Early Sufis and Jerusalem
Early Sufis and Jerusalem Towards the end of the 8th century CE, holy individuals began to appear throughout the Middle East, claiming to possess mystical knowledge passed down to them…
Abbasids and Jerusalem
Abbasid Dynasty and Jerusalem In the year 750 CE, the Abbasid dynasty ascended to power over the vast Muslim Empire, moving the capital from Damascus to Iraq and establishing Baghdad.…
Second Generation Sufism
Bāyazīd Bisṭāmī – Annihilation in God (Fanāʾ) Sufism during the Golden Age of the Abbasid Caliphate in Baghdad developed along two main currents: one was the sober, “calm” path of…
Saladin – rise of Sufism
The Golden Age of Sufism Saladin conquered Jerusalem in 1187, and the city was ruled by his descendants for a short period, until 1229. Following this, we have a short…
Mamluk and Sufi Traditions
The Mamluks and the Sufi Tradition The Mamluks were a military caste from Egypt that ruled Jerusalem following the time of Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn (Saladin) and the Ayyubids (late 12th century)…
Ottomans and Bektashi Janissaries
Ottomans and the Bektashi Dervishes The Ottomans conquered Jerusalem in 1517 and ruled it for 400 years. Ostensibly, this was merely the replacement of one Muslim rule with another, but…
Whirling Dervishes in Jerusalem
Whirling Dervishes in Jerusalem It appears that the Bektashi Order established a center for its rituals in Jerusalem in the 16th century, but the more important order established in Jerusalem…
Naqshbandi Zawiya in Jerusalem
The Naqshbandi Order and the Silent Dhikr In the 19th century, the importance of the Naqshbandi Order grew, serving as a central component in the new Ottoman Pan-Islamic vision of…
New Muslim Jerusalem
Ali Jauhar and Muhammad Iqbal The British Empire, which ruled over a quarter of the globe, was called the Empire on which the sun never set. India was the jewel…