by Mehrdad Kia
Some of the early Ottoman sultans were followers of Sufi masters who participated in various Ottoman military campaigns and provided the ruler and his troops with spiritual support and guidance. It was their alliance with the Ottoman state that allowed Sufi brotherhoods to establish themselves in the Balkans. Given their close interaction and association with various Sufi orders, it is not surprising that the Islam of the early Ottomans, and the gazis who supported them, lacked the theological sophistication of the Muslim ulema who dominated the mosques and seminaries of Anatolia’s urban centers. The religious beliefs of these Ottoman rulers were simple, personal, unorthodox, eclectic, and mystical. One of the earliest accounts of the rise of Osman, the founder of the Ottoman state, describes how he received a blessing from Şeyh Edebali, a prominent Sufi leader, who handed him the sword of a gazi and prophesized that his descendants would rule the world. When Osman died, the ceremony that decided the succession of his son, Orhan, to the throne took place at a zaviye, a hospice run and managed by dervişes for travelers.
With the rise of the empire and the establishment of Ottoman power in the urban centers of Anatolia where Sunni Islam dominated the social and cultural life of the Muslim community, the state became increasingly identified with the official Islam of the ulema. Sufi traditions and practices were never abandoned, however, and mystical orders continued to enjoy great popularity and respect, allowing them to play a prominent role in the daily life of many Muslims in the empire.
This popularity and mass appeal may explain why Sufi mystics and derviş leaders led several major uprisings against the Ottoman state. For example, the revolt of Şeyh Bedreddin in 1416 against the authority of the Ottoman sultan, Mehmed I (1413–1421), brought the empire to the verge of extinction. Influenced by the mystical writings of such prominent philosophers and Sufi writers as Ibn Arabi (1165–1240), Bedreddin believed that the world was ancient, without a beginning, without an end, and not created in time. If the physical world disappeared, the spiritual world would disappear as well; “creation and destruction” was “an eternal process,” and “this world and the next, in their entirety” were “imaginary fantasies.” The revolutionary Sufi şeyh rejected heaven and hell, as well as the Day of Judgment, and the resurrection of the body. He also dismissed any difference between Muslims and non-Muslims, allowed his followers to drink wine, and advocated distribution of land among his followers, who included landless peasants. The ulema accused him of ignoring the Islamic law and denounced him as a heretic. Şeyh Bedreddin’s revolt was crushed by Ottoman troops, and he was executed by order of Mehmed I in 1416.
Bedreddin’s followers, however, continued to preach, and one of his disciples, Börklüce Mustafa, organized a revolt against the Ottoman government by instigating an uprising among Turcoman tribal groups in a region near Izmir in western Anatolia. Börklüce “preached that all things, except for women, were common property.” As with Bedreddin, he also rejected the inequality between Muslims and Christians and declared that any Muslim who called a Christian an infidel was himself an infidel. Once again, the Ottoman government sent its forces against the rebellious Sufi şeyh, who was captured and executed together with hundreds of his followers.
BEKTAŞIS
The first major Sufi brotherhood in the Ottoman state, that of the Bektaşi Sufi order, emerged as a powerful social and political force in Anatolia during the 14th century. The order continued to play a prominent role in the daily life of the empire until the establishment of the Turkish Republic in 1923. The leaders (babas/dedes) of the order acted as the chaplains to the janissary corps, and the brotherhood recruited heavily from manufacturing guilds in Istanbul and other large urban centers of the Ottoman Empire. The alliance between the Bektaşi order and the janissaries was symbolized in various public events and parades as the chaplains of the brotherhood marched near the commander of the infantry corps reciting prayers and incantations with their daggers drawn from their sheaths. It is not surprising, therefore, that the power of the Bektaşi order diminished after Sultan Mahmud II disbanded the janissary corps in 1826 and closed down many of the brotherhood’s centers.
The Bektaşis traced the origins of their order to the Persian Sufi master Haci Bektaş Veli (Haji Baktash Vali), who is believed to have lived in the 13th century. His teachings, which were given a definite form by Balim Sultan, the leader of the order in the 16th century, were greatly influenced by the beliefs, customs, and practices prevalent in Shia Islam, as well as in certain Sufi doctrines of the Hurufi movement that had spread from northeastern Iran to Azerbaijan and Anatolia in the 14th and 15th centuries.
The Bektaşis acknowledged the 12 Shia imams and venerated the first Shia imam, Ali, the cousin and son-in-law of the prophet Muhammad, whom they believed to be one with God (Allah) and Muhammad in a single united entity. Though denied by the Bektaşis, many observers referred to this unity as a form of belief in trinity. As with the Twelver Shia (Ithna Asharis) in Iran and elsewhere, the Bektaşis also mourned the death of Husayn, the third Shia Imam and the son of Ali and Fatima (the daughter of the prophet Muhammad), whose martyrdom was commemorated every year on the tenth of Muharram, the first month in the Islamic calendar. To share in the suffering of Husayn and his family, mourners beat their chests with fists and chains, and cut and repeatedly struck their foreheads with swords and knives. From the first to the tenth of Muharram, the Bektaşis also celebrated the nights of mourning for the Shia martyrs and especially those Shia figures who had perished in infancy. In their daily rituals, the Bektaşis showed a general disregard for Muslim rituals such as the daily prayers. They believed that the holy Quran contained two levels of knowledge and meaning: the first was the outer and exoteric (zahir), and the second was the inner and esoteric (batin), which constituted the eternal meaning of the holy book. This inner meaning was only available to a very few and was the meaning and instruction sought by Sufis. The Bektaşis were led by their leader (çelebi) who lived in the monastery (tekke) of Pir Evi (The Tomb of the Founder) at Haci Bektaş in central Anatolia. The head of each Bektaşi tekke was called baba (father).
The Bektaşis absorbed certain pre-Islamic and Christian practices and rituals, which explains their acceptance, popularity, and success among many urban and rural communities of the Balkans, particularly in Albania. Using Holy Communion as a model, they served wine, bread, and cheese when new members joined the order. The members of the order also confessed to their sins and sought absolution from their murşid (spiritual guide). In sharp contrast to Muslims who prescribed strict separation between the two sexes, Bektaşi women participated in the order’s rituals without covering their faces. A small group within the order swore to celibacy and wore earrings as a distinctive mark. Under Ottoman rule, Bektaşi leaders introduced the teachings of their order to various regions of the Balkans, Anatolia, and the Arab Middle East, including Egypt. As the convents of the order spread throughout the Balkan region, many Christians in Albania, Kosovo, and Macedonia converted to Islam through Bektaşi teachings and activities. Evliya Çelebi wrote that the Muslims of Gjirokaster in southern Albania were so devoted to the first Shia imam, Ali, that, when sitting down or standing up, they uttered “Ya Ali” (“Oh Ali”). According to Evliya Çelebi, these Albanians studied and read Persian and, in sharp contrast to Muslims who shunned alcohol consumption and public demonstrations of physical intimacy with the opposite sex, they “were very fond of pleasure and carousing” as well as “shamelessly” drinking wine and other intoxicating beverages. The Bektaşis also celebrated weddings and the two Muslim feasts of bayrams, as well as Persian Zoroastrian and various Christian festivals, such as Nevruz (Persian New Year) and the days of St. George, St. Nicholas, and St. Demetrius, by dancing and drinking, a behavior that was denounced by the devout traveler and writer as “shameless” and “characteristic of the infidels.”
In his Book of Travels, Çelebi left his readers with a vivid description of a “love intoxicated” Bektaşi derviş:
Mea
nwhile I took a close look at this dervish. He was barefooted and bareheaded and raggedy. But his face and his eyes gleamed with light, and his speech sparkled with pearls of wit. He was extremely eloquent and quick witted. On his head perched a “water pot” headgear, with the turban awry and adorned with twelve ruby-colored brands, like appliqué roses, standing for the twelve leaders of the Bektaşi order, and signifying his love for the dynasty (of Ali) and his devotion to the twelve imams. . . . On his shirtless and guileless pure and saintly chest were marks of flagellation he had received in Tabriz [a city in northwestern Iran] during the Aşura ceremonies marking the martyrdom of el-Huseyn. . . He removed the “water pot” from his head revealing, just above his forehead, a “brand of submission” the size of a piaster [a coin]. His purpose in displaying it to us was to demonstrate that he was an adept in the holy law (şeriat), in the mystic path (tarikat), in the mystic truth (hakikat), and in Gnostic wisdom (marifet), and that he had submitted to the way of Truth (tarik-i hak). On both arms were wounds and gashes of the four companions of the Prophet, and on his left arm were brands and lashes of the plain of Kerbela. He was mad, pure, wild, and radiant, but not exactly naked. He was shaven in the saintly “four strokes” manner to indicate that he was free of all forbidden things—thus there was no trace of hair, whether on his head, mustache, beard, brow, or eyelashes. But his face was shining. In short, the apron round his waist, the staff in his hand, the words “Oh Beloved of hearts” on his tongue, the sling of David in his waistband, the palheng -stone (“a carved stone the size of a hand with twelve flutings worn at the waist”) of Moses, pomp of Ali, the decorative plumes, bells, and other ornaments [all these indicated that he was] a companion of the foot-travelers, they were the outfittings and instruments of poverty of the noble dervishes, and he himself was the perfect mystic.
MEVLEVIS
The greatest rival of the Bektaşis was the Mevlevi order, which enjoyed immense popularity among the members of the Ottoman ruling elite. The founder of the order, and one of the most beloved Persian poets, was Mevlana Celaledin Rumi (Persian: Mowlana Jalaludin Mohammad Balkhi, also known as Mowlavi), born in 1207 in Balkh in today’s northern Afghanistan. His father, Bahauddin Walad, a renowned scholar, theologian, and mystic, fled his home before the arrival of the Mongols in 1215 and took his family to Konya, the capital of the Rum Seljuk state in central Anatolia. Rumi lived, wrote, and taught in Konya until his death in 1273. His body was buried beside his father under a green tomb, which was constructed soon after his death. The mausoleum has served as a shrine for pilgrims from the four corners of the Islamic world, as well as those of other faiths who revere his teachings and mystical poetry.
Rumi would have been an ordinary mystic and poet had it not been for an accidental encounter in 1244 with the wandering Persian Sufi master Shams-i Tabrizi, who hailed from Tabriz, a city in northwestern Iran. Shams inspired Rumi to compose one of the masterpieces of Persian poetry, Divan-i Shams-i Tabrizi (The Divan of Shams of Tabriz), in which Rumi expresses his deep love, admiration, and devotion for Shams, who had transformed his life. This was followed by the Masnavi (Turkish: Mesnevi), a multivolume book of poetical genius and fantastic tales, fables, and personal reflections that Rumi completed after the disappearance of Shams. Rumi’s poetry transcends national, ethnic, and even religious boundaries, and focuses primarily on the spiritual journey to seek union with God. Love for fellow human beings is presented in his poems as the essence of the mystical journey.
The mystical order that was established during Rumi’s lifetime (which came to be known as Mevleviyya) was distinguished from other Sufi orders by the significance it gave to sema, a music and whirling/dancing ritual performed in a circular hall called sema hane. Imitating their master’s love for the musical ceremony that inspired singing and dancing, Mevlana’s followers employed spinning and whirling to reach a trance-like state. While the majority of Muslims shunned singing and dancing, the Mevlevi dervişes made music and dancing the hallmark and central tenet of their order.
Because of its popularity, power, and influence, the Mevlevi order was subjected to frequent attacks and persecution from the ulema, who denounced their use of music and dancing as un-Islamic. Thus, in 1516, when Selim I was moving against the Safavid dynasty in Iran, the şeyhülislam persuaded the sultan to order the destruction of Rumi’s mausoleum in Konya, which served as the physical heart of the order. Fortunately for the Mevlevis, the order was repealed and the mausoleum and center were spared.
Despite numerous campaigns of harassment by the members of the religious establishment, Ottoman sultans and government officials continued to show their respect and reverence for the Mevlavi order by showering its leaders with gifts and favors. For example, in 1634, Murad IV assigned the poll tax paid by non-Muslims of Konya to the head of the Mevlevi order. In 1648, the chief of the Mevlevi order “officiated, for the first time, at the ceremony of the girding on of the sword of Osman, which marked the accession of a new sultan,” a privilege that remained with the order until the end of the Ottoman dynasty. The close relationship between Ottoman sultans and the leaders of the Mevlevi order continued into the 19th century. The reform-minded Selim III (1789–1807) visited the Mevlevi tekkes so frequently that the musical ceremony, which had been performed only on Tuesdays and Fridays, was performed daily in a different tekke on each day of the week. Outside Istanbul, however, the ceremony continued to be performed only on Fridays. This visible support allowed the order not only to survive against attacks from the ulema but also grow and expand into the four corners of the Ottoman Empire.
Dancing dervishes. Anonymous, c. 1810.
NAKŞBANDIS
A latecomer among the Sufi orders in Istanbul was the Nakşbandiyya (Naqshbandiyya) Sufi order, which arrived in the Ottoman Empire from Central Asia in the late 15th century. The order traced its origins to the Persian mystic and teacher Khawjah Bahauddin Naqshband (d.1389), who lived and taught in Central Asia in the 14th century. The order immediately attracted a large following because, more than any other mystical brotherhood, its teachings and practices corresponded with the established rules and practices of Sunni Islam. Greatly influenced by the writings of the Persian theologian, mystic, philosopher, and jurist Ghazali (1058–1111), the Nakşbandis believed that mysticism could not negate anything that was taught by the Quran and the examples, deeds, sayings, and customary practices (sunnah) of the prophet Muhammad. The members of the order closely observed the daily prayers, fasts, and other observances prescribed by the Islamic law.
In sharp contrast to other Sufi orders, the Nakşbandis did not “engage in any outward performance” of their zikr, “the act by which” Sufis meditated and sought “a union with God.” Instead, they engaged in what they called, the silent zikr, as they believed that “the sort of physical exercise characteristic of other order’s practice” of zikr was “theatrical diversion from the true purpose of the act.” Also unlike other Sufi orders, the Nakşbandis did not “have a long process of spiritual internship that required those seeking to join the order to pursue a series of stages under the guidance of a master before being judged worthy of admittance.” They believed that a person only approached the order for admittance if he had already reached a sufficient level of religious enlightenment internally and thus knew that he was ready.
At times, the enormous power and popularity of the Nakşbandiyya order ignited the jealousy and insecurity of Ottoman sultans. For example, in 1639, Murad IV “executed a şeyh of the Nakşbandi order of dervishes, called Mahmud, who had grown too influential.” Despite the sporadic persecution of the order, the Nakşbandis continued with their missionary activities and spread the teachings of the order to the four corners of the Ottoman Empire. The order “received a major boost from the teachings of Sheikh Ziya al-Din Khalid (d. 1827),” who “was a Kurd from the Shahrizor district in present-day Iraq.” He “rejected the anti-Sufi stance” of radical Muslim reformers such as Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab (1703–1791), the found
er of the Wahhabi movement in Arabia, who “condemned all Sufis as heretics,” but the sheikh also criticized “what he believed to be the divergence from ‘true’ Islam that most Sufi orders of his day represented.” Sheikh Khaled “saw his mission as nothing short of the revival of Sunni Islam in the Ottoman Empire through strict adherence to Islamic law, grounded in a certainty of purpose that could only come to the believer through the mystical experience.” His movement gained popular support among the masses. In particular, the order played an important role in shaping the culture of the Kurdish-populated region in southeastern Anatolia, northern Iraq, and northern Syria.
Many among the elite and the subject classes viewed the Sufi masters as holy men who possessed miraculous powers. When a Sufi master of great standing appeared in a town, townspeople rushed to touch or kiss the hem of his mantle or skirt, or even his feet. The tombs of Sufi masters were places of pilgrimage. When a Sufi şeyh passed away, the tomb would be enclosed and a dome was built over it, attracting pilgrims from near and far away lands. Cults and myths often arose around the tomb of a Sufi master who was venerated for his spiritual purity and power. In order to attract the attention and blessings of a saint or Sufi master buried in a tomb, pious visitors, the sick, the ailing, impotent men, women unable to bear children, pregnant women fearful of complications in childbirth, and mothers pleading for a cure for their children’s infirmity offered prayers and supplications by tying scraps of material, “shreds of cotton, woolen, and silk morsels of ribbon and tape” to the railings of the mausoleum or the nearby bushes and trees. Many lit candles as they pleaded for a cure, while others donated metal candelabra or carpets for the floor of the mausoleum as a sign of their humility and devotion. Some who could not find a remedy to their illness slept near or on a tomb for a few hours or up to forty days if their ailment was serious. At times, even trees, rocks, or fountains in the garden of the shrine became holy objects with magical power.