Khalwati order

The Khalwati order (also known as Khalwatiyya, Khalwatiya, or Halveti, as it is known in Turkey) is an Islamic Sufi brotherhood (tariqa). Along with the Naqshbandi, Qadiri, and Shadhili orders, it is among the most famous Sufi orders. The order takes its name from the Arabic word khalwa, meaning “method of withdrawal or isolation from the world for mystical purposes.” The order was founded by Umar al-Khalwati in the city of Herat in medieval Khorasan (now located in western Afghanistan). However, it was Umar's disciple, Yahya Shirvani, who founded the “Khalwati Way.” Yahya Shirvani wrote Wird al-Sattar, a devotional text read by the members of nearly all the branches of Khalwatiyya. The Khalwati order is known for its strict ritual training of its dervishes and its emphasis of individualism. Particularly, the order promoted individual asceticism (zuhd) and retreat (khalwa), differentiating themselves from other orders at the time. The order is associated as one of the source schools of many other Sufi orders. There were two major historical movements of the Khalwati order. The first one started in the late 14th century and ended in the 17th century. The first historical movement marks its origins and spread in vast area, now being part of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. The second movement began in the late 15th century to the mid-19th century mostly focused in Egypt, considered the reform period of the Khalwati order. The order lost popularity in 1865, but many of its leaders branched off to form different orders to expand Islam throughout Africa. The order resided mostly in large urban areas. Seyid Yahya Bakuvi Al-Hasan Al-Basri is known as pir of the pirs which by all the 12 tariqa orders have their silsilas from. He also added that Umar al-Khalwati is a shaykh that died in seclusion after being in it for 40 days. He continued to point out that all the other orders have their silsila from Khalwati. Because in order to achieve self-fulfilment a murid or dervish need to practice Khalwa.