A Document for Naqshibandi Emergence in Anatolia: The Waqfiyya of Sheikh Hace ？shak er-Rum？

Naqshibandi order is a cult of Islamic sufism that is assumed to be founded by Bahaeddin Nak？ibend in Central Asia in the 14th century. Throughout the centuries, this sufism movement has reached the present day by spreading over a wide area including India, the Caucasus, the Middle East and Anatolia then the Balkans. Academic circles accepted that especially from the 15-16th centuries, Naqshibandi had a great influence on shaping the intellectual structure of the Islamic world. It was introduced and spread through Anatolia by Simavl？ Molla Abdullah ？lahi in the second half of the 15th century, during the Ottoman period. In some studies, however, it is claimed that Naqshibandi entered Anatolia through the Naqsh？ sheikhs in Emir Timur’s army during the Battle of Ankara, and that the first Naqshibandi lodge was founded in Amasya in 1404-1405 by Bedreddin Mahmud ？elebi. This article evaluates the waqfiyya of the Sheikh Hace ？shak er-Rum？ (1381), which we consider to have an important content about the history of Naqshibandi. The waqfiyya of the Sheikh Hace ？shak er-Rum？ has not previously been published elsewhere. This article consists of two chapters. In the first part, the waqfiyya is evaluated in terms of political aspects of its time period. In the second part, considering the limited space for the article, new findings are revealed in the light of the data presented in the waqfiyya of the Sheikh ？shak er-Rum？, focusing on three main topics; discussions on where the name “Naqshibandi” came from, as genereally referred in the literature, emergence and institutionalization of Naqshibandi in Anatolia