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The Development and Spatial Layout of Physical Settings

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The Development and Spatial Layout of Physical Settings 83 Chapter 5 THE DEVELOPMENT AND SPATIAL LAYOUT OF PHYSICAL SETTINGS other informal places or nearby mosques, from the fourth Islamic century onwards, whiLe the mystiCaL tradition of Islam initially flourished in private houses and early period of evolution, which is still obscure, these structures grew into durable foundationsbuildings appear and edbecame that became a characteristic the primary feature centres of associat the urbaned with and Sufism. rural Aftphysicaler an landscape. Some were large- scale hospices, lavishly endowed by the members of the could reside, receive their meals, and conduct their rituals. Many others were modest ruling elites of Iran and the Near East for the benefit of groups of Sufis, where they circles of disciples and typically comprising their tombs. A substantial number of works haveresidences noted andthe importancemeeting places of the built rapid by growthor for indi of vidualthe structures Sufi mast thaters gaveand materialitytheir small recently have scholars started highlighting the temporal and regional variations of this processto the Islamic and the spiritual range oftr aditionfunctions and and inscribed designations Sufi religiosity of different in space. physical Ho wever,settings, onl asy 1 The construction and diffusion of spiritual and charismatic authority in the medieval well as the changes in their characteristic features over time. Syrian milieu were never confined to any single type of physical setting or pious disciplesfoundation. constructed Instead, the their life identities stories of andthis loyaltiesbook’s subjects around ofta particularen demonstrate training that master such shapingregardless took of placehis place wherever of residence. the revered Nor Sufidid mastthe cosmopolitaners sat amid his world adher whereents. Asmasters such, and companions travelled from one place to another—visiting each other, forging and maintaining ties that cut across geographical and political boundaries— fade away country helped entrench the masters who presided over them in their regional and local altogether. However, the proliferation of Sufi structures of various types across the 1 Examples are the contributions made by Nathan Hofer and Ethel Sara Wolper. Focusing on Egypt founded in the country according to the functions and relational structures that occurred within theduring buildings the A yyubidrather thanand theear lyterms Mamlu usedk periodsto denote (1173– them: 1325), Hofer, PopularizationHofer typifies ofthe Sufism Sufi , structurespeciallyes tekkes or zāwiyas— in Anatolia from the mid thirteenth to the mid fourteenth century, shows how their structural and36, 51–spatial54. Warrangementsolper, studying served the pra oliferationwide range of ofdervish functional lodges— designations: called Ethel Sara Wolper, Cities and Saints: Sufism and the Transformation of Urban Space in Medieval Anatolia (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2003), 25–32. See also Ephrat, Spiritual Wayfarers, zāwiya that was 115–16, for the changes in the character and functions of the Sufi structure called founded in Ayyubid and Mamluk Jerusalem and the flexibility with which the term was used. 84 84 empLaCements of authority and hoLiness settings and furthered the concentration of authority in their hands. A process of local and gained momentum in the course of the late twelfth and thirteenth centuries. embedment, described in the first chapter of this book, began in the mid- twelfth century environmentThe spher createde dominat undered b ythe the Zangids, revered Ayyubids, Sufi mast ersand e earlyvolved Mamluks relatively and apart the fr supportom the official sphere governed by members of the ruling elites—e ven though the favourable this process. These masters of spiritual paths—sometimes settled, more frequently grantedimmigrants— to Sufi established shaykhs ofthemsel recognizedves in particularvirtues and localities, social standingformed groups played of adisciples role in and companions and along the way won over the hearts of both the local population and members of the ruling elites. In view of their growing popularity in the public sphere and as a testimony to their religious piety, sultans, princes, provincial governors, and other wealthy patrons, including women of the royal families, applied the law of the pious endowment, the waqf 2 This interplay of internal dynamics and patronage by the powerful and wealthy became apparent in Syria from the Zangid period onwards., to build and support Sufi structures. The second half of the twelfth century marked the beginning of patronage of Sufis and Sufi structures by the political rulers of Syria. Nūr al- Dīn was the first sovereign to mastprovideers theand Sufis ensured who their came upkeep under withhis rule— regular both revenues. natives andThe newstorycomers— about thewith house mor heal and material support. He enlarged the dwelling and gathering places of individual Sufi that assured the maintenance of the complex of the small mosque and lodge comes tobought mind f.or3 the venerated Shaykh Arslān al- Dimashqī and its endowment with incomes called khānqāh The Ayyubids In addition and t oMamluks supporting followed individual the leadSufi shaof theykhs, Zangi Nūr sovereign,al- Dīn built and hospices, under their rule state-s, founded and endo andwed funded them establishmentsliberally for the knownbenefit as of khānqāhdifferents, Sufi as well groups. as less of the khānqāh changed as well: while the early khānqāhs in the Ayyubid and Mamluk official, privately sponsored Sufi structures, became increasingly common. The functions the later foundations often also served as centres of legal education, in much the same waysultanates that madrasa were placess did. f orConstituting the instruction a marker of Sufism of the de rapprochementvoted exclusively between to housing mystical Sufis, establishments founded in Cairo and the Syrian principal cities ruled by the Mamluks wasand sojuristic complete Islam that,, the byfusion the endof educationalof the Mamluk and period, devotional it had acti becomevities inincreasingly the royal 2 For a somewhat different interpretation of this dynamic, see Ovamid Anjum’s argument that the development of Sufi institutions which enjoyed lavish endowments from Mamluk patrons Goservvernmentality,”ed to accelerate in Sufismthe change and Society: from the Arrangements fluidity of theof the ear Mysticallier mystical in the wMuslimayfarers World to the, ed. mor Johne structured, authoritarian, master–dis ciple relationship. Ovamid Anjum, “Medieval Authority and 3 J. Curry and Erik S. Ohlander (Abingdon: Routledge, 2012), 80–81. See the first story cited in Chapter 1. 85 85 deveLopment and Layout madrasa, khānqāh, and sometimesdifficulto t distinguishjāmiʿ (congregational the establishments mosque) arethat often support useded interchangeably. the activities of4 the mystics from those that provided for the jurists. Similarly, the terms endowments of khānqāhs was a clear indication of their recognition as disseminators of the messagePatronage of Islamof Sufis alongside by members the leaders of the of theruling traditional elites thr legalough schools. the f oundationBeginning withand sunna, as part of their publicthe Great policy Seljuk of spatronizing in the mid- ele Sunniventh scholarship century, the in new exchange alien elit fores ideological supported support. mainstr eamThe khānqāhSufism, thor thusoughly functioned grounded as an in ideological the Qurʾan branch and the of prtheophetic state apparatus, in the sense endowing rulers as supporters and defenders of Islam. Funded by endowment trusts that the Sufis who lived there wittingly or unwittingly participated in legitimizing the the khānqāh might have been used as another instrument of public policy to bolster the forrulers’ the prestige.benefit of5 Atleg thealist same Sufis time, and asguar in diansthe cases of faith of other and housedcharitable in gfoundationslorious buildings, in the public sphere, such as mosques, madrasas, and shrines, the foundation of khānqāhs was considered an act of piety, one that could have established a bond of shared values even outright legitimized the rule of the royal donor. Architectural patronage of khānqāh, likebetween that ofthe other rulers pious and establishments,the beneficiaries may and thusgener alsoate publicbe seen opinion as a means that condonedof acquiring or cultural capital by the possessors of political and economic capital. The formal institutional structure of the khānqāh, however, could hardly contain the activities and energy of the growing numbers of medieval Muslim men and women mode of life to avoid the patronage of the ruling elite and distance themselves from an whoestablishment self- identifie thatd aswas Sufis. founded No less by important the powerful was theand wish wealthy of Sufis and pursuing closely associated an ascetic their disciples continued to gather in mosques and private homes. Alternatively, they with the official sphere. It is no wonder, then, that informal groups of Sufi masters and 4 For examples of this blending in Mamluk Cairo, see Jonathan Berkey, The Transmission of Knowledge in Medieval Cairo: A Social History of Islamic Education (Princeton: Princeton University al- Tarbiya al-ʿA rabiyya al-Islāmi yya (Amman: n.p., Press, 1992), 47–50 , 56–60. On this subject generTheally, Evolution see Muḥammad of a Sufi Muḥam Institution:mad Amīn, The “al-Khanqah Awqāf wal- taʿlīm fī Miṣr fī zamān al- Ayyūbiyyīn,” in 1990),development 3:817– of 18; the and
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