Rifai Tradition

I. The Pîr

Born in the marshlands of southern Iraq in 512/1118, a Shāfiʿī scholar and Sufi master who called himself “poor little Ahmad” — Miskîn Ahmedcik.

He fed the hungry, visited every sick person, good or bad, walked with his eyes on the ground and greeted others first. Nearly nine centuries later his path is kept in Iraq, Egypt, Syria, Türkiye, the Balkans, South Asia and the Americas.

II. The Path

All practices

What each practice is and what it means in the tradition. Practices are taken up under the guidance of a teacher; this site explains, it does not instruct.

أدبAdab“The whole path is adab” — conduct as the way itself ذكرDhikr · ZikirRemembrance, in the heart and in gathering وردWird · EvrâdThe litanies of the Pîr and his line صحبةSohbet · IlahiCompanionship, conversation and sacred song

III. Lineages and masters

All branches

One root, many branches. Each line's chain is shown as that line gives it; where records differ, both versions stand side by side.

IV. Calligraphy and sacred arts

Enter the gallery

Works by Rifāʿī calligraphers and for Rifāʿī lodges — each with its holding collection and its credit.

The Basmala written in the shape of a pear, signed Şeyh Aziz Rifâî — **Hattat Aziz Efendi**The Basmala as a pear, signed “Şeyh Aziz Rifâî” · student of Kenan Rifâî

[Panel invoking the Pîr — SALT Research]
Shown once rights are cleared.

“Yâ Hazret-i Pîr es-Seyyid Ahmed er-Rıfâî”By Mahmud Cemaleddin Efendi · photograph, Ali Saim Ülgen Archive

[Inscriptions of the Üsküdar Âsitâne]
Shown once rights are cleared.

The Rifâî Âsitânesi, ÜsküdarTa‘līq inscription and naskh panels by the lodge dervish İsmâil Dede

V. Living tradition

The communities that keep the path today — from Türkiye and the Balkans to Egypt, Sri Lanka and the Americas — each shown with the evidence behind it, and the circle of Sheikh Sherif Baba Çatalkaya, whose teaching inspired this site.

Branches around the world · Find a community · Balkans · Egypt · Iraq · Sri Lanka · Ansari network · The research report

VI. Texts and library

The works attributed to the Pîr, the sources behind every page, and a glossary of the path.

Texts · Library · Glossary