Studies on Islam and the Ottoman Empire in the 19th Century (1826 - 1876) 9781611431216, 1611431212

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Studies on Islam and the Ottoman Empire in the 19th Century (1826 - 1876)

Analecta Isisiana: Ottoman and Turkish Studies

52

A co-publication with The Isis Press, Istanbul, the series consists of collections of thematic essays focused on specific themes of Ottoman and Turkish studies. These scholarly volumes address important issues throughout Turkish history, offering in a single volume the accumulated insights of a single author over a career of research on the subject.

Studies on Islam and the Ottoman Empire in the 19th Century (1826 - 1876)

Butrus Abu-Manneh

1 The Isis Press, Istanbul

gorgiaS pre$5 2011

Gorgias Press LLC, 954 River Road, Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA www.gorgiaspress.com Copyright© 2011 by The Isis Press, Istanbul Originally published in 2001 All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise without the prior written permission of The Isis Press, Istanbul. 2011

ISBN 978-1-61143-121-6

Reprinted from the 2001 Istanbul edition.

Printed in the United States of America

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

The Ottoman Upper Classes and Islam : The

Nineteenth Century

7

I. The Rise and Expansion of the Naqshbandi-Khaiidi Suborder in Early 19 th Century

13

1- The Early Life of Mawlana Khalid

13

2- From Sulaimaniyya to Damascus

17

3- The Teaching of the Naqshbandiyya-Khalidiyya

22

II. Khalwa and Rabita in the Khalidi Suborder

27

1- The Khaliddiyya

27

2- The Khalwa of Forty Days (Arba'inat)

28

3- The Question of Rabita : Suhba and Rabita

31

4- Shaikh Khalid and the Rabita

33

5- The Controversy about the Rabita

35

III.

The Naqshbandiyya-Mujaddidiyya and the Khalidiyya in Istanbul in the Early Nineteenth Century

41

1- Sheikh Mehmed Emin and his Disciples

41

2- The Expansion of the Khaliddiyya in Istanbul

46

3- The Sultan and the Sunni-Orthodox Trend

51

4- Epilogue

55

IV.

The Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi and the Bektashi Orders in 1826

59

1- Introduction

59

2- The Bektashi Order

59

3- The Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi Order

61

4- The Khalidi Suborder

63

5- The Abolition of the Bektashi Order

66

6- The Sunni-Orthodox Trend and the Bektashi Order

69

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V. The Islamic Roots of the Giilhane Rescript 1 - Mustafa Re§id and the Drafting of the Giilhane Rescript

73 73

2- The Inner Conditions of the Ottoman Lands in the 18 th and Early 19 th Centuries

75

3- The Palacc, the Porte and Sunni-Orthodox Islam 4- The Making of the Giilhane Rescript 5- The Islamic Roots of the Giilhane Rescripts

80 85 90

6- The Immediate Effects of the Giilhane Rescript 7- Conclusion

93 96

VI. The Naqshbandiyya- Mujaddidiyya in Istanbul in the Early Tanzimat Period 1-

Introduction

1-

The Palace and the Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi Order in the Early Tanzimat Period

99 99 101

3- The Naqshbandiyya-Mujaddidiyya in Istanbul: The Second Quarter of the 19 th Century

105

VII. The Roots of the Ascendancy of Ali and Fu'ad Pa§as at the Porte (1855-1871)

115

VIII. The Porte and the Sunni-Orthodox Trend in the Later Tanzimat Period

125

1- The Revival of the Dichotomy

125

2- The Young Ottomans and the Sunni-Orthodox Trend 3- The Bektashi and the Mevlevi Orders in the Later Tanzimat Period

129 135

IX. A note on "Ra§ahat-i 'Ain al-Hayat" in the 19 t h Century

141

X. Shaykh Ahmed Ziya'iiddin el-Gumii§hanevi and the Ziya'iKhalidi Sub-order

149

XI. T h e Sultan and the Bureaucracy: the a n t i - T a n z i m a t Concepts of Grand Vizier Mahmud Nedim Pa§a

161

Conclusion: Islam and the State in the Nineteenth Century

181

INTRODUCTION

THE OTTOMAN UPPER CLASSES AND ISLAM: THE NINETEENTH CENTURY The studies in this volume discuss the role played by sunni-orthodox Islam in the Ottoman E m p i r e in the nineteenth century, f o c u s i n g on the period between 1826-1876. Many signs indicate that since the eighteenth century and following the rise of Sultan Selim III in 1789 in particular, the tendency towards sunni-orthodox Islam was strengthened in Istanbul, and with it, the intention to bring regeneration into the muslim community and restore power to the state. Along with that Istanbul witnessed a rise in the number of sufi lodges ( t e k k e s ) , primarily of the Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi order and its b r a n c h e s . 1 Moreover, the sultans and members of the Ottoman elite built anew many religious places or restored and redecorated many old ones and performed many benevolent acts in a relatively short time (as study six shows). In addition, according to one assumption, there was also an increase in the number of medresses

and their students ( s o f t a s ) for various reasons. 2 A

third aspect for the rising trend of sunni-orthodox Islam, was the increase in the translation of books on Islamic subjects f r o m Arabic or Persian into Ottoman-Turkish, while books on technical subjects only, were translated from European languages. 3 Only f r o m 1859 onwards, we find that literary books or works on cultural subjects being translated f r o m French into Ottoman Turkish. 4 However, in the studies collected in this volume only the first aspect is discussed. The second and third aspects, namely the

medresses

and the translation movement require separate studies.

'Klaus Kreiser, "Medresen und Derwisch Konvente In Istanbul, Quantitative Aspekte" pp. 155178 in Idem-, Istanbul Und Das Osmanische Reich (Istanbul, 1995); see also Cahit Telci, "Istanbul Tekkeleri Hakkinda 1885 Tarihli bir istatistik", pp. 197-208, in Ismail Aka et al. (eds.), 3 Mayis 1944 : SO. Yd TurkgUlUk Armagam (izmir, 1994). 2

§erif Mardin, Religion and Social Change in Modern Turkey (New York, 1989) p. 153. Idem. The Genesis of Young Ottoman Thought (Princeton, 1962) pp. 167-168 and p. 221. See also Diinden bugiine Istanbul Ansiklopedisi 8 vols. (Istanbul 1993-1995), see the entries "Talebe-i Ulum" VIII, 426a-b; and "Medreseler" V, 320ff. and VIII, 289 a-b. ^Hilmi Ziya Ülken, "Tanzimat'tan sonra fikir hareketleri" pp. 757-775 in Tan:imat (Istanbul 1940), see pp. 763ff. J. W. Gibb, A History of Ottoman Poetry, vol. V (London, 1907), p. 9; see also Mardin, Genesis, p. 203.

8

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A s these studies show, several w a v e s of the N a q s h b a n d i - M u j a d d i d i order r e a c h e d the O t t o m a n lands a n d Istanbul f r o m I n d i a , b e g i n n i n g f r o m t h e last d e c a d e s of the s e v e n t e e n t h c e n t u r y . W i t h i n a s h o r t time the e m i s s a r i e s of this o r d e r m e t w i t h r e m a r k a b l e s u c c e s s , both a m o n g t h e u p p e r c l a s s e s a n d a m o n g the littérateurs (study three,, sec. one). E x c e p t f o r a short retreat in 1807-8, its e x p a n s i o n in I s t a n b u l w a s c o n s p i c u o u s . A c c o r d i n g to o n e c o u n t b a s e d o n entries of a p p r o x i m a t e l y 2 4 5 tekkes tekkes

in t h e Istanbul

Ansiklopedisififty

new

w e r e established in Istanbul in the period b e t w e e n 1789 a n d 1876, a n d

f o r t y three old o n e s w e r e r e s t o r e d or r e n e w e d . A l t o g e t h e r they a m o u n t e d to a l m o s t t w o f i f t h s of t h e a c t i v e tekkes

in t h e city at that t i m e . A m o n g t h e

n e w l y f o u n d e d o n e s a b o u t half ( 2 3 tekkes) o n e third ( 1 4 tekkes)

and a m o n g the restored o n e s o v e r

b e l o n g e d t o t h e N a q s h b a n d i - M u j a d d i d i o r d e r and its

branch the Khalidi suborder.

In o t h e r w o r d s t h o u g h a l a t e c o m e r t o I s t a n b u l , t h e

Naqshbandi-

M u j a d d i d i o r d e r and its b r a n c h e s , c a m e to control at a b o u t m i d 19 t h c e n t u r y a large n u m b e r of tekkes of 2 4 8 a c t i v e tekkes

in the city. K l a u s K r e i s e r calculated that o u t of a total

in Istanbul at that p h a s e , 5 4 b e l o n g e d to t h e N a q s h b a n d i -

M u j a d d i d i o r d e r , or 2 1 . 7 7 % of t h e total n u m b e r of the tekkes,

m o r e than a n y

other orders. 2 In o t h e r w o r d s t h e N a q s h b a n d i - M u j a d d i d i o r d e r a n d its b r a n c h e s w e r e p r e - e m i n e n t in I s t a n b u l s i n c e t h e e a r l y d e c a d e s of the n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y . O b v i o u s l y , it w a s not t h e o n l y a c t i v e o r d e r t h e r e . O t h e r o r d e r s , s u c h a s t h e K h a l w a t i , Q a d i r i , S a ' d i , M e v l e v i etc. w e r e a l s o a c t i v e a n d o r t h o d o x a s well. B u t several characteristics distinguished the N a q s h b a n d i - M u j a d d i d i o r d e r f r o m t h e m . A s a n u m b e r of studies in this c o l l e c t i o n s h o w , this o r d e r w a s e n d o w e d w i t h a s e n s e of a m i s s i o n . Firstly, it put e m p h a s i s u p o n the s u p r e m a c y of t h e shari'a

in society and state and the duty of e v e r y m u s l i m to live a c c o r d i n g to

its p r e c e p t s . S e c o n d l y , to b r i n g a r e l i g i o u s and political r e g e n e r a t i o n t o t h e m u s l i m " u m m a " . I n d e e d , w h i l e the o t h e r o r d e r s w e r e c o n c e r n e d w i t h the piety of the individual believer, the N a q s h b a n d i - M u j a d d i d i put e m p h a s i s , in addition, u p o n the c o m m u n i t y and its moral and r e l i g i o u s w e l l - b e i n g . M o r e o v e r , w h e r e the o t h e r o r d e r s w e r e politically quietists, t h e N a q s h b a n d i - M u j a d d i d i and t h e Khalidi o r d e r s were activist and even revivalist a s w e shall sec b e l o w .

' See n. 2 p. 7. above. Kreiser, op. cit.. p. 165.

INTRODUCTION

9

An indication of the appeal which the Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi order enjoyed among the upper classes in Istanbul was its expansion during the time of Sultan Selim III (1789-1807) especially due to the influence of the prominent sheikh Bursali Mehmed Emin. 1 Out of the newly established Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi tekkes referred to above, nine out of twenty three were founded during Selim's reign. 2 Four of these were f o u n d e d by highly placed dignitaries. One by the Grand Vizier Mehmed Izzet Pasha 3 (1795-1798) the second by the §eyh-iil Islam Sammanizade Omer Hulusi E f e n d i 4 (1800-1803, 13-14 July 1807 and 1810-1812) a third in 1798 by Ibrahim Nesim who served as Kethuda to a number of grand viziers for nine successive years and was a confident of the sultan. 5 The fourth tekke was founded by no other than the sultan himself. It was built in 1805 within the military compound also called the Selimiye built in Uskiidar for the Anatolian Nizam-i

Jedid.

Ki§lasi

which was

Following that, it was

called the "Selimiye". 6 What is being suggested here is to see a link between the expansion of the Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi order in Istanbul at this phase and the establishment of the Nizam-i Jedid. T h i s probably explains why the Janissaries were outraged not only against the Nizam-i Jedid , but also against sheikh M e h m e d Emin and his disciples, if not against the N a q s h b a n d i - M u j a d d i d i order altogether. In the Vak'a-i Selimiyye (the events which led to the deposition of Sultan Selim III) in 1807 after that the insurgents secured the disbanding of the new army they demanded to surrender to them ten aids and councillors of the Sultan. 7 Nine of these were found and promptly put to death including the above mentioned Ibrahim Nesim. 8 Almost all of whom were at the same time disciples of sheikh M e h m e d Emin. 9 As to the sheikh himself, he was saved

' o n him see study three, sec. one; Mehmed Semseddin, Yadisar-i Semsi (Bursa A H 1332) no 172-180. nv^Following the entries in Istanbul Ansiklopedisi, those tekkes were: Afganiler (I, 86b); Deruni Mehmed Efendi (III, 37b); Findikzade (VIII, 158a); Ómer Hulusi Efendi (Vili) 349a')- Rumi Mehmed Efendi (VIII, 372b); Selimiye (VI, 516c); §eyh Said Efendi (VIII, 421a); Scyh Selami Efendi (VII, 170b); Vezir Tekkesi (VII, 383b). VII, 383b; see also H. Ayvansarayi, Hadikat-ul CevamV * Istanbul Ansiklopedisi, (Istanbul, A.H. 1281), I, 269. Istanbul Ansiklopedisi, VIII, 349a-b, known also as Sammani-zade Tekkesi.

2 vols

4

5

Istanbul Ansiklopedisi, VII, 170b, it was called §eyh Selami Efendi Tekkesi. It was built in 1798. On ibrahim Nesim sec also Ahmed Asim, Tarih 2 vols. (Istanbul, n.d.), I, 124; and Sicitl-i Osmam (hereafter SO.) I, 148; see also Stanford J. Shaw, Between Old anil New (Harvard 1971) pp. 381-2. 6 O n the Selimiye see Hadikat-ul Cevami II, 190; 1. H. Konyali, Uskiidar Tarih 2 vols (Istanbul 1976-1977), I, 264f and Istanbul Ansiklopedisi, VI, 5I6c. 7

Ahmed Asim, Tarih, 2 vols. (Istanbul n.d.) (hereafter Asm Tarih, 12 vols. (Istanbul A.H. 1309) VIII, 201. Asim Tarihi II, 31-34 and 92; Shaw, pp. 181-2.

S 9

Asim Tarihi II, 83; Cevdet, VIII, 201.

Tarihi), see II 29' Ahmed O v d e t

10

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f r o m death due to the tradition that ulema were not put to death. H e was exiled to Bursa (for the second time in his life) 1 where he died a f e w years later. It a p p e a r s then that the Janissaries f e l t threatened on several levels firstly, they were apprehensive of the Nizam-

i Jedid especially that, according

to the P a l a c e historian A h m e t ' A t a , at the b e g i n n i n g , t h e q u e s t i o n of abolishing the corps was raised in secret discussions a m o n g the s u l t a n ' s aids. In these discussions it w a s suggested to abolish the Janissaries first, before e s t a b l i s h i n g the Nizam-i

Jedid

but the sultan m a g n a n i m o u s l y

refused.2

Secondly, the N a q s h b a n d i - M u j a d d i d i order stood f o r such ideals, m e n t i o n e d above, w h i c h the Janissaries felt were threatening the social and political values by which they lived for ages. T h e y felt, m o r e o v e r , that such ideals challenged their beliefs related to the heterodox Bektashi order with which they had been traditionally associated. Moreover, the followers of the NaqshbandiMujaddidi order, at this phase, c a m e f r o m a m o n g the socio-political elite in Istanbul while the J a n i s s a r i e s represented the l o w e r classes. T h u s , their rejection of this order and what it stood for might have had an aspect of a class conflict despite the fact that sections of the elite sided with the Janissaries. In other words, the revolts of the Janissaries in 1807-8 and the turmoil that followed in Istanbul w e r e a setback f o r the N a q s h b a n d i - M u j a d d i d i order there, albeit a temporary one. A f t e r t h e e x i l e of s h e i k h M e h m e d

Emin, a Bukharan,

N i ' m a t u l l a h was put at the head of the Selimiye tekke?

sheikh

But w h e n he died in

1817 Sultan M a h m u d II appointed in his place sheikh Ali B e h c e t of K o n y a w h o was a deputy of sheikh E m i n . 4 T w o matters seemed to h a v e eased the c h o i c e of Ali Behcet. First, the grand vizier at the time, M e h m e t Dervi§ P a s h a , k n e w him personally when he himself was in exile at B u r s a , and recommended

him to the sultan. 5 Secondly, he was a very old man. Due t o

that perhaps, his appointment despite his being a disciple of M e h m e d E m i n did not arouse objections a m o n g the opponents of sheikh M e h m e d Emin and his disciples.

' T h e first time was in 1193/1779; sec Yadikar-i

§emsi,

pp. 175-176. See also A.vim Tarihi 1!, 8 1 -

2. 2 A h m e t ' A t a , Tarih i 'Ata, 5 vols. (Istanbul, 1291-93), see III, 75-6. • ' k . K r e i s e r (ed.), Zakir §iikri Efendi, (Freiburg, 1980), p. 2 7 ; see also Istanbul 4

H i i s e y i n V a s s a f , Sefirte-i Evliw-vi nos. 2 3 0 5 - 2 3 0 9 ( h e r e a f t e r , Sefine). 5 lhid., p. 101; and SO., 11,336.

Die Istanbule Ansiktopedisi,

Dervisch VI, 516c.

Konvente

und

Ihre

Scheich

Khrar, 5 vols., S i i l e y m a n i y e K ü t ü p h a n e s i Y a z m a Bagi§lar see II, lOOff.

I N T R Ü D U C T I O N

11

But Ali Behcet proved to be a great success. In the six years in which he served as the head of the tekke (he died in January 1823) he succeeded to revive the line of sheikh Emin by training six deputies all of whom stood afterwards at the head of tekkes in Istanbul 1 and more than twelve other high officials and ulema became his murids and followers. Among these there were the famous councillor of the sultan Mehmed Said Halet Efendi who was a "believer" in him, and Mehmet Sa'id Pertev Efendi 2 (later Pasha) who served in several high positions including both the minister of Interior and of Foreign Affairs 3 and perhaps Tur^utju-zade Ahmet Muhtar a future ¡¡¡eyh-ul Islam.4 We are told also that sultan Mahmud cherished a great respect for sheikh Ali Behcet. 5 Even though the sheikh belonged formerly to the Mevlevi order, before he became a follower of sheikh Emin the only zikr sessions that he held in the tekke were those of the Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi. Before the second decade ended, a new wave of the NaqshbandiMujaddidi order reached Istanbul - those were the emissaries of sheikh Khalid (study three, sec. two). At first they met with difficulties but the outbreak of the Greek Revolution (in 1821) provided a favourable atmosphere for their mission to succeed. Following that, the sunni-orthodox trend gathered, in the course of five years, enough strength to bring muslim public opinion in Istanbul to lend the needed support for the extermination of the Janissaries and abolishing of the Bektashi order (studies three and four). In the following decades, the Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi order and its branch, the Khalidi suborder, enjoyed pre-eminence in Istanbul. But this order laid much emphasis on the centrality of the shari'a in the life of the muslim community and on the religious duty of the muslim believer to abide by its rules (study one, sec. three). Moreover, the order enjoined its followers to seek influence with rulers and their men and bring them to follow the shari'a in their daily life as well as in matters of society and state. Such a tradition in the Naqhsbandi order is old and goes back to Sheikh Ubaid Allah Ahrar who

' T h e s e were the following sheikhs: Ahmed Rifki (Ahmed Buhari dergahi); Ibrahim Hayrani (Tahi Aga tekkesi); Hafiz Feyzullah (Murad al-Bukhari tekkesi); 'Ali 'U§§aki (§cyh-ii! Islam tekkesi); Hiisnii Efendi (Be§hir Aga dergahi); Veliueddin Efendi (Deruni Mehmed Efendi dergahi), see Sefine, II, 104-105. 2 Sefine, II, 104-105. 3

O n Pertev see M. Kema) inai, Son Asir Turk §airleri 12 parts (Istanbul 1930-1942) pp. 13011309; Bursal i Mehmed Tahir, Osmanli Muellifleri, 3 vols. (Istanbul, 1333-1342) hereafter OM. See II, 114; Carter V. Findley, Ottoman Civil Officialdom (Princeton, 1989), pp. 71ff. 4 H e served as §eyh-iil islam between 1872-1874. See ilmiye Salnamesi pp. 604-5; and Abdulkadir Altunsu Osmanh ¡¡eyhülislamían (Ankara, 1972), pp. 204-205. To regard him after Vassaf (II, 104-5) as a disciple of Sheikh Ali Behcet is problematic. If he was born in 1238, [1822-23] (Saíname, p. 604), then he was several months old, at best, when Ali Behcet died. Thus, either he was born much earlier or Vassaf was mistaken. He could have been however, a disciple of el-Hajj Ali Behcet (d. 1869) son of Ibrahim Hayrani and Sheikh of TaViii i>ga tekkesi (on el-Hajj Ali Behcet see Istanbul Ansiklopedisi, VII, 189c). 5 Sefine II, 104.

12

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E M P I R E

lived in f i f t e e n t h century S a m a r q a n d . (study nine). At any rate abiding by shari 'a rules carried with it social and political implications w h e n it is observed by rulers. First of all it implied the obligation to observe the rule of law and avoid arbitrary government. Such a c o m m i t m e n t by the sultan is seen in the G u l h a n e Rescript (study five) in which Sultan A b d u l m e c i d pledged to end arbitrary government and to reinforce the supremacy of the shari'a

and the

law in the state and to safeguard justice. M o r e o v e r , the pledge of the sultan voiced in the Rescript to guarantee "life, honour, and p r o p e r t y " of all the subjects, c o n f o r m e d unequivocally to the f u n d a m e n t s ( u s u l ) of the

shari'a

(study five, sec. five). However, abiding by shari'a

rules was bound to a f f e c t the attitude of

the c o m m u n i t y and the g o v e r n m e n t t o w a r d s the n o n - m u s l i m s or heterodox m u s l i m s in the state. Indeed the sumptuary laws which s e e m to have been relaxed for many years, were reinforced by Sultan Selim III. 1 This measure we may a s s u m e was due to the influence of the aforementioned sheikh M e h m e d E m i n upon his followers f r o m the upper bureaucracy. Similarly, the putting to death in 1844 of t w o A r m e n i a n apostates (miirted)

after that this practice

was relapsed for many years, was also an indication of holding to the word and spirit of the shari'a

even during the early T a n z i m a t period. 2

T o conclude, the expansion of the N a q s h b a n d i - M u j a d d i d i order f r o m India into Istanbul and other Ottoman lands in the last O t t o m a n centuries left a social and religious m a r k on these lands. 3 In the 19 t h century, however, it affected several political measures undertaken by the sultans, as a n u m b e r of s t u d i e s in this collection s h o w . T h e N a q s h b a n d i - M u j a d d i d i o r d e r and its branches had had t w o objectives related to each other. First to bring muslim believers to abide by the shari 'a and the tenets of sunni-orthodox Islam which secondly would bring regeneration into the muslim community and state. This s e c o n d o b j e c t i v e brought d e p u t i e s and f o l l o w e r s of the order to s u p p o r t m e a s u r e s of modernisation undertaken by the state. But these m e a s u r e s ultimately resulted in the strengthening of the p o w e r of the ruler and the executive authority and their coercive tools without establishing at the s a m e time checks and balances to prevent the rise of arbitrary g o v e r n m e n t . As we shall see in (study eight), this was the theme of the Y o u n g O t t o m a n thought.

'Giilnihal Bozkurt, Gayrimiislim Osmanli VatanJa^larin Hukuki Durumu (1839-1914), Ankara, 1989, pp. 18ff,. See also Stanford Shaw, Between Old and New (Cambridge, Mass., 1971), pp. 34-5, 76, 175. 2 O n the "miirted meselesi" see Bafhakanhk Osmanli Argivi, "Ìrade-i Mesail-i Muhimme" nos. 1825 (dated 2 4 B . 1259/120 August 1843]; 1828 (dated 23 S. 1260/(14 March 1844]. % a m i d Algar. "Political Aspects of Naqshbandi History", pp. 123-152 in M. Gaborieau et al. Naqshbandis (Istanbul. 1990) see pp. 136IT. See also Th. Zarcone, section C. "The Ottoman Turkish Lands... in the 19 lh and 2(T Century" of the entry on "Tasawwuf", EI2 X, pp. 332b334b.

I. THE RISE AND EXPANSION OF THE NAQSHB ANDIKHALIDI SUB-ORDER IN EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURY*

SHAIKH KHALiD & THE KHALID! SUB-ORDER 1. The Early Life of Mawldna

Khalid

T h e first biography of Shaikh Khalid ( 1 1 9 0 / 1 7 7 6 - 1 2 4 2 / 1 8 2 7 ) was written by a disciple of his, M u h a m m a d ibn S u l a i m a n of Baghdad in 1 2 3 3 / 1 8 1 7 - 1 8 . ' It was written at the prime of Khalid's life about ten years before his death. There is an evidence that it might have been dictated by Khalid h i m s e l f . 2 At least large extracts are evidently his. 3 This biography appears to have served as the basis of the other biographies on Shaikh Khalid concerning the formative years of his life. It should be added that all these biographies were written by his disciples and relatives, or by followers of the order. 4

*

This paper w a s originally a c h a p t e r in a Ph.D. thesis written at the University of O x f o r d u n d e r the supervision of Mr. A . H . H o u r a n i to w h o m my t h a n k s are due. M y t h a n k s are d u e a s well to the A l e x a n d e r - v o n - H u m b o l d t - S t i f t u n g of the Federal R e p u b l i c of G e r m a n y f o r their grant; and t o the d i r e c t o r and staff of the U n i v e r s i t y L i b r a r y in Istanbul f o r their h e l p k i n d l y e x t e n d e d d u r i n g the research f o r this paper. ' E n t i t l e d : al-Hadiqa al-Nadiyya fiAdab al-Tariqa al-Naqshbandiyya wal-bahja al-Khalidiyya. T w o m a n u s c r i p t s of this b o o k are f o u n d in t h e I s t a n b u l U n i v e r s i t y L i b r a r y , the first in a c o l l e c t i o n of K h a l i d i literature, f o l i o s 8 3 b - 1 2 6 a a n d n u m b e r e d A Y 2 4 0 4 . It w a s c o p i e d by S a y y i d ' A l l R a t i b in 1237, f o u r years a f t e r the o r i g i n a l w a s f i n i s h e d . T h e s e c o n d ms. w a s c o p i e d t w o y e a r s later, in 1239; it has 109 f o l i o s a n d c a r r i e s the n u m b e r A Y 5 4 6 7 . B o t h m a n u s c r i p t s are identical. In this p a p e r the r e f e r e n c e w a s m a d e t o the first, i.e. A Y 2 4 0 4 . This b o o k is c o m p o s e d of three sections. T h e f i r s t t w o sections w e r e p r i n t e d on the m a r g i n of ' U t h m a n ibn S a n a d a l - W a i l i , Asfa al-Mawarid min Silsdl Ahwdl al-lmam Khalid ( C a i r o A. H. 1313), pp. 1-45. T h e printed version brings the story as m e n t i o n e d u p t o A. H. 1233. A little later Ibn S u l a i m a n d i e d ( s e e Ibn S a n a d p. 4 5 n. 1). T h e b i o g r a p h y of S h a i k h K h a l i d w a s h o w e v e r c o m p l e t e d in t h e early 1 8 9 0 ' s b y h i s n e p h e w A s ' a d S a h i b and a d d e d to the v e r s i o n of al-Hadiqa al-Nadiyya a n d p u b l i s h e d on t h e m a r g i n of Asfa al-Mawarid from p 45-70. 9 Ibn S u l a i m a n o p e n s the b i o g r a p h y of S h a i k h K h a l i d in section 2 w i t h the s t a t e m e n t " a c c o r d i n g . . . to a brother" (in the order) ( a h a d al-Ikhwan),

see fol. 98b. See also a note o n fol.

5a in Ms. A Y 5 4 6 7 in w h i c h it is stated that it w a s dictated by Shaikh Khalid, min 3 al-Hadiqa al-Nadiyya, folios lOOa-IOIa. 4

imla'ihi.

O t h e r b i o g r a p h i e s of S h a i k h Khalid and the K h a l i d i s u b - o r d e r : M u h a m m a d a l - K h a n i , alBahja al-Saniyya ( C a i r o A. H. 1303), pp. 8 2 - 9 9 ; Ibrahim Fasih al-Haldari, al-Majd al-Ttilid fl Manaqib al-Shaikh Khalid (Istanbul A . H. 1292). T h i s book has m o r e i n f o r m a t i o n on the B a g h d a d b r a n c h of the s u b o r d e r t h a n o t h e r b i o g r a p h i e s , h e r e a f t e r al-Majd al-Tdlid; and ' A b d u l m a j i d al-Khani, al-Hada'iq al-Wardiyya fiHaqa'iq ajilla' al-Naqshbandiyya (Cairo A. H. 1 3 0 8 ) , p p . 3 2 6 f f . S h o r t e r b i o g r a p h i e s of S h a i k h K h a l i d are f o u n d in all the biographical d i c t i o n a r i e s o n the I3(h M u s l i m century. A r e c e n t essay a b o u t h i m h a s b e e n w r i t t e n by A. H . H o u r a n i : " S u f i s m and M o d e r n Islam: M a v l a n a Khalid and the N a q h b a n d i O r d e r " in Idem The Emergence of the Modern Middle East ( L o n d o n , 1981), pp. 7 5 - 8 9 see also SO. II, 265-66.

14

ISLAM

AND

THE

OTTOMAN

EMPIRE

D i y a ' al-DIn Khalid was born in Q a r a d a g h , a town in the district of Shahrizur in Iraqi-Kurdistan. His family belonged to the Jaf tribe that claimed descent f r o m the 3rd Caliph ' U t h m a n . H e n c e the attribution a l - ' U t h m a n i is sometimes added to his name. He acquired his education in Kurdistan, the first stage of which included Q u r ' a n , texts in law according to the Shafi'i

school

and some grammar. In the second stage he studied s o m e arithmetic, geometry, logic and astronomy. His only study outside Kurdistan was when he went to Baghdad to read a summary of dX-Muntaha

the shafi'i book of law. He was

well enough versed in Arabic to attempt, before he had become a sufi shaikh, to write a c o m m e n t a r y on Maqamat

al-Hariri

which was never finished. He

also knew Persian to the extent that he wrote verse in it. 1 A f t e r such a preparation, Khalid started to teach in Sulaimaniyya which was the seat of the B a b a n Princes. He occupied the post of his teacher, ' A b d a l - K a r i m al-Barzinji at the death of the latter by plague (1213/1798-9). But after some time, and following the tradition of those days, he started to aspire for spiritual training in one of the sufi orders. Strangely enough he did not seek initiation into the Q a d i r i order, 2 which w a s then the d o m i n a n t order in Iraqi-Kurdistan and the ccntrc of which was Baghdad. In 1220/1805-6 he decided to perform the pilgrimage to M e c c a and he chose to go via northern Syria and D a m a s c u s . He apparently w a s in M e c c a early in 1806, when Sharif Ghalib the A m i r of M e c c a finally submitted to the Wahhabis, who took part in the same H a j j season of 1220. 3 Again we have no e v i d e n c e in the literature to s h o w w h a t i m p a c t this e n c o u n t e r with the W a h h a b i y y a left upon him. But he tells us that there and then he w a s inspired to seek enlightenment in India 4 which is perhaps a sign of a negative attitude towards this movement. H e could not find a spiritual guide to his satisfaction, either in Mecca or in any other city in Western Asia.

'al-Hadiqa al-Nadiyya folio 9 9 a - b and 104a, al-Majd al-Talid, pp. 2 7 - 2 8 and 37. A collection of his Persian Poetry w a s published in Istanbul in 1 2 6 0 / 1 8 4 4 u n d e r the title of Divan... Mevlana... Ziya al-Din Halid, 9 9 pages. A reprint of this book w a s published in Istanbul in 1955. 2 O n his w a y to p e r f o r m the H a j j in 1220/21 he met in D a m a s c u s Shaikh M u s t a f a a l - K u r d i , a ' a l i m specialised in Hadith w h o g a v e him an ijdza into t h e Q a d i r i o r d e r , but he had n e v e r b e c o m e a khalifa of this order or w o r k e d to spread it. ^ A . Ibn Z a i n i D a h l a n , Khulasat a! Kalam ft bayan 1305), pp. 2 9 1 - 9 2 . ' H . St. J o h n Philby, Sa'udi Arabia, 4

Umara' al-Balad al-Hardm ( C a i r o , A. H. ( N e w Impression. Beirut, 1968), p. 105.

I b n S u l a i m a n q u o t i n g Shaikh Khalid, (see al-Hadiqa Wardiyya, p. 210, it is said that "he was ordered by the m a n w h o m Khalid e n c o u n t e r e d in Mecca told him that to escort him to India. H e a d d s that this escort w a s sent But there is no other e v i d e n c e to support this claim.

al-Nadiya, fol. 100b). In al-Hada'iq alProphet", al-Majd al-Talid s a y s that the s o m e b o d y w o u l d arrive in S u l a i m a n i y y a to him by S h a h G h u l a m 'AH (see p. 29).

T H E

N A Q S H B A N D 1 - K H A L I D 1

S U B - O R D E R

15

But he did not go to India immediately. After 2-3 years, there passed by Sulaimaniyya a Muslim Indian sufi shaikh called Mirza Rahim Allah Bek. After Khalid had met him, he decided to accompany him to India to seek guidance at the hand of his sufi preceptor Shah Ghulam ' All (or as he is known in Arabic: Shaikh 'Abdullah al- Dihlawi) who was a NaqshbandiMujaddidi shaikh in Delhi. They travelled to India in 1224/1809 by land through Iran and Afghanistan, a journey which seems to have taken many months. Little is known to us about Shah Ghulam 'All (d. 1824). There is a short biography of his in al-KJiani's al-Hada'iq al-Wardiyya and a brief account of his views in C. W. Troll's book Sayyid Ahmad Khan} From them we learn that he was a contemporary of Shah 'Abdul'aziz (d. 1824), son of Shah Waliullah, and like him was an "outstanding religious personality of his day". 2 His spiritual chain (silsila) goes back to Shaikh Ahmad al-Sirhindi (d. 1624), who is known as the Mujaddid (renewer) of the second Muslim millennium. 3 The Indian branch of the Naqshbandi order came to be known after him as the Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi order. Ghulam 'All's preceptor in the order was shaikh Mazhar Jan-i Janan (1699-1781), who was perhaps one of the most prominent figures in the Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi order after Sirhindi. 4 When Jan-i Janan was killed by an Indian Shiite he was succeeded by Shah Ghulam 'All as the head of the MujaddidI Khanqdh (or zawiya) in Delhi. Shah Ghulam 'All filled this position for more than forty years. 5 It was a privileged position, as this Khanqdh was a centre of spiritual and theological teaching, frequented by members of the Sunni-Muslim aristocracy. 6 From a published collection of 123 letters of Ghulam 'All, C. W. Troll found that 12 are in defence of Shaikh Ahmad al-Sirhindi's views. The general trend of the letters, however, is more towards sufi practice than towards theory. "Sufism is entirely brought back into normal daily life in complete imitation of the Prophet and his Companions", concluded Troll. 7

' o n Shäh Ghulam 'At! : see al-Hadäiq al-Wardiyya, pp. 209 ff.; C. W. Troll, Sayyid Ahmad Khan (New Delhi, 1978), pp. 30 ff. See also (Hoca-Zade) A. Hilmi, Hadiqat-ul-EvlM (Istanbul A. H. 1318), pp. 122-133. ^Troll, p. 30; Khaje-Zade bestows upon him the title of "Mujaddid", century. See op. cit., p. 171 and p. 174.

renewer of the 13th Muslim

3 O n Sirhindi, see Yuhanan Friedmann, Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi, Hada'iq al-Wardiyya, pp. 178-191; and Hourani, pp. 79 f.

(Montreal, 1971) ; and al-

4

0 n Jän-i Jänän see al-Hada'iq al-Wardiyya, pp. 201 ff.; Y. Friedmann, "Medieval Muslim views of Indian Religions", in J.A.O.S. vol. 95.2 (1975), pp. 214-221; Annemarie Schimmel Pain and Grace (Leiden, 1976), pp. 18-20. 5

From the death of Jänän in 1781, until his death in 1824, he stood at the head of the Zawiya. On "al-Shaikh Ghulam 'Ali al-Dihlawi" see Abd al-Hai al-Hasani, Nuzhat al-Khawatir wa bahjat al-Masämi' wa'l-Nawazir, vol. 7 (Haidar Abäd, 127/1959) pp. 356-358. ^Troll.pp. 30-31. 1

Ibid.

ISLAM

16

AND

THE

OTTOMAN

EMPIRE

Like Janan, Shah Ghulam 'All attracted many disciples, many of whom, however, came from Muslim countries outside the Indian subcontinent, "from remote places, from al-Rum (the Ottoman-Turkish lands) from al-Sham, Iraq, Hijaz, Khurasan and Transoxania, indeed from China to the Maghrib", 1 claimed Khani. Looking at the list of his deputies (khalifas), one sees much truth in his claim. Perhaps no other Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi shaikh before him succeeded, like him, in spreading the order into so many lands in modern times. Only Shaikh Khalid and his disciples were perhaps equal to him in this sense. 2 One more aspect of Ghulam 'All: It is said that he was deeply attached to the Prophet and constantly read the books of Tradition. 3 The same is said about Jan-i Janan and others of his contemporaries in India, 4 which perhaps reflects a trend in 18th-century Indian Islam. It is even claimed that Ghulam 'All belonged to the descendants of the Prophet. 5 It was necessary to refer to Shah Ghulam 'All in some detail in order to understand better the background of Khalid's teachings and attitudes. Ibn S u l a i m a n tells us that Shaikh Khalid stayed in Delhi at Ghulam ' A l l ' s Khanqah for a year, during which he was initiated by him into the Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi order and into the Qadiri, Suhrawardi, Kubrawi and Chishti orders, all of which nourished in Muslim India. Moreover, he ordained him as a deputy of his (Khalifa), but not as an ordinary one. We are told that he conferred upon him "full and absolute successorship" 6 (Khilafa tammah mutlaqa), a rank which he seems to have denied other deputies. This perhaps explains why Khalid succccdcd later on to establish a sub-order after his name: the Naqshbandiyya-Khalidiyya. 7 Moreover, he "instructed him" to spread the Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi order in the countries of Western Asia. 8 Shaikh Khalid returned by sea and land and arrived in Sulaimaniyya in 1226/1811.

'al-Hada'iq 2

al-Wardiyya,

S e e al-Majd

3

al-Hada'iq

al-Talid,

p. 210. p. 36.

al-Wardiyya,

p. 2 1 2 .

^ S c h i m m e l , pp. 18 f. 5

al-Hada'iq

6

See

iris.

al-Wardiyya,

p. 209: Wa-huwa

min dl al-Bayt

A Y 2 4 0 4 , fol. 8 7 b and fol. 103a; see also al-Majd

T h e r e are several t e r m s used in N a q s h b a n d i S o m e t i m e s it is said Khilafa t i m e s Khilafa

mutlaqa

'amma

or Irshad

al-Kiram. al-Talid,

p. 32 and especially p. 33.

literature f o r o r d a i n i n g

a disciple as

or in an a p p a r e n t l y e q u a l term: al-lrshad

mutlaq.

al-'amm,

Khalifa. other

W h e t h e r there are d i f f e r e n c e s in rank b e t w e e n these

or other t e r m s remains to be seen. 7 T h e N a q s h b a n d i order had c h a n g e d its n a m e through the ages. In stating that, Ibn S u l a i m a n a d d s that n o w a d a y s "it w a s agreed a m o n g the brethren t o call it K h a l i d i y y a " . T h i s was said in 1233 while Khalid w a s still alive. See fol. 9 1 b - 9 2 a . 8

al-Hadiqa

al-Nadiyya,

fol. 103a.

THE

N A Q S H B A N D I - K H A L IDI

SUBORDER

17

At the age of 35, imbued with the sense of a mission, Shaikh Khalid started a short career of 16 years as a sufi guide. In this relatively short time he succeeded in expanding the Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi teachings and rites into the Ottoman lands of Western Asia and into Istanbul and other places. In this paper we shall concentrate on the expansion of the order in Damascus and Istanbul. Its expansion into other places, such as Kurdistan, Anatolia and Baghdad requires separate studies.

2. From Sulaimaniyya

to Damascus

Sulaimaniyya, in which a shaikh of the Qadiri order, Ma'ruf al-Barzinji, was already established, was perhaps too small to accommodate a second sufi shaikh without a bitter rivalry erupting between them, especially since Shaikh Khalid was a determined and ambitious man. Thus, a little after Shaikh Khalid had arrived to Sulaimaniyya, he moved to Baghdad where he stayed five months at the central zawiya of the Qadiri order, that of 'Abdulqadir al-Kilani. 1 Again, he was forced to leave SulaimSniyya for Baghdad in 1228/1813, where it seems he came, under the protection of the Haidari family, 2 which was also of Kurdish origin and was one of the great notable families of Baghdad in the first half of the 19th century. Many members of the family, including As'ad Sadr al-Din who was at the time the hanafi mufti of Baghdad, became his disciples, 3 many 'ulama' and dignitaries of the city were also initiated by him into the order. Here he stayed in the al-Ahsa'iyya school, which was repaired and restored for him with the initiative of the Haidaris and of Qasim Bey al Shawi, a leading notable of Baghdad, and with the financial aid of Sa'id Pasha, the governor. 4 This school became the Naqshbandi centre in the city. Apparently this was the first time that the Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi order expanded into Iraq.5 Many of the 'ulama' of Baghdad and of the Kurdish towns of northern Iraq took the side of Khalid in his conflict with Shaikh Ma'ruf. 6 Following that, Mahmud Pasha, the Baban ruler of Sulaimaniyya, called him back and established a zawiya for him there which remained the Naqshbandi centre in the town for many years. 7

^al-Hadlqa

al-Nadiyya,

fol. 103b.

2

Ibid., fol. 103b 104a. I. Fasih al-Haidari, 'Unwàn Najd ( B a g h d a d , 1962), p. 135. 3

al-Majd

al-Talid

al-Majd

fi

Ttirikh

Baghdad

wa'l-Basia

wa

(Istanbul A. H. 1292), pp. 34-35 and p. 37.

4

lbid.

5

S e e K a s i m K u f r a h , Nak}bendiligin Kurulu; ve Yayihfi. D. Phil, thesis, s u b m i t t e d lo the University of Istanbul, Tiirkiyat Enstitusii No. T. 337, hereafter: K u f r a h . sec p. 102. ^al-Majd al-Talid, p. 6 2 f. 7

M . A m i n Zakì, Tàrtkh

al-Sulaimàtiìyya

( B a g h d a d . 1951), pp. 2 2 6 f.

18

I S L A M

A N D

T H E

O T T O M A N

E M P I R E

The f e w years that f o l l o w e d were perhaps the most f r u i t f u l ones in K h a l i d ' s life. M a n y people f r o m the t o w n s of Iraqi-Kurdistan b e c a m e his disciples, and he trained and ordained a large n u m b e r of deputies, w h o spread the order in Kurdistan and in the towns of central and eastern A n a t o l i a and beyond. 1 W h a t is significant about the N a q s h b a n d i y y a is that it is an urban order and as such it spreads primarily a m o n g the upper and the more educated ranks of society. "Do not initiate into the order except distinguished ' u l a m a ' " wrote K h a l i d to a disciple of his. 2 In other words, there was generally speaking a contrast between the nature of the order and the character of the Kurdish districts, which were basically rural, with small market towns. S u l a i m a n i y y a s e e m s to have o f f e r e d Shaikh Khalid a limited opportunity at best. In this phase the great majority of the f o l l o w e r s of the order c a m e f r o m a m o n g the Kurds, and he seems to have been eager to expand it into other places. T h u s , when the hostility between him and Shaikh M a ' r u f was r e n e w e d , S h a i k h Khalid left Sulaimaniyya suddenly and went to Baghdad (October 1820) and never returned to it again.- 1 In Baghdad, as we have seen, Khalid had many followers. But for s o m e reason his stay there turned out to be a t e m p o r a r y one, w h i c h raises the question, whether Baghdad was as hospitable to him this time as it had been before. 4 S o m e t i m e after his arrival there, he sent a trusted deputy of his, ' A b d a l - R a h m a n a l - ' A q r i , to D a m a s c u s . 5 A little after him he sent a m o r e capable one, A h m a d al-Khatib al-Irbili, w h o seems to have met with m u c h success. 6 All the sources agree that m a n y dignitaries of the city, a m o n g w h o m was its hanafi mufti, Husain al-Muradi who himself w a s a descendant of a NaqshbandiM a j a d d i d i f a m i l y , were initiated into the order by him. Following that, Irbili, r e c o m m e n d e d D a m a s c u s to Shaikh K h a l i d . 7 A c c e p t i n g the r e c o m m e n d a t i o n without delay, Khalid reached Damascus in 1238/1823, accompanied by m o r e than fourteen deputies of his and many others. 8

' a preliminary list of his deputies m al-Hadiqa Hada'iq

al-Wardiyya,

al-Nadiyya,

pp. 262 ff, and at Majd al-Tàlid,

^ A s ' a d S à h i b (ed.). Bughyat

al-Wajid

f i Maktubàt

I 3 3 4 / 1 9 Ì 5 - 1 6 ) . p. 231, n. 1. See also al Majd al-Talid,

f o l i o s 105a-107b. A fuller list in al-

pp. 5 0 ff. Hadrat

Mawlana

Khalid.

(Damascus,

p. 55.

• V o r a d e s c r i p t i o n of his departure, see: C. J. Rich, Narrative of a Residence in Koordistan ( L o n d o n , 1836), I., pp. 140-141 and 3 2 0 - 3 2 1 , cited in A . H. H o u r a n i . , " S u f i s m and M o d e r n Islam: M a w l a n a Khalid and the N a q s h b a n d i o r d e r " , in: Idem, The Emergence of the Modern Middle East ( L o n d o n , 1981), pp. 75 90. See p. 84. 4

F o r hints of s o m e difficulties he may have had in B a g h d a d see his letter to his d e p u t y there in

Bughyai

al-Wajid,

pp. 111-116. See also al-Majd-Talid.

5

al-Wardiyya,

6

M . J. A l - S h a t t i , A'yàn

al-Hada'iq

'Ashar,

p. 39.

p. 259. Dimashq

j'i al-Qarn

al-Thalith

2nd ed. ( D a m a s c u s , 1972). p. 30; see also al-Hada'iq

'Ashar

wa Nisf

al-Wardiyya,

al-Qarn

al-Ràbi'

p. 242.

^ ibid. ^ S e e the n a m e s of these deputies in the addition of A s ' a d S à h i b to al-Hadiqa al-Nadiyya, 4 6 - 4 7 (printed on the margin of Ibn-Sanad). See also Bughyat al-Wajid, p. 251.

pp.

THE

NAQSHBANDI

KHALID1

SUBORDER

19

It was a correct decision on his part, for the political and social circumstances in Damascus were opportune for the spread of the teachings of the order, as we shall see. All evidence shows that Shaikh Khalid was well received by the 'ulama' and dignitaries of the city. But after his arrival, a group of a dozen leading 'ulama' of the city met him twice and discussed religious matters with him, "in order to verify the truth of his cause". 1 After that, he felt more comfortable. The great family of Ghazzi took him under its protection. The head of the family, Isma'il, gave him his sister in marriage. 2 After that, Shaikh Khalid bought a large mansion in the alQanawat quarter, one of the elite quarters of the city. He used part of it for his own dwelling and the other part as a zawiya and a centre for the order. Those of his deputies who remained with him occupied several mosques and turned them into centres for training initiates into the order. 3 For a long time indeed, Damascus had not accommodated such a celebrity. A glance at Damascus at this phase reveals that its people had a feeling of lack of security of life, honour and property, a feeling which was perhaps stronger among the upper ranks of society. The biographical and historical literature of the period shows numerous instances which indicate the growth of despotism and the weakness of the inhabitants to defend themselves against violent and despotic acts of governors and their men. 4 Above all, however, Damascus felt threatened from outside as it had never been before throughout the Ottoman period. In 1810 the city was occupied by the governor of Acre, Sulaiman Pasha, aided extensively by Bashir II, the Amir of Mt. Lebanon, and his Druse and Maronite levies. 5 Indeed, without the forces of Bashir, Sulaiman Pasha would perhaps never have succeeded in entering the city by force. Again in 1821, barely two years before Khalid's arrival. Bashir and his troops stood victorious before the gates of Damascus, but expediently refrained from occupying it. 6 There is no doubt that the Damascenes felt humiliated and bitter to be challenged by local heterodox or non-Muslim forces. We find traces of this resentment in the work of the Damascene jurist Ibn 'Abdin (d. 1836), Radd al-Muhtar, which was written in the early 1830's, and which is distinguished by a strict attitude ' A s ' a d S a h i b in al-Hadiqa 2

al-Hada'iq

Nadiyya 3

al-Wardiyya,

al-Nadiyya,

p. 4 8 , w h e r e he brings a list of those

A 1 - K h a n i , al-Hada'iq

al-Wardiyya,

p. 244, K u f r a l i , pp. 107-108.

L u i s a l - M a ' l u f (ed.), Tarikh hawddith al-Sham and 3 6 f f . ; see a l s o G. T . Koury, The Province M i c h i g a n , 1970, p. 7 2 . ^Ibrahim

A i - ' A u r a . Tarikh

R u s t u m , Bashir Ibid..

al-

this relation w i t h the G h a z z i f a m i l y .

4

6

'ulama'.

p. 242. A s ' a d S a h i b did not m e n t i o n in his a d d i t i o n s to al-Hadiqa

pp. 3 3 ff.

Wilayat

bayn al-Sultan

Sulaiman

wa al-'Aziz,

wa-I,abndn (Beirut, 1912), pp. 12-13, pp. 30 f. of Damascus I7X3-M32, P h . D University of Bashd

al-adil,

(Saida, 1936), pp. 1281T.; A s a d

2nd printing. (Beirut, 1966), vol. I, p. 29f.

20

I S L A M

ANI)

THE

O T T O M A N

E M P I R E

t o w a r d s the n o n - M u s l i m s . ' Incidentally, Ibn ' A b d i n w a s a disciple of S h a i k h Khalid a n d w a s close to h i m . 2 In addition to all that c a m e the o u t b r e a k of t h e G r e e k R e v o l u t i o n in 1821 and the emotional reaction it generated in Istanbul and in o t h e r O t t o m a n cities, both o n the o f f i c i a l a n d public levels, as w e shall see in s t u d y three section one of this c o l l e c t i o n . 3 T h i s explains p e r h a p s w h y Shaikh K h a l i d was w e l c o m e d in D a m a s c u s . A religious m o v e m e n t , w h i c h w o u l d s t r e n g t h e n the o r t h o d o x belief of the M u s l i m s and which insisted upon a strict i m p l e m e n t a t i o n of the shari'a

was

certain to m e e t at such a t i m e with a f a v o u r a b l e r e s p o n s e a m o n g t h e city population especially a m o n g the u p p e r classes. T h o u g h it w a s not his first visit to D a m a s c u s K h a l i d s e e m s t o have been of the belief that "few p e o p l e f o l l o w the exalted sunna here" as h e wrote to ' A b d u l l a h al-Jali his d e p u t y in K o y S a n j a k , a f t e r his arrival to D a m a s c u s 4 . C o n s e q u e n t l y he and his d e p u t i e s put t h e m s e l v e s to w o r k hard at spreading the teachings of the order and they apparently e n c o u n t e r e d a f a v o u r a b l e r e s p o n s e . Ibn ' A b d i n tells us that m a n y ' u l a m a ' and o t h e r dignitaries w e r e initiated into the Khalidi suborder and that Shaikh K h a l i d w a s " b e l i e v e d in by high and l o w a n d e v e n by the d i g n i t a r i e s of the s t a t e " 5 . M o r e o v e r a d d e d Ibn ' A b d i n " h e r e v i v e d m a n y m o s q u e s in D a m a s c u s w h i c h had f a l l e n into n e g l i g e n c e and destruction by p e r f o r m i n g prayer and dhikr in t h e m " 6 . In l o o k i n g o v e r 19th-century historical literature, indeed o n e d o e s not fail to see that K h a l i d and his d e p u t i e s s u c c e e d e d in arousing religious f e e l i n g s a m o n g the population of the c i t y 7 and a p p a r e n t l y a wide sector w a s i n f l u e n c e d by the teachings of the N a q s h b a n d i y y a - M u j a d d i d i y y a as Shaikh Khalid received t h e m f r o m his master S h a h G h u l a m ' A l l . B u t K h a l i d himself did not s e e m to h a v e been m u c h satisfied with the results of his w o r k , f o r , as he w r o t e in his letter to al-Jali "I a m in the best of c o n d i t i o n s but sad b e c a u s e of the m u l t i t u d e of | b a d ] i n n o v a t i o n s . . . even though f r i e n d s say that b e c a u s e of m y a d v e n t here only o n e out o f t e n had r e m a i n e d " 8 .

'M. Ibn 'Abdin, Radd al-Muhtar 'Ala al-Durr al-Mukhtar, 5 vols., (Cairo, 1271-2 1854-5), III, 253 and 275. My thanks are due to Prof. Dr. B. Johansen of Berlin University for drawing my attention to this reference. %'or the Ijdza of ibn 'Abdin into the Khalidi order written by Khalid himself, see Bughyat al-Wajid, p. 157 f. 'Abdin was Amin al-Fatwa in Damascus for the mufti Husain al-Muradi. Upon direction of the mufti, he wrote a treatise in defence of Shaikh Khalid, called Sail al-

Husdm al-llindl ft nusrat Khalid al-Naqshbandi. See Majmu'at Rasa'il Ibn 'Abdin, 2 vols., (Istanbul. A. H. 1325). II. pp. 284-325: see also ul-Hada iq al-Wardiyyu, p. 248. •'See below, p. 45. I s t a n b u l University Library AY728. fol. 20b-21a concerning this collection of Khalidi's letters, see note 61 below.

•'Ibn 'Abdin, Majmu'at Rasa'il II. 285. Ibid.. p. 324: cf. al Hadd iq al-Wardiyya, p. 244.

6 7 8

L . Al-Ma'luf (ed.). p. 48 and p. 4') AY728, fol. 20b-21 a.

T H E

N A Q S H B A N D I - K H A L I D I

S U B O R D E R

21

Be that as it may, Khalid was so highly regarded in Damascus that he was lauded by many poets and writers as the renovator, Mujaddid of the 13th Muslim century. 1 At his premature death, struck by the plague of 1827, he was eulogised as "the reviver of the sunna" or "the restorer of the sunna which was in decline". 2 In spite of this admiration for Shaikh Khalid, however, there is no evidence that he had ordained any deputy from among the inhabitants of Damascus, and, as far as is known to us, perhaps not more than two persons from Syria were trained by him as Khalifas. The first was Shaikh Muhammad al-Khani of Khan Shaikhun, whom Khalid had met in Hamat, while on his way to Damascus in 1823 and who followed him to Damascus 3 after he had settled in the city. Khani was destined to stand at the head of the Damascus branch as we shall see. The second was Shaikh Ahmad al-Urwadi of Tripoli, who it seems was the last to be trained and ordained as deputy by Shaikh Khalid 4 We do not know, moreover, how far the order spread in Syria. He sent, it seems, a deputy to Jerusalem, 5 and the mufti of the city, Shaikh Tahir alHusaini, seems to have been initiated into the order, as there is a letter from the Shaikh to him, calling him his "loyal follower"; 6 so was Khalil alThamin, the Naqlb al-Ashraf of Tripoli. 7 But there is no evidence of others, which suggests that the order had just started to spread in the Syrian towns when Khalid died, along with a number of his deputies. After that, it seems that the Naqshbandi-Khalidi activity in Syria was confined to Damascus, and Tripoli alone. To conclude this section, we find that, contrary to Sulaimaniyya, or even Baghdad, he seems to have felt much more comfortable in Damascus especially because his cause was sponsored by many 'ulama' and dignitaries of the city. Indeed there was no local ruler in Damascus as in Baghdad or Sulaimaniyya who would be jealous for his authority in face of the growth of a movement motivated by ideals over which he could practically have no control. However, his untimely death checked the expansion of the order in

Kl-Hadä'iq al-Hadä'iq

2

al-Wardiyya, p. 223 and p. 243, Bitär. Hilyat al-Bashar I, 585 f., Shalti, p. 66. al-Wardiyya, pp. 250-252.

3

Ibid., pp. 262 ff.

4

O n him see M u h a m m a d al-Rakhawi, al-Anwär al-Qudsiyya fi manäqib al-säda naqshbandiyya, (Cairo, A. H. 1344), pp. 263-264; see also As'ad; Sähib in al-tfadiqa Nadiyya, p. 77. 5

al-Hadn 'iq al-Wardiyya,

6

Bughyat

1

p. 245.

al-Wäjid, p. 219 f.

lbid„ p. 268.

alal -

22

ISLAM

A N L) T H E

OTTOMAN

EMPIRE

other Syrian towns, though it left it with many followers in Damascus. The Damascene notables, by sponsoring the order, seem to have been strengthened within the city vis-à-vis other local forces a matter which was marked in the coming few decades. They had many reasons to accept the teachings of Shaikh Khâlid but whether they had foreseen such an outcome is uncertain.

3. The Teachings

of the

Naqshbandiyya-Khâlidiyya

It has been noted that Shaikh Khâlid spent about a year in the Khànqàh of Shah Ghulâm 'All in Delhi before he was ordained a deputy (Khalifa)} We do not know how long other deputies were kept for training by the same shaikh. But in spite of the relatively short time, it appears that Shaikh Khâlid received a profound training, and was subjected to intensive teaching. At any rate, his mission turned out to be a major influence of the N a q s h b a n d i Mujaddidi order on the Ottoman lands of Western Asia in the 19th century. T o speak of the teachings of an order as separate from its rituals and practices is to make of it a kind of a movement other than a sufi order. Yet, along with its particular practice of spiritual training, the NaqshbandiyyaMujaddidiya emphasised certain principles and beliefs that distinguished it from other orders and made its expansion especially important. First of all, it was distinguished by its emphasis on orthodoxy and in its attitude towards the shari'a. It was moreover concerned in guiding its followers to lead a life strictly according to the sunna of the Prophet. Many sayings of Shaikh Khâlid located in his writings underline these concerns of the order. But before going into that, it should be emphasized that Khâlid was not distinguished for writing much, and he seems to have been concerned more in training disciples and khalifas than in writing treatises on theology or mysticism, as Sirhindi did for instance. He was above all a sufi shaikh, though dynamic and determined and apparently of much organisational ability. However, one of the important works which we have from him a collection of 106 letters written to his deputies and followers and edited and published by his nephew. 2 Except for one or two, all of these letters are more concerned with the affairs of the order than with theology. But we find in them many exhortations and instructions, which help us to formulate a view of Khâlid's teachings. This view could be complemented by what his biographers related about him.

' See above, p. 16. ^ A s ' a d S a h i b ( e d ) , Bughyat al-Wajid, see a b o v e note no. 32. T h e r e is, h o w e v e r , a m a n u s c r i p t w h i c h c o n t a i n s a b o u t 5 0 letters of S h a i k h K h a l i d in A r a b i c , m o s t of t h e m , t h o u g h not all. are published in this collection of A. S a h i b . (See Istanbul University Library A Y 7 2 8 , f o l i o s 1 -52). It should be m e n t i o n e d that f o l l o w i n g these A r a b i c letters are b o u n d in the s a m e m s . K h a l i d ' s Persian letters, folios 53-192. In this paper his A r a b i c letters only were used.

THE

N A Q S HB A N D I - K H A L I DI

S U B O R D E R

23

The way of the Naqshbandis, says Sirhindi, "is absolutely identical with that of the Companions (of the Prophet) and they have the same rank" 1 . This statement is repeated frequently in Naqshbandl literature. Like the Companions, a Naqshbandl should follow strictly the sunna (the prophetic usage) and avoid bid'a (innovation) and should fulfil exactly the ordinances of the shari'a (al-akhdh bi 7- 'azima).2 The Naqshbandl path, wrote Khalid to a deputy of his, is to hold firmly to the exalted shari'a and to revive the sunna (ihya' al-sunna).3 He wrote to his deputies and followers in Istanbul that he absolves himself from any of them "who behaves contrary to the book (i.e., the Qur'an) and the sunna and does not follow the guidance of the Prophet and the Companions". 4 He exhorted other deputies "to rectify the beliefs (tashih al-i'tiqad) according to the principles of ahl al-sunna" (the Orthodox Muslims); 5 and to his emissary in Damascus he wrote that he should occupy himself in "reviving the exalted sunna and in checking bad innovation". 6 It is clear from these and many other similar sayings that Shaikh Khalid seems to have been of the belief that the umma had gone wrong. Thus, to restore it to the right path, the period of the Prophet and his Companions should be brought to the forefront as an ideal that should be recaptured by Sunni Muslims. Indeed, returning to the early period of Islam was a basic principle of Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi thought. In this sense Khalid declared that his belief "is exactly the belief of the salaf and his tariqa is al-Siddiqiyya (i.e., of the first Caliph Abu Bakr) which is the same as the tariqa of the companions and the leading tabi'un" (i.e., the followers of the companions). 7 A second call which Khalid emphasised as well, was the requirement of full adherence to the shari'a. On the day of Resurrection, wrote Sirhindi, people will be questioned about their adherence to the shari'a, not about their sufi experience. 8 In the 18h century, moreover, two leading Indian Muslims, the Naqshbandl Shaikh Mazhar Jan-i Janan, and Shah Waliullah, a prominent 'alim and a Naqshbandl adherent, emphasized the importance of the shari'a as the centre of Muslim life. 9 But the requirement to follow the shari'a was not only an obligation of the individual Muslim in his daily life. It was also the duty of rulers to rule according to the shari'a. Thus we find Shaikh Khalid writing to Dawud Pasha, the governor of Baghdad (1817-31), to say that "it is al-Hadiqa al-Nadiyya, fol. 90b. El2,1, 822b. See also 'Abdulmajid al-Khani, al-Sa'ada alAbadiyyaftma ja'a bihl al-Naqshbandiyya (Damascus, A. H. 1313), pp. 8-9. 3 Bughyat al-Wajid, p. 79. 4 /bid. S lbid„ pp. 159-160. 6 lbid„ p. 267. 7 See Khaiid's "Risaia fi Tahqiq mas'alat al-Irada al-Juz'iyya" in Bughyat al-Wdjid, pp. 88104, see p. 96; see also al-Majd al-Talid, p. 38. %riedmann, p. 41; al-Hadd'iq al-Wardiyya, p. 183 f. ^A. Schimmel, Pain arid Grace, (Leiden, 1976). p. 20. 'Friedmann, p. 68 and ibn Sulaiman,

^For a definition of 'Azima. sec

24

I S I, A M

A N D

T H E

O T T O M A N

E M P I R E

compulsory to obey the orders of Muslim vczirs as long as these (orders) do not contradict the shari'a"And to 'Abdullah Pasha, the governor of Acre (1819-32), who asked for Khalid's prayers ( d u ' a ' ) , he wrote that "he would pray for him to the extent that he (i.e., the Pasha) cares for the observance of the shari'a".2 It was compulsory for the rulers to comply with the shari'a, because, as Khalid wrote to D a w u d Pasha repeating Sirhindi's saying, "the virtuousness of kings is the virtuousness of the subjects, their corruption is the corruption of all the subjects". 3 In other words, if the umma

had gone astray, it was because of its

rulers. Thus following Sirhindi, Shaikh Khalid seems to have regarded as a foremost duty of Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi shaikhs to seek influence upon rulers and to bring them to follow shari'a

rules. He seems to have regarded the

central part of his mission to be to insure the supremacy of the shari'a

in

society and state. Only then would it be possible to restore virtue and righteousness to the life of Muslim society and to the acts of the ruler and his men. This is undoubtedly an exposition of the basic principles of the Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi order. It was a sober call for a community to live according to its own Orthodox beliefs. Basically it was a moral and religious call. Only when Muslims returned to the true principles of their religion would they be once more virtuous and strong. Had Shaikh Khalid confined his call to this framework of ideals and sober orthodoxy, his contribution to the social history of the Ottoman lands in the 19th century might have been extraordinary. But in one aspect he deviated f r o m this f r a m e w o r k . W e find him exhorting his disciples to finish the "Khatm a l - K h a w j a k a n " (i.e.. the ending prayers which close the dhikr in the Naqshbandi practice) by a prayer (du'a) for God to "annihilate (ahlik) the Jews, Christians, fire worshippers (majus) and the Persian Shiites ( r a w a f i d alA'jam) ...". 4 In a letter to his followers in A m i d (Diyar Bakr) in south-east Anatolia he wrote, after exhorting them to hold fast to the exalted sunna and to avoid bad innovation, that the} should pray for the success of the Muslims and the failure of the... Christians and the Persians". 5 Shaikh Khalid ended his treatise on al-Rabita (link or association) by ordering his followers to "pray

1

Bughyat al-Wajid, p. 109. Ibid„ p. 245. ^Ibid., p. 188 and ul-Hada'iq al-Wardiyya, p. 255.

2

4

F r o m a letter to his deputy Ibrahim Hfendi Ismetboli in A Y 7 2 8 , fol. 52a. T h e s a m e latter to the

s a m e a d d r e s s e e is p u b l i s h e d by A. S a h i b in

Bughyat al-Wajid,

pp. 166 ff., but the s e n t e n c e

q u o t e d here w a s omitted apparently liy the editor. A n exactly similar prayer is repeated in full in the collection of Khalidi treatises A Y 2 4 0 4 , fol. 153a. 5 A Y 7 2 8 , fol. 19b.

THE

NAQSHBANDI-KHALIDI

SUBORDER

25

for the survival of the exalted Ottoman state upon which depends Islam and for its victory over the enemies of religion, the cursed Christians and the despicable Persians". 1 In this prayer which, as mentioned, ended each dhikr session Khalid did not mean the Christian powers only, which started to threaten the Islamic lands but also the dhimmis, the non-Muslims who lived in the Muslim countries. The call to restore the superiority of the sharl'a in society and state implicitly meant the reimposition of the sumptuary laws upon the nonMuslims which it seems were not fully observed in the Ottoman lands at that period. But the additional calls that might arouse inter-communal feelings do not belong to Orthodox Islam. Indeed in a multi denominational slate like the Ottoman empire, the spread of such calls by the means of an order which spread far and wide in western Asia, in Istanbul and later in some European provinces, may have had undesired repercussions upon intercommunal relations in those areas. What provoked Shaikh Khalid to such calls is hard to answer. Does it reflect certain attitudes of Shah Ghulam 'All and his circle in Delhi at a phase when the British Raj was gradually spreading over India? In this context the famous saying of Shah ' Abdul'aziz that India had become dar al-harb (abode of war) perhaps sheds a light on the feelings and attitudes of Orthodox Indian Muslims towards the Christian world. 2 There is no doubt, however, that the anti-shiite feelings had their origin partly at least, in the Khanqah of Shah Ghulam 'All. A s is known, ' A l l ' s master, Mazhar Jan-i Janan was assassinated by fanatical Shiites. 3 Such feelings may also reveal the attitude of Iraqi Kurds towards Persia at that time. Whatever the origin of such calls, they undoubtedly clouded a mission which according to all evidence was bright and successful. Before closing this section, it is perhaps not inappropriate to refer to an aspect of Khalid's viewpoint which was related about him. It is given here upon the evidence of Shaikh Muhammad al-Khani, who was sufficiently close to him in the last years of his life in Damascus. Khalid, we are told, cherished a great reverence for the descendants of the Prophet, "more than usual". He glorified them and spoke of them in the most laudatory terms, added Khani. "Except for certain prohibitions [he quoted Khalidl I would have written a

Ibid., fol. 7a, an exactly similar version in Risala fi haqq al-Rabita printed on the margin of Ibn Sulaiman, Risala fi haqq al-Suluk wa al-Rabita (n.p., n.d.), p. 27. In the version of this risala, published by A s ' a d Sahib in Bughyat al-Wajid, pp. 72-79, the reference to Christians and Persians was omitted, see p. 79. See also al-Hada 'iq al-Wardiyya p. 297. 2 Aziz Ahmad, Studies in Islamic culture in the Indian Environment (Oxford, 1964), p. 215. See also al-Hada'iq al-Wardiyya. p. 210. 3

S e e above, p. 4.

26

I S L A M

ANI)

T H E

O T T O M A N

E M P I R E

treatise enumerating their merits". 1 On account of the great veneration which the N a q s h b a n d i y y a - M u j a d d i d i y y a held for the person of the Prophet, this attitude towards his descendants is perhaps not unusual and most probably it passed f r o m Shaikh Khalid to his deputies and disciples. T h e s e are in short the basic views and attitudes of Shaikh Khalid. In his last s o j o u r n in S u l a i m a n i y y a he was a c c u s e d by his e n e m i e s there of cherishing political a m b i t i o n . 2 Siileyman Faik (d. 1838) a bitter opponent of the K h a l i d i y y a in Istanbul accused Shaikh K h a l i d of having been zuhur"3

"sahibi

(i.e., ambitious to seek power). Such accusations m i g h t not be true.

But taking these views and teachings in their entirety, one cannot fail to see an activist strain in t h e m . T hus their e x p a n s i o n in Kurdistan and in central eastern Anatolia and in some Arab cities may have permeated those areas with activist tendencies that were felt m o r e in the course of the century. W h e n the o r d e r spread to Istanbul, the sultan and s o m e of his a d v i s o r s had certain apprehensions, as we shall see in study three.

'al-Hada'-iq

ai-Wardiyya,

p. 249.

^ K h a l i d mentions in a letter to his opponent in S u l e i m a n i y y a , M a ' r u f a l - B a r z a n j i , that the latter had accused him of intentions "to seize the r e g i o n " (hujjal w h i c h he, of course, denied. Bughyat

al-Wdjid,

q u o t i n g Rich for a similar accusation. Siileyman

Faik mecmuasi,

TY 9577 tbl. 4a.

al-istild'

'aid

p. 209. See also A. H. Hourani,

al-biqa') p.

84,

II. KHALWA

A N D RABIJA

IN THE KHÀLIDI S U B O R D E R

1 - THE KHALIDiYYA

A striking fact about shaikh Diya 1 al-Din Khalid al-Shahrizuri was his success to establish a suborder of the Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi order after his name — the Khalidiyya 1 . None of the other sufi shaikhs of Ottoman lands who, like him, travelled to India in the early 19th century and sought initiation into the same order by the same preceptor had done, or succeeded to do the same. 2 By what virtue had shaikh Khalid done so? There is no conclusive answer in Khalidi literature for this question. However it is stated that his preceptor in Delhi Shah Ghulam 'Ali (shaikh Abdullah al-Dihlavvi) had bestowed upon him Khildfa tamma mutlaqa, i.e. full and absolute successorship 3 , while other deputies were granted khildfa mutlaqa or khildfa 'Amma 4 without the adjective full. This Khalidi claim finds support from an independent source. M. Murad al-Manzilawi who belonged to a rival branch of the Mujaddidiyya that was active in Hijaz in the last few decades of the nineteenth century 5 wrote that Shah Ghulam 'Ali had "announced to him (i.e. to Khalid) at his departure |from Delhi) that he would become the pole or axis (qutb) of those lands 6 ".

On shaikh Khalid and the Khalidi suborder see : A. H. Hourani, "Sufism and Modem islam : Maulana Khalid and the Naqshbandi Order", in idem, The Emergence of the Modern Middle East (London, 1981) pp. 75-89; Hamid Algar, "the Naqshbandi Order : A Preliminary Survey of its History and Significance" in Studia Islamica, vol. XLIV (1976) pp. 123-152, see especially pp. 147 ff.; Halkawt Hakim, Confrérie des Naqshbandi au Kurdistan au XIXe siècle, thèse de doctorat de 3e cycle, Paris IV, 1983, présentée sous la direction de J. P. Chamay à l'Université de Paris-Sorbonne; and my article "the Naqshbandiyya-Mujaddidiyya in the Ottoman Lands in the Early 19th Century" in Die Welt Des 1slam, vol. 22 (1982/4) pp. 1-36. For Naqshbandi shaikhs from the Ottoman lands who were also initiated by Shah Ghulam 'Ali of Delhi see 'Abdulmajid al-Khani, at-Hadà'iq al-Wardiyya fi Haqà'iq ajillâ' al-Naqsbandiyya (Cairo, A. H. 1308), pp. 218, 221 (hereafter al-Hada'iq al-Wardiyya). Ibn Sulaiman, M., al-Hadlqa al-Nadiyya f i Àdàb al-Tariqa al-Naqshbandiyya wal-bahja alKhalidiyya, printed on the margin of ' U t h m a n Ibn Sanad al-Waili, Asfa al-Mawârid min Silsàl Ahwal al-lmâm Khalid (Cairo, A. H. 1313) see p. 8 (hereafter al-Hadiqa alNadiyya) ; see also al Haidari, Ibrahim Fasih, al-Majd al-Tilid fi Maniqib al-Shaikh Khalid (Istanbul, 1292) p. 32 (hereafter al-Majd al-Talid). 4

al-Hada'iq

al-Wardiyya,

pp. 219 ff.

5

Manzilawi was originally of a township near Qazân in the Volga basin in Russia hence he is known sometimes by al-Qazànï. He lived in Mecca in the last decades of the 19th century, where he translated into Arabic Sirhindi's Maktubat and Kashifi's Rashahat Win al-Hayat. He also wrote an appendix to Rashahit called al-Nafà'is al-Sânihàt f i dhail al Rashahat which was published on the margin of the Rashahat in Mecca, A. H. 1307 ^hereafter Dhail al-Rashahàt). Ibid. p. 172; cf. al-Majd al-Talid, p. 33; as it is known qutb is the head of the saintly hierarchy. On "Kutb" see F.l2, V, p. 543f.

28

I S L A M

A N D

I HK

O T T O M A N

E M P I R E

But the decisive step to establish a suborder was apparently taken at an early stage of Khalid's mission. M. Ibn Sulaiman of B a g h d a d w h o wrote a b o u t 1817 the first manual of the new m o v e m e n t which included a short biography of s h a i k h K h a l i d 1 , tells us that "it w a s agreed a m o n g the ikhwan

of the

o r d e r . . . to call it as f r o m him — K h a l i d i y y a 2 " . T h i s statement suggests that already at an early phase of Khalid's mission, a decision was taken in B a g h d a d to establish a suborder. W h o w e r e those ikhwan

is not clear. But in such

m a t t e r s it is the master w h o d e c i d e s not the f o l l o w e r s . K h a l i d i literature p r o j e c t s shaikh Khalid as a m a n of d e t e r m i n a t i o n and autocratic c h a r a c t e r . Being a w a r e of that, it is hard to believe that such a decision was taken by any o t h e r than shaikh K h a l i d himself a f t e r his initial s u c c e s s and his disciples f o l l o w e d suit. His shaikh in Delhi might have had added his blessings to il. 3 T o e m b a r k on f o u n d i n g a suborder, m a y have given shaikh Khalid the o p p o r t u n i t y to m o u l d it a c c o r d i n g to his v i e w s and c i r c u m s t a n c e s . It h a d a p p a r e n t l y e n a b l e d him to i n t r o d u c e into the rites of the s u b o r d e r certain practices either new or w e r e not emphasised by other mujaddidi shaikhs f r o m Sirhindi d o w n w a r d s . Such practices had provided the Khalidiyya with its o w n identity that distinguished it f r o m the N a q s h b a n d i - M u j a d d i d i m o t h e r order. Shaikh Khalid insisted upon retaining these practices despite r e m o n s t r a n c e s by s o m e f o l l o w e r s of the order that they had no basis in N a q s h b a n d i - M u j a d d i d i c o n c e p t s . T h e y were m o r e o v e r retained even a f t e r his death n o t w i t h s t a n d i n g c h a r g e s f r o m a m o n g orthodox ulema that they w e r e incompatible with sunni beliefs.

2 - THE KHALWA OF FORTY DAYS (ARBAlNAT) In the N a q s h b a n d i tradition the path that should be taken by a ( n o v i c e or disciple) w h o seeks initiation into the order is the path of

murid suhba,

i.e., association and c o m p a n i o n s h i p with a "perfect shaikh" w h o initiates h i m into the rituals of the order and leads him on the way of k n o w i n g G o d . 4 T h e adab ( m a n n e r s & rituals) of the order state the duties of the murid t o w a r d s his shaikh. A m o n g these m a n n e r s w e read of self renunciation on the part of the murid

and full and unequivocal respect and loyalty to his shaikh. H e should

have c o m p l e t e obedience to him, perform any service he requires him to do, ' S e e note 3 above. I his first biography w a s written a b o u t ten years before Khalid's death. ( S e e study o n e p. 13 n. 2).

2

al-Hadiqa al-Nadiyya, p. 16; al-Majd al-Tdlid, p. 24. Cf. Muhammad al-Khani, al-Balija al-Saniyya fi 'Ädäb al-Tariqa al-'Aliyya al-Khalidiyya, al-Naqshbandiyya (Cairo, A. II, 1303) p. 45, (hereafter al-Rahja al-Saniyya). 4 See Taj al-Din Zakariyya al-'Uthmiini, Risala fi Bayän Ädäb al-Mashyakha wal-Muridin, 3

Ms. in S t a a t s b i b l i o t h e k

Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin, Orientabteilung, no. 3189,

see

fol. 2a (hereafter al-Risula al-Tajiyya); see also al-Hadiqa al-Nadiyya, pp. 86-87; al-Bahja al-Saniyya, pp. 41 f. and Dhail al-Rashahat pp. 18.

K H A L W A

A N D

K A B I T A

29

and should look towards no other shaikh but him, regarding him as "the gate to... the world of reality" 1 ('dlam al-Haqiqa).

In this way and after a while

when the shaikh is convinced of the earnestness and readiness of the murid, he starts his spiritual training. The length of the period from the time a murid seeks a shaikh and affiliates himself to him, until the completion of his spiritual training differs from one murid to another. Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi for instance passed this period in two months. 2 Shaikh Khalid stayed al the zawiya of his shaikh in Delhi for about a year. Normally it takes longer than that, perhaps a number of years. But it usually takes more than that. 3 Shaikh Khalid, like all the other Naqshbandi guides regarded the suhba as the first among the paths that lead to the knowledge of God 4 . But it is not certain that he had ever had the time and the appropriate circumstances to apply it in the same way as other Naqshbandi predecessors did. Even though he had never abandoned it, he seems to have given priority to intensive spiritual training over the length of the time a murid ought to have spent in association with his shaikh. Thus when a murid first came to him seeking initiation into the order, he used in most of the cases to hand him over to one of his deputies for initial training. 5 Following this normally short period and upon the discretion of Khalid, the murid

would then pass an intensive and direct

spiritual training for forty successive days in a khalwa (seclusion) by Khalid himself or by some of his leading deputies functioning under the shaikh's close supervision. If he were not satisfied of the murids progress, this exercise would be repeated. This means of hasty initiation known in Khalidi literature as arba'iniyya

(pi. arba'inat)

or riyada

arba'iniyya

khalwa

(forty days retreat), was

according to Manzilawi, an innovation in Mujaddidi practice 6 and except for one or two attempts in the pre-mujaddidi period it was apparently not practised

'See al-Hadiqa al-Nadiyya, pp. 82-85; Dhail al-Rashahat, p. 198; al-Risala al-Tajiyya, fol. la; al-Bahja al-Saniyya, p. 26. See also J. S. Trimingham, The Sufi Orders in Islam (Oxford, 1971) pp. 213, 215. 2 Dhail al-Rashahat, p. 25; al-Bahja al-Saniyya, p. 77. 3

O n shaikh Khalid see note 1, p. 27. For the time Khwaja Baha' al-Din spent in suhba, see Manzilawi's translation of Rashahat 'Ain al-Haydt, p. 50; al-Bahja al-Saniyya, p. 77; "Shaikh Ghulam Ali spent 15 years in the suhba of his shaikh" Dhail al-Rashahat, see also p. 73, p. 156. 4 al-Hadiqa al-Nadiyya, pp. 86-87; al-Bahja al-Saniyya, pp. 41-53. 5 F o r instance see al-Majd al-Talid, pp. 50, 55 & 63; al-Hada'iq al-Wardiyya, pp. 244, 260, 263 & 281. 6 O n the introduction and use of Khalwa by shaikh Khalid, see Manzilawi, Dhail al-Rashahdt, p . 201; al-Hada'iq al-Wardiyya, pp. 262-3, 264, 281.

30

I S L A M

A N D

T H E

O T T O M A N

E M P I R E

in the Naqshbandiyya as a whole. 1 On the contrary, leading shaikhs shunned at it. Thus Abdulkhaliq al-Ghujduwani is reported to have advised to "close the door of khalwa and open the door of suhba"2. Sirhindi was explicitly against it. In his letter to Khvvaja Qassim he stated that the arba'inat was avoided by Naqshbandi shaikhs because it was not practised during the first Islamic period. These shaikhs, he added "chose the suhba because it was a sunna,.."3. Khwaja Baha' al-Din Naqshband who is regarded as the founder of the order is quoted to have said "I have not received the Tariqa from books but through service min al-khidma" [to a perfect shaikh] 4 i.e. after a long and arduous companionship. Despite such traditions of the masters, shaikh Khalid persisted on using this practice and his deputies and their's followed him without objection 5 . It appears that khalwa arba'lniyyaha became an established practice in the Khalidi suborder. The question is why Khalid had introduced it. There is no explanation for that in Khalidi literature. Manzilawi who referred to this question in his appendix to Rashahat gave no explanation either, except the phrase "for a cause that appeared to him" (i.e. to Khalid) 6 . Indeed the path of suhba was usually slow and required a long time. As mentioned above sometimes years passed until a muricl could have passed through his spiritual training and acquired the nisba, i.e. the affiliation to the order. Not everybody could have done that except the chosen, the few who could have afforded the time, the determination and the persistence to reach. In this manner the order would not have spread fast enough and would have remained limited to a small number of followers. If this was good in the eyes of former shaikhs it was not so for shaikh Khalid. On the one hand his circumstances were different. His path was rather rough. Attitude of governors and rulers was on the whole unfriendly towards him and his mission. He was never sure of staying long enough time at one

' m . Z . a l - K a w t h a r i , Irgham al-Murid (Istanbul, A. H. 1328) pp. 82-3. T h a t w a s a c c o r d i n g to him by Kadi M u h a m m a d a l - S a m a r q a n d i , a d e p u t y of K h w a j a A h r a r . H o w e v e r M a n z i l a w i in Dhail al-Rashahat states that w h e n B a q i Billah sought initiation into the order f r o m s h a i k h G h w a j a g i a l - A m g a n g i , the shaikh recognised his high d e g r e e of readiness and " . . . sat with him in the khalwa f o r 3 successive days" (p. 11). A distinguished disciple of B a q i Billah T a j al-Din a l - ' U t h m a n i s e e m s also to h a v e practised the m e a n s of k h a l w a . See his Risala (in n. 14, p. 2 8 a b o v e ) , fol 7a. 2

Rashahat 'Ain al-Hayat, p. 190. W h a t G h u j d u w a n i m e a n t by this phrase w a s that a murid s h o u l d not d i s s o c i a t e himself f r o m the c o m p a n y of a s h a i k h . It w a s him w h o f o r m u l a t e d t h e p r i n c i p l e "Khalwa dar anjuman" i.e. to seek solitude within a c r o w d . By implication h o w e v e r , this master rejected Khalwa (retreat) altogether. 3 A h m a d Sirhindi, Makluhat, translated into A r a b i c by M. M u r a d a l - M a n z i l a w i , 3 vols. ( M e c c a , A . H. 1307), I, p. 148, letter 168: and vol. Ill letter 6 9 pp. 8 6 - 7 see also Dhail al-Rashahat, p. 201. ^al-Hada'iq 5

al-Wardiyya, 6

al-Wardiyya,

p. 160 and Rashahat

Ain al-Hayat,

W h e r e f o r instance Khalidi deputies required their murids

¡hid.,

pp. 273, 274, 2 7 5 , 279, 2 8 1 ; Dhail

p. 201, his phrase i s " / / amr I'II hada

lalm".

p. 175. to enter the Khalwa,

al-Rashahat,

p. 184.

see

al-Hada'iq

KHALWA

AND

RABIJA

31

place. 1 Thus he could not have kept murids in his company for long. Besides, keeping them necessitated much expenses which he could not have always met. Even after he had settled in Baghdad (1820-1823) it w a s difficult for his aids to keep up with the expenses of his zawiya there 2 . On the other hand he felt a strong urge for a quick expansion of the Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi teachings as he understood them 3 . Such an expansion could only be achieved by a large body of deputies. 4 Indeed, through the de vice of khalwa he was able to do that as well as initiating very many followers all in a relatively short time of about 16 years. A great achievement by any standard.

3 - THE QUESTION OF RABITA: SUHBA AND RABITA A m o n g the means that could lead to the knowledge of G o d in the teachings of some Naqshbandi masters is rabita. That is the link or bond that associates the murid with a shaikh or a spiritual guide. Already at an early stage of the Naqshbandi order we find rabita being practised by shaikh Hasan a l - ' A t t a r , a grandson of K h w a j a Baha' al-Din Naqshband f r o m a f e m a l e lineage. 5 Attar used to instruct his disciples to link with his image. Rabita, he explained to them, could be a means for loss of consciousness of this world. This stage is called in mystical terms ' a d a m or ghaiba (non-existence and loss of consciousness). It is reached at, by evoking the image of the preceptor into the imagination and then transmitting it to the heart followed by the surrender of will. The more one is dominated by this state the more he loses awareness of this world. 6 But, in spite of ' A t t a r , there seems to have been certain hesitation concerning the rabita. It does not seem to have been widely accepted or widely practised among the Naqshbandis at that phase. Moreover, it was perhaps not regarded as a compulsory practice but mandatory. Khwaja Ahrar 7 , a generation after 'Attar testifies that when he came to take leave f r o m his preceptor,

' F o r the difficulties that shaikh Khalid encountered see Hourani's article (n. 1, p. 27 above) and study one pp. 17f. 2 al-Majd al-Talid, p. 39. % o r this aspect of Khalid's mission see study one pp. 22ff. ^There is no complete list of Khalid's deputies but from al-Hada'iq al-Wardiyya, pp 259-261, and al-Majd al-Talid, pp. 50ff, a rough list could be accumulated. was son of 'Ala'al-Din al-Ghujduwani a deputy and son in-law of Baha' al-Diri (see Rashahat Ain al-Hayat, pp. 60 ff., and pp. 75 ff.). 6

Rashahat,

7

p. 76 and 79; al-Hada'iq

al-Wardiyya,

p. 14&

'i/6aidu!ia(i Ahrar (d. 2490) originally from a village near Tashkent, was the most prominent Naqshbandi shaikh after Khwaja Naqshband, in the 15th Century. On him see Rashahat, pp. 159-270.

32

ISLAM

ANI)

THE

OTTOMAN

EMPIRE

Ya'qub al-Charkhi, the shaikh reiterated to him the means of spiritual arrival among which he included the rabita and told him "do not be afraid of teaching this means and do not be astonished by it, but pass it on to those who are willing |to learn it] li al-raghibin}". However we are not sure whether Ahrar had given rabita a primary importance in his teaching as ' A t t a r

did, or had given it a similar

interpretation. We find him defining it as "an association of love" (nisba hubbiyya)

between the murid

and his shaikh who should be "worthy of

mediation between the worshipper and his God" 2 . Ahrar justified rabita by interpreting the Qur'anic verse Kunu ma'a al-Sadiqin

(keep the company of

the righteous or the truthful) as to be with one's shaikh in person, i.e. to associate with him and keep his company by way of suhba, and be with him spiritually by way of rabita i.e. "to link the heart" with him. Through suhba he enlightens himself with his attributes and manners, and through rabita he observes his company permanently whether present or absent^. In other words, suhba and rabita form one principle in Ahrar's view and rabita is a form of suhba. Like Ahrar, Ahmad Sirhindi, as well, defined the rabita as the link of love, (rabitat al-mahabba)

to a perfect shaikh "who is taken as an exemplary

[model]" (al-muqtada bihi'f.

When the rabita occurs to the murid

without

artificiality, he added, it shows that the connection has become perfect and the murid is ready for spiritual training 5 . It is not clear whether Ahrar or Sirhindi ever enjoined their disciples to link with them or evoke their image as a means to induce spirituality and arrive at the stage of nonc-existence ('adam). Rashahat

and in Maktubdt

On the contrary, both in

the priority is for suhba,

the direct association

with one's shaikh that often lasted a number of years. We find Sirhindi for instance writing to a follower in this connection to say that "Uwais alQarani... had never reached the rank of the lowest companion [of the Prophet],.. nothing what so ever is equal to

hbid., p. 184. Ibid„ pp. 187 8. hbid., pp. 184-5 ; al-Hada'iq al-Wardiyya.

suhba"6.

2

p. 161; Qur'an, S. 9, V. 120.

4

Maktubdt, vol. 1, p. 252, lei. 260, see also vol. 1, p. 249.

5

Ibid., vol. l,p- 160. let. 187. Ibid., vol. 1, pp. 200-1 let. 222

6

(the e m p h a s i s is mine) ; see also letter 6 6 in vol. 1, p. 7 8 w h e r e

he s a y s that " W a h s h y the killer of H a m z a

[the P r o p h e t ' s u n c l e l is b e t t e r t h a n ' U w a i s al-

Q a r a n i . . . because he had the honour of the Prophet's

suhba'.

and vol. 1 letter 58, p. 70.

K H A L W A

A N D

R A B I T A

With his known emphasis upon sunna,

33

no wonder that Sirhindi took

up such a stand. But some other Naqshbandi Shaikhs seem to have disagreed with him. thus a contemporary of his f r o m India, shaikh T a j al-Din Zakariyya a l - ' U t h m a n i 1 who was like him a disciple of Khwaja Baqi Billah, gave rabita a primary place in his teaching. A murid, he wrote, should preserve the image of his shaikh in his imagination in order to acquire his attributes. If he does not feel progress in this manner, he should transmit the image of the shaikh f r o m his imagination through the right shoulder to the heart as a possible means of spiritual intoxication (sukr) or loss of consciousness (ghaibafi.

This

is a stage on the spiritual path that leads to knowledge of God. In other words it is suggested to see two concepts of rabita in the Naqshbandi order. The first represented by 'Attar and 'Uthmani w h o gave the rabita a spiritual function equal to dhikr. The other represented by Sirhindi w h o k e e p s the rabita within the f r a m e w o r k of social relationship or companionship between two people: a guide and his disciple. Ahrar w a s perhaps closer to the concept of Sirhindi than to 'Attar in this matter.

4 - SHAIKH KHALID AND THE

RABITA

Though himself a Mujaddidi, shaikh Khalid seems to have favoured the concept of 'Attar and ' U t h m a n i of rabita over that of Sirhindi or for this matter A h r a r . A m o n g the means of spiritual arrival in Khalidi teachings, rabita stands as a separate principle and has a similar effect as dhikr'. Ibn Sulaiman of Baghdad who wrote the first manual of the Khalidi suborder apparently with much help from Khalid himself defined the rabita as the "binding of heart to the perfect shaikh who has arrived to the stage of vision (of God) (mushahada)... and to keep his image in the imagination even in his a b s e n c e " 4 . By preserving it, the murid gets the same benefit as from dhikr, added M. al-Khani, a deputy who was close enough to Khalid in Damascus, because attaining absorption in the shaikh (al-fana' fi al-shaikh) is a prelude for absorption in God, he continued 5 . Then Khani describes the technique of attaining by means of rabita loss of consciousness ( g h a i b a ) and of being (jadhba)6.

entranced

' o n him see M. Muhibbi, Khulisat al-Athar fi A'yan al-Qarn al-Hädi 'Ashar, 4 vols. (Cairo, 1284/1867), vol. 1, pp. 464-70. See also al-Hadä'iq al-Wardiyya, p. 178. and Dhail al-Rashahäl p. 14. See al-Risäta ^al-Hadiqa

al-Tâjiyya,

fol. 17a & fol. 27a-b.

al-Nadiyya, pp. 87 f ; al-Bahja al-Saniyya, p. 42.

4

al-Hadiqa al-Nadiyya, p. 87; see also al-Bahja al-Saniyya, p. 42; for shaikh Khalid's contribution in writing the manual see ¡hid., p. 3 and n. 2 p. 13 of study one. 5 al-Bahja al-Saniyya, p. 42; see also Trimingham, p. 213. ®al-Bahja al-Saniyya,

p. 43.

34

I S L A M

A N

li

T H E

O T T O M A N

E M P I R E

Shaikh Khalid had inslrucled all those whom he himself had trained, whether deputies (khalifas) or other followers to link with his image. In this he was in line with 'Attar and 'Uthmani. But the question started to backfire when Khalid demanded from his deputies that their own murids and their own deputies should link with him and only with him and not with them their direct preceptors. They should do so even if those murids had never met him (i.e. shaikh Khalid) or seen him before. For many good Muslims this matter amounted to saint-veneration, which is doubtful whether it had a precedent in the Naqshbandi tradition. Indeed all Naqshbandi shaikhs agree that rabita is between the murid and his immediate spiritual guide or preceptor with whom the murid is affiliated in companionship (suhba). So why Khalid demanded that and insisted upon it? Many of Khalid's deputies had established themselves well in many cities and towns of the Ottoman lands. They served the order with dedication and enthusiasm and acquired high standing in those places and gathered many disciples. When some of them desired to train their followers to link with themselves Khalid objected. The question was a source of conflict between him and those deputies. One of these was Abdulwahhab ai-Susi; one of his early disciples from 'Amadiyya in Kurdistan and the first of the deputies to be sent to Istanbul. Having met with success there, Susi seems to have ordered his murids to link with his image. When he insisted upon that in spite of Khalid's warning, the shaikh expelled him from the order with damaging consequences. 1 Another deputy who had clashed with Khalid on this matter was shaikh Ismail al-Shirwani who was one of his early deputies. Originally from Shirwan in southern Caucasus. 2 Shaikh Ismail settled after his initiation in Amasya in Central-East Anatolia. Through him the Khalidiyya spread into Daghistan and C h e c h i a . - 1 At a certain stage Shirwani started to ask his disciples to link with him apparently without Khalid's authorisation. When the matter was known to shaikh Khalid he became angry and wrote shaikh Ismail a harsh letter warning him to end this practice, otherwise he threatened to cease all contact with him. He moreover instructed him "not to initiate anynew deputy except by my |explicit| order" 4 , (sec appendix). After this letter Ismail retreated and no other deputy had dared to follow his suit, at least as long as Khalid was living.

1 al-Hadiqa al-Nadiyya, p. 68, n 1 : al-Hadä'iq al-Wardiyya, pp. 2 3 2 f.; M. A . Abilin, "Sail alH u s ä m al Hindi li nasrat M a w l a n a Khalid a l - N a q s h b a n d i " , in : Majmii'at Rasä'il Ibn 'Abdin. vol. 2, (Istanbul. A. H.' 1325), p. 284-325. 2 O n Ismail al-Shirwäni see As'ad S ä h i b (ed.), Bughyut al-Wäjid f i Maktübät Hadral Mawläna Khalid, ( D a m a s c u s , 1334/1915-6), ( h e r e a f t e r : Bughyat al-Wäjid) pp. 114-5; S a h i b says that he trained m a n y Khalifas ( d e p u t i e s ) and dispatched t h e m t o M u s l i m c o m m u n i t i e s in the C a u c a s u s and the Volga basin (p. 175 n.). •^Those w h o organised and led the m u r i d s m o v e m e n t against the Russians were his disciples. See Ibid, and J a m a l al-Din a l - G h a z i - G h u m ü q i al-Daghistani, al-Ädäb al-Mardiyya fi al-Tariqa alNaqshbandiyya. ( P e t r o v s k , 1905), s e c p. 8 0 . 1 a m g r a t e f u l f o r Dr. M. G a m m e r f o r this reference. 4

S e e Bughyat al-Wäjid, Sanivva. pp. 44-5.

pp. 174-177: see also al-Hadiqa

al-Nadiyya,

pp. 7 9 - 8 0 and al-Bahja

al

KHALWA

AND

35

RABIJA

There was a clear contradiction in Khalid's position on this matter. On the one hand he initiated and ordained deputies and commissioned them to spread the order. On the other he denied them the right of rdbita, which means they were not "perfect shaikhs" in his eyes. But if he regarded them so, how could he had entrusted them with the task of training and initiating murids and deputies each one in a certain town or place far away f r o m him? Moreover, Naqshbandi shaikhs as mentioned recommended the rdbita with the

murid's

shaikh or spiritual guide. This category fits those who were trained by Khalid himself not those w h o were not. But Khalid as we have seen insisted that all Khalidi followers link with him only. Apparently he regarded himself as the only intermediary between all Khalidi, initiates and God. It is not clear why Khalid took such a position. However, shaikh M u h a m m a d al-Khani a Syrian deputy of his, who was as mentioned close enough to him in Damascus in the last year or so of his life, tells us that Khalid never regarded that any of his deputies had reached perfection and when somebody used to ask him about them he used to answer apparently in rage: "I have not a single murid. |al-Anarani | is only half a muridIt

Ismail

should be added that Ismail al-Anarani

was his right hand man for many years and his first locum-tenens after his death 2 . Should we understand f r o m this that Khalid had underestimated his deputies or perhaps he had other reasons to deny them the rabita. Indeed, after Khalid's death, very many of his deputies continued to link and teach their disciples to link with his image out of total obedience to him. T o refer to M u h a m m a d al-Khani again, rabita with the spirituality of dead persons he wrote, is attainable by sufi adepts 3 . Thus, linkage with the spirit of shaikh Khalid is possible. Naqshbandis could not have denied that. After all there is the precedent of Baha' al-Din Naqshband the founder of the order being trained by the spirit of G h u d j d u w a n i . However, Sirhindi qualified that. He restricted the link with the spirit of a dead shaikh to the chosen ( m u r a d ) only, but as to the murid, the novice, he should be guided by a living shaikh he wrote 4 .

5- THE CONTROVERSY ABOUT THE RABIJA If the question of rdbita was a cause of controversy between Khalid and certain deputies of his, it also aroused objections among many of his followers and in more than one place. "It has not reached us

l

Ibid„ p. 45. Ibid., and al-Hada'iq al-Wardiyya, 3 al-Bahja al-Sartiyya, p. 43. 2

4

L e t l e r 2 8 6 , in vol. 1, pp. 3 1 3 f.

pp. 260-1.

that

the

Prophet

had

36

I S L A M

A N O

T H E

O T T O M A N

K M P I R F

instructed his companions to evoke his image..." came one objection 1 . "It is a bid'a (innovation) in the order... and has no origin or basis" came another objection this time from among the followers in Istanbul 2 . Both objections were raised in Khalid's lifetime at the prime of his mission and naturally aroused him and some of his disciples to come out in defence of this practice. But Khalidi literature in defence of rabita continued to come out every now and then both in Arabic and Ottoman Turkish which indicates that this practice had been often encountering scepticism. 3 In this literature the first objection was overlooked altogether. All answers tackled the second and attempted to show that rabita is an accepted practice in the Naqshbandi order as well as in other orders and in the sufi tradition in general. As such it is compatible with Islamic Orthodoxy. The first of these responses was a short treatise called Risàia fi Ithbàt al-rdbita4. It was written by Khalid himself and sent to Istanbul. It served as a model for much of the literature that followed on the subject. In this treatise Khalid avoided as mentioned to tackle the first objection. He also avoided to refer to Sirhindi or to any other Mujaddidi shaikh in his arguments, not even to his preceptor Shah G h u l à m 'Ali of Delhi. Instead he referred to other masters of the Naqshbandi order, even to shaikhs of other orders. The first of his arguments is based on Ubaidullah Ahràr's interpretation of the Qur'anic verse Kuriu ma'a al-Sadiqin, (keep the company of the righteous or the truthful), referred to above 5 . But what Ahràr meant by his interpretation is not cxacth what Khalid meant. Rabita for Ahràr is another facet of suhba, for Khalid, it is a separate principle and has an equal function to dhikr. Khalid had as mentioned demanded from all the followers of the order whether his direct disciples or not to evoke his image into their imagination 6 . It is not certain that Ahràr would have subscribed to such an interpretation.

' Q u o t e d in H u s a i n al-Dawsari, al-Rahma al-Häbita fi Ism al-Dhät wal-Rabita, p. 2 2 0 . T h i s t r e a t i s e w a s first written in 1 2 3 7 / 1 8 2 1 . It w a s p u b l i s h e d o n t h e m a r g i n of M a n z i l a w i ' s A r a b i c translation of S i r h i n d i ' s Maktübät, vol. 1, pp. 1 8 4 - 2 6 8 . O n D a w s a r i see ' A b b a s al' A z z a w i " K h u l a f a ' M a w l a n a Khalid 1 ' in Majallat al-Majma' al-Ilmi al-Kurdi, vol. 2 ( B a g h d a d 1974), pp. 2 1 0 f. 1 am grateful to Dr. M. C h o d k i e w i c z of E . H . E . S . S . , Paris, f o r this article of 'Azzawi. ^ S t a t e d in Khalid's response, sec no. 4.

Risale-i Rabita, (Istanbul | ? | , n.d.); I b r a h i m F. a l - H a i d a r i , Tuhfat al-'Ushshaqfi al-Rabita (Istanbul, A. H. 1293); A r w ä s i - Z a d e A b d a l - H a k i m , Rabita-1 sherife, 2nd imp. (Istanbul A. H. 1342); Fevzi, a l - H a j M e h m e d , 'Ayn-ul Hakika fi Räbitet-ül Tarika (Istanbul, n . d . ) ; the last t w o are in O t t o m a n Turkish. ^It has seen several publications. In this paper I used the text p u b l i s h e d in Bughyat al-Wäjid, pp. 7 2 - 7 9 and in al-Hadä'iq al-Wardivva. pp. 2 9 5 - 7 . S e e also a s h o r t e n e d version in al-Majd al3For instance, Yusuf Yanyavi,

7 a / i d , pp. 18-21. % e e a b o v e p. 32. 6

S e e a b o v e pp. 33f.

KHALWA

AND

37

RABITA

The other Naqshbandi shaikh whom Khalid had quoted in his treatise was Taj al-Din Z. a l - ' U t h m a n i (d. 1640) the author of Risala fi bayan a!Mashyakha wal-Murldin... better known as al-Risala al-Tdjiyya. 'Uthmani as mentioned 1 advocated the rabita more in the sense that Khalid than that of Ahrar or Sirhindi. Khalid seems to have utilised moreover, a commentary on al-Risala al-Tdjiyya written by Abdulghani al-Nabulsi (d. 1731) of Damascus 2 . No other Naqshbandi shaikhs are mentioned by Khalid in his treatise. However in his attempt to justify the rabita he did not hesitate to draw upon the wealthy sufi literature of late medieval times. The most relevant reference is perhaps to shaikh Abdulwahhab Sha'rani (d. 973/1565) of Egypt. Shaikh Khalid quotes Sha'rani to have written in his book al-Nafahat al-Qudsiyya under the title Adab al-dhikr (the rituals of dhikr). "The seventh of these rituals is that a person imagines the image of his shaikh between his eyes and this is... the most certain of rituals" 3 . Another relevant reference is to alSharif al-Jurjani (d. 1413) who according to Khalid, confirmed "the truth of the appearance of the image of awliya' (saints) to the murids who can invoke their blessings even after (the saints') death" 4 , Khalid referred to a number of other sufi shaikhs and theologians to support his position which are perhaps not completely relevant to our discussion. At the end he admonished his followers in Istanbul to beware of "the misrepresentations and distortions of the unenlightened (ghafilun)". The order he added should be protected from the malevolence and intrigues of enemies. Following that, the controversy seemed to have subsided though for a while only. What may have helped the Khalidis in this matter was that rabita was practised by other orders such as the Khalwati order, a branch of which was also active in Istanbul about the same time 5 . But the legitimacy of rabita among the hard core orthodox Muslims was never accepted 6 . In 1880 for instance, about two generations after the death of Khalid, when the Khalidiyya had lost the vigour of the first and second generations the question of rabita

1

See above p. 33.

2 This commentary called Miftah al-Ma'iyya fi Tariq al Naqshbandiyya, Ms in Staatsbibliothek, Berlin, Orientabteilung, n° 2188/9. It is suggested that this treatise of Taj al-Din may have influenced Khalid in this aspect of the relationship between the shaikh and the murid and the obligations of the latter towards the former including the rabita. See al-Hadiqa al-Nadiyya, pp. 3

See Bughyal al-Wajid, p. 76. Ibid. 5 Dr. Y. N. Oztiirk, Kutsal Gonultii Veli Ku$adali Ibrahim Halveli, (Istanbul, 1982), pp. 77f f. See

4

a/so Trimmgham for other orders practising the rabita, pp. 212-3. See the commentary on the Quran of Mahmfld al-Alflsi entitled Ruh al-Ma'ani vol. 9, p. 77.

(Cairo

1301)

38

I S L A M

A N D

T H E

O T T O M A N

E M P I R E

was raised once more by a leading Iraqi 'alim, Nu'man al-Alusi of Baghdad 1 . In a question which he addressed to Siddiq Hasan of Bahopal in India 2 , he asked his opinion whether the rite of rabita practised by the followers of the Naqshbandi order has a basis in the Qur'an or the sunnal Because what is meant by this practice as it is commonly known, he added, is that "a murid would imagine his absent shaikh as if he is present, and whenever he remembers the name of God, he evokes the image of his shaikh into his heart." Then Alusi asked his second question: "was not that a small shirk (polytheism) and tadlti (misguidance)-1"? The question, no doubt meant to be a severe criticism of the Naqshbandi-Khalidi suborder which always regarded itself as strictly follows the surma and which was still strong in Baghdad and Kurdistan. Siddiq Hasan, a man of puritan views answered that "linkage (murabata) is a detestable innovation". Shah Walliullah of Delhi had forbidden it saying "do not link your heart except with God", added S. Hasan 4 . Both the question and the answer could not be left unanswered. Almost an immediate response came from As'ad Sahib, Khalid's nephew in Damascus and self-proclaimed inheritor 5 , in defence of rabita and other Khalidi practices 6 . But unfortunately he produced no coherent discussion throughout the book. In the following we shall try to put his major arguments in order and analyse them. But it should be stated at the start that despite the fact that Sahib drew on a number of writings in defence of rabita1, this sufi practice is not compatible with Islamic Orthodoxy. Any attempt to justify it by referring to orthodox tenets as Sahib did is futile. Indeed such practice should be understood within the concepts of sufi beliefs only. As'ad Sahib answered positively the question whether rabita has a basis in the Qur'an or the sunna. He interpreted the verse "fear God and seek means of approach to Him" 8 as a proof to rabita. Because he argued al-wasila here is

'on

N u ' m a n al-Alusi son of the a b o v e (n. 6) see M. B. a l - A t h r l , 1345), pp. 5 7 - 6 8 .

A'lam al-'Iraq,

(Cairo, A .

H.

O n Siddiq H a s a n sec Nu'man Kh. al-Alusi, Jala' al- Amain, (Cairo. 1 % ) , pp. 4 8 - 5 0 ; Y. Sarkis, Mu'jam al-Matbu'at, (Cairo, 1928) pp. 1201-5. See also E . I . 2 , 1 , p. 2 5 9 f „ "Ahl al-Hadith". 3 S . H a s a n , al-Taj al-Mukallal, 2nd ed. ( B o m b a j , 1963), p. 515. 4 lbid„ p. 516. 5 S e c Bughyat al-Wajid, p. 72 n. I. On As'ad S a h i b see short r e f e r e n c e in 'Alain, 5th ed. ( B e i r u t , 2

1980), vol. 1, p. 301. ^ E n t i t l e d Nur al-Hidaya

wal-'IrfanftSirr al-Rabila wal-Tawajjuh wa Khatm al-Khwajakan,

(Cairo, 1311). ^ T h e book f o r m s a series of r e f e r e n c e s and q u o t a t i o n s f r o m N a q s h b a n d i or other sufi writers on

"rabita", thus there is m u c h repetition in it. S o m e of the basic al-Rahma al-Hdbita. verse 34; S a h i b , p. 29;"lltaqu Allah-u wa iblaghii ilaih-i al-wasila"

the question of

taken f r o m Dawsari's ^ S u r a t V,

a r g u m e n t s are

KHALWA

AND

RABIJA

39

"either the Prophet or his locum-tenens" meaning sufi shaikhs, thus rabita [with them] is one of the best means (wasa'l) to knowing God. 1 For another proof that rabita has a basis in the Qur'an, Sahib brings the verse: "obey God, His messenger and those of you in authority" 2 , and asks whether the sufi masters do not deserve to be within this category of uli al-amr? Then he claims that "it was Junaid, Jili, Dasuqi and Ghazali and other masters who decided upon the rabita", should not the believers obey them 3 ? Another argument in favour of rabita used also by Dawsari is that "any matter which the shari'a did not (explicitly] prohibit is permitted" 4 . Moreover, added Sahib, rabita was so commonly practised among other orders that is has become part of the ijma' (concensus) and what the believers regarded as good is accepted as good by God, says the tradition 5 . By our own experience he added, practising the rabita was beneficial to us because it helps us to ward off random thoughts and to prevent inattentiveness 6 so why denying it for us? At the end Sahib concluded that rabita is recommended {manduba). The murid is trained to practice it but without obligation to exercise it. However, if he disregards it he neglects one of the rites (adab) of the order 7 . This idea of rabita as being recommended could be implied from the advice of Yaqub al-Charkhi to Ubaidullah Ahrar 8 . In early 19th ccntury however, it was first voiced by Husein al-Dawsari in his treatise written during Khalid's lifetime. But he tells us he did not dare to ascribe the treatise to himself then 9 . In fact we owe its publication to Manzilawi who belonged as mentioned to a rival branch of the Mujaddidiyya active in Mecca about the end of the century 10 . Manzilawi published it on the margin of his translation of Sirhindi's Maktubatu. In this argument of Dawsari and Sahib there is some retreat from Khalid's position on the question. Khalid, as remembered, strongly insisted upon rabita and no where, he mentioned it as manduba. By declaring it recommended, Sahib meant to say that it is not obligatory any longer. In other

2'As'ad

Sahib, p. 29-30.

Qur'an, S. 4, v. 59 ; "Atl'u AHah-u 3 S a h i b , p. 38; Dawsari, p. 229. 4

S a h i b , p. 28; Dawsari, p. 221.

5

Sahib,p.37.

6

lbid„ pp. 1 lbid„ pp.

wa Rasulah-u wu-uli ul-Amr minkum".

28-9,64. 19, 2 8 , 6 5 ; sec also Dawsari, pp. 221 and 225-6.

^See above, p. 32. ^Dawsari, p. 185. '®See above n. 5. U

M a k t u b a t , I, pp. 184-268 (on the margin).

40

ISLAM

AND

THE

OTTOMAN

EMPIRE

words Khalidi followers were absolved from now on from the duty of linkage with shaikh Khalid's image if they desired so. This position should be taken as a compromise between Khalid's position and that of his critics. In a way this compromise may have been beneficial for the image of the order. It perhaps brought to an end the shadow of saint-veneration cast upon it by Khalid's claim for sole linkage. Shaikh Khalid h o w e v e r , continued to be highly regarded by the followers of the order, but his aura was bound to suffer as a result. T h e following generation of Khalidi shaikhs had more scope for self assertion than before and perhaps more freedom to follow their own course. Indeed, the means for branching out within the framework of the Khalidiyya, became possible.

Appendix |Khalid's letter to Ismail al-Shirwanl] "From the humble servant (i.e. Khalid) ... to shaikh Ismail... loyalty and honour compel you to come sometimes and meet us... or to write. There are | m a n y | of our servants (i.e. deputies) who live farther than you do. They are older in their association and have performed more services |to us than y o u | . But still they do not act without our permission... |In this order| the leading shaikh is an intermediary (wasita) between the murid. and his God. Thus avoiding him [means| avoiding Him. (Consequently] do not train anyone to link with your image and if it [i.e. your image] appears to him it is an act of the Satan. Do not ordain any deputy except by my ¡explicit] order | s i c ! | . . . and if you continue to disregard |our directions! ••• we shall turn away from you completely... You have been warned (!)"'. (Undated)

' See p. 34 above.

III. THE NAQSHBANDIYYA-MUJADDIDIYYA AND THE KHALIDIYYA IN ISTANBUL IN THE EARLY 19TH CENTURY

1. SHEIKH MEHMED EMIN AND HIS DISCIPLES1

Shaikh Khalid never went to Istanbul himself, but a little before his final departure from Sulaimaniyya in 1820, a deputy of his had arrived to the Ottoman capital. 2 This was not the first time that the Naqshbandi-MujaddidI order had found its way into Istanbul. As far as is known to us two waves had preceded this Khalidi wave. More than a century earlier, in 1092/1681 Shaikh Murad al-Bukhari, a deputy of Muhammad Ma'sum (d. Ra. 1079/Aug. 1668) Sirhindi's son, carried the order from Damascus to Istanbul where he was favourably received among the upper classes of the city. We are told that he drew the attention of the famous and influential §eyh-iil-islam Feyzullah Efendi, and that the sultan granted him "malikanes" near Damascus. 3 At his death the order had secured a permanent presence in the Ottoman metropolis.4 The second Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi wave reached Istanbul early in the 18th century by means of Shaikh Ahmad Joryani known as Yakdast. Originally from Joryan a township near Bukhara, Yakdast travelled to India and entered the service of Shaikh Muhammad Ma'sum. There "he and my great grandfather were colleagues" recalled the 12th/18th century historian, Khalil alMuradi. 5 After he was ordained as deputy by Shaikh Ma'sum, Yakdast settled in Mecca where he died (1119/1707-8).6 Mecca, a meeting place for learned and pious men from all over the Muslim world was a well chosen place from which to spread the order. Thus from there it reached Istanbul within a short time. However, it appears that it was only towards the middle of the 18th century that deputies of the Yakdast chain were becoming active in the city. A prominent follower of this chain was the historian and mystic Suleyman Sa'd el-Din Efendi known as ' O n shaikh M. Emin see n. 2 p. 42 below. A

Suleyman Faik Mec., fol. 4a; see also Bughyat al-Wajid, p. 123 n; see also Abdiilbaki Golpinarli, 100 Soruda Turkiye'de Mezhepler ve Tarikatlar (Istanbul. 1969), pp. 220-221. 3

K h a M Al-Muradi, Silk al-Durar Jr A'yan al-Qarn al-Thani 'Ashar, 4 vols., (Cairo A H 1291-1301), IV, 130. 4 M . Tevfik, Mecmu'at-ul- Teracim, Ms. in Istanbul University Library TY192, fol. 76a-b. On M. I'evfik see Osmanli Muellifkri, 1, 264, (hereafter OM). 5 Muradi, Silk al-Durar, I, 107-8. 6

M . Tevfik, TY192, fol. 70a.

42

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AND

THE

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EMPIRE

Mustakim-zade (d. 1202/1787-8) 1 who translated into Ottoman-Turkish the Maktubat, the famous collection of letters of Shaikh A h m a d al-Sirhindi. By this act Sirhindi was introduced to wider circles of Ottoman readers. Perhaps the most prominent Shaikh of the Yakdast chain in Istanbul to w h o m was attributed a considerable i n f l u e n c e upon upper echelons of g o v e r n m e n t , was Shaikh M e h m e d E m i n b. Ismail usually n i c k - n a m e d Bursah. 2 Born in Karkuk in Iraq to a Kurdish family (perhaps in 1140/1727-8) he started his career as a clerk in the service of "his uncle 'Abdullah Pasha a governor of Urfa". 3 While at this place he came into contact with a certain Shaikh Nabih Efendi who was a Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi shaikh and by whom he was it seems initiated for the first time into the order. 4 When his uncle was transferred to Aleppo, he moved with him. 5 From there he left after a little while to Istanbul where he soon entered the service of Grand Vezir Ragib Pasha as a clerk. 6 Along with that he started also to teach Persian. In this branch of the Yakdast chain some deputies in Istanbul belonged to the Mevlevi order and were readers of the Mesnevi, the f a m o u s collection of verse of Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi. Even after they had become NaqshbandiM u j a d d i d i Shaikhs, they kept their connection with the Mevlevi order and especially continued to teach the Mesnevi. This tradition was started by Shaikh Mustafa Riza of Be§ikta§ known as Nejjar-Zade 7 (d. 1159/1746). His disciple and deputy Mehmed Agah of Istanbul (d. 1184/1770-1) continued this connection and was also a reader of Mesnevi.8 Mehmed Emin's knowledge of Persian may have brought him close to such circles of Mesnevi scholars. At any rate he became a disciple and deputy of Shaikh Agah, and after the death of the latter he inherited his place both as a p r o m i n e n t N a q s h b a n d i - M a j a d d i d i s h a i k h and as a teacher of Mesnevi. Apparently he was widely respected in both literary and sufi circles. But his sojourn in Istanbul was cut short when in 1193/1779 he left the city and settled in Bursa; he did not return to Istanbul before 1209/1794 when he was "especially invited by ulema and dignitaries". 9

' O n him see 2

OM„

TeOereyi Fatin, pp. 194-195. Yadigar-i §emsi ( B u r s a 1 3 3 2 / 1 9 1 3 - 1 4 ) , pp. 1 7 2 - 1 7 7 ; M . T e v f i k , K u f r a l i , Nakfbendiligin Kuruluj ve Yayili^i ( I s t a n b u l U n i v e r s i t e s i

I, 168-9 a n d

O n him see M. § e m s u t t i n ,

TY192

f o l . 140a; K a s i m

T u r k i y a t b n s t i t u s u , Doktora T e z i . T 3 3 7 ) , p. 194 and SO. 1 , 4 2 0 - 4 2 1 . 3

Yadigdr-i §emsi, p. 173.

•^According to M e h m e d E m i n ' s disciple Ali B e h c e t in h i s

Risale-i 'Ubaidiye Nalqbendiye.

(Istanbul A . H . 1260), pp. 10f.; he adds that Nebih E f e n d i w a s a deputy of S h a i k h ' A H m Allah Sindi w h o s e spiritual chain goes back to M. M a ' s u m . 5

P o s s i b l y ' A b d u l l a h P a s h a C e t e c i . a g o v e r n o r of A l e p p o in 1 1 7 0 - 7 1 / 1 7 5 6 - 5 7 , see S O 111, 3 8 1 -

82. ^Yadigdr

§emsi,

p. 174; M e h m e t Ragib w a s g r a n d V e z i r b e t w e e n 1757-1763, see SO. II, 3 5 8

59. 7

M . T e v f i k , T Y 1 9 2 , fol. 97a.

8

Yadigar-i §emsi. p. 174; Yadigar-i §emsi, p. 176.

9

Kasim Kui'rali. p. 193.

THE NAQSHBAND1Y YA-MUJADDIDIY Y A AND THE KHÄL1DIYYA

43

T h o s e were the days of sultan Selim III (1789-1807). For the coming thirteen years and until the dethronement of the sultan, Shaikh M e h m e d Emin seems to have gained many followers in the city "especially from among the Bab-i 'Àli men and the bureaucracy (Ktittâb) and other servants [of the state] ... all of whom believed in him". 1 This is recorded by Asim Efendi, an eye witness who became a little later the official historiographer of the period and who was certainly not a friend of Shaikh Mehmed Emin, or of the NaqshbandiM u j a d d i d ï order. A c c o r d i n g to another source "very many government functionaries a n d . . . |other officials] related to the palace", became disciple of Shaikh M e h m e d Emin. 2 Astm gives us few names of these bureaucrats who were a m o n g the most dedicated followers of the Shaikh. One of these was Ibrahim Nesim Efendi an ardent reformer and for many years a Kethuda for the Grand Vezir and very influential among the sultan's close circle of advisers. 3 Others were M e h m e d Tahsin E f e n d i , 4 and Refik Efendi the Mektubi"5 and other personalities and sons of great families. 6 As is known such bureaucrats were most loyal servants of the sultan and most dedicated to his policies and reforms. H o w can we explain this connection between a Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi shaikh and reforming elements among the upper bureaucracy? It could be perhaps explained by the fact that Mehmed Emin himself belonged at one time to the Kiittab, the officials of the Porte as mentioned, thus he was closer to them than he would otherwise have been. Secondly it should be remembered that he was a teacher of Persian the language of belles-lettres at the time and a reader of the Mesnevi, both of which drew the interest of the littérateurs who usually occupied o f f i c e s of the Ottoman government. But above all the N a q s h b a n d i - M a j a d d i d i tradition enjoins its shaikhs to try to seek influence with rulers as a part of their mission. 7 This apparently was what Shaikh Emin had done by enhancing his influence among upper bureaucrats and palace men. His influence was, it seems, so much hated by the opponents of the regime that, when the revolt took place against Sultan Selim III in 1807, the disciples of Shaikh Emin suffered greatly. "Most of them were put to death by the rebels" stated Cevdet. 8 The Shaikh himself was exiled to Bursa where he

'Ahmet Asim, Tarih II, 92. '•Yadigur-i §emsi, p. 176. I, 148; and S. Shaw, Between Old and New, (Harvard 1971), p. 90 and p. 381. SO, II, 48. SO, II, 414.

4

$ 6

Asim, II, 83. Hourani, p. 79: J. P. Brown, The Darwishes, ed. by H. A. Rose, (Ixmdon, 1927), p. 446. See also Hamid Algar "Political Aspects of Naqshbandi History" in Gaborieau et. al Naqshbamlh... (Istanbul, 1990), pp. 126f and p. 132. "Ahmed Cevdet, Tarih, VIII, 201. 7

44

ISLAM

AND

THE

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EMPIRE

died a f e w years l a t e r . ' B u t his d e a t h a n d the w i p i n g out of the g e n e r a t i o n of r e f o r m i n g b u r e a u c r a t s did not e n d the c o n n e c t i o n b e t w e e n this b r a n c h of t h e M u j a d d i d i y a a n d b u r e a u c r a t i c circles at I s t a n b u l . In t h e early y e a r s of Sultan M a h m u d II ( 1 8 0 8 - 1 8 3 9 ) w e f i n d Shaikh Ali B e h c e t ( d . 1 2 3 8 / 1 8 2 3 ) a d e p u t y of S h a i k h E m i n m o v i n g f r o m B u r s a to I s t a n b u l . 2 H e w a s a p p o i n t e d a s S h a i k h of t h e S e l i m i y y e Z a w i y a in U s k t i d a r w h i c h w a s built by Sultan S e l i m III b e s i d e t h e m i l i t a r y c o m p o u n d s w h i c h c a r r y his n a m e a n d w a s a s s i g n e d f r o m t h e b e g i n n i n g t o the N a q s h b a n d i - M u j a d d i d i o r d e r . 3 N e i t h e r Ali B e h c e t n o r a n y o t h e r S h a i k h of the E m i n line tried to be c o n s p i c u o u s l y a c t i v e at this p h a s e , 4 but n e v e r t h e l e s s s o m e g o v e r n m e n t o f f i c i a l s did h a v e c o n t a c t s w i t h h i m a n d w e r e apparently influenced by him. O n e of these w a s P e r t e v E f e n d i 5 (later P a s h a ) , a high o f f i c i a l d u r i n g the latter half of M a h m u d II's reign a n d a m o s t i n f l u e n t i a l p e r s o n at that s t a g e b e f o r e he w a s put to d e a t h by t h e S u l t a n ( 1 8 3 7 ) . O n e of a n u m b e r of h i g h b u r e a u c r a t s w h o b e l o n g e d to f a m i l i e s of C r i m e a n origin, Pertev s e e m s to h a v e been a strong believer in N a q s h b a n d i - M u j a d d i d i t e a c h i n g , as can be learnt f r o m p r o c l a m a t i o n s a p p a r e n t l y w r i t t e n by h i m . 6 A t his e x p e n s e , t h e zawiya

of his

shaikh w a s enlarged, r o o m s f o r d e r v i s h e s w e r e a d d e d , as well as a library a n d a d i n i n g h a l l 7 (1835). A s e c o n d p e r s o n , w h o a c c o r d i n g t o a n e v i d e n c e w a s a " b e l i e v e r " in S h a i k h Ali B e h c e t w a s M . S. H a l e t E f e n d i 8 , a l s o t h e son of a f a m i l y f r o m the C r i m e a . H a l e t w a s a c l o s e c o u n s e l l o r of S u l t a n M a h m u d a n d d o m i n a t e d the political s c e n e in I s t a n b u l f o r a d e c a d e ( 1 8 1 2 - 1 8 2 2 ) . H e is b e t t e r k n o w n a s a M e v l c v i , but s i g n s of the N a q s h b a n d i - M u j a d d i d i i n f l u e n c e u p o n h i m will be seen in t h e c o u r s e of this section. A third p r o m i n e n t f i g u r e w h o m a y h a v e h a d s y m p a t h y t o w a r d s this o r d e r w a s Htisrev Pasha. In the s a m e y e a r that Pertev restored a n d e n l a r g e d the S e l i m i y y e Zawiya.

Hiisrev restored a s well a N a q s h b a n d i Zawiya

in t h e K o c a

M u s t a f a P a s h a q u a r t e r o u t s i d e t h e E d i r n e g a t e ( 1 2 5 0 / 1 8 3 4 - 5 ) a n d in his vakfiye

he a s s i g n e d p a y m e n t s to its d e r v i s h e s . 9

' A s i m II, S i r . ; M. T c v f i k . T Y 1 9 2 . tbl. 140a. 2

O n Ali B e h c e t see OM. I, 4 7 ; SO. II. 31; and Tezkereyi Risale-i 'Ubaidiye Nalqbendiye, pp. 7-8.

Fatin,

p. 306, f o r his sufi chain see his

3

S e e Ì. H. K o n y a l i , Vskudar Tarihi. 2 vols., (Istanbul, 1976-77), I, 268-9 and II, 190. ^ A n o t h e r d e p u t y of M. E m i n w h o w a s o r d a i n e d by h i m a little before his d e a t h w a s H a s a n H i i s a m e d d i n (d. 1864). At first he settled in the Eyiip quarter. H e b e c a m e it s e e m s w e l l - k n o w n and influential only in the T a n z i m a t period. On him see H a s i r i z a d e M. Elif, Tansit al-Muhibbin bi Manakib Boca Hiisameddin (Istanbul, A . H . 1342). M y t h a n k s are due to Prof. K. Kreiser of B a m b e r g University f o r bringing my attention to this booklet. 5

O n Pertev see M. K. Inai, Son Mir

Turk £airleri,

El1 IV, 1066; I. Parmaksizoglu, Turk Ansiklopedisi,

12 parts, (Istanbul, 1930-1942). pp. 1301-9; vol. X X V I , ( A n k a r a , 1977), pp. 4 7 7 - 8 .

6

S e e below on the f i r m a n which declared the abolishing of the Janissaries, p. 27.

7

A h m e t Lutfi, Tarili, V, 21.

8

S e e SO, II, 31.

9

H . lnalcik in Islam Ansiklopedisi.

V. 6 1 5 ; A. ' A t a , Tarihi II. 120 and SO. II, 276.

THE NAQSHBAND1Y YA-MUJADDIDIYYA AND THE KHAUDIYYA

45

T h e fact that such three s e n i o r statesmen and bureaucrats had connections with or sympathy for the order is an indication to what level the teaching of the order had penetrated. But since the revolt against Sultan Selim in 1807 in which disciples of Shaikh Emin were persecuted, such elements seem to have kept quiet about their views and their connections with deputies of the order. The outbreak of the Greek Revolution in spring 1821, however, gave them the opportunity to try and influence public opinion with their views. Following the outbreak of this revolution a series of proclamations were issued in the name of the Sultan, the contents of which remind us of Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi teachings. T o issue proclamations at times of crisis was not a new practice. W e known that after the Napoleonic invasion of Egypt and Palestine, Sultan Selim III issued proclamations directed to the Muslim inhabitants of Egypt and Syria calling upon them to unite in f a c e of the French. 1 But the proclamations of 1821 were numerous. They did not aim simply at arousing Islamic zeal, they also carried a message. As the Greeks had united against the Muslims so "let the Muslims old and young unite and bind themselves in accordance with Islamic brotherhood" 2 . On 24th April 1821 a short time after the outbreak of the revolution, instructions were issued by the Sultan to the qadis of Istanbul and its suburbs, in which they were requested to call upon the Muslims to bind their hearts together, to care f o r righteousness, to avoid evil acts and to observe the 5 times daily prayers. 3 In May another proclamation was issued. It opened by referring to the early Muslim period: following the emergence of Islam, when the shari'u was followed, jihad performed and the religious beliefs were firm, the Muslims were victorious. Gradually, however, those virtues and duties were forgotten and Muslims got used to comfort and pleasure and to disregarding the shari'a. But now they are becoming aware of the intentions of the unbelievers so let them unite and bind their hearts together in Islamic zeal and raise the word of God. 4

' H . A. Shihhab, Tarikk Ahmad Bashd al-Jazzdr, (ed. by Shibli & Khalifa) (Beirut 1955) DD VV 124-129; see also Mardin, p. 171. ' 2 Cevdet, Tarih, 2nd impression (Istanbul, A.H. 1309), XI143. 3 4

Cevdet, XI, 167 f.

§ani-zade, Tarih, IV, 78f.; Cevdet XI. 271f. This reference to the early Muslim period seems to have been a conviction and not a matter for public consumption. In his article on the ' U l e m a and Westernization Heyd remarked that in a note to the Russian Ambassador, dated August, 1821, the Ottoman State was regarded "as a successor and heir of the Arab politic of Medina" established by the Prophet in 622 "and not as the heir of Osman. Mehmed II and Suleyman", p! 91. For full reference to this article, see below note 1 p. 49.

46

ISLAM

AND

THE

OTTOMAN

EMPIRE

S i m i l a r e x h o r t a t i o n s a p p e a r e d in f i r m a n s issued at the a p p o i n t m e n t of new grand vezirs. T h u s Salih Pasha was instructed

in h i s f i r m a n

of

n o m i n a t i o n (dated 2 7 R . 1 2 3 6 / 3 0 April 1821) "to j o i n and u n i t e in s i n c e r e r e s o l v e w i t h my vezirs, u l e m a . . . s t a t e s m e n . . . a g h a s and o f f i c e r s . . . f o r the raising of the word of G o d and the revival of the sunnet of the P r o p h e t " . 1 T h e r e is a considerable d e g r e e of similarity between the teachings of the N a q s h b a n d i - M u j a d d i d i o r d e r and t h e s e calls: the return t o the early I s l a m i c period as an ideal, t h e call to f o l l o w the sharl'a a n d to revive the sunna of the P r o p h e t , all r e m i n d us of t h o s e t e a c h i n g s . C e v d e t s a w the d o i n g s of H a l e t E f e n d i behind these p r o c l a m a t i o n s . 2 T h e f a c t that Halet w a s "a believer" in Shaikh Ali B e h c e t p e r h a p s explains this similarity. At any rate w e can perhaps c o n c l u d e t h a t by the 1820's t e n d e n c y t o w a r d s I s l a m i c o r t h o d o x ideals in m a t t e r s of society a n d state w a s getting s t r o n g e r a m o n g m a n y u p p e r c l a s s people. It s e e m s that the G r e e k R e v o l u t i o n had given the o p p o r t u n i t y f o r this trend to e x p r e s s itself in a m o r e r e s o l u t e w a y , than it had d o n e in the last d e c a d e a n d a half. It a p p e a r s also that this r e v o l u t i o n had c o n t r i b u t e d to the s u c c c s s of the K h a l i d i S h a i k h s w h o had started to arrive to I s t a n b u l a little earlier.

2. T H E EXPANSION O F T H E K H Á L Í D Í Y Y A IN ISTANBl II

W h e n the first of K h á l i d ' s d e p u t i e s r e a c h e d Istanbul ( a b o u t 1819) the u p p e r class in the city had been e x p o s e d t o N a q s h b a n d i - M u j a d d i d i teaching f o r the last f e w g e n e r a t i o n s and especially d u r i n g the d a y s of Sultan Selim III as w e have seen in the previous section. T h i s f a c t o r , c o u p l e d with the r e s e n t m e n t and f e a r c a u s e d by the G r e e k R e v o l u t i o n m a y h a v e c o n t r i b u t e d t o the q u i c k s u c c e s s w h i c h t h o s e d e p u t i e s had m e t . T h e h i s t o r i a n S i i l e y m a n Faik (d. 1254/1838) w h o w a s an eye w i t n e s s to the e v e n t s stated that f r o m A . H. 1235 ( 1 8 1 9 - 2 0 ) until A. H. 1242 ( 1 8 2 6 - 2 7 ) m a n y e m i s s a r i e s of S h a i k h

Khálid

a r r i v e d in I s t a n b u l . 3 In spite of the f a c t that F a i k v i e w e d their activity with m u c h d i s f a v o u r he a c k n o w l e d g e d that "many p e o p l e of high r a n k and of good f o r t u n e f r o m a m o n g the d i g n i t a r i e s (rijal)

and u l e m a of o u r t i m e . . . " joined

them.4 T h e official h i s t o r i o g r a p h e r of the period A h m e d Liitfi gives a similar a s s e s s m e n t in his h i s t o r y . " M a n y d i g n i t a r i e s a n d u l e m a of I s t a n b u l

[he

staled] j o i n e d these deputies and the n u m b e r of the brethren ( i k h w á n ) started t o ^Sani-zade, IV. 43 f : Cevdet, XI. 267 f. Cevdet, XI, 201. ^Siileyman Faik Mecmuasi, fol. 4a. (I'his ms. is found in the Istanbul University Library, no. TY9577). On S. Faik, see SO, III, 98 2

4

Ibid., fol. 4a-b.

THE NAQSHBANDIYY A-MUJADD1DIYYA AND THE KHÁLIDIYYA

47

multiply". 1 Though there is no doubt of the authenticity of these statements, a modern Turkish historian of sufi orders states that the Khálidiyya in Istanbul "spread in particular among... Shafts of eastern [Anatolian | districts" 2 which means perhaps among Kurdish immigrants to Istanbul. Having regard to the character of the Khálidiyya in Kurdistan, this claim might very well be true. We do not have many names of followers to substantiate these statements. Ottoman sources or biographical dictionaries scarcely refer to the sufi affiliation of ulema or bureaucrats. From various sources, however, it is known that such prominent ulema as Mekki-zade Mustafa Asim 3 or Kejecizade ízzet Molla 4 were Khalidi followers. The first was §eyh-iil-islam several times and the other a qadi of Istanbul and a famous poet. Likewise bureaucrats like Gürcü Necib 5 or Musa Safveti 6 were known to have been followers of the Khálidiyya as well. But Khalidi Shaikhs did not have an easy time in Istanbul. Their fast and conspicuous success had aroused, it seems, many opponents. In an edict issued in 1828 but referring among other things to the first years of the expansion of the order in Istanbul, Khálid's emissaries were accused of being pushing and unceasing in bringing people to join their order contrary to the rules (addb) of sufi orders and that under the guise of guidance (irshád) they were in fact "increasing [the followers of] their society".7 If these allegations are true, they show that Khalidi Shaikhs endowed with a sense of mission and carried by zeal, seem to have aroused the jealousy and indignation of Shaikhs of other sufi orders. According to S. Faik some of these shaikhs were ready to resort to violence in order to bring about the expulsion of Khalidi deputies from the city. 8 Not only shaikhs of other sufi orders were disturbed by the expansion of the Khálidiyya, but the Sultan himself apparently had certain apprehensions as well. If Sultan Mahmud II had tolerated the advent of some deputies of

•Ahmet Lutfi, Tarih, I, 286; of. also al-Majd al-Talid, p. 71, and Ahmad Al-Irbili Al-Khatib, Nur at-Hudaflizalat al-shubah wa al-Sada. Ms. in Istanbul University Library, no. AY2404, see fol. 8b where the author states that most of the professors (mudarrisun) in Istanbul became Khalidi followers. 2 A. Golpinarh, l(X)Soruda

Turkiye'de Mezhepler ve Tarikatlar, (Istanbul, 1969), pp. 220-1. Bughyat al-Wajid, p. 105 f. and p. 252 f. See Hasan §ukrii, Mcnakib-i Sems el-Sumus (Istanbul n.d.), p. 147; (nal, Son Asir Turk $airleri, p. 741; and A.H. Tanpinar, On dokuzuncu Asir Turk Edebiyati Tarihi 3rd ed (Istanbul, 1967), pp. 57-58. ^On him see SO. IV, 545-6; Bughyat On him see SO. Ill, 229-30.

•7

'

al-Wdjid,

For this edict sec Ba§bakanlik Ar^ivi, Muhimme See Siileyman Faik Mecmuasi, fol. 4b..

pp. 119f„ 128 f. and 181 f.

Deflerteri,

no. 243, pp. 41-42.

48

I SI. AM

ANI)

THE

OTTOMAN

EMPIRE

Shaikh M e h m e d E m i n , he perhaps had d o n e so because of their connection with the Mevlevi order which he himself favoured, 1 or perhaps they had shown only a limited activity. But he does not seem to have been at all satisfied with the Khalidi presence in the city. T h e y were indeed an unknown band c o m i n g f r o m remote provinces and motivated by highly orthodox ideals. An absolute ruler like Mahmud II does not like a public activity of any kind over which he has no control. W e are told that at one time the sultan changed his outfit and went in disguise to a Khalidi meeting place to see for himself. 2 T w o secret agents were sent to D a m a s c u s , claimed the K h a l i d i s , to verify certain allegations and to report about Shaikh K h a l i d . 3 W e k n o w also that in the early 1820's a n u m b e r of adherents were sent to exile f r o m Istanbul. 4 and K h a l i d ' s deputies w e r e banished from the city several times. 5 At one stage a deputy, ' A b d u l w a h h a b al-Susi attempted to establish a sub-order in his name, an attempt in which he was e n c o u r a g e d , it s e e m s , by Giircii N c c i b E f e n d i . 6 Had such a m o v e been successful it would have led to the splitting of the order. But Shaikh K h a l i d , backed by the mufti and ' U l a m a ' of D a m a s c u s 7 succeeded in checking this attempt of Siisi and in preserving the unity of the order, though only f o r a while. But in spite of these and other measures, the K h a l i d i y y a succeeded in the 1820's in gaining many adherents in Istanbul, as we have mentioned. W e have noticed in the previous section that there existed a tendency t o w a r d s Islamic orthodox ideals a m o n g upper ranks of society following the activity of Shaikh E m i n and his deputies. T h e c o m i n g of the K h a l i d i s and the success which they met with, naturally strengthened this trend in spite of the measures taken by the Sultan to hinder it. It is a s s u m e d , h o w e v e r , that the expansion of orthodox ideals of the Khalidi or the Mujaddidi brand among the upper ranks of society had affected their social and political outlook and especially their attitude towards certain measures of reform.

' A . Golpinarh, Mevlana'dan

Soma Mevlevilik,

(Istanbul, 1953), pp. 254-259.

Faik Mecmuasi, fol. 4b. ^al-Hadd'iq al-Wardiyya, p. 233. 4

S e e Liitfi, Tarih I, 287.

Faik in his Mecmua claims thai Khalid's deputies were five times banished from the city, see also the edict in Miihimme Deflerleri no. 243, pp. 41-2. 6 0 n the attempt of Susi see in Bughyat al-Wajid, the commentary of As'ad Sahib, on p. 124. See also Khalid's stern letter to Giiri;u Necib, on p. 129. 7

For this episode sec the treatise of Ibn 'Abdin, Sail al-Husam also Liitfi. I. 285.

al-Hindi

in note 2 p. 20; sec

THE NAQSHBANDIYYA-MUJADD1D1Y YA AND THE KHALIDIYYA

49

In his article on The Ottoman 'Ulema and Westernization1 U. Heyd defined the attitude of the 'ulama' leadership towards reform as "progressive". He explained this attitude by showing that they were an integral part of the government, that they were afraid of the sultan and that they hated the Janissaries and the Bektashis.2 He also added that "in their support for or their acquiescence in the westernising reforms..." 3 the 'ulema leadership joined forces with certain dervish orders". Following this statement he referred to the Naqshbandi and the Mevlevi as the two favoured orders by the elite in Istanbul. 4 Heyd did not elaborate on that, but it is to be understood that he was of the belief that these two orthodox orders had lent their support along with the 'ulama' to the reforming measures of the sultan. Moreover he added that in order to defend this attitude the ulema used "arguments either taken from the religious law and early Islamic history or based on reason..." 5 which shows indirectly perhaps traces of Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi influence upon them. In other words if the 'ulama' supported the measures of reform of sultan Mahmud II, it was because by this time and among other things they were motivated by orthodox sunni ideals propagated by the sufi movement. The first major act of reform to which it is suggested the orthodox movement contributed, was the destruction of the Janissaries and the abolishment of the Bektashi order. It was Pertev Efendi who drafted the firman which announced the abolition of the Janissary corps 6 and which was read by the official historiographer at the time Sahhaflar §eyhi-zade M. Es'ad Efendi from the pulpit of the Blue Mosque on the day of the event. 7 The firman was presented as the decision of the 'ulama' and men of state "Din ve Devlet" and not of the sultan. 8 It was couched in Islamic terminology which reminds us of the proclamations issued in 1821. The Janissaries were held responsible for the contraction and decline of the state which was attributed by "the enemies of religion" to weakness and disintegration of "the Muslim millet". The

'(J. Heyd, The Ottoman "Ulema and Westernization in the Time of Selim III and Mahmud II", in: U. Heyd (ed.), Studies in Islamic History and Civilization, (Jerusalem, 1961), pp. 63-96. bid., p. 73. See also p. 64 : "Leading ' u l e m a not only sanctioned and supported the innovations... Some of them also played a major role in conceiving, suggesting and planning reforms on European lines". 3 Ibid„ pp. 77 ff. 4 Ihid„ p. 68. -'Ibid., p. 74. c §. Mardin, The Genesis of Young Ottoman Thought, (Princeton, 1962), p. 174. 7 Mehmed Es'ad, Uss-i 2afer, 2nd impr., (Istanbul, 1293), p. 111. for the firman itself so; this book, pp. 111-117. S Ibid„ p. 115.

50

I S L A M

A N D

T H E

O T T O M A N

E M P I R E

Janissaries were presented as defying the precepts of the exalted shari'a and the honoured fetvas and as disobeying the august state and the high 'ulama'. They were e$kiya. (rebellious), revolting against religion and state. Consequently there had taken place "according to the §eriat an agreement between [the men of] religion and [of] state" to abolish the corps and to establish in its place a trained army "to give an answer to the enemy in ghaza and jihad". "The basis and real purpose of this act", continued the firman, "is to raise the word of God... and to revive ( i h y a ' ) the religion and $eriat of the master of Prophets..."; "it is only for the revival of religion and of the exalted Muhammedan state and to ameliorate the conditions of the Muslim millet") This was not rhetoric for public consumption. Against the back-ground just analysed, it should be understood as an expression of the beliefs shared by many people of the Ottoman elite. Without such deep convictions on the part of a large group of leading 'ulama' and bureaucrats, it is difficult to see how the act could have succeeded. 2 About a month later, the Bektashi order was also abolished. Following a consultative meeting attended by state functionaries, high 'ulama' and sufi shaikhs, and held in the mosque within the Palace grounds, 3 a firman was issued in which the Bektashis were accused of paying no homage to Islamic orthodoxy or to shari'a obligations, and therefore being a source of moral degeneration for good Muslims. "They lit was said] ncglcct prayers and allow themselves to do things forbidden by the §eriat". It was they who showed the Janissaries the way of disobedience. Thus it was imperative "according to the §eriat and [good] Government" "§er'an ve Siyaseten" to eliminate them from the Ottoman lands. 4 The fact that a Naqshbandi shaikh was put at the head of the zawiya of Hajji Bektash near Kir§ehir in central-western Anatolia 5 is usually explained by the fact that both orders had common spiritual ancestors. However, the fact that many Bektashi babas (shaikhs) turned Naqshbandis 6 may be a sign of the leading role that the Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi order played in this act. (For further details on the abolition of the Bektashi order see study four.)

Miicerred-i ihya-i din ve devlet-i 'aliyye muhammediyye ve islah-i ehval-i millel-i islamiye iqiin...". see p. 117. 2

Liitfu, II, 94.

-^M. hs'ad, Uss-i Zafer, p. 207 f. The sufi shaikhs belonged to the Naqshbandi, Qadiri, Halveti, Mevlevi and Sa'di orders, ibid.. See Cevdet XII, 181 for more details. See also irfan

Giinduz, Gumii$hanevi Ahmed Ziyauddin... ve Halidiyye Tarikati, Istanbul, Yiiksek Islam Enstitusii Ogretim iiyeligi Tezi, 1981. see pp. 119 ff. ^For a copy of this edict see liss-i Vujer. pp. 213-221. 5 H c was Mehmet Sa'id Efendi of Kayseri; see OM, I, 89.

Golpinarli. Mevlana'dan sonrn Mevievilik (Istanbul, 1953), p. 321.

THE NAQSHBANDIYY A-MUJADDIDIYY A AND THE KHALIDIYYA

51

The destruction of the Janissaries and the abolition of the Bektashi order were justified by the allegation that they were a source of corruption, weakness and degeneration for the Muslim state and community. It appears that the act was not simply a decision of an all-powerful sultan w h o imposed his will upon bureaucrats, ' u l a m a ' and military groups. Sultan M a h m u d may have been willing to achieve such a goal. But the fact that the upper classes were convinced independently of the sullan and out of religious motives that this was the right path seems equally important. This explains why Mahmud II succeeded where Selim III failed. This latter sultan depended upon his own power and his ability to manipulate the various factions in Istanbul. At the same time the upper ranks were divided among themselves and were perhaps less motivated and less aware of the dangers ahead. During Mahmud's reign, however, those classes had become far more coherent and were strengthened in their faith and in their resolve to see shari'a

rules prevail. B y that they

believed they would bring regeneration to the Muslim state and community.

3. THE SULTAN AND THE SUNNI-ORTHODOX TREND The destruction of the Janissaries and the abolition of the Bektashi order appear to have taken place at the price of the strengthening of orthodox sunni concepts concerning society and state among the Ottoman elite. Indeed after these events there seems to have existed in Istanbul much zeal for a new era in which Muslim law and orthodox rites would prevail. Sultan M a h m u d was praised as "the r e n e w e r o f the laws of Islam in the 12th [Muslim | century" and "the revivifier of religion and the helper of Muslims" 1 (mujaddidi-i al-Isldm

... mujaddidi-i

din ve mu'in-i

muslimin)

qawanin

and it seems he was

expected to live up to this reputation. For a while the sultan seemed to be doing just that. Following the abolition of the Bektashi order and the closing of all its lodges, a proclamation was issued to all Muslim believers in which they were warned (among other things) to avoid such a m u s e m e n t s and acts (melahi ve mendhi)

as were

prohibited by the shari'a. They were required to perform the five daily prayers in groups, and were asked "to show perseverance and zeal (iqdam ve gayret) in fulfilling the requirements of religion and in the revival of the exalted sunan" (practices of the Prophet). T h e Imams of quarters were required moreover to teach the believers these requirements and practices. 2

' m . Es'ad, Uss-i Zafer, p. 177. 2

Idem, Tarih, Ms. in Istanbul University Library, no. TY6005, vol. IV. fols. 179b-180a.

52

I S L A M

ANI)

T H E

O T T O M A N

E M P I R E

Another sign of ihe influence of this trend may be seen in a firman issued in early 1827 which forbade governors of provinces or their agents to put to death anybody, Muslim or non-Muslim without a judicial sentence of a qadi (a shar'ijudge)

and without the possibility of appealing against such a

sentence to a Kaziasker}

This edict had the intention of ending the misuse of

power by governors; if it were implemented, it would help to strengthen the hands of the qadi and his subordinates, whose power was in decline in the last few generations, as against the power of governors. There are other administrative acts which point to the impact of this trend, 2 but perhaps there is no more conspicuous evidence for this than the attempt to persecute other ' u l a m a ' with different attitudes. Shortly after the abolishing of the Bektashi order, a number of ' u l a m a ' and literary men were banished from Istanbul accused of Bektashi leanings. The fact was that this group formed a "scientific society" in the s u b u r b of Be§ikta§ and used to discuss in private such subjects as philosophy, literature, mathematics and astronomy, apparently touching upon aspects of European culture. 3 T h e leader of the group, Ismail Ferruh Efendi, served for a while as Ottoman ambassador to London during sultan Selim III period. 4 Another member was the official historiographer at the time §ani-zade, who was a highly educated man not only in traditional sciences but w h o seems to have known several European languages, which enabled him to translated certain medical books into Ottoman. 5 Their exile meant the suppression of a trend of thought which was perhaps a non-conformist one. M o r e o v e r , m o d e r n T urkish social scientists have observed that throughout much of the X l X t h century Istanbul witnessed a m o v e m e n t of translation and printing of many works of the Muslim classical heritage into O t t o m a n T u r k i s h . 6 Even though there took place at the s a m e time the translation of many technical and scientific books from European languages, there is no doubt that the putting into Turkish of many classical books of Islamic literature may indicate the cultural orientation of many members of the learned classes. W e might not be far f r o m the truth in attributing this movement to the impact of the orthodox trend upon Ottoman thought during that phase.

' t t e y d , p. 9 3 ; 'Ata, Tarih, III, 138; see also C h a r l e s M a c f a r l a n e , Constantinople in 1828, 2 vols. ( L o n d o n , 1829), II, 138 f. .See A . L e v y , "The O t t o m a n U l c m a and Military R e f o r m " , in: Asian and African Studies VII, ( 1 9 7 1 ) , pp. 13-39, see pp. 31-32. Dr. Levy q u o t e d his p a s s a g e f r o m Kanun-name-i Askeri Defterleri, vol. 1, folios 5 8 - 6 2 , dated A . H . 1242 in Ba?bakanlik Ar§ivi. 3 O n this group see Lutfi I, 168-9 ; C e v d e t (ed. of 1301), XII, 2 1 2 - 2 1 4 and M a r d i n , p. 229 f. 4

S . Shaw, Between Old and New, ( H a r v a r d , 1971), pp. 130 f. See the d e s c r i p t i o n of I. F e r r u h Library in note 6 9 . c h a p . 4; see also O M . I, 394-5. 5

6

See B. Lewis, Emergence

of Modern

Turkey.

( L o n d o n , 1961), pp. 8 4 f.; SO. Ill, 4 7 9 - 8 0 .

M a r d i n , p. 2 0 3 ; H. Z. U l k e n , "'Tan/imatlan S o n r a Fikir Hareketleri", in : Tanzimat. 1940), pp. 757-775. See pp. 7 6 3 and ~77 f.

(Istanbul,

THE NAQSHBANDIYYA-MUJADDIDIYYA AND THE KHÁLIDIYYA

53

But for how long would the sultan allow these Islamic ideals to be influential among 'ulamá' and state functionaries, especially because such ideals would affect their outlook towards the state? Now that he was freed of the Janissaries, he could rule in an autocratic manner without looking over his shoulder. In fact, why should he rule differently from his forefathers, who had respected the sharl'a without allowing any consideration to hinder Iheir sultanic power?1 Some 'ulamá' were even ready to support him in this attitude by helping him to found his claim for autocratic power upon ideals from within the many-sided Islamic tradition. Thus we find the §eyh ül-íslam, Yasinci-zade Abdulvehhab Efendi, who belonged politically to palace circles, 2 writing in 1831 a small book which was called "Khulásat al-Burhan fi Ita'at al-Sultan3" (The Essence of the Proof concerning [the duty of] obedience to the sultan). In this book Yasinci-zade collected and interpreted 25 traditions attributed to the Prophet in support of the sultan's autocratic power. We find in it "an exposition of ideas of a despot like him" (i.e., like the sultan) says the historian Ahmet Rasim. 4 In other words, shortly after the elimination of the Janissaries there emerged in Istanbul a dichotomy between those who wanted to see sharl'a precepts and orthodox Islamic ideals prevail and those who upheld the sultanic or state power. This dichotomy underlines much of the political and intellectual schism in XlXth century Ottoman Empire and in fact in various aspects, it is still alive in Turkey and perhaps in many Middle Eastern countries. The Sultan opposed the orthodox trend not only on the ideological level but also by taking measures to undermine its influence in Istanbul arid in provincial cities. We have seen how he tried to check the expansion of the KhalidI sub-order in the early 1820's.5 Within this framework falls perhaps his suspicion of Halet Efendi, his most influential adviser for over ten years, who was as mentioned above, a believer in a Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi shaikh in Üsküdar. Halet, was the prime mover behind the proclamations of spring and summer 1821 following the outbreak of the Greek Revolution. 6 These proclamations, which called for Islamic communal solidarity and aimed at arousing Islamic zeal, seem to have disturbed the sultan. Mobilising Muslim public opinion in times of crisis was not new in the Ottoman Empire, but the 'SeeH. Inalcik, The Ottoman Empire, The Classical Age, 1300 ¡600, (London 1973) pp 65 ff 'Ata, Tarih II, 186-189. 3 OM„ II, 57; Heyd, p. 81; Mardin, p. 149. Rasim, istibdanan Hakimiyet-i Milliyeye, 2 vols., (Istanbul, 1342/1923), 1,172. See above, pp. 47f. 6 See above, p. 46. Z

54

ISLAM

AND

THE

OTTOMAN

EMPIRE

w a y in w h i c h H a l e t had d o n e that s e e m s to h a v e been a n o v e l t y . W h e n the p e o p l e ( k h a l q ) w e r e called step by step to ally t o g e t h e r "in a m a n n e r of a r e p u b l i c " ( J u m h u r i y e t tarzinda),

s a y s C e v d e t , a "black s p o t " e n t e r e d the

sultan's m i n d . 1 N o t a long t i m e passed b e f o r e Halet w a s eliminated. B e f o r e the d e c a d e e n d e d , Sultan M a h m u d turned against the Khalidis o n c e m o r e . In April 1828, less than a y e a r a f t e r s h a i k h K h a l i d ' s d e a t h and on the e v e of the war with R u s s i a , he issued a f i r m a n 2 t o the vali of D a m a s c u s , in w h i c h it w a s stated that the Kaymakam

of the late shaikh K h a l i d in D a m a s c u s , by the n a m e

of ' A b d u l l a h a l - H a r a w I had sent t w o d e p u t i e s to Istanbul to spread the order. But, as had h a p p e n e d in the past, their m e t h o d of recruiting f o l l o w e r s injured p u b l i c o r d e r (nizam-i

miilk)

and c o n t r a d i c t e d t h e p l e a s u r e of t h e s u l t a n .

C o n s e q u e n t l y , they w e r e banished to Sivas. T h e f i r m a n instructed the vali of D a m a s c u s t o expel H a r a w i and all the other f o r e i g n e r s (i.e. n o n - D a m a s c e n e ) that b e l o n g to the order, to B a g h d a d and S u l a i m a n i y y a , without l e a v i n g any of t h e m behind. T h e g o v e r n o r of B a g h d a d w a s a l s o instructed not t o a l l o w t h o s e w h o a r r i v e d to return, o r t o let any deputy be sent to Istanbul or to any other place. A t the s a m e t i m e , w h e n K e ^ e c i - z a d e i z z e t M o l l a a high ' a l i m a n d a f a m o u s p o e t , a d v i s e d the sultan a g a i n s t g o i n g t o w a r with R u s s i a in 1828, M a h m u d seized the o p p o r t u n i t y t o b a n i s h h i m t o S i v a s in C e n t r a l - e a s t e r n A n a t o l i a w h e r e he died a f e w m o n t h s later. 3 T h e f a c t that Izzet M o l l a w a s a K h a l i d i a d h e r e n t 4 may have contributed to the decision to banish h i m to such a remote place and get rid of his presence in the capital. T h i s d r i v e against the o r t h o d o x trend s e e m s to have been s l o w e d d o w n in the 1830's. T h u s w e find the sultan in F e b r u a r y 1833 restoring M e k k i - z a d e ' A s i m E f e n d i , to the o f f i c e of § e y h - i i l - i s l a m . 5 ' A s i m E f e n d i ' s p r e d e c e s s o r , Y a s i n c i - z a d e w h o w a s a s m e n t i o n e d , a m o s t loyal s e r v a n t of M a h m u d f o r m a n y y e a r , w a s d i s m i s s e d f r o m that o f f i c e on the pretext of old a g e . 6 ' A s i m E f e n d i had o c c u p i e d this post t w i c e b e f o r e ( 1 8 1 8 - 9 and 1 8 2 3 - 5 ) , this t i m e , h o w e v e r , he outlived M a h m u d in o f f i c e a n d s e r v e d f o r 14 s u c c e s s i v e y e a r s until his d e a t h in 1846, e v e n t h o u g h he w a s not k n o w n f o r his g r e a t learning in M u s l i m s c i e n c e s . 7

'Cevdet, XI, 201. 2

Mühimme

Defterleri, no. 243, pp. 41-42.

3

SO, III, 458; Mardin, p. 172.

4 5

S e e above, p. 24.

O n Mustafa 'Asim see llmiyye Mnamesi, p. 580; Rifat, Devhat-ul-Me^ayih, pp. 124 f. ( ) n Yasinci-zade see Ibid., pp. 126 f.: SO, III, 405, on his dismissal, see Liitfi IV, 77. ^Abdurrahman §eref, Tarih Miisahabeleri, pp. 300-301. 6

THE NAQSHBANDIY YA-MUJADDIDIY YA AND THE KHAUDIYYA

55

In the 1830's moreover, we find sultan Mahmud taking special care to enhance his image as a good and pious Muslim. In fact he tried throughout his reign to appear as such but he had never emphasised this image more than he did in the 1830's. According to Liitfi, a large number of mosques and sufi zawiyas in Istanbul and the provinces were repaired or restored 1 (Ihya , 18331835). W e find him again issuing a proclamation in A. H. 1252/1836-7 to all Muslims to observe strictly the daily prayers. 2 In his desire to see justice applied, qddis and nd'ibs in the provinces were warned against acts contrary to the shari'a,3 (1837). T h e huzur dersi, a discussion of Q u r ' a n verses among the foremost ' u l a m a ' in the presence of the sultan, was reintroduced (1836), following a long period during which it had been abandoned. 4 And when in 1835 Pertev Pasha held celebrations on the occasion of restoring and enlarging the Selimiyye N a q s h b a n d i - M u j a d d i d i zawiye, the sultan himself attended. 5 Moreover, prince Abdiilmecid, the sultan's eldest son, was made, like boys of his age, to learn and recite the whole of the Qur'an (hatm-i Furqan). On that occasion a celebration took place and many presents were distributed to commemorate the event 6 (1833). A similar celebration was held when prince Abdtilaziz, the sultan's second son, started to learn to read the Qur'an (1253/1837-8). Many ' u l a m a ' , sufi shaikhs and state dignitaries attended and many presents were also distributed. 7 However, this demonstration of piety did not mean that the sultan had changed his basic attitudes. As these acts corresponded with his struggle with M u h a m m a d 'All Pasha it is suggested that this struggle had forced him to pacify those sectors of the upper classes w h o were motivated by orthodox ideals. These were only tactical moves which perhaps gained him sympathy and popularity, but only temporarily. Indeed the dichotomy in higher Ottoman society remained and it was never bridged, perhaps until the present day.

4 - EPILOGUE A f e w paragraphs on the fate of the Khalidi order after the death of Shaikh K h a l i d are perhaps relevant to end this paper. Shaikh Khalid a s mentioned died of the plague along with several of his leading deputies. The remaining deputies in Damascus split among themselves over the leadership of the order and no head figure emerged and each deputy seems to have worked on his own.

'Liitfi, IV, 72 (A.H. 1249), 160, 166 (A.H. 1250); V, 10-11, 21f. (A.H. 1251). See also Heyd, p. 93; Cf. Golpmarli, Mevlana'dan Sonra Mevlevilik, pp. 175-176. 2 Lutfi V, 65-66. 3

/WA V, 94.

4

Heyd, p. 94 and Liitfi, Tarih, V, 38-39 (Ramazan 1251/1836) S Lutfi V. 21-22 (1251/1835-6).

6

LiitfUV, 102(1249/1833).

7

C f . A. Rasim, Osmanh Tarihi, IV, 1857 n.: Liitfi V. 4.

56

ISLAM

AND

THE

OTTOMAN

EMPIRE

T h e m a n w h o dccidcd at the end w h i c h o n e of Khalid's d e p u t i e s s h o u l d t a k e his place in D a m a s c u s w a s I s m a ' i l a l - G h a z z i . 1 B u t his a p p o i n t e e s h a i k h ' A b d u l l a h al-Harawi, or Harati (an A f g h a n f r o m H a r a t ) seems to h a v e e n j o y e d very limited authority o u t s i d e D a m a s c u s . 2 W h e n he died t w o y e a r s later, his p l a c e w a s inherited by M u h a m m a d a l - K h a n i , 3 a d e p u t y f r o m S y r i a . But K h a n i ' s authority over the order was apparently not recognised beyond D a m a s c u s . M o r e o v e r , h a v i n g been a n e w c o m e r to D a m a s c u s h e w a s like his p r e d e c e s s o r , patronised by the G h a z z i f a m i l y . T h i s relation w a s s t r e n g t h e n e d w h e n his son and n a m e s a k e , M u h a m m a d , married F a t i m a , the d a u g h t e r of Shaikh K h a l i d b y his G h a z z i w i f e . 4 O n c e Shaikh K h a l i d w a s o u t of the w a y , m o v e s w e r e taken by the state n o t o n l y to c h e c k the e x p a n s i o n of the o r d e r in Istanbul a n d w e a k e n its i m p a c t , b u t to try to put it u n d e r control like t h e o t h e r orders. T h u s , w h e r e a s S h a i k h K h a l i d w a s f i n a n c i a l l y i n d e p e n d e n t of t h e state and a p p e a r s to have sustained the order by c o n t r i b u t i o n s f r o m a d h e r e n t s and w e a l t h y p e o p l e , 5 w e find the zawiya of D a m a s c u s at the head of w h i c h stood M u h a m m a d al-Kani, being supported by a yearly stipend b e s t o w e d upon it by the state. 6 W e d o not k n o w w h e t h e r K h a l i d i zdwiyas in o t h e r t o w n s e n j o y e d the s a m e support, but it is likely. N o t less i m p o r t a n t , h o w e v e r , w a s t h e a t t e m p t to e s t a b l i s h a s e c o n d K h a l i d i c e n t r e in D a m a s c u s . T h u s f i v e y e a r s a f t e r the death of K h a l i d , his y o u n g e r brother M a h m u d , K n o w n as " a l - S a h i b " , i m m i g r a t e d to D a m a s c u s ( 1 2 4 7 ) . 7 Until t h e n , h e had stood at t h e h e a d of the K h a l i d i z a w i y a in S u l a i m a n i y y a in Iraqi-Kurdistan. It is not clear w h y he left that t o w n a n d c a m e t o D a m a s c u s . H e r e he started to establish h i m s e l f as a N a q s h b a n d i - K h a l i d i g u i d e with the claim of b e i n g the legal h e i r of K h a l i d . 8 B u t f o r an u n c l e a r reason he soon left D a m a s c u s to go to M e c c a , w h e r e he stayed f o r m o r e than s e v e n y e a r s , 9 a f t e r w h i c h he r e t u r n e d t o D a m a s c u s . A little a f t e r w a r d s , in 1 2 5 9 / 1 8 4 3 , he w a s a p p o i n t e d by the g o v e r n m e n t as the shaikh of al-Takiyya al-Sulaimaniyya in the c i t y . 1 0 In this way, this f a m o u s lodge, built by Sultan S u l a i m a n the M a g n i f i c e n t in the 16th c e n t u r y , b e c a m e a second N a q s h b a n d i K h a l i d i c e n t r e in D a m a s c u s and a rival to the zawiya at the h e a d of w h i c h stood M u h a m m a d al-Khani. 1

S h a t t i (2nd impression), p. 9 9 ; see also the addition of A s ' a d S ä h i b to ai-Hadlqa

pp. 5 3 - 5 4 and 6 3 - 6 5 ; see also his note in Bughyat

al-Wäjid,

' O n Harawi, see Bitär III, 1 0 1 6 - P ; al-Hadä'iq

al-Wardiyya,

3

al-Nadiyys-

pp. 259-261n. p. 261.

O n the life of M u h a m m a d al-Khani see his biography written by his grandson in Ibid., pp. 261-

272; see also Bitar III, 1210-13 and ¡1. 1038. 4

al-Hadä'iq al-Wardiyya, p. 258. al-Majd al-Tälid, p. 39.

5 6

B i t ä r II, 1027 f.

7

al-Hadiqa al-Nadiyya, p. 73; see also As'ad Sähib, al-Fuyüdät al-Khälidiyya wal-manäqib al-

Sähibiyya,

on the margin of I d e m . Nur al-Hidäya

wal-Irfän,

(Cairo, 1311), p. 60.

^al-Hadiqa al-Nadiyya, p. 73. 9

Ibid.

This period coincides with M u h a m m a d ' A l l ' s o c c u p a t i o n of Syria.

' ®lbid., and al-Fuyudäl al-Khälidiyya, p. 61.

THE NAQSHBANDIY Y A-MUJADDIDIYYA AND l'HH KHÀL1DIYYA

57

About the same time a large zawiya was built over the tomb of Shaikh Khalid in Damascus (between 1842 and 1846) by order of Sultan Abdiilmecid, and endowments were assigned for its running 1 and shaikh M. al-Faraqi, a deputy of Khalid, was appointed as its head. 2 In this way, there existed three centres for the Naqshbandiyya-Khalidiyya in Damascus vying with each other and sustained by government support. In conclusion, it appears that after Shaikh Khalid, the NaqshbandiyyaKhalidiyya fell under the patronage of the state. Even though it lost the vigour which had characterised its activity under Khalid, it continued to expand quietly with no recognised centre or guiding hand. Its history and impact in this phase should be the subject of another study.

Bait, i, 586; al-Hadiqa al-Nadiyya, pp. 80-81. Ba?bakanlik Argivi, 'Ayniyyii De/terkri 902, an entry dated 20 Rejeb, 1286, al-Hadiqa al-Nadiyya, pp. 80-81. Ibid.; al-Hada'iqal-Wardiyya, p. 260.

IV. THE NAQSHBANDI-MUJADDIDI A N D THE BEKTASHI ORDERS IN 1826

1. INTRODUCTION When, in June and July 1826 the Janissary corps was destroyed and the Bektashi order abolished, these were not simply military or political measures decided upon by an all powerful Sultan, but a final outburst of hostilities in a series of confrontations between two socio-political trends, the one was represented by the Janissaries and the Bektashis and the other by the upper classes. The tension between these two trends was old and divided Ottoman society f r o m top to bottom for more than a century. However, it is not the intention of this paper to enter into this t h e m e but to try to explain the reasons behind the abolition of the Bektashi order and to assess the implications the act had had upon Ottoman society. It was undoubtedly a turning point in the socio-religious history of the Ottomans, and not simply a follow up on a "reform measure" as it is usually presented in Ottoman historiography. 1 On the contrary, it constituted, to my mind, a change over time in the religious and cultural priorities of the Ottoman polity, undertaken, it would be suggested hereafter, under the impact of an orthodox trend of sunni-Islam that had spread f r o m India into the Ottoman lands of Western Asia and Istanbul. In other words, the measures that were taken in 1826 should be seen as the culmination of a process, and as the prevailing of one socio-religious trend over another rather than signalling an abrupt act of change.

2 - THE BEKTASHI ORDER

When defining the Bektashiyya, in his Bekta§ilik

ve Edebiyati2

Besim

Atalay stated that this order was "nearly special f o r the Turks". 3 Comparing it with the Mevlevi order, he added that while the M e v l e v i y a fell under the influence of the Persian language and culture, the language, literature and

• s e e A. Cevdet, Tarih, 2nd ed. (Istanbul A.H. 1309) Vol. 12, pp. 179 ff.; A. Rasim, Osmanli Tarlili, vol. 4 (Istanbul, A.H. 1328), pp. 1830f.; E. Z. Karal, Osmanli Tarihi V, Nizam-i Cedit ve Tanzimat devirleri (1789-1856) (Ankara, 1947), p. 150. 2 Besim Ata/ay, Bekta$ilik ve Edebiyati (Istanbul, A.H. 1340); On B. Atalay (1882-1964) see Louis Mitler, Contemporary Turkish Writers, (Bloomington, 1988), pp. 42-43. 3 Atalay, p. 5, cf. J. K. Birge, The Bektashi Order of Dervishes [London, 1937), p. 16.

60

I S L A M

A N D

T H E

O T T O M A N

E M P I R E

culture of the Bektashi order were Turkish and its ceremonies were carried out in T u r k i s h . 1 Birge citing B a h a Sait, added that "the Turkish national ideal never was able to find its expression in the Arab internationalism, but did find it in the tekkes of the ... B e k t a s h i s . . . " 2 Irene M é l i k o f f c o n f i r m e d these observations and added that the Bektashiyya was a Turkish p h e n o m e n o n . 3 But religiously, she continued, the Bektashis w e r e non-conformist. T h e y failed to perform the daily prayers, to fast in Ramazan and to undertake the H a j . 4 T e v f i k O y t a n , a n o t h e r T u r k i s h historian of the B e k t a s h i order, a d d e d that they recognised none of the f o u r sunni-legal schools, but followed the "Mezheb-i Caferi"5 (i.e. the sixth Shi'i Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq). M é l i k o f f c h a r a c t e r i s e s the Bektashi as a syncretistic o r d e r w h i c h amalgamated elements of different origins: Christian, Manichean, pre-Islamic Turkish and Shiite beliefs. Altogether, these e l e m e n t s m a d e the Bektashi a h e t e r o d o x o r d e r . 6 Its m e m b e r s were of liberal outlook, o p e n - m i n d e d and extremely tolerant towards believers of other religions. Being anti-clerical and supra-confessional, they were accused of atheism, 7 she concluded. The Bektashi order was widely spread a m o n g the c o m m o n people in urban centres and then also, especially, in rural Anatolia, mostly in the central and central-eastern parts. T h e r e were also s o m e g r o u p s in R u m e l i and in Albania. 8 The Bektashi order served the Ottoman sultanate in t w o different ways. S u r a i y a Faroqhi believes that the order w a s e n c o u r a g e d by the sultan's a d m i n i s t r a t i o n "to e x e r c i s e its p o w e r s as an a g e n t of a s s i m i l a t i o n and acculturation" of the Kizilba§ c o m m u n i t i e s in Anatolia with the intention of "reintegrating [ t h e m | into the Ottoman polity". 9 T h e result was that Alavites there joined the order in such large numbers that the Bektashis were identified with the Alavites in regions of Anatolia. 1 0

'Atalay, p. 5. ^Birge, p. 16. 3

Irène Mélikoff, Sur les Traces du Soufisme Turk (Istanbul, 1992), p. 21.

4

lbid„ cf. Cevdet, Turih, Vol. 12, pp. 180-181.

5 M . Tcvfik Oytan, Bekta$ili§in ÎQHZU. 2 eilt (Istanbul, 1945-7), vol. 2, p. 11; see also Atalay, p. 4; and Birge, p. 99 and n.l. ^Mélikoff p 22 and p. 59; Atalay, pp. 26ff. Sec especially H. Inalcik, The Ottoman Empire, the Classical Period 1300-1600 (London. 1972). pp. 197-199. 7 Mélikoff, p. 28. 8

S u r a i y a Faroqhi, Der Bektaschi-Orden in Anatolien, (Wien, 1981), see pp. 15-47; F. V. Hasluck, Bektajilik Tetkikleri, mutercimi Ragib Hulusi (Istanbul, 1928) see pp. 1-51; See also Atalay, pp. 19-20. ^Suraiya Faroqhi. "Conflict, Accommodation and Long-Term Survival: The Bektashi order and the Ottoman State (Sixteenth-Centuries)", pp. 171-184 in Popovic, Alexandre and Gilles Veinstein (eds.), Bektachiyya, (Istanbul, 1995), see p. 180; see also I. Mélikoff, "Le Problème Kizilbaç", in Idem, Sur les Traces du Sufisme Turc (Istanbul, 1992), pp. 29-43, see esp. pp. 32-3. 10 S . Faroqhi, "The Bektashis: A Report on current Research" in Popovic and Veinstein (eds.), op. cit., p. 15-18; cf. I. Mélikoff. "Recherches sur les Composantes du Syncrétisme Bektachi — Alevi" in Idem., op. cit.. pp. 45-60.

THE N A Q S H B A N D I - M U J ADDID1 AND THE BEKTASHI O R D E R S 61 About the s a m e time, i.e. the beginning of the 16th century, the Bektashi order became affiliated with the Janissary corps. A deputy of the Celebi, the head of the tekke of Haji Bektash and the head of the order, was installed at the headquarters of the 94th regiment (orta) of the Janissaries and Bektashi Babas were lodged in the Janissary barracks at Istanbul. 1 T h e social origin and the socio-religious outlook of the Bektashis apparently suited the Janissaries well so that they seem to have extended their protection to the order.

3 - THE NAQSHBANDI-MUJADDIDI ORDER There is as yet little or no scholarly research on the political and social implications of the association between the Janissaries and the Bektashis, but the link seems to have been beneficial for both and may well have contributed to the popular support they enjoyed for many generations. But this began to change with the advent of Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi emissaries to Istanbul towards the end of the 17th century. The Naqshbandi order which was founded in Transoxania in the 14th century, began reaching Istanbul in the second half of the 15th century. But its expansion into the city and the Ottoman lands encountered many difficulties. One of these w a s perhaps the rise of the shiite dynasty in Persia — the Safavids. Shah Ismail I (1501-1524) the founder of this dynasty persecuted Sunni ulema and ferociously suppressed orthodox sufi orders. First a m o n g these was the Naqshbandi order. Many Naqshbandi shaikhs were forced to flee eastward, and one at least, Mawlana Ali Kurdi (d. 1519) was put to death. 2 After that Shah Ismail occupied Khurasan and Harat in 1510, he continued his campaign against Sunni-Islam also there. This policy was also followed by his successors Tahmasb and Abbas I. In other words the rise of the Safavids may have hampered the expansion of the Naqshbandi order westward into the Ottoman lands. However, towards the end of the 17th century a new wave of the Naqshbandi order reached Istanbul, but this time it came f r o m India where a new branch of the order had been established by Shaikh A h m a d Sirhindi (d. 1624). As Sirhindi was known as Mujaddid, this branch became known as the Naqshbandiyya-

'ßirge, pp. 74ff.; J. P. Brown, The Dervishes, ed. by H. A. Rose (London, 1927), pp. 297 a i d B Lewis, The Emergence of Modern Turkey 2nd. ed. (London, 1968), p. 406. 2 S . A. Arjomand, The Shadow of God and the Hidden Imam, (Chicago, 1984), pp. 112ïf- H Algar, "A Brief History of the Naqshbandi Order" in Gaborieau et al„ Naqshhandis, (Istanbul, 1990), pp. 16-17; Le Gal, Dina, The Ottoman Naqshbandiyya... a dissertation submitted to Princeton University in 1993, see p. 23.

62

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A N D

T H E

O T T O M A N

E M P I R E

Mujaddidiyya. Under his guidance, the branch called for the reform of sufism, so as to bring it in line with the shari'a and to eradicate bid'a] (innovation). It was Sirhindi's son and successor Muhammad Ma'sum (d. 1668) who spread the new branch throughout Muslim India and beyond. The essence of his teachings was the call for the supremacy of the shari'a in the state. He called upon sufis to adhere strictly to the shari'a without which mystical perfection was incomplete. He moreover chastised those of them who tended to mix with infidels and stood for peaceful and friendly relations with them. He admonished those that such relations contradicted the teachings of the Prophet and the biddings of the Quran. 2 And his disciples in Sind for instance "waged an unrelenting struggle against popular syncretic mysticism." 3 T w o emissaries of his arrived to the Ottoman lands in the late 17th century. Both of them had originally come from Transoxania. The first was shaikh Murad al-Bukhari (d. 1720), who settled in Damascus in 1670 and a decade later reached Istanbul. The second was Shaikh Ahmad Juryani known as Yakdast (d. 1119/1707) who settled in Mecca, from where Turkish disciples of his reached Istanbul. 4 As far as it is known no research has been undertaken as yet about either of these two waves and no monographs exist whether on the emissaries themselves or on their disciples. We do know, however, that they succeeded in introducing the Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi teachings into Istanbul and other Ottoman towns which gave the order a place among the Ottoman elite since the late 17th and throughout the 18th centuries. It is also known that Bukhari's disciples came from among the upper classes, while many of the followers of the line of Yakdast came from among the litterateurs. 5 At any rate, any study of these two shaikhs and of others less known should take into account the teachings they received at the khanqah of Shaikh Muhammad Ma'sum at Sirhind in India, and which we may assume they were ordered to spread among the Ottomans.

' O n S h a i k h A h m a d Sirhindi see: Y. F r i e d m a n , Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi: an Outline of His Thought and a Study of His Image in the Eyes of Posterity ( M o n t r e a l , 1971); H a a r , J. Q. J. ter, Follower and Heir of the Prophet. Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi (1564-1624) as Mystic, (Leiden, 1992). 2

M . M a ' s u m , Mektubat, 3 vols, translated into O t t o m a n - T u r k i s h by M i i s t a k i m - z a d e S u l e y m a n S a ' d e d - D i n and printed in lithograph in Istanbul in 1277/|1860], See vol. 3, letter 55, pp. 36-39; Quran (Arberry's translation), Chap. 5. V. 56, and C h a p 3, V. 2 8 ; S. A. A. R i z v i , A History of Sufism in India, 2 vols., see vol. 2 (rep. 1992). pp. 2 4 2 ff. and p. 370. Algar, "A Brief H i s t o r y . . . " in ( i a b o r i e a u e t a l . , Naqshbandis, 4

p. 24.

O n M u r a d a l - B u k h a r i and A h m a d Y a k d a s t see Khalil a l - M u r a d i , Silk al-Durar ft A'yan alQarn al-Thani 'Ashar, 4 vols. (Cairo, A . H . 1 2 9 1 - 1 3 0 1 ) , vol. 4 , p. 130, and vol. 1, pp. 107-8, respectively. See also H. A l g a r , "A Brief H i s t o r y . . . " in G a b o r i e a u et al. (eds.) Naqshbandis, pp. 2 7 - 2 8 ; O n the disciples of Y a k d a s t see M. T e v f i k , Mecmu'at ul-Teracim, M s . in I s t a n b u l University library no. T Y I 9 2 , sec fols. 70a. 5 M . T e v f i k fols. 7 6 a - b ; H. Algar. »/>. rit., pp. 27f. and Study three in this vol. pp. 1-2.

THE N A Q S H B A N D l - M U J A D D I D I AND THE B E K T A S H I O R D E R S 63 It is not my intention here to discuss the teachings of M a ' s u m , but only to briefly single out those ideas relevant to this paper. T h e s e can be found in the collection of 652 letters by M a ' s u m published in 3 volumes under the title of Mektûbat-i Ma 'sûmiya. Written originally in Persian, they were translated into Ottoman Turkish by Mustakim-Zade Siileyman Sa'd elDin Efendi towards the end of the 18th century. In 1277/1860, this translation was printed in Istanbul. 1 Shaikh Murad, his deputies and the deputies of A h m a d Yakdast were soon incorporated into the Ottoman system in the sense that through the tekkes a n d endowments they were given it did not take too long for them to become part of the religious establishment in Istanbul and in other Ottoman cities and towns. As a result, their sense of mission cooled down somewhat and, though they continued to spread the order among the ulama and higher government functionaries and a m o n g the littérateurs, 2 their expansion was slow. But due to their efforts, it should be emphasised that the NaqshbandiMujaddidi order took roots in Istanbul and in other Ottoman cities, though perhaps not among the lower classes. This was left to a third wave.

4 - THE KHALIDI SUB-ORDER This third wave of the Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi order which reachcd the Ottoman lands of Western Asia and Istanbul was the Khalidiyya, Several h i s t o r i a n s h a v e written a b o u t S h a i k h K h a l i d and the Naqshbandi-Khalidi suborder in recent years, among them Profs. Hourani, Algar, Giindiiz and Dr. Hakim, w h o wrote a dissertation at the University of Paris, and myself. 3 Thus there is no need to discuss this suborder other than stating the basic facts relevant to this paper. Like his two predecessors, Khalid was initiated in India in 1810. His spiritual guide was shah G h u l a m 'AH, known also as Shaikh Abdullah a l - D i h l a w i (d. 1824), of N e w D e l h i , w h o s e spiritual c h a i n goes back to Muhammad M a ' s u m . Ghulam 'Ali was perhaps the most prominent

' S e e n . 2 p. 62.

2

In particular, §eyh Bursali Mehmed Emin who was most influential during the times of Sultan Selim III (1789-1807). On him see pp. 41ff. above. -'See the entry of Hamid Algar on "Nakshbandiyya" in the Encyclopaedia of ¡slam, n. ed. vo\.7, pp. 936-937 and its bibliography; and in TDV Islam Ansiklopedisi, vol. 15, pp. 283-285 and bibliography. See also study one, pp. 13ff above.

64

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O T T O M A N

E M P I R E

Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi shaikh of his time. 1 Again like the f o r m e r waves, Khalid's mission represented a trend of latter-day Indian Islam whose impact on the Ottoman lands of Asia, and on Istanbul appears to have been a strong one. 2 Apart f r o m the spiritual training, which is the main objective of novices seeking initiation into an order, the Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi order sought to mould the socio-political outlook of its followers, especially at a time when Islam and the Muslim communities were facing great challenges. In this sense three aspects distinguished the teachings of Shah G h u l a m 'Ali from other sufi shaikhs. 1 - Strict emphasis on the sunna and the shari'a

in c o m m o n with all

other Mujaddidi shaikhs, and on the supremacy of the shari'a in the life of the community and the state. 2 - Hostility towards the shiites. 3 - Hostility towards non-Muslims (against the background of the British expansion into India). 3 All three points could be traced in the teachings of Shaikh Khalid. T h e emphasis of Shaikh Khalid on the duty of the Muslim believer to follow strictly shari'a rules and to abide by the tenets of orthodox Islam, on the one hand, and on the duly of Muslim rulers to preserve the supremacy of the shari'a in the Muslim state, have been discussed elsewhere. 4 As to the attitude towards the shi'ites. the hostility towards them is inherent in the Mujaddidi tradition. Already Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi wrote a treatise called Risalah dar Radd-i Rawafiz. refuting their beliefs. 5 Muhammad M a ' s u m in a letter to A w r a n g z e b , the heir apparent on the eve of his campaign to regain Qandahar f r o m the Safavis. called them polytheists (mushrikun). 6 And Shah Ghulam 'Ali was extremeh hostile towards them especially after his master

' O n G h u l a m Ali see ( H o c a - Z a d e ) A h m e d H i l m i . Hadikat-ül-Evliyä' (Istanbul A . H . 1318), pp. 122-133; C. W . Troll, Sayyid Ahmad Khan ( N e w D e l h i , 1978), pp. 30ff.; a n d study one in this vol. pp. ¡ 5 - 1 6 and notes and H. Algar. "Political Aspects", Naqshbandis, pp. 135 f. 2 S e e S t u d y three in this vol. esp. pp. 44ff. •^See a b o v e , n. I. 4

S t u d y o n e in this vol. pp. 2 2 f f . See H. Algar, "A Brief H i s t o r y . . . " pp. 2 2 - 2 3 , and TDV Ansiklopedisi, vol. 15. pp. 283-285. 5

Islam

T h c Epistle on the R e f u t a t i o n of the S h i ' a h . See Y. F r i e d m a n n , Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi... ( M o n t r e a l , 1971), p. 4; See a l s o J. 0 . J. ter Haar, Follower and Heir of the Prophet... (Leiden, 1992), p. 5.; and A l g a r , "A Brief History", p. 23. 6 Y . F r i e d m a n n , " T h e N a q s h b a n d i s and A w r a n g z e b : A R e c o n s i d e r a t i o n " , pp. 2 0 9 - 2 2 0 in M. G a b o r i e a u et al. (eds.) N a q s h b a n d i s . see p. 213.

THE NAQSHBANDI-MUJADDIDI

AND THE BEKTASHI ORDERS

65

Jani-Janan was assassinated at the ripe old age of 82 by a Shi'ite. 1 Thus, it is not surprising that Mawlana Khalid, in the short treatise on the Rabita he sent to his followers in Istanbul, called them "murtaddun", apostates. 2 It is known that according to the shari 'a a murtadd should be sentenced to death. The third point, the hostility towards the non-Muslims, is also part of the teaching Khalid absorbed at the Khanqah of his preceptor, Shah Ghulam 'Ali in Delhi, 3 and which he carried with him back to the Ottoman lands. In his treatise on the Rabita and on other occasions he described the Christians as "enemies of the religion" of Islam, etc., with all what it implied. 4 All three aspects concern us here in relation to the Bektashis. As slated above, being a heterodox order the Bektashis did not observe the shari'a; they were much influenced by shi'i beliefs and revered Ali over the other first caliphs. And thirdly they showed great tolerance towards the non-Muslims. In other words, the Bektashi beliefs were diametrically opposed to the principles of the Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi order. In addition, the Bektashis were as mentioned, a Turkish phenomenon and as such represented a strong current of Turkish Islam whose origins date back to the 13th and 14th centuries, whereas the Naqshbandis stood for a universal and supra-national Islam. Khalid's mission would not have gained such importance had it not been able to establish itself in Istanbul. Once he struck roots in Baghdad, Shaikh Khalid started to send emissaries to Istanbul, one after the other. According to Siileyman Faik, an eye witness 5 they settled in several places in the Fatih district of the city beginning with the medresse of Sinan Agha. Within a short time they had succeeded to convert many followers: "Many people of high rank and of good fortune from among the dignitaries and ulema of our time (sahib-i riitbe ve ikbal), gave them allegiance" 6 (bey'at eylediler). This statement was confirmed by Ahmet Lutfi the official historian of the period. 7 Some people, continued Faik, tried to have these shaikhs dismissed and removed from the city, but some prudent high-ranking men prevented that from happening. Indeed, he added, their supporters exceeded their opponents by far. 8

' o n Jani-Janan, see Annemarie Schimmel, Pain and Grace (Leiden, 1976) pp 18-20' study one p. 15. 2 As'ad Sahib (ed.) Bughyat al-Wäjiä, (Damascus, 1334/| 1915-161), p. 79 and Abduimajid alKhani, al-Hadä'iq al-Wardiyya... (Cairo, 1308/| 1890-11), p. 297. 3 S e e n. 1 p. 64 above. 4

S e e study one p. 24 in this vol.

Hen Siileyman

Fä'ik Mecmu'asi,

Ms. no. TY 9577 in Istanbul University library. See fols. 4a-

6

lbid„ Ahmet Lütfi, Tarih, vol. 1, p. 286; see also Ibrahim Fasih al-Haidari, al-Maid Manäqib at-Shaikh Khalid (Istanbul, A.H. 1292), p. 71. 1

8

Siileyman Faik, fol. 4b.

al-Talid

fi

66

ISLAM

ANI)

THE

OTTOMAN

EMPIRE

T h i s seems a fair assessment. H o w e v e r , Faik and Liitfi confined their observations to the upper classes, who, as we saw, had been already exposed to N a q s h b a n d i - M u j a d d i d i calls throughout the 18th century. T h e Khalidi wave s e e m s only to have strengthened their resolve. But there is another significant aspect of the expansion of the Khalidiyya in Istanbul. According to Abdiilbaki Golpinarh, a modern historian of sufi orders, the Khalidiyya spread in Istanbul "particularly a m o n g . . . the $evaf'i

(sháfi'is)

of eastern [Anatolian] districts." 1

T h i s may have meant that it spread a m o n g the Kurdish immigrants to the city, as the K u r d s are followers of the S h á f i ' i school, or we might say that it also spread a m o n g the lower classes in the city. In this aspect the Khalidiyya differed f r o m the other branches of the M u j a d d i d i y y a . It demonstrated dynamism in that it was ready to adapt to local circumstances. T h e Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi order was basically an urban order that spread a m o n g the upper echelons of society and a c c o r d i n g to Faik and Liitfi this was what actually took place in Istanbul when it first reached the City. But in addition, Shaikh Khalid did not hesitate to reach to the lower classes in t o w n or in the countryside. T h u s already during his lifetime the K h a l i d i y y a spread in t o w n s h i p s and rural areas of the Kurdish districts of northern Iraq or east or south-east Anatolia and continued to do so after him. 2 Later in the 19th century, we find it spreading to rural areas in central south Anatolia. 3 Two factors seem to have contributed to the success of Khalidi shaikhs in Istanbul in the early 1820s. First of all, there was the outbreak of the Greek Revolution in the spring of 1821. Secondly, the emissaries of Shaikh Khalid were f r e e f r o m government fetters and did not, as yet, depend on the state or on Ottoman dignitaries for their expenses. In other w o r d s , they had not yet been institutionalised, in the sense that no tekkes had been assigned for them as yet and no e n d o w m e n t s bestowed upon them. That they did not have to take any outside considerations into a c c o u n t meant that they could w h o l l y c o m m i t themselves to their mission and enjoyed c o m p l e t e f r e e d o m in preaching their teachings. Endowed with the determination and zeal characteristic of any young m o v e m e n t , they spread their message enthusiastically.

5 - THE ABOLITION OF THE HEKTASHI ORDER "Birisi d i i j m a n i D e v l c l

" T h e o n e (i.e. t h e J a n i s s a r i e s ) is t h e

Birisi d i i j m a m D i n . "

e n e m y of t h e s t a t e ; t h e o t h e r ( n a m e l y t h e B e k t a s h i o r d e r ) of r e l i g i o n " . Ussi Zafer,

' a . Golpinarh, lOOSoruda 2 3

Turkixe'de Mezhepler

p. 2 0 6

Ve Tarikatlar

(Istanbul, 1969), pp. 220-1.

S e e Bruinessen, M. M. van, Agha. Shaikh and Stale (Rijswijk, 1978), see pp. 281 ff.

O n Mehmed Kudsi (Memi§) Efendi see Hasan Ozonder, Konya 1990), pp. 233-238.

Velileri,

2nd. ed„ (Konya,

T H E N A Q S H B A N D I - M U J A D D I D I AND T H E BEKTASHI O R D E R S 67 Indeed, the times were opportune for the call of the Khalidi shaikhs. T h e Greek Revolution shocked very many people. T a k i n g everybody by surprise it aroused much resentment and fear in Istanbul and in other Ottoman cities. Even government circles showed no restraint in their anger, and the Ottoman reaction to this revolution was deeply felt and lasted long. 1 On the other hand, the atrocities committed by the Greeks against the Turkish inhabitants in the M o r e a 2 made the liberal and tolerant attitude of the Bektashiyya towards the non-Muslims seem to be out of time and of place, and they may have provided further justification for the intolerant and stern attitude of the Naqshbandi-Mujaddidis towards them. Moreover, at the outbreak of the Greek Revolution, the government issued a series of proclamations calling upon Muslims "to unite... in Islamic brotherhood" in face of the infidels, or to unite and "bind their hearts together" in Islamic zeal and raise the Word of God. Instructions were also issued by the sultan himself to the kadis of Istanbul and its satellite townships ( b i l a d - i selase)

instructing them to call upon the M u s l i m s to "bind their hearts

together", to strive for righteousness, to avoid evil acts and to perform the live daily prayers. Several other similar calls followed within a period of a f e w months. 3 There is no doubt that such proclamations left their impact on the public in general. Coupled with the call of the Khalidi and other NaqshbandiMujaddidi shaikhs, the result w a s a heightening of religious feeling in Istanbul, unlike anything the city had probably ever experienced. In other words, there emerged in the early 1820s an orthodox trend believing in the need to close ranks, in following the sunna strictly and in the supremacy of shari'a the rules of which high and low in the state should abide by. Against the powerful impact of such a trend the Bektashi order, with its heterodox beliefs, proved unable to hold its ground, all the more after the destruction of its traditional protectors, the Janissaries. A n d so, three and a half weeks after the extinction of the Janissaries (mid June, 1826), a meeting was held at the Agalar mosque within the grounds of Topkapi Palace. It was attended by the Grand Vizier the §eyh-ul islam, ^ On the reaction to the Greek Revolution in Istanbul see A. Cevdet, Tarih, 2nd ed. (Istanbul, A.H. 1309) vol. 11, pp. 126-177; cf. A. Frazee, The Orthodox Church and Independent Greece 1821-1852 (Cambridge, 1969), Chapters 3 and 4, pp. 156-70 ; see also BOA. Hatti Humayunian nos. 16449,17567 and 40116. 2 O n these atrocities see M. S. Anderson, The Eastern Question 1774-1923 (London, 1966), p. 54; C. M. Woodhouse, The Greek War of Independence (London, 1952), pp. 76ff.\ A. Rasim, Tarih, vol. 4, pp. 174 f. and A. Cevdet, Tarih, vol. 11, pp. 168,176. 3 For more details see Cevdet, Tarih, vol. 11, pp. 143-4 and pp. 272-275; pp. 167 f, and pp. 201 f.

68

I S L A M

AND

THE

O T T O M A N

E M P I R E

p r o m i n e n t u l e m a a n d state f u n c t i o n a r i e s a n d e l e v e n s h a i k h s of tekkes

of

several orders: the N a q s h b a n d i , Qadiri, Halveti, M e v l e v i a n d S ' a d i . 1 T h e other o r d e r s w e r e absent for n o clear reason. A c c o r d i n g to C e v d e t , the Sultan listened to the discussion f r o m behind a lattice. 2 §eyh-iil I s l a m T a h i r E f e n d i o p e n e d t h e d i s c u s s i o n by a d e v a s t a t i n g a t t a c k on t h e B e k t a s h i o r d e r . S t a t i n g that sufi o r d e r s w e r e r e q u i r e d to f o l l o w the shari'a

in f u l l , he a d d e d that "it is c o m m o n l y k n o w n [that] s o m e i g n o r a n t

[ p e o p l e | called B e k t a s h i " r e f r a i n f r o m p e r f o r m i n g the "fera'iz"

( t h e religious

duties), a n d a l l o w t h e m s e l v e s to d o things f o r b i d d e n by the geri'at.

T h e y , as

well, took their religion lightly, a m a t t e r w h i c h l e a d s to h e r e s y . 3 B u t w h e n a s k e d f o r t h e i r o p i n i o n on t h e m a t t e r , t h e a t t e n d i n g s u f i s h a i k h s w e r e reluctant to a n s w e r . In t h e e n d , s o m e of t h e m said t h a t it w a s r u m o u r e d that u n l a w f u l a c t s w e r e actually b e i n g c o m m i t t e d in U s k i i d a r . 4 T he u l e m a , o n t h e o t h e r h a n d , w e r e m o r e f o r t h c o m i n g . S o m e of t h e m stated that it bulup)

that t h e B e k t a s h i s " c o l l e c t i v e l y . . . d a r e to act

c o n t r a r y to t h e h o n o u r e d §er'i",5

w a s w e l l - k n o w n (qtihàr

B u t n o factual e v i d e n c e f o r t h e s e a l l e g a t i o n s

a n d no written testimony w e r e s u b m i t t e d , e x c e p t f o r a general c o n d e m n a t i o n of t h e B e k t a s h i s . F i n a l l y , in t h e m e m o i r s u b m i t t e d to t h e S u l t a n by §eyh-iil i s l a m it w a s r e c o m m e n d e d t o put three n o t o r i o u s B e k t a s h i s of Istanbul accused of b l a s p h e m y , to d e a t h a n d to s e n d i n g to e x i l e a b o u t t w e n t y - f i v e o t h e r s , i n c l u d i n g e l e v e n b a b a s , all f r o m Istanbul.6 They w e r e b a n i s h e d to A n a t o l i a n t o w n s r e g a r d e d as " s t r o n g h o l d s of the u l e m a " in o r d e r "to rectify their belief". 7 T h e B e k t a s h i tekkes

built o v e r the last sixty y e a r s w e r e to be d e m o l i s h e d , the

o l d e r o n e s t o be p a s s e d on i n t o t h e h a n d s of "ehli

sunnet"8

(orthodox

Muslims).

In the f i r m a n issued a f e w d a y s latter, t h e B e k t a s h i s w e r e p o r t r a y e d as atheists and heretics, w h o s e t e k k e s w e r e m e e t i n g p l a c e s f o r s c h i s m a n d h e r e s y "majma'-i

rafz ve Ilhàd."

C o n s e q u e n t l y , it w e n t o n , f o l l o w i n g t h e c o n s e n s u s

of t h e u l e m a t h e Sultan w a s d e t e r m i n e d t o s a v e "iimmet-i M u h a m m e d " f r o m their evil a n d deceit. T h u s , t h o s e w h o did not f o l l o w t h e b o o k of G o d and the sunnet

of t h e P r o p h e t p r e c i s e l y a n d in full w e r e t o be p u n i s h e d a c c o r d i n g t o

the §eri'at.

W r o n g belief, a t h e i s m and heresy w e r e to be e r a d i c a t e d . A n d as the

'Mehmed Es'ad, Usx-i Zafer 1st ed. (Istanbul, A.H. 1243), pp. 207f. See also A. Cevdet, Tarih, 2nd ed.. vol. 12, p. 181. 2 Ibid. Es'ad, pp. 208 f. See also I. I I. I Izuniarjili, Kapukulu Ocaklan (Ankara, 1943), pp. 566 ff. 4 H . Es'ad, Ibid. 5

Ibid.-, See also J. R. Barnes, An Introduction (Leiden, 1986), pp. 87 ff. Es'ad, pp. 211 ff. 7 8

to Religious Foundations

M . Es'ad, p. 210 and 215; see also Barnes, p. 89. M . Es'ad, p. 218, and p. 220.

in the Ottoman

Empire

THE NAQSHB A N D I - M U J ADDIDI AND THE BEKTASHI O R D E R S

69

elimination of the Janissaries "was beneficial for the renewal and revival of religion and state," this "rejected group" ( , t a ' i f e y i merdiide) should be suppressed and abolished. "The prince of the Faithful (emir-iilMii'minin) [i.e. the Sultan), the protector of religion, urges everybody and calls upon them [to return] to the straight path of the honoured §er'i and to religion", continued the f i r m a n . 1 It then reconfirmed the measures decided upon against the leading Bektashis and their tekkes at the consultative meeting held at the mosque of the Palace. Later on, the Bcktashi tekkes that were not demolished were turned over to Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi shaikhs as a sign perhaps of the role the order had played in discrediting the Bektashis. 2 At any rate it was possible to suppress the super-structurc of the order but not the Bektashi belief, and many followers of the order continued to function clandestinely. However, the firman included also instructions for the expropriation of the e n d o w m e n t s of the Bektashi tekkes

in f a v o u r of the treasury. Barnes

suggested that Sultan Mahmud may have wished "to deprive the religious orders of their evkaf property," 3 and used the Bektashi order as a test case. On the other hand, it is a logical outcome: it would have been meaningless to abolish the organisational structure of the order and to leave its vast property under the control of its followers, many of whom had been exiled or forced to a b a n d o n their tekkes.

At any rate, even if Sultan M a h m u d II had been

contemplating such a policy, it could not have been the real reason behind such a measure as drastic and unprecedented as the abolition of the Bektashi order, which actually meant a reversal of a centuries-old Ottoman policy. T h e question is what brought this change? and what were its implications?

6 - THE SUNNI- ORTHODOX TREND AND THE BEKTASHI ORDER The Hatti-i Hiimayun which proclaimed the abolition of the Bektashi order was phrased in terms calculated to appeal to the Sunni-Muslim public. T e r m s such as "rafz ve ilhad" (schism and heresy), or "ibhhiyyun ve miilahide" (Iibertinians and heretics) or "geruh-i Alevi ve revafiz" (a group of Alevis and schismatics) were repeated sixteen times in the Hatt-i Hiimayun. Indeed the use of such phrases in an official document undoubtedly indicates the mood that prevailed in the city. They were a clear sign of intense antishiite feelings among the Sunni-Muslim population. Hostile Sunni Muslim attitude towards the Shiites especially in Istanbul and in other Sunni centres of the Empire is not new, but the fact that the firman used such extreme terms is,

hbid., p. 216. See also Ba§bakanlik Osmanli Argivi, Halt-i Hiimayunlan no 17351. 1. Mélikoff, "L'ordre des Bektashi après 1826" in Idem., Sur Les Traces du Soufisme Turc (IS

32ibUl'

l992)

'

Barnes, p. 101.

P 73

' ' P' 83'

Cf A

' '

G !plnarl1

°

'

Mevlana'dan Soma Mevtevilìk (Istanbul,

70

ISLAM

AND THE O T T O M A N

EMPIRE

to my mind a sign of the impact the Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi and Khalidi teachings had had on the public in Istanbul, and among government circles, S. Faroqhi may have been right to suggest that the abolition of the Bektashi order "was a concession [on the part of the Sul(an| for the extreme representatives of the ¡eriat faithful from among the ulcma". 1 As far as it is known, the Bektashis never committed any act that could have provided an excuse for their abolition, nor could their long association with the Janissaries in and by itself justify such a drastic measure. Thus, it is suggested that this act had taken place under the impact of the Sunni-Orthodox trend and due to the great influence in government circles and among the public which this trend had won. That the Bektashi tekkes, including the central tekke of Haji Bektash in Kir§ehir were turned over to shaikhs of the Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi order, as we saw, seems to point in this direction. The two orders could not have been more different. The Bektashi, as mentioned above, was a heterodox order with a strong tendency towards shi'ism. It has also incorporated certain shamanistic and Christian beliefs. Whereas the Naqshbandi order was strictly orthodox. The Bektashis, moreover, did not care for following the shari'a or performing the Islamic duties, etc. while this was the central call of the Naqshbandis. Thus it is not strange that the Bektashis were regarded by the Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi order as a source of corruption and weakness for the Muslim community and state. Against this background we should possibly understand the Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi call to "revive the sunna", "to rectify the |sunni | belief" according to the principles of Ahl al-Sunna, to follow strictly shari'a rules, in short, to bring regeneration to the Muslim community and state (Ihya-i Din ve Devlet).2 There was no room for Bektashi principles and beliefs under the same roof. Once the Janissaries were destroyed, the Bektashis lost their traditional protector and could be easily suppressed. The question is what brought the sultan to order such a drastic measure especially that the Bektashis had served the Ottoman polity in more than one way in the past. It is difficult to give a precise answer at this stage of the research. However, the frustration and resentment which the Greek Revolution had caused among the ruling elite in Istanbul and the mutual and intense hostility it generated on the Ottoman and the Greek sides made the extremely tolerant attitude of the Bektashis toward the non-Muslims something of the past. If the Bektashi order had any role in bringing about harmony among the various communities of the state, it had lost it. 'Suraiva Faroqhi. Der Bektaschi Drüen in Anatolien (... bis 1826) (Wien, 1981), p. 111.

^See study one pp. lOff, and study ihrte pp. 9ff. in this voi.

THE N A Q S H B A N D I - M U J A D D I D I AND THE BEKTASHI ORDERS

71

Moreover, the abolition of the Bektashi order meant that the Orthodox trend led by the Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi order now enjoyed unchallenged influence in Istanbul. At this background, it was perhaps not strange that a mission of the ruler of Khoqand in central Asia to Sultan Mahmud II in A. H. 1248/[1832-3], carried with it a Quran and a copy of the writings of Shaikh Muhammad M a ' s u m as a present for the Sultan.' The fact that this order had been carried from India into the Ottoman lands and Istanbul meant that Islam in Western Asia, for the time being, had come under the influence of a brand of Indian Islam that was extremely orthodox. In addition, NaqshbandiMujaddidi shaikhs had carried a similar message into almost all the other Sunni-Muslim lands in Asia. Thus, there existed a network of NaqshbandiMujaddidi zawiyas (tekkes or khanqahs) throughout these countries whose spiritual genealogy went back to the same founder and whose ideals, provided for local circumstances, were similar. At no time before had there ever been such a feeling of unity among the Muslim peoples of Asia. It is also meant that perhaps the Ottoman stale was closest to the Islamic world in Asia much more than it had ever been since the times of Suleiman the Magnificent. A s those countries increasingly came under the pressure of the expanding western powers, they looked towards the Ottoman Empire as the leading Muslim state. Thus it was not strange to see Sultan Mahmud II designated in the Hatt-i Hiimayun that announced the abolition of the Bektashiya as "Emir-til Mtiminin" (Prince of the faithful) or as "Padisah-i ¡slam" the Padishah of Islam. 2 In other words, the abolition of the Bektashi order should be seen moreover as symbolising a change of orientation oil the part of the Ottomans towards the Muslim world. As mentioned above, the Bektashi order had preserved the Turkish culture and the Turkish ethos throughout the Ottoman centuries. Its abolition meant that a universal and supra-national Islam had finally prevailed and was left unchallenged in the Ottoman-Turkish lands and in Istanbul. No wonder, then, that when Mustafa Kemal [Ataturk| abolished the Caliphate, the symbol of Islamic Universalism in 1924, he enjoyed the support of the Bektashis who have perhaps felt at last vindicated. 3

1

Ahmet LUtft, Tarih, vol. 4, p. 77.

2

M. Es'ad, Üss-i Zafer, pp. 216,217,223.

3

S e e Birge, p. 20.

V. THE ISLAMIC ROOTS OF THE GÜLHANE RESCRIPT*

1. MUSTAFA RHSil) AND THE DRAFTING OF THE GULHANE RESCRIPT Ottoman historiography of the Tanzimat period generally attributes the drafting of the Gulhane Rescript to Mustafa Rejid Pa§a.' In the middle and late 1830s Re§id served for a number of years as Ottoman ambassador to Paris and London, which brought him in contact with the leading statesmen of Western Europe, and obviously provided him with a chance to observe closely the functioning of European political systems. 2 Thus it is believed by modern historians that Re§id and other Ottoman diplomats who like him served in the capitals of Europe at this time, had "an opportunity to undergo in person the direct impact of the West". 3 He "acquired the French language" noted Henry Layard, 4 an attaché at the British Embassy in Istanbul in the late 1840s, "and through it had studied much of the political literature of Europe". 5 It was sweeping and weighty statements such as these which led modern historians to conclude that the Gulhane Rescript was written under the impact of the West. Niyazi Berkes, for instance, had no doubt about it. "We do not need to look at the English or French political impact in order to discover the origins of the ideas contained in the Tanzimat Charter [sic], and we shall not find them in the Muslim political thinking of the past", 6 he wrote. S. Shaw goes yet further in suggesting Western origins for the Rescript: "Though presented in the context of the Ottoman experience and I owe gratitude to several institutes which facilitated the researching and writing of this paper: the Ba§bakanlik Osmanli Ar§ivi, the Atatürk (Belediye) Library, and the Orient Institute, all in Istanbul, and the Skilliter Centre for Ottoman Studies at Newham College, Cambridge. A summary of this paper was read at the "Sixth International Conference of the Economic and Social History of the Ottoman Empire and Turkey," held in Aix-en-Provence, France, in July 1992, and a fuller version at the Institut für Islamwissenschaft, Freie Universität Berlin. My thanks are due to all who participated in that discussion. Professor Dr. F. Steppat had read thé full version of this article and suggested valuable remarks. I owe him special thanks. On Mustafa Re§id Pa§a, see Re§at Kaynar. Mustafa Resit Pa§a ve Tanzimat (Ankara, 1954)Ali Fuat, Ricali miihimme i siyasiye (Istanbul, 1928); Abdurrahman Çeref, Tarih Müsahabeleri (Istanbul, 1339/11920-21 J), pp. 75-87; Cavid Baysun "Mustafa Re§id Pa§a" in Tanzimat (Ankara, 1940), pp. 723-46; ErcUment Kuran, "Rejit Paça" in Islam Ansiklopedisi (hereafter lA) X, 701-705; F. E. Bailey, British Policy and the Turkish Reform Movement (Cambridge Mass 1942), pp. 179 ff. 2

Cf. Ahmed Liitfi, Tarih, VI, 55,59-60. o B. Lewis, The Emergence of Modern Turkey (London, 1961), p. 87. 4

O n Henry Layard, see Dictionary of National Biography, Supplement III (London, 19011, pp. 82-4. c Quoted in A. Hourani, Arabic Thought in the Liberal Age, 2nd imp. (Oxford, ] 969), p. 44. N. Berkes, The Development

of Secularism

in Turkey (Montreal, 1963), p. 144.

74

I S L A M

ANI)

T H E

O T T O M A N

E M P I R H

e x p r e s s i n g particular goals rather than abstract principles, the d e c r e e of Giilhane thus e n c o m p a s s e d m a n y of the ideals contained in the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen of 1789". 1 On the f a c e of it this thesis looks plausible and fits within the widely accepted v i e w s that the r e f o r m s in the O t t o m a n E m p i r e in the nineteenth century w e r e , as a w h o l e , u n d e r t a k e n u n d e r the i n f l u e n c e of the W e s t . H o w e v e r , it is our contention that while this might be true of the later period of the T a n z i m a t , as far as the Giilhane Rescript is concerned, contemporary evidence tends to contradict such views. Moreover, the contents of the Rescript itself lend no e v i d e n c e of ideas or ideals b o r r o w e d f r o m W e s t e r n political theory. On the c o n t r a r y "the traditional state p h i l o s o p h y w a s g e n u i n e l y apparent in it" states Halil Inalcik, and "the basic principle of legislation, also, w a s . . . not in natural rights but in the practical necessity of resuscitating the empire". 2 T h e r e is no d o u b t that serving in W e s t European countries imparted Re§id with s o m e k n o w l e d g e of the political s y s t e m s p r e v a l e n t in those countries. But it does not seem that this k n o w l e d g e served him in the drafting of the Giilhane Rescript, suggesting that either he had partners in the act or the earlier and perhaps m o r e lasting influence of his f o r m a t i v e years prevailed upon him. T h a t i n f l u e n c e o r i g i n a t e d f r o m Pertev Pa§a, his m e n t o r and protector at the Porte for m a n y years, w h o was k n o w n to hold an extremely Sunni-orthodox outlook. 3 Indeed, as we shall see in this paper, the ideals that were to f i n d expression in the Rescript seem to have been shared by many m e m b e r s of the Ottoman political and religious elite, and w e r e the subject of much discussion before the final drafting of the Giilhane. While modern historiography has put great emphasis on the role played by Re§id personally, and by a few other young associates in the drafting of the Giilhane Rescript and on its promulgation and application, 4 it has, at the same time, ignored many other important figures, perhaps equally motivated and without w h o s e support and backing nothing would have been achieved. First and f o r e m o s t a m o n g these was Sultan Abdulmecid. T h e Sultan, portrayed as

' s . J. S h a w and E. K. Shaw, History 1977). II, 6 1 .

of the Ottoman

Empire

and Modern

Turkey

(Cambridge,

2

H . i n a l c i k , " l ' h e N a t u r e of T r a d i t i o n a l S o c i e t y : T u r k e y , " in R. E. W a r d and D . A . R u s t o w (eds.). Political Modernisation in Japan and Turkey (Princeton, 1964), pp. 56-7. 3 § e r i f M a r d i n , The Genesis see note no. 4 p. 8 4 b e l o w .

of YOUHK Ottoman

Thought

( P r i n c e t o n , 1962), pp. 158f. O n Pertev,

^ M o d e r n h i s t o r i o g r a p h y is virtually united in its claim that Re§id w a s the s o l e d r a f t e r . See K a y n a r , p. 154; §eref. p. 4 8 and Bailey, pp. 185f. A slightly d i f f e r e n t view is f o u n d in S h a w and S h a w , p. 6 0 : "the text itself | w a s | prepared u n d e r M u s t a f a R e a d ' s g u i d a n c e at the Porte by its C o n s u l t a t i v e C o u n c i l . . . " T h e authors provide no e v i d e n c e f o r their statement.

T H E I S L A M I C R O O T S OF T H E G U L H A N E R E S C R I P T

75

"young and inexperienced", 1 is regarded as a passive witness, as are such old, experienced and powerful functionaries as the Grand Vizier Hiisrev Pa§a, and the Sheikh ill-islam Mustafa Asim Efendi. They and many other statesmen and ulema are seen as no more than onlookers while Re§id upon his return from Europe, so it is claimed, was immediately received by the Sultan and succeeded in winning him over to his views. 2 T o my mind, the prevailing view of the origins and drafting of the Giilhane Rescript does not stand up to closer scrutiny. While the contribution of Mustafa Re§id and associates of his to the drafting of the Rescript and to other measures of reform cannot be underestimated, the truth was much more complicated. The following is an attempt to have a fresh look at the origins and making of the Giilhane Rescript, to suggest new avenues for understanding it, and to find out Sultan Abdiilmecid's motivations in promulgating it. Finally, we will try to briefly ascertain its immediate effects.

2. THE INNER CONDITIONS OF THE OTTOMAN LANDS IN THE 18TH AND EARLY 19TH CENTURIES In the period of decline, especially in the 18th century, government in the Ottoman lands degenerated into injustice and tyranny. The shari'a and laws, were disregarded and corruption spread through all governmental services and the judicial system. 3 The checks and balances of the earlier period which had helped to keep the officials and governors of the provinces under control, became largely ineffective. 4 The central government, concerned primarily in obtaining the annual tax, turned the governors of the provinces practically into chief tax farmers. 5 Because they had to cover the expenses of their household and of the civil and military administration by themselves and had in addition to pay for various influential people in Istanbul in order to secure their next appointment, they were obliged to collect much more in taxes than they actually turned over to the treasury. What is more, they did not collect these taxes directly but divided them up and farmed them out to the highest bidder, which made matters worse since the main burden fell on the peasantry. Many governors were not particularly concerned with the welfare of the subjects. "The object of appointing a beylerbeyi and a sancakbeyi... is not to have them descend upon a province to exact illegal taxes and

'C. Baysun, "Mustafa Rcfid Pa§a," in Tanzimat, (Istanbul, 1940), p. 734. 2

Baysun, Ibid.-, see also §eref, pp. 61-2; Bailey, p. 180 and "Tanzimat" in ¡A, XI, 719. S e e W. L. Wright, Ottoman Statecraft, The Book of Counsels for Vezirs and Governors Mehmed Pasha (Princeton, 1935), pp. 53 and 91. 3

of Sari

^ h i s system was based primarily on the Kadi (Qadl) whose functions in the Ottoman system were much wider than dispensing justice and included many civil duties. Cf. liber Ortayli Osmcmh Devletinde Kadi (Ankara, 1994) On the corruption of the Judicial System, see Wright, p. 53. Mustafa Nuri, Neta'ic ul-Vuku'at,

4 vols. (Istanbul A.H. 1294-1327), see III, 99.

76

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A N D

T H E

O T T O M A N

KM PI

R E

lay to ruins the country and the province" stated a "rescript of j u s t i c e " in 1609. 1 A b o u t a century later M e h m e d Sari remonstrated about the s a m e abuse: "the giving of o f f i c e m e a n s the giving of permission to plunder the property of the subject people". 2 W h e n the Gulhane Rescript stated that "the h a r m f u l practice of tax-farming a m o u n t s to handling o v e r the financial and political affairs of a country to the ... grasp of force and oppression", it was referring t o exactly this situation. 3 Since they were in c o n s t a n t need of m o n e y , the g o v e r n o r s did not hesitate to resort to tyrannical measures: "When governors and mutesellims [a substitute of a governor] in towns and cities happened to recognise a rich man, thev, because of a m i n o r o f f e n c e , or merely t h r o u g h unbased f a b r i c a t i o n (iftira') would threaten him with severe punishment, such as death or exile and exert a fine on him or confiscate his wealth and property". 4 T o maintain their rule, governors at this stage d e p e n d e d on troops which they hired at their own expense. The p o w e r they thus acquired, with no c h e c k s to stop t h e m , they generally abused grossly, while on the w h o l e behaving like tyrants. "The fate [of the subjects] w a s on the lips of powerful men," relates the historian A b d u r r a h m a n §eref. "One m o r n i n g a vali. put to death a most trusted person of his men", and when the kadi inquired about the reason, the Pa§a answered, "1 had a dream last night in which he frightened me. I don't trust him any l o n g e r . . . " . 5 T h i s is o n e a m o n g several stories §eref recounts to show to w h a t low level the security of the subjects had sunk. By putting to death high functionaries without trial, and confiscating their wealth and property, it was in fact the sultans t h e m s e l v e s w h o set the example for such oppressive behaviour/' In other words, in (he period of decline, life, honour, and property, w h i c h is the basic duty of a responsible g o v e r n m e n t to g u a r a n t e e f o r its subjects, were in jeopardy and oppression and tyranny prevailed throughout the l a n d . 7 This state of a f f a i r s e n c o u r a g e d the people to seek o t h e r m e a n s f o r protection and security, 8 which in turn accelerated the decline of the central government and its agencies in the provinces.

'Quoted in H. Inalctk, "Centralisation and Decentralisation in Ottoman Administration" in Naff, Thomas and R. Owen (eds.) Studies in Eighteenth Century Islamic History, (Southern Illinois Uni. Press, 1977) pp. 27-52, see especially p. 28. 2 A s translated in Wright, p. 88. 3 S e e the translation of the "Gulhane Rescript" in J. C. Hurevvitz (ed.), The Middle East and North Africa in Politics (Columbia. 1975), pp. 2 6 9 - 7 1 . Incidentally, this translation is not

complete, see note 2 p. 89 below. ^Mustafa Nuri, IV, 102; Wright, p. 55, cf. also Ahmed 'Ata, Tarih, 5 vols. (Istanbul, A.H. 129293), III, 203-4. 5

§ e r e f , pp. 5 0 ff.

''On the practice of the Sultans, see Ahmet Mumcu, Osmanli (Ankara, 1963), pp. 147-62. 7 C f . Wright, pp. 54-5. ^tnalcik, op. cit., pp. 47-8.

Devletinde

Siyaseten

Katl

THE I S L A M I C ROOTS OF THE G U L H A N E R E S C R I P T

77

Perhaps due to such conditions, or for other reasons, there emerged in the 18th century in Anatolia local notables who were called derebeys, "lords of the valleys" indigenous rulers who "were inclined... to consider the interest of the peasantry more sympathetically than the ... governors that represented the sultan".1 Not only did the derebeys succeed in establishing ruling families and achieve a great deal of self-rule, their rule was hereditary. They continued to acknowledge, however, the ultimate sovereignty of the sultan and paid him tribute. According to some, their dominions were far better governed than those that were under direct government control.2 About the same time in the towns and cities of the Balkans, there emerged local notables (a'ydn) whose rise and origin perhaps differed from that of the derebeys, but who came to occupy a very similar status. As the derebeys, they set out to protect the subjects, had their own troops and enjoyed full control over their districts, while paying tribute to Istanbul. 3 Thus, by the beginning of the 19th century, rule in the provinces of the Ottoman Empire resembled to a large extent to a decentralised system of governmentr A'ydn and derebeys and other local chieftains were the virtual rulers of the land. Loyalty to the sultan was observed, but his authority in most of the regions of the Empire was ineffective. At this time, too, the authority of the sultans was challenged even in Istanbul, the scat of government. As had happened in 1806-1807 to Sultan Selim III, Janissaries or rather Janissaries together with a faction of high ulema contested his freedom of action. For the Sultanate of the House of Ottoman this meant that it had reached its lowest ebb. Sultan Mahmud II rose to the Sultanate after great disturbances in Istanbul which had claimed the lives of his cousin Selim III and of his elder brother Mustafa IV. He himself was elevated to the Sultanate by an a'ydn of Rus9uk (Russe) in Rumelia named Mustafa Bayrakdar, who had occupied Istanbul with his own troops and controlled it for several months, a course of action unheard of in the history of the Ottomans. It seemingly heralded the final move of the a 'ydn and derebeys towards taking control of the central government and deciding the fate of the Empire. 5

Gibb and Bowen, I, 1, p. 256. On the "Derebeys" see Lewis, p. 440 and EI2, III, 206-8 and Gibb and Bowen, I, 1, 256-7. See also Yuzo Nagata "The Role of Ayans in Regional Development During the Pre-Tanzimat Period in Turkey: A Case Study of the Kara-Osmarioglu Family" in Urbanism in Islam (Tokyo, 1989) vol. 1 pp. 165 ff. 2 A . Slade, Record of Travels, 2 vols. (London, 1832); I, 216f. inalcik, op. cit., pp. 48f. 3 O n the a'yan see Gibb and Bowen, I, pp. 198-9 and 256-7; Mustafa Nuri IV, 98-9 and E l 2 I, 778. See also Yuzo Nagata, Muhsirt-Zade Mehmed Pa§a ve Ayanlik Mttessesesi (Tokyo 1976)' pp. 27 ff. and pp. 74 ff. 4 Mustafa Nuri, IV, 46-58; Inalcrk, pp. 51-3, and Lewis, pp. 378-9. 5 S e e especially what Nuri (p. 58) and Inalcik (pp. 52-3) wrote about the "Sened-i inlfak" wtiich the a'yan and derebeys signed in Istanbul in the Fall of 1808; see Ahmed Cevdet, Tarih, 12 vols. 2nd ed. (Istanbul A.H. 1309); see IX, 278-82 (appendix 2) for the text of the "Sened".

78

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O T T O M A N

H M P I R E

T o attain the Sultanate in circumstances such as these was not a particularly great honour for Mahmud, nor indeed for the Ottoman dynasty, and he was determined to restore the power of the sultan at whatever price and by whichever means necessary.' First of all, he set out to restore centralisation to the system of government in the provinces, which meant that he had to destroy the power of the a 'ydn and derebeys

and substitute them by governors

that he himself had appointed and whose powers emanated f r o m him. Many of the a'yan and derebeys

were moved to other, further away districts, and many

were declared rebellious, attacked and destroyed, while others were done away with by other means. 2 Even before the annihilation of the power of the a'yan

and

derebeys

was complete, Mahmud moved against the Janissaries and in 1826 had them eliminated, followed by the suppression of their centuries long allies, the Bektashi order. 3 T h e destruction of the Janissaries had removed the last stumbling block in Sultan Mahmud's drive for absolute power. 4 Finally he could work unhindered to take full control over the ulema and state functionaries and subdue the Sublime Porte to his absolute will. To achieve his aim he did not hesitate to exile or put to death without trial, many of the highest and most trusted functionaries, for the slightest suspicion on his part, confiscating their wealth and property. 5 In short, during his reign, a great many atrocities were committed and much blood was spilled. At no other time indeed, both in Istanbul and in the provinces, were life honour and possessions of the empire's subjects, as insecure as during the reign of Sultan Mahmud. 6 In o n e of the p r o v i n c e s , h o w e v e r , he w a s n o t s u c c e s s f u l — M u h a m m a d Ali Pasha, wali of Egypt since 1805, and himself of a'yan origin, had firmly established himself and had become too powerful for Sultan M a h m u d to remove him. In the end, Muhammad Ali moved against Mahmud, and only the intervention first of Russia and then the other European powers (except France), appears to hav e saved Sultan Mahmud. 7

' T h e r e is n o m o n o g r a p h on Sultan M a h m u d II. Short assessments, h o w e v e r , are f o u n d in L ü t f i , Tarih, V I , pp. 32-7; Lewis, pp. 7 5 f f : M , VII, 165-70, and El2, VI, 58-61 and bibliography. ^ M u s t a f a Nuri, IV, 98; Slade I, 2 1 8 2 0 and C h . MacFarlane, Constantinople ed. ( L o n d o n , 1829), II, 110 ff.

in 1828, 2 vols. 2 n d

^ O n the d e s t r u c t i o n of the J a n i s s a r i e s , see M e h m e d E s ' a d , Oss-i Zafer, 2 n d imp. (Istanbul, 1292), C e v d e t , Tarih, XII, 177 ff.; Lütfi, I, 136 ff; M u s t a f a Nuri, IV, 7 6 f f , and M , XIII, 3 9 4 f. 4

O n the g r o w t h of M a h m u d ' s d e s p o t i c rule, s e e Slade I, 2 6 7 - 8 and 2 7 6 , Lewis, 7 5 , and A h m e d R a s i m , istibdattan Hakimiyel-i Milliwye, 2 vols. (Istanbul 1342/1923-24), 1, 172 ff. •"Such as Halet E f e n d i in 1822 or Pcrtcv P a s h a in 1837 and m a n y others sent into exile w h o never put a foot again in Istanbul.

6

A h m e d R a s i m , I, 141 f f ; and M a r d i n , The Genesis of Young Ottoman Thought ( P r i n c e t o n , 1962), pp. 158 f, and n. 88, and Slade, I, 2 0 9 f. 7 S e e m v f o r t h c o m i n g article " M u h a m m a d Ali P a s h a a n d Sultan M a h m u d II, the G e n e s i s of a Conflict'."

THE

ISLAMIC

ROOTS

OF

THE

GÜLHANE

RESCRIPT

79

The reign of Sultan Mahmud was a hated one throughout the provinces. 1 In Anatolia, for instance, "the a'yán and conservative masses" were hostile to "Mahmud's reform" and when the army of Muhammad Ali entered Anatolia, "they were sympathetic to him". 2 We are told, moreover, that "several deputations arrived in Egypt from Asia Minor and other provinces to testify to him the good will of the people there..." 3 In the light of the policies of Sultan Mahmud and the attitudes they provoked, there seems to have been an attempt in the late 1830's to convince him to proclaim a decree along the lines we later will find in the Gtilhane Rescript. 4 This is reported by Abdurrahman §eref, the last official Ottoman historian (Vak'a Nuves). While he does not say when and by whom the Sultan was approached on the matter, he adds that Akif Pa§a, the minister of the interior, convinced him against such an act. Sultan Mahmud did, however, at this stage decide upon a number of measures of reform. In March 1838 he established the High Council of Judicial Ordinances and put at its head the veteran officer and statesman, M. Hiisrev Pa§a, who in January 1837 had been dismissed from the officc of Serasker. 5 Moreover, the Sultan cancelled the arbitrary practice of müsádere, the confiscation of the property of a deceased high functionary. 6 That Mahmud would not be persuaded to promulgate an edict as the later Gülhane Rescript, was possibly because he was still hoping for a military victory over Muhammad Ali. Such a victory, he deemed, would vindicate his acts and policies and silence his opponents. Whatever reform measures he introduced, Mahmud's motives were far from being inspired by the ideals later to underpin the Gülhane Rescript. For him absolute sultanic power was and should remain supreme throughout the land.

' D . S. Frank (ed.). islam in the Modern World (Washington, 1951), p. 42 (the article of Birge); see also I. H. Danijmend, kahli Osmanli Tarihi Kronolojisi 4 vols. (Istanbul, 1947-61), IV, 122y. Inalcik, "The Nature of Traditional Society" p. 54; Mustafa Nuri, IV, 95. ^[Anonymous], Three Letters on the Policy of England towards the Porta and Mohammed Ali London, 1840), p. 18; see also [Anonymousl The Sultan Mahmud and Mehmed Ali Pasha 2nd ed. (London, 1835), p. 24. See also Y. Hofman, "The Administration of Syria and Palestine under Hgyptian Rule (1831-1840) in M. M a ' o z (ed.), Studies on Palestine Durine the Ottoman Period (Jerusalem, 1975), pp. 311-33, see p. 312-3 a n d n . 12. ^Abdurrahman §eref, Tarih i Devlet-i Aliyye, 2 vols. (Istanbul, A.H. 1315) 11 317 and idem Tarih Miisahabeleri, p. 48; and M. Nun, IV, 94; Dani^mend, IV, 123. 5 O n Mehmet Hüsrev, see Ahmed 'Ata, Tarih, II, 118-27. Seref, Tarih Mmahaheleri Inalcik. in M , V, 609-16.

'

dd 10-15

6 O n the abolishing of the "Müsädere," see Cavid Baysun in ¡A, VIII, 673. Mumcu, pp. 161 f- see also Carter V. Findley, Bureaucratic Reform in the Ottoman Empire, The Sublime Porte 1789 1922 (Princeton, 1980), pp. 145 f. Findley states, however, that according to the Penal Code of 1838 of Mahmud only what is termed "undeserved expropriation" was actually abolished.

80

I S L A M

A N D

T H E

O T T O M A N

E M P I R E

3. THE PAI ACE, THE PORTE AND SUNN1-ORTHODOX ISLAM From his rise to the Sultanate at the beginning of July 1 8 3 9 , Sultan Abdiilmeeid, however, seems to have charted a course whose ideals differed vastly from those of his father. His priorities, too, were different. Whereas Mahmud II dedicated his efforts to restore sultanic power, Abdiilmeeid put his emphasis upon being regarded as a virtuous ruler 1 and worked to rectify malpractices and to uproot the oppression and abuses of power briefly discussed in the previous section. How he thought to achieve this will be discussed in the following section. W e shall try to find out what determined the convictions and the socio-political outlook of the new sultan and of those who were close enough to him to be able to affect his decisions and course of action. Similarly, we shall ask whether there were certain ideals c o m m o n to the Palace and the Porte at his stage because it is assumed that the Giilhane Rescript would not have been possible without complete understanding between the sultan and the leading bureaucrats. It is known that three high standing ulema o f Istanbul had been the private tutors of Shah-zade Abdiilmeeid. The first of these was Mehmed Emin §ehri Hafiz Efendi, the second Mehmed Zeyn-iil Abidin Efendi, 2 the first imam of Sultan Mahmud in his later years, 3 and the third Ak§ehirli Omer Efendi. 4 W e do not know whether Abdiilmeeid was subjected to a systematic course of study. Nothing could be found of the material o f his studies, neither subjects nor books, except for the fact that at the age o f ten he completed the reading of the Qu'rdn

(hatm-i

Furkdn).*

W e may assume, however, that he was

introduced to such subjects of Islamic learning that a future Muslim ruler should acquire. This makes the role his tutors played in his education exceptionally important. Little is known about Zeyn-iil Abidin Efendi and O m e r Efendi, but about §ehri Hafiz we know a good deal more. When on a visit to Makka, he was initiated and trained in the Naqshbandi-Khalidi suborder by

Sheikh

' i n an article by H. inalcik, entitled "Seneii-i ittifak ve Giilhane-Hatt-i Hiimayun" and published in Belleten X X V I I I (1964). a summary is given of a proclamation issued by Sultan Abdiilmeeid at his rise. The Sultan proclaimed that God "has appointed me Emir-ul-Muminin and a Caliph" and he exhorted the Muslims to perform the five daily prayers and called upon state officials that "if they sec men in the streets who did not go to the mosque they should ask them about the reason . . . " p. 6 1 8 . Moreover, at his rise Abdiilmeeid ordered that many hundreds o f wine bottles from the cellar of his father, the late Mahmud II, to be poured into the Bosphoros. See Ch. White, Three Years in Constantinople. 3 vol. (London, 1846), III, 100-101. 2

O n §ehri Hafiz M. Emin, see Ahmed 'Ata, Tarih,

III, 119 (he calls him Kankarilizade el-

Seyyid el-Haj Hafiz Mehmed Bmin): M. Z. al-Kawthari, Irgham al-Murid (Istanbul. 1328), pp. 9 1 - 2 ; Siciil-i Osmani (hereafter SO). I, 4 3 3 and IV, 7 1 8 . See also i. H. Uzun9ar§ili, Osmanli Devletinin ¡Imiye Tetjkilati. (Ankara. 1965) p. 146, n. 2. 3 Ahmed L i i t f i , T a r i h , V, 3 9 and SO. II, 435, and IV, 7 2 0 . 4

O n Ak§ehirli Omer. SO, III, 600-1 and Liitfi, Tarih, VIII, 177.

5

Ltitfi, IV, 102.

THE I S L A M I C

R O O T S OF T H E G U L H A N E R E S C R I P T

81

Abdullah al-Makki, a khalifa (deputy) of Sheikh Khalid.' and thus became a follower of the K h à l i d ï suborder. This is important f o r our discussions, because to become a follower of this order required certain convictions and a way of life turned towards Allah. T h e Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi order, of which the Khâlidi suborder is a branch, is distinguished by its strict adherence to Sunni-Orthodox Islam, and by enjoining its followers to abide by

sharl'a

precepts. 2 Moreover, it enjoins them to seek influence with rulers and their men in order to insure the supremacy of the sharl'a

in the state and thus to

bring justice and righteousness into their acts. 3 One may assume that, as a Naqshbandi-Khâlidi, §ehri Hafiz tried to influence his young student in that direction. When Abdiilmecid became sultan he gave due respect to his former tutor and had him appointed as the mufti of the Imperial Guard (Hassa Hiimayûnu).

Ordu

This means that §ehri Hâfiz continued his connections with the

Palace. He remained in this capacity until 1263 (1847). 4 At the time, the Naqshbandiyya-Mujaddidiyya had a long tradition of more than one hundred and f i f t y years behind it in Istanbul. It was first introduced into the Ottoman capital by Murâd al-Bukhàrï, towards the end of the 17th century. 5 During the 18th, more "missionaries" of the order arrived in Istanbul, and interest in its teachings grew. Not only did ulema or higher state f u n c t i o n a r i e s j o i n the order, it also f o u n d m a n y f o l l o w e r s among the littérateurs. Towards the end of the 18th century, Sheikh M u h a m m a d Emin, one of the order's khalifas, exerted a growing influence a m o n g those state functionaries w h o stood behind the military reforms undertaken by Sultan Selim III. 6 When khalifas of Sheikh Khâlid began preaching in Istanbul a little before 1820, "many people of high rank and of good fortune a m o n g the dignitaries (rijàl) and u l e m a . . . " 7 joined them. And when towards the end of the 1820s Sultan Mahmud tried to remove the Khâlidi sheikhs from Istanbul

' H e was a follower of Sheikh Abdullah al-Makki; see Kawthari ibid, and M. Fevzi, Hediyyet-iil Halidin (Istanbul, A.H. 1313), p. 24 and Irfan Giindiiz, Gilmushanevi Ahmed Zivaeddin (KS) (Istanbul, 1984), pp. 22-4. On Sheikh Khalid and Ihe Khalidi suborder, see A.H. Hourani, "Sufism and Modern Islam: Mawlana Khalid and the Naqshbandi order" in idem. The Emergence of the Modern Middle East (London, 1981), pp. 75-89. See also Hamid Algar "A Brief History of the Naqshbandi Order" in Marc Gaboricau et al. (cds.) Naqshbandis (Istanbul, 1990), pp. 28 ff. and study one in this vol. and n. 4 p. 13. Ibid., p. 12 and H. Algar, "Political Aspects of Naqshbandi History" in Marc Gaborieau et al (eds.), op. cit., p. 126 and p. 139 ff. 4

O n this army corps, see M. Z. Pakalm, Osmanli (Istanbul, 1946-56), 1,763.

Tarih-i

Deyimleri "

ve Terimleri

.

1 vols ••

^On Murad al-Bukhari sec Khalll al-Muradi, Silk aUDurar, 4 vols. (Cairo A.H. 1291-1301), IV 6

See study three in (his vol. pp. 4 Iff.

7

t'aik Mecmu'asi,

Suleiman

Istanbul Universitesi Kutuphanesi TY 9577 fols. 4a-b; Liitfi, Tarih

82

I S L A M

AND

THE

O T T O M A N

E M P I R E

(which turned out to be a temporary measure), it did not halt the expansion of the Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi order in the city. In the latter 1820s a sheikh of Indian origin, Muhammad Jan (al-Bajuri), settled in Makka. He was a khalifa of the famous Sheikh of Delhi, Shah Ghuläm 'Ali, who was also the preceptor of Sheikh Khälid. Muhammad Jan was active as of the 1830s and succeeded in gaining many followers in Istanbul. 1 One of the believers and followers of Muhammad Jan in Istanbul, was Abdiilmecid's mother Bezmi-Alem. Originally a Georgian slave, she had been purchased and brought up by Esma Sultan, a sister of Mahmud II. 2 Esma Sultan was the widow of Küfiik Hüseyin Pa§a (d. Dec. 1803), the celebrated kapudan (admiral) of Selim Ill's times who himself originally had been a Circassian or a Georgian slave. 3 Hüseyin Pa§a was remembered for his "firm belief and observation of his religious duties", 4 which may have left their mark on his household after him. Esma Sultan presented Bezmi-Alem to her brother to become his second wife and the mother of his son, Abdulmeeid. 5 According to all surviving evidence, Bezmi-Alem was a remarkable woman. Abdiilmecid was her only son, and she adored him. Throughout her life (she died in 1853 after an illness), she was very close to him, and seems to have exerted a powerful influence on him, both before and after his rise to the Sultanate. 6 Bezmi-Alem stood out for her generosity and her piety. Till today, she is remembered, especially in Istanbul, for her many benevolent acts. 7 Her piety and firm religious belief may have originated in the household of Kü£ük Hüseyin, but as mentioned she was also a "believer" in Sheikh Muhammad Jan. 8 It is not exactly known how she learned of him, but her kethuda (affairs manager), Hasan Tahsin Bey who had won her favour, 9 was a khalifa of

' O n sheikh Muhammad Jan, see H. Vassaf, Sefinet-ül Evliyä Süleymaniye Kütüphanesi Yazma Bagi§lar 2306, fol. 161, Abdulmajid al-Khani, al-fiada'iq al-Wardiyya (Cairo. A.H. 1308), pp. 221-2 and M. Muräd al-Qazäm al-Manziläwi, Dhayl al-Rashahät (on the margin of Rashahat •Ain al-Hayäh (Makka, A.H. 1307/ (1889-90], pp. 81 ff. ^Charles White, III, 2; on Esma Sultan see M. (v'agatay Ulu9ay Padisahlarui Kadmlan vc Kizlari (Ankara, 1980), pp. 111-2. ^On Kü?ük Hüseyin see Cevdet. Tarih, 2nd cd. (Istanbul, A.H. 1309), VII, 369; and 'Ata, Tarih II, 193-8, and EP, III, 627-8. 4 ' A t a , II, 197. 5 O n Bezmi-Alem, see Uluyay. pp. 120-1; see also !A, XIII, 185 "Valide Sultan"; Türk Ansiklopedisi, VI, 306-7. 6 Ch. MacFarlane, Turkey and its Destiny, 2 vols. (London, 1850), see 11, 244 f; Lewis, p. 104. 7 O n the benevolent acts of Bezmi -Alem, see reference in n. 5 and §emseddin Sami, Kamus-ul A1 lam, II, 1307. O On Bezmi-Alem being a "believer" in M. Jan, see al-Khani, p. 222.

^Ahmed Ccvdct. Tezakir, II, 157, "nc/dinde hayli mukbil olup".

THE

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ROOTS

OF

THE

GULHANE

RESCRIPT

83

Sheikh Jan. 1 A sign of her veneration of the sheikh and her favourable attitude towards the Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi order was the building of a zawiya in Makka for Sheikh Jan "upon her order". She did so, in fact, through the services of Sheikh Shumnulu 'Ali Efendi, another deputy of Sheikh Jan and head of the Bala dergahi in Istanbul. 2 In other words, through his tutor on the one hand and his mother on the other, it is believed that Sultan Abdtilmecid at a young age was exposed to Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi belief and that orthodox Islamic ideals formed the foundation of his convictions and socio-political outlook, which naturally after his rise and for some years to come, continued to reflect itself in his actions. Moreover, there were other people related to the Palace who at this stage were followers of the Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi order. First of all the Sultan's sister, 'Adile Sultan, who in about 1845 became a follower of Sheikh Shumnulu 'Ali. 3 T w o other ulema employed at the Palace during the later days of Sultan Mahmud were Naqshbandis. The first was Eyyubi Abdullah Efendi (d. 1252/1836) who was the head reciter of the Qur'an (re'is-ul Kurra').4 The second was the calligrapher Mustafa izzet. He had become a khalifa of Sheikh Muhammad Jan when on a visit to Makka in 1830. After returning to Istanbul and because of his beautiful voice he was taken to the Palace as muezzin. Prior to the death of Mahmud, however, he became the khatib at the Eyyub mosque. One Friday in 1845, Sultan Abdulmecid performed his prayers at his mosque and heard his sermon. Much impressed by it, he took him back into the Palace service as his second and soon thereafter his first imam. In 1852, however, Izzet left this position to join the legal service. 5 Indeed, it would appear that not only the Sultan, the Valide Sultan, and a number of Palace functionaries were influenced by Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi teachings but that many members of the upper echelons of the state were affected by them to one degree or other.

' O n Hasan Tahsin Bey, see M. K. inal, Son Asir Turk Sairleri, III, 1866 f f ' Liitfi Tarih X 64 and SO, II, 49. ' ' ' 2 Vassaf, II, fol. 161; al-Khani, 222. •i 'Adile Sultan was the wife of Damad Mehmed 'Ali. She contributed a "chandelier" for the zawiya of Sheikh M. Jan in Makka. She is also remembered in Istanbul for her manv benevolent acts. Cf. Vassaf II, fol. 161, inal, I, 32-3, SO, III, 501 and ¡A, IV, 710-1. 4 C f . M. T. Bursalt, Osmanli Muellifleri, 3 vols. (Istanbul, A.H. 1333), I, 379-80and Liitfi, V, 723 and SO, III, 396. His son Mehmed Emin wrote a biography of him, Gel^en Me§ayihi Selatin (in ms.) but it could not be located. According to Bursal), Abdullah Efendi was the author of a number of books one of which was translation of Naqshbandi treatises, another Nasihut alMuluk (Counsel for Princes). 5

0 n Mustafa Izzet, see M. K. Inal, Son Hattatlar, pp. 154 ff, and Tarih MUsahabeleri,

pp. 316-8.

84

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AND

THE

OTTOMAN

EMPIRE

A m o n g the Khalidi f o l l o w e r s in 1839, we find the i n c u m b e n t Sheikh til-islam Mustafa ' A s i m E f e n d i w h o had occupied this office twice before, but now was to serve in this capacity f o r about 14 years successively (1833-1846) and there are many signs that he e n j o y e d a g r o w i n g influence in the councils of the state, especially after the death of Sultan M a h m u d . 1 At the rise of Sultan Abdiilmecid, the aged statesman Hiisrev Pa§a occupied the post of G r a n d Vizier. An A b a z a by origin who had been brought to Istanbul as slave, Hiisrev started his career in the Palace, then b e c a m e a secretary and a f t e r w a r d s a kethuda to Ku§iik Hiiseyin Pa§a. A f t e r his mentor had died, he maintained his connections with the Palace and served Sultan M a h m u d II faithfully in various military capacities. W e do not k n o w of any sufi affiliations he m a y have had, but his closeness to Kii^iik Hiiseyin in his early life might have affectcd his views. In old a g e we find him establishing a N a q s h b a n d i - K h a l i d i tekke in Eyyup, adding town of Istanbul and satellite a library' there. 2 M o r e o v e r , in his vakfiye,

he assigned an adequate a m o u n t for

the u p k e e p of the dervishes of the Naqshbandi tekke of K o c a M u s t a f a Pa§a outside the Edirne gate in old I s t a n b u l . B o t h acts suggest a favourable attitude towards the Naqshbandi order. Not only the sheikh til -islam or, to s o m e degree, the Grand Vizier but also M u s t a f a Rc§id, foreign minister in 1839, had been e x p o s e d to similar influences. His m e n t o r at the Porte, Pertev Pa§a — w h o m Sultan M a h m u d had put to death in September 1837 — had been a Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi adept and a f o l l o w e r of Sheikh Ali Behcet, the head of the S e l i m i y y e tekke

in

Uskiidar. 4 M u s t a f a Re§id owed much to Pertev and held his m e m o r y in great respect. 5 In summary', w h e n Sultan Abdiilmecid rose to the Sultanate, both the Palacc and the Porte appear to have been motivated by the ideals of Orthodox Islam, p e r h a p s m o r e than at any t i m e b e f o r e . T h i s might h a v e helped to determine their view as to the measures needed to put an end to the prevailing malpractices and abuses of power, and to restore security and j u s t i c e into the acts of the government and throughout the Ottoman lands.

'On Mustafa 'Asim, see ilmiyye Salnamesi, p. 580; A. Rif'at, Devhat-ul Me$ayih (Istanbul, n.d.), pp. 124 f. o n his being a Khalidi see A s ' a d S a h i b (ed.), Bughyat Mawland 2

Khalid

al-Wajid

fi

Maktubal

( D a m a s c u s , 1915-16), p. 105 f., p. 2 5 2 f.; A l g a r , "Political A s p e c t s . . . " , p. 140.

'Ata, Tarih II, 120.

\ ) n Hiisrev, sec a b o v e n. 3 9 and T . D . V . Islam A n s i k l o p e d i s i , vol. 19, pp. 4 1 - 4 5 . 4

On Pertev Pa§a, see M. K. Inal. San Asir Turk §airleri, pp. 1301-9; Turk Ansiklopedisi, XXVI,

4 7 7 - 7 8 , and my article cited above, n. 4 7 , p. 21; and EI2, III, 1066. \ ) n R e a d ' s debt to Pertev, see B a v s u n , p. 7 2 5 and n. 3 . 4 , 5 and M a r d i n , p. 161.

T H E I S L A M I C R O O T S OF T H E G Ü L H A N E R E S C R I P T

85

There is no doubt that it was this united resolve which made the promulgation of the Giilhane Rescript possible. In this sense Muhammad Ali was right when he wrote to his son Ibrahim in Syria to keep on his guard because after the death of Sultan Mahmud "Istanbul started... to close its ranks". 1 As a final remark, it is perhaps appropriate to add that this rise of the impact of Sunni-Orthodox Islam in Istanbul and in many other urban areas of the Empire was clearly manifest in the cultural field in the first half or so of the 19th century. According to one authority: "In the field of literature and philosophy the Tanzimat, as a whole, was an era during which translations into [Ottoman] Turkish of Islamic literature reached

unprecedented

proportions ... Conversely, no translations from European

thinkers,

philosophers, or littérateurs were undertaken in Turkey [sic] in the first half of the nineteenth century". 2 Furthermore, with the advent of printing both in Cairo (the Bulaq printing press) and in Istanbul many of these translations found a relatively wide circulation. 3

4. THE MAKING OF THE GULHANE RESCRIPT As we saw above, prior to his rise Sultan Abdlilmecid had been exposed to Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi beliefs through his tutors, especially §ehri Hafiz and, through his mother Bezmi-Alem. 4 How far this influence went and what impact it left on him could only be ascertained after a study of the life at the Palace during this period and in particular of the life and customs of the Sultan himself. But the fact that he gave his approval of and funded the building of a mausoleum and a large zawiya over the tomb of Sheikh Khalid in Damascus (between 1842-1846) and assigned evkaf for their upkeep, 5 was undoubtedly a sure sign of the respect in which the Sultan held the memory of the founder of this Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi suborder.

' a . Rustum (ed.), al-Mahfuzât al-Malakiyya al-Misriyya, Doc. 5918. ' TVlardin, p. 203; see also Tanzimat (Ankara, 1940), p. 445.

4 vols.

(Beirut, 1940-43) IV 15")

^Translations from European languages took place in the fields of engineering, medical and military sciences for specific purposes only. See Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, "Some critical notes on the introduction of modern sciences to the Ottoman state..." in Jean-Louis Bacqué-Grammont and Emeri von Donzel (eds.), Comité International d'Etudes... Ottoman, [the proceedings of the] VI Symposium (Istanbul-Paris-Leiden, 1987), pp. 235-52.

^Scc above, pp. 8-11.

' A b d al-Razzäq al-Bitär, Hilyat (Damascus, 1961-63), I, 586. 5

al-Bashar ft Tärikh al-Qarn al-Thalith 'Ashar, 3

vols.

86

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AND

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EMPIRE

One other spectacular act of religiosity of the Sultan was the building anew of the mosque of the Prophet in Madina (A.H. 1265-1277), after he had the old building, dating from the late 15th century, demolished. 1 The benevolence the Sultan had shown towards the followers of the Khalidi suborder by erecting the mausoleum over the tomb of the founder must have endeared him to them. Abdulmajid al-Khani, the author of a history of the Naqshbandi order in Arabic, eulogised the Sultan as "ahlam muluk bani 'uthman" (the most clement of the Ottoman Sultans) 2 — an epithet of high praise, especially in a ruler. On his part, Abdiilmecid seems to have been eager to live up to such a reputation. Thus, in an Imperial edict (Hatt-i Humayun) addressed to the Grand Vizier three days after his rise to the Sultanate, Abdiilmecid wrote the following: "The Caliphate has passed on to us by inheritance and by right." Because of that and because God had entrusted to our care the lands and the people (memulik ve 'ihad), we have to depend upon divine support and upon the spiritual aid of the Prophet. Consequently it is our wish to see that the exalted jeri'at is applied in all matters and that "all the inhabitants" ( k a f f e y i ehali... ve beraya) should enjoy tranquillity and peace. 3 Two weeks later, on 17 July 1839, Sultan Abdiilmecid issued an irade to be read "to the ministers" who, it seems, were meeting at the office of Sheikh iil-islam, in which he exhorted them "to follow the law of justice and equity in all matters" and to observe constantly "the application of the honoured f e r i ' a t in all the affairs of the exalted sultanate..." Moreover he called upon all officials" not to deviate from the ways of uprightness and honesty" and to avoid "bribery. .. and repugnant and oppressive acts... [and| to be extremely careful not to give room to the rise... of unacceptable methods." "All the inhabitants" of our protected lands, rich and poor, he emphasised, should enjoy "tranquillity and repose." It is our most special imperial desire that in my exalted sultanate, property, soul, dwelling, and place should be secure and safe from ... offence and aggression..." (mal ve can ve mahall ve makamndan mutma'in

musterlh

ve emin

olmalari ahass-i matlabi

ve asari

rencis

ve taddiden

'Ibid., II, 1036, A b d al-Basit B a d r , al-Tarikh al-Shamil lil-Madina ( M a d i n a 1414-1993) sec II, 4 8 3 - 4 8 7 . See also n. 5, p. 103 b e l o w . 2

al-Hadä'iq

al-Wardiyya,

masun

ve

§ahdrte).4

al-Munawwara

3 vols.

p. 2 6 8 .

• ' A h m e d Lütfi, Tarili, VI, 3 9 - 4 0 cf. also Ed. Engelhardt, La Turquie et le Tanzimat, 2 vols. (Paris, 1882), I, 35. 4 P u b l i s h e d in Takvim-i Vakuyi, no. 182, on the 16th C A ( C e m a z i y e l e v v e l ) 1255, but it w a s read to the ministère on the 5th of C A ( 17 July 1839).

THE

ISLAMIC

ROOTS

OF

THE

GULHANE

RESCRIPT

87

It was not unusual for a new sultan, at his ascent, to address state functionaries and enjoin them to act justly, to avoid corrupt methods and to care for his subjects, which all fell within the duties of a Muslim ruler towards his subjects. Many such exhortations survive of former sultans and are known as " justice decrees" (adaletnames)}

But these decrees differ from Abdiilmecid's

irade in that they were normally addressed to governors, judges, or military commanders in the provinces and concerned with abuses of authority committed by them or by their subordinates there. This irade of Sultan Abdiilmecid was issued to his own ministers meeting in council and was concerned not with specific abuses but with general principles. This is what makes it of special interest to us here because it contains basic principles that were to appear afterwards in the Giilhane, for example, that the shari'a should be applied, that justice and righteousness should prevail, and that care should be given to "all" the subjects of His Majesty, as well as the required guarantees for their well-being. Furthermore, this irade was drafted at the Palace while Re§id was still in London and about two months before his return, 2 which means that such ideas were not exclusively R e a d ' s and his young associates but shared by others. As we shall see, it was the death of Sultan Mahmud and the rise of a new sultan of a different mind which created the opportunity to voice such ideas. 3 In other words, we wish to suggest here to regard this irade

of

Abdiilmecid as a prelude to the Giilhane Rescript. Since, however, the Rescript carries more than is contained in the irade, our next question is: what was the source of the other ideas of the Giilhane? Late in summer 1839, according to directives of His Majesty, a meeting of the Meclis-i §ura was held at the Sublime Porte in order to discuss foundations upon which the "¡er'i laws" should be enacted in the spirit of the above-mentioned irade of the sultan. A memorandum was read — though it is not stated by whom it was prepared or read — and at the end of the meeting a petition was drawn up and submitted to the Sultan which carried the seals of 38 dignitaries who apparently attended the meeting. The list was headed by Husrev_ Pa§a, the Grand Vizier to be followed by the Sheikh Ul-islam Mustafa 'Asim Efendi. Halil Rif'at, the Serasker and Ra'uf Pa§a, the

Halil inalcik "The Ottoman Decline and its effects upon the Reaya", pp. 342-6, (Article no. 13 in the author's collected studies: The Ottoman Empire: Conquest, Organization and Economy, Variorum Rep., London, 1978); see also idem, "Adaletnameler" in Beigeler Türk Tarih Belgeleri Dergisi, II (1955), pp. 49-145. ^Repd arrived in Istanbul on 4 September 1839; see Bailey, p. 184, n. 21. See, e.g. on Ibrahim Sä'ib F.fendi in Ba$bakanlik Osmanli Ar^ivi (hereafter BOA), Iradeleri no. 196, dated 18 Ramazan, 1255.

Dahiliye

88

I S L A M

A N D

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O T T O M A N

E M P I R E

Chairman of the Council of Judicial Ordinances, came third and fourth. Mustafa R e a d ' s seal is number seven. It would appear that half of the signatories were ulema and the others high state officials. 1 The petition opens with the statement that there should be "full guarantees for soul and property and for the preservation of honour and dignity according to the requirements of the ¡eri'at". This basic right was to extend to all His Majesty's subjects, "the Muslims and the various other communities" (ehlIslam ve mileli sa'ire). Consequently, the petition demanded public trials for criminals, and that no one should be put to death "openly or secretly, by execution or by poison" without a verdict according to the §eri'at and the law of the state. Another important point concerned the taxes. These should be levied "according to the means and property" of the subjects. Conscription, moreover, should be "in proportion to the size of the population of each province... and the period of military service should be defined." For a long time, the petitioners added, "neither the illustrious Qur'anic ordinances nor the exalted laws have been observed". This and a variety of oppressive acts and severe measure caused the decline of the Ottoman lands. In other words, the petition continued, as long as the current ways were not wholly and totally eliminated and as long as a renewed form of administration was not applied, and each person had not attained perfect security of life, possessions, honour and dignity, it would be impossible for the exalted state to achieve strength and power. Thus, principles should be laid down according to which the necessary §er'i laws (kavanin-i ¡er'iyye)

would be established.

Once these foundations were laid, "the supreme interests of the exalted Sultanate will progress day after day" and "the protected lands will gradually gain in prosperity." Indeed there is no greater scrvicc for the honoured §er'i than this and no greater benevolence and compassion for land and community. They suggested that the Sultan issue an iradc to this effect. The overriding objective, they concluded, was "the revival and regeneration of religion and state, land and community (millet)." They were of the belief moreover, that "the news of this beneficial trade will produce effects both internally and externally and will make easier (the solution] of several difficult questions." T o reject these beneficial foundations "is tantamount to, God forbid, infidelity"

' T h i s d o c u m e n t is f o u n d in Topkapt Saray Arçivi, no. 3 0 8 4 / 2 . M y t h a n k s are d u e to M s . Ùlkii Altindag, the director of the A r c h i v e s , f o r p r o v i d i n g m e with a clear p h o t o c o p y . A p h o t o c o p y is f o u n d in Tanzimat ( A n k a r a , 1940). opposite p. 7 0 8 , and a transliteration into m o d e r n T u r k i s h in R. K a y n a r , Mustafa Reçid Paça ve Tanzimat ( A n k a r a , 1954), pp. 172-73. A p h o t o c o p y w a s also p u b l i s h e d in an article a b o u t the archives by U. A l t i n d a g in Sanat, no. 7 (Istanbul, 1982), p. 81. N o n e of these writers c o m m e n t e d on the d o c u m e n t . B e r k e s in his book (n. 6, p. 7 3 ) referred to it as "A protocol prepared by a Consultative C o u n c i l " without f u r t h e r additions, see p. 145.

THE I S L A M I C (kufr

menzilesinde).'

ROOTS OF THE G U L H A N E R E S C R I P T

89

T h e y concluded by stating that they h a v e agreed

unanimously on these matters. In the irade written at the top of the sheet of the petition, the Sultan expressed his satisfaction with the petition and ordered to have it proclaimed publicly as a hatt-i

serif. Though the petition is undated, it is clear that it

preceded the hatt-i

§erif of Gulhane, and f o r m e d in fact its immediate

antecedent. W h e n we compare the t w o documents we find that most of the arguments run parallel. They follow here, in a slightly changed order. — — — — — — — —

The decline of the Ottoman lands was due to arbitrary and despotic government. It is a duty to restore the supremacy of §eri'at and law in the state. It is a duty to provide security for life, honour and property. No punishment without public trial and a verdict. Taxes are to be fixed according to the wealth and means of each subject. Even distribution of the burden of military service according to the size of the population in each province. The enacting (vaz'i) of §er'i laws | s i c | to guarantee the execution of these fundamentals. Finally, these rights should be extended to all subjects, Muslims as well as non-Muslims.

H o w e v e r in one major aspect the Gulhane Rescript went further than the demands of the petition and that is in it the sultan pledged to take an oath in the hall of the sacred relics, not to act contrary to its stipulations, and that the senior ulema and state f u n c t i o n a r i e s take similar oath, an action no Ottoman sultan before Abdiilmecid had ever undertaken. 2 While Mustafa Re§id Pa§a may have played a leading role in drafting this petition as well as the G u l h a n e Rescript, they cannot be attributed exclusively to him or to his initiative, as modern historiography claims. Indeed, after the death of Sultan Mahmud all political forces in Istanbul - the Palace, the old and young bureaucrats at the Sublime Porte and the senior ulema — were united in their resolve to end the rule of arbitrary and despotic g o v e r n m e n t and to restore the s u p r e m a c y of $eri'atm& law as the best guarantee for a j u s t and virtuous g o v e r n m e n t according to the ideals of orthodox Islam.

'This dictum is rooted in the classical islamic concept that "by nature muslims are predisposed to justice and infidels to injustice," see p. 93 in A. K. S. Lambton "Justice in the Medieval Persian Theory of Kingship," Studia hlamica XVII (1962). 2 I have used the Gulhane Rescript which appeared in Ltitfi, Tarih, VI, 61-4. The translation which is found in J. C. Hurewitz, The Middle East und North Africa in World Politics (Columbia, 1975), pp. 269-71, is not complete. A long important paragraph at the end of which the sultan's pledge is found, is missing from this translation; cf. from the bottom of p. 63 till end of the Rescript, p. 64 of Liitfi, VI.

90

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EMPIRE

That the higher ulema, led by sheikh iil-Islam Mustafa ' A s i m Efendi were visibly active in the affairs of the state during this period is a fact that should be emphasised. Of the 38 signatories w h o affixed their seals to the petition, it has been possible to recognise 34 names. Out of these, 19 were ulema most of whom were occupying active posts in the Ilmiyye.

Moreover,

early in September, 1840, following the conclusion on 15 July of the Protocol of London concerning the solution of the conflict between the Sultan and M u h a m m a d Ali, an ad hoc meeting was convened at the office of the sheikh

iil-islam ( b a b - i fetvabinahi)

to discuss the matter. Out of 7 0

participants 33 were u l e m a . 1 Again, we find four ulema out of the ten members of the enlarged Council of Judicial Ordinances. 2 And when it was decided to send i n s p e c t o r s to R u m e l i a a n d Anatolia to e x a m i n e

the

implementation of the Tanzimat measures, t w o high ulema were despatched, Arif Hikmet Bey for Rumelia and Mehmed R a f i ' for Anatolia. 3 Indeed, the Sheikh ul-Islam and the ulema were involved in the process which led to the promulgation of the Giilhane Rescript to such an extent that, as far as it is known to us, a fetva

of the Sheikh iil-Islam f o r its proclamation was as it

seems not even issued.

5. THE ISLAMIC ROOTS OF THE G ULHANE RESCRIPT As we saw a b o v e , the Sultan required that his Grand Vizier and ministers abide by shari'a rules and follow the laws of justice and equity, the foundations the petitioners regarded as the necessary guarantees for security and prosperity of land and people. It would appear that both the Sultan and the petitioners were well aware of the writings of the Ottoman memorialists and perhaps also of s o m e Muslim literature of the type of the Mirrors for Princes. Already about the beginning of the 17th century, a poet by the name of Veysi w h o served as Kadi complained of the disregard for the shari'a

and of

the spread of corruption and injustice. 4 The application of the shari'a,

wrote

Koeyhul Islam), 68 Tahir al-Husaini (Shaikh), 21 Tahmasb, (Shah), 61 Tahsin see Hasan Tahsin Bey T a j al-Din Z a k a r i y y a a l - ' A b s h a m i , al' U t h m a n i , (Shaikh), 33, 37, 146 al-Takiyya al-Sulaimaniyya (in Damascus), 56 Tanzimat Charter, 73

208

ISLAM

AND

FUE

Tanzimat Council, 165 Tanzimat Period, 12, 73-74, 99, 107, 116, 119, 122, 124, 1 2 8 - 1 3 0 , 1 3 4 - 1 3 5 , 1 3 9 - 1 4 0 , 150, 152, 1 5 5 - 1 5 6 , 1 6 1 - 1 6 2 , 165, 168172, 175-177, 180, 186 Tashkent, 141, 144 Tasvir-i Efkar, 132 Tevfik Oytan, 60 TaimuridATimurid 141-142, 147 Tophane Miijiri, 118 Topkapi Palace, 67 Troll, C, W „ 15 Transoxania, 61-62 Turco-Egyptian elite, 95 U Ubaid Allah A h r a r (Khwaja), 11, 31, 3 3 - 3 7 , 39, 130, 141-142, 146147 Ubaydullah of Nehri, (Shaikh), 155 Ulug Igdemir, 126 Üsküdar, 9, 53, 68, 106-107, 109 al-Usul al-Khamsa, 91 ' Uthman (Caliph), 14 'Uthmani see T a j al-Din Zakariyya al'Uthmani Uwais al-Qarani, 32 V Vak'a-i Selimiyye, 9 Valide Sultan, 83 Vassaf, (Hiiseyin), 107, 111 Veled (Walad), Sultan, 138 Veysi, (a poet), 9 0 Viardot, Louis, 133 Feyzullah, Viddinli, see Hasan Silistreli

OTTOMAN

E M P I R E

W W a h h a b i s / W a h h a b i y y a , 14 Walad see Veled Waliullah, Shah, (of Delhi) 15, 23, 38, 154 Westernization, 181, 186 Y Yakdast see Ahmad Joryani Yakdast Yakdast Chain, 42 Y a n y a l i , M u s t a f a i s m e t , see M u s t a f a Ismet Y a ' q u b al-Charkhi, 32, 39, 141 Yesinci-zade Abdulvehhab (§eyh-iil Islam), see A b d u v e h h a b , Y a s i n c i zade Yeni Kapi Mevlevihane, 112 Y o u n g Ottomans, 12, 93, 97, 108, 114, 129-130, 132-135, 155, 167, 172, 174, 186-187 Young Turks, 158 Yusuf Kamil Pasha, (Grand Vizier), 121122, 139, 174-176 Z Zayn Allah, (Qazani), 145, 157 Zeyn-iil A b i d i n , see M e h m e d Z e y n - u l Abidin Ziya (Bey, Pasha) Y o u n g O t t o m a n see Abdulhamid Ziya Z i a ' i y y a (Ziy'ai suborder), 140, 158