Mevlânâ Celâleddin Rumî, a thirteenth-century Sufi leader, is an important religious figure in the Islamic-Sufi tradition. He is regarded as the founder of the Mevlevi Order. On the other hand, Sufism has been officially banned in the Turkish Republic since 1925, which includes all Sufi lodges, and the Mevlevî order is no exception. Although the public visibility of Sufi practices had been illegal and Sufism had lost its legitimacy in modern Turkey, the Turkish State established and recognized commemorations in honour of Mevlânâ approximately two decades after launching the secular reforms banning Sufism. Today these ceremonies are held annually and attended regularly by the highest state authorities. The first commemoration was held in Konya in December 1942 on the occasion of the 670th anniversary of Mevlânâ’s death where Mevlânâ was presented as ‘the great thinker of Anatolia’. This paper examines the intellectual and discursive context that helped legitimize the commemoration of a religious figure. Drawing on Michel Foucault and Edward Said’s theoretical insights, it analyses the cultural-intellectual debates and framings of Mevlânâ by the traditionalists, humanists, and nationalists, expressed in the speeches given at the first commemoration in 1942. Analysis suggests that epistemological shifts behind different conceptions of Mevlânâ have given way to a hybrid narrative.

In this study 66 verses of Mirza Cihanshah Hakiki’s Turkish-Persian Diwan about Mawlâna, his tomb and nay are reviewed and presented. In the introduction, the studies about Mawlâna of the Anatolian Turkish Literature field of the Ottoman period are briefly referred. Life, statesmanship, literary personality and living geography of Mirza Cihan Shah Hakiki are mentioned. Information about the copies of Turkish-Persian Diwan and studies made on them in Turkey, Iran, England and Armenia is given. Publications of Firuz Refâhi Alemdâri in Iran and Veyis Degirmencay in Turkey, on poems of Mirza Cihan Shah Hakiki about Mawlâna, his tomb and nay are compared. In this comparison, the study of Firuz Refâhi Alemdâri is taken as a template of comparison; it is abbreviated (Alemdâri, 2006: 40-45, 133, 152) as “A” and whereas Veyis Degirmencay`s book (Degirmencay, 2004c: 9-12, 46, 55) as “D”. The differences between these two studies are shown in the footnotes. On the other hand, the Turkish trans...

Focusing only on the external aspects of Mevlâna Jelâleddin Rûmi‘s thought world will not instill within any person the wisdom needed to understand this great Sufi master. If his inner dimensions are not comprehended, an accurate portrait of Rûmi will never emerge. In this respect, harmonizing both dimensions and discovering the relationship within Sufism of fıqh-ı zâhir (outer meaning) and fıqh-ı bâtın (inner meaning), which elevated him to such an exalted spiritual status, will help us to better understand him. Rûmi‘s attentiveness to both the inner and outer meanings, in both his life and his writings, have caused many people to pay extra attention to him. A deep comprehension of his philosophy, especially his enthusiastic poetic explanations of intellect-human, death and love-God, continue to attract countless people, including many westerners, to his extraordinary thoughts despite the fact that he died over eight centuries ago. This paper evaluates the spiritual status of his philosophy among the people of intellect and wisdom and delves deeper in those mystic aspects that caused him to become a universal figure.

examines Soltan Valad's poetical works, including his Divan, but especially his narrative masnavis, exploring his ideas about and his theory of poetry. Despite the immense output and success of the poetry of his father, Jalal al-Din Rumi, Soltan Valad nevertheless remains ambivalent or apologetic about composing poetry. Still, he takes pride in crafting his own compositions, and while promoting his father's poetry and legacy, and playing up its importance, he nevertheless is eager to distinguish himself from his father' style. Publisher's website: https://www.routledge.com/Persian-Language-Literature-and-Culture-New-Leaves-Fresh-Looks/Talattof/p/book/9781138826212