Mullas, Sufis, and Heretics. The Role of Religion in Kurdish Society: Collected Articles

This book comprises a selection of articles by Martin van Bruinessen, professor at Utrecht University, about the role of religion and religious organisations in Kurdish society. As the outcomes of a quarter century s work including long and laborious field work, research and direct contact with the cultures in focus, the articles present an extensive discussion of religious history of Kurdistan in the recent past. Religious orders such as Sufism, Naqshbandiyya and Qadiriyya as well as heterodox religious formations like Yezidism and Ahl-i Haqq are discussed in detail as important social and political influences in the Kurdish society. The author also follows the traces of religious life of Kurdistan in the writings of the famous 17th century Turkish traveller Evliya Çelebi. In addition, he refers to examples from as far as Indonesia and South Africa to illustrate the role of Kurdish ulama in the transmission of learning between the great cultural regions of the Muslim world.