The Political and Doctrinal Legacy of ʿÖmer El-Fuʾâdî

Abstract

The final years of Ömer El-Fu'ādī were fraught with religious and political tensions in the Ottoman Empire present since the time of its foundation, and his contemporaries came to note him as a central figure in the debates that caused those tensions. Hence, any assessment of his life and legacy is grounded in the context of his polemical response to religio-political crisis revolving around the Muslim mysticism. This chapter discusses the political and doctrinal legacies of Ömer El-Fu'ādī. Among these were his writings that centred on the religio-political crisis caused by the dispute over Halveti semā and devrā. This dispute, while merely a eccentric debate for modern scholars, posed a great threat to the very foundations of the Ottoman religious law. Fu'ādī also posed an open challenge to the Kādyzādeli movement, which was rising in the final days of his life. Furthermore, by rallying the Halveti behind their achievements, he was able to extend the order's reach into the Ottoman capital by the end of the century. However, despite the success of Fu'ādī, he receded into the background as merely one individual in the long chain of Sa'bān's successors after his death. And his successors never fully acknowledged the monumental contributions he made to the Sa'bāniye. This chapter focuses on the paradox that surrounds Fu'ādī's career and legacy. It aims to determine why, given the significance of Fu'ādī's legacy to Sa'bāniye, Fu'ādī did not attract more attention from his contemporaries.