Early Period
Osman I and his son Orhan were members of the Vefâiyye sufi order led by the legendary grandmaster Edebâlî.
Murad I the Benevolent was a follower of the mystic Seyyid Mehmed Hammârî of Tabriz.
Bayezid I the Thunderbolt was a disciple of the Nurbakhshiyye order grandmaster Emir Sultan.
Mehmed I the Prince followed the Zeyniyye order’s leader Molla Fenari.
Murad II was a Mevlevî under grandmaster Emir Âdil Çelebi and abdicated to become a true dervish but was reenthroned to fend off Crusader campaigns that his son Mehmed could not.
Mehmed II the Conqueror was a Bayramî and a student of grandmaster Shemseddin the White.
Bayezid II the Saint followed the Halvetî order and its leader Çelebi Halife, and he staged a large-scale humanitarian operation to save the Sephardic Jewish population of Andalusia from inquisition.
Selim I the Grim was a dervish of the Zeyniyye order under grandmaster Halimî Çelebi. His nemesis, Shah Ismail of Iran, was also a Turkish sufi and a grandmaster.
Enter Nakhshbendi
With the enemy being Twelver Shiites, they sought a Sunni sufi order that did not trace back to Ali but Abu Baqr. Imam Rabbani provided a solution with a reform of Bahaeddin Nakhshbandi’s teachings.
Süleyman I the Magnificent was the first Nakhshbendi disciple, following grandmasters Abdüllatif Mahdumî and Mehmed Nurullah.
After Selim II, Murad III returned to the Nakhshibendî order under Hâce Ahmed Sâdık of Kabul.
Halveti Period
Selim II the Blond adopted the Halvetî order under Süleymân of Diyarbakır.
Mehmed III and five next-generation sultans followed the Celvetiyye order under Mahmud Hüdâî the Saint. Ahmed I, Mustafa I, Osman II, Murad IV, and Ibrahim were followers.
Mehmed IV the Hunter returned to the Halvetî order under Ahmed Câhidî.
Süleyman II was a follower of Halvetiyye under Osman Fazlî Efendi.
Mevlevis vs Nakhshbendis
The Mevlevi order was influential during the Ottoman empire’s decline. Ahmed II, Mustafa II, and Ahmed III were disciples under grandmaster Receb Enis Dede.
Mahmud I and Osman III were Nakhshibendî under Seyyid Muhammed Murâdî, while Mustafa III followed the same order under Mustafa Efendi.
Abdülhamid I was a dervish of the Sa’diyye order led by Mehmed Ziyâd Efendi.
Selim III, a classical Turkish music composer, was a Mevlevî disciple under Mehmed Emin Çelebi.
Mustafa IV was a Nakhshibendî and visited Abdülhalim Efendi.
Mahmud II, who moved against the Janissaries and Bektashi, was a Nakhshibendî follower of Mehmed Nuri Efendi and redistributed properties to the Nakhshbendis.
Abdülmecid I was part of the same Nakhshbendi circle.
Abdülaziz followed the Mevlevî order under Sadreddin Çelebi.
Abdülhamid II was a disciple of the Şâzelî order under Zâfir Efendi.
Murad V and Mehmed V were Mevlevî followers under Salâhaddin Dede at Yenikapı lodge. Murad V was also a Freemason, which is accepted in the Mevlevi order.
Rise of Nakhshbendi Gümüşhanevi
Mehmed VI followed the
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