Sufi leaders in the early Turkish Republic: profession, privilege, and persecution (1925–1950)

This article investigates the lives of Sufi leaders following the Turkish state’s abolition of Sufism in 1925. Examining the professions and career paths of Sufi shaykhs, it demonstrates that Sufi masters worked primarily in government jobs and institutions, and maintained a relatively high social status in the new nation-state, despite official denunciations of shaykhs as spiritual charlatans and parasites. As such, it argues that the state pursued a policy of inclusion and integration rather than one of persecution or elimination. While acknowledging that some Sufi leaders were victims of state policy, this article casts doubt on the persecution narrative and demonstrates a broad range of experiences and trajectories for Sufis in the early Turkish Republic. It illustrates that the state welcomed many shaykhs into the new institutions of the nation, including the Grand National Assembly, local government, schools, and libraries, as well as academia and the Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet).