Delves into the writings of a prolific mystic to argue that Ottoman Sufism was political.• Introduces one of the most prolific Ottoman authors of all time to Western audiences.• Highlights the important connections between Sufism (Islamic mysticism) and political power.• Sheds light on the contested nature of religious authority in the early-modern Ottoman state.• Examines previously unpublished and untranslated Arabic and Ottoman Turkish manuscripts.• Uses methods and theories from the fields of Religious Studies, Ottoman History, and Islamic Studies.This book contributes to the growing scholarship on the political dimensions of Ottoman Sufi thought and practice by examining the intersections of self-representation and religious authority in the writings of Ismail Hakki Bursevi (1653-1725), a prolific Sufi master, well-known Qur’an exegete, and advisor to Ottoman officials. The book highlights the political aspirations of this prominent early-modern Sufi through a focus on Bursevi’s self-portraits as one of the most important religious figures of his age. By paying attention to the individual, communal, and institutional aspects of his authority construction, the book sheds light on how intellectuals like Bursevi navigated an increasingly competitive market of religious ideas in the Ottoman late seventeenth and early eighteenth century. More broadly, Sufism and Power in the Ottoman Empire challenges the notion that Sufi authority is necessarily charismatic and argues that the social context in which Bursevi lived points to alternative theorizations of religious authority as a discourse.
Kameliya N. Atanasova
Kameliya Atanasova is an Assistant Professor of Religion and History at Washington & Lee University (Lexington, VA). She holds a Ph.D. in Religious Studies from the University of Pennsylvania. She has conducted archival research in the US, Germany, and Turkey which has been sponsored by the Mellon Foundation, DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) and The Manuscript Society.
Editorial Reviews
“Despite his prolific nature as a writer and over-representation in the Ottoman archival and library registers, Bursevi is poorly understood and his relevance to Ottoman and Islamic history has not been properly situated. This book goes a long way toward rectifying that imbalance. It is a critical addition to the scholarly literature on Sufism and the history of the Ottoman Empire, and an advance that has benefited my own work on the topic.”
— John Curry, University of Nevada