İsmailağa Jamaah or İsmail Ağa Jamaah (;

Ottoman Turkish Ottoman Turkish (, ; ) was the standardized register of the Turkish language in the Ottoman Empire (14th to 20th centuries CE). It borrowed extensively, in all aspects, from Arabic and Persian. It was written in the Ottoman Turkish alphabet. ...

: اسماعیل آغا جماعتی) is a branch of ''the Gümüşhanevî Dergâh of Nakşibendi- Khālidī Ṭarīqah'' (

Sufi Order A ''tariqa'' () is a religious order of Sufism, or specifically a concept for the mystical teaching and spiritual practices of such an order with the aim of seeking , which translates as "ultimate truth". A tariqa has a (guide) who plays the r ...

) in

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. It takes its name from the İsmailağa Mosque in

Fatih Fatih () is a municipality and district of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 15 km2, and its population is 368,227 (2022). It is home to almost all of the provincial authorities (including the mayor's office, police headquarters, metro ...

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

. It is aligned with the

Naqshbandi Naqshbandi (Persian: نقشبندیه) is a major Sufi order within Sunni Islam, named after its 14th-century founder, Baha' al-Din Naqshband. Practitioners, known as Naqshbandis, trace their spiritual lineage (silsila) directly to the Prophet ...

spiritual order of

Sunni Islam Sunni Islam is the largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any Succession to Muhammad, successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr ...

Sufism Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

Ahmet Şık Ahmet Şık (; born 1970, Adana) is a Turkish investigative journalist, the author of several books, a trade unionist, and member of Grand National Assembly of Turkey, Parliament in Turkey.Details othis website; accessed on 11 April 2011 His book, ...

, Niyazi Dalyancı, habervesaire.com, 18 February 2010
Warfare between judiciary and government
/ref> in the ''

silsilah ''Silsila'' () is an Arabic word meaning ''chain'', ''link'', ''connection'' often used in various senses of lineage. In particular, it may be translated as "spiritual genealogy" where one Sufi Master transfers his ''khilafat'' to his '' ...

'' of

Khalidiyya Naqshbandiyya Khalidiyya, Khalidiyya or Khalidi is the title of a branch of the Naqshbandiyya Sufi Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, ...

and was led by

Mahmut Ustaosmanoğlu Mahmut Ustaosmanoğlu (1929 – 23 June 2022), also known as Mahmud Effendi and known to his followers as "Effendi Hazretleri", was a Turkish people, Turkish Sufi Sheikh and the leader of the influential İsmailağa Jamia of the Naqshbandi-Khali ...

, imam of the İsmailağa Mosque from 1954 to 1996. It has significant influence over daily life in few streets of

, the capital district of Istanbul. In 2006,

Deniz Baykal Deniz Baykal (20 July 1938 – 11 February 2023) was a Turkish politician. A member of the Republican People's Party (CHP) who served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1995 to 1996. Having served in numerous governmen ...

described the whole district of Fatih as an "İsmailağa republic". There are communities in a number of other cities in Turkey, including

Erzincan Erzincan (; ), historically Yerznka (), is the capital of Erzincan Province in eastern Turkey. Nearby cities include Erzurum, Sivas, Tunceli, Bingöl, Elazığ, Malatya, Gümüşhane, Bayburt, and Giresun. The city is majority Turkish Sunni w ...

Characteristics

According to Ahmet Hakan Coşkun, the

jamia Jamia (جامعة ''jāmi‘a''; also ''jamiya'' 'h'' is the Arabic word for ''gathering''. It can also refer to a book Al-Jami'a or a mosque, or more generally, a university. In the latter sense it refers in official usage to a modern university ...

requires strict Islamic-clothing, with members wearing beards,

Kaftan A kaftan or caftan (; , ; , ; ) is a variant of the robe or tunic. Originating in Asia, it has been worn by a number of cultures around the world for thousands of years. In Russian usage, ''kaftan'' instead refers to a style of men's long suit ...

s, and shalwar trousers, and turbans of white muslin when praying. Women wear a face-covering ''Çarşaf'' (

chador A chādor ( Persian, ), also variously spelled in English as chadah, chad(d)ar, chader, chud(d)ah, chadur, and naturalized as , is an outer garment or open cloak worn by many women in the Persian-influenced countries of Iran, Afghanistan, Azerba ...

). A number of leading Turkish politicians are associated with the wider

order; President

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician who is the 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as the 25th prime minister of Turkey, prime minister from 2003 to 2014 as part of the Jus ...

is said to have links with the stricter İsmailağa branch. This might explain how the wire-tapping ordered by public prosecutor

İlhan Cihaner İlhan Cihaner (born 23 February 1968, Kağızman), is a Turkish people, Turkish leftist politician and a former prosecutor. He's a parliamentary deputy for the Republican People's Party (CHP) since 2011. He was the Chief Public Prosecutor of Erz ...

in 2007 to 2009 in relation to İsmailağa included Erdoğan.

History

In the 1990s the group sent missionaries to parts of the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

(particularly

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

), and trained people at its madrassa in the İsmailağa Mosque. The work continued more slowly after new restrictions on religious activities in Turkey 1997. The ''İsmailağa

Jamia Jamia (جامعة ''jāmi‘a''; also ''jamiya'' 'h'' is the Arabic word for ''gathering''. It can also refer to a book Al-Jami'a or a mosque, or more generally, a university. In the latter sense it refers in official usage to a modern university ...

'' came to wider public attention in Turkey through three murders committed in the İsmailağa Mosque - the son-in-law of Mahmut Ustaosmanoğlu in 1998 and in 2006 a retired imam and the man who stabbed him, who was lynched.

Today's Zaman ''Today's Zaman'' (Zaman is Turkish for 'time' or 'age') was an English-language daily newspaper based in Turkey. Established on 17 January 2007, it was the English-language edition of the Turkish daily '' Zaman.'' ''Today's Zaman'' included dom ...

, 5 March 2012
No progress in imam Bayram Ali Öztürk’s murder case in five years
/ref> From 2007 to 2009 the local Chief Public Prosecutor in

, investigated the community and ordered wire-tapping after reports of the community offering unauthorised Koran courses and preventing girls from attending school. File:Ismail Aga Mosque 2487.jpg, İsmailağa Mosque from Manyasizade Caddesi File:Ismail Aga Mosque.jpg, İsmailağa Mosque corner İsmailağa Sokak File:Ismail Aga Mosque 2493.jpg, İsmailağa Mosque from İsmailağa Sokak File:Ismail Aga Mosque 2484.jpg, İsmailağa Mosque courtyard File:Ismail Aga Mosque 2483.jpg, İsmailağa Mosque courtyard File:Ismail Aga Mosque 3504.jpg, İsmailağa Mosque from courtyard

References

External links

www.ismailaga.org.tr

Picture series of the mosque
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ismailaga Sufi orders Islam in Turkey Naqshbandi order