TheSafavid order (Persian:طریقت صفویه) also called theSafawiyya (Persian:صفویه,romanized: Safaviyeh) was aSufi order (tariqa)[1][2] founded by themysticZahed Gilani and named after his son-in-law and successorSafi al-Din Ardabili (1252–1334 AD).[3][4]
Starting in the early1300s, the leaders of the Safavid movement clearly showed that they wanted political power as well as religious authority.[5] This ambition made the rulers of western Iran and Iraq first feel uneasy, and later, they became openly hostile. Even though three Safavid leaders in a row (Junayd in 1460,Heydar in 1488, andAli in 1494) were killed in battle, the movement was still strong enough to succeed and lead to the founding of the Safavid dynasty in 1501.[5] The Safavid kings based their authority on three core beliefs: that they were divinely appointed to rule Iran, that they acted as the earthly representatives of theMuhammad al-Mahdi—the Twelfth Imam in Twelver Shi‘ism who is expected to return and bring about a just and peaceful world—and that they served as themoršed-e kāmel, or perfect spiritual guide, of the Safavid Sufi order. However, in the period just before the Safavid state was officially founded, their religiouspropaganda, known as da‘va, went beyond these claims.[5] It asserted that the Safavid leader was not simply the Mahdi’s representative, but the Mahdi himself—or even a divine incarnation.[5]
The Safaviyya, while initially founded by Safi-ad-Din Ardabili under theShafi'i school ofSunni Islam, later adoptions ofShia concepts by his grandchildren resulted in the order becoming associated withTwelverism.[3][4] Safi-ad-Din's importance in the order is attested in two letters byRashid-al-Din Hamadani.[6][7][8][9] In one, Rashid al-Din pledges an annual offering of foodstuffs to Safi-al-Din, and in the other, Rashid al-Din writes to his son, the governor of Ardabil, advising him to show proper respect and comportment to the mystic.[10]
After Safi-ad-Din death, leadership of the order passed to his son,Sadr al-Din Musa, and subsequently passed down from father to son, and by the mid-fifteenth century, the Safawiyya changed in character, evolving into aghulat form of Twelver Shi'ism, becoming militant underShaykh Junayd andShaykh Haydar by proclaimingJihad against the Christians ofGeorgia, and becoming exaggerative by adoptingmessianic beliefs about its leadership andantinomian practices outside of the norm of Twelver Shia Islam.[6][7][8][9]
Junayd's grandson,Ismail, further altered the nature of the order when he founded the Safavid empire in 1501 and proclaimed Twelver Shi'ism as the state religion, at which point he imported Twelver Shiaulama largely fromLebanon andSyria to transform the order into a Twelver Shi'i dynasty.[6][7][8][9]
In fact, at the start of the Safavid period Twelver Shi'ism was imported into Iran largely from Syria and Mount Lebanon (...)
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