TheKhalwati order (also known asKhalwatiyya,Khalwatiya, orHalveti, as it is known in Turkey and Albania) is anIslamicSufi order (tariqa). It is most widespread inEgypt,Albania,Bosnia,Turkey, and to a lesser extent,Azerbaijan. The order takes its name from the Arabic wordkhalwa, meaninghermitage.[1]The order emerged from theSafavi-Bektashi milieu[2] and underwentSunnification under theOttomans. It was founded by Muhammad-Nur al-Khalwati, and his son Umar al-Khalwati, around the city ofHerat in medievalKhorasan (now located in westernAfghanistan). It was Umar'sdisciple,Yahya Shirvani however, who founded the “Khalwati Way” as a practice.[3] Yahya Shirvani wrote Wird al-Sattar, a devotional text read by the members of nearly all the branches of Khalwatiyya.[4]
The Khalwati order is known for its strict ritual training of itsdervishes and its emphasis of individualism, their poetry is also notable for being influenced byHurufis likeNaimi andNesimi.[4] Historically, the order promoted individual asceticism (zuhd) and hermitage (khalwa), differentiating themselves from other orders at the time.[4] The order is known as one of the source schools of many other Sufi orders.[5]
The Khalwati has two lineages, but it is safe to say that it goes back toAli,Hasan andHusayn, most likely via theBasran orBaghdadi tradition, out of which theKhorasaniKhwajagan generation eventually emerged, the most famous of which beingYusuf Hamadani,Abu al-Hassan al-Kharaqani andAbu Ali Farmadi, from which the students ofAhmad Yasawi taughtZahed Gilani, who then ultimately went on to be the teacher of Muhammad-Nur al-Khalwati and Umar al-Khalwati; the Khwajagan also often connected toBayazid Bastami, whom the Khalwati have special reverence for.[2]
The lineages of the order are also very frequently linked to theMalamatiyya in some way, and their traditions ofkhalwa andmalamah are believed to be directly related.[2]
Due to the dual lineage of Khalwatis, their early history is heavily disputed, especially due to them being split intoSunni andShia, with Sunnis generally favoring theBasrid lineage, and Shias favoring theBaghdadi lineage, due to it being connected toAli al-Rida, as well as the previousShia imams.[2]
A popular narrative dictates that the orders practice emerged upon the death of Umar al-Khalwati after having died from 40 days in fasting and seclusion. The practice of seclusion in virtually all Sufi orders is traced to at least one Khalwati pir present in their lineage. Despite the authority of Muhammad-Nur al-Khalwati, Umar al-Khalwati is usually considered its founder, or the "firstpir".[6] It is important to note however, that Umar- Khalwati was considered a cryptic and mysterious man who was not very well known and did very little to spread the order.Shaykh Yahya Shirvani is considered "the second pir" and was himself the primary person responsible for the spread of the Khalwati order.[6]
Yahya Shirvani lived during a time of great political instability in the wake of the Mongol invasion. After the Mongol invasions, Turkish nomads began to gather into urban centers of theIslamic world. All these cities had Sufishaykhs performing miracles for the nomads. Thus, these Turkish nomads were easily converted to mystical Islam when the Sufishaykhs promised them union with Allah.[6] Yahya Shirvani enteredBaku at this time of religious fervor and political instability, and he was able to start a movement. Yahya Shirvani was able to gather ten thousand people to his movement. Yahya had many popular, charismatic disciples to spread the order, including Pir Ilyas.[1]
The time of greatest popularity for Khalwati order was during the thirty-year reign of SultanBayazid II (1481–1511) inOttoman Turkey after undergoing sunnification.[1] During this time, the sultan practiced Sufi rituals which, without a doubt, brought in many people to the order, who wanted to advance their political career. This is the time period where members of the upper class, Ottoman military, and higher ranks of civil services were all involved with the Khalwati order. The Sufi sheikh, Chelebi Khalifa, moved the headquarters of the Khalwati order fromAmasya toIstanbul.[1] Here, they rebuilt a former church into atekke, or Sufi lodge. The tekke became known as theKoca Mustafa Pasha Mosque.[1] These buildings spread throughout the region as Khalwati's popularity grew. The order spread from its origins in theCentral Asia andAzerbaijan to theBalkans, especially inGreece,Kosovo andNorth Macedonia, toEgypt,Sudan and almost all corners of theOttoman Empire.
After Chelebi Khalifa's death, the power was passed to his son-in-law,Sunbul Efendi. He was considered a very spiritual man that saved theKoca Mustafa Pasha Mosque.[1] According to the miraculous account, the new sultanSelim I, was suspicious of the Khalwati order and wanted to destroy itstekke.Selim I sent workers to tear down thetekke, but an angry Sunbul Efendi turned them away. Hearing this, Selim I went down there himself only to see hundreds of silentdervishes gathered around Shaykh Sunbul dressed with hiskhirqa. Selim was astonished by Sunbul's spiritual power and canceled the plans to destroy thetekke.[1]
The attacks from theulama, the orthodox religious class, were more serious in the long run. Their hostility were on many Sufi orders, not just the Khalwatiya. Their criticism was a political concern, which suggested that they Khalwatis were disloyal to the Ottoman state, and a doctrinal concern, that the Sufis were thought by the ulama to be too close to folk Islam and too far from theshari'a. The ulama also held a cultural hostility towards them, which made the ulama intolerant of the Sufis.[6]
The order began to transform itself over the course of the 16th and 17th centuries as it became more embedded inOttoman social and religious life. A good example of this is the branch of the order founded byShaʿban-i Veli (d. 1569) inKastamonu. Whereas Shaʿban was a retiring ascetic who kept a low profile in the 16th century, by the 17th century his spiritual follower ʿOmer el-Fu'adi (d. 1636) wrote multiple books and treatises that sought to cement the order's doctrines and practices, in addition to combatting a growing anti-Sufi feeling that later took shape in the form of the Kadizadeli movement.[7] Also during this period, the order sought to reassert itsSunni identity, by disassociating itself with theShi’i enemy. With the reign ofSulayman the Magnificent andSelim II the order entered a revival. They had links with many high-ranking officials in the Ottoman administration and received substantial donations in cash and property, which helped to recruit more members.[8]
By this time, members of the Khalwati order broke ties with the common people, who they previously aligned themselves so closely. They attempted to rid the order of folk Islam to a more orthodox order.[1] The Khalwati was very conscious of their public image and wanted the order to become more of an exclusive membership for the upper class. From here, the Khalwati order broke off into many suborders. In 1650s rose one of the most famous Anatolian Khalwati shaykhs,Niyazi al-Misri. Niyazi was famous for his poetry, his spiritual powers, and public opposition to the government.[1] He was a leader that represented the old Khalwati order, one for the masses.[1] Niyazi gave the common people and their spiritual aspirations a voice again in the Khalwati order. Niyazi's poetry demonstrates some of the Khalwati's aspects of retreat. He writes in one of his poems:
Most scholars believe that the Khalwati themselves went through a major revival during the 18th century when Mustafa ibn Kamal ad-Din al-Bakri (1688–1748)[10] was in charge. Al-Bakri was considered a great shaykh who wrote many books, invented Sufi techniques, and was very charismatic.[1] He travelled throughout Jerusalem, Aleppo, Istanbul, Baghdad, and Basra. Before he died he wrote 220 books, mostly aboutadab.[3] It is said that he saw the prophet nineteen times andal-Khidr three times. In many cities, people would mob al-Bakri to receive his blessing.[1] After al-Bakri died, Khalwati dome scholars believe that al-Bakri set “a great Sufi renaissance in motion.”[1] He was considered the reformer who renewed the Khalwati order in the Egypt. The Khalwati order still remains strong inEgypt where the Sufi orders do receive a degree of support from the government. The Khalwati order also remains strong in theSudan.
However, not all scholars agree with al-Bakri's influence. Frederick de Jong argues in his collected studies that al Bakri's influence was limited. He argues that many scholars speak of his influence, but without much detail about what he actually did.[11] Jong argues that al-Bakri's influence was limited to adding a prayer litany to the Khalwati rituals.[3] He made his disciples read this litany before sunrise and called it the Wird al-sahar. Al-Bakri wrote this prayer litany himself and thought it necessary to add it to the practices of the Khalwati order. Jong argues al-Bakri should not be attributed with the revival of the Sufi order for his limited effect.[3]
After the influence of al-Bakri faded, the Khalwati order began gradually splitting into popular break-off branches, which were led by figures such asIsmail Haqqi Bursevi,Aziz Mahmud Hudayi,Mustafa Gaibi,Mustafa Devati,Osman Fazli andShaban Veli, whom are nonetheless still highly esteemed and venerated by mainstream Khalwati followers.
Members of the Khalwati order were involved in political movements by playing a huge role in theUrabi insurrection in Egypt. The order helped others oppose British occupation in Egypt. The Khalwati groups in Upper Egypt protested British occupation due to high taxes and unpaid labor, which, in addition to drought, made living very hard in the 1870s.[3] Their protests blended with the large stream nationalist protests that lead up to the Urabi insurrection. It can be said that the Khalwati's fight to improve living conditions eventually lead to the larger nationalist protests.[3]
The situation varies from region to region. In 1945, the government inAlbania recognized the principaltariqas as independent religious communities, but this came to an end after the Albanian Cultural Revolution in 1967. In 1939 there were twenty-five Khalwatiyya tekkes inAlbania,Macedonia andKosovo. In 1925 the orders were abolished in Turkey and all tekkes and zawiyas were closed and their possessions confiscated by the government, and there is no data available on the status of the Khalwatiyya. In Egypt there are still many active branches of the Khalwatiyya.[12]
Modernity has affected the orders to have quite different forms in different environments. They vary depending on the locality, personality of the shaykh and the needs of the community. There may also be different prayer practices, patterns of association, and the nature of relations linking the disciples to the shaykh and to each other.[13]
In the contemporary period, the practice and idea ofkhalwa (spiritual retreat) have been reinterpreted in diverse ways beyond traditional Sufiṭarīqa frameworks. While classical Khalwati practice emphasized prolonged solitude under the guidance of ashaykh, modern adaptations often focus on inner reflection, ethical self-cultivation, and psychological well-being within broader philosophical or spiritual contexts. These contemporary approaches tend to be less institutionalized, more inclusive, and responsive to modern social conditions, illustrating how Khalwati-inspired concepts continue to evolve while remaining connected to their historical roots.[14]
The Khalwati order had many tekkes inIstanbul, the most famous being theJerrahi,Ussaki,Sunbuli, Ramazani andNasuhi. Although the Sufi orders are now abolished in theRepublic of Turkey, the above are almost all now mosques and/or places of visitation byMuslims for prayer.
The hallmark of the Khalwatiyyatariqa way, and its numerous subdivisions is its periodic retreat (khalwa) that is required of every novice.[15] These can last between three days to forty days. The khalwa for some offshoots of the Khalwatiyya is essential in preparing the pupil,murid. The collectivedhikr follows similar rules throughout the different branches of the Khalwatiyya order.[16] The practice of dhikr is described as repetitive prayer. The practitioner is to be repeating Allah's name and remembering Allah. The dervish is to be attentive to Allah in their repetitive prayer.[17] They are to be completely focused on Allah, so much so that an early Sufi master says "True dhikr is that you forget your dhikr."[18] Another practice that distinguishes the Khalwatiyya from other tariqas is that for them it is through participation in the communal rites and rituals that one reaches a more advanced stage of awareness, one that the theorists of the order described as a face-to-face encounter with Allah.[19]
The following are two commonly cited spiritual chains (silsilas) tracing back to Prophet Muhammad:
Another version of the spiritual lineage is as follows:
| Zawiyas |
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|---|---|---|
| Tariqas | ||
| International | |
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| National | |
| Other | |
