Sufismus auf dem Balkan zur Osmanen-Zeit

Cem KaraEvelyn ReuterZsófia Turóczy:
Sufism in Ottoman and Post-Ottoman Europe
Entanglements in Past and Present

London: Routledge 2026, 298 pp.

https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003622406
eBook ISBN 9781003622406

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ABSTRACT / Beschreibung

Sufism in Ottoman and Post‑Ottoman Europe: Entanglements in Past and Present offers the first in‑depth, regionally nuanced study of Sufi networks, legacies, and transformations across Southeastern Europe from the Ottoman period through the contemporary post‑socialist era.
„Sufismus im osmanischen und postosmanischen Europa: Verflechtungen in Vergangenheit und Gegenwart“ bietet die erste eingehende, regional differenzierte Untersuchung der Sufi-Netzwerke, ihres Erbes und ihrer Wandlungen in Südosteuropa von der osmanischen Zeit bis in die heutige postsozialistische Ära.

Spanning multiple centuries and cultural contexts, this volume explores the intricate interactions between Sufi communities and broader religious, political, and social landscapes. From the conceptual merging of Alevi‑Bektashism and the visual culture of ʿAlid piety, to the impact of Western esotericism, Turkish soft power, and digital revivalism, contributors examine the dynamic and often contested role of Sufism in shaping memory, authority, and identity across diverse geographies. Through richly detailed case studies – from Bosnia and Macedonia to Germany and Turkey – the chapters interrogate how Sufi actors respond to shifting nationalist narratives, contested memory cultures, and local‑global entanglements. This book also traces how sacred spaces, pilgrimage practices, and charismatic leadership adapt over time, illuminating the multi‑layered negotiations between tradition, modernity, and political power.

A vital contribution to the study of Sufism, Islamic history, and Balkan and Ottoman legacies, this book is essential reading for scholars of religious studies, anthropology, Middle East and Islamic studies, and European cultural history.

TABLE OF CONTENTS (mit Abstracts)

chapter 1|22 pages: Entangled Sufism in Ottoman and Post-Ottoman Europe
An Introduction
By Cem KaraEvelyn ReuterZsófia Turóczy

part I | 78 pages: Crossing Boundaries

chapter 2|21 pages: The Amalgamation of Two Religious Cultures
The Conceptual and Cultural History of Alevi-Bektashism
By Cem Kara

chapter 3|17 pages: Body of the Shāh
Entangled Portraits in Bektashi and Alevi Religious Space
By Edmund Y. Bezem

chapter 4|18 pages:
Turkish Sufism as Seen by Western Esotericists in the 20th Century
By Thierry Zarcone

chapter 5|20 pages: Post-Ottoman Idealisation
and Transspatial Entanglements within German Sufism

By Yunus Valerian Hentschel

part II | 84 pages: Places of Remembrance

chapter 6|23 pages: Places of Remembrance or Remembrance of Places?
Social Memory and the Transformation of the Sufi Lodges in Republican Turkey
By Lucía Cirianni Salazar

chapter 7|25 pages: Modifications of a Sacred Place Gül Baba’s Tomb
from the 17th Century to Post-Communist Times
By Zsófia Turóczy

chapter 8|34 pages: Entangled Ambiguities
Sarı Saltuk, St George, and the Dragon in Eastern Europe
By Sara Kuehn

part III | 58 pages: Continuation and Disruption of Tradition

chapter 9|20 pages: The Revival of the Mesnevihan
in Sarajevo Entanglements of “Urban Sufism”
ByZora Hesová

chapter 10|18 pages: Building Sufi Authority
The Pilgrimage of Sheh Ali Çoban in Çaja as a Multi-Layered
and Entangled Practicey
By Gianfranco Bria

chapter 11|18 pages: “Communicating the Mystical”?
An Exploratory Case Study on the Imagined Sufi Communities
through the Use of Social Media
By Evelyn Reuter

part IV | 36 pages: Conflicting Loyalties

chapter 12|17 pages: From Entanglement to Disentanglement and to Re-Entanglement?
Competitive Interconnections among the Albanian and the Turkish Bektashis in Macedonia
ByEvelyn ReuterViktor Trajanovski

chapter 13|17 pages: Subjective Sacralising
Contradictory Naqshbandi Perspectives on Neo-Ottoman Involvement
in Bosnia and Herzegovina
By Dejan Aždajić