RİFÂÎLİK VE FÜTÜVVET GELENEĞİ ARASINDAKİ İLİŞKİ

Abstract

The copies of erkannāma belonging to the Rifā‘ī order, which have survived till the present day, are works dated by the end of the 18th and the 19th century. These works, which provide the opportunity to determine how the Rifā‘ī order was practised in Istanbul and Anatolia, have served as a kind of handbook for the groups affiliated to the order. The fact that most of these copies, which include issues like order ceremonies, spiritual journey practices, khidma (acts of service) levels, were named as Futuwwatnāma is the first sign that Rifā‘iyya is one of the orders dependent on the futuwwa rules. Fütüvvetnāme-i Yāsin er-Rifāī written by Shaykh Yâsin al-Shāmī (end of the 18th century) and Minhācü'l-Müridīn written by Mehmed Tāhir Tophanevī (1812) are the oldest known Rifā‘ī futuwwatnāmas and they have become the source for the ones written later. In the article, the contents of the second chapter of Minhāc have been evaluated and it has been determined that the source of this work is the futuwwatnāma produced by Seyyid Hüseyin ibn Seyyid Gaybī (15th century). The interpretation of Ibn Gaybī's work as a futuwwatnāma with Shī‘ite elements and Abdulbāki Gölpınarlı's claim that Rifā‘iyya, over time, has taken an Alawīte form due to the influence of futuwwa followers have made it necessary to discuss the reasons that brought the Rifā‘īs and futuwwa followers closer. In the second part of the article some factors that may serve as the reason for Rifā‘īs and Shī‘ite-Bāṭinī-Alawīte groups to find common ground are evaluated based on texts, historical events and facts. As a result of this evaluation, it is concluded that the above-mentioned factors have existed since the establishment of Rifā‘iyya and that this is the way the order has spread to Anatolia. Keywords: Rifā‘îyya, Futuwwa, Futuwwattnāma, Erkān, Alawī, Şi‘ī.