Muzaffer Ozak (formally: Sheikh Muzaffer Özak Âșkî al-Jerrahi) (1916 – 12 February 1985) was a Turkish

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

spiritual author,

imam Imam (; ar, إمام '; plural: ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a worship leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Islamic worship services, lead prayers, serve ...

, and the 19th Grand

Sheikh Sheikh (pronounced or ; ar, شيخ ' , mostly pronounced , plural ' )—also transliterated sheekh, sheyikh, shaykh, shayk, shekh, shaik and Shaikh, shak—is an honorific title in the Arabic language. It commonly designates a chief of a ...

of the

Halveti The Khalwati order (also known as Khalwatiyya, Khalwatiya, or Halveti, as it is known in Turkey) is an Islamic Sufi brotherhood (''tariqa''). Along with the Naqshbandi, Qadiri, and Shadhili orders, it is among the most famous Sufi orders. The o ...

- Jerrahi Order of

Dervish Dervish, Darvesh, or Darwīsh (from fa, درویش, ''Darvīsh'') in Islam can refer broadly to members of a Sufi fraternity (''tariqah''), or more narrowly to a religious mendicant, who chose or accepted material poverty. The latter usage i ...

es, a traditional Ottoman

Sufi Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, r ...

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of ...

based in

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...

. He served the position from 1966 to 1985, becoming revered in Western countries because of his visits through

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

, where he celebrated public zikr ceremonies with his dervishes. He is also well known in Turkey for his ''ilahis'', Sufi religious hymns. Ozak also ran a small shop in the historic book bazaar, Sahaflar Çarşısı, that still serves the community today. Sheikh Muzaffer Ozak's most prominent

disciples A disciple is a follower and student of a mentor, teacher, or other figure. It can refer to: Religion * Disciple (Christianity), a student of Jesus Christ * Twelve Apostles of Jesus, sometimes called the Twelve Disciples * Seventy disciples in t ...

and successors in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...

were

Tosun Bayrak Sheikh Tosun Bayrak al-Jerrahi al-Halveti (January 21, 1926 – 15 February 2018) was an author, artist, translator and Sufi. He served as a government official in Ankara, Honorary Consul of Turkey in Morocco and was the Sheikh of the Jerrah ...

Lex Hixon Lex Hixon (1941–1995) (born Alexander Paul Hixon Junior, also known as Nur al-Anwar al-Jerrahi in the Sufi community) was an American Sufi author, poet, and spiritual teacher. He practiced and held membership in several religious traditions. H ...

, and Philippa de Menil. Following Ozak's death, the

tariqa A tariqa (or ''tariqah''; ar, طريقة ') is a school or order of Sufism, or specifically a concept for the mystical teaching and spiritual practices of such an order with the aim of seeking '' haqiqa'', which translates as "ultimate truth". ...

was split into the

Nur Ashki Jerrahi Sufi Order The Nur Ashki Jerrahi Sufi Order is a contemporary Sufi Order based in New York City and México City. It is a descendent of the 18th century Jerrahi Order of Istanbul and was founded in the early 1980s by American Sufis Nur al-Anwar al-Jerrah ...

and the Jerrahi Order of America, with the former reflecting a more "universalistic" orientation, and the latter a more "traditional" one. Sheikh Muzaffer consciously fostered different interpretations of his teachings while also showing it was not his intention to have the Halveti-Jerrahi Order separated. Moreover, he grew to embrace the more adaptive interpretations of his message over the more conservative, yet still legitimate perspective of traditionalists. Sheikh Muzaffer’s greatest dream was to share with humanity the secrets within the invocation of Divine Unity. He passed away into the realm of pre-eternity in Istanbul on 12 February 1985, his head bowed in

prayer Prayer is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with an object of worship through deliberate communication. In the narrow sense, the term refers to an act of supplication or intercession directed towards a deity or a deifie ...

, his lips and

heart The heart is a muscular Organ (biology), organ in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as ca ...

humming the invocation of Unity, ''Lailahailla’Llah'', one final time. Ozak's immediate predecessor as Grand Sheikh was Ibrahim Fahreddin (1885–1966), who was the 18th Grand Sheikh of the Order from 1914 to 1966. His immediate successor as Grand Sheikh was Sefer Dal (1926–1999), who was the 20th Grand Sheikh of the Order from 1985 to 1999. Ozak's most prominent disciple and successor in Turkey is Sheikh Ömer Tuğrul İnançer (1946–2022), who has been the 21st Grand Sheikh of the Halveti-Jerrahi Order since 1999 where he oversees activities of the community from their three hundred year old tekke in

Fatih Fatih () is a district of and a municipality (''belediye'') in Istanbul, Turkey, and home to almost all of the provincial authorities (including the governor's office, police headquarters, metropolitan municipality and tax office) but not the co ...

, Istanbul.

Works

* ''Irşad'' ** English: ''Irshad – Wisdom of a Sufi Master'' * ''Aşk Yolu Vuslat Tariki'' ** English: ''The Unveiling of Love'' ** Spanish: ''La Develación del Amor'' * ''Envar-ül-Kulub'' ** English: ''Lights of the Hearts'' * ''Ziynet-ül-Kulub'' ** English: ''Adornment of Hearts'' * ''Gülsar-i Arifan'' * ''Hazret-i Meryem'' (not published in Turkish) ** English: ''Blessed Virgin Mary'' ** German: ''Die gesegnete Jungfrau Maria im Islam'' ** Spanish: ''Mariam'' * ''Sofiyye Sohbetleri'' (not published in Turkish) ** English: ''Garden of Dervishes'' * ''Love is the Wine'' (edited by Robert Frager) ** German: ''Der Wein der Sufis'' (zusammengestellt von Robert Frager) *** (Title of first edition: ''Liebe ist der Wein'') ** Spanish: ''El Amor es el Vino'' (recompilado por R. Frager)

Audiorecordings

* LP ''Halveti-Jerrahi-Dhikr'' ** Journey To The Lord Of Power * CD ''Chant des Derviches de Turquie'' ** La Cérémonie du Zikr ** (5. Festival des Arts Traditionnels 1978, Rennes, France) * CD ''Garden of Paradise'' ** Sufi Ceremony of Remembrance ** (recorded April 5, 1983 in Istanbul, Turkey) * CD ''Reunion'' ** Ceremonial Music of the Sufis ** (recorded April 16, 1984 in New York City, USA)

References

External links

The Unveiling of Love Sufism and the Remembrance of God By Sheikh Muzaffer Ozak

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060525003831/http://www.fonsvitae.com/gardenceremony.html Garden of Paradise - Sufi Ceremony of Remembrance - Music CD Sheikh Muzzafer Ozak and the Halveti-Jerrahi Order of Dervishes]
Lifting the Boundaries: Muzaffer Efendi and the Transmission of Sufism to the West by Gregory Blann

Sheikh Muzaffer Ashki

Muzaffer Ozak
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ozak, Muzaffer 1916 births 1985 deaths Turkish Sufis Sufi poets 20th-century Muslim scholars of Islam Turkish composers 20th-century poets 20th-century composers

Works

Audiorecordings

See also

References

External links