Misplaced Pages

Sayyid Khawaja Hadrat-i TurkistanAhmed Ibn Ibrahim Ibn Ilyas Yasawi
خواجه احمد یسوی
A modern illustration of Ahmad Yasawi with Arystan Bab Mausoleum behind
Personal life
Born	1093 CE Sayram, Kara-Khanid Khanate
Died	1166 CE (aged 72–73) Turkistan, Kara-Khanid Khanate
Parent	Sheikh Ibrahim (father)
Era	Islamic Golden Age
Notable work(s)	Book of Wisdom
Known for	Poetry, Sufism, Diwan in Middle Turkic
Religious life
Religion	Sunni Islam
Jurisprudence	Hanafi
Senior posting
Period in office	12th century
Influenced by Arslan Baba, Yusuf Hamadani
Influenced Hazrat Ishaan, Yunus Emre, Haji Bektash Veli, Kockar Ata, Sarı Saltık, Magtymguly Pyragy, Idries Shah, Yahya Kemal Beyatlı

Part of a series on Islam Sufism
Tomb of Abdul Qadir Gilani, Baghdad, Iraq
Ideas Abdal Al-Insān al-Kāmil Baqaa Dervish Dhawq Fakir Fana Hal Haqiqa Ihsan Irfan Ishq Karamat Kashf Lataif Manzil Ma'rifa Maqam Murid Murshid Nafs Nūr Qalandar Qutb Silsila Sufi cosmology Sufi metaphysics Sufi philosophy Sufi poetry Sufi psychology Salik Tazkiah Wali Yaqeen
Practices Anasheed Dhikr Haḍra Muraqabah Qawwali Sama Whirling Ziyarat
Sufi orders Alians Ba 'Alawi Bektashi Qadiri Chishti Naqshbandi Shadhili Suhrawardi Rifa`i Khalwati Rahmani Badawi Desuqi Tijani Darqawi Idrisi Senusi Bayrami Jelveti Maizbhandari Malamati Mouridi Sülaymaniyya Salihiyya Azeemia Kubrawi Mevlevi Shattari Uwaisi Hurufi Ni'matullāhī Nuqtavi Qalandari Safavi Zahabiya Akbari Galibi Haqqani Anjuman Inayati Issawiyya Jerrahi Madari Mahdavi Noorbakshi Zahedi Zikri
List of sufis Notable early Notable modern Singers
Topics in Sufism Tawhid Sharia Tariqa Haqiqa Ma'rifa Art History Sufi music Persecution Ziyarat
Islam portal
v t e

Ahmad Yasawi (Kazakh: Қожа Ахмет Ясауи, romanized: Qoja Ahmet Iasaui, قوجا احمەت ياساۋٸ; Persian: خواجه احمد یسوی, romanized: Khwāje Ahmad-e Yasavī; 1093–1166) was a Turkic poet and Sufi, an early mystic who exerted a powerful influence on the development of Sufi orders throughout the Turkic-speaking world. Yasawi is the earliest known Turkic poet who composed poetry in Middle Turkic. He was a pioneer of popular mysticism, founded the first Turkic Sufi order, the Yasawiyya or Yeseviye, which very quickly spread over Turkic-speaking areas. He was a Hanafi scholar like his murshid (spiritual guide), Yusuf Hamadani.

Early life

Ahmed Yesevi was born to Ibrahim in Sayram at the end of the 11th century. He lost his father at the age of seven and was then raised by Arslan Baba [tr]. By then, Yasawi had already advanced through a series of high spiritual stages and, under the direction of Arslan Baba, the young Ahmad reached a high level of maturity and slowly began to win fame from every quarter. His father Ibrahim had already been renowned in that region for performing countless feats and many legends were told of him. Consequently, it was recognized that, with respect to his lineage as well, this quiet and unassuming young boy, who always listened to his elder sister, held a spiritually important position.

Yesevi later moved to Bukhara and followed his studies with Yusuf Hamadani. Upon the demise of Yusuf Hamdani, first ʻAbdullah Barki and then Hassan-i Andākī became the head of Hamadani's khanqah. Yasawi became the head murshid of the Naqshbandi order when Hassan-i Andākī died in 1160. He then turned this position to Abdul Khaliq Ghijduwani under Hamadani's advice and moved to Turkistan City in order to spread Islam in Turkestan.

Influence

Ahmad Yasawi made considerable efforts to spread Islam throughout Central Asia and had numerous students in the region. Yasawi's poems created a new genre of religious folk poetry in Central Asian Turkic literature and influenced many religious poets in the following countries. Yasawi turned the city of Iasy into the major centre of learning for the Kazakh Steppe, then retired to a life of contemplation at the age of 63. He dug himself an underground cell where he spent the rest of his life.

Turkish scholar Hasan Basri Çantay noted: "It was a Seljuk king who brought Rumi, the great Sufi poet, to Konya; and it was in Seljuq times that Ahmed Yasawi, another great Sufi, lived and taught. The influence of those two remarkable teachers has continued to the present." Yasawi is also mentioned by Edward Campbell (writing as Ernest Scott) as a member of the Khwajagan. Yasawi also influenced Turkish poet Yahya Kemal Beyatlı, he said: "Who is this Ahmad Yasawi? If you study him, you will find our nationality in Him."

Poetry

Yasawi's most famous poetic work is undoubtedly his Dīwān-i Hikmat (Compendium of Wisdom), which was handed down from generation to generation. In his compendium, Yasawi denounces social injustice, violence and calls for patience and humility, as well as reliance on the will of Allah.

The following example is an excerpt from Yasawi's Dīwān-i Hikmat, transliterated into Latin script and translated into English.

Legends about Ahmed Yasawi

Date palm

Legend has it that a religious mystic, Arystan-Bab (also known as Arslan Baba), was the teacher and spiritual mentor of Khoja Ahmad Yasawi. It was Arystan-Bab who transmitted the amanat (trustworthiness, noble quality), which was contained in a pip of date palm. According to the legend, Arystan-Bab was an associate of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. One day, Muhammad and his companions were resting and eating dates when suddenly one of the fruits fell out of the dish. Simultaneously, Muhammad heard the revelation: "This date is for the Muslim Ahmad, who will be born 400 years later than You." Muhammad asked his companions who would pass this persimmon to its future owner, but no one volunteered. Muhammad then repeated his question, and finally Arystan-Bab replied: "If you beg Allah to give me 400 years of life, then I will pass this date."

Timur's dream

According to legend, Ahmad Yasawi predicted Timur in his dream (who lived two centuries after him) glad tidings of the forthcoming conquest of Bukhara. Taking this as a sign, Timur went on a campaign that would indeed be successful. After his victory, he decided to visit the grave of Yasawi and ordered to build there a majestic mausoleum.

Legacy

Yasawi is celebrated as a spiritual teacher all throughout Central Asia, Turkey, & Greater Persia. The people of Kazakhstan, a secular country that was also the birthplace of Yasawi, have built numerous monuments and have honored him in many other ways as well, including:

• The Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi was later built on the site of his grave by Timur in Turkistan City. The Yesevi order he founded continued to be influential for several centuries afterwards, with the Yesevi Sayyid Ata Sheikhs holding a prominent position at the court of Bukhara into the 19th century. There is the greatest influence of shamanistic elements in the Yasawiyya compared to other Sufi orders.

• Yesevi authored the Book of Wisdom (Turkic: ديوان حكمت, Dīvān-i Ḥikmet), a collection of poems, in Turkic. The book was published in 1895 and 1905 in Kazan.

• The Naqshbandi Idries Shah mentions Yasawi's lineage in The Book of the Book.

• The first Kazakh-Turkish university, Ahmet Yesevi University, was named in his honor.

Descendants

A popular descendant of Yasawi is the Hazrat Ishaan, whose mother descended from Yasawi. The Hazrat Ishaan led the Naqshbandiyya in a line of hereditary succession reaching Sayyid Mir Jan and incorporated tenets of the Yasawiyya.

In popular culture

The Turkish series, Mavera (2021) (in Turkish) is based on Ahmad Yasawi's life. In the series, he was portrayed by the Turkish actor Korel Cezayirli [tr].

References

1. Ro'i, Yaacov (2000). Islam in the Soviet Union: From the Second World War to Gorbachev. C. Hurst & Co. Publishers. ISBN 978-1-85065-403-2., page 373
2. Richter, Fabian (2016). Identität, Ethnizität und Nationalismus in Kurdistan: Festschrift zum 65. Geburtstag von Prof. Dr. Ferhad Ibrahim Seyder (in German). LIT Verlag Münster. p. 32. ISBN 978-3-643-13234-5.
3. "Encyclopædia Britannica (2007): Related Articles to "Ahmed Yesevi, or Ahmad Yasawi, or Ahmed Yasavi (Turkish author)", accessed March 18, 2007". Britannica.com. Retrieved 2013-04-09.
4. ^ Book of Wisdom. Lithographic Printing House of the Kazan Imperial University. 1904. p. 366. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
5. ^ "Divan-i Khikmet". Kazakhstan National Commission For UNESCO - natcom.unesco.kz.
6. I.Melikoff, 'Ahmad Yesevi and Turkic popular Islam' Archived 2006-12-25 at the Wayback Machine, EJOS, VI (2003), No. 8, 1-9, ISSN 0928-6802
7. ^ The Foundation of the Presidency of Religious Affairs, TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, Vol. 2, pp. 159-161 (in Turkish), İstanbul, 1989.
8. İz, Fahīr (1960–2007). "Aḥmad Yasawī". Encyclopaedia of Islam (2nd ed.). doi:10.1163/1573-3912_islam_SIM_0427. ISBN 9789004161214.
9. Y. N. Öztürk: The Eye of the Heart (Redhouse Press Istanbul 1988), p.49
10. John L. Esposito, ed., The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World, Volume 1, New York: Oxford University Press, 1995, p. 271
11. "Hasan Basri Çantay, "Chapter 7: Islamic Culture in Turkish Areas", in Islam — The Straight Path: Islam Interpreted by Muslims by Prof. Kenneth W. Morgan, Published by The Ronald Press Company, New York 1958". Religion-online.org. Archived from the original on 2013-04-11. Retrieved 2013-04-09.
12. The People of the Secret by Edward Campbell (1983) ISBN 0-86304-038-1
13. "Ahmet Yesevi Üniversitesi".
14. M, Asimov; Bosworth, Clifford Edmund (1992). History of Civilizations of Central Asia, Volume 4. Motilal Banarsidass. p. 381.
15. Levin, Theodore (2016). The Music of Central Asia. Indiana University Press. p. 475.
16. "Mausoleum of Arystan-Bab" (in Russian). 18 January 2010.
17. "The Path of the Khoja Ahmet Yasawi in Kazakh and Turkish Minstrel Customs" (PDF). Global Media Journal: 4. 2018.
18. "Yasavi (Shrine of Ahmed Yasavi), ArchNet Dictionary of Islamic Architecture". Archnet.org. Archived from the original on 2006-05-26. Retrieved 2013-04-09.
19. Devin Deweese "The Politics of Sacred Lineages in 19th-century Central Asia: Descent groups linked to Khwaja Ahmad Yasavi in Shrine Documents and Genealogical Charters" International Journal of Middle East Studies Vol.31 (1999) pp507-530
20. "The Sacred Sites of Kyrgyzstan", Cholpon K. Dyikanova, Taalaibek K. Dyikanov, Jarkyn B. Samanchina (eds.), Bishkek, 2004-2005, p. 8, citing Demidov, 1988, p. 3 Archived September 29, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
21. Shah, Idries (1976). The Book of the Book. Octagon Press Ltd. ISBN 978-0-900860-12-6., page 9
22. "Ahmet Yesevi University Official Site". Yesevi.edu.tr. Retrieved 2013-04-09.
23. Damrel in Forgotten Grace, p. 21

Further reading

• Beben, Daniel (2020). "Aḥmad Yasavī and the Ismāʿīlīs of Badakhshān: Towards a New Social History of Sufi-Shīʿī Relations in Central Asia". Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient. 63 (5–6): 643–681. doi:10.1163/15685209-12341523. S2CID 229476699.
• John G. Bennett (1995). The Masters of Wisdom. Bennett Books. ISBN 978-1-881408-01-7.

External links

• UNESCO Heritage Mausoleum Hoja Ahmed Yasevi (in Russian)
• National Library of the Republic of Kazakhstan - Hoja Ahmed Yasaui (in Russian)
• Great Soviet Encyclopedia. Turkestan (city in Kazakh SSR) (in Russian)

• 1093 births
• 1166 deaths
• Sufi poets
• Muslim missionaries
• Turkic literature
• Sufis
• Sufi saints
• 12th-century Muslim scholars of Islam
• 12th-century poets