Mawlawī Female Substitutes and Sheiks

Some Sufi orders are of the opinion that a woman can ‘attain God’ but cannot make others ‎attained Him, whereas Mawlawism officially appointed women sheiks as head of Mawlawī ‎dargāhs. Sākıb Mustafa Dede (d.1148/1735), author of Safīna-e Nafīsa-e Mewlewīyān, points out ‎that during their rule, many women disciples, taking advantage of ‘female guides’, retired into ‎seclusion at small and dark places in the main dargāh and around it, occupied themselves with ‎fasting and dhikir, wore Mawlawī costumes; such as it was men who used to do the same in the ‎time of male Sufi leaders. It is a pity that Manākib al-Ārifīn and especially Safīna-e Nafīsa-e ‎Mewlewīyān, our only sources on their life, are not even treated by researchers; researchers ‎merely list their names lent over from another source which did the same before. The present ‎study is a humble step to fill this gap.‎

Keywords

Mawlawism, Woman Sheiks, Arife-i hoş-lika-yı Konevi, Destinā Khātun, Günesh Khān, Kāmile ‎Khānım, Hāje Fatma Khānım.‎