abu 'l-futül,ı al,ımad ıbn mul,ıammad al-g azıuı ., 9 rı

i see as-subki, at-rabaqat ash-shiifi'iyya, caİro, a.h. 1324, iv. ,traİnİng under al-qushaİri. , aphe(

. not much İs known about hİs life for he attracted no ha,~ı~g:, o/.a.khallikiin (wrİtİng c. a.d. 1356) has only a short account

(wojii,yo

~'

'he

chief t ariqa line s 33

;, .' brother of the ethical theologian abu

i:liimid,

cte~ to the sufi life, serving his apprenticeship

", ;en whoııy devoting hi~self to .the way.

ab~

h- alsa a 'ffısi but teachıng at nısapur, was hıs

fbtl,ll' be was 'at one and the same' time

withdrawn

'ı1ve in the world, no khiinaqiih sufi but avagrant

'lring villages and the countryside, and even

preach

9 the way of approach to god'.2 he spent a period

h~"bere his sincerity immediately won people's

hearts,

..,? ~t for a tirne at the ni:?iimiyya, deputizing

for his

;jo. the latter was in the throes of his spiritual crisis

~~rbe part that he played in his brother's life

during

'~n only be conjectured. according to m. al-

murtaçlii,

~w

'dabu l;hi.mid to break the bonds with this world. ,

. came

yoursel

f

tted ?'3 '"~i

'jrdiyya

iqa may be regarded as going back to di

yii' ad-din

i .~~9\1, i, 49; tr, de slane .

7 ) a s bk (

.

ııfııterial he eould find 'i~' h?' s- ~ ,i a.d. 1337-70) brıngs

to

l in his elder brother. ıs tabaqat (iv. 54-5), but he was

much

cl also

studied und h' '

'hı, ~°9 and th er ım as well as under yüsuf an-nassiij'

ı""~;4)' quo:':':,',o;:;,.',;': ho '-.d, 'abd .ı-g-

b, ı"",,'.

l1bıa in lıf)af as-sada c:ıurtaqa s ı?-troductıon to hıs

commen

,,~dhi's

guidan ' ' ıro, 1911, i. 19. although he enga

ged

,- . ce ın a course of sfi d

' . i.

,. iit this stage of h' u ıseıp ıne he received no

id of his brother xh:~~era that ~aı:ıe later through

yüsuf an

wi11 at first

seeptl'

i'

b

. bu l;iamld told qutb ad-din m b

.

ca a out th " .

.uons of the

g' e reaıity of the eestatic states of the

fnostıes until i if

~ an-niissaj in t- h put myse under the guidance of

ıng diseiplİnes un~'~' i e persevered in the task of

refining me

.rıam.' then follow i was vouehsafed revelations

(waridat) and

.1, 9), s an account of the dialogue between

god and

lv. 55,~ii az-zab"

d 1i i, tmf as-sad' 8a, i. .

34 the chief tariqa lines

abu 'n-najib as-suhrawardi (490/1097-563/1168)1 .influenee up on his nephew shihab ad-din. he b ~wın

family with initiatory filiation (nisbat al-khirqa).

he le~to;g(!,as a youth for baghdad where he followed the custo u~

of uşül and fiqh. he taught for a while at the

ni?ami;a~

it in order to associate with shaikh al:ımad al-ghazali \ t

upon him the breath of felieity and guided him ala: opath.z he eut himself off from ordinary society in

orde; ttlife of seclusion and retreat. murids eame to put themselv ohim and the fame of his baraka spread widely.'3 he bui:on a ruined site on the tigris, whieh also became a plrefuge. he was the author of adiib al-muridin, a manual f~aspirants. among his diseiples were abu mul:ıammad rüz,baqli of shiraz (d. 606/1209),4 lsma'il al-qaşri (d. ii 93)'ammar al-bidlisi (d. c. 1200), the last two of whom were m of the great khwarizmian mystic, najm ad-din kubra, from' stems the kubrawiyya line of mystical ascription.5

the man regarded as the founder of the way was 'n-najib's nephew, shihab ad-din abu bafş 'umar (539( 632/1234), who received his early training in his unde's: he was no ascetic living withdrawn from the world, tholi passed periods in retreat, but associated with the great.caliph an-naşir li dini 'llah realized the importance of th fluence of sufi leaders and showed shihab ad-din great fa'. he associated him with his aristocratized futuwwa and seneas ambassador to 'ala' ad-din kaiqubad l, seljuq ruler of cr(a.d. 1219-36),7 the ayyübid al-malik al- 'adil, and the khwii.ri

i accounts of his life are found in ıbn khal1ikan, i. 535-6; as~subki, ~g

iv. 256-7; yaqüt, mu'jam, s.v. 'suhraward'; as-sam'ani, ansab, g.m.,' 2 l:iammad ad-dabbas (d. 525/1131) also gave him some

sufi ıraıria1:ımad al-ghazali was his ırue guide.

3 as-subki, tabaqtit, iv. 256. - i d

4 see junaid shirazi, shadd, pp. 243-7. rüzbihan baqlı travel ~initiations, but his true silsila, the one he himself passed on,

was ıhe ~~z~n

of abu is1:ıaq ıbrahim al-kazerüni (d. 426/1034), through

j~:a~b bkhafif, into which he was initiated by siraj ad-din ~a1:ımu ; ~c/ı (d. i 166), head of the khtinaqtih in shiraz. the rüzbihanıyya as

~ d r~rell1was restricted tq fars, but a later-stage kazerüniyya became wl es

,:'fbe cbief tariqa lines 35

bui1t for him a ribiit, associated with a la.rge

lu .h

. luded a bath-house and a garden

for hım'wtuc ıne .

f s fi'1 zh was no theoretlcal exponent o u

sm a

, nd

li y. ed h .

.' h the futuwwa may have encourage t e

ıntro

, \~it. itiator

y practices, such as the shadd

(girding),t9,ln ın

h. h

.kh h

. t'ons he was a g

reat teac ıng s aı , w ose

ocla i. ..

!b.ot only through his pupıls, but through hıs

work,

, , , 'arif has extended to almost every sufi

leader to

~ fro:İı all over the world came to him for

training,

ie.lf made extended stays at khiinaqiihs in various

towns,

idıınıascus and aleppo. they also sent to him

seeking

pf1nions', as is seen from this acc~unt by ıbn

kh~l1ikan:

.. ıber of those who had attended hıs courses and

sojourned

(t, training under his direction according to sufi

custom.

tl give me an account of the strange sensations

which over

during those occasions when they experienced

ecstatic

1). he came to lrbil as an envoy from the

government in

.d held assemblies for spiritual counsel, but i had

not the

, of seeing him since i was too young. he

performed the

fr~quently and sometimes resided near the house

for a time.

i\"ty sufi leaders in other lands used to write to

him putting

,blems, seeking advice in the form of fatwas.3

!it~tual insigh_t ?f. shihab ad-din was deeper than

that of

~~.s of the qadırıyy.a and .ri~a'iyya. the

suhrawardiyya

,hcü! school and hıs pupıls ıntrodueed his. teaehing

into

>,

.old, turkestan down to the mongollnvasion, 1928, pp. 373-4.

nvn~i, ai-i;iawadith al-jtimi'a, ed. h. jawad, baghdad, 1351/1932,

ukftn, ii. 9s; ir. ii. 383. cqrrespqndence became a regular feature

.~ of many of ıhese mystics. in the arab world few cqllections weretliesı include the rasa'il qf al-junaid, edited and translated with

n on his ıhought and wqtk by dr. ali hassan abdel-kader, theflt~ al/d writings of al-junaid (londqn, 1962). ar-rasa'il aş

wclslern mystic ıbn 'abbad of ronda (a.d. 1332-90) have been~'nwyia (beiruı, 1958), whq has alsq writlen a study of ıbn 'abbad

'and his larger cql1ection (beirut, 1956). the persian maktümtlt al-hamadani sıill exist only in manuscript. the letters of

111\1 have been edited by ahmed remzi akyürek, istanbul, 1937.

~~c ~ore cqmmqn in india. fawti'id al-fu'adi the letters of,~' \ıya ,were collected b

y amir hasan sij' zi' khair al-ma ':1

'alis of ııh -d

(d .'

:(j' ~u . a.~. 1356) were collected by l:iamid qalandar.

there

>. ~. ~tl:ıma? ıbn ya1:ıya maniri(d. a.d. 1381), al:ıma~

al-fa~<ı:.i

'142:ıj.. 2.4), hıs son, mu1:ıammad ma'şüm, and the

chıshti, gızu

111l1 i:

,11111 r,

i

lın

illı

"i

ii~

i ıbn al-fuwati, ijawadith, p. 323.. tiryaq, p. 49, cf. p. 61.3 see mu'in ad-din abu 'l-qasim junaid, shadd al-izar fi khall o/s

'an zuwwar al-mazar, ed. m. qazwini and 'abbas iqbal, tehran, 132 i

pp. 334-8, and ıahir ad-din, pp. 338-9. hi4 such references are incomplete unless one knows what

type of k ii~volved. we have to distinguish between the khirqa of

teach~ng (t,companionship (şubba) which includes training, and guidance

(tarbı~a). es g.a.l.s. i. 809. al-qastallani attacked his fellow andalusıs? ııbn sab 'in, aristotelian gnostic philosopher, then enjoyin~

favouchın pij!le was expelled from mecca but welcomed in cairo by

baıbars, w mss~ın charge of dar al-i;iadith al-kiimiliyya in 667/1268; see l. .

opera minara, ii. 53, 409-10.6 sa'di, büstan, ed. gra:r, p. 15°.7 tr. h. a. r. gibb, ii. 297.8 french edition, iii. u6.

e

chief l' ariqa lines 37

ar-raııaq al-kashani (d. 73°/1329), and

sa 'id

,ofarghani (d. c. 700/1300).1

36 the chief tariqa line s

all parts of the muslim world. from him only a f

organized tii'ifas stemmed. his son, 'imad ad-din

m~ r.

succeeded him as warden of ribat al-

ma'müniyya : ~,.

and he by his son, 'abd ar-ral:ıman,1 but it only

s~n . afamily tii'ifa. 'abd ar-ral:ıman al-wasiti, writing abou;vivi

saysı that the suhrawardiyya had more branches

(furü,)a.~~,other tariqa, but it is difficult to get confirmation of the t ~

of many. di.stinct tii'ifas as compared with t~e.

large nu~~sufis daımıng to belong to the suhrawardi sımla. '

shihab ad-din maintained a careful orthodoxy and th.continued by his more immecliate followers, among whom ~mentioned the well-known shirazi shaikh, najib ad-din buz~(d. 678/12,79),3 and his son and successor, zahir ad-din!ar-ral:ıman. many.who could hardly be called sufis receivt\ khirqa from him,4 such as abü bakr m. ibn al:ımad al-qası(614/1218-686/1287), who founded a school of tradition~( similarly, the great persian poet sa'di of shiraz (a.d. 120& who came under his influence when he was in baghdad, was follower of the sufi path, though his wide range of understm embraced sufism and the ways of dervishes, and in his büs!refers to shihab ad-din's piety and love for his fellow men.": battüta was another who loved to collect these affiliations an' was invested with a suhrawardi khirqa at isfahan in a.d. i; and with anather at outch.8 this shows what little meaning sametimes to be attaehed to these initiations. later leaders c~ing a suhrawardi ascription induded all types of sufis, ın sueh distinctive characteristics as nür ad-din 'abd aş-Ş

. d.bn

'ali ar-rifa'i (a.d. 1106-82) is norf ahma i . o h

. th.

q d'riyya as has been daımed. n t e

conııxı:eal

dh' d .

.. _i",

,f' h

. ted a family silsila an ıs or er eame

ıntoij~ ın erı .

i'f' h h

1$ a distinctive way from hıs i ~tıme, w

ereas t e

t merge as a khirqa line untll much later.

thena e .

d.' f

d. tinguished by peculiar praetıces erıvıng

romıs "

h d f

if, and his centre in t?e bata ı. - e?~nt~ - ~ a

ocus

;; tor sufis in a way that abd al-qadır s rıbat

ın bagh

~own ab out the life of ibn ar-rifa'i,2 but

sufficient

~fontrast to the careers of as-suhrawardi

and 'abd al

lis born into an arab familyand spent the

whole of

~ bata'ii:ı, the marshlands of southem iraq

between

'asit, leaving it only once (a,d~ 1160) to go

on pilgrim

~arned in either fiqh or taşawwuf, he wrote

nothing;

om attributed to him are probably not

genuine. the

t~gion was the nurture eentre for arab sufism.

from

'if al-karkhi(d. a.d. 813) whose parents were

Şabians

if s). his shaikh aş-şu~ba, who invested him with

his

.:was 'ali abi 'i-fadl al-qari' al-wasiti, but he also

'ıeligious community called ar-rifa'iyya from his

~e, ~an.şür al-bata'il:ıi (d. 54°/1145).3 manşür

gave

,:r«a ın hıs 27th year and established him in

ummj just before his death he invested him with the

. ' '~rıt~al jurisdiction) and sajjadat al-irshiid, or

throne

7 812 th i d. s h

. .

:\y (pp. 6 -6 a' '. e ~ ı.an u rawardi school ıs dıs

,\ife of 1~ nd the ~~i,~f .affilı~tıons are given in

appendix c.

rij4'i b t a~ ar-~ıfai i ıs tıryiiq [tmriahe] al-mubibbin fi

tn c~ir~ i a;;ı ad-dm abd ar-raqman al-wasiti (a.d.

1275

'-i to add ~~/,1~8~. subsequent manaqib-type works

have

ainly of ~ayi~:s~nı's account in lawaqi1;ı (cairo.

a.h. 1355,

the biographies of m

'ooks of the o d . anşur and other members of the

groupr er m lawaqib. i. 114-16.

\i

1

, ~

38 the chief t ariqa lines

he was an arab and lived in the bata'il;ı, at a yillage cau d

a large concourse of fuqarii' attached themselves to

eh' tlfuıı compact of aııegiance and foııowing him [as th .un,'dervish order (at-tii'ija min al-fuqara') deriving from ~~r ~rifa'iyya or bata'il;ıiyya. his foııowers experience extr un ~during which they eat living snakes and enter ovens bto~dıı

h. h h ..h d i " azın gw ıc are t ereupon extınguıs e . t ıs saıd that in the'

[the marshlands] they ri de on lions and perform

similar f~r tow

festival gatherings (mawasim) at which uncountable

num~es.congregate and are all entertained. ar-rifa'i died witho~: 'the spiritual and temporal succession i was maintained in tbthrough his brother's children until this day.ı

although a1.ımad was no original thinker, the fame, marshiand retreat spread widely, a focus of attraction for; sufis, four of whom founded independent tariqas: bad dasüqiyya, shiidhihyya, and 'alwaniyya.3 in the timebattüta rifa'i ziiwiyas were deady differentiated; he r them frequently in his travels, as well as to the "extravaganıı tices for which they were notorious. when his caravan s'wasit in a.d. 1327 for three days he writes: '

this gaye me the opportunity of visiting the grave of the sa: 'l-'abbas al;ımad ar-rifa'i, which is at a yillage caııed umm t

one day's journey from wasit ' . . it is a vast convent in whieh tl} thousands of poor brethren , , . when the afternoon prayers ha1, said drums and kettle-drums were beaten and the poor brethreri to dance. af ter this they prayed the sunset prayer and brought repast, consisting of rice-bread, fish, milk and dates. when, i eaten and prayed the first night prayer, they began to reeı! dhikr, with the shaikh al;ımad sitting on the prayer-carpet ofcestor above-mentioned, the n they began the musical recita\. thprepared loads of fire-wood which they kindled into a flarne, an

'lı ci-lief rariqa lınes 39

'. ' , . ""e of thenı rolled in the fire, and others>lnncıng, so... .

h d. . 1 th' .

1ojp'" . 1fı uythe

yextinguıs e ıt entıre y. ıs ıs

s unu na .'f h.

, cl. . the p

eculiar characterıstıc o t ıs

cor

j)1 an ıt ıs .lı n

some of thenı wıll take a large

snake

di bret re . . .

1 h hi .

lı

. teeth until they bıte ıt c ean t

roug .; ",ıth t eır

b b ttüta rnentions the related ijaidari

group

,İl a'

s'ot

'

\thof mashhad, derived frorn qutb

ad

~r9san ..'

.

'

h1 ce iron rıngs ın theır hands, necks

and ears,, o pa

bl. dl

'

rnale nıernbers so that thej are .un~

e to ı~ u ge ın

~",'.' th'" rifii 'i exe''''''' "grofy the.

v>ctory ol

~ the flesh and its ternporary annı~ılatıon ı~

absolute

:ı d""i,h" are ,riu nored 10'. the" fire-,,,~tant

and

'ıııg properties,4 the 1;laıdarı~ya spre~d ınto

iran,

»ı,5 and india6 where ıt was hnked wıth and

fınally

,tbe qalandari trend. a notable khiinaqiih was

that

r 'rüsi qalandari, situated on the banks of the

river

'iyya spread into egypt through the ageney of

abu

'iisi~i (d. 632/1234) and into syria through abu

'ali al-i:lariri (d. at buşra, capital of the ijawran,

'" whence this branch was known as the

ijaririyya.8

~ of jbn batma, tr. h. a. r. gibb, ii. 273-4.

djsciple of the qalandari, mul:ıammad ibn yünus

jamiil ad-din

~çe l\eeing before the mongol invasion who settled in

damascus

wed in 630/1232.

'on, iii. 7<)-80. .

l rifii:i gaye, the writer a demonstration of snake- and

scorpion

~ sın~p~~)ugg~ery. he also offered to teach for a

consideration

, ar-rifa i, whıch he guaranteed to ensure infa\1ible

th

' jj u arak, as shaikh of an establishment called diir

adhçrç were

present b.d f

-, d' ..'

'thia' ' esi es uqara an akkıs the dıgnıtarıes of

occasıon jaliil ad-din rümi excelled hims~1f in the

dance of

, tr. gibb, ii. 2

7 d .., . ı:ni}) i

, . 4 5, an french edn., lll. 439(tıbet)

.

. ,e ıgıon and p r' .1

'

pp. 286--'7. o ıtıes ın ndıa during the tkirteentk century,

~ire. 'deseription d . '

~ie of al-har- - n . e damas, j. asıat, ser. ix, v. 387-9,

404.

in fawiii al~~a iiajr:ı ~~-din m. b: lsrii'~l (a.~. 603-77),

~ho

'z~rdi. hasan lıat_(~i._269)' receıved hıs kkırqa from

shıhiib

ıde cair~ lat - awalıqı, a persian qalandari who founded

a

i. er went to 'ali

al h - -, -' . dd'i 1 u 5; maqrizi kk' - . ~rırı s zaıvıya ın amascus an

, ıtat, ed. caıro, a.h. 1326, iv. 3°1,

i

i

\

i

a/-maskyakha ıva '/-ıvilaya. h'2 ibn khallikan, cairo, 1299, i. 95-6. he was in fact succeeded, by'. ~~

son, 'ali ibn 'uthman. ıbn khallikiin also reports that the rıfa/ imemorized the poems of the local poet, ıbn al-mu'a1\im (d. 592119,

sang them at their concerts in order to excite themselves to e~st~sy

(o~.

400). al;ımad tried to get him to compose religious poetry; tıryaq; ra",

3 the first three are discussed subsequentlyi see pp. 4~-51' -::h

ahj1'1

was a yemenite tariqa founded by abu 'i-i:fasan Şafı ad-dm cl ~ı.'attiif ibn 'alwiin (d. 665/1266), who took the tariqa from ~~a ı8'

and al;ımad aş-Şayyad, kha/lfa of ıbn ar-rifa'ii al-wiisiti, tırya1i ~ineof attribute-tö'ifas is given in appendix h, most of them sınacentury family groups. '

,40 the chief '!' ar/qa lines

he was a noted malamati who was

İmprisoned

unde'

(

a.d. 1228-37), but was released by aş-Şii1i1.ı

isnıii'i! or

t

hat he kept away from damascus. another

branch '

(zawiya talibiyya) was founded by talib ar-

rifa'i (dl~

other syrian branehes were the sa' diyya or ]

ibiiwi ' ~

Şayya~iyya,3 there was a ziiwiya in ]

erusalenı,i it~a.,

anatoha among turks and ibn battüta iodged

fre p,

a1.ımadi (as he ealis the rifa'is)

establishments,5 one

visited in maehar, had seventy fuqarii', of

varied origin

persians, turks, and greeks.6 a group was even

foumaldive island of mahau

it is probably true to say that untii the

fifteenth cen

rifa'iyya was the most widespread of ali tariqas,

but ~century it began to ioose its popularity in favour

of the q!

whieh expanded as a tariqa, though never to

the extem

~e chief r ariqa line s 41.h d

reds of saindy figures of the

period,!~he un '

f'

ll'

"i ue way to become the inspırer o n:ı

ıons, a,q

f tı'tions and bestower of benefits,

rıght up too pe

d h, d .

, v tnumbers have accorde ım a evotıon~ a h h

. if, ,

lı

ondemnation of orthodoxy, yet e ımsetec d hi

' ,

b 1 w

ho would never have ma e suc c aıms,!tl a ı, .'

,(lı as a great preacher, but hıs reputatıon

was cer

>ii ı:d from the content of his sermons,l and

as for

tion there is not the slightest indication that

he was

.~ that he struck any new note, and it

seems likely

~tion for soundness was used by others

who .were

'~r such developments as paved the way

for ordmary

~cipate in the insights and experiences of

sufis.jidir was born in jilan,z where i:ianba1ism

was strong,~ came to baghdad in a.h. 488 and pursued a

legalis

jıianbali training, refusing to study at the ni?:amiyya

tm, al:ımad al-ghazali, had sueceeded his

brother

're received the khirqa of first investiture at

the handsr

"(,!

~, wherein he has produced milk with the cud equally, and has

'b statements that are groundless and false, being told on theons of no worth. so theyassert that the shaikh took thirteenthis pupil at a meeting; and that once when the shaikh was dis-one was moved, he said, "you are not moved and feel no

,qilj>s. manifest ycmr delight i", whereupon the lamps 'moved

about4anced' (tr. d. s. margoliouth, loc. cit., p. 310).

~ry~.taqi ad-din 'abd ar-ra1;ımiin al-wiisiti (d. a.d. 1343), alsowf. s book as a tissue of lies. he mentions the names of

authori

i that he was a kadhdhdb muttahim, an indicted liar. even

though,nterested

party sı'nce ıbn rif

-'-' h,h h , ,

, ,

n ar- a i ıs ıs ero, ıs cntıcısms. nd

feı;ough. he shows that shattanawfi's book has led

to ae o abd al

q -d' h,

ı" - a ır imse1f, whose undoubted qualities are

p~ ;:~ıng that he was a sufi subject to al;ıwdl and a

miraele

~ks include al- y-li'

(d

ash-shaikh 'ab: i ~ .768/1367), khulaşat al-mafdkhir

fi

ı,. ibn kh llikii al-qadır and the notice in his mir'dt al

ıt in his '

oa

b' n (~. a.d. 1282) did not consider him important

c. . ıtuanes' and m .b sh~'-:'(d, (rom the ob' " ' i n aı<.ır s . a.h. 764) account

.'1'. ıtuanes (bulaq, 1283/1866, ii. 2-3) contains

~l'-rabbtini a collecf f

'\1 works ~re th ıon o, 62 sermons deliyered in a,h. 545-6,

rlı<ıib

(tr w be collectıon of 78 of his discourses

under the, " raune le' ,}',entitled al-ghıın' a ı-ıp~ı,g~ 19~3) and a treatise on

legalistic

i{b..an and wh

hy, .1 falıbı tarıq al-ifaqq, cairo, 1322/19°5. :

ı'a

' en e vısıted th

e b .." h d .,'.

oıı. - jami. ai- w- , - a,a i. urıng hıs wanderıngs

f: a l;iasani nasab a(j~r sa.?'s that none of the genealogists

supyaq, p. so).

j see j. asiat. ix, v, 394. 2

see below:

3 founded by 'izz ad-din a1:ımad aş-Şayyiid (i,ıafid a. b.

ar-rifii'~

1273. on him and his successors see mul;ıammad abu 'i-

hudii a~.

(1850--19°9), tanwir al-abşdı; fi tabaqdı as-sddat ar-rifd'iyya,

c~

1306. ;

4 mujir ad-din, uns, tr. sauvaire, 1876, p. 167.

:s see travels, tr. gibb, ii. 436, 445, 449. abiiki has an

acco~t ,(t

ii. 2°3) of how tiij ad-din, great"grandson of al:ımad

ar-rifii'i, vısııe:

accornpanied by a group of dervishes who intrigued the

whole popula!.

their extraordinary perforrnances. tiij ad-din it seems settle?

ın.

since ıbn battüta reports on his corning to umm 'abida to

receıve th,

ture; tr. gibb, ii. 273. taqi ad-din al-wiisiti says that he

acco~pa

ad-din abü bakr ar-rifii'i, shaikh riwiiq umm 'abida, on the pı

gr:

the year 720/1321; tirydq al-mul,ıibbin, p. 72,

6 tr. h. a. r. gibb, ii. 479; 1928 edn., i. 2ii.

7

paris edn., 1879, iv. 141. jy

8 the rnost elaborate biography of 'abd al-qiidir, which

comp!ete 1

?is _~erson~lity and presents him as a great rniracle-

m~mger, bahj~:;dl

alııbn yusuf ash-shattanawfi(d. 713/1314), was wntten o~er

af dh-,

after his death (a.d. ii 66). the shorter and stili later notıce ~

ba va

(d. 748/1348), but based on ıbn an-najjiir, edited and

transiate he ~

42 the chief tariqa lines

of the i:ianbali faqih, abu sa' d 'ali al-mukharri . ,al-khaçlir', but there İs no İndİcation that he remı: b

traİning until he attended the school of abu '1-

~~v~dad-d abbas (d. 525/1131),1 to the disgust of dabbas' alr

who resented the İntrusİon of this i:ianbali. af ter th~s

~tiı.

have spent some twenty-five years as a wandering

asc:rdeserts of iraq. only İn 521/1127 when he was ove fi

old did he suddenly come into prominence as a

popu~

İn baghdad.2 from that date his reputation

grew, but a:ra~preacher, not as a sufi. he dressed like an 'iilim, not lik :

a madrasa with an attached rimf as a residence for hi:large family, and pupils was specially built for him (a,h. 52'there İs no evİdence that he ever daİmed to have a path or' anyone or İnitiated anybody. no sufis ascrİbed themselves:but to such men as al:ımad ai-ghaziili, abu najib as-suhra:ı and abu yüsuf al-hamadiini. taqi ad-din al-wasiti wrote;

'abd al-qadir was renowned during his lifetime for his sermo courses of religious instruetion, but he never at any time propany khirqat at-taiawwuf. however, af ter his death, with the p: of time, certain people were given his khirqa, then it grew throtİbaraha and expanded through highland and lowland . . . thitwo of his children who did not pursue a secular eareer were 'a razzaq [a.h. 528-603] and 'abd al- 'aziz [d. a.h. 602]. these two 9 set to work to propagate their father's way in all sineerity, temp and modesty, and in that movement they were assisted by certain and sympathetic associates of their father.3

t~ g>i ıef r ariq a l ınes . .,, _ d

teaching and other ınaterıal

found

,r, awra ,

h. 1 f ii

h ' lar gelyborrowed. ıs ater o owers

,\6 beıng . id.bl

,1

, f .,.,yster

yteachıng he cou not possı

y

3 ıne o u' .

h.

, . '

d qa

- diri would attrıbute to ıs

master

. ı.nspıre .

:", ht ıo have done ,ndthe o~erftow~1ı'

he ~x

. ijıg a state of jadhb; thıngs hke t~e -

~~terestıng

'l1ire called al-?hawthiyy~ ~r,al-mı.ra;ıyya.ı .

sh'~\'''wfi' ahd ,i-ood'" ~npd' ıan~ht- h"

,) in v,riou, parts of the 1,ı_c world, alı al

en muhaınınad al-bata'i1)i in syria, and

mu1)am

as~sam~d in egypt. this is unlikely since'

abd

po . ,y'''''' lot ,lone path, to he in"oduced,

and

'(l) as margoliouth has pointed out,3 does not

support

'c his sons propagated his way throughout

the muslim

gh q1idiri centres existed in iraq and syria in

a.d.

1ıı,dicates that it spread at all widely or rapidly

before

"jej1tury. in the course of time a body of rules,

teach

,et:ice was formed,4 and some shaikhs began

to initiate

~t\lo his name because his fame as an

intercessor was.

iraq it remained a local baghdadi fii'ifa,5

centred

p

ter but it

i b' '

l f -j~ r bb- ' '

, ' - uyu<,ıat at- a anıyya, caıro, a.h. 1353,

because İt was suspect 'abd ai-qiidİr's silsila rardy figui other than qiidİri lines, for İnstance, in the attributions in saı, salsabil.4 the order attributed to him produced few famous

i ıbn aj-athir, xi. 80; m. b. shakir, fawiit al-wafiiyiit, ii. 3; al.tityiiq, p. 54; al-yafi'i, mir'iit al-jiniin, iii. 242, h

2 it is noteworthy that his biographers give no indication that he ei

contact, let alone training, with any of the great sufis of the

da~, e~j

one story of his appealing to y~suf al-hamadani (visite~

baghdad ~:i tttıbn al-athir, x. 496-7), and thıs very account shows hıs lack

of d 'g b

the story goes that 'abd aj-qadir, troubjed by inner voices or

e~l~hego out and preach, consulted yüsuf aj-hamadani, 'the qutb ~- yo'yüsuf tojd him: 'since you possess the jight of fiqh and the 9u; ao,now preach to the peopje. hesitate no longer! mount the pulplt ı

3 aj-wasit~, tiryiiq, p~. ~3-~. -,'

es (oı.ırıu

4 we read ın ıbn khallıkan (11.440) ofjuqara tracıng tlıemse~v i.qadir"bim ilaihi) to abmad ar-rifa'i, but no such attributions to 'ab a

. tı balıja, cairo edn., 1304, pp. 101, 109-10.

~.

,ila trııditian music and the rhythmic dance were not

introduced

';if. 'abd al-qiidir's great-grandson, shams ad-din.

xokrences to the family in the chronides of baghdad,

such ~s

~pointment of one of them as shaikh of a newly-built

timt ın

,\.fuwati, al-i;iawddith al-jiimi'a, baghdad, a.h. 1351, pp.

2,

r:aferences to its influence elsewhere. the mongol

conquest

!!\ş rame the tomb had acquired and when that

assiduous tomb

~t;:ı went to baghdad in 727/1326 he makes no

mention of it.,p. 1"~ n, 5.

44 the chief t ariqa lines

in egypt it has never been a popular order. in ind' ,

become an estabiished order until the arrival of

~ i

ghawth (d. a.d. 1517), who claimed descent

from '.abd u,

and even then it remained localized. the author

of a'i ,a

writing ab out a.d. 1600, does not include the

tariqa n-ı '" orders represented in india. around

a.d. 155° it was ~~( from hijaz into the funj state

of the two niles by 1'/

al-bahari al-baghdadi.2 during the turkish

expansion j,

minor there is no evidence that the qadiri as a

distinct \,ascription was represented among the multitudes

of dei

carving out their niches of holiness within the

reiigious eciej

of that region. the order was only introduced in

any de

fashion into istanbul through the energetic

initiative of

rümi (d. 1041/1631 or 1053/1643), who

founded a khang'

töp-khaneh. he is called pir thiini (second

master), which i

that he was the first to introduce it (the first

master, of cours

tabd al-qadir), and he is said to have founded

same 4° (

tekkes in the region.3

ciiief rariqa llnes 45

, e h few schools of mystical insight had

'

y thoug d.h kh- _ h h

.h~;,' 't the cities abounde wıt a'}aqa- s w ıc

>ı,gjp , both east and wes~. such khana~ahs, how~,froın ı:

sı

' onal institutlons and had httle effecth and proıes, i life of fazlahin.

: the electei home of ash-shadhili, the

chiefich his teaching spread, to become

eventuaııy one

1h s. 'two egyptian tariq,: f~unders w~o~e

orders

jınad al-badawi and ib~ahım ad-das~qı.

al:ı.mad'6/u99) was an egyptıan by adoptlon, for

he. ~rab family which had emigrated to fez and

then,

':e hijaz.' he was orig~~aııy a rifati and

receiv~dthe centre in the bata ıl:ı. of iraq~ on the death ın ._.bu 'l-fatl:ı. al-wasiti, khalifa of

al:ı.mad ar-rifati, ;'tl of ash-shiidhili and from a.h. 620 rifati represen

ıt, the 'iraqi brethren sent al:ı.mad to take his place.2 o tanta, won great renown, and received divine found his own way. he died in 675/1276 and his :a was to become the most famous sanctuary and place

$gypt. his order, known as the al:ı.madiyya but better }, the badawiyya to avoid confusian with other orders

name, gave rise to a number of branches,3 not conpt,. ~or it spread into hijaz, syria,

turkey, tripohu.nısıa.

,n abi 'l-majd ad-dasüqi (c~ 644/1246-687/1288) was

sufi .but cam~ from the soil of the nile banks, being age ınto .a baraka-inheriting familyand deriving his ilo~er vıllage with

which he was associated. ash\;1isıder~b,le notice on him4 consists mainly

of quotai jawahır, a book of instructions to murids

'and httleut his life. he is shown to have been ini~iated

intodi, 5 rita 'i, and badawi chains, and then received

i: gives an account f h' r '

tat al-kubra c' o ıs ıfe and dicıa transmitted by his brotherhis nisba of' ı-~ır~, a:h. 1355, i. 158-63.

he was cal~ d aı ~1 through having arrived in egypt

wearing

,hiiji berber~ a:h-s~~~t~t~am, 't~e ~uffied', but it is

unlikely,of the eastern a b ranı (op. cıt. ı. 160, i. 16) says he

worebranch . .ra s) from childhood.at- t

bes ~s gıven in appendix e.

,j , . a aqat al k b ,~ith najrn ad-d- u ra, a.h: 1355, i. 143-58.

ın mal:ınıud al-işfahani? al-wasiti, tiryaq,

2. egypt and the maghrib

egypt and the maghrib constitute a special

zone, since

orders founded in these regions, mainly in the

next phase

in the maghrib they underwent a unique

development, dispread far beyand their confines, or at least outside 1

further, the sufis of the region contributed httle

during tlı

matiye period to the doctrines and method of

taşawwuf.

a number of eminent sufis were egyptians, at

least bytion: dhü 'n-nün (d. a.d. 860), whose father

came fro

nubian stretch, the greatest arab sufi poet, tumar

ibn al

(d. a.d. 1234), of syrian parentage but bom and

live~ i~ eand al-büşiri (d. a.d. 1296), important because of hıs ınf!,

d'

abu madyan, d. 1i97madyaniyya

yüsuf b. kbaiaf ai-kümid. 1i80

'abd ar-razziiqai- j azülid. aiexandria

~abu 'i-

l;iajjiij yüsuf ai-uqşuri d. luxor, 1244

i shammiis an-nübi

i imuj).yyiddin abu müsiiıbn ai- 'arabi as-sadrati

d. 124° i

'abd ai-wahhiib ai-hindi

i

a/pnad b. muj).ammad at- tabmsi (dabbiisi) at- tünisi

i'ali ibn maimün d. lebanon, isli

ii i i'aiawiin 'ali mm b. 'arriiq 'ali b.

al,unadb. 'atiyya d. 1526 ai-kizwiinid. 1530 khawii1iriyya d. 1548

(syria) ii i i

abu sa 'id 'abd ar-ral)miin yal:ıyii b.ai-hanşaliai-haznüri

'abd al- 'azizi d.

13°7 ai-l;iaj.ıii i i i i i i i i

sa 'id ibn yüsufi i

d. 1702hazmiriyyal;liil}iyya

hanşaliyya

ı\1)n1ad ibn ar-rİfii'i, d. 1182

rilii'iyya

i \

ai:ımad ai-badawi al)mad aş-Şayyiid

d. tanta, 1276 d. 1273

,j pm"' iıbrahim ad-dasüqi al)mad

badawiyyad. 1288 ibn 'aiwiin

branehesdasüqiyya-burhiimiyya d. 1266

'alwiinlyya(yemen)

ya!:ıyaal-qiidiri (qarafi?)

iaqmad b. 'uqba al-l;iaı;lrami (egypt)

r i i

.ci b. al-'arüa aqmad az-zarrüq

d. c. 1494

~zarrüqiyyakarziiziyya rashidiyya ete.

yiiqüt ai- 'arshid. aiexandria, 707/1307

ishihab ad-din ai-mablaq

iniişir ad-din ai-mablaqd. 797/1394

ishams ad-din muj).ammad ai-i;ianafi d. 847/1443 l;ianaftyya(egypt)

i i i i

darqawiyya

46 the chief t ariqa lines

permission to found an independent

lariqa. 1'h'

the.lbra1:ıimiyya until t~e ~nth century a.:a.

whenl:d~as :'

caiiıng themselves dasuqıs. it was also known

as th ere

from his .laqah burhan ad-din. like the badawİ

yy

e

d d '

d d

'

"

hief tarjqa lines 47"he c

,', -'i ties of fraternity aı:d extrasensory contact

,}fa, n them. i on hıs return he settled at"cl betwee .,

cl h d"'''. hİngand reputatıon stırre t e envy an

, hıs teac '

~ al hade 'ulama'; he was summoned to the

,e m?ve an account of himself and died on thefİlsh to gl

i f 'd ')

iııge of 'dbbiid (presumab y a centre o

evotees

..'..ı. . ctive madyani way derives from him and hedjısun

s fi f i i,', f the twelfth-eentury u s o western s am,#e1'0 . b

.a .

b f'iıv ıv1adyani tii'ifas came ınto eıng. num er o'hjg spiritual sons and .grandsons wen,t to ~.?!'pt- andi"fame there.2 these ıncluded abu 1-l;iajjaj yusuf, toms obieer, who founded a ziiwiya at luxor in the'emple of amun where he died (642/1244)

and whose jbecame the most famous in upper egypt.3 another \iajjaj's master, 'abd ar-razzaq al-iazüli, who went

zawiya aseribed to dhü 'n-nün at akhmim and then>,vhere he is buried. other western sufis who found

(dial spiritual home in the east were the andalusians

:1>i" (d. damascus 638/124°), ibn sab'in (d. meceaı;rnd the latter's diseiple the poet shushtari (d.

668/1269rta), a madyani by mystical ascription, who

wrote../hslıamt poems which have continued to be popular iii!1ıa{iras to this day.4 in ierusalem

there is a ziiwiya '~.' a grandson of abu madyan situateq near bab as~ ijaram ash-

sharif whieh still survives.,y.an's 'v!ay was perpetuated through his

pupii, 'abd: mashısh (d. 625/1228), and the latter's most eminent

"i 'l-ijasan 'ali ash-shadhili whose wa

y caiied the'b ' ,c. was to eeome the most important in north afrieaırınta, ril:ıla, cairo edn. 1

928 i 599 (lawa 'h .. ""l o e

ql., ii. 19,1. 27) that abu madyan himself sent manygypt. these i i d d hth . ne u e t e son

madyan from whom hee sıte of hi t

b

. .' "

.;ıajjiij al-u ur-s om ıs_~entıoned; op. cıt., ı.

133.4ian of ch <ı;ş . i see.a~-badısi, maqfad (pp. 153-7), ,where hisined sha' ?s~ıan ongın, sharnmiis an-nübi, and other 'com

~ vi~ited {i:n~ohas a. notice on him in lawaqil,ı (i.

136-7),

m. !it- targhi (d qb (i. ~°7). another irnmigrant berber

was

it-qÜsi (d at 'qat ena, 592/ii96), master of abu 'i-i;!asan

'ali.[cs on ıh~ ena, 613/1216).

"'

ai- se poems have

d .m d _.

," 1 b, 'atiyy d appeare ın a yanı cırcles, e.g. the

i$htariyya' see ;~ . a.~. 1~30), an-nafal,ıat al-qudsiyya

fi sharl,ı, n al- ,imad, shadharat, viii. 218.

i~ :111

iii

iii111'11

iii i,

iili i~

ıili

i~i

,i~

1%

'ııı

ii

~

)i

1

%

i'

~

iililll iiiiii.

!ii~

1~

1

111

11iii

1

'11

% ii~

48 the chief 'fariqa lines

from morocco to egypt and alsa to gain a foliowin .arabia. ,g in s}(

this abu 'l-l;iasan, born in the village of ghunı.~ .

west in 593/1196, received his first khirqa from

abu ~~~~n f

b. l;iarazim (d. 633/1236), a pupil of abu mad

yan i-ial .

6 h h d h

.,' ewelın a.h. 15,

w ere e was rawn to t e rıia i schoola?u 'l-fat\ı al- wiisiti as his shaik~ (a.d. 618). he beca~ea~~wıth the search for the qutb (pıvot) of the universel,

'l-fat\ı told him to return to the west where he

would ~n~he returned and eventually found him in 'abd as-saı~mashish of fez who 'prepared him for the walaya'.2 latthe advice of 'abd as-saliim, he left morocco to go into retei a cave near a yillage of ifriqiya called shiidhila, whence deri~nisba. periodicaliy he went out on preaching and teaching t,thereby incurring the hostility of the tunisian 'ulama'. sodid the persecution become that, in spite of the supportsultan, abu zakariyya al-l;iafşi, he was driven to take refıegypt, where he won great renown, not onlyamong the pop but surprisingly enough even with 'ulama'. he made a pr~of going on i,ıajj every year and he died at i:iumaithrii on tht sea coast whilst on the way back from one of them in 656/1

we have said that it is usually impossible to pierce througmists of pious legend to the real men beneath. a few lettı abu 'i-hasan have survived which show him as a very lıshaikh, ~ leader of pilgrimages, whose personal dedicatioınot weaken his concern for the welfare of his followers. b addition they enable us to discern how he and other tariqa ltwere able to become the inspirers of enduring sy~tems,correspondence is inaccessible to me but here is a testımony value from p. nwyia:

this correspondence shows not only that sbadhili

had a decf ~

ledge of the sufi teaching of the eastem doctors, bu.t a ~ers~?a di~

b

e

i

sufism as '

ıt was not

so much that he preached to them a sımp e b his lt:

he had

the quaiities of a spiritual master as is revealed / ualil'he certainly

formed no intellectual system, but he ha q

"cairo, 1>,11:1

i see al;ı.mad b, m. b. 'abbad, al-mafiikhir al- alıyya,j

p. ıo; and for the qutb see below, pp. 163-5. jurisdict~ waliiya used in this way has the sense of 'spiritual office or 3 see ıbn battüta, 1939 edn., i. 42.

d ıef

tariqa lines 49'fhe cn .

cl knew how to extract from his

personal exınel1t al1 1:

aluable to others.

was 'v

ii ~ haikh sa' ilj, or 'vagabond ascetic' did

not,-:j,jl as as'

i i. i b h.

~". bs into any specıa ru e or ntua, ut

ısnte hıs pup

o d. . 1 . . 1

, ' dbyhis disciples. ne ıscıp e ın partlcu

ar,. roaıntaıne

i ) 1 . , ah d

aı-mursi (616/1219-686 1287 , anda

usıanbis ma .

d. d

;., . '. ed his circle 111 alexan na, was regar ed as'\\,ıbo )oın b

.1 f h

. th'i d a ribiit with a mosque was uı t or ım. etor, an ' ll

'd 1m d h

.

)f an shadhili tariqa at a ıs ~e to a -. ursı an ıs

:ta' yd-din ibn 'ata' allah 'abbas (d. caıro

709/1309),2

; ) aaccount of the life and sayings of both

abu 'i-basan

;ı~abbas3 and collected their awrad. pupils

carried on

ıf ash-shadhili in scattered zawiyas having

little con

th each other. in ifriqiya his name was kept

aliye by

''''oup of pupils with whom abu 'i-basan had

kept up

ndence af ter he had been forced to leave the

country.4

".~ia.n deriyatiye was the wafa'iyya, founded by

shams

: ıbn a~mad wafa' (7°1/1301-760/1359),5

whose son

:1'357-807/14°4) is one of the great names in

egyptian

'be wafa'iyya spread into syria6 and survived in egypt

f'ffgsent century.

la, ibn 'abbdd de randa, beirut, 1958, p. 124.

t one egyptian line, the i;lanafiyya, came directly from al-mursi; see

bie of spirimai genealogies. on the founder muhammad al-hanafi

,~, sae sha'riini, at-tabaqiit al-kubrii, ii. 81--'92 (the ascription' is on

ı mubiirak, khitat jadida, iv. 99-102.

,ıız..mıııan, ?y tiij ad-din aqmad ibn 'ata' ahah al-iskandari, comid. 1284, prınted on margin of ash-sha 'rani latii'ı

ifal-minan cairo;1 , .

"

,t!ıc8c wrote short lives of their master, which also include

selections

.,rjlspondence' m h

d.b s .

'tir (cd t " u.am~a i n aş- .abbagh,kıtiib durrat al-asriir wa..

f-' u:ıı~), compıled about 720/1320' and 'abd an-nür

ibn" i ",anaqıb ab- '

i h

' .u-. asan ash-shiidhili, composed ab out 745/

aı:nmad wafii' (i kn -',

tor his a~zab sa so ?~ıı- as m. bal;ı.r- aş-Şafa) ı:n~. hıs

son alı,

la from da'"d ,~e sha ranı; at-tabaqat al-kubra, 11. 19-

60. he

ı-din menf u i n bakhili and he from ıbn 'ata' ahah.

.11"$ al-jal:?n.~ a :iiwiya in jerusalem in his time (he died

in 927/

)-::wafii' caıie~' k~,tr. sauvaire, p. 147. he is to be

distinguished

ı:ü with the kh' ı~h (417/1026-501/1107). this abu 'i-wafa'

hu.nbuki (tcnthırqa lıne founded by abu mul;ı.ammad

'abdahah

b<wafii'iyya h,c~n:ury), hence the double name given to

it of

İs 'abdaıiii: ıc ıs one of the silsilas to which ibn ar-rifa'i

was

o famous in ~~nv~rte_~. the former highway robber

abu 'i-wafa',e ata ıl;ı. that he was nicknamed taj al-' arifin.

u '~iı

ı

,11\\

ii

iiı ~\\\

ii

i

iıi

i i

il

. '.ilm

ii'

i\\~i

iii ~i

ii~

''ii

ii ıili

"

the chief t ariqa lines

through the circulation of ibn 'atil' allilh's w k

hili way began ~o spre~d in th~ lv!a?hrib,

whic~r hsa~hj

the master. but ıt remaıned an ındıvıdualistic trad' .

m 1- h h h. ıtıona amatı, t oug t ıs term was

not used, placing

.h i

. ,f h , .

i. ı:stro

upon t e cu tıvatıon o t e ıntenor he. shildhilis w(references to investment with the khirqa now be

gintor

cle..o

ısaand no popular form of devotıons was encoura

ged it. w<ıı

clear

that faqr (poverty) meant no life of mendicity or

withdrawal from normallife, rather the term refers to th c~.

i 'ı: th ' '

b h.

d

.e

~1he. ıs ıs roug t out ın or er to poınt the contrast \ "

fifteenth-century shiidhili mavement to which the

diffu~abu '1-i;iasan's silsila is largely due, a devational movementaffected every family in the maghrib. i

the period of the early marinids of morocco (full cl))

span, 1195-'147°) and early l;iafşids of ifriqiya (a.d. 1228~

was important for the flowering of western sufism. like thjuqs in the east, the marinids and i;iafşids paralleled the fotion of madrasas with patronage of sufi: leaders and their ztithe marinid, abu '1-i;iasan, af ter his capture of tilimsan i1337, sponsored the development of a large establishment ar"the tomb of abu madyan by building a mosque, madrasa, ~baths, and ancillary buildings. thus fiqh and taşawwuf b~ mutually tolerated companions. sufism in the maghrib, as ali nilotic sudan, became a subject for regular teaching compwith the acquisition of legal sciences. this contrasts. with ':relationship in arab near east in: general, where classıcal su.

was just tolerated. . .

it is clear that abasic, continuative madyani tradltıo~

maintained in the maghrib quite distinct from the sh~

which was then more egyptian than maghribi, being known

, 'crown of the gnostics'. on him see especiaily al-wiisiti, tiryıiq, pp,

i~ater accou_nt.s are ~o:ı~~ in ~oilections like sha 'riini,.

law~~ii,ı, ~~'e~~~~~"abdal-qadır al-jılanı ıs saıd 'to have frequented hıs majlıs an he

rog

his baraka', but was not initiated by him (tiryiiq, p, 42), ~o~

~as ii' ibnas one of abu 'l-wafii's starpupils: 'someone said to shaık a~

50 ci

"o my lord, was there among the disciples of abu 'l-wa~~'

~n~rnrepıied

away by the flashings'of ecstasy as 'abd al-qiidir al-jılı?,ı we fii'

se,1god's glory! there were ranged under the banner of abu . - ~an 'a

he chief rariqa lines

51

d,

gonly slowly westwards, not

becoming5"rea ın .

1 al w - . -

., .t'

fifth-century revıva. - asıtı, wntıng ınıe teen d

,' h t'

l' -'

.~ lls the madyani tra ıtıon t e i imsamyya,1

't32~, c~ with it provided the nuclei from

which

,!!socıate t

be

gan. ıbn qunfudh in his uns al-

faqir,o.oveınen . .

ii d. h h l

'f

'. 385and prıncıpa y concerne wıt t e i e

,ı.d. 1 ,-';1'm th

i entions2 sıx ta ıjas ın western orocco. e

';~;g from abu muj::ıamm~d ?iilij::ı ibn

(yanşiiran)

'l(e. 55o/1155-631/1234), ~ dıscıple of a?u

madyan,

~enty years in ale~a~dna ~nd, on hıs

return to

rioıınd a ribiit at aşfı, ıntensıfied the

mavement of

~he hoiy places. he wrote a talqin al-wird

and had

'ıare froın the enmity of the fuqahii' .3 at the

end of the

,.,enth century his order was in a state of

confusioıı

ındant, a!::ımad ibn ıbriihim al-miigiri, wrote

a life

,vıhiij al-wiirji~ in order to preserve the

name of the

i the charge of bid' a cast upon it by the miiliki

bigots, as

,coıınt his kariimiit or manifestations of god's

favour.

~,)1ed berber groups included: the shu'

aibiyyun,

nı. abu shu'aib ayyub b. sa'id, patran saint

of

lo a.d. ıı6s) and one of the masters of abu

ya'azza;

'm, from abu zakariya yaj::ıyii al-i;iiij::ıi; the

gham

," ,f aghmatiyya) or hazmiriyya, from abu zaid

~

"ii i~

,\11

50

ıw ıı

'ii

iii

111l

,111'

ıı,

~\\~

\\\1,

!it

1\\1

li' illi

anıan, turkish, and indi an spheres

:uian world sufis blended the two traditions of interior

.at which came to be linked with the name of al~ mesopotamian), and that associated with abu yazid

!' ttryıiq, p. 49.i to these gr .1

1

. lıand

ı'

ao~ps wı be found in g, s. colin's translatıon of

t e" sı, rchıv

mn

.

~

onda b' . aroc. xxvi (1926), 207-8; see also p,

wyıa,

,',

,eırut, 1958, pp. xxx-xxxi; a. faure, art. 'hazmiriyyun',

isi, m

aq

'ad. " pp. 92-3, 196.

52. the chief r ariqa linesal-bistami(mahimati: khurasanian).ı iranian sufis tended to express greater individualism, divergent tendencies, and heterodox doctrines and practiccs, and consequently it was here that such tendendes are reflected in later orders. many sufis were strongly drawn towards 'ali as the source of esoteric teaching, and imamitwelver (and to a lesser degree isma'ili) ideas survived under the cloak of sufism. later, these were to come into the open and consolidate themselves in neworders (dhahabiyya, nürbakhshiyya, ni'matullahiyya, and bektashiyya), or as with the Şafawiyya, whose head in the early sixteenth century became the master of iran, actually change from a sunni to a shi'i order.

the accompanying tree of spidtual genealogies, which shows some aspects of the merging of the two traditions, serves at least to introduce the names of famous sufis whose leadership and ideas were deeply to influence subsequent orders. two significant figures in central asian sufi history were abu '1-i:iasan 'ali al-kharaqani (d. a.d. 1034 at the age of 80), who regarded himself as the spiritual heir of al-bistami,2 and abu 'ali al-farmadhi (d. a.d. 1084). two of the latter's pupils, important in that from them the chief lines of mystical ascription are derived, are al).mad al-ghazali (d. 520/1126), younger brother of the better-known abu i:iamid, and yüsuf al.hamadani (441/1049-535/1140). the name of abu i:iamid al-ghazali has been inserted in the tree to show why he counts so little in the teaching as well as the ascriptions of the orders. he comes fully within our definition of a sufi, but, though his mysticism of intellectual insight and understanding is acknowledged, he is not regarded as being a practising sufi by the ecstatics and gnostics. abaki reports jalal ad-din rümi as commenting:l'imam mol)ammed ghazali a nettoye la mer de la science dans le monde des anges; il en a leve l'etandard; il est devenu le guide de l'univers et le savant des mortels. s'il avait eu un atome d'amour

i see al-wasiti, tirydq, p. 47. other early khurasanian shaikhs with strong malamati tendencies included yüsuf ibn al-i;iusain ar-razi (d. 3°1/913), abu i;iafş al-i;iaddad (d. 2.65/879), and abu 'uthman al-ha iri (d. 2.98/911).

2 on al-kharaqani see e. berthel's article in islamica, iii. 5 ff.; farid ad-din 'anar, tadhkirat al-awliyd', ed. r. a. nicholson, 19°5-7, ii. 2.01-55. de beaurecueil has pointed out (khawdd,ja 'abdulldh anşdri, beirut, 1965, pp. 65-6) a number of traits which kharaqiini and bistami had in common; apart from the fact that they came from the same district, they were both illiterates who, on their own, without the supervision of any murslıid, sought to follow the way to god by direct divine guidance.

the chief r ariqa lines 53

ınystique comme al;ımed ghazali, cela aurait mieux valu, et il

aurait

coi1i1u le mystere de la proximite mahometane, comme

al).med l'a

col1nu, car il n'y a rien de pareil, dans l'univers, a l'amour

d'un ma1tre,

d'ul1 directeur spirituel, d'un introducteur [des profanes

aupres de la

divil1ite). i

the twe1fth century was a period of transition in these

regions

towards a distinctively persian sufism, for which the

way had

been prepared by sufi poets like abu sa'id ibn abi 'l-

khair

(a.d. 967-1049).2 with this movement abu ya'qüb

yüsuf al

hamadani al-büzanjirdi (a.d. 1049-1140) is espedally

assodated.

he left his native lür-kurd village in hamadan province

for

baghdad, where he studied fiqh under the famous

shiifi 'i jurist,

abu isl).aq ash-shirazi (d. a.d. 1083)' he did brilliantly,

espedal1y

devoting himself to 'ilm an-naşar (rationalism), and was

put in

i cı. huart, les saints des derviches tourneurs, 1918, i. 2.00. see

also ıbn

the chief t ariqa lines: of a class of students. then suddenly 'he abandoned all the tical speculation to which he had been devoted and took f off into retreatto prepare to dedicate himself to the thingsreally mattered-the personal life of devotion in

god's :, to calling people to god, and to guiding his contem~s along the right path'. i he returned to hamadan, then todividing his time between there and herat. many famous ıscribed themselves to him, but from two of his khalifas ticular spring two major lines of ascription, one persian, 1 from 'abd al-khaliq al-ghujdawani, the other turkish, 1 from alfmad al- yasavi.paths of these great central asian sufis, af ter taking root iranians, also took hold of the expanding turks, and were

jortant factor in facilitating their adjustment to islam.

ascriptions and tendencies spread with their dispersion, ess accelerated by the mongol

conquests, and became lly influential at the far extremes, in anatolia and india.

al- yasavi stands as the prototype of all the turkish sufis; m him derives i:hijji bektashz as a kin d of mythical symbol :lreds of migrating turkish biibiis,3 whose name served as nym of a famous tariqa. the yasavi tradition was strongly 1 from the beginning. alfmad began his training under a 1 shaikh, arslan baba, af ter whose death he went to a, at that time stili largely iranian, to join yüsuf al-ani' s circle, becoming his khalifa number four.4 later, he :l his po si tion to return to turkestan to become the head mp of turkish-ascribed shaikhs (sar-i silsila-i mashii'ikh-ia long line of turkish mystics derive from his inspiration with the migration of biibiis, spread among the turks ofi. whereas the mawlawiyya, which thrived in certain khallikan (wafaydt, cairo, a.h. 1299, iii. 426) quoting

ibn an-najjar

~45), who in turn is quoting abu sa 'd as-sam'ani (d. 562/ıı66), hismerv.tasiti shows (tirydq, p. 47) that the derivation of the khirqa of sayyidi-khurasani, nazil bildd ar-rüm, from al).mad al-yasavi was accepted1320.İs the turkish term for a missionary or popular preacher. ata

is an>mmon designation and title for a holy man. .irst khalifa was 'abd al-khaliq, the second 'abdallah barqi, and the 1 mul:ıammad i;iasan al-andaqi (d. a.d. ii 57). it İs highly unlikely ıad succeeded to the leadership ol the bukharan circle as yasavi asserts.bn i;iusain al-wa'İ~, rashal;uit 'ain al-l;ıaydt, pp. 8-9.

the

chief tariqa lines 55

drcles in anatolia, belonged to the iranian tradition, the khalwatiyya derived from this central asian turkish tradition, but its treatment has been reserved for the next chapter.

having inserted a genealogical table it may be well to remark that the lines of ascription up to this age do not imply the descent of one rule. sufis still wandered about seeking masters, many did not'transmit any one tradition, but formed their own ways from their various sources of enlightenment. this is particularly the case with the order-founders. the difference af ter their establishment is that they become true silsila-tariqas, that is to say, the line traced back through certain figures is consciously maintained. these chains of authority are of ten very complicated. whilst that from the founder to the ancestor tends to become stable, the lines of each individual khalifa back to the founder varied.

the main tariqas emerging from the central asian tradition which survived in some form were the kubriiwiyya, yasaviyya, mawlawiyya, naqshabandiyya, chishtiyya, and bektashiyya. we will give a short account of the founder and the development of the tradition, with the exception of l;iajji bektash, whose re1ationship to the order attributed to him is tenuous, whilst the order itself comes more appropriately into the next stage of development.

(a) kubriiwiyya

from najm ad-din kubra (54°/114.5-618/1221)1 stem many chains of mystical ascription or deriyatiye orders, mostly now defunct but important for the historical range of the orders and for their sanads of dhikr practices. although born in khiva (khwarizm) najm ad-din followed a course of ascetic discipline in egypt under the persian shaikh-sii'ilj, rüzbihan al-wazzan almişri (d. 584/1188), disciple of abü najib as-suhrawardi, from,whom he received his first khirqa, but it was not until his search led him to baba faraj of tabriz that he adopted the full sufi life. another teacher was 'ammar ibn yasir al-bidlisi (d. c. a.d. 1200),but hisreal trainingtook place under isma'il al-qaşri(d. 589/1193), who gaye him the khirqa of tabarruk. he settled eventually in his natiye khwarizm and built a khiinaqiih in which he trained a number of remarkable men, including majd ad-din al-baghdadiz

i on najm ad-din kubra see f. meier's edition of his fawd'il;ı al-jamdl wa fawdtil;ı al-jaldl (wiesbaden, 1957) which contains a valuable study of his life and thought.

2 the nisba probably relates to baghdiidak in khwiirizm.

isaif ad-din sa 'id al-bakharzid. bukhara 658/1260

ibadr ad-din firdawsi as-samarqandi

inajib ad-din mul).anunad d. delhi

isharaf ad-din al].mad b. yal).yii al-maniri .d. 1380

, firdawsiyya (in biliar, lndia)

ı farid ad-din

'aniird. c. 1225

najm ad-din kubrii d. 618jl221 kubrawiyya

ii

majd ad-din al-baghdadid. 616/1219

ii

ra4i ad-din 'ali-i liiliid. 642/1244

iaq.mad al-

gurpiinid. 669/1270

inür ad-din 'a.r. al- isfarii' ini al-kasirqi d.717/1317 nüriyya

irukn ad-din'ala:' ad-dawla as-siınniini d. 736/1336

ı najm ad-din ad-diiyad. i256

i Şadr ad-din

ıbrahimd. 1322 bal;ıriibiid ta 'ifa

isa 'd ad-din al-i;iamüya d. 650/1252

i ı 'aziz b. m.

an-nasafi d. 661/1263

,-i,d: 8ofj/ı/jp'5

1ashrafiyya

(oudh, lndia)

rrashid ad-

dinm. al-baidiiwiiri

i'ali al-baidiiwiiri

\mul).amma

d b. Şiddiqal-

khiyüshiibi,

l;iusainal-khwiirizmi

,ya'qübibn al-h.asanal-kashmiri

\ya'qübiyya(in india)

r, abdallahal-barzisha:badi al-mashhadi

-ıdhahabiyya (shiraz)

\mu\)ammad ibn , abdallah

al-msa'i=nürbakhshd.869/1465

1,

qasim faiq.-bakhsh nürbakhshiyya

\ shams ad-

dinal-lahiji

d. 912/1506lahjaniyya

56 the chief r ariqa lines

(d. a.d. 1219), who was the shaikh of the great persian

poet,

farid ad-din 'ahar (d. c. a.d. 1225), author of manlig at-

rair

('speeeh of the birds'), an allegorieal mathnawi whieh

traees the

spiritual pilgrimage through 'seven valleys' (stages) with

deep

insight. najm ad-din fell vİctim to the mongol saek of

khwarizm

in a.d. 1221. although most of his works are in arabie he

wrote

in persian a Şifat al-iidiib (rules of eonduet) for the

guidanee of

neophytes, whieh forms an important landmark in the

trend to

wards the lranization of sufism.

from many of najm ad-din's khalifas no defined

braneh orders stemmed but rather a kubrawi tii'ifa

loealized a~ound the khalifa's

tomb, to whieh were attaehed a eonvent and

aneillary buildings.

many establishments of this kind were visited by ıbn

battüta in

a.d. 1333. these included that of najm ad-din himself

outside

khwarizml and that of saif ad-din al-bakharzi (d.

658/1260),

who reeeived the adherenee of berke, khan of the

golden horde,

to islam,2 and whose tomb and eonvent in bukhara

were built

under timur's patronage.3 anather khalifa was the shi'i,

sa'd

ad-din m. al-i:iamüya (or i:iamüyi, d. c. 650/1252),

i ıbn battüta, paris edn., iii. 5-6." ıbn khaldun, 'ibar, bulaq, 1867, v. 534.

3 ıbn battuta (iii. 27), who attended asama' at the convent when

songswere sung in turkish and persian.

.. most derivatives branched out from one line, that of najm ad-din's

most

forceful and independent pupil, majd ad-din al-baghdiidi; see kubriiwi

table.

s according to .a'in-i akbari, 1948 edn., iii. 407-8.

the chief r ariqa lines

57

sayyid 'ali ibn shihab ad-din b. m. al-hamadani, b. hamadan 714/1314, d. in pakhli 786/1385, and buried at khotlan in tajikistan. the ~efinitive establishment of

islam in kashmir is ascribed to three visits of this vagrant sufi in a.d. 1372, 1379, and 1383. he was associated with a migratian of sevenhundred sufis seeking a haven from the mongols under timur,

followed byanother three hundred under 'ali' s son, mir mu1;ıammad,1

ightishashiyya,2 a khurasani braneh founded by is1;ıaq al-khutta

lani (assassinated by emissaries of shah rukh in 826/1423), a pupil of 'ali al-hamadani. from him

through his pupil, 'abdallah barzishabadi mashhadi, eame the shi'i order of dhahabiyya (centred today in

shiraz), the term by which najm ad-din' s line is frequently and confusingly denominated.

nürbakhshiyya, a khurasani braneh, deriving from mu1;ıammad ibn 'abdallah, called nürbakhsh (d. 869/1465), a pupil of is1;ıaq al-khuttahini, who developed his own distinctive shi'i beliefs. from him again stemmed two lines: that through his son, qasim faiçl-bakhsh, carried on the nürbakhshi, and the other through shams ad-din m. al-lahiji (or lahjani, d. 912/ 1506-7), who had a khiinaqiih in shiraz, branehed out independently.

as-simnani was a most important influence in the intellectual

development of central asian and indian orders, even though his own order was of no great importance. bom in 659/1261 in the khurasanian yillage of simnan into a family with a civil service tradition he entered the service of the buddhist ilkhan arghün (reg. a.d. 1284-91); then, as a result of experiencing an involuntary /.zal, he adopted the mystical life. af ter surmounting initial diffieulties with arghün he was allawed to pursue his new eourse, and was initiated into the kubrawi silsila by al- kasirqi al-isfara 'ini. af ter accomplishing the pilgrimage and spending same training spells in his master's khanaqah in baghdad, he settled in his natiye place of simnan, founded his own khiinaqah, Şüfiyiibad-i khudadad, and lived there tranquilly until his death in 736/1336.

he was the author of numerous works,3 and followed an i ta'rikh-i rashidi, tr. e. denison ross, london, 1895, pp. 432-3." to be distinguished from the ighit-biishiyya, a khalwati order in anatolia.

3 for his works in arabic see g.a.l. ii. 263; g.a.l.s. ii. 281. on as-simniinisee f. meier's art. in e.i.", i. 346-7, and for his ideas, with references to unpub

\

l...

s8 the chief tar/qa lines

orthodox line, advocating aliteral interpretation of the

qur'iin,

and strict adherence to the shari'a as the essential

foundation for

progress along the path. he deprecated current

corruptions (bida')

in sufi thought, though not in practice. he condemned

ideas

concerning wiliiya and saints' mirades. he disputed the

theo

sophical theories of ıbn al- 'arabi, teaching that the

world is a

reflection, not an emanation, of reality. later, his

approach,

taken up by the indian naqshabandi, a1).mad as-

sirhindi, came to

be known as wal,ıdat ash-shuhüd (vnity of the witness

or pheno

mena) in contradistinction to the wal,ıdat al-wujüd

(vnity of the

being) of ıbn al- 'arabi.

although such an orthodox sufi in the intellectual

sphere, he

was a thorough-going ecstatic and adopted and

popularized dhikr

practices derived from the methods of the y ogis, in

addition to

a particular form of head-jerks developed by his

initiat()r al

kasirqi. he also taughtthat form of 'confrontation'

(tawajjuh)

india in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, agra, 1965, pp. 36-

42. there

İs also a valuable study by m. mole, 'les kubrawiya entre sunnİsme et

shiisme

aux huitieme et neuvİeme sİecles de l'hegire', r.e./. xxix (1961), 61-

142.

i see köprülüzade mehmed fuad, türk edebiyatenda ilk

mutesavvijlar

['the first mystics in turkish literature'], pt. i, istanbul, 1919;

summarized

by l. bouvat in r.m.m. xliii (1921), 236-82.

2 turkish customs incorporated İnto ritual and practice gaye

an ethnical

colouring to the tariqa-types of dress, the saw-dhikr, women's

particİpation

İn seances, and methods of cattle sacrifices whİch survİved among

derivatİves

like the bektashİyya. turkish was used İn worshİp outsİde rİtual

prayer. ıbn

battüta says (iİİ. 36) that 'ala' ad-din tarmashirin, sultan of

transoxiana

(a.d. 1326-34), whose winter camp he visited, recİted his dhikr af ter

momİng

prayer untİl sunrİse İn turkİsh.

the chief tar/qa line s 59

in linguistic reconciliation through the poems of a1).mad and his successor dervishes like yünus emre (d. c. 74°/1339).

the following gives some names in direct succession, famous in central asian turkish folklore:

ahmad al-yasavi. i-imanşür ibn arslan baba d. ii97

i'abd al-maliktaj khojad. 1218

ii i

zengi ibn sa 'id al

'abd al-malik

khwarİzmi ishepherd

shaikh l;iajji bektashd. near

tashkand d. 1335i

i su!aiman baqirgani l;iakim ata d. ıı86 in khwarizm

ı luqman perende

i

isl).aq :baba d. 1239

i i i

ikhaiil ata d. 1347

i [baba' ad-din naqshabandi]

i

[

tkama! ikani (ikaniyya)

the yasaviyya was a tariqa of wanderers; there were few distinctive branches or permanent settlements, except those associated with the tombs of these shaikhs to which pilgrimage became a permanent feature of central asian islam. the yasavi way was a way of holiness and a method of religious practice which displaced the ancient religion of the turks, rather than a mystical way. these wanderers spread the tradition throughout turkestan and among the kirghiz, from eastern turkestan northwards into transoxiana (and the region of the volga), southwards into khurasan, and westwards into azerbaijan and then anatolia, where they contributed in the persons of men like yünus emre to the formation of the popular si de of the new islamic turkish civi1ization, but where the yasavi as a distinctive tradition did not establish İtself. the strength of the cult of i:iaçlrat-i turkestan, as a1).mad was called, in the eighth century a.h. is shown by

tinıür's readiness to erect an edifice (completed in 801/1398)

ı badr

ial).

mad sayyi

d

ı uzun l;iasa

n

.ı, (bektashiyya)

.~ .l

60

the chief tariqa lines

on the sir-darya consisting of a two-domed structure,

one over

ai.ımad's grave and the other over the

mosque.

the o~der stressed the retreat (khalwa), and the

khalwatiyya

which developed in the azerbaijan region and spread

into anatolia

may be regarded as its western turkish extension. it also

daimed

baha' ad-din an-naqshabandi as a descendant through

the der

vish-sultan khali1.1 a definite order-descendant was the

imniyya,

deriving from kamal ikani, fifth in spiritual descent from

zengi

ata. yasavi shaikhs are stili mentioned in the sixteenth

century

in central asia and even in kashmir.ı

(c)

mawlawiyya

this order falls into a special category, since it derives

from

a persian immigrant into anatolia who belonged to

the khurasa

nian rather than to the baghdadian tradition. it is also

a localized

order, its influence being restricted to asia minor and

the ottoman

i

the

chief t ariqa lines 61

rnonths' assoeiation with a wandering dervish cai1ed shams addin of tabriz. so obsessed with shams ad-din did jalai ad-din become and his life so disrupted that his murids plotted against the dervish. to ]aliil ad-din's dismay he disappeared as mysteriously as he had appeared. in fact, he had been murdered by the murids with the connivance of one of ]atiil ad-din's sons.1

this experience released ]alal ad-din's creative powers and set him upon a new way which derives its name from the title mawliinii (our master), given to its founder. ıbn bagüta, whose visit to qonya in 1332 we have mentioned earlier, refers to the way as the ]alaliyya.2 the way developed as a self-perpetuating organization immediately af ter ]aliil ad-din's death in 1273.

this order is so well known owing to the publieity given to its mystical exereises and the fame of the master' s mystical poem, the mathnawi, that we need only refer to its place in the general context of the tariqas. the famous mathnawi is a somewhat incoherent accumulation of ]alal ad-din's outbursts, anecdotal ruminations, and above all parables, expressed in poetical form. mawlawis regard it asa revelation of the inner meaning of the qur'an, and it was in fact called by ]ami 'the qur'an in persian'(hast qur' iin dar zabiin-i pahlavi).

from the c10se assoeiation of the founder with the seljuq ruling authority the order developed aristocratic tendeneies and became a wealthy corporation. it played a considerable cultural role in turkeyand helped in the reconeiliation of certain types of christians to islam. almost from the beginning it was an hereditary order. ]aliil ad-din wa.s succeeded by his vicar, !:iasan !:iusam ad-din, the inspiring genius of the mathnawi,3 but af ter his death(683/1284) the succession passed to ]aliil ad-din's son, baba' addin sultan walad, and thereafter rarely was the dynastic succession broken. the development of the principles and organization of the order around the name of mawlana took place under sultan walad. his works gaye solidarity to the aesthetic and emotional mystieism of the master, and when he died at an advanced age (712/1312) the order had spread widely throughout anatolia and a number of daughter centres had been founded.

i see the artiele by h. ritter İn e.i.2 ii. 393-6.2 travels, tr. h. a. r. gibb, ii. 431.3 see abiiki, quoted in ]. w. redhouse's translation of the first book of the

mathnawi, p. ii3.

_i

62 the chief t ariqa lines

his successor ]aliil ad-din amir <arif (d. a.d. 1320)

travelied

widely, consolidating these centres, and in his time the

principles

ritual, and organization solidified, though its creative

inspiratio~

survived into the age of selim iii when the order

produced its

last great poet in ghiilib dede (me1;ımed es'ad: a.d.

1758-99).

the order remained centralized and was not subject to

the spiitting

process which so typified the khalwatiyya, but this also

meant

that its influence was restricted to turkey. i

the members of this order. became famous for their

devotion

to music and the nature of their dhikr exereises,

whence they were

known to europe as the 'whiriing dervishes'. the

dance, which

is symboiic of the universai life of the spheres,

infinitely compiex

in form yet essentiai1y a unity, is frequendy referred to

in latiii

ad-din's lyricai poems known under the tide of the

the chief t arjqa lines 63

or 'restraint of the breath', byai-khaçlir, the spirit of isiamic

gnosis. the suecession from him is as follows: i

<arif riwgari, d. 657/1259ma1;ımüd anjir faghnawi, d. 643/1245 (or 670/1272) 'aziziin <ali ar-riimitani, d. 7°5/13°6 (or 721/1321) mu1;ıammad biibii as-sammiisi, d. 740/1340 (or 755/1354) amir sayyid kulali al-bukhiiri, d. 772/1371mu1;ıammad ibn m. baba' ad-din an-naqshabandi, 717/1318

791/1389.

baba' ad-din, who was a tiijik, served his apprenticeship under both as-sammiisi and kulaii ('the potter'). but he also had turkish links and there is a romantic story of his eneounter with a turkish dervish ealled khalil whom he had first seen in a dream, and his subsequent association with him until this dervish even-tually (a.d. 134°) became sultan khalil of transoxiana.2 baba' ad-din served him for six years, but af ter khalil's fall (747/1347) bahii' experience d a revulsion against worldly success, returned to his/bukharan village of rewartün, and resumed his interrupted spiritual career. like most of the men af ter whom tari"qas have been named, bahii' ad-din did not found an organization (whilst his tari"qa he had inherited), but gathered around himself iikeminded devotees prepared to striye towards a quality of mystical life along maliimati lines without show or distracting rites, for, as he said, 'the exterior is for the world, the interior for gad' (a~-~ahir li' l-khalq al-halin li ' l-lfaqq). though modified through the corruptions of time this way never lost the stamp of <abd al-kbaliq's genius in the quality of its leadership and teaching and the purity of its ritua!. from the islamic point of view it was especially important in ensuring the attachment of turkish peoples to the sunni tradition. bahii' ad-din' s mausoleum and the attached eonvent (a magnifieent strueture was erected in a.d. 1544 by amir <abd al-<aziz khiin) became one of the most

i most of these come from the neighbourhood of bukhara as is evident from their nisbas. riwgar, faghna, and riimitan are, !ike ghujdawiin, villages ne ar that city. apart from the naqshabandi books the silsila is given in al-wiisiti, tirydq, p. 47.

z ıbn battüta describes the rise to power of khalil (-alliih qazan), french edn., 1877, iii. 48-si. he knows nothing of any dervish upbringings and says that he was the son of the chagatai prince yasavur.

64 the chief 'l'ar/qa lines

iniportant places of pilgrimage in central asia. the great

persian

mystical poet jami derives from baha' ad-din through an

inter

mediary. outside central asia, the order spread into

anatolia and

the caucasus, among mountain peoples in kurdistan

(where it

became a factor in kurdish nationalism), and southwards

intoindia, but never became popular in the arab world.

(e)

chishtiyya

from the sixth (thirteenth) century central asian sufis

had been

migrating southwards into india as well as westwards

into anatoha. the formation of various kinds of

khiinaqiihs and small associations

coincided with the foundation of the sultanate of

delhi. apart

from the baghdadian suhrawardiyya, the onlyother ord

er to be

come defined and influential in india during this

formatiye age

was the chishtiyya. orders which were introduced later,

like the

shattariyya ('abdallah ash-shattar, d. a.d. 1428), n

aqshabandiyya

(with baqi bi'ilah d. a.d. 1563), and qadiriyya (by m.

ghawth

of uchch, d. a.d. 1517), never attained the range of

allegiance andinfluence of these two lines.

the chishtiyya1 is one of the 'primitive' lines. mu'in

ad-din

the

chief 'l'ar/qa lines 65

589/1193, then to ajmer, seat of an important hindu state, where he finally settled and died (633/1236), and where his tomb became a famous centre for pilgrimage.

one of qutb ad-din bakhtiyar's initiates called farid ad-din mas'üd, known as ganj-i shakar (1175-1265), is regarded as being the person most responsible for the definition and wider diffusion of this line, since he initiated many khallfas who moved to different parts of india, and af ter his death maintained their khiinaqiihs as independent institutions in which the succession became hereditary. important figures in the chishti silsila are ni~iim ad-din awliyii' (d. 725/1325) and his successor, naşir addin chiriigh-i dihli (d. 757/1356), who opposed the religious policy of mu1:ıammad ibn tughluq. from the ni~iimiyya many branches diverged. a separate line was the Şiibiriyya derived from 'alii' ad-din 'ali b. a1:ımad aş-Şiibir (d. 691/1291).

(i) indian suhrawardiyya

in the arab and persian spheres few shaikhs attributed themselves directly to as-suhrawardi, as, for example, adherents of the hundreds of tii'ijas in the shiidhili tradition daim that theyare shiidhili. but the suhrawardi silsila spread in india as a distinctive school of mystical ascription to become one of the major tariqas.1 outstanding figures were nür ad-din mubiirak ghaznawi, a disciple of shihiib ad-din, whose tomb at delhi is famous, and i:iamid ad-din of najore (d. 673/1274), shihiib ad-din's chief indian khallfa until he transferred his allegiance to the chishu, qutb ad-din bakhtiyiir kiiki.2 the chief propagandist in sind andpunjab was another disciple, bahii' ad-din zakariyii (a.d. 11821268), of khurasanian origin, who worked in multiin and was succeeded by his eldest son, Şadr ad-din m. 'arif (d. a.d. 1285), the suceession eontinuing in the same family. but also from him diverged a large number of independent lines, some beeoming known in india as bi-shar' (illegitimate orders). one orthodox line, the khiinaqiih of jaliii ad-din surkhposh al-bukhiiri (a.d.1192-1291) at ucheh, beeame an important diffusion centre. contrary to the chishti shaikhs of the onlyother order active in india, bahii' ad-din pursued a worldly policy, assoeiating freely

i see appendix c for the various branches. . see ıbn battiita, iii. 156.

.

66 the chief rariqa lines

with princes, accepting honours and wea1th, and

building up a

large fortune. he and his associates alsa foilowed a rigid

arthoda"

line, pandering to the 'ulamii' and rejecting samii'

(pubiic recital)

in the form which prevailed among chishtis.

iıi

iii

the formatian of ta' ifas

w

hilst tariqa is the method, tii'ifa is the organization, and though the khiinaqiihs were correctly described as tawii'if (plurai of tii'ifa), since they were organizations of separate

groups,1 they were still not the orders as we know them. the completion of their development as tii'ifas or orders in this specialized sense during the fifteenth century coincided with the growth of the üttoman. empire. in the maghrib this stage coincided with the appearance of sharifism and what the french call maraboutisme. there are, in fact, four areas of significant change: persia and central asia, anatolia (rüm), india, and the maghrib.

the fullest development of the variegated robe of sufism had taken place in iranian regions. in the same regions its linkage with the lives of ordinary people had come ab out through the wandering dervishes, iranian and turkish. then had come the mongol conquests. from around a.d. 1219, when the first mongol movements into. khurasan began, to a.d. 1295 muslim asia was subjected to the dominatian of non-muslim rulers and islam was displaced from its pasition as the state religion. with the accessian of ghazan khan (a.d. 1295-1304) islam once again became the imperial religion in western asia. but there was this difference from its pasition under previous regimes in that sufis replaced the 'ulamii' class as the commenders of islam to mongols and as the significant representatives of the religion. during this period the sufis became for the people the representatives of religion in a new way and af ter their death theycontinued to exercise their influence. the shrine, not the mosque, became the symbol of islam. the shrine, the dervish-house, and the circle of dhikr-reciters became the outer forms of living reiigion foriranians, turks, and tatars alike. and this continues. timur, who swept away the remnant and successor states which had

i there are many early references to these organizations as tli'ifas. ibn

khal1ikiin, we have shown, refers to the kiziiniyya tli'ifa (ii. 391). but for our purpose it is simply a convenient term for the completed

organization.-l

68 the formatlon of 'fa'/fas

formed af ter the decline of mongol power, was a sunni, but showed a strong veneration for saints and their shrines, many of which he built or restored.

anatolia, where islam's spread followed the westward movement of the turks from ,the thirteenth century until the ottomans became a world power and regulated the religious life of the regions they controll~d, was the scene of religious interaction and confusion, and it is not easy to teli what was happening there. the ghazi states of anatoha in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, in order to supply the religious cement, linked themselves with the only islamic organization available in the marches which possessed any dynamic element-the wandering turkish dariiwish, the biibiis from central asia who accompanied, followed, and fortified the warriors. the orders, with their borrowed symbohsm and formulae for initiation, provided the means of consecrating the ghiizi as a dedicated warrior in the cause of islam. paul wittek writes:

we find in the biographies of the mevlevi shaikhs, by eftiiki, written about the middle of the fourteenth century, clear traces of a ceremony of granting the tide of ghazi, comparable to that of investiture with knighthood in the west. we are told how one of the emirs of the house of aydın was designated as 'sultan of the ghiizis' by the shaikh of the mevlevi darvish order. from the hands of the shaikh he received the latter's war-club, which he laid on his own head and said: 'with this club will i first subdue all my passions and then kill all enemies of the faith.' this ceremony means that the emir accepted the shaikh as his 'senior' [seigneur], and his words show that the quality of ghazi also involved ethical obligations. i

during the seljuq and early ottoman periods heterodoxy was the evident characteristic of many representatives of islam, especia1ly in eastem and southem anatoha. many of the wandering biibiis were shi'i qizil-biish and i:iurüfis, others were qalandaris and ahdiil, both cover-terms. the yasaviyya, dispersing from turkestan, was a tariqa of wanderers, whose hnk with al,ımad al-yasavi gaye them a distinctively turkish spiritual ancestry. out of the diverse heritages of heterodox islamic tendencies and christian anatohan and turkish superstitions came the bektashi

i p. wittek, the rise of the ottornan ernpire, 1938; reprint, 1,958, p. 39; and see the account in afliiki, tr. c. huart, ii. 391-2; ed. t. yiiziji, ankara, 1959-61, ii. 947-8.

the

formatlon of ra'/fas 69

order: very nebulous at first, it became highly organized and

centralized, yet parochial, providing a village religion, a system

of lodges, and a link with a futuwwa mi1itary order. another

turkish tendeney arising out of the haze from the tabriz region,

displaying strong malamati inspiration, became distinguished as

the khalwatiyya and bairamiyya. these remained decentralizedand fissiparous, spawning many distinctively turkish orders, butalso spreading widely through the arab world in localized orders.

we have said that this final stage of organization coincided with

the foundation of the ottoman empire (by a.d. 1400 the ottomans

were masters of anatolia and they triumphed over the syrian and

egyptian mamlüks in 1516-17). in turkey under the ottomansrelative harmony was achieved through toleration of three parallelreligious strands: official sunni legahsm, the sufi tekke cult, andthe folk cult. shi'ism, which was not tolerated, was forced t9seek asylum within sufi groups, among wnom the bektashiyya

gaye it its fullest expression. the ottomans in their task

of build

ing up a stable administrative system came to rely upon

the regularly constituted 'ulama' body as the backbone

of the wholeorder. the foundation of madrasas became a feature of thisallegiance. they were set up in bursa and nicaea, for

example,

1

i see p. wittek, op. dt., p. 42.

7° the formation of ra'ifasrole in religious, social, and even politicallife, and when it fell they also were destroyed.

at the same time as the ottoman state was becoming a world power a sufi order was providing persia for the first time since its conquest by the arabs with a dynasty whose state religion was shi'ite. it is interesting that the region where the movement arose, azerbaijan and gilan, was the nurturing place for the movement of turkish biibiis professing every known type of islam which flooded anatolia (this was quite distinct from the persian suficurrent, out of which came the mawlawiyya affecting the iranized'class), and which also provided the impulse and manpower supporting the great shi'ite movement of the Şafawids. the Şafawid order continue d to be a largely turkish order for long af ter it became a military movement, and it had a strong followingin the turkish provinces of asia minor. even the baghdadian. tradition affected the biibiis, but through an alternatiye stream deriving from the kurdish saint abu 'l-wafa' taj al-'arifinl through baba ilyas khurasani.

this development into orders, and the integral association of the saint cult with them, contributed to the decline of sufism as a mystical way. spiritual insight atrophied and the way became paved and milestoned. from this period, except in persia. sufi writings cease to show real originality. they become limited to compilations, revisions and simplifications, endless repetition and embroidery on old themes, based up on the writings of earlier mystics. they produced variations on their poems in the form of takhmis, mawlids or nativitie~ in rhymed prose, invocation series like jazüli's dalii'il al-khairiit, and manuals dealing with technical aspects of the orders, details conceming the relationship between shaikh and disciple, rules for the disciplinary life and for the reeitations of litanies and liturgies. numerous biographieal .colleetions of saints (tabaqiit al-awliyii') or pure hagiographies (maniiqib al- 'iirifin) were produeed, together with malfü1fiit or majiilis, eolleetions of their table-talk, and maktübiit (eorrespondenee). among the few original writers within the arab sphere we may mention 'abd al-ghani an-niibulsi (d. ii43/1731). initiated into many lines,z his primary way was the naqshabandiyya and he was strong on the eatholistie side of sufism.

i on abu 'l-wafii' (die d sol/n07) see above, pp. 49-5°.z see al-muriidi, silk ad-durar (cairo, 1874-83), iii. 30-8.

the

formation of ra'ifas 71

whilst it may be true, as theologians assert, that

spiritual expres

sion is closely linked with the development and vigour

of dogmatic

values and that the hardening of fiqh and kaliim in the ninth

tenth centuries a.h. led or at least contributed to the

decline of

taşawwuf, yet both are probably symptoms rather than

eauses of

a deeper spiritual malaise.

the tariqas, we have shown, were essentiauy source-

schools.

during this third stage men who linked themselves with

these older traditions developed neworders, with

isniids stretching

both ways from themselves as the central point. as abu

'l-façll

al-' alliimi put it: 'any chosen soul who, in the

mortification of

the deceitful spirit and in the worship of gad,

introdueed same

new motiye of conduct, and whose spiritual sons in

suecession

continued to keep alight the lamp of doctrine, was

ll"

72 the formatı on of rjf'ifas

shaikh ceased to teach directly but delegated authority

both to

teach and initiate to representatives (khulafii', sing.

khalifa). a

special cult surrounded the shaikh's person, associated

with the

power emanating from the founder-saint of the tii'ija; he

becomes

an intermediary between god and man. if we

characterize the

first stage, as affecting the individual, as surrender to

god, and

the second as surrender to a rule, then this stage may

be described

as surrender to a person possessing baraka, though of

course embracing the other stages.

the difficulties of reconciling these ideas with the

dogma and

law of islam had long been evident; the orders had

been bitterly

attacked by zealots like ibn taimiya, but now a parallel

developed

in practice. the founder and his spiritual heirs affirmed

their

loyalty to the sunna of the prophet as a necessary first

stage in

their code of discipline. but this is regarded as only the

minimum

stage for the vulgar. the orders linked their daily 'tasks'

(dhikr

al-awqiit) with ritual prayer by requiring their recitation

immedi

ately following the completion of the ritual, though in

the formatlon of rjf'ifas

73

never become universal. in the maghrib it became associated

with a peculiar reverence for hereditary holiness, so that groups

acquire a new genealogical point of departure from asaint or

sayyid eponym. the maghribis in a sense reorientated their

past, a transformation in many instances also associated with

arabization.succession in the mawlawiyya has normally been

hereditary. the yünusiyya became an hereditary tii'ija in damascus from about 125°.1 another hereditary damascene tii'ija is the sa'diyya or jibawiyya2 which still exists. the qadiriyya began as a localized tii'ifa in baghdad with family branches in damascus and i:iama. in hadramawt leadership of the 'alawiyya and of its family offshoots was hereditary in the ba 'alawi family from its foundation by mu.l:ıammad ibn 'ali ibn mu.l:ıammad (d. a.d. 1255); such a group can only be regardedas an expanded family tariqa. anather deriyatiye of the 'alawi line is the 'aidarüsiyya tii'ifa of tarim, founded by abu bakr ibn 'abdallah al-'aidarüs (d. in aden 914/1509), who acquired a kubrawi silsila, and whose ord er spread through the mavement of members of the family into india, indonesia, and the east african coast, but always remained a restricted lineal tariqa with little influence.3 throughout the sphere of the ottoman empire hereditary succession was becoming widespread in the eighteenth century, but it was still not a universal practice.

i see above, p. 15., the sa'diyya is a family tti'lfa daiming sa 'd ad-din al-jibawi ibn yftnusash-shaibiini (d. near jiba a few miles north of damascus in 736/1335) as its founder, who took the tariqa from the yftnisi and rifa'i lines. it is mentioned around a.d. 1320 as the khirqa sa'diyya by al-wasiti (tiryaq, p. 49). it.came into prominence with mul:ıammad ibn sa'd ad-din (d. 1020/16ıı) who, af ter being miraculously converted at mecca, returned to damascus to exploit his baraha so successfully that he became very rich. he became shaikh in 986/1578 (ai-mul:ıibbi, khultişat al-athar, iv. 160-1). he was succeeded by his son sa 'd ad-din (d. 1036/1626), during whose tenure of the sajjtida syria was convulsed by a notorious scandal concerning the arrest in a brothel of his khallfa' in aleppo, abu 'i-wafa' ibn m. (a.le chatelier, confreries, pp. 213-15; al-mul:ıibbi, i. 152-4, 298-9). a1though the order did not spread widely it was active in turkeyand was introduced into egypt by yftnus ibn sa 'd ad-din (not to be confused with the egyptian, yftnus ash-shaibani) where it acquired notoriety through the celebrated biannual dawsa (dösa) ceremony in cairo, when the shaikh rode on horseback over the prostrate dervishes (frequently described, see e. w. lane, modern egyptians, chap. x), suppressed in 1881 in the time of khedive tawfiq.

74 the formatron of ra'/fas

in turkey proper the most important orders were the

rhal.

watiyya, bektashiyya, mawlawiyya, and the

naqshabandiyya

though, since' "the ways to god are as manifold as the

sauls'"

~ there are many thousand ways and rehgious orders'.ı

the maw~

iawiyya was an aristocratic, inte11ectuai, and cu1turai

fraternity,

finding its fo11owing and patronage in the dasses

correspond.

ing to these terms. we have said eariier that it was a

centralized

ord er and did not spread outside asia minor. the

qaraman-oğlu

dynasty which succeeded that of the seljuqs (c. 130o)

tended to

favour the babas, but with the success of the ottomans

the mawiawiyya came into its own.

the khalwatiyya was a popular order, based on

reverence for

the ieader with power, areputation for strictness in

training its

dervishes, and at the same time its encouragement of

individuai

ism. consequentiy, it was characterized by a continuai

the formatron of ra'/fas

75

j{halwati wird as-sattar and maste~ of 'umar rüshani) being th~

pir-i thani (the second master), that ıs, the founder of the khalwatıorder.

this tariqa, therefore, never had a founder or single head or centre, but certain sufis or lodges in the ardabil region noted for their ascetic discipline beeame associated with this name. in this way there came into existence a mystical school which placed its main emphasis on individual asceticism (zuhd) and retreat (khalwa). as a distinctive way it spread first in shirwan and among the black sheep türkmens in azerbaijan, then expanded into numerous tii'ija-convents in anatolia, then into syria, egypt, hijaz, and yemen, following the triumphs of the ottomans.

one early introduction of the khalwati line into anatolia was by

mul:ıammad shams ad-din, known as 'amir sultan' (d. a.d. 1439), whohad migrated from bukhara to bursa, and was the initiator of sulaiman chelebi (ibn al:ımad b. mal:ımüd, d. a.d. 1421), author of a famous turkish metrical mawlid. the chief propagators in turkey, from whom stemmed distinctive derivatives, were l;iajji bairam (d. 1429) manifesting a strong malamati tradition, and dede 'umar rüshani of tabriz (d. 1487). the khalwati tradition initially had strong links with the cult of 'alpthe lthna'ashari or twelver form, as is shown by the legend that 'umar al-khalwati institute d the twelve-day fast in honour of the twelve imams-but finding their strongest support in anatolia the leaders had to reconcile themselves to a sunni dynasty and their 'alid teaching was modified or relegated to their body ofsecret teaching. the following were the principal anatolian khalwati ta'ıfas:

al:ımadiyya: al:ımad shams ad-din of manissa (marmara village),

d. 910/1504.

sünbühyya: sünbül sinan yüsuf (d. 936/1529), head of the tekke of qoja muştafa pasha in istanbul. he was succeeded by muşhl:ı ad-din merkez müsa (d. 959/1552), whose tombmosque (ne ar yeni-kapü), with its miraculous well, became famous.

sinaniyya: ibrahim umm-i sinan, d. 958/1551 or

985/1577. ighit-bashiyya: shams ad-din ighit-bashr,

d. 951/1544.

i see ibid. iv. ii. 659-60.

76 the formation of ta.'ifas

sha'baniyya: sha'biin wali; d. 977/1569 at

qastamuni.

shamsiyya: shams ad-din ai.ımad siwiisi, d. 1010/1601

(other

sources: d. 926/1520). also called nuriyya-siwiisiyya

af ter

'abd al-ai.ıad nuri siwiisi, d. 1061/1650 in istanbul.

mişriyya or niyiiziyya: mui.ıammad niyiizi al-mişri of

bursa, d.

in exile on isle of lemnos in i 105/1694. tekkes in greece

and

cairo as well as turkey.

]arriii.ıiyya: nur ad-din m. al-]arriii.ı, d. 1146/1733 (or

1133/1720)in istanbul. also called nuraddinis.

lamiiliyya: mui.ıammad lamiili b. ]amiil ad-din aqsarii'i

edirnewi.b. in amasya, d. 1164/1750 in istanbulı

the first khalwati ziiwiya in egypt was founded by

ibriihim

gülsheni. of turkish origin (from amid, diyarbakr) he

was

a disciple of 'umar rusheni of aydin (d. 892/1487), an

exponent of ıbn al- 'arabi's theosophy, against whom

condemnatory fatwiis

were promulgated. ibriihim succeeded to his chair2

and also to

the opprobrium under which his master had laboured;

then af ter

the Şafawid occupation of tabriz he became a refugee

and even

tually (a.d. 15°7) settled in egypt, where he was well

received by

qanşawh al-ghawri. mter the ottoman occupation he

became

a popular figure among the turkish soldiers.3 his

enemies in

trigued against him in istanbul and he was summoned

to the

capital to clear himself of charges of heresy. not only

did he do

this successfully but left behind him three tekkes in

turkey. he

died in cairo in 94°/1534 in his ziiwiya outside biib

zuwaila.4

another disciple of 'umar rusheni who founded a ziiwiya

at 'abbiisiyya on the outskirts of cairo was shams ad-din

mui.ıam

mad demerdiish (d. c. 932/1526).5 a famous ascetic, a

converted

circassian mamluk, initiated by 'umar rusheni in tabriz

who

i d'ohsson, tableau lv. ii. 626.

. according to some sources ibriihim's successor at baku was

yal,1yii-i

shirwiini, but evliya chelebi writes (i. ii. 29) that 'umar rüsheni and

gülsheni

were successors of yal:ıyii.3 sha 'rani, tabagilt, ii. 133.

4 an account of his zilwiya-tomb is found in 'ali mubiirak, khitat

jadida,bulaq, a.h. 1306, iv. 54.

s brief mention in sha 'riini, tabagilt, ii. 133; also 'abd al-ghani an

nabulsi, rifıla, p. 139, 'ali mubiirak, khitat, iv. 112-13.

the formatlon of tji'ifas 77

hved in the muqattam hills for forty-seven years, was shahin ibn

'}\bdaihih al-jarkasi (d. 954/1547).1khalwati adherents in egypt had so far come mainly

from turkish milieux, but during the twelfth/eighteenth century a khalwati revival spread the order among egyptians and extended into hijaz and the maghrib. a syrian khalwati who was a frequent visitor to egypt, named muştafa ibn kamal ad-din albakri,2 sought a more closely linked grouping by binding various

groups together in his own bakriyya. however, the bond was

personal and his chief disciples set up their own orders af ter his

death. these were mui.ıammad ibn salim al-i;iafnisi or i;iafnawi (d. ıı81/1767),3 'abdallah ash-sharqawi, and mui.ıammad ibn 'abd al-karim as-sammani (a.d. 1718-75), whose orders were known respectively as the i;iafnawiyya (or i;iafniyya), ~harqawiyya, 4 and sammaniyya. from these came other branches:ral:ımaniyya (aigeria and tunisia). founded by abu 'abdallah

m. b. 'abd ar-ral:ıman al-gushtuli al-jurjuri (a.d. 1715/281793), disciple of al-i;iafnisi.5 its distinctive development took place under his successor, 'ali ibr 'İsa (d. 1837), but afterwards the various ziiwiyas became independent.

dardiriyya: al:ımad ibn m. al-'adawi ad-dardir, ii27/1715-1201/1786.6 author of a prose mawlid. the !ii'ija is also called siba'iyya af ter his successor, ai.ımad as-siba'i al- 'ayyan. both are buried in the same mosque-mausoleum.7

Şawiyya: ai.ımad ibn m. aş-Şawi (d. in madina 1241/1825), pupil of ad-dardir and of ai.ımad ibn idris.8 localized in the hijaz.

i sha 'riini, tabagilt, ii. 166; ıbn al- 'imiid, shadhariit, viii. 302; karl baedeker, egypt and the sudan, eighth edn., 1929, p. 126.

2 his dates are 1099/1688-1162/1749, see muriidi, sitk ad-durar, iv. 190-200.

he is to be distinguished from another muştafii al-bakri (d. 1709), also a khalwati, who founded the bait Şiddiqi or bait bakri, whose head functioned as shaikh mashii'ikh aş-Şüfiyya until 1926 when someone outside the family was elected.

3 muriidi, sitk ad-durar, iv. 50; al-jabarti, 'ajii'ib, cairo, ii (1959),257-81. 4 to be distinguished from the sharqiiwa, a moroccan branch of the jazü

liyya at büjiid, deriving from mu1:ıammad ash-sharqi, d. 1601.s l. rinn, marabouts et khouan, aigiers, 1884, 'pp. 452-80.6 ai-jabarti, ii. 157-8; works given in g.a.l. ii. 353, g.a.l.s. ii. 479.7 'ali mubiirak, khi{at jadida, vi. 27.8 shams ad-din b. 'abd al-muta'iil, kan;;: as-sa'mati wa 'r-rashild, khar

toum, 1939, pp. 12-13.

78 the formation of ta.'ifas

tayyibiyya: sammani offshoot in nilotic sudan. founder

a1:ımad at- tayyib b. al-bashir (d. 1239/1824), pupil of

as

sammani. from this order came the mahdi of the

sudan.

other smail egyptian branches included the j)aifiyya,

masal

lamiyya, and maghaziyya.

the bairamiyya, though nurtured within the same tradition

as the khalwatiyya, is a separate tari"qa, since i:iajji

bairam al

anşarp derives from the line of Şafiyyaddin ardabili. his

spiritual

descendants included:

shamsiyya: aq shams ad-din m. ibn i:iamza, khallfa of

i:iiijji

bairam, 792/1390-863/1459. his long search for a

charismatic leader led him eventually to bairam wali,

who gave him the

power, and he became a famous worker of miracles.

he had

a suhrawardi silsila from zain ad-din al-khwafi (d.

838/1435),

initiator of a turkish suhrawardi line, the zainiyya. one

of

shams ad-din 's sons was the poet i:iamdi

(i:iamdallah che1ebi,

a.d. 1448-1509) who, besides a nativity (mevlidi), -ı

the formatlon of ta.'ifas

muj?,ammad ]ilwati were the hashimiyya (hashim baba, d.1773) and the fana'iyya ( ?).

the bairamiyya was carried to egypt by ıbrahim ibn taimilr

khiin ibn i:iamza, nicknamed al-qazzaz, d. 1026/1617. originally from bosnia he travelled extensively and eventually setded in cairo as a tomb-haunting ascetic. he took the tari"qa from mu1:ıammad ar-rilmi, from sayyid ]a'far, from 'umar sikkini (d. 1553), from sultan bairam, so there are two names missing betmeen the last two. i

leaders ascribing themselves to other ıari"qa lines branched out into their own ıii'ifas. when aj?,mad al-badawi died in a.d. 1276 he was succeeded by his khallfa, Şalij?, 'abd al- 'ai (d. 1332), who was responsible for building the tomb-mosque in tanta and fostering the aıready existing cult which quickly attracted to itself egyptian customs. various groups ascribing themselves to the badawiyya came into existence, though they were each independent and generally loca1ized.2 as a tari"qa the badawiyya lacked any distinctive characteristic such as that shown by theshiidhiliyya. it produced no teaching personalities or writers, but was rather a people's cult, whose manifestations at tanta haveat all times been subject to the censure of the 'ulamii', though with iittle effect until the modern age.3 the most distinctive among the later egyptian succession iines in importance and width of spread was the bayyilmiyya.4

born in the village of bayyilm in lower egypt in ıı08/ı696-7, 'ali ibn i:iijazi ibn muj?,ammad went to live.İn the khalwati ziiwiya of sidi demerdash in cairo, but at about the age of thirty he became affiiiated to the !;ialabiyya branch of the badawiyya, then under the grandson of 'ali al-!;ialabi (d. 1°44/1634-5).5 he became famous as an iliuminate, leading the noisy badawi &a4ra which took place on wednesdays in the mosque of sidna

i see his biography as given in al-muq.ibbi, khulaşat al-athar, i. 16-17.2 see appendix e.3 the 'ulama' were quite ineffeetive unless they eould enlist the support of

the politieal authority, and that they eould very rarely do sinee the rulers relied on the saİnts and. their representatives to provide them with spiritual support. see, for example, the referenees to badawi shaikhs in ıbn iyas, the ottoman conquest of egypt, tr. w. n. salmon, 1921, pp. 7, 41, 84.

4 the best aeeount of the origins of the bayyümiyya is a. le chatelier, lesconfreries musulmanes du hedjaz, 1887, pp. 182 ff.

'5 'ali al-l;ialabi was the author of ,one of the few badawi writings, anna#~at al- 'alawiyya fi bayan ~ tariqat as-sada al-a~madiyya.

79

80 the formation of t}f'ifas

al-i:iusain in cairo, and consequently incurring the

enmity of the 'ulamii', who tried to stop him using the

mosque.i he was able to hold his own and later the

shaikh al-islam even offered hirn

a chair at the azhar.

'ali' s aim was the reform of the badawi order by

return to its

supposed original purity, but the ritualistic changes he made2

and his personal ascendancy was such that his

foııowers regarded

him as the initiator of a new way, and he himself

decided that

this was more likely to succeed than attempting to

reform an

old fissiparous order. at the same time he retained the

red khirqa (=bonnet) of the badawiyya with its silsila

and othercharacteristics to show his filiation.

during his frequent journeys to mecca he preached

his tariqa

and won a following among both citizens and hadiiwin

in hijaz.

af ter his death (1183/1769) the order spread into

yemen, had

ramawt, persian gulf, lower euphrates, and the indus

vaııey.

the death of the third shaikh as-sajjiida, mu1:ıammad

nafi' (time

of mu1:ıammad 'ali), caused a splİt in the order and its

weakening.

whilst the khalwatiyya was characterized by

fissiparous

tendencies, the headship of each tii'ifa becoming

hereditary,

the bektashiyya maintained a strong

centralorganization, withaffilİated yillage groups, and was limited to anatolİa

the formation of t}f'ifas 81

this organization was associated with the name of a semilegendary turkish sufi caııed i:iajji bektash of khurasan, who emigrated to anatolia i af ter the mongols had destroyed the seljuq state and the remains of the caliphate. he probably died about 738/1337, for taqi ad-din al-wasiti (1275-1343) mentions the khirqa bektiish (deriving from a1:ımad al- yasavi, al-ghujdawani, ete.) without adding riifji alliih 'anhu af ter his name, so he was stillaliye about 1320 and known in lraq.2 however, the organization of the bektashiyya did not develop until the fifteenth century and the janissary corps, instİtuted by murad i, was associate d with it from the end of the sixteenth century, one consequence of this association with the j anissaries and, so with ottoman authority was that the bektashis were rarely attacked on grounds of doctrine or innovations. ottoman authorities sometimes took severe measures against leaders, but that was through their involvement in the numerous j anissary revolts, not on account of their beliefs and practices. but immediately the j anissary corps was abolished in i 826 the' bektashis fell with them. the orthodox 'ulama' then castigated them as heretics.3 some were killed, their tekkes destroyed, and their properties handed over to naqshabandis. however, because they were not a military order but had deep roots in the life of the people, they survived underground, some groups within other orders, and when circumstances became more propitious they began once more to expand.

the heretical and shi'i doctrines and ritual of the bektashiyya do not deriye from i:iajji baktash, though there is no need to assume that he was any more orthodox than other biibiis. 'his name is simply a term to provide apoint of identity. the order grew out of saint-veneration and the system of convents into a

i for legends of his investiture by one luqmiin, disciple of abmad yasavi, and his migration see evliya chelebi [a.d. 16ır-'79], narrative, ii. 19-21. he appeared in anatolia af ter ]aliil-ad-din rumi was well established (d. a.d. 1273) and' was recognized by a group there who called him the khalifa of one biibii rasul alliih. this it seems was the isbiiq biibii who led his dervishes against the seljuq sultan, ghiyiith ad-din kay-khusrau ii in 124° (see ]. k. birge, the bektashi order qf dervishes, 1937. pp. 32, 43-4). he does not need to be a direct khalifa. afliiki says of bektiishi that he was 'un mystique au cceur eclaire, mais il ne s'astreignait pas iı suivre la loi apportee par le prophi'te' (tr. c. huart,les saints des derviches tqurneurs, i. 296).

2 ai-wiisiti (d. 1343), tiryaq al-mu!:ıibbin, p. 47.3 see assad-efendi mohammed, precis histqrique de la destructiqn du cqrps

des janissaires par le sultan mahmqud, en ı826, tr. a. p. caussin de perceval, paris, 1833, pp. 298-:329.

82 the formatlon of 'fa'/fas

syncretistic unity, combining elements from many sources, vulgarheterodox, and esoteric; ranging from the popular cults of centrai asia and anatoha, both turkish and christian rümi, to the doctrines of the l:iurüfis. when the inspirer of the l:iurüfi movement, façll alliih ibn 'ali of astarabad, was executed by miran shah in 796/1394 (or 804/1401) his khalifm dispersed widely. one of these, the great turkish poet nesimi, went from tabriz to aleppo, where he ma de numerous converts, 'but the 'ulama' denounced him to the mam]ük sultan, mu'ayyad, who had him executed in 820/1417.1 it has been suggested that another khalifa, al-'ali al-a'la (executed in anatoha 822/1419), went to anatoha and there fostered certain l:iurüfi doctrines up on a local saint buried in central anatoha called l:iajji bektiish.2 but he was only one among many, for the propaganda of the l:iurüfis spread widely, even though they were persecuted, especially under bayazid ii. bektashis themselves do not refer l:iurüfi ideas back to bektash, but this organization, tolerated by the authorities, became their depository and assured their perpetuation. the actual role of the ahl-i l:iaqq during the bektashi formative' period is unknown. at any rate, during this fifteenth century when the bektiishiyya was developing into a comprehensive organization, it incorporated other beliefs besides l:iurüfi from the new environment and beyond some were christian in origin and others came from such sources as the qizilbiish (red-heads)3 of eastem

i on nesimi, whose full name is nesim ad-din tabrizi, see e. ]. w. gibb, history of ottoman poetry, i. 343 ff.

2 an important, though hostile, account is isl:ıiiq efendi's kashij al-asrar, published in 1291/1874-5. this relates how, af ter the execution of façll aliiih, 'his khalifas (vicars or lieutenants) agreed to disperse themselves through the lands of the muslims, and devoted themselves to corrupting and misleading the people of islam. he of those khalifas who bore the title of al- 'ali al-a 'iii ('the high, the supreme') came to the monastery of l;iiijji bektiish in anatolia and there lived in seclusion, secredy teaching the jawidan to the inmates of the monastery, with the assurance that it represented the doctrine of l;iiijji bektiish the saint (wali). the inmates of the monastery, being ignorant and foolish, accepted the jawidan, . . . named it "the secret"; and enjoined the utmost reticence concerning it, to such a degree that if.anyone enters their order and afterwards reveals "the secret", they consider his life as forfeit' (tr. e. g. browne, literary history of persia, iii. 371-2; cf. 449-52). the jawidan-nama mentioned was written by façll aliiih af ter his revelation of 788/1386.

3 the turks applied the term qizilbtiih to fuqara', chiefly turkish at first, who wore red turbans. later, af ter shaikh l;iaidar of the Şafawiyya was divinely instructed in a dream to adopt a scar1et cap distinguished by twelve gores, the term especially designated his followers.

the

formatlon of 'fa'/fas 83

]\sia minor and kurdistan. many of these were the later

affiliated

nomadic and village group s (alevis, takhtajis, ete.)

initiated into

ajlegiance to i:iiijji bektash as the spiritual factor in

communal

life.! the bektashis proper are those who were fully

initiated into

a lodge. probably the first leader of any true bekt1ishi

organiza

tion was b1ilim sultan (d. 922/1516), whose title of pir

sani, the

second patron saint, implies that he is the founder.2

according to tradition he was appointed to the

headship of the pir evi, the

ınother tekke at i:iiijji bekt1ish koy (near qirshehir) in

9°7/15°1.

a rival head was the chelebi, whose authority was

recognized by ınany of the village groups. claiming

descent from i:i1ijji bekt1ish,

he is .first heard of in connection with a rising of

kalenderoglu,

supported by various dervishes and turkmans, which

began in

a.d. 1526.3 this office became hereditary (at least from

175°)'

whereas the dede, the head deriving from b1ilim

sultan, was an apostolic head chosen by a special

council.

this confusion of origins and complexity of groupings

84 the formatlon of ra'ipas

the spirit had appealed only to a religious elite, but

from the ıniddle

of the fourteenth century the way had lost even this

appeal and

a mystic such as ıbn 'abbad standsout simply because

of the

spiritual aridity of the age. at the same time, a popular

forın of

devotion based on the dhihr had spread, though as yet

practised

only by urban and ziiwiya groups.

shaikh aba isqaq ash-sha!ibi [d. 790/1388] was asked

about the

position (legitimacy) of a !ii'ija ascribing itself to sufism

and self.

diseipiine whose members would get together on many

a night at the

house of one of them. they would open the

proceedings with soltle

ejaculating in unison. then go on to engage

themseives in singing,

hand-dapping, and making ecstatic utterances,

carrying on until the

night was over. during the course of the evening they

would partake

of food prepared by the owner of the house. i

but something more was needed, and this came with

the formatı on of ra'ipas

85

.

t

his way. the sufi path was henceforth edipsed by this easyıj1 o

y of attachment to the power of those honoured by god. suchwa s the success of al- j azüli that the governor of aşfi, which

he

::d made his centr~, h~d him expelled, and he died,

poisonedccording to report, ın eıther 869/1465-or 875/147°.

a ai-iazüli formed neither lariqa (his way was shiidhili) norta'ifa, but from him came something much more universal,a devotional school with new aims and drive, based on intense concentration upon the prophet and the acquisition of power through recitation of dalii'i! al-khairiit. from him, however, derive many tawii'i! founded by his disciples and their disciples, and the allegiance diffused so rapidly that many older orders(really ziiwiya-centres) were absorbed or edipsed.ı the subsequent islamic revival derived force from other causes. it was directed against both the portuguese occupation of coastal places (between 1415 and 1514) and the imperialism of the makhzan, whose energies were for long to be directed towards containing the new tii'i/as by winning the allegiance of the great shaikhs and balancing one against the other. 2 at the same time, this shows how much temporal power had to depend upon the new religious movement.3 no section of maghribi life escaped their influence, though it was only too of ten to be at the expense of their spirituality.the idea of sanctity lost its integrity and became a mechanical attribute. in the very broadest terms, we may say that, whilst in the east sufism remained basicallyan individual pursuit, in the west it only became popular when it became collectivized.

ı see mumatti' al-asma ii dhikr al-jazüli wa 'ı- tabha', tr. in arch. maroc. xix. 278. a ttlifa did in fact stem from his successor, 'the inheritor of his ~araka', abu,fiiris 'abd al- 'aziz at-tabbii', known as al-Şarriir (d. 914/1508), ın the jamii'at at-tabbii'iyya in fez.

2 two prominent jazüli derivatives in the jebala region were that öf 'alliil al-i).iijj al-baqqiil at harii'iq, and that of mui)ammad ibn 'ali ber-raisul at tazerut. these drew some of their influence and prestige from the struggle against the portuguese.

towards the end of the seventeenth century the filiila dynasty encouraged the development of the zawiya of wazziin. by astute policy the makhzan ensııred that no ztiwiya in north-west. morocco was capable of stimulating any effective movement; see e. michaux-bellaire, 'les derqaoua de tanger',r.m.m. xxxix (1920), 98-100. '

3 thesa'di dynasty in morocco came to power (93°/1523) through reliance upon the followers of al-jazüli, and one of the firat acts of ai)mad al-a'raj was to have his father buried beside the tomb of al-jazüli. later, in 1529, he had both bodies transferred to marrakush to consecrate the new dynastic connection with that city; see mumatti' al-asma, in arch. maroc. xix. 288.

1

86 the formation of

r.ii'ifas

the maghrib was a tariqa zone to itself and the orders deriva, tive from al-jazülp did not spread outside that zone, but in the maghrib itse1f they, together with a parahel line, express the re1igious history to the present day. an important deriyatiye wasthe 'lsawiyya. !ts founder, mul).ammad ibn 'lsa (a.d. 1465-1524),received his authority from al).mad al-j,iarithi (d. between 1495 and 1504), a disciple of al-jazüli, whom he succeeded as head of the ziiwiya of miknasa az-zaitün. he adopted ecstatic practices, whereby the dervishes became immune to sword and fire, from the rifa'iyya or anoffshoot, either when on pilgrimage or from his syrian companion, beghan al-mal).jüb al-j,ialabi, who shares the same tomb. af ter his first successor the succession has continued in the founder's family,2 but the centre moved to ouzera near m6dea where the founder's grandson established what has remained the chief ziiwiya to this day.

the way the religious revolution revived old baraha lines may be illustrated by the hanşaliyya. this derived from a thirteenthcentury abu sa'id al-hanşali, disciple of abü mul).ammad Şaliı). (d. a.d. 1234), patron saint of Şah, which was revived as a distinct tii'lfa by am ayman sa'id ibn yüsuf al-hanşali. he served many shaikhs but his inspiration-shaikh was an egyptian shadhili, 'isa al-junaidi ad-dimyati, who gaye him the poem cahed ad-dimyatiyya on the ninety-nine names of god, composedby abü 'abdahah shams ad-din al).mad b. m. ad-dirüti addimyati (d. 921/1515),3 which became the wird of the hanşaliyya. one day when he was praying beside the tomb of abü '1- 'abbas al-mursi in alexandria he received the call which determined his apostolic vocation, but the ijiiza to propagate and initiate into the shadhili way came from 'ali ibn 'abd ar-ral).man ;it- tazemüti, muqaddam in the distinctive j azüli tradition. he constructed his ziiwiya at ait metrif and died there in 11i4/1702.4 vnder his son and successor, abü 'imran yüsuf, the order expanded considerably among the berbers of the atlas ranges, but weakened af ter yüsuf was killed by mülay isma'il (a.d. 1727).

the linkage of the movement of change with al-jazüli may wellhave been exaggerated, for in addition to the hanşaliyya many

i appendix f gives a list of the principalorders.. on the '!siiwiyya see r. brunnel, essai sur la confrerie religieuse des 'aissaoua

au maroc, paris, 1926.

3 see ash-sha'riini, rabaqiit, ii. 164-5.

4 on sa'id ibn yüsuf see especially rinn, marabouts, pp. 385-98.

the formation of r.ii'ifas 87

independent orders were reconstituted from older marabouticfamihes. tomb-cults of early sufis, such as 'abd as-salam ibn mashish, which become single ziiwiya orders, also begin at this time. but the most important sphere of ascription derives from abü '1- 'abbas al-mursi and the egyptian wafa'iyya.l the following are the main orders:wafii'iyya. founder: mul).ammad b. m. b. al).mad wafa' (d.

a.d. 1358), deriving from ibn 'ata' allah al-iskandari (d. 709/ 1309), this order is mentioned to show the continuance of the strong egypto-syrian tradition, older than and quite distinct from the maghribi.2

'arüsiyya. founded circa a.d. 1450/60 by abü 'l-'abbas al).mad ibn 'arüs (d. 1463 at tunis), who claimed also a qadiri chain.libyan branch (salamiyya) founded (c. 1795) by 'abd as-salam ibn salim al-asmar al-fitüri of zliten.

zarrüqiyya. moroccan order founded by abü '1- 'abbas al).mad

b. 'isa al-bumusi, known as az-zarrüq. bom in morocco 845/ 1441 and died at mezrata in tripolitania in 899/1494 (or between 921/1515 and 93°/1524).3 he studied for a time in the ziiwiya of abu 'l-'abbas al).mad b. al-'vqba al-j,iaçlrami on the nile. his numerous teachers included al).mad ibn 'arüs.4

rashidiyya or yüsufiyya. founded by a disciple of al).mad azzarrüq called al).mad ibn yüsuf al-milyani ar-rashidi, d. 931/ 1524-5, tomb at milyana.

among the numerous derivatives we may

mention:

(a) ghiiziyya. abu 'l-j,iasan b. qasim al-ghazi (commonly known

as ghazi bel gasim), d. a.d. 1526, pupil of al).mad ar-rashidi.

(b) suhailiyya. m. b. 'abd ar-ral).man as-suhaili, originally from yanbu' on the red sea, also a pupil of al).mad ar-rashidi. among his order-founding pupils were:(i) 'abd al-qadir ibn mul).ammad (d. 1023/1614), founder of

the shaihhiyya or awlad sidi shaikh of orania. about a.d. 1780 it split into two groups: sheraga and geraba.

i see maghribi genealogical table.. see appendix g for list of syrian and egyptian shiidhili orders. 3 according to ıbn 'askar, dawhat an-niishir, arch. maroc. xix. 93. 4 for his many writings see g.a.l. ii. 253, g.a.l.s. ii. 360-2.

88 the formation

ofra'tfas

(ii) a1.ımad ibn müsa al-karzazi (d. 1016/16°7), founder of the

karziiziyya. .

(c) na,;riyya. founde" mu!>amm,d ibn na,;, .d-d""i, d.

1085/

1674. centred at tamghüt in wadi dar'a. from it derives

the

ziyiiniyya of m. b. 'abd ar-ra1.ıman b. abi zİyan (d.

1145/

1733), commonly known as mulay bü-zİyan, who

founded theziiwiya of qenadha.

once the new conceptİons had taken root İn the

maghrib the

berbers inhabiting mauritanİa and the sudan-belt sahil

call1e

wİthİn theİr infiuence. 'umar ash-shaikh (d. a.d. 1553)

of the

arab kunta trİbe who İs regarded as the İnİtİal

propagator, how

ever, was İnİtiated İnto the qadiri,r not the shadhili-]

azüli tradİ

tion, and thİs accounts for the almost exelusİve

prevalence of the

the formatı on of rli'ifas 89

1437 of the tomb of mülay idris ii at fez in the reign of the

i\.v. marinid, 'abd al-i:iaqq ibn 'ali sa 'id (d. a.d. 1465), and even

lastııy brought the sa'dian dynasty to power.

henceforth, in this

tua'

on

no one could hope to fi11 any role, re1igious or otherwise,

reglless recognized as a descendant of the prophet. the

sharifian

~;nasty of banü sa'd, founded by mu1.ıammad ash-

shaikh almahdi (d. 1557), whose bid for power began in 1524,

succeeded with the help of these religious leaders.the maghribi revival had litde effect in egypt and the

arab iands, where the trend was towards greater and greater conformity towards legalistic tradition, at least in the recognized orders subject to governmental supervision and approval. what rea11y happened is that the elamp placed on the exercise of the mind was effective in suppressing speculative sufism, so that litde genuine insight is to be expected from sufi writings, but official condemnations had no effect up on popular practices of the orders and especia11y the cult of saints. there was certainly no blank uniformity; wehave men like shahin, the hermit on ]abal al-muqattam, on the one hand, and ash-sha'rani,r on the other, and the most extravagant forms of dhikr and mawlid celebrations.

although the shadhili oeder had come into existence in alexandria, it did not take root in syria until the beginning of the sixteenth century. 'the man most responsible for its definitive planting was a moroccan sufi ca11ed 'ali ibn maimün ibn abi bakr (854/1450-917/1511).2 af ter a varied career, which ineluded a period engaged in fighting the portuguese,he experience d a conversion and was initiated into the madyani line in tunisia. in 901/1495 he trave11ed east, to cairo, mecca, syria, brüsa, back to i:iamat, and then damascus. essentially of a malamati type, he refused to keepkhalwa or wear or confer the khirqa. he forbad his fo11owers to take part in normal sociallife, especia11y to seek favours from the great of this world. he did not achieve celebrity in the syrian world until af ter his return from rüm (=brüsa) to i:iamat in90/15°5. he went to damascus; there his fame as a guide and revivalist attracted vast numbers, until one day 'he was overcome bya "contraction" 3 whilst in the Şali1.ıiyya [khanaqah] in daİnascus

i a notice on ash-sha'riini is given in chapter viii, pp. 220-5...~ an account of his life is given by ıbn al- 'imiid, shadhariit adh-dhahab, vıır. 81-4.

3 qabçl in sufi, especially shiidhili, terminology refers to the spiritual state

90 the formation of ta'ipas

which pe''"'ted in 'ticking to him untii he abandoned

the lee"",

balı and bogon inquidng about places situated in the

depth, of

valiey, and on the top, of mountaim, until, at the

suggestion of

mu\>ammad lbn 'a"'q he wenı to majdal ma'ush'

[lebanon),'

where af ter a few months he died.

'al!" compan1on d"'lng his time of "ial, mu!>anun'd

iba

'a"'q,' i, mainly ""ponsible fo, the 'p'eadof the

madyaniyya

in syr1a, whe,. tbe new appmach bmught a h,eath of

new life to '

lts decadent sufi'm. ıbn 'a"'q had bcen a cj,""'ian office,

of

same wealth who; under the influence of 'ali ibn

maimün, left

all to foilow his way. aite, the death of his m"te, he

i

in abu i;iafş 'unıar b. a1;ınıad (d. a.h. 936: ibid., pp. 218-19), and

abu '1

=n 'atı b. aı,""d ".kiz.wilni (d.a.h. 955' ibid., p. ,a7; sı,. '>ini, 'l'ohaqii'

i

163). both 'alawiin and al-kizawiini trained under 'ali ibn mainıün

the formation of ta'ipas 91

lı ough its men of power, manifested alsa af ter their death from

:lı:ir tombs, many of whose structures were raised by

mongolrulers. it is significant that two of the first mongol

princes to adöpt islam, berke of the golden horde and ghazan of tabriz, soughtout a sufi rather than a sunni 'iilim before whom to

make theirpublic declaration of adhesion to islam: berke (reg.

a.d. 1257-67),khiin of the golden horde, went specıally to bukhara

toacknowledge islam at the hands of the kubr~wi, saif ad-din sa 'id albiikharzi (d. 658/1260);1 whilst ghazan khan son of arghün sentfor the shi'i sufi, Şadr ad-din ıbrahim, from his khiinaqiih at bal:ırabad2 in khorasan to act as officiant at the ceremony on thepasture grounds in the alburz mountains in 694/1295 at which therhan acknowledged before the mongol, rather than the muslim, world his adoption of islam as the western mongol cult,3 symbol ofhis independence of the confederacy of the gur khan of peking.

central asia, therefore, was an area of mission, and here the

wandering dervishes were all-important.4 at the same time,

muslim sentiment acquired everywhere fixed centres of devatian in the tombs. these had their guardian dervishes and became the

centre of a shaikh and his circle of devotees. ibn battüta is a

valuable witness to their widespread diffusion, for these places

i see the discussion by jean richard, 'la conversion de berke et les debutsde l'islamisation de la horde d'or', r.e.j. xxxv (1967), 173-84.

2 Şadr ad-din was the son of sa 'd ad-din al-i;ianıüya, on whonı see pp. 99,

261.

3 dawlatshiih, tadhkirat ash-shu'arti', ed. e. g. browne, 19°~, p. 213;rashid ad-din, geschichte gdztin khtins, ed. k. jahn, leiden, 194°, p. 79.

4 it is surprising that the westem turkish khalwati tradition nıade so little

impact upon the eastem turks. the order spread into eastem iran fronı the

tabriz region with the wandering dervishes. rude and unlettered, they were

despised by the naqshabandis and kubriiwis and were probably absorbed by

the yasavis, for, though a few as individual thaumaturgists gained fanıe, the

khalwati lines eventually died out. the following are a few nanıes associated

with a semi-iegendary:

mu1;ıanınıad al-khalwati al-khwiiriznıi d.7si/1350?

,iii

inür ad-dina1;ınıad al-khwiirizmi

ni:ı;iim ad-dind. 'ishqiibiid (jiinı) 775/1374 '

ısajf ad-dind. herat 783/1381

1

ıı iiii,?iihir

ad-din d. 800/1398

i abü sa 'id al-i;iabashi d. 820/1418

ii~

92 the formatlon of ra'ifas

with their open hospitality were the stopping-places for parties of travellers. in bistam, for example, he stayed in the khiinaqiih attached to the tomb of abü yazid al-bistami, where he also visited that of abü '1-i:iasan al-kharaqani,1 many of the tombs to which khiinaqiihs became attached were not those of sufis, since the possession of baraka has nothing to do with sufism. ibn bahüta wrote:

outside samarqand is the domed tomb of qutham ibn al-'abbas ibn 'abd al-muttalib who was martyred during the conquest of that city. the people of samarqand go on visitation to his tomb on the nights of monday and friday. the tatars do the same, making vows to him on a large scale, bringing cattle and sheep as well as money, offering them for the support of traveliers, the inmates of the khiinaqiih, and the blessed tomb.2

the formatlon of ra'ifas93

bam.' ad-din an-naqshabandi d. a.d. 1389 i

r i i 'ahi' ad-din 'ali b. mb.d

ya'qüb

al- 'awir al-jurjani

jarkhi/charkhi

d.802/1400 d.816/1413 d.851/1447

l i i

sultan ad-dinsa 'd (sa 'id) ad-din m.al-kashgiirid. a.d. 1455

'abd ar-raq.ıniin jiimia.d. 1414-92

naşir ad-din 'ubaidalliihal-al,ıriiribn mab.müd ash-shiishi''Şa4rat ishiin'a.d. 14°4-1490

ii i

'arif bi'lliih 'abdalliihmub.arnmad az-ziihid

alahi of simaw id. a.d. 1490 darwish

mub.ammadi ,i

sa 'id aq.mad al-al)mad al-amkangi

bukhari takiyasi i .

(d. istanbul) m. biiqi

bi'lliihi a.d. 1563-1603

i icentral western indian

aslan (turkey) i

i i i iŞusam ad-din

tiij ad-dinalahdiid

ab.mad fiirüqi

b. biiqi bi'lliih ibn

zakariyiiz d. a.d. 1640 sirhindi

d. a.d. 1633

d. meeea 1050/1640

d. a.d. 1625

i i \ mub.ammad sa'id-

i i imujaddidiyya imuriid b. 'ali

zubairiyyaal,ısaniyya,a.d.

1640-1720ma~hariyya 'alamiyya, muriidiyya

ete. (syria)

other non-sufi tombs he visited include those of 'ali ar-riçla (d. a.d. 818 near tus) situated inside a khiinaqiih,3 and 'akasha ibn mil:).şan al-asadi, a companian of the prophet, outside balkh,4 whose shaikh took ibn bahüta on a tour of the many tombs of that city, which included that of the prophet ezekie1 and the house of the sufi, ibrahim ibn adham, then used as a storehouse for grain. his narrative shows that the nomad turks and mongols shared with muslims the belief in the baraka of the saints.

the islamic mavement took varied forms within the two traditions of sunni and shi'i, the ilkhiinid states were officially sunni, but shi'i ideas and loyalties were very much alive as historical sources show, by demonstrating the relative ease with which the Şafawid revalutian was accomplished. in the sunni tradition the naqshabandiyya played a distinctive role. we have shown5 how bahii' ad-din an-naqshabandi, who gave sİ1sİ1at al-khawajagan its name and form, simply carried on one of the most strongly established sufi traditions. although so cleady iranian and urban, it was adopted by many tatar tribes as a kind oftribal religious linkage, and had its place in their triumphs following the death of shiih rukh (85°/1447). during this century the rapid progress of the order, from central asia westwards into anatolia and southwards into the indian subcontinent, led to its division into three main branches:

i ibn battuta, paris edn., iii. 82.3 ibid. iii. 77-9. 4 ibid. iii. 62.

z ibid. iii. 52-3. s see above, p. 62.

i tashkand was then ealled shiish.

z tiij ad-din had an interesting career and eventually found a niehe in

meeea away from the rivalrieş which ensued af ter the death of

mub.ammad

biiqi bi'lliih. from this vantage point he had mueh to do with

eommending the

naqshabandi way to arabs. he translated books like jiimi's nafa~t and~

94 the formatlon of ra'ifas

jami has been included in this tree, not for any

significance

in the silsila, but for his influence up on persian,

turkish, and

indian sufism, as well as for his biographies of sufis,

nafamt al

um, finished in 881/1476. though not an initiating

shaikh, jami

is said to have given the naqshabandi tariqa to mir

'ali shir

nawa'i (a.d. 1441-15°~) when this minister to the

timurid sultan, abu 'l-ghazi !:iusain, undertook a period

of retreat in 881/1476. 'ali shir was famous as a patron

of the arts and as

a writer of distinction in prose and poetry, especially as

a pioneer

poet in chagatay turki. he founded and endowed a

khanaqah

ikhlaşiyya in herat (as shah rukh had also done) as well

as some9° rimts, this term here meaning 'resthouses';ı

the most influential figure af ter baha' ad-din was

khwaja

aj.ı,rar, populariy known as !:ia<,lrat İshan, from

whom all the three

regionallines derive-central asian, western turkish, and

indian.

members of the order were largely responsible for the

spread of

islam among the Özbegs, among whom khwaja aj.ı,rar

wielded

great spiritual power, and among whom he

consequently played

a political role.2 the heads of all the independent states

which

succeeded the mongols (except in persia) favoured this

great

the

formation of ra'ifas 95

descent from al-aj.ı,rarwas muj.ı,ammad az-zahid, a darwish ıvıuj.ı,ammad, then aj.ı,mad al-amkangi who sent him to india. another propagator who settled in lahore was khwand maj.ı,miid (d. 1052/1642), whose son spread his allegiance. of the various lines diverging from baqi bi'llah two, which contrasted greatly in outlook, were that through his son, !:iusam ad-din aj.ı,mad (a.d. 1574-1633), following a pantheistic line, and a somewhat bigoted sunni movement inspired by baqi's pupil, aj.ı,mad farüqi sirhindi (a.d. 1563-1624), nicknamed mujaddid-i alf-i thiini (reformer of the second millennium), who, within his sphere of influence, attacked the link of sufism with antinomian mysticism and advocated whiıt came to be known as the shuhiidiyya doctrine derived from as-simnani. his reaction against akbar's tentatives towards religious syncretism earned him the emperor's disfavour, but his reformist outlook won the support of subsequent mogul emperors.

in the ottoman empire the naqshabandi silsila was of significance only in syria and anatolia. introduced into syria in the seventeenth century it did not begin to expand until propagated by murad ibn 'ali al-bukhari.l born in fact in samarqand in a.d. 1640 he went to india, where he was initiated by muj.ı,ammad ma'şüm, son of aj.ı,mad sirhindi. he eventually made damascus his centre, but continued to travel extensively in arab lands and anatolia, training and initiating khalifas indiscriminately, and died in istanbul in i 132/1720. from murad stemmed a number of minor branches, 'abd al-ghani an-nabulsi (a.d. 1641-1731), one of the few arab sufis of the age who possessed any insight, belonged to the naqshabandiyya. the order was introduced into egypt by aj.ı,mad al-bana' ibn m. ad-dimyati (d. ii27/1715) who was initiated and given the khiliifa in yemen by aj.ı,mad ibn 'ujai! and 'abd al-baqi al-mizjaji.2

in turkey the naqshabandiyya was strong in towns; there being fifty-two tekkes in istanbul in the 1880s. evliya chelebi

ı d'ohsson refers to him (tableau, ıv. ii. 626) as murad shami, founder of t~e muradiyya. mul;ıammad khalil al-muradi, a descendant, gives many bıographies of murad ibn 'ali and members of the family in his silk ad-durar.

2 ai-]abarti, 'ajd'ib, cairo, 1958, i. 226-9. al;ımad abü 'l-wafa' ibn 'ujail (d. 1664) took the tariqa from taj ad-din b. zakariya in zabid and mecca and

became the regional naqshabandi khallfa in yemen; on him see al-mul;ıibbi,

khulaşat al-athar, i. 346-7, 464. he was succeeded by his son abü 'z-zaİn

müsii. 'abd al-baqi was also a local yemeni khallfa (d. 1663: mul;ıibbi, ii. 283).

96 the formation of ra 'lfa s

wrote : 'well informed men know that the great shaikhs

may be

classed in two principal orders-that of khalveti and that

of

nakshbendi.'1 like the eastern, the western branch was

divided

into many separate and frequentiy isolated groups,

each distinguished by its own tii'lfa name.2

the only tariqa of the kubriiwi silsila to achieve any

wide

spread fame was the hamadiiniyya. 'ali al-hamadiini

had con

ducted large movements of his followers into

kashmir where they

formed a number of branches, one of the best-known

being the

ashrafiyya, deriving from ashraf ]ahiingir simniini (d.

14°5) who

settied at kichhauchha in oudh. the order continued to

exist

among iranians, and towards the end of the fifteenth

century ma de

its appearance in syria. one sharaf ad-din yunus b. idris

al

i:ialabi (d. 923/1517) is reported to have taken it from

'ubaid aliiih at- tustari al-hamadiini. 'he acquired many

followers

who practised the authentic awriid in al-madrasat ar-

rawiii.ıiyya

in aleppo. then he moved to damascus setting himself

the formatlon of ra'lfas97

the qiidiri had so far lacked both leaders and any clear attractive

sufi doctrine.mul,ıammad ghawth, daiming to be tenth in

succession from 'abd al-qiidir, is responsible for the definitive introduction of his order into india. born in aleppo, he settled (a.d. 1482) in uchch in sind, long concutioned as a strong suhrawardi centre,

gained the patronage of the sultan of delhi, sikandar lodi, and

died in 1517, to be succeeded by his son, 'abd al-qiidir (d. 1533). the baghdad centre of the order gained the favour of the ottoman dynasty because of its orthodoxy.1 other members of the family moved also to india, and finding it to be fmitful were followed by more members, who formed independent branches. in the seventeenth century it took on a new lease of life and a surprising change to ok place in its teaching (so far şahiri and non-mystical) and practices. it expanded under various leaders, induding shah abu 'l-ma'iili (d. 1615), miyiin mir (d. 1635), and mulla shah badakhshi (d. 1661). the last two were teachers of diirii shiköh, during his eariier and more orthodox period.2 the indian qiidiri shaikhs now exten4 very far the process of compromise with hindu thought and custom.

naturally in as diversified a region as india regional orders were formed.j the most important was the shattiiriyya. its origins are obscure. it daims to be in the taifuri tradition, but is attributed to a descendant of shihab ad-din as-suhrawardi called 'abdaihih

i when shiih isma'i! the Şafawid took baghdad in a.d. 1508 his troops destroyed tombs, including that of 'abd al-qadir (rebuilt af ter hulagu's destruction of 1258), and expelled the family, some of whom took refuge in india. sulaiman the great, af ter conquering the former 'abbasid capital, made donations towards its restoration in 941/1534, and (after shah 'abbas's destruction in 1623) murad iv did the same in 1048/1638. ıncreasing prosperity enabled the family to b4ild the present mosque.

2 on this remarkable son of shah jahan see b. ]. hasrat, dara shiküh: hislife and works, visvabharati, santiniketan, 1953.

the names of a few of the more important qadiri ta'ifas in india are givenin appendix d.

3 a distinctive' order founded in india a httle earlier, but with a narrow outreach, was the madariyya. nothing certain is known about its founder, badi' ad-din shiih madari, an immigrant (syrian 1) who settled in ]aunpur where he died circa 144°, his tomb at makanpur (near cawnpore) becoming the focus of a remarkable festival and fair. this occasion also acquired notoriety through the rite of fire-walking performed by the madari faqirs (see j. a. subhan, sufism, 1938, pp. 305-6; 'a'in-i akbari, 1948 edn., iii. 412). this group is regarded as a bioshar' order, but it is more of a syncretistic sect than an order. as-sanusi includes it among his forty tariqas and describes its aims and practices (salsabil, pp. 152-4), but he knew nothing about it at first hand.

98 the formatlon of rjplfas

ash-shattiir. his pir, mul).ammad 'arif (attribution unknown?),

sent him to india. he was at first at ]awnpur, capital of ıbrahim shah sharqi (reg. a.d. 1402-40); then difficulties caused him to go on to mandu, capital of the small muslim state of malwa (multan), where he died in 1428/9. his way was spread by his pupils, especially the bengali, mul).ammad 'ala', known as qazan shaııari, but owes its full development as a distinctive order to shah mul).ammad ghawth of gwalior (d. 1562/3),1 fourth in succession from the founder, and to be distinguished from the mul).ammad ghawth of uchch (d. 1517), propagator of the qadiriyya in india. his successor shah wajih ad-din (d. 1018/16°9), should be mentioned, since he was the author of many books, founded a long-lived madrasa, and was honoured as a great saint in gujerat. since the shaııariyya does not regard itself as an offshoot of any order (though its chain links with the suhrawardiyya), it may be regarded as a distinct tariqa with its own characteristics in beliefs and practices.2 it was known as the 'ishqiyya in iran and turan, and as the bisıamiyya in ottoman turkey, the name in both instances deriving from the name of a propagator called abu yazid al- 'ishqi.3

none of the orders in india could escape being influenced by their religious environment. many branches became very syncretistic, adopting varieties of pantheistic thought and antinomian tendencies. many practices were taken over from the y ogisextreme ascetic disciplines, celibacy, and vegetarianism. wanderers of the qalandari type abounded. local customs were adopted; for example, in the thirteenth century the chishtis paid respect to their leaders by complete prostration with forehead on the ground.4

i mul;ı.ammad ghawth was the author of a mi'riij in which he describes his progress along the path of spiritual ascension. the pantheistic expressions he used caused the 'ulama' of gujerat to call for his condemnation for heresy, from which he was vindicated by 'shiih' wajih ad-din who became his disciple and then successor. other books he wrote include jawiihir-i khamsa and awriid-i ghawthiyya. as-sanüsi describes the dhikrs of the order, including the jüjiyya = yogaj salsabil, pp. 126-35.. besides the works of mul;ı.ammad ghawth and his successor, an account of its doctrines is given in lrshiidiit al-' arifin by mul;ı.ammad ıbrahim gazur-i ilahi, a contemporary of awrangzaib (1659-1707).

3 the 'ishqiyya is one of the orders given by as-sanüsi (he calls it 'a fii'lfa of the shattariyya'), but he has 'ishqi's sanad muddled up; see salsabil, pp. 135-6.

4 the custom is referred to frequendy in amir l;iasan 'ala sijzi's fawii'id

the

formatlon of ra'ifas 99

shi'ite orders. the orders were dosely involved with the

in

'nereasing shi'i movement in iranian regions. this is

seen in the ~eaders deriving from the kubrawiyya

movement of sufi thought;1

and even the naqshabandi order, so definitely sunni,

made great concessions to the cult 'of 'ali without in

any way becoming

lınami shi'ite. of course, most orders trace their origin

to 'ali

and accord him a special position as the medium

through which

their esoteric teaching had been transmitted, but in

any case

remaining sunni.a continuous 'alid sufi chain had been maintained for

a long

while, certainly since the prohibition on the open

profession of

isma'ili shi'ism in egypt (a.d. 1171), syria (maşyaf a.d.

1260,

triumph of baibars a.d. 1272), and the fall of alamut

(a.d. 1256),

when many shi'is found a home within sufi orders.

one of the

earliest surviving chains2 which shows the double

gnostic pro

cession from 'ali (both hereditary and initiatory) is that

of

Şadr ad-din m. ibn ij:amuya (d. 617/1220), belonging to

a family

of persian origin, whose most famous sufi member was

theshi'i, sa'd ad-din ibn ij:amuya.

shi'ism under a sufi doak formed a powerful

-- - -

i

100the formation of ra'ipas

descent from the seventh imam, musii kii?:im, was born

in

ardabil in eastem azerbaijan. he experienced difficulty

in finding

adirector, but eventually discover-ed a shaikh zahidl

with whonı

he remained for twenty-five years until his death

(694/1294), when

he succeeded him. from Şafiyyaddin the succession was

here.

ditary: (2) Şadr ad-din, d. 1393, (3) khwaja 'ali, d. 1429,

(4)

ibrahim shiih, d. 1447/8, (5) lunaid, kii1ed in battle in

1460, (6)

i;iaidar, also kii1ed in battle in 1488, and (7) shiih

isma'il (d. 1524),founder of the Şafawi dynasty.

it is not dear when the ord er became shi'i. khwiija

'ali showed shi'i tendencies and when shaikh lunaid,

with whom its

militant role began, fled to uzün i;iasan, chief of the

white sheep dynasty, with his ten thousand sufi

warriors (ghuziit-i Şüfiyya)

'who deemed the risking of their iives in the path of

their perfect

director the least of the degrees of devotion',2 he

visited the shrine

of Şadr ad-din al-qonawi,j whose incumbent, shaikh

'abd al

latif, denounced him as a heretic. shaikh i;iaidar was

responsible,

in answer' to divine revelation, for instructing his

followers to

adopt the scarlet cap of twelve gores4 signifying the

twelve imams, which led to their being known by the

turkish term qizil-biish

tawakkul ibn al-bazzaz around 760/1359, but subsequently revised

and uug

mented. the book has been analysed by b. nikitine in j. asiat. 1957,

385-94.

' his proper name was taj ad-din ıbrahim ibn rüshan of !;ihyakiran in the

khanbali district of gilan. his link, and so that of Şafi, was with the

suhrawardl

silsiia, but it is better attached to the khurasanian rather than the

baghdadian

tradition. it is interesting that shah 'abbas (1588-1629) appointed

shaikh

abdal, a descendant of shaikh zahid, custodian of his shrine at

shaikhiinbar

in ardabil in 1600. so the shrine reverted to the original line (cf. e. g.

browne,j.r.a.s. 1921, 395 f.).

2 e. g. browne, lit. hist. persia, iv. 47.3 Şadr ad-din al-qonawi (d. a.h. 1273), a famous commentator on the thought

of ıbn al- 'arabl, whose lectures on the puşüş inspired the persian .poet 'iraql tocompose his lama'iit.

4 tiij-i duwiizda tarh,later cailed taj-i !;ıaidari.

s 'god! god! and 'ali is the friend of god.' on the shl'i sense of wali seebelow, pp; 133~s.

the

formatlon of ra'ipas 101

several turkish khalwati orders (bairiimiyya and }ilwatiyya), daiming to be sunni, were. iinked with the same tradition, whilst among the many political aspects we may mention the rising in a.d. 1416 of m~ştafa bürklüja supported by shaikh badr ad-din, son of the qiit!i of simaw.1 shiih ismii'il in his bid for power found strong support in such parts as had been influenced, especially among the population of the gulf of adalia, sanjaq teke, whose takhtaji population is said to be descended from immigrant iranian qizil-biish,2 and the ottoman sultan bayazid ii had difficulty in suppressing the rebeiiion of baba shiih kuli in support of shah ismii'ii. the sufi organization upon which the dynasty had come to power continued to exist as the servant of the state, with a klıalifat al-khulafii' at the head,j but steadily dedined, until in time sufis became targets for the enmityand persecution of the shi'i mujtahids.

the ni 'matuilahi order was founded by nur ad-din m. ni'matulliih b. 'abdallah, who daimed descent from the fifth shi'i imiim, mul,ıammad baqir. bom in aleppo in 730/1330 ina family of iranian origin, he went to mecca at the age of 24, where he became pupil, then khalifa, of 'abdallah al- yiifi 'i (1298-1367), who traced his mystical ancestry to abu madyan (egyptian branch). af ter 'abdalliih's death, he found his way tocentral asia, traveiiing from khiinaqiih to khiinaqiih, samarqand, heriit, and yazd; expeiled from transoxiana by timur he settled eventuaily at miihiin near kirmiin, until his death at an advanced age in 834/1431.4

ni'matullah was proiific writer of sufi ephemeras, both prose and poetry. he enjoyed the favour of kings and this partiality for the great of the world was continued by his descendants. w. i vanow writes that this tariqa 'was always selectiye in its membership, and occupied the position of an "aristocratic" organization. later on it became a fashion in the higher strata of the feudal society to be a rnember of this affiiiation . . . a few decades ago almost the

i see e.!.' i. 869. on this aspect of the qizil-bash and their connections with anatohan dervish orders see f. babinger, schejchbedr ed-din, leipzig and berlin, 1921, pp. 78ff., d. isi. xi (1921), 1-106; h. j. kissling, 'zur geschichte des

derw:ischordens der bajramijja', südostjorschungen, xv (1956), 237ff.

, cf. e.i.' iv. 627.3 see r. m. savory, 'the office of khalifat al-khulafa under the Şafawids',

j.a.mer. or. soc. lxxxv (1965), 497-502.4 on ni'matul1ah see e. g. browne, lit. hist. persia, iii. 463-73, where

ejcamples of his apocalyptic and pantheistic poetry are given and translated.

102 the formatı on of rji'lfas

whole of the dass of the junior government derks, petty

trades.

men, and other similar working people in persia

belonged to

the "mulla-sultani" or "gunabadi" order, an offshoot of

the

ni'matu'l-lahis (with headquarters in baydukht,

gunabad), with.

out in any way forfeiting their shi'ite orthodoxy in the

eyes of the

people.'ı

mahan has remained the centre of the ord er but it

put out

other shoots besides the gunabadi2-dhü 'r-riyasatain

and

Şafi- 'ali-shahi. in the founder's lifetime it spread into

india,

where the bahmanid ruler of deccan, al:ımad shah

wali (d.

14-36), fostered it in his dominions. persecuted for a

period in

iran, it gained ground af ter the rise of the qajar

dynasty (a.d.

1779), and is the most active order in iran at the

present time.

the nürbakhshiyya3 may be dassed among shi'i

orders. nürbakhsh's doctrines were shi'i in tendeney

the

formatı on of rji'ifas 103

this qualification, that any schema implies a distinction more hard and fast than is justified by the facts, the trends may be sumnıarized :first (khiinaqiih) stage. the golden age of mysticism. master and

his circle of pupils, frequently itinerant, having minimum regulations for living a common life, leading in the tenth century to the formation of undifferentiated, unspecialized lodges and convents. guidance under a master becomes an accepted principle. intellectually and emotionally an aristocratic movement. individualistic and communal methods of contemplation and exercises for the inducement of ecstasy.

second (tariqa) stage. thirteenth century, seljuq period. formative period = a.d. i 100-14-00. the transmission of a doctrine, a role and method. development of continuative teaching schools of mysticism: silsila-tariqas, deriving from an illuminate. bourgeois movement. conforming and making docile the mystical spirit within organized sufism to the standards of tradition and legalism. development of new types of collectivistic methods for inducing ecstasy.

third (tii'ifa) stage. fifteenth century, period of founding of the ottoman empire. the transmission of an allegiance alongside the doctrine and rule. sufism becomes a popular movement. new foundations formed in tariqa lines, branching into numerous 'corporations' or 'orders', fully incorporated with the saintcult.

the organization of what cannot properiy be organized, personal

mystical life, arose naturally through the need for guidance and association with kindred aspirants. but organization carried within itself the see ds of decay. through the cult-mysticism of the orders the individual creative freedom df the mystic was fettered and subjected to conformity and collective experience. guidance under the eariier masters had not compromised the spiritual liberty of the seeker, but the final phase involving subjection to the arbitrary will of the shaikh turned him into a spiritual slave, and not to god, but to a human being, even though one of god's elect.

in addition, the mystical content of the orders had been weakened. in the arab worid especially, the conflict between the exoteric and esoteric doctriqes of islam had been won by the legaiists. islam sought to

10+ the formation of ra'lfas

standards, to make mysticism innocuous by tolerating

much of

its outer aspects and forms in return for submission.

order

shaikhs vied with one another in demonstrating their

loyalty and

subservience to the shari'a, and in the process many

orders

were emptied of their essential elements and left with

the empty

husks of mystical terminology, disciplines, and exercises.

the orders had now attained their final forms of

organization

and spiritual exercises. innovations had become fully

integrated

and their spirit and aims were stereotyped. no further

develop

ment was possible and no further work of mystical

insight which

could mark a new point of departure in either doctrine

or practice

was to make its appearance. the following are the chief

features:

(a) authoritarian principle. veneration for the shaikh of

the

ta:ija, inheritor of the haraka of wiliiya, and utter

subjection

to his authority.

(h) developed organization embodying a hierarchical

principle,

with a general range of uniformity, variations being

expressed

in secondary aspects.

(c) two main classes of adherents: adepts and lay

lv

nineteenth-century revival movements

i. the directions of revival

b

efore the nineteenth century the world of islam had suffered no major reverses from the expansion of the west. the maghrib had been menaeed, but a state of power

equilibrium had been maintained in the mediterranean. the portuguese had blocked sultan selim's ambitions to dominate the indian ocean, bul this was offset by ottoman turkey's expansion at the expense of christian europe. europe's earlier expansion by-passed the ottoman empire, which embraced the heartlands of islam. napoleon's conquest of egypt in 1798 is generally taken as a convenient point from which to date the first realization of the threat presented by european expansion.

two developments now led to an intensified islam-the wahhiibi movement and revival in the orders. neither was in response to the western menace, for they had their roots in the eighteenth century; rather, they anticipated the need for reform and for countering the lethargy which had overtaken the arab world und er ottoman rule. the first of these movements rejected the validity of the solidified system validated by ijmii' and especially su~h practices as compromised the unity and transcendence of god. it stressed a return to the simplicity of a mythical, unadulterated islam, and interpreted the jikiid against unbelievers as war against those who, like haraka-exploiters, had compromised its purity. the wahhiibi rejects any idea of intermediaries between himself and god since with his view of transcendence no relationship is possible. a ruling tenet was systematic opposition to all innovations, and the wahhiibis shocked the world of islam when,in the territories they conquered, they destroyed the tombs ofsaints, including that of imam busain ibn 'ali at kerbala in 1802.the political action of the movement was restricted, but its stimulative effect was widespread, and its attack on the orders emphasized the need for reform.

l

106 nineteenth-century rev iv al movements

all religious organizations flag in their interior life, and lı

orders were, as we have seen, very decadent. within

thenı ~lı etrue wayof sufi experience had weakened, though individu {and little cİrdes continued to follow the sufi path. the

revi a ~

that took place in an attempt to meet the situation

stems fronı ~work of three men, all bom in the maghrib. e

the revival took two lines, traditional and reformist. that alontraditional lines derives from the inspiration of an illunıinat:called ad-darqawi, who enlivened emotional fervour and stinıulated the urge towards the contemplative life among adherents within the shadhili tradition. this resulted in a proliferation of branch orders, mainly in north africa, with offshoots in syria and hijaz. the reformist movement derives from al:ımad attijani and al:ımad ibn idris. the action of the first was centred in the maghrib, and retained this orientation, though it spread into west, central, and eastem sudan. it maintained its unity, its khalifas being immunized against the virus of prophetical inspiration to prodaim their own separate ways. the movement inspired by al:ımad ibn idris had its centre in mecca and af ter ıbn idris's death his chief disciples daimed equally both to perpetuate his way and to have received heavenly directives to found their own distinctive ways. al:ımad ibn idris in particular, responding to the challenge presented by the wahhabi movement, sought to pre-serve the inner (balini) aspect of islam, rejected completely by the wahhabis, along with full acceptance of the şahiri aspect, and vigorously condemned the accretions which had debased the orders. these aims alienated both the 'ulama' and the ordershaikhs in the hijaz. he also had a pan-islamic vision. he sought to bind believers together through full adherence to the law along with an emotionalized islam based on devotion to the prophet and a personal embodiment of divine power at work in the world. all these neworders were moved by missionary fervour to augment their membership.

the two al:ımads both. stressed that the purpose of dhikr wasunion with the spirit of the prophet, rather than union with goda change which affected the basis of the mystical life. consequently, they called their way at-

. ~ineteenth-century reviv al movements 107

b raos' they empha,ized the faet that the prophet

himse1f had

:,eo them direcr permi..ion to initiate a way. the new

tari'ias

~"e aı.<> marked by their revuhion againat

aaceticiam and by

id,;r "reaa on praetica1 activiti... their waya maintained

"tab

i.bed li'urgie.! and etbical sufiam, having tittle in their

method

and training that the old sufia would have regarded ..

myatica1.

'fb~ i. ,howo by their peaetice, laek of guidance of

n,ophyt.., and

rejecuon of eanterie teaelıing, and by ,ueh ..pec" .. the

kind of

"",terial drawn frnm cl...ical sufiam, ..peciauy the

prophetie

u,&tion, which they incnrpoeated inm their manu.!' to

ju,tify evecy .tatement. they did not believe in personol

2. the maghrib

(a) tijaniyya

the new outlook in the maghrib is associated with the

tijiiniyya.

abu '1.'abbiis al:ımad b. mul).ammad b. al-mukhtiir at-

tijiini was boro in ıı5o/1737 at 'ain miidi in the south of

aigeria.

he became affiliated to many orders and a muqaddam

of the

khalwatiyya. the foııowing account, said to be derived

directly

from al).mad, shows how he received the call at

tilimsiin in

1196/1782 to found his own independent order: 'the

prophet gave

him permission to initiate during a period when he had

fled from

contact with people in order to devote himself to his

personal

development, not yet daring to daim shaikhship until

given

permission, when in a waking and not sleeping state, to

train men

in general and unr"'trietedly, and had had ..,igned to

\i

108 nineteenth-century revival movements

af ter this event he went into the desert; the exact

circumstances

are obscure but he seems to have got into trouble

with the turkish

authorities, and eventually settled in the oasis of abi

samghiin.

it was there in 1200/1786 that he received his final

revelation

(fatm.r in 1213/1798 he left his desert retreat, again it

seems under

pressure, and moved to morocco to begin his wider

mission fronı

the city of fez, where he was well received by mülay

sulainıanand remained until his death in i 8 i 5.

a1;ı.mad developed his rule on strict lİnes. at first he

had adopted

the khalwati line for his chain of succession, though

his teaching

owes much to the shiidhiliyya; the distinction

between guidance

and instruction (tarbiya and ta'lim) is evident in his

teaching, but

did not find its way into the subsequent rules of the

order.

obligations, as was to be expected in an order designed

to expand,

were sİmple. he imposed no penances or retreats and

the ritual

was not complicated. he emphasized above all the need

for an

intercessor between god and man, the intercessor of

the age

being himself and his successors. his followers were

strictly forbidden, not merely to pay the 'ahd of

nineteenth-century rev iv al movements 109

before a1;ı.mad's death the wahhiibi movement began to influence north africa directly.r in 1226/1811 sa'üd ibn 'abd al- 'aziz, the wahhiibi leader then master of the hijaz, sent a message to mülay sulaiman of morocco inviting its people to follow the path of reform. mülay sulaiman put his son, abu isl:ıaq ıbrahim, in charge of the annual pilgrimage canivan which was accompanied by 'ulama' who, on their return, had a lot to say about wahhiibi condemnation of the cult of saints.2 they saw affirmation of ,wahhiibi principles as a means of weakening the influence of the marabouts. mülay sulaiman drew up a long statement, in which he dealt with these questions of infringement of the sunna. al:ımad supported all this, although he was disliked by the 'ulama', in accordance with the policy of subservience to established authority which was to characterize his order. the khu/ba which was read in all mosques was regarded by the maraboutic element as a declaration of war and set oif an insurrection(1818-22) in which the amhawsh, the head of the wazzaniyya, and the recent illuminate, ad-darqawi, were involved.

al;ımad at- tijani

c. 18rsi

i i(z) 'ali ibn 'isa mul;ıammad al-kabir

tamalhat zdwiya b. al;ımad at- tijiinid. 1844 d. r8z7

i

(4) mul;ıammad al- 'idb. 'ali b. 'isad. r876

i(5) mul;ıamıhad aş-Şaghir

d. 189z

although al:ımad was buried in f ez, where his tomb became an object of visitation, the direction of the order moved to two centres in aigeria. a1;ı.mad had nominated the muqaddam of the zawiya at tamehalt near tamasin, 'ali ibn 'İsa (d. 1844), as his successor and directed that the succession should alternate between his own familyand that of ali ibn 'İsa. 'ali persuaded a1;ı.mad's sons to make 'ain madi their home, and when he died

i(3) mul;ıammad aş-

Şaghir b. al;ımad at- tijiini 'ain madi zdwiyad. 1853

ii i

(5) al;ımad (6) ai-bashird. 189i d. 1911

i(7) 'ali

ı jawdhir, i. 44. there seems to have been yet another stage with his

assump

tion of the rank of quıb al-aqldb in izi4/1799.ı jawdhir, i. 43.

i see g. drague, esquisse d'histoire religieuse du maroc, paris, 19sz, pp. 88-9z. . al;ımad an-naşiri, kitdb al-lstiqsd, 1316/r898, viii. 145 if. see also al

]abarti, iv. 151.

ho nineteenth-century reviv al movements

the succession went to aj;ımad's son, muj;ıammad aş-

Şaghir, andthen back to the other line.

no serious split in the order occurred untii the death

of muj;ıarn

mad ai-'İd in 1876, when the two groups separated

fouowing

a dispute over the succession. the result is that these

two places

came to have only a localized direct authority, and

groups have

ma de themselves independent au over africa. but

the order's

expansion was not thereby weakened, nor did the

iocal ieaders

daim to found new lines; and by the beginning of the

twentieth

century it had become one of the most important in

morocco

and aigeria.

the order spread south of the sahara into west sudan,

then

nilotic, and finauy central sudan. it ma de its first

appearance in west sudan when it was adopted by

maraboutic (zwtlya) groups of

the moorish tribe of ida-w 'ali. but it remained a tribal

characteristic and would not have spread among

negroes had it not

been taken up bya tokolor from futa toro caued al-i;iajj

'umar,

nineteenth-century revival movements iii

other maghribi movement whieh paraiieled that of the tijanis

an d in faet was far more of a popular revival and beeame the most

a~despread, numerous, and influential tariqa in north mriea.

~his awakening was set in motion by an eestatie leader in the

shadhili-zarrüqi sueeession caiied abu i;iamid (aj;ımad) al'arabi ad-darqawi (1760-1823) who foiiowed traditional lines. although ad-darqawi was contemporary with at- tijani, the tw6 movements do not eoineide. only af ter ad-darqawi's death did his movement beeome a distinetive way. unlike at- tijani he received no summons from the prophet to found a tariqa, he wrote little, and he says speeifieaiiy that his dhikr derives from his own teaeher, 'ali al-'amran 'al-jamal' (d. 1779).1 throughout his life he seems to have been the vietim of eireumstanees over which he had no control.

ad-darqawi himself stressed non-involvement in the affairs of this world, he was zealous in preaehing against the baraka exploitation of the established orders, yet his own order beeame notable, even notorious, as a politico-religious movement. he himself bee,ame involved. mülay sulaiman (reg. a.d. 1793-1822) at first sought to make use of the potential power rising from this illuminate to eonsolidate his position against the, turks in oranand tilimsan, but later, as we have seen, condemned the practices of the orders. ad-darqawi had reaeted against one of his muqaddams, 'abd al-qadir ibn sharif, for attacking the turks in oran (ı8°5-8), yet later he supported the leaders of revolts against the rule of mülay sulaiman. he was no leading spirit in this militant mavement, but was use d by others. the sultan beeame hostile, and ad-darqawi was imprisoned. the next sultan, 'abd ar-raj;ıman (ı822-59), released him, and then, as his order diversified, its power weakened and İts politieal activities in moroeeo dedined.

mter ad-darqawi's death in his ztlwiya at bü-berij;ı, just north of fez, among his own tribe, the banu zarwal, there developed around his name what can be regarded as a new tariqa in that it is a definite line of aseription. his initiates., had aiready spread

widely, forming their own ztlwiyas, but retaining the aseription.

it beeame the most important order in moroeeo, but also spread throughout the maghrib and even had a few

hz nineteenth-century reviv al movements

and hijaz. some long-estabhshed ziiwiya groups

attached theın.

selves to the new line; these included the amhawsh and

the i:iansahyya, who deserted their naşiriyya

attachment and joined

the darqawiyya for pohtical rather than religious

reasons. the

foiiowing are the more important branches:

i. foundation ziiwiya at bü beril:ı, where ad-darqawi and

most

of his successors are buried. offshoot ziiwiyas \ and

agents at

tetwan, tangier, ghumara, ete. the headquarters

moved to

the nearby ziiwiya of amajjüt (amjot) af ter 1863.

2. badawiyya. this is the south moroccan tafilalt

branch, some

times referred to as the shurafa' of madagra. the

founder,

al:ımad al-badawi, disciple of ad-darqawi, is buried in

fez,

but the branch was organize d (ziiwiya of gaüz) by his

successor,

al:ımad al-hashimi ibn al-'arbi, af ter whose death

(1892)

troubles over the succession led to the foundation of

rival

ziiwiyas.

i see]. l. michon, art. ıbn 'adjiba in e.i.' iii.

696-7.

nineteenth-century revival movements ii3

8. algerian branches:(a) ~ehajiyya or qaddüriyya. founder: sidi bü-'~za a.lıvıehaji of mostaganam, who was succeeded by hıs pupıl, ıvıul:ıammad b. sulaiman b. al- 'awda al-qaddür of nedroma.(b) 'alawiyya. founded by al:ımad al- 'alawi, who, af ter servinghis apprenticeship in the 'isawiyya, became a pupil of m. albüzidi (d. 19°9), then declared his independence in 1914. he died in 1934 and is buried in the ziiwiya of tigzit, mostaganam. (c) in addition there are ziiwiyas connected with: mul:ıammad al-misün b. m. (sid al-misün), chief of the algerian branch, d. 13°0/1883; 'adda ibn ghulam allah, d. 1860, tomb and ziiwiya near tiaret; al-'arbi lbn 'atiyya 'abdallah abu tawil al - wansharishi.

9. madaniyya: (a) tripolitanian and hijazian branch formed af ter ad-darqawi's death by mu1.ıammad i:iasan ibn i:iamza al-madani. bom in medina, disciple of darqawi in bü-beril:ı, he retumed to medina, where he initiated many khalifas. af ter ad-darqawi~s death he settled in tripoli, where he formed his own tariqa, anq died in misurata in 1363/1846. under al-madani's son and successor, mu1.ıammad zafir, it became a newand distinctive order rather than a branch, and muqaddams were widely dispersed in tunisia, algeria, libya, fezzan, hijaz, and turkey where it played a pan-islamic role. i from it branched:(b) ra1.ımaniyya.2 a hijazi branch founded by m. ibn m. ibn mas'üd b. 'abd ar-ral:ıman al-fasi, who went to mecca in 185° where he built a ziiwiya, and died in 1878.(c) yashrutiyya, founded by 'ali nür ad-din al-yashruti, bom in bizerta 1793, died in acre 1891.

the order drew its membership from a wide range of social

groups. townspeople recited their dhikrs, attended local ~açlras, and occasionally went on visitations, but lived their normallife. among mountain tribesmen and villagers attachment through the local muqaddam was felt as a renewed link with spiritual power andevoked an enthusiasm that of ten came into conflict with the older

i see below, p. ı~6.. to be distinguished from the khalwati-l;iafnawi-raq.miiniyya

founded by

mul;ıaznmad ibn 'abd ar-raq.miin al-geshtuli al-]urjuri, d. 1208/1793.

ii4 nineteenth-century revival mo ve men ts

orders and resented the political control of a

foreign power i

apart from the parasites who attach themselves to

zawiyas, this

order had quite an unusal number of adherents who

lived re.

cognizably as dervishes, bearing a staff, wearing the

ragged

patched muraqqa'a, and with a rosary of large wooden

bead~

around the necks (forbidden to sanüsis), wandering

from place

to place, reciting litanies and chanting the qur'an. this

wandering

dervish aspect goes back to ad-darqawi himself. it was

also

an order which gaye scope to women and in 1942 it is

reported

that there were eight women cirde-leaders

(muqaddamat) inmorocco.z

3. movements deriving from aŞmad ıbn idris(a) alımad ilm idris.

the other great reformer was a1).mad ibn idris b. m.

b. 'ali,3

born at maisür near fez in 1173/1760 into a pious

family, he

passed through the usual stages of induction into the

religious

disciplines, and one of his teachers, abu 'l-mawahib

'abd al.

wahhab at- tazi, initiated him into his own order.4

another

teacher in the sufi way was abu 'l-qasim al-wazir.

brought up

in the formal sufi tradition grafted on to the

legal.tradition, a1).mad

reacted against the saint-veneration of the maghrib which went

iabout 1836 the muqaddam 'abd ar-ra~iin tı1ti became involved in

resistance to the french occupation of aigeria and the resistance of

the dar

qawiyya continued in some form or another until 1907.

2 g. drague, esquisse d'histoire religieuse du maroc, paris, 1951, p.

266 n.

3 short biographies have been appended to editions of ~ad's kanz

as-sa'ddati wa 'r-rashdd, khartoum, 1939, pp. 9-18 (by shams ad-din

b, 'abd

al-muta'iil b. a1:ımad b. idris), the collection majmü'at ~zdb wa

awrdd wa

rasd'il, cairo, 1359/1940, pp. 201-5, by 'abd ar-ra~iin b. sulaimiin al

abdal, mufti of zabid, pupil of a1:ımad; and a collection of ~ad's

risa!as

entitled majmü'a sharifa, cairo, n.d., pp. 119-,;8, mainly concerned

wıthhis ~zdb, pupils, eulogizing qasir;las, and the like.

4 this was the khaçliriyya, the line İnitiated by 'abd al. 'aziz ibn

mas'üd

ad-dabbiigh in ii25/1713 on direct inspiration from that light 9f

nineteenth-century revival movement8 ii5der the guise of taşawwuji. his biographer says that he

based~~ sufi practice solid~y on the q~r'a~ a~~ ~~nna,

accepting onlyhese as uşul (foundatlons) and rejectıng zjma

(consensus), exceptthat of the companions up on which the prophet's

sunna is based.z

~leariy this came later in his life, af ter he had come

under wahhabi'nfluence. 'his concern was not confined to teaching

awrad and~dhkiir, to urging people to go into retreat and

insulate themselvesfrom mankind. such practices might be of advantage

for the personal development of the individual disciple, but they were not suitable for the highcr purpose at which he was aiming, that is, the unity of the endeavour of musiims united in the bond of islam.'3

ahmad soon abandoned the maghrib, never to return. af ter

acco~plishing the piigrimage in 1799 he settled in cairo for

further studies, and then lived obscurely in the viiiage of zainiyya in qina province. he returned to mecca a second time in 1818 and settled there. as a reformist deric, daiming to restore the pure faith as it was before it had been corrupted by the 'ulama', an upstart moreover, nor a recognized member of the religioushierarchy of a place which had just experienced the rigours of wahhiibi domination, he was naturaiiy not welcome. the 'ulama' 'whose hearts were eaten up with hatred and envy, disputed with him, but his divinely inspired floods of eloquence gushed forth and it was demonstrated that he stood squarely in the orthodox path'.4 he became one of the most eminent teachers in the holy city and group ed around himself a great number of pupils, and of the many who took the tariqa from him simply 'to partake of his power'(li 't-tabarruk) was mu1).ammad basan zafir al-madani.5 the enmity of the 'ulamii' was never assuaged and a charge of heresy was brought against him. his life was so much endangered that he had to flee in 1827 to zabid and then to the town of

ı it is related that 'once the famous saint of the maghrib, al- 'arabi addarqawi, stood naked while he was teaching. he was subject to trances (şdl,ıibal-~al) and said, pointing to the sayyid (a~ad ibn idris), "behold asaint unlike other saints, a ghawth unlike other aghwdth, a qutb unlike other aqtdb," the sayyid averted his eyes, stripped of! his gown and threw it over him. since then that man was never seen

ii4 nineteenth-century revival movements

orders and resented the poiitical control of a

foreign power ı

apart from the parasites who attach themseives to

zawiyas, this

order had quite an unusal number of adherents who

lived re

cognizabiy as dervishes, bearing a staff, wearing the

ragged

patched muraqqa'a, and with a rosary of large wooden

bead~

around the necks (forbidden to sanüsis), wandering

from place

to place, reciting iitanies and chanting the qur'iin. this

wandering

dervish aspect goes back to ad-darqiiwi himseif. it was

also

an order which gaye scope to women and in 1942 it is

reported

that there were eight women cirde-ieaders

(muqaddamat) İnmorocco.2

3. movements deriving from a~mad ıbn idr is (a) al:ımad ibn idris.

the other great reformer was a1.ımad ibn idris b. m. b. 'ali.3

born at maisür near fez in 1173/1760 into a pious

family, he

passed through the usual stages of induction into the religious

disciplines, and one of his teachers, abu 'i-mawiihib 'abd alwahhiib at- tiizi, initiated him into his own order.4 anather

teacher in the sufi way was abu 'i-qiisim al- wazir.

brought up

in the formal sufi tradition grafted on to the legal.tradition, a1.ımad

reacted against the saint-veneration of the maghrib which went

iabout 1836 the muqaddam 'abd ar-ra1:ıman tıiti became involved in

resistance to the french occupation of aigeria and the resistance of the darqawiyya continued in some form or another until 1907.

2 g. drague, esquisse d'histoire religieuse du maroc, paris, 1951, p.

266 n.

3 short biographies have been appended to editions of aj:ımad's kanzas-sa'tidati wa 'r-rashtid, khartoum, 1939, pp. 9-18 (by shams ad-din b, 'abdal-muta'al b. al:ımad b. idris), the collection majmü'at af:ıztib wa awrtid warasti'il, cairo, 1359/1940, pp. zoi-5, by 'abd ar-ra1:ıman b. sulaİman alahdal, mufti of zabid, pupil of a1:ımad; and a collection of aj:ımad's

ristilas entitled majmü'a sharifa, cairo, n.d., pp. 119-']8, mainly

concemed withhis af:ıztib, pupils, eulogizing qasit!as, and the like.

4 this was the khaç1iriyya, the line İnitiated by 'abd al- 'aziz ibn mas'üd

ad-dabbagh in i iz5/1713 on direct inspiration from that light of

saintship,

al-khaç1ir. he was originally naşiriyya and his shaikh was m. b:

zayyiin al

qandıisi. on ıbn ad-dabbagh see adh-dhahab al-ibriz fi mantiqib 'abd

al

'aziz, by a1:ımad ibn mubarak al-lamti, his successor and organizer

of t~e

nineteenth-century revival movements ii5

der the guise of taşawwuji. his biographer says that he based

~~ sufi practice solid~y on the q~r'ii~ a~~ ~~nna,

accepting onlyh se as uşul (foundatıons) and rejectıng ljma

(consensus), exceptth:t of the companions upon which the prophet's

sunna is based.2

~learly this came later in his life, af ter he had come

under wahhabi'nfluence. 'his concern was not confined to teaching

awrad and~dhkar, to urging people to go into retreat and

insulate themselvesfrom mankind. such practices might be of advantage

for the personal development of the individual disciple, but they

were not suitable for the high~r purpose at which he was aİming, that is, theunity of the endeavour of muslims united in the bond

of islam.'3ahmad soan abandoned the maghrib, never to

return. af teracco~plishing the pilgrimage in 1799 he settled in

cairo forfurther studies, and then lived obscurely in the

yillage of zainiyya in qina province. he returned to mecca a second time in 1818 and settled there. as a reformist eleric, daiming to restore the

pure faith as it was before it had been corrupted by the 'ulama',

an upstart moreover, no~ a recognized member of the religioushierarchy of a place which had just experienced the rigours of wahhabi domination, he was naturaııy not welcome. the 'ulama' 'whose hearts were eaten up with hatred and envy, disputed with him, but his divinely inspired floods of eloquence gushed forth and it was demonstrated that he stood squarely in the orthodox path'.4 he became one of the most eminent teachers in the holy cİty and group ed around himself a great number of pupils, and of the many who took the tariqa from him simply 'to partake of his power'(li 't-tabarruk) was mu1.ıammad basan ıafir al-madani.5 the enmity of the 'ulama' was never assı.ıaged and a charge of heresy was brought against him. his life was so much endangered that he had to flee in 1827 to zabid and then to the town of

[ lt is related that 'once the famous saint of the maghrib, al- 'arabi addarqawi, stood naked while he was teaching. he was subject to trances (ştib-ib al-~al) and said, pointing to the sayyid (a1:ımad ibn

u6 nineteenth-century revival movements

Şabya in 'asir, which at that time stili paid aliegiance to

the wahhabis, who left him in peace since he was

sympathetic towards

their reformist tenets; and he died there in 1837.

whereas the tijaniyya remained unified, even later

internal

troubles not leading to the formatian of new lines, the

idrisiyya

split up immediately the master died, and his more

influential

pupils embarked upon independent courses. the most

important

of these were mul,ıammad ibn 'ali aş-sanüsi, founder of

the

sanüsiyya, and mul,ıammad 'uthman al-mirghani,

founder of

the mirghaniyya. these and a number of other

offshoots were independent tariqas, making only

cursory acknowledgement of

their debt to al,ımad ibn idris, and consequently

foliowed different

lines in their teaching and exercises. the sanüsi was the

only

order which retained al,ımad's quietistmode of dhikr

and which banned music, daneing, and extravagant

mavements. attainment

of ecstasy in the normal crude sense was not the aim

of the sanüsi

dhikr: the ikhwan were expected to work for their living

and

were withdrawn from the world iİıto self-sufficient

zawiya-centres

in oases in the saharan wastes: what was stressed was

the dhikr

of meditatian. through contemplation of the prophet's

i see the special invocation series of blessings upon the prophet in

assanusi's as-salsabil al-mu 'in, pp. 14 ff,

nineteenth-century reviv al movements 117

family, af ter long residence in central asia, made their way

to mecca, whose shurafa' recognized their daim to descent from

the prophet. mul,ıammad 'uthman's grandfather, 'abdallah alıvral,ıjüb (d. 1207/1792), was a well-known sufiı and mul,ıammad 'uthman followed in his footsteps. like as-sanüsi he sought initiatian into as manyorders as possible, but his real shaikh was ab.mad ibn idris. al,ımad sent him as a propagandist of reform to

egypt and the nilotic sudan (1817) just before mul,ıammad 'ali's

conquest. he was not outstandingly successful, but he took a sudanese wife, and their son, al-basan, was eventually to establish the tariqa as the most important in eastern sudan. mul,ıammad 'uthman returned to mecca and then accompanied al,ımad to

Şabya, but af ter his master' s death he returned to mecca, where

he pursued a course of rivalry with al,ımad's other pupils, mul,ıammad ibn 'ali as-sanüsi and ıbrahim ar-rashid. each of these daimed to be al,ımad's successor and founded his own independent tariqa. in mecca mul,ıammad 'uthman was at first more successful than the others, since his family was known there. he showed himself to be no reformist shaikh like al,ımad and won the support of same meccan shurafa'. he makes little acknowledgement in his writings of his debt to al:ımad, and like the sanüsi, ciaims that his tariqa is comprehensive, embracing the essentials of the naqshabandiyya, shadhiliyya, qadiriyya, lunaidiyya, and the mirghaniyya of his grandfather; 'therefore anyone who takes the tariqa from him and follows his path wi11link himself on to the chains (asanid) of these tariqas'.2

he sent his sons into different countries: south arabia, egypt, nilotic sudan, and even india. in each of these countries a nudeus of followers had been formed before his death in 1268/1851 at ta'if, w which he had withdrawn in consequence of the increasing hosti1ity of the 'ulama'. the propaganda was most successful in the egyptian sudan, where his son, al-basan (d. 1869), had settled at kasala and founded the, township of khatmiyya. when ~ul:ıammad al:ımad proclaimed himself the mahdi in the sudan ın ı881 the mirghani family, which like all other established orders had vested interests in the turco- egyptian regime, opposed

i ı h~s works are given in g.a.l. ii. 386; g.a.l.s. ii. 523. popular etymo

n8 nineteenth-century revival movements

his daims, and during the mahdiyya the family went into exilbut with the re-occupation in 1898 mirghani authority once agarreconstituted itself. the mirghanis strongly opposed the breakin naway of khalifas to found their own branches, but there wa~one exception whose independence was admitted by mul).ammad 'dthman. this was the isma'iliyya founded in 1846 by !sma'i[ ibn 'abdallah (1793-1863) at el-obeyd in kordofan province of eastem sudan. i

the islam of eastem sudan, soundly based on arabic, had tempered legalism with mysticism. the religious leaders hadcombined the roles of faqih (jurisconsult), faqir (sufi), and mu'allim (qur'an teacher) under the one comprehensive term offeki, and their establishment which combined all these functions was known as a khalwa (retreat). the new emphases brought a different type of religious rivalry and order loyalty; no stress was placed upon ascetic and mystical practice and teaching, but complete reliance up on the mirghanis, loyalty to whom earned assurance of paradise. the old familyand tribal orders continued to survive and maintained the old spirit, as against the legalistic fanaticism soon to burst out in the mahdi's repudiation of his sufi heritage.

(c)

sanüsiyya.ı

mul).ammad ibn 'ali as-saniisi (1787-1859) had been involved in the disputes over the succession to al).mad ibn idris. he founded (1838) his first zawiya at abu qubais, a hill overlooking th~ ka'ba,but though he won a following he could not maintain himseli against both the 'ulama' and the mirghani family strongly entrenched in mecca. he was forced to leave mecca (1840) and settled eventually (1843) in the hills known as jabal akhçlar in the interior of cyrenaica, where he founded az-zawiyat al-baiçla'. this relatively fertile region in the midst of the bleak desert was cen-trally situated both for influencing nomadic tribes and for contact with the camvan traftic coming from central sudan. though he

i see isma'il's own account in al- 'uhüd al-wafiya fi kaifiyyat şijat at-tariqat al-isma'iliyya, cairo [1937 ?], pp. 2-12; and for a general account see ]. s. trimingham, islam in the sudan, 19+9, pp. 235-6.

2 two studies of the order in english may be mentioned: the first, by e. e. evans-pritchard, the sanusi of cyrenaica (oxford, 19+9), is in its

nineteenth-century rev iv al movements 119

.on "" many noma<lic tribes in cyrenaica. he awuened

\ittle

""pon'" among coltivato", and urban people attached

to the old

"defa. and hia miaaionary oudook cau,ed him to look

wothwarda

'" the _i-pagan. mutuauy hoswe. tribes of the sahara.

and beyond them to the black peoples of central

sudan. in r856

he tnoved his headquarters from al-baiçla' to jaghbüb

deep in

the libyan desert, both to avoid turkish interference

and to strengthen his influence in central sahara. there

he founded a

ınulti-function ziiwiya, which resembled the ancient

ribiit in its

frontier-like character but was far more comprehensive

in its

lslaınic and social characteristics.

ıvıore dosely than any other of al).mad's successors

mul).ammad

İbn' ali followed his aims in urging the elimination of

i see abu 'abdallah m. b. a. 'ullaish (d. 1299/1881), al-fatl;ı al-

'ali, and

extract translated in depont and coppolani, les confreries religieuses

musul

manes, aigiers, 1897, pp. 546-51'

ı the salsabil (written in 1260/18+3) is not original but is

based, as m. b.

'ali acknowledges (cairo edn., a.ll. 1353, p. 4), upon the risala of

h.usain b.

'ali al-'ujaim\ (d. 1113/17°2), which gives the dhikrs of the 4° tariqas

which maintain the spiritual equilibrium of islam. al-murta<;la az-

zabidi (d. 1205/

1791) also imitated 'ujaimi's work in his 'iqd al-juman.

1'i8 nineteenth-century revival movements

his ci.i""" ""d ducing 'he m.hdlyy. 'he rumily wcn, in'o

'>il, bo, with the ce-o,"up.tion in c898 mugh"",

.uthodty once.go;"

"consti'u'ed i""lf. the mugh""" "'ongiy °ppo'ed the

bcealci"g

'woy of khalij", to found theic own bmnches, bu, th"e

"'"

one exception who" independence wo, 'dmltted by

mu!>anun.d

'uthman. tbis w", the i'mii"liyy. founded in c&f6 by i"""ü

ibn 'abdailiih (c793-'863) ., ei-obeyd in kocdofm pcovin",

of

eastern sudan.r

the mun of ""tem sud"", ,0undiy b'''d on &.blc, b.d

'empe'ed leg.li'm with m)'bticioun. the ,.iigions

icade", b.d

comblned the mles of laqih (ju'i"'onmli'), laqir (sufi),

'od

mu'ahim (qu"'n 'cachec) undec the one comp,.henmve

nineteenth-century revival movements ll9

won aver many namadie tribes in cyrenaica, he awakened little respanse among cuhivators and urban people attached to the old orders, and his missionary outlook caused him to look southwards to the semi-pagan, mutually hostile, tribes of the sahara, and beyand them to the black peoples of central sudan. in 1856 he ti'loved his headquarters from al-bai<ja' to jaghbilb deep in the libyan desert, both to avoid turkish interference and to strengthen his influence in central sahara. there' he founded a ınulti-function zawiya, which resembled the ancient rimı in itsfrantier-like character but was far more comprehensive in its islamic and social characteristics.

more dosely than any other of al,ımad's successors mul,ıammad ibn 'ali followed his aims in urging the eliminatian of the causes of disunity among muslims. like al,ımad he advocateda return to the primitive sources of qur'an and sunna. since this implied the rejection of ijmii' and qiyas and consequently the whole edifice of legalistic islam, a resuh probably never envisaged by either al,ımad or mul,ıammad ibn 'ali, the enmity of the 'ulama'was assured.! mul,ıammad ibn 'ali daimed that all the silsilas ofexisting orders had been brought together and unified in himself, and in his book as-salsabil al-ma 'in ji '!-!ara'iq al-arba'in he describes their dhikr requirements to show how his way fulfils them all.2 his writings cannot be called mystical in any strict sense of the term; his al-masa'il al- 'ashar, for example, dealswith 'the ten problems' encountered when carrying out ritual şalat. he carried on al,ımad's aimin seeking to purify practical sufism from extravagant and irregular features. he laid stress on the devational aspects of dhikr recital, censuring the noisy and frenzied exhibitions with which dhikr had become associated. at the same time, since he was alsa a practical missionary, he did not forget the needs of the ordinary people and allawed practices connected with the honouring of saints.

the sanilsi sought to achieve a simple islamic theocratic

i see abu 'abdallah m. b. a. 'ullaish (d. r299/r88r), al-fatl;ı al- 'ali, and extract translated in depont and coppolani, les confreries religieuses musulmanes, aigiers, r897, pp. 546-51.

2 the salsabit (written in 1260/r843) is not original but is based, as m. b. 'ali acknowledges (cairo edn., a.h. r353, p. 4), upon the risala of i:iusain b. 'ali al- 'ujaimj (d. rll3/r702), which gives the dhikrs of the 40 tariqas which maintain the spiritual equilibrium of islam. al-murtaçla az-zabidi (d. r205/ r79r) also imitated 'ujaimi's work in his 'iqd al-juman.

i

120 nineteenth-century revlv al mÜvements

organization of ,ociety by peacefu] me.ns. rence

he centred.'

movemen, m ın.cc=;ble reg;ons of tbe sob".,

remote &,~

centre, of privüege like mecco, for only in . country

witbou, ,

hi,toıy w" 'uch '" oim cop.bie of ,chievemen"

tbough bi",')

w" in f.c' 'o cotch up wi'h "'d overran tbis order. ri,

ideal of '.e unity of tbough', wo"'bip, "'d .ction 1ed

to tbe most co'"p'~

hensive' zawiya organization. e"ch 10coj zliwiya, .

cell of i~"""

coi'ure "" in . nom.ilic or .nimistic environmen', -

tbe me",,,

by which .dheren" were orgaruzed "'d tbrough

which "'p'u'i"

- etfected. eoch foimed . complex of bui]ilinga

constructed

around an inner courtyard with a well. these embraced

the

ı e. e. evans-pritchard, op. cit.,

p. u.

nineteenth-century reviv al müvements 121

ib ahim ar-rashid (d. at mecca in 1874),1 a shii'iqi of the

rtian sudan, carried on the propagandist traditions of al,ı

eg}'

dp whose authentic successor he daimed to be. he

establishedma ,

i

-wiyas at luxor and dongo a as well as mecca, where he won

zapopular following, especially af ter successfully

vindicating him:elffrom charges of heresy raised by the <ulamii'.2

anephew andpupil of his, called mul,ıammad ibn Şalil,ı, branched

out in 1887into a derivative, the Şalil,ıiyya,3 with its seat at

mecca, which became influential in somalia through the preaching of asomali,muhammad güled (d. 1918) and the formation of collective . settl~ments. the movement of mul,ıammad ibn <abdallah alijasan ('the mad mullah') had its origin among the Şalil,ıiyya.

mul,ıammad al-majdhüb aş-Şughayyar (1796-1832), greatgrandson of i:iamad ibn mul,ıammad (r693-1776),4 founder of the majdhübiyya, a shiidhili derivative, in damar district in nilotic sudan, af ter studying under al,ımad ibn idris in mecca,retumed to the sudan, revivified his hereditary tariqa and pro-. pagated it among j a <liyyin and beja tribes.

4. the orders in asla

the revival which has just been described hardly extended to asia, yet mecca in the nineteenth century was the most important order-centre in the muslim world, almost every order being represented there.5 the wahhiibis had abolished the orders alongwith the saint-cult in those parts of arabia which they controlled, but af ter mul,ıammad 'ali's campaigns their political authority became confined to the najd and the orders flourished in the hijaz.6 in <asir, as we have seen, al,ımad ibn idris actually

i to be distinguished from the moroccan rashidiyya (also known as yüsufiyya), an order in the shiidhili tradition (but independent of the jazüli succession) founded by al:ımad ibn yüsuf ar-rashidi, d. 931/1524-5.

ı see a. le chatelier, les confreries musulmanes du hedjaz, paris, 1887,

pp. 94-7.3 see j. s. trimingham, islam in ethiopia, 1952, pp. 243-4.4 see tabaqiit of wad !)aif alliih, ed. mandil, 193°, pp. 70-1.5 c. snouck hurgronje has given us a picture of the life of mecca at the time

of his stay there in 1884-5; english translation mecca in the latter half of the i9th century, 1931, especially pp. 201-9 on the orders in mecca. the fundamental study of the orders in the hijaz is a.le chatelier, op. cit.. 6 hadramawt remained a closed area to tariqas other than the 'alawi (and its branches) which for centuries had maintained the region as a family preserve, though they had certainly helped in tempering the uncompromising legalism of the tarim-trained shaikhs.

122 nineteenth-century reviv al movements

found sanctuary under the wahhabis from the persecution ofthe meccan 'ulama:. his pupils found greater responsiveness in africa than in arabia, yet all orders deriyatiye from him wererepresented by ziiwiyas in mecca and most of the founders iivedthere. although the sanüsi iike al:ımad himself found mecca an

impossible place in which to pursue his aim of instituting

a re

formed tariqa his ziiwiya on abu qubais continued to

flourish;ziiwiyas were founded in other towns of the hijaz; and the ordereven gained the allegiance of some of the bedouin.1

in mecca the orders were in an equivocal position.

theyexereised so great an influence among pilgrims that mecca becamea great diffusion centre, for many were initiated into one or moreiines, while others returned as khalifas, sporting a

tubular casearound their necks containing their ijiiza (iicence to teach or propagate). for example, the first indonesian minangkabau shaikhof the naqshabandiyya received his initiation in mecca around

184°; though it also worked the other way, for it was

primarily

from mecca that the indian naqshabandiyya found

varying

degrees of foothold in arab towns. returned pilgrims

(except innegro africa) frequently wielded an influence in their homelandswhich far outweighed that of the official representatives of islam.ı

at the same time, the 'ulamii' and shurafii', the meccan

ruiing ,

i see c. snouck hurgronje, op. cit., pp. 55-6.

2 on the influence of such returned pilgrims in indonesia in the nineteenth

century see c. snouck hurgronje, op. cit., book iv: the lawah.

3 on the hostiiity to the order-shaikhs of 'awn ar-rafiq, the grand

sharif

(1882-1905) or political head of mecca, see c. snouck hı.İrgronje,

'les con

freries religieuses, la mecque et le panislamisme', in his verspreide

geschrijten,

1923, iii. 199. 4 see a. le chateiier, op. cit., pp. 97-9.

nineteenth-century revival movements 123

when mul:ıammad 'ali conquered the hijaz in 1813 he insti-tuted the system which had long been in force in many parts of the ottoman empire, i by placing the orders from the administrative point of view under a shaikh at-turuq, one being appointed for each town. a. le chatelier wrote:

the role of this agent was apparently limited in that his function was to act as intermediary between the local authorities and the orders in his district in regard to such temporal matters as partidpation in public ceremonies, the practice of the ir ritual in mosques, the admini.. stration of awqiif, and the recognition of the ir dignitaries. these functions do not at first sight seem to be of such a nature as to give him a general authority over the orders. . . but the practice of always choosing as shaikh at-turuq a popularly venerated person or the head of a family enjoying great religious influence, produced a situation whereby in facthis authority came to be substituted for that of the chiefs of the orders. becoming accustomed to address themselves to him in material matters the muqaddams came to recognize him as their spiritual master. charged only with sanctioning their nominations he came to designate them himself and they came to accept him as their hierarchical superior. his taqrir or administrative licence became the equivalent of an i,jiiza or canonicallicence.

the first transformation led to a second-the grouping by town of the representatives of each order under the direction of one of them, who, originaııy personal agent of the shaikh at-turuq, came to impose himself as disposer of religious power and to replace, under the title

of shaikh as-sa,j,jiida, the provincial nii'ib.ı

new movements of the spirit in the arab near east found other forms of expression than through mystical orders, few

new orders being founded.3 the familyorders were well estabiished

ı each city had its shaikh ash-shuyükh. in damascus the head of thesumaişatiyya khiinaqiih held this post automatically; see al-qalqashandi, Şubf:ı, iv. 193, 221, ete., xii. 412. the actual authority of the shaikh varied according to local circumstances. egypt differed .in that the authority of the shaikh atturuq extended over all the orders in the country. at the beginning of the twentieth century thirty-two orders are listed as coming under al-mashyakhat al-bakriyya; see m. tawfiq al-bakri, baii a1-Şiddiq, cairo, 1323/1905, p. 381. only the main orders it seems were officially recognized for there were many others not given in this list.

2 a. le chatelier, op. cit., pp. 4-5. c. snouck hurgronje says (op. cit., p. 177) that 'when two important sheikhs of one tariqah, or more rarely when two tariqahs, get into conflict with each other, the authority of such a sheikh atturuq is of no value'.

3 the main activity in this respect took place in the khalwatiyya; but is

124 nineteenth-century reviv al movements

aİıd family tradition and communal allegiance assured

their con~tinuity.ı

af ter the wahhabi incursion into syria in 1810 when

damascus

was threatened, the head of the naqshabandiyya

there, qiyii'

ad-din khalid (1192/1778-1242/1826), following avisit

to india,

was moved to undertake reforms.z he succeeded in

uniting into

a more unified tariqa-ciuster various branches in

syria, iraq,

and eastern turkey. his attempt did not succeed, in

that af ter

his death his khali/as regarded their groups in 4leppo,

istanbul,and other towns as fully independent organizations.

shaikh khalid's propaganda was successful in causing

members of important qadiri famihes in kurdistan to

change over to the

naqshabandiyya, with considerable effect upon the

subsequent

history of kurdish nationalism. 'abdallah, son of a

prominent

molla Şalil,ı, having become naqshabandi, made

nehri his centre

and the family came to wield temporal power,

especially under

'vbaidallah (1870-83), who imposed his authority

over a widearea. he was at enmity with another family, the

barzani. one ofkhalid's khali/as called taj ad-din had established himself atbarzan, a kurdish area in northern iraq, and his line became an

important factor in kurdish nationalism. taj ad-din's son,

nineteenth-century rev iv al mo ve men ts 125

inearnation .of god and himself as his propheı.ı the prophet survived a few months onlyand the new religion died with him.z the subsequent history of the barzanis has no place in a history of the religious orders.3

although there was no revival in the near eastem world the reformist tendencies of the age affected the orders. they came under bitter attack from those influenced by wahhabi rigorism, from 'ulamii' resentful of their influence, and from the reformers and new men. they were subjected to pressures of various kinds, of ten through government ageney, as, for example, in the suppression of extravagances such as the dösa ceremony in cairo. yet no genuine reform movements took place. this is especially true of turkey, syria, and iraq. the bektashis suffered a severe setback when the janissary corps was abolished in 1826,4 yet under the relatively tolerant regime of 'abd al-majid (1839-61) the order re-established itself and regained widespread influence. this shows that the j anissa'ry link was by no means integral to' the vitality of the order. the main spread of the order into albania took place during this century af ter the suppression of the janissaries; whole communities reacting against, the sunni islam of the turkish conquerors attached themselves to the order. its main centres were in tirana and aqce l:iişar.

at the same time, during this century throughout the whole islamic world, the orders still fulfilled their role of catering for the religious needs and aspirations of vast numbers of ordinary people, and attacks on them had relatively little effect. the

'iii

1111

i it is not clear whether the idea came from ahmad himself, at any rate he

did not repudiate it, see report by h.b.m.'s go;ernment to the council of theleague of nations on the administration 'of iraq, 1927, p. 23.2 ai;ımad's aberrations (he became a christian at one time)

are to be wıderslood as those which to his confused mind he thought a maltimati ought to lake.

3 on the history of the leaders in modern times see c. ]. edmonds, 'thekurds and the revolution in iraq', m.e.]. xiii (1959), ı-ıo.

.4 see the contemporary, though hostiie, account of the meetings of 'ulama'

~ılh the heads of the leadin$ orders, and the imperial decrees and fatwlis

~sued in mohammed assad-efendi, precis historique de la destruction du corpses janissaires par le sultan mahmoud, en ı8:z6, ed. and tr. a. p.

caussin deperceval, paris, 1833, pp. 298-329. the three leading bektiishi chiefs

weree~eculed, all lodges in constantinople and its environs were

destroyed andi ose in the provinces were handed over to other orders, their

superiorsand many dervishes were exiled, their awqaf, iands, and villages

confiscated,and the wearing of their special dress and other distinctions

prohibited.

126 nineteenth-century revival movements

causes which led to their virtual edipse during the

twentieth

century will be discussed in the last

chapter.

the orders transcend all boundaries of

politicalloyalties within

islam. sultan 'abd al-i::iamid's attention was drawn to

this aspect and its possible value in his pan-islami c

vision, through a work

written by the son of the founder of the madaniyya

(-darqawiyya)

order, shaikh mul:ıammad ibn i::iamza ?iifir al-madani

of misurata

in libya. this work, an-n ür as-siitı" (the briiiiant light),ı

is

primarily an account of the teaching of the order

following

stereotyped lines, but it has a section deaiing with the

principles

underıying the pan-islamic movement. these, we have

seen,

were found earlier in the work of al:ımad ibn idris,

though ali his

pupils rejected this aspect of his teaching, even the

sanüsi choosing

a passivist role in the sahara. shaikh ?iifir contributed

to the

nineteenth-century reviv al movements 127

lı most notorious being, abu 'i-hudii m. aş-Şayyadi (1850

t ~9) of the Şayyadiyya branch of the rita'iyya, a long-

established

;9rnily order ne ar aleppo. abu 'i-hudii began his career

as a simple./

qir chanting sufi songs in the streets of aleppo where

he disja , d i .

overed that he possesse unusua powers. he next appears ın~stanbul, where his singing and extraordinary powers

in therita'i tradition attracted the attention of the youth who

was to become sultan 'abd al-i:iamid ii (1876-1909). in a remarkable way he was able, through his astrological and divinatory powers, to maintain an influence over the sultan which lasted throughout all changes until his final overthrow. he influenced the sultan' s religious policy. he was a fanatical believer in the divine right of the rita'i tariqa, its saints, and of the arab role in sufism.1 all reformers of the second half of the nineteenth century, such as jamiil ad-din al-afghiini, al-kawakibi, and mul).ammad 'abduh, disliked his influence upon the sultan and his views about lineal and traditional islam, regarding him as an example of all that they were countering.

in central asia there is little of significance to record for this century. in turkistan and in the caucasus there was a revival of the naqshabandiyya in the 1850s.2 this order had penetrated into daghistan at the end of the eighteenth century and aleader called shaikh manşür (captured 1791) sought to unite the various caucasian tribes to oppose the russians. he won over the princes and nobles of ubichistan and daghistan, as well as many circassians who, af ter the suppressian of the murid mavement and the imposition of russian rule (1859), preferred exile to submission. the order is credited with the definitive winning over of these caucasian group s to islam, even if only as a factor uniting the various dans.

the sufi intellectual gnostic tradition, crushed in the arab

r see abu 'l-hudii's tanwir al-abşlir ii tabaqlit as-slidat ar-rifli'iyya, cairo, 1306/ i 888.

2 'the brotherhood of the vaisis, an offshoot of the great sufi fratemity of naqshbandiyya, was founded at kazan' İn 1862 by bahauddin vaisov. its membership consisted mainly of smail artisans, and its doctrine was a very curious rnixture of sufi mysticism, puritanism and russian socialİsm-somewhat resembling that of the populists. the vaisis were considered by other muslİms as hereties. in 1917, the son and successor of the sect's founder, inan vaisov, received some arms from the bolshevik organization of kazan'. he was kiljed while fighting for the reds in trans-bulak in february 1918' (a. bennigsen and c. lemercier-quelquejay, islam in the soviet union, london, 1967, p. 243).

128 nineteenth-century revival movement8

world and the maghrib through the sufis' subjectian to

lega1isl11

and conformity, survived in shi'i iran, where what has

been

caued the isfahan school of theosophy shone in the

prevailing

gloom with such lights as muua Şadra and muua,hadi

sabziwari

(1798-1878). in india in the eighteenth century a

naqshabandi caued qutb ad-din a1).mad, more

generauy known as shah wali

ahah of delhi (17°3-62), brought a new intehectual

impulse to

religious thought within the context of the orders, i whilst a somewhat earlier contemporary chishti, shah kalim ahah j ahana

hadi (1650-1729), infused vigour into the sphere of sufi

practice

and devotion. wali ahah sought to introduce a new

spirit into

islamic thought and to reconcile the dichatamy

between shar'and taşawwuf: '

he laid the foundation of a new school of scholastic theology;

bridged

the gulf between the jurists and the mystics; softened the

controversy

between the exponents and the critics of the doctrine of

wa~dat al

wudjüd and awakened a new spirit of religious enquiry. he

addressed

ah sections of muslim society-rulers, nobles, 'ulama', mystics,

soldiers,

traders, etc.-and tried to infuse a new spirit of dedication in

nineteenth-century rev iv al movements 129

now come the first warnings of a different sart of change which was completely to bypass the orders. so far most significant rnovements of thought in muslim india had taken place through and within the orders, but af ter shah wali ahah the inspiration for change came from outside them. it is significant thatwali ajliih's son, 'abd al- 'aziz (1746-1824), and grandson, ismii'il

(i781-18~1), were important figures in the new outlook which

was openıng up.parahel with the mu1).ammad-emphasis of the two

maghribi al:ımads was that of a third, a1).mad barelvi (d. 1831), a diseiple of wali auiih's son, 'abd al- 'aziz, who fouowed fundamentalist and even political lines while maintaining his sufi heritage. aziz ahmad writes:sayyid al,ımad barelvi continue d the wali-ulliihi traditionof synthesizing the disciplines of the three major Şüfi orders in india, the qiidiri, the chishti, and the naqshbandi, and uniting them with a fourth element of religious experience, the exoteric discipline which he called tariqa-i mu~ammadiyah (the way of mul,ıammad). his explanation was that the three Şufi orders were linked with the prophet esotericaiiy, whereas the fourth one being exoteric emphasized strict conformity to reiigious law. . . . he thus harnessed whatever was left of the inward Şüfi experience in the decadent early nineteenth-century muslim india to the dynamism of a reformist orthodox reviva!.1

subsequentchange-in the religious climate of india-lies largely outside the scope of this study. within the orders there was little significant mavement, simply sporadic activities such as that of mawliinii ashraf 'ali of thana bhawan (d. 1943). at the same time, the sufi inteuectual background continued to manifest itself in many aspects of indian life and influenced reformers like mu1).ammad iqhal.

discussion of the orders in regions where islam penetrated af ter it had attained its definitive form has been excluded from this study, but a brief reference to the orders in south':'east asia in the nineteenth century is necessary in view of the fact that here too their decline in the twentieth century is as marked, so i am told,as in the heartlands of islam. '

the spread of the orders in the malay peninsula, mainly in

the nineteenth century, came about through the medium of the

i aziz ahmad, studies in islamic culture in the indian environment, oxford,

1964, pp. 210-11.

130 nineteenth-century revival movements

pilgrimage. the main orders which sp re ad were the qadiriyynaqshabandiyya, and the sammaniyya. the al.ımadiyya-

idrisi~', was introduced in 1895 and thrived for a time, though with ~

restricted range.into indonesia, too, the pilgrimage was the means

through which the sufi way penetrated. the first documentary evidence appears in the sixteenth century in the form of mystical poetry and other writings. in sumatra early mystics were bamza fanşiiri (d. c. 1610) and his diseiple, shams ad-din as-samatrani (pasai, d. 163°)' these men were gnostic-type mystics and consequentlyleft no enduring organization behind them. one <abd ar-ra'iif ibn 'ali of singkel introduced the shattariyya into acheh in ~°9°/ 1679, not from india as might have been expected, but from mecca where he was initiated by al.ımad qushashi, and he came to be honoured as the regional saint. later, contact with hadramawt which became such a feature of indonesian life, led to thesettlement of arabs in certain parts who introduced their own im~l i

the islamization of java is assoeiated with the legend of 'the

\

nine saints', active on the north-east coast in the early sixteenth century, who taught the mystical way and inaugurated a new erain indonesian life. the strongest local emphasis seems to have ibeen the quest for <ilm: that is, initiation into esoteric knowledge became the aim of devotees of the religious life. the shattariyya, i the earliest known order, was introduced from the hijaz towards the end of the seventeenth century.

the naqshabandiyya, too, was introduced from mecca (and behind that from turkey) into minangkabau (sumatra) about 1845. disputes arose between its adherents and the established shattari devotees, but largeiyon legalistic and secondary issues rather than mysticism. the sammaniyya entered sumatra through <abd aş-Şamad ibn <abdallah (d. c. 1800), a sumatran pupil of as-sammani who lived in mecca and initiated pilgrims from his own country.

the orders spread into all these parts af ter they had acquired their definitive form. desire to maintain the organization and liturgical forms of the parent orders, together with the diffusion of their books in arabic, ensured an over-all uniformity of practice, and the differences are found in omission and response, in minor aspects such as the form festivals take, and in their social and

ır

~l~eteenth-century reviv al movements 131

r . al repercussions. no creative adaptation is

apparent. the

pa it~~ed forms and beliefs were blended into the

new human

acq~

rlo~ment but by juxtaposition rather than fusion, the

old and

en vı 1"" ,existing parallel to each

other.new

h. . 1

' . h d d'ff f

in this aspect tesımı arıty wıt an i erence rom west

pjrican islam is apparent. the difference between

african and

indonesian muslims in religion derive both from the

different

pre-existing cultural background and the nature of

the early

islamic missionaries. snouck hurgronje showed that the

indian

merchants who settled in malaysian and indonesian

ports laid more

stress on thinking than upon acting, and this opened

the way for

the reception of forms of heterodox inysticism. in

africa, on the

contrary, the whole stress was laid upon acting, and, in

fact, in

negro africa proper, not only did heterodoxy have no

opening,

but the mystical way proper did not gain africans.1

there does

not seem to be any genuine affinity between africans'

belief in

the unity of life and the sufi doctrine of al-waj;dat al-

wujüdiyya.

indonesians achieved a far greater degree of genuine

religious

132 nineteenth-century revival mÜvements

the few, the coliective aspects of the orders, !taç/ras,

and piigrinıages

to shrines, assumed a reiativeiy minor importance in

indonesianmuslim life. .

the element which stands out from what we have

written in

this chapter is that nineteenth-century revivaiism in

the orders

was primariiy directed towards and effective in

missionary activities

on fringe areas of the muslim world. in many parts of

africa

niiotic sudan, and somalia, the association was direct,

in wes~

mrica it was more indirect.

i --ı

v

the mysticism and. theosophy of the orders

wlth muq.ammad, khiitim al-anmyii' (seal of the prophets), the cycle of prophecy (dii'irat an-nubuwwa) was clased, but gad did not thenceforth leave his people

without guidance on the way to himself. for the majority, the guide was the revealed law (shar') which is for the whole community, and the 'ulamii' were the inheritors of the prophets asthe guardians and interpreters of the law. .

for others, the exoteric law, though accepted, was not enough. religion is not only revelation, it is alsa mystery. for those who became known as shi'a (men of the party of 'ali, shi'at 'ali), the guide through this world of divine wisdom (i,ıikma iliihiyya) was the infallible imam. the imam was alsa wali alliih and the clasing of the prophetical cycle heralded the opening of another-dii' irat al-waliiya.i a shi'i sufi, 'aziz ad-din an-nasafi, explains the shi'i sense of wali:des milliers de prophetes, anterieurement venus, ant successivement cantrilıue a l'instauration de la forme theophanique qui est la prophetie, et mohammed l'a achevee. maintenant c'est au tour de la waliiyat (l'initiation spirituelle) d'etre manifestee et de manifester les realites esoteriques. or, i'homme de dieu en la personne de qui se manifeste la waliiyat, c'est la Şii!ıib al-zamiin, l'imam de ce temps.z

for others, those who came to be known as sufis, direct communion with gad was possible. their mission, though an individual search, was to maintain among men a realization of the inner reality which made the shar' valid. this way normaliy involved a guide, but of these there were many, and their

i see h. corbin, histoire de la philosophie islamique, paris, 1964, i. 45. for convenience sake we distinguish waldya with a fatj,ıa as applying to the shi'i conception and wildya that of the sufis. the term cannot be translated without ınisleading implications but the meaning will become evident from subsequent discussion.

. translated by h. corbin, op. cit., i. 102.

or

.,

~~ iı

:ı:

ıı,!

'if

f

yeditepe

university

134 the mysticism and

whole concept of guidance was different from that of

the shj'j

sufis adopted their own conception of wilaya, but their

awliy;;

(plural of wali) were ordinary men singled out by god. at

the

same time, the conception of a pre-creation wilaya from

eternity

was incorporated into sufi thought from eastem

gnosticisın [

though this concept never fitted comfortably into the

purer stru~

ture of sufism. they were to ascribe a pre-creation

existence and

a hierarchical structure to these awliya' and link them

with the

government of the world by virtue of an-nür al-

mul;ammadi (!it.

'the muhammadan light'), immanent in them all. some

sufis

did not hold that any da'irat al-wilaya succeeded da'irat

an

nubuwwa, for the latter was only a particular mode,

finite and

passiye, of god's communication with man, whereas

wilaya is

abiding (istı"qrar) and ever-active and infinite.2 this

does not imply

any inferiority of law-transmitting apostles to saints,

since every

apostle is also a wali. ıbn al- 'arabi writes: 'wilaya is ail-

theosophy of the orders 135

dhered to current usage in this book. in the sufi sense wali is

~ tter translated 'protege' of god; like mawla it can be 'protector'

e 'patron' as well as 'dient'. with the shi'a it signifies

the imam,

~~e word of god, the everliving guide.the sufi guides, like the imams, also possess esoteric

knowledge, but, unlike the imams, their esoteric knowledge has come to them, not by genealogical, but by spiritual progression.ı in fact, it came to them by a twofold action of god: by transmission from mul:ıammad, through a chain of elect masters, an.dalso by direct inspiration from god, of ten through the mediation of alkhaçlir, like gabriel to mul:ıammad.

these three trends of spiritual guidance are fully within the heritage of islam, though they were never reconciled. both sufism and shi'ism were attempts to solve the perpetual islamic dilernma of a once-for-all final revelation, but they each fully recognized the once-for-all nature of the final prophetic mode of divine communication. however, they did not think that with the dosing of this stage god's direct dealings with men were at an end.

the mission of both sufis and shi'is2 was to preserve the spiritual sense of the divine revelation. both were concerned with

h . tawhid r b h. w .

d

'rı:t e equatıon sha;' >. aqıqa, ut t eır ays were quıte ıııerent.

whilst in mai).y respects sufis and shi'is come dose together,

in others, some fundamental, theyare poles ap art. this hinges

upon their different conceptions of the basis of the community. sufis are within the main stream of islam, for them the basis is the

[ there is no sound evidence for linking shi'i gnosticism with any of the twelve imiims, except perhaps ja'far aş-Şiidiq. their aileged sayings, now fonning a vast corpus beginning with ash-sharif ar-raçli's (d. 406/1015) nahj al-baldgha, devoted to imiim 'ali, being unlikely to go back to them. this does not affect their validity for shi'is; for them it is the imiim who speaks, whoever put it on paper, but others are likely to take a more critical auitude. this is not to say that aii the material in such compilations is spurious; see l. veccia vaglieri, 'sul "nahj al-baliigah" e sul suo compilatore a§-sarif ar-raçli', annali, nuova serie, viii. 1-46; g. oman, 'uno "specchio per principi" deli' imiim 'ali ibn abi tiilib', annali, n.s., x (1960), 1-35.. writers on sufism have fought shy of dealing with the question of the relationship of sufism and shi'ism. l. massignon 'was concemed with the relations of shi'is with al-!;iaiiiij; but otherwise the only scholars who have attempted to deal with it have approached it from the shi'i viewpoint-we may mention henri corbin, w. ivanow, and sayyid husain nasr. it is not a subject for this book, since i, am only dealing cursorily with the mystical foundations of the orders, yet i feel i should at least indicate my own position on the question.

!iıl

ii