Rıhtım: Bakuvi’s legacy opportunity to promote Azerbaijan worldwide

Mehmet Rıhtım

21 April 2013 /FERİDE ALİYEVA, BAKU

UNESCO declared 2013 to be the Year of Seyyid Yahya Bakuvi in Azerbaijan. Mehmet Rıhtım, the director of Caucasus Research Institute and an associate professor at Qafqaz University, talked to Sunday’s Zaman about Bakuvi, a genius Sufi who played a significant role in the development of Azerbaijan’s history and culture, and described his religious order, Halvetiye.

Can you talk about the first Sufi schools established in Azerbaijan?
Azerbaijan is historically one of the unique places where Islamic Sufism first took shape. The first school established here was the Sühreverdiye order, systematized by Ebu’n-Necip Abu Hafs Sühreverdi in the 12th century. Sühreverdi was not only a saint or sufi, he also acted as an advisor to the Abbasid Caliph and he even had a diplomatic mission to conduct peace negotiations. The Sufi school he established became popular in the Muslim world beginning in the 12th century. Azerbaijani Sufi followers of this school then founded the Ebheriye order in the 13th century and the Zahidiye, Safeviye and Halvetiye orders in the 14th century.
What is the Halvetiye order? How was it established in Azerbaijan?
The word “halvet” etymologically means “solitude” or “privacy,” and in the Sufi terminology, it means a period of solitude when a dervish retires into seclusion in a Sufi lodge or mosque with the permission of his Sufi master in order to dedicate his daily life to worship and self-questioning in order to attain inner purification. This period generally lasts for 40 days. During this period, a dervish eats and sleeps very little, allocating as much time as possible to worship, reflection, remembrance (of God) and contemplation. The founder of the Halvetiye order, Pir Ömer, was fond of performing halvet and he would frequently retire into halvet.
The Halvetiye order is a special and major school of spiritual knowledge, established in the spiritual atmosphere of Azerbaijan in the 14th century. The succession of Sufi masters of the Halvetiye order goes back to Şihabeddin Sühreverdi and his uncle and tutor, Ebdülkahir Sühreverdi. These two Sufi scholars are from the Sohrevard village of the Zanjan province of historical Azerbaijan.
These scholars, as representatives of scholarly Sufism, symbolize the heavenly aspects of Islam and they acted as the vanguards of a civilization built upon spiritual knowledge that stretched from India to Anatolia and from Azerbaijan to Africa.
The cultural geography of Azerbaihan/Shirwan has historically been a source of knowledge, art and culture for Anatolia. Azerbaijan comes close to Khorasan in acting as a source of inspiration for the Seljuk and Ottoman Sufism. Indeed, distinguished sufis and saints who left their marks on our Sufi history such as Şems-i Tebrizi, Ahi Evran, Geyikli Baba, Nimetullah Nahcuvani, Gülşehri, Sinaneddin Erdebili, Nakkaş Baba, Abdülmecid Şirvani, İsmail Şirvani, and Mir Hamza Nigari migrated to Anatolia from this region.
Who is Seyyid Yahya Bakuvi? What is his place in the Halvetiye order?
Seyid Yahya Bakuvi, known as the “Pir-i Sani” or the Second Founder of the Halvetiye order had met Sadreddin, the Sufi master of the Halvetiye order, in Shamakhi in the early 15th century. Bakuvi’s father, Bahaeddin, was a reputable and rich man in Shamakhi, and he was also an important official at the Shirvanshah state. He wanted his son to follow in his footsteps and take over his legacy. But under the influence of a dream, Bakuvi joined the Halvetiye order. Then, he started to attend the order’s lodge and learn and practice the Sufi tradition. About a century after Pir Ömer, Bakuvi re-systematized the Halvetiye order and played a major role in promoting the order. Before he died, Sufi master Sadreddin told his pupils to elect Bakuvi as their master. But the dervishes elected Pirzade, who was older than Bakuvi. Therefore, Bakuvi left Shamakhi and went to Baku upon an invitation from Shirvanshah Halilullah. With his coming, Baku emerged as the new center of the Halvetiye order. If the Halvetiye order still survives in our time, this is because of Bakuvi’s efforts.
What urged you to study the Halvetiye order and Bakuvi?
I came to Azerbaijan in 1997 and started to work at Qafqaz University. I was curious to learn more about Azerbaijan’s culture, history, literature, etc. I particularly showed close interest in religious literature which was previously a less studied field. I wanted to work on a topic that was not studied before. But where should I start to work? Some incidents urged me to study Bakuvi. When I paid my first visit to the palace of the Shirvanshah, a tomb caught my attention. The palace and the tomb betrayed two contradictory architectural styles. In principle, there shouldn’t be a tomb in the palace. But when I learned that the tomb belonged to a dervish, I grew more curious, as Sufi people would abandon their worldly affairs and focus on the otherworldly matters. A palace, on the other hand, represents the paragon of worldly affairs. It seemed quizzical to see two diverse poles sit side by side. This contradiction led me to learn more about the Sufi. He must have been a very extraordinary person for his tomb is located in a respectable location. This dervish couldn’t be someone ordinary. Eventually, I learned it was Seyyid Yahya Bakuvi who was resting in that tomb. Then I was attracted to study more about the life and work of Bakuvi. I found out that he had written some books. So I started to search for them.
You found and published them. Can you talk about these books?
My preliminary efforts took me to several books by Bakuvi in the Süleymaniye library in Turkey. When I first took them in my hands and read them, I was very surprised to find that they were great works of Sufism, philosophy and literature. Much had changed between the time when I entered the library and the time when I left it. I had found a great topic to study. Then I decided to change the topic of my thesis and started to study Bakuvi’s works.
I started to work on Bakuvi and the Halvetiye literature. I took copies of the books I had examined in the library and commenced to translate them and simplify their wording. Then, I published a book titled “Seyyid Yahya Bakuvi ve Halvetilik” (Seyyid Yahya Bakuvi and Halveti Order). The sources I used were mostly the ones I found in Turkey. Later I found a pamphlet containing Bakuvi’s Persian manuscripts in the Fuzuli Manuscripts Institute in Azerbaijan. We also published Bakuvi’s “Şifaü’l Esrar,” -- which I discovered in the Süleymaniye library in İstanbul -- in 2010 in Baku and in 2011 in Turkey, after a seven-year work. Both publications were very popular. Now, their second and third editions are being prepared. We are also working on a good supplication book by Bakuvi. Working in cooperation with Nezaket Memmedova, a distinguished scholar from Azerbaijan’s Institute of Manuscripts, I intend to publish Persian works by Bakuvi.
Weren’t there any previous studies on Bakuvi?
There were references previously made to Bakuvi. A. Bakıhanov, Feridunbey Köçerli, M.A. Terbiyet, and S. Mümtaz wrote about him. Aliejder Seyitzade, Zakir Memmedov, Azade Musabeyli, Sara Hanım Aşurbeyli, S. Veliyev, C. İbrahimov and M. Mahmudbeyov, too, showed close interest in him. And Samet Vurgun had referred to him in his poem “Bakü Destanı.” I should make a special mention of Seyitzade. About 40-50 years ago, Seyitzade had intended to study Bakuvi in depth, but the political atmosphere of the time was unfavorable for such studies. With the exception of some errors, he was generally able to obtain accurate information about Bakuvi.
But it wasn’t possible to study him in depth. There were several reasons for this. First, there were restrictions on the study of religious/Sufi topics during the Soviet era. Second, expertise on Sufism was very limited. This topic could be examined either in philosophy or in literature. Yet, someone intending to study him should be knowledgeable about Islamic sciences and Sufism and be able to read and write in Azerbaijani, Arabic and Persian.
Without these skills, it was impossible to conduct reliable studies on this topic. By the way, I must note that there is still much to do in this area. Other academics should make contributions to the study of Bakuvi’s ideas, his school, his influence in Azerbaijan and around the world and his literary style, etc.
UNESCO declared 2013 as the Year of Seyyid Yahya Bakuvi in Azerbaijan. What are your plans for this year?
The declaration of 2013 as the Year of Seyyid Yahya Bakuvi was important. This represents a historic opportunity for studying Bakuvi in depth as a scholar who played an indispensable role in the shaping of Azerbaijan’s history and culture. Research into Bakuvi’s legacy is a major opportunity for promoting Azerbaijan worldwide. The Philosophy Institute will organize an international symposium on Bakuvi on July 2-3. There will be conferences as well. We are making preparations to publish books on his life and literary style both in Azerbaijan and Turkey. We intend to publish all of Bakuvi’s 18 works. A documentary about Bakuvi is being prepared. Exhibitions and symposiums will be held in Algeria and Turkey.
How should a Sufi/scholar like Bakuvi be promoted? What has survived from his school?
I, as a scholar, am interested in Bakuvi’s personality, views, ideas and his contribution to our culture and how we can benefit from his heritage. In Turkey, Azerbaijan or other Muslim countries, such Sufi personalities are not studied in depth. Emphasis is not placed on their ideas or works. This is wrong both from a religious and logical perspective. This unfortunately causes their true identities to remain concealed and religion to be perceived as a bag of superstitions.
Bakuvi was -- and still is -- an intellectual who was equipped with knowledge and insight. In the institute he established in Baku, he studied advanced scientific matters. His school was famous across the Muslim world and people would come from everywhere to pursue studies here, and they would return to their countries to open branches of this school. I managed to trace some of these people. Bakuvi’s school had spread as far as Anatolia, the Balkans, Iran, North Africa, India, Indonesia and Malaysia. Bakuvi’s influence can even be found in the US, Canada and Italy. In other words, Bakuvi’s school did not get lost in history. His path and philosophy is still alive. His path is paved with love and affection. It will bring people closer together.
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