Academic article on the Rifa'i Marufi tariqa

Hu...
This is a juicy one for anyone interested in the history of Rifa'i Marufi. It is an article by Turkish professor Atabey Kilic about the order. Unfortunately, it is all in Turkish, except for this abstract:

MA’RİFÎLİK IS A TARİQA WHICH SHOWS ALEVÎ-BEKTAŞÎ-RIFÂ’Î
CHARACTERISTICS IN MANİSA-DEMİRCİ

Ma’rifilik is a tariqa, which was alive between 19-20th centuries, shows Alevî-Bektâşî-Rıfâ’î characteristics and it’s âsitâne takes place in Kartal. Today we can see it’s tradition in Ege Region especially in Manisa-Demirci. There are many mecmuas in Ege University Centural Library about this tariqa. In this paper we aim to give informatin about this tariqa’s tradition, rules and apparel


Here is the article itself (in Turkish)
http://www.turkishstudies.net/sayilar/sayi6/3k%C4%B1l%C4%B1%C3%A7atabey.pdf

Even if you don't know Turkish, it's still a useful thing for any Rifa'i Marufis in America or elsewhere to take a look at. Lots of great pictures from Kartal, and some really interesting pictures from old documents showing the clothing worn in the order 200 years ago. I'm particularly intrigued with the fact that he particularly seems to focus on the Alevi and Bektashi connections. As some of you know, this is one of my major interests as well, and was a major part of my anthropology master's thesis. (which if any curious person would like to read is called "Mending Fences and Setting Fires" and is in the Thomas Cooper Library at the University of South Carolina).

By the way, if any kind person who speaks better Turkish than I do would like to give me a quick summary of his article, I'd be eternally grateful... ;)

As-salaamu aleykum.

Nedim

Hu, Erenler....
As-salaamu aleykum.

This is an incredible BBC documentary, mashallah! I highly recommend watching this. Great footage of Sain Zahour (a Chisti from Pakistan), the Aissawa brotherhood in Morocco (Selma's favorite music), and even Mercan Dede and Mira Hunter (both of whom have Rifa'i Marufi connections), and that's just a fraction of what is on here.


Part One:




Part Two:



Part Three:



Part Four



Part Five

some pictures...

Hu, everyone. I just thought I'd stop in briefly to post a few pictures of Hazreti Ali, Hajji Bektash Veli, and Pir Sultan Abdal. The ones with the tall hat are Hajji Bektash, the one holding the saz is Pir Sultan, and the others are Hz. Ali. The last one is a painting by Murat Yagan, who is a sort of Circassian post-modern Bektashi who now leads a church (at least kind of) in Canada. Not quite sure what I think about all of that, but he's an interesting and thought-provoking character. Eyvallah. I love that painting-- with the image of Sayyidina Ali in the center and the baglama of Pir Sultan. If you look closely at the bottom, you can see an Alevi semah on the left and a Mevlevi sema on the right.

Had a nice phone conversation with Cem (in Turkey) a couple of weeks ago.

Not a lot of news here, other than that I am missing Selma very much (she is in Morocco) and I am absolutely stunned and delighted to receive an incredible package of Sufi books and music from my longtime dost
Fr. Justin.

Okay, I'm off to bed before a week-long Myrtle Beach trip. Inshallah, I'll get to the Meher Baba Center while I'm there. Every now and then I find some Rifa'i Marufi folks around there too, which would be a treat.

Lastly, inshallah, we will see the inauguration of our new president next week. Elhamdullillah! I can't even begin to say how happy I am about this. America needs this... and inshallah, he will make the most of this. I truly believe that this last election gave America a chance to decide whether we want to live up the the great promise that is in the spirit of this country. Elhamdullillah, the voters chose to do this. I am so happy for this. Now, let's just hope we have a leader and a government that are really able to bring out the best. Allahu Alim. But I have a lot of confidence and enthusiasm.

So, a fatiha for our new president. May he guide us with siyaset in this new era, inshallah. Allah Hadi Allah Hu.

As-salaamu aleykum...






Hu...