The Rifa'i (also Rufa'i) are a Sufi order most commonly found in the Arab Middle East but also in Turkey and the Balkans. Sufism ( تصوّف - taṣawwuf, Persian: صوفیگری sufigari, Turkish: tasavvuf, Urdu: تصوف The araB gene Promoter is a bacterial promoter activated by e L-arabinose binding The Middle East is a Subcontinent with no clear boundaries often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East. Turkey (Türkiye known officially as the Republic of Turkey ( is a Eurasian Country that stretches It was founded by Ahmed ar-Rifa'i. Ahmed ar-Rifa'i (1118-1181 was the founder of the Rifa'i Sufi order
History
The order has a marked presence in Syria and Egypt and plays a noticeable role in Kosovo and Albania. This article is about the country in southern Europe For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Albania topics. The Rifa'i Tariqa has a notable tendency to blend worship styles or ideas with those of other orders that predominate in the local area. For example, the group established by Ken'an Rifa'i in Istanbul reflects elements of the Mevlevi Order, while more rural Turkish Rifa'is have sometimes absorbed significant influence from the Alevi/Bektashi tradition.
The order spread into Anatolia during the 14th and 15th Centuries and ibn Battuta makes note of Rifa'i 'tekkes' in central Anatolia. Anatolia (Anadolu Ανατολία Anatolía) or Asia minor, comprising most of modern Turkey, is the geographic region bounded by the Black Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Abdullah Al Lawati Al Tanji Ibn Battuta (أبو عبد الله محمد ابن عبد الله اللواتي الطنجي بن بطوطة (born February A khanqah, khaniqah (also transliterated as khanqa, and khaneqa Persian خانگاه khanegah and خانقاه khaneghah ribat, zawiya The order however, began to make ground in Turkey during the 17th to 19th centuries when tekkes began to be found in Istanbul the imperial capital of the Ottoman Empire, from here the order spread into the Balkans (especially Bosnia (where they are still present), modern day Albania and Kosovo. Istanbul (historically Byzantium and later Constantinople; see the other Names of Istanbul) is the largest city of Turkey The Ottoman Empire (1299–1923 ( Old Ottoman Turkish: دولتْ علیّه عثمانیّه Devlet-i Âliye-yi Osmâniyye, Late Ottoman and Modern Turkish The Province of Bosnia or Pashaluk of Bosnia was a key Ottoman province the westernmost one mostly based on the territory of the present-day state of Bosnia During the reign of Sultan Abdul Hamid II the Rifa'i order gained even more popularity in Istanbul ranking alongside the Khalwati, Qadiri and Naqshbandi orders as 'orthodox' Sufi orders. Sultan (سلطان is an Islamic title with several historical meanings Abdülhamid II His Imperial Majesty Sultan of the Ottoman Empire ( Ottoman Turkish: عبد الحميد ثانی `Abdü’l-Ḥamīd-i sânî, İkinci Abdülhamit The Khalwati Sufi order (or Halveti, as it is known in Turkey) is an Islamic Sufi brotherhood ( Tariqa) Qadiriyyah ( Arabic: القادريه, Turkish: Kadirilik) (also Transliterated Kadri, Elkadry, Kadray Naqshbandi ( Naqshbandiyya) is one of the major Tasawwuf orders ( Tariqa) of Islam.
Current manifestations of the order in the United States include the tekkes (lodges) in Staten Island and Toronto that were under the guidance of the late Shaykh Xhemali Shehu (d. 2004) of Prizren, Kosovo. Prizren ( Albanian: Prizren or Prizreni, Serbian Cyrillic: Призрен is a historical city located in southern Kosovo. Each of these orders is ultimately Turkish in origin.
Criticism
They have sometimes been (somewhat pejoratively) called the 'howling dervishes' due to what some see as their 'excessive' practices during their zikr. Dhikr ذکر Plural اذكار Adhkaar ( Zikir in Turkish and Malay, Zikr in Urdu, Jikir in Bengali and Zekr They have been known to pierce their bodies using skewers and place hot irons in their mouths, practices that, though having caught the imagination of Western travellers such as E. W. Lane in the last century, have also incurred the wrath of both strict theologians such as ibn Taymiyyah and modern reformists alike. Taqi ad-Din Ahmad ibn Taymiyyah ( January 22, 1263 &ndash 1328 was a Sunni Islamic scholar born in Harran, located
External links
- Ahmed er Rifai - Rifai Dervishes www.rifai.org
- Website of a Rifai Qadiri group
- http://qa.sunnipath.com/issue_view.asp?HD=7&ID=921&CATE=1 Why do Rifa'is pierce themselves, eat fire, & other such things?]
- Online translation of Al-Burhan Al-Mu'ayyad by Shaykh Ahmad Rifa'i
Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic