İsmailağa

Jamia Jamia (جامعة ''jāmi‘a''; also ''jamiya'' 'h'' is the Arabic word for ''gathering''. It can also refer to a book Al-Jami'a or a mosque, or more generally, a university. In the latter sense it refers in official usage to a modern university ...

or İsmail Ağa

( tr, İsmailağa Cemaati) is a branch of ''the Gümüşhanevî Dergâh of

Nakşibendi The Naqshbandi ( fa, نقشبندی)), Neqshebendi ( ku, نه‌قشه‌به‌ندی), and Nakşibendi (in Turkish) is a major Sunni order of Sufism. Its name is derived from Baha-ud-Din Naqshband Bukhari. Naqshbandi masters trace their li ...

- Khālidī Ṭarīqah'' (

Sufi Order 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". ...

) in

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

. It takes its name from the İsmailağa Mosque 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 Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

. It is aligned with the

Naqshbandi The Naqshbandi ( fa, نقشبندی)), Neqshebendi ( ku, نه‌قشه‌به‌ندی), and Nakşibendi (in Turkish) is a major Sunni order of Sufism. Its name is derived from Baha-ud-Din Naqshband Bukhari. Naqshbandi masters trace their ...

spiritual order of Sunni Islam

Sufism 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, ...

Ahmet Şık, Niyazi Dalyancı, habervesaire.com, 18 February 2010
Warfare between judiciary and government
/ref> in the ''

silsilah Silsila ( ar, سِلْسِلَة) is an Arabic word meaning ''chain'', ''link'', ''connection'' often used in various senses of lineage. In particular, it may be translated as "spiritual genealogy" where one Sufi Master transfers his ''khi ...

'' of

Khalidiyya Naqshbandiyya Khalidiyya, Khalidiyya or Khalidi is the title of a branch of the Naqshbandiyya Sufi lineage, from the time of Khalid al-Baghdadi until the time of Shaykh Ismail ash-Shirwani. The Khalid’îyyah tariqa silsila References * G ...

and was led by Mahmut Ustaosmanoğlu, imam of the İsmailağa Mosque from 1954 to 1996. It has significant influence over daily life in few streets of

, the capital district of Istanbul. In 2006,

Deniz Baykal Deniz Baykal (born 20 July 1938) is a Turkish politician at the Republican People's Party (Turkish: Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi, abbreviated CHP) who served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1995 to 1996. Having served in ...

described the whole district of Fatih as an "İsmailağa republic". There are communities in a number of other cities in Turkey, including

Erzincan Erzincan (; ku, Erzîngan), historically Yerznka ( hy, Երզնկա), is the capital of Erzincan Province in Eastern Turkey. Nearby cities include Erzurum, Sivas, Tunceli, Bingöl, Elazığ, Malatya, Gümüşhane, Bayburt, and Giresun. The ...

Characteristics

According to Ahmet Hakan Coşkun, the

jamia Jamia (جامعة ''jāmi‘a''; also ''jamiya'' 'h'' is the Arabic word for ''gathering''. It can also refer to a book Al-Jami'a or a mosque, or more generally, a university. In the latter sense it refers in official usage to a modern university ...

requires strict Islamic-clothing, with members wearing beards,

Kaftan A kaftan or caftan (; fa, خفتان, ) is a variant of the robe or tunic. Originating in Asia, it has been worn by a number of cultures around the world for thousands of years. In Russian usage, ''kaftan'' instead refers to a style of men's l ...

s, and

shalwar Salwar or Shalwar is cloth worn from the waist to the ankles, covering both legs separately. It is the lower-garment of the Shalwar kameez suit which is widely-worn in South Asia. It is known for its lively hues, rich fabrics, and embroidery. It ...

trousers, and turbans of white muslin when praying. Women wear a face-covering ''Çarşaf'' (

chador A chādor ( Persian, ur, چادر, lit=tent), also variously spelled in English as chadah, chad(d)ar, chader, chud(d)ah, chadur, and naturalized as , is an outer garment or open cloak worn by many women in the Persian-influenced countries of I ...

). A number of leading Turkish politicians are associated with the wider

order; Prime Minister

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician serving as the 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as prime minister of Turkey from 2003 to 2014 and as mayor of Istanbul from 1994 t ...

is said to have links with the stricter İsmailağa branch. This might explain how the wire-tapping ordered by public prosecutor

İlhan Cihaner İlhan Cihaner (born 23 February 1968, Kağızman), is a Turkish leftist politician and a former prosecutor. He's a parliamentary deputy for the Republican People's Party (CHP) since 2011. He was the Chief Public Prosecutor of Erzincan from 2007 ...

in 2007 to 2009 in relation to İsmailağa included Erdoğan.

History

In the 1990s the group sent missionaries to parts of the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia (country), Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range ...

(particularly

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

), and trained people at its

madrassa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , pl. , ) is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary instruction or higher learning. The word is variously transliterated ...

in the İsmailağa Mosque. The work continued more slowly after new restrictions on religious activities in Turkey 1997. The ''İsmailağa

'' came to wider public attention in Turkey through three murders committed in the İsmailağa Mosque - the son-in-law of Mahmut Ustaosmanoğlu in 1998 and in 2006 a retired imam and the man who stabbed him, who was lynched.

Today's Zaman ''Today's Zaman'' (Zaman is Turkish for 'time' or 'age') was an English-language daily newspaper based in Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcont ...

, 5 March 2012
No progress in imam Bayram Ali Öztürk’s murder case in five years
/ref> From 2007 to 2009 the local Chief Public Prosecutor in

, investigated the community and ordered wire-tapping after reports of the community offering unauthorised Koran courses and preventing girls from attending school. File:Ismail Aga Mosque 2487.jpg, İsmailağa Mosque from Manyasizade Caddesi File:Ismail Aga Mosque.jpg, İsmailağa Mosque corner İsmailağa Sokak File:Ismail Aga Mosque 2493.jpg, İsmailağa Mosque from İsmailağa Sokak File:Ismail Aga Mosque 2484.jpg, İsmailağa Mosque (Fatif) courtyard File:Ismail Aga Mosque 2483.jpg, İsmailağa Mosque courtyard File:Ismail Aga Mosque 3504.jpg, İsmailağa Mosque from courtyard

References

External links

www.ismailaga.org.tr

Picture series of the mosque
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ismailaga Sufi orders Islam in Turkey Naqshbandi order