Hadji Bayram Wali : An Awliya from Ankara
Bayram is his nickname, his real name is Nûmân bin Ahmed bin Mahmood. He was born in Ankara in 1352 and passed away in the same city in 1429. His tomb is a popular destination today just near the Hadji Bayram mosque in Ulus district of Ankara. He started studying Islamic disciplines as well as […]
Shaban-i Wali : An Awliya from Kastamonu
He was an important figure of during the 16th century Ottomans and was born in the city of Kastamonu. His birth year is unknown and he passed away in 1568. At an early age, he went to Istanbul to study Islamic disciplines like tafsir, hadith and fiqh. On his way back to Kastamonu after he […]
Parsimony and generosity according to Islamic ethics.
Allaj(j.j) indicates in his holy book about the kind of people who can not see beyond their firm grasp of worldly possessions: And let not those who covetously withhold of the gifts which Allah Hath given them of His Grace, think that it is good for them: Nay, it will be the worse for them: […]
Does being a zaheed means living in a cave?
In today’s world Muslims face many challenges, some are vitally dangerous to our faith. One of these challenges is the “issue of compatibility of Islam and modernism”. Like many of these so-called “issues”, the issue of compatibility of Islam and modernism is a fake one, and such construction has obviously has its roots in orientalism. […]
Ismail Haqqi Bursawi : An awliya of Bursa
Bursawi was born in 1652 after his father migrated to Aydos town in Balkanians, when the whole family lost their housing and furnitures because of a great fire. He started studying fiqh, tafsir, qelam, hadith, grammar and linguistic as well as logic at early age. He is also known to produce a handwritten copy all […]
Concept of Heva: Ardour and overweening ambition according to tasawwuf
Heva means empty, full of air, futile and worthless. It is a concept used by sufis to indicate someone’s nafs, in other words, soul’s inclination towards and dependency on personal desires and lust. If heva overcomes reason in any human being, the person will be under the command of his nafs, thus leading his soul […]
Adabali : An awliya from the birth period of Ottoman Empire
Adabali was one important awliya of Anatolia and he had a prominent role during the establishment years of Ottoman empire. He was the father in law and the teacher of Othman Gazi, who was the first sultan of Ottomans. It is believed that he was born in Karaman in the year 1206 and passed away […]
Nashuhee Uskudari and three levels in tasawwuf
Nashuhee Uskudari was one the awliyas of Istanbul, in the 17th century. He belonged to the order of the Halwatiyya. He was born in Uskudar district of Istanbul in either 1647 or 1648 and passed away 1718. From early age, his father showed special care for his education, he attended madrasa and studied tafsir, hadith […]
Mushahadee : Observing with the heart
Mushahadee is a tasawwuf concept that is related with an special stage for the “areef” ones. The areef is the one who is occupied with knowing himself to know more about Allah(j.j) in better way. Naturally, this doesn’t mean about “self-actualization”, since tasawwuf studies is exempt from such egoistic and narcissistic terms. A sufi doesn’t […]
Ibrahim Haqqi : An awliya from Erzurum
Ibrahim Haqqi was born in Erzurum in the year of 1703. In his own words he describes his early life as “For twenty-five years I worked hard to study “ilm” and I’ve been in love with Allah since forgetting about the whole world and its affairs and thus I became an areef. Then I left […]