Sheikh Shemsuddin al-Ahlâtî and His Birîfka Lodge

Abstract

The most active representative of Khalwatiyya in the Northern Iraq in the 17thcentury was Sheikh Shemsuddin al-Ahlâtî (d. 1085/1674). Birîfka lodge, founded byShemsuddin al-Ahlâtî in Imadiye region, was a significant center for the activities ofKhalwatiyya sufi order. Birîfka lodge played a prominent role in the spread ofKhalwatiyya in Iraq, in the northern part of Syria and in Eastern Anatolia regionduring two centuries. Since the first quarter of the 19th century began to host theactivities of Qadiriyya sufi order. In time, more than twenty lodges -small and large-were opened depending upon Birîfka lodge.