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The Halveti-Jerrahis & the Legacy of Sheikh Muzaffer

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The Halveti-Jerrahis & the Legacy of Sheikh Muzaffer THE HALVETI-JERRAHIS & THE LEGACY OF SHEIKH MUZAFFER IN NORTH AMERICA JON G. KASPERSKI Bachelor of Arts, University of Lethbridge, 2019 A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS in RELIGIOUS STUDIES Department of Religious Studies University of Lethbridge LETHBRIDGE, ALBERTA, CANADA © Jon G. Kasperski, 2021 THE HALVETI-JERRAHIS & THE LEGACY OF SHEIKH MUZAFFER IN NORTH AMERICA JON G. KASPERSKI Date of Defense: April 9, 2021 Dr. Atif Khalil Associate Professor Ph.D. Supervisor Dr. Hillary Rodrigues Professor Ph.D. Thesis Examination Committee Member Dr. John Harding Associate Professor Ph.D. Thesis Examination Committee Member Dr. James Linville Associate Professor Ph.D. Chair, Thesis Examination Committee Member Abstract This thesis analyzes the legacy of the Halveti-Jerrahi sheikh, Muzaffer Ozak, in North America. Following his death, the Order was split into the Nur Ashki Jerrahi Order and the Jerrahi Order of America, with the former reflecting a more “universalistic” orientation, and the latter a more “traditional” one. Which of the two more accurately embodied his legacy? In order to answer the question, the study draws from personal interview testimonies of Sheikha Fariha al-Jerrahi and Sheikh Muhamad Jamal al-Jerrahi (Gregory Blann), as well as from the teachings of Sheikh Muzaffer. This thesis demonstrates that Sheikh Muzaffer consciously fostered different interpretations of his teachings while also showing it was not his intention to have the Halveti- Jerrahi Order separated. Moreover, the study shows that he grew to embrace the more adaptive interpretations of his message over the more conservative, yet still legitimate perspective of traditionalists. iii Acknowledgments I would like to thank my supervisor Dr. Atif Khalil who saw potential in me, encouraged me to take on this project, and helped me refine and bring out my own voice as the work unfolded. I thank Dr. Hillary Rodrigues, not only for his support of this project, but for helping me develop my ability as a teaching assistant in his classes. I would also like to thank Dr. John Harding who graciously and selflessly joined the committee in the latter months of the project in the wake of the academic disruptions created by the Covid-19 pandemic. This thesis would have been a shadow of what it is presently without their guidance. Last but not least, I thank my parents for their unwavering love and support. iv Table of Contents Abstract.......................................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgements........................................................................................................................ iv Table of Contents............................................................................................................................. v Introduction..................................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1 1.1 Sufism and Mysticism............................................................................................................... 3 1.2 Proto-Sufism.............................................................................................................................. 4 1.3 Halveti-Jerrahi Chain of Transmission (silsila)......................................................................... 6 1.4 Early Figures in the Halveti-Jerrahi silsila: Formation and Delineation of Sufism.................. 9 1.5 The Khalwatis/Halvetis........................................................................................................... 16 1.6 The Jerrahis.............................................................................................................................. 18 Chapter 2 2.1 Sufism in the West................................................................................................................... 23 2.2 The Example of Jalal al-Din Rumi........................................................................................... 24 2.3 Changing Perspectives on Sufism............................................................................................ 25 2.4 Initial Sufi/Western Engagements in the 19th Century............................................................. 29 2.5 The First “Wave” of Sufism in the West.................................................................................. 30 2.6 René Guénon’s Traditionalism................................................................................................ 30 2.7 Orientalism and the Notion of Sufism as Separate from Islam................................................ 33 2.8 Sufi Romanticism.................................................................................................................... 34 2.9 Hazrat Inayat Khan’s Universalism......................................................................................... 37 2.10 Second and Third “Waves” of Sufism in the West................................................................. 39 2.11 Sufi Categorisations in the West............................................................................................ 40 2.12 How to Categorise Sheikh Muzaffer Ozak?........................................................................... 42 Chapter 3 3.1 Muzaffer Ozak’s Early Life and Teachers................................................................................ 44 3.2 Teachings of Muzaffer Ozak.................................................................................................... 51 3.3 Muzaffer Ozak in America....................................................................................................... 54 Chapter 4 4.1 The Nur Ashki Sufi Order and the Jerrahi Order of America.................................................. 62 4.2 Criticism of Muzaffer Ozak..................................................................................................... 63 4.3 Where Would Muzaffer Ozak Align? Perspectives of Sheikha Fariha and Sheikh Muhammad Jamal............................................................................................................................................. 66 4.4 Was the Separation a Conscious Act?...................................................................................... 73 4.5 Sufism on the World Stage....................................................................................................... 76 Conclusion..................................................................................................................................... 80 Bibliography.................................................................................................................................. 81 v Love is at the centre of everything. It is the beginning, the middle, the end. And so really, you would say Sufism is, as Sheikh Muzaffer said, ‘the Unveiling of Love’ – the realisation that this whole universe is love, that God is love, that we are love. I would say that is the highest aspiration or the highest level of Sufism; to unveil that love and to live that love. – Sheikha Fariha al-Jerrahi (2021) Introduction Sheikh Muzaffer Ozak Efendi of the Halveti-Jerrahi Order stands out as one of the most important figures of the last century to play a role in the transmission of Sufism to the modern West. When Muzaffer Ozak came to America in the 1970s, he grew to love America. He found it to be a place that offered great possibilities for spiritual growth and fulfilment, not only for the followers he gained, but also for himself. His approach to Sufism in America, while rooted in Islam, was one of “gradualism.” It was a method that emphasized a slow immersion into the mystical life of Islam, not through law (Shari‘a) but the “way of love.” In the flexibility that he exercised with his students and disciples, he was sometimes accused of “innovation” or bida by members of his own faith, an accusation in its most severe form that could lead to a charge of heresy. At the same time, he was pressured and even imprisoned by the secular powers of Turkey for his adamant refusal to abandon his religious commitments and practices. While he saw his own teachings to be firmly rooted in the principles of Islam, the dual emphasis in his teachings, on conservation on the one hand and adaptation on the other, on tradition and legitimate reform, caused the Sufi Order that he brought to the Americas to split after his death into the Nur Ashki Jerrahis and the Jerrahi Order of America. Each of the two lineages, while generally respectful of each other and free of outward animosity, understood and implemented Ozak’s teachings in different ways. There are academic works which look at these differences. None, however, have investigated extensively into the figure of Ozak and how he may have viewed and aligned himself in this separation. This study, facilitated by interviews with the current Nur Ashki Sheikha, Fariha 1 al-Jerrahi and Sheikh Muhammad Jamal al-Jerrahi (Gregory Blann),1 who each have a deep understanding of that legacy, attempts to piece together Ozak’s vision of the nature, role, and future of the Halveti-Jerrahis in North America. The first chapter of this study lays out the earlier history of Sufism and essential terminology that will be drawn upon throughout this work. This history will follow the Halveti- Jerrahi chain of transmission (silsila) and the passing
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