Средневековое суфийское братство Халватия в трудах европейских и американских учёных
The Medieval Sufi Khalwati Order as Described by European and American Researchers

Summary/Abstract: Sufism (tasawwuf) has always attracted the attention of researchers on Islam, and, in my opinion, will be of interest for a long time in the future as one of the best manifestations of Islam which influences the spiritual development of this religion, as well as one of the main forms of Islamic existence in different historic and cultural regions. Islamic mysticism has undergone three stages in its development. The first stage is the period of early Sufism based on the mystical experience of ascetics who tried to find the confirmation of their experience in the Quran, as well as in the stories of Prophet Muhammad’s life. These ascetics started to gradually unite in communities. They wandered and settled in mansions, having shared their spiritual knowledge and, thus, mystical experience. The general principles which became the basis of Sufism were formulated by the end of this stage. The second stage in the development of Sufism is the classical stage, during which the science of Sufism (ilm-at-tasawwuf) emerged. It took place in the 12th century. The main period in the development of Islamic mysticism is the stage when Sufi brotherhoods occurred, developed, and prospered in the 13th – 14th centuries. The Khalwati Order was among the largest Sufi brotherhoods. It is associated with 12 source Sufi brotherhoods. The Khalwati Order was established in the historical region of Shirvan (which is currently a part of the Republic of Azerbaijan) during the Middle Ages. It distinguishes from any other brotherhood because of having more than 40 branches. Their representatives propagated the ideas of the first Shirvan sheikhs in the whole Ottoman Empire, in Asian and European areas, in all Arabic countries up to Africa during the 16th-19th centuries, as well as in Crimea during the 16th – 17th centuries.

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