“Tekyeler tarih oldu”: Tekkeler ve Zâviyeler as a Pioneering Work in the Literature of the History of Sūfism
Abstract
Important Sufis in the late Ottoman period such as Harîrîzâde (d. 1882), Bursalı Mehmed Tâhir (d. 1925), Hüseyin Vassâf (d. 1929) and Sâdık Vicdânî (d. 1939) have penned major reference books revealing the Ottoman Sufi heritage. While they still retain their significance especially in the aftermath of the abolition of Sufi lodges/tekke during the Republican era, a very few works have been added to the field. Mustafa Kara’s work entitled Din Hayat Sanat Açısından Tekkeler ve Zâviyeler (1977) is invaluable for its contribution to the continuity of the written/scholarly Sufi tradition at a difficult period it contributed to the continuity of the written/ scholarly Sufi tradition. The admirable efforts of a 26-year-old young researcher wrote such a pioneering book using primary sources and archival materials, in such a period that there was almost nothing in the literature on Sufism are worth noting. It is further impressive for the book to employ an assertive language in favor of the tekke and Sufism. Another positive aspect of the book is that the tekke is studied from various dimensions. The book has adopted a successful literary style that is scholarly without being too distant. Another significant indicator of the book’s success is that subsequent works on the history of Sufism consider it to be among the primary reference books. However, it is still reasonable to ask why the shortcomings of the book -such as spelling errors, citations without references or very long citations, sources not mentioned in the bibliography- are not corrected in the following editions, and why the subject matters of the book is not re-addressed in the light of the literature produced after its publication. Particularly, revisiting some arguments like “The source of Anatolian Sufism is Turkic” is necessary for the upcoming editions, especially in terms of the book’s venture onward and its prospective contribution to the field. In this article, the book in question is reviewed in the light of evaluations provided above.
Keywords: Mustafa Kara, Tekkeler ve Zaviyeler, history of Sufism, sufi lodge (tekke), sufi order (tariqa).
Abdullah Taha Orhan
