The main sufi order of Khalwatiyya, with all its sub-branches, had an influential role in the formation of religious and cultural history of Ottoman Empire. Ramazaniyya sufi order that emerged in the 16th century in Istanbul from Ahmadiyya which is deemed to be the middle branch of Khalwatiyya, and spread to every district of Istanbul, from Istanbul to Bursa, from Bursa to Crimea and Edirne, and from Edirne to every parts of Rumelia by means of the disciples trained by Sheikh Ramadan Mahfi (d. 1025/1616). The sub-branches that developed from the Ramazaniyya order such as Buhuriyya, Jihangiriyya, Jarrahiyya, Sinobiyya, Raufiyya and Hayatiyya sufi orders have been the important elements in the history of the Ottoman Sufism in terms of its institutionalisation.

This work is the first academic study on Ramazaniyya branch of Khalwatiyya which continues to exist in Balkans. It deals with Khalwatiyya and Ramazaniyya in separate chapters from historical and cultural perspective, and the life of a Khalwati-Ramadani sufi master was examined in all details in the last chapter of the book.

The life and disciples of Köstendilli Ali Alaeddin al-Khalwati (d. 1143/1730), the only sufi in the history of sufi orders in general, in the history of Ramazaniyya in particular who trained three sufi masters in his life, is the last subject of the book. Köstendilli Ali Alaeddin al-Khalwati was praised by Sufi Hüseyin Vassaf with the expression “He was such a circle of light that he raised sufi masters.”

Click to buy.