“Home Is Where the Shaykh Is”: The Concept of Exile in the Hagiography of İbrahim-i Gülşeni

Abstract

The hagiographical narrative of the Halveti shaykh İbrahim-i Gülşeni, spanning a critical period in Islamic history when the shaykhs of Sunni mystical orders were pushed out of Iran and Azerbaijan to take up residence elsewhere, initially seems to be an excellent source for understanding how medieval thinkers reacted to the concept of exile. However, upon closer examination of the hagiographer and his work, we realize that it was not just the existence of a physical exile from one's homeland that was critical to the work. This article takes a closer look at how Muhyi-yi Gülşeni, the author and compiler of the hagiography of İbrahim-i Gülşeni and his followers, constructs the concept of exile in both its physical and metaphorical senses. In the world of a vastly expanded Ottoman Empire in the aftermath of the reign of Sultan Süleyman that required its literate elites to take up posts far from home, Muhyi reconfigures the idea of exile to reflect a separation or estrangement from one's mystical guide. This narrative strategy both reinforced the audience's devotion to the order and offered a source of comfort to groups who were forced to travel to distant parts of the realm.