The Spreading of Naqshbandiyya in Western Asia in The 19th Century

Abstract

The Sufi orders, which are the institutional structures of Sufism, started to spread among Muslims from the 12th century with the current era. While some of these Sufi orders operated in a certain region, others spread almost all over the Islamic world. One of these common Sufi orders is Naqshbandiyya. The Sufi order, named after Muhammed Bahaeddin Naksibend, became effective in Afghanistan and Iran after the Bukhara and Transoxiana regions in Central Asia where Turks lived intensely. It began to operate in Anatolia during the period of Sheikh Ubeydullah-i Ahrar. From the beginning of the 17th century, during the reign of Sheikh Ahmed Sirhindi, it had a serious presence in the Indian subcontinent under the name of Mujaddidiyye. It became influential in East Asia in religious, political and social fields. In this period, although it started to be recognized in Western Asia with the activities of some Mujaddid Sheikhs, it did not have a strong influence as in the Indian subcontinent. Naqshbandi's attainment of a strong social ground in Western Asia took place in the first quarter of the 19th century, during the reign of Mawlana Khalid from Shahrazor. Mawlana Khalid was appointed to Western Asia as his plenipotentiary caliph after receiving religious mystic education under Shah Abdullah Dihlevi in India. Naqshbandiyyah started to be called as Khalidiyya in the period of Mawlana Khalid. Khalidism, which emerged in Iraq, succeeded in being effective in all regions of Western Asia. On the basis of the success of Naqshbandi in Western Asia, the charismatic personality of Mawlana Khalid al-Shahrazori, political and social situations of West Asian societies, the emergence of Khâlidism as a dynamic and refreshing movement and then there are many factors, from the Khalidi Sheikhs gaining prestige in the regions where they live as religious, political and social leaders. In this study, it is aimed to examine the success of this Sufi order in West Asia, whose effects continue until today, and to present some basic information for researchers to be done in this field.