Gül Baba Gül Baba (died 1541), also known as Jafer, was an Ottoman Bektashi dervish poet and companion of Sultan Suleiman I () who took part in a number of campaigns in Europe from the reign of Mehmed II onwards. Biography A native of Merzifon ...

's tomb ('' türbe'') in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

, is the northernmost

Islamic Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

pilgrimage site in the world. The mausoleum is located in the district of Rózsadomb on Mecset (mosque) Street, a short but steep walk from

Margaret Bridge Margaret Bridge (sometimes ''Margit Bridge'') or Margit híd () is a three-way bridge in Budapest, Hungary, connecting Buda and Pest across the Danube and linking Margaret Island to the banks. It is the second-northernmost and second-oldest ...

was a member of the Bektás Dervish Order, who died in Ottoman

Buda Buda (, ) is the part of Budapest, the capital city of Hungary, that lies on the western bank of the Danube. Historically, “Buda” referred only to the royal walled city on Castle Hill (), which was constructed by Béla IV between 1247 and ...

in 1541.

History

Gül Baba, the author of Meftahū' l-Ghayb, was a Hurufi- Ostad of the

Esoteric interpretation of the Quran Esoteric interpretation of the Quran () is the allegorical interpretation of the Quran or the quest for its hidden, inner meanings. The Arabic word ''taʾwīl'' was synonymous with conventional interpretation in its earliest use, but it came to ...

. He died during the

conquest Conquest involves the annexation or control of another entity's territory through war or Coercion (international relations), coercion. Historically, conquests occurred frequently in the international system, and there were limited normative or ...

, by the

Ottoman Sultan The sultans of the Ottoman Empire (), who were all members of the Ottoman dynasty (House of Osman), ruled over the Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental empire from its perceived inception in 1299 to Dissolution of the Ottoman Em ...

Suleiman the Magnificent Suleiman I (; , ; 6 November 14946 September 1566), commonly known as Suleiman the Magnificent in the Western world and as Suleiman the Lawgiver () in his own realm, was the List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman sultan between 1520 a ...

. Gül Baba was declared to be the

Wali The term ''wali'' is most commonly used by Muslims to refer to a saint, or literally a "friend of God".John Renard, ''Friends of God: Islamic Images of Piety, Commitment, and Servanthood'' (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008); John ...

''(

Patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...

)'' of the city. His türbe was built by Mehmed Paşa, ''beylerbeyi'' of Buda, between 1543 and 1548 in an octagonal shape and has a shallow dome covered with lead plates and wooden tiles. The tomb became an important Ziyarat/

Pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a travel, journey to a holy place, which can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life. A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) w ...

place. Evliya Çelebi, the author of the Seyâhatnâme, reported that his Salat al-Janazah (funeral prayer) was attended by more than 200,000

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

s. Various ''" Ayat-ū Mukattaat"'' from

Qur'an The Quran, also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation directly from God ('' Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which consist of individual verses ('). Besides ...

is woven on the pall of his casket. The tomb, in 1916, represented the farthest influence of Bektashism in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. While one source claims the only other turbe that remained in the former Ottoman lands north of the river

Sava The Sava, is a river in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, a right-bank and the longest tributary of the Danube. From its source in Slovenia it flows through Croatia and along its border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and finally reac ...

was the turbe of Mustafa Gaibi in

Slavonia Slavonia (; ) is, with Dalmatia, Croatia proper, and Istria County, Istria, one of the four Regions of Croatia, historical regions of Croatia. Located in the Pannonian Plain and taking up the east of the country, it roughly corresponds with f ...

, transferred in 1954 to

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

, at least two other türbes are still extant: the Tomb of İdris Baba in

Pécs Pécs ( , ; ; Slovak language, Slovak: ''Päťkostolie''; also known by #Name, alternative names) is List of cities and towns of Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, the fifth largest city in Hungary, on the slopes of the Mecsek mountains in the c ...

, southern Hungary, and Damat Ali-Paša's Turbeh in

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

, between the confluence of the Sava with the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

. Gül Baba's tomb was not damaged when the

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...

armies captured the area during the Second Battle of Buda in 1686, but it was converted into a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

by the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

, who renamed it "St Joseph's Chapel". In 1987, in the precinct of Gül Baba's tomb building, the Hungarian and Turkish governments decided to finance the building of an Islamic Centre and Mosque, complete with a library and museum, but after the political changes in 1989 nothing was built. One of the plans was designed by Dr. Basil Al Bayati and followed traditional Ottoman style. "Dr. Bayati’s design presents a large complex which successfully combines the styles of Ottoman architecture (as it was practised in Eastern Europe) and Hungarian architecture in the style of Lechner. The platform on which this complex is envisaged is already standing. The new buildings flank the turbe to the right and left. The building to the left, or more precisely to the south of the turbe, is a mosque. This is covered by three domes, all resting on drums of various heights, that in the centre being taller than the lateral ones. Due to the cold climate of the country the mosque is entirely covered and is rectangular in shape. Since colour is very much in evidence both on the exterior and interior of the building, it is envisaged that the mihrab will be coated with Zsolnay tiles and framed by a rectangular border containing Quranic inscription.”

Ownership

The land later came under the ownership of János Wagner, who maintained the site and allowed access to Muslim

pilgrim The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often vocalize it as ...

s coming from the Ottoman Empire (''see Islam in Hungary''). In 1885, the Ottoman government commissioned a Hungarian engineer to restore the tomb and, when work was completed in 1914, it was declared a national monument. The site was restored again in the 1960s and ultimately in 2018.

Gallery

Image:Gulbaba turbejecivertanlegi.jpg, Aerial view of the building Image:Gül Baba 1.JPG, The exterior view of the türbe of

Image:Gulbaba2.jpg, The sebil (

fountain A fountain, from the Latin "fons" ( genitive "fontis"), meaning source or spring, is a decorative reservoir used for discharging water. It is also a structure that jets water into the air for a decorative or dramatic effect. Fountains were o ...

for ablutions and drinking) Image:Budapest, the coffin of Gül Baba.jpg, The interior view of the türbe of

Image:Gül Baba Grab Budapest (Ungarn)..jpg, The coffin of

The ceramic glaze writings with the

symmetric Symmetry () in everyday life refers to a sense of harmonious and beautiful proportion and balance. In mathematics, the term has a more precise definition and is usually used to refer to an object that is invariant under some transformations ...

Islamic calligraphy Islamic calligraphy is the artistic practice of penmanship and calligraphy, in the languages which use Arabic alphabet or the Arabic script#Additional letters used in other languages, alphabets derived from it. It is a highly stylized and struc ...

on the wall of his türbe are seen: ''"Lā- ʾIlāha-illā' al-Lāh"'' at right, and ''"

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

ū'n- Rasulū' l-Lāh"'' at left, in the picture above; and

Allah Allah ( ; , ) is an Arabic term for God, specifically the God in Abrahamic religions, God of Abraham. Outside of the Middle East, it is principally associated with God in Islam, Islam (in which it is also considered the proper name), althoug ...

Basmala The (; also known by its opening words ; , "In the name of God in Islam, God") is the titular name of the Islamic phrase “In the name of God in Islam, God, Rahman (name), the Most Gracious, Rahim, the Most Merciful” (, ). It is one of ...

from right to left.

References

External links

Gül Baba Shrine
by the Turkish Ministry of Culture

Basil Al Bayati
Official Website of Architect {{DEFAULTSORT:Tomb of Gul Baba Islamic pilgrimages Hungarian Muslims History of Budapest Islam in Hungary Mosques in Hungary Ottoman architecture in Hungary Ottoman mausoleums Religious buildings and structures in Budapest

History

Ownership

Gallery

See also

References

External links