Khalwati order

Interior of the *türbe* of Sheikh Shaban-i Veli in Kastamonu, Turkey

The Khalwati order (Arabic: الطريقة الخلوتية, romanized: al-Ṭarīqa al-Khalwatiyya) is a Sufi order of Sunni Islam named after Umar al-Khalwati. Along with the Naqshbandi, Qadiri, and Shadhili orders, it is among the most famous Sufi orders. The order takes its name from the Arabic word khalwa, meaning “method of withdrawal or isolation from the world for mystical purposes.”^[1]

The order was founded by Umar al-Khalwati in the city of Herat in medieval Khorasan (now located in western Afghanistan). However, it was Umar's disciple, Yahya Shirvani, who founded the “Khalwati Way.”^[2] Yahya Shirvani wrote Wird al-Sattar, a devotional text read by the members of nearly all the branches of Khalwatiyya.^[3]

The Khalwati order is known for its strict ritual training of its dervishes and its emphasis of individualism.^[3] Particularly, the order promoted individual asceticism (zuhd) and retreat (khalwa), differentiating themselves from other orders at the time.^[3] The order is associated as one of the source schools of many other Sufi orders.

^ Keddie, Nikki R. (1972). Scholars, Saints, and Sufis. Los Angeles: University of California Press. p. 401.
^ De Jong, Frederick (2000). Sufi Orders in Ottoman and Post- Ottoman Egypt and the Middle East. Istanbul: Isis Press. p. 274. ISBN 975-428-178-5.
^ ^a ^b ^c Trimingham, J. Spencer (1998). The Sufi Orders in Islam. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 333. ISBN 0-19-512058-2.

[Keddie-1] Keddie, Nikki R. (1972). Scholars, Saints, and Sufis. Los Angeles: University of California Press. p. 401.

[DeJong-2] De Jong, Frederick (2000). Sufi Orders in Ottoman and Post- Ottoman Egypt and the Middle East. Istanbul: Isis Press. p. 274. ISBN 975-428-178-5.

[Spencer-3] Trimingham, J. Spencer (1998). The Sufi Orders in Islam. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 333. ISBN 0-19-512058-2.

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