The Formation of Ottoman Sufism and Eşrefoğlu Rumi: A 15th Century Shaykh Between Popular Religion and Sufi Ideals
General Material Designation
[Thesis]
First Statement of Responsibility
Basturk, Baris Abdullah
Subsequent Statement of Responsibility
Antov, Nikolay
.PUBLICATION, DISTRIBUTION, ETC
Name of Publisher, Distributor, etc.
University of Arkansas
Date of Publication, Distribution, etc.
2020
GENERAL NOTES
Text of Note
207 p.
DISSERTATION (THESIS) NOTE
Dissertation or thesis details and type of degree
M.A.
Body granting the degree
University of Arkansas
Text preceding or following the note
2020
SUMMARY OR ABSTRACT
Text of Note
This dissertation evaluates a transformative period in the history of the Ottoman State in which the processes of Islamization and Turkification coincided with the expansion and imperialization of the Ottoman polity. This study focuses on an Ottoman Sufi figure, Eşrefoğlu Rumi (?-1469), who benefited form this context, embarked upon a mystical path, and authored seminal works that shaped Ottoman Sufism for generations. This dissertation discusses Eşrefoğlu Rumi's role in the construction of Islamic orthodoxy based in his Sufi ideals which he disseminated to an Anatolian and Balkan Turkish-speaking Ottoman audience. The significance of this dissertation is that it emphasizes the agency of individual scholars and saints in the making of Ottoman Islam while challenging the dichotomous categorizations such as "orthodoxy" vs. "heterodoxy" and "popular" and "high Islam."