Table of Contents

Acknowledgments Note on Transliteration Introduction Part One: Dissemination 1. From Transoxania to the Ottoman Lands The Birth of a Tariqa: From Khwajagan to Naqshbandiyya Agents of Transmission In the Shadow of Safavid Persecution Safavid Power and Changing Patterns of Communications Conclusion 2. Istanbul Establishing a Presence Spiritual Lines and Continuity Tekkes and Institutional Arrangements Penetrating Society Waqf-Making and the Women of the Tariqa 3. Anatolia and the Balkans Capital and Province, Town and Countryside The Balkans Kurdistan A Charismatic Shaykh and His Demise Bursa 4. Arabia Constraints on Early Transmission An Indian Transplant and His Arabian Disciples Teaching in Multiple Tariqas Conclusion Part Two: The Politics and Culture of a Tariqa 5. Devotional Practice and the Construction of Orthodoxy "Acting with Strictness" Sobriety in Devotional Practice Communicating with the "Friends of God" Teaching Ibn al-'Arabi Bakri Genealogy: From a Spiritual to a Political Marker? Conclusion 6. Politics of Sunnism, Battles over Orthodoxy Ahrarian Politics and the Ottoman Environment "Bringing the Heterodox to Heel" A Thesis Revisited A Naqshbandi Kadizadeli 7. Organizational and Cultural Modes "The Shadow of the Shaykh is Better than Dhikr" Bequeathing Spiritual Authority and Sending off Khalifas Tariqa, Silsila, and Pride of Affiliation Travel, Language, and the Tariqa as Interregional Network Conclusion Notes Glossary Bibliography Index

About the Author

Dina Le Gall is Assistant Professor of History at Lehman College, The City University of New York.

Reviews

"Intellectually sophisticated and rigorous, this study demystifies the Naqshbandis and points the way toward a greater appreciation of the complexity and diversity of Sufi practice."