Concerning the Naqshbandiyya in
Turkey
There are several branches of the Naqshbandiyya tariqa all over the
world. Some of them are loosely connected to each other, but there exists no
overall cooperation and "supreme" leadership. It is therefore impossible
to claim to be leader of this tariqa (or tariqas) as most of them exists
independently of each other.
The Naqshbandiyya is one of the larger tariqa-families and one can find
them in Turkey, Bosnia, the Subcontinent, South-East Asia, Central Asia and
China, in some Arab countries, Caucasus and many other places. There must be
hundreds of different shaykhs with large or small following, perhaps not
knowing of all the others.
One of the strongest bases of the Naqshi-tariqa is in Turkey. There we
find three or four big branches of this tariqa and hundreds of minor ones.
One is led by Mahmud Ustaosmanoglu, and his is a very traditional one.
It's adherents belong mainly to the rural areas and are shopkeepers and such,
is one of the largest tariqas in Turkey. One recognizes them easily as they all
wear long traditional robes, a long beard and a turban. Women are dressed in
black chador or hijab, and look similar to Iranian women. It is considered a
bit conservative and hostile against modern "innovations" (and
therefore don't like modern ways of mass communication). They are usually very
pious and run many madrasas teaching the Qur'an (in Istanbul they have the
largest Madrasa in the Middle East), Arabic etc. Their centre is near Fatih
Cami (mosque), and their mosque is called Ismailiyya or Ismail Aga Mosque in
the Carshamba district close to Fatih (if you'd like to visit them).
Another one was led by Mahmud Sami Ramazanoglu (d. 1984). It is still a
big Naqshi tariqa, which has split up into different groups, which still
maintains some solidarity with their previous shaykh. It is more of an
intellectual group and publishes a lot. One of these groups is led by Osman
Nuri Topbas, which publishes theAltinoluk
Monthly Islamic Journal.
The third big Naqshi group is led by Mahmud Es'ad Cosan (pronounced
Djoshaan). He is a former Professor of Literature at Ankara University, and
wrote his doctorate on Haji Bektashi Veli. His murids are mainly students or
professional academics. Many of his articles of his have been translated into
English (you can find them at The
Australian Kotku Federation and also at Commentaries
by M. E. Cosan, as well as a few here or here).
They seem to comprehend the Naqshbandiyya way in a very sophisticated
and beautiful way. They carry on the classical Sufi tradition of this silsila
and organize many (tens of thousands of murids, men and women) seekers and
still they are very "modern" in their approach: printing books, having
schools, camps, three or four big magazines (Islam, Kadin ve Aile, Ilm ve Sanat
etc.), radio channel (called Akra), influencing political life, have large
companies, organizing events and conferences, and so on. Their centre is at
Iskanderpasha mosque in Fatih district in Istanbul. They have murids in
Australia, Germany, Britain, Sweden, Denmark, US and other places in the West
and a wide network (mainly amongst Turks) around the globe.
They carry on the classical silsila from Shaykh Gumushanevi, a big
religious leader at the end of the Ottoman era, who led the main tekke (lodge)
of Istanbul at that time. And the previous shaykh of this tariqa (before Mahmud
Es'ad) was Mehmet Zahid Kotku (d.1980). He was close to what one could call a
"grandshaykh" in Turkey because of his influence. Many of the leading
politicians in Turkey of today: Necmettin Erbakan, Hasan Aksay, Fehmi Adak,
Korkut Ozal and the now dead Turgut Ozal were all his disciples. At that time
in the seventies and eighties the Naqshbandi movement and the political
Islamist movement was one and the same. Later on the Naqshis separated from
party politics. But still most Naqshi groups have a huge influence on Turkish
politics.
Some analysts have compared Shaykh Es'ads tariqa to The Muslim Brotherhood
movement. And they have similarities: they both have a holistic comprehension
of Islam, a broad movement of dedicated men and women, work with mass media and
are very popular. Hassan al-Banna, the founder of The Brotherhood had actually
his background in the Husafiyya tariqa in Egypt, and formed the Brotherhood
movement after a classical tariqa structure. The Brotherhood also have a daily
wird to recite "the Mathoraat" (mainly taken from the Sufi Imam
Nawawi's book on dhikr "Kitab al-Adhkaar"). But the Turkish Naqshi
movement is more milder whereas the brotherhood today has lost much of it's
spiritual strength, and has become too involved in power politics.
The Shaykh Nazim group is not so large in Turkey, but has it's
adherents, mainly among upper-class citizens. Many persons of the cultural
elite seems to be attracted by Shaykh Nazim's soft and wise approach. They have
the most
beautiful web page on the Net (ma sha' Allah!).
There are some non-Sufi groups in Turkey with it's origin in the Naqshi
tariqa: Nurcu and Suleymaniye.
Nurcu or Jamaat an-Nur is probably one of the largest Islamic groups in
Turkey (though it is rivaled in size by the formerly-named Refah party).
It is led by Fethullah Gulen, and they follow the thoughts of a very popular
person in Turkey, Bediuzzaman Said Nursi (d. 1960) (famous for his treatise
Risale-i Nur) who has a Naqshi background. They publish a lot, have many
schools and wants to give an image of Islam as modern and scientific and
positive, but it no longer sees itself as a tariqa. This movement is supported
from the Turkish government, who seem to see it as a "milder" form of
Islam than the Refah party and the Naqshi tariqas. Online you can also
find some articles
of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi translated into English.
The Suleymaniye is a group focused on preserving the old madrasa system.
It is conservative and very anti-intellectual and has a strong following in
Germany amongst Turkish immigrants. They claim to follow a Naqshi tradition ,
but has no living shaykh. It's founder Suleyman Hilmi Tunahan (1888-1959) was a
son to a Naqshi shaykh from Romania. The main task for the members is to open
Qur'an schools wherever they are. They are led by Kemal Kacar. They have
a web
site dedicated to Suleyman Hilmi Tunahan.
Another group is Ikhlas Holding, a movement that used to be a Naqshi
tariqa but today is a couple of large companies and a book publishing house. It
was founded by Shaykh Abdulhakim Arvasi. He strongly emphasized the upholding
of a strict Sunni belief and polemicized against secularism, wahabism, and all
kind of reformist efforts. The group is extremely rich and runs the TV channel
TGRT, as well as other media. They have an extensive
web-page worth visiting.
Today there are a lot of books published in Turkish about Sufism, and a
growing consciousness that Sufism is a living alternative to the horizontal
life of secular and materialist ideology. An interesting aspect is that Muslims
(mostly from Sufi background) are leading the intellectual discourse in Turkey
and found in every strata of the society.
It is also very interesting that people see Sufism in such a positive
way in Turkey, compared to the very anti-Sufi Islamist movements in most Arab
countries. That gives them a softer, more gentle Islamic understanding
combining "orthodoxy" with a smile.
I think that the beautiful Islamic understanding of the tariqas of
Turkey (and especially that of Shaykh Es'ad Cosan's) gives us all a bright
future for this wounded Ummah, in sha' Allah, and if you see for yourself, go
there and spend some days with the brothers. You won't regret it.
Good information on this subject is available in the article on
Naqshbandiyya by Professor Hamid Algar in The Oxford Encyclopedia of The Modern
Islamic World, Oxford Uni. Press, 1995.
In "Naqshbandis: Cheminements et situation actuelle d'un ordre
mystique musulman", edited by Marc Gaborieau et al. , Istanbul and Paris,
1990, one can find excellent articles about Naqshbandis. There are two
interesting articles in French, one about the contemporary Naqshis in Turkey
and the other about the eschatological thoughts of Shaykh Nazim. And several
fine articles in English about the history of the order.
w'Allahu 'alim...
by a brother in Islam.
