Popular Sufism, Ottomans, and Safavids

Head On History

In this episode we explore how Muslims experience the fall of the Caliphate and how in turn Islam is shaped by the historical circumstances. Building upon the scholarly Islam developed by the Seljuks, we talk about the fusion of internal spirituality in the form of Sufism with orthodox Sunni Islam in the figure of al Ghazali. We also discuss the heir of Al Andalus, Ibn Arabi and the philosophical Sufism that emerges. The anxieties about the Mongol invasion shape much of the developments of Islam in this time period as we see in the theology of ibn Taymiyyah and the poetry of Rumi. Understanding this context sets the scene for the rise of the Ottomans and the Safavids. We discuss Ottoman society, the division of powers, the influence of the harem, the role of scholarly Sunni Islam, the millet, and how the state continued and broke with the previous caliphate. Finally we talk about the rise of the Savafids, the formalization of popular Twelver Shi’ism through the Ayatollahs and Taziyeh and the conflict of the Ottoman-Safavid wars.