THE EFFECT OF SUFĠSM ON THE SPREAD OF ISLAM ĠN TURKĠSTAN

Abstract

There are various approaches to when and how the Turks converted to Islam, such as "by force of arms" or "voluntarily". However, these approaches are insufficient to clarify the matter. Because the spread of Islam among the Turks is a complicated process which takes place over a long period of time and under the influence of different factors. In this process, it shouldn‘t be ignored that the work of Sufis who explained Islam in a polite way had important contributions as well as political, military, social and economic factors. In this study, the effects of the early Sufis, who guided the Islamization of the Turks on the Turks inhabited in the West and Central Asia are discussed. This study aims to reveal the role of Sufis apart from the general opinions about the Islamization of the Turks. As a result of this study, it is found that the Sufis played an important and permanent role on Turks' conversion to Islam by participating in wars in order to spread Islam, making direct communication during the travels of Turkish societies, getting benefit from commercial activities and carrying out formal and informal religious education activities in various institutions such as ribat, hankah, tekke and madrasah.