Rifa'i

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The Rifa'i (also Rufa'i) are a Sufi order most commonly found in the Arab Middle East but also in Turkey and the Balkans. They have sometimes been (somewhat pejoratively) called the 'howling dervishes' due to what some see as their 'excessive' practices during their zikr. Much of this may be due to cultural missunderstanding from 19th century Western travellers to the Middle East who may have viewed their practices as strange or excessive. They have been known to pierce their bodies using skewers and place hot irons in their mouths without injury, practices that, though having caught the imagination of Western travellers such as E.W. Lane in the last century, have also incurred the wrath of both strict theologans such as ibn Taymiyyah and modern reformists alike.

It is said that founder Sheikh Ahmed ar-Rifa'i was an extremely pious man of a humble nature who preferred to be amongst the poor and weak of society. Born in 1118 in Basra in southern Iraq he was a descendant of Muhammad and related to Sheikh Abdul Qadir al-Jilani. It is also said that the story of his followers being able to pierce their bodies without injury relates to a time when Sheikh Ahmed ar-Rifa'i went to perform the pilgrimage to Mecca. On arriving at Medina and wishing to visit Muhammad's burial site the guard would not permit him entry due to the fact that he was not wearing the clothes of a 'Sayyid' (descendant of Muhammad) at this he is reported to have said: "As-Salam alaka ya jeddi" (Peace be upon you O my ancestor). At which Muhammad replied: "Alakum salam Ya walidi" (Upon you be peace O my son) and his hand came out from the tomb which Ahmed ar-Rifa'i kissed. On seeing this the people around him fell into ecstasy and began stabbing themselves with knives and swords. When this moment had passed and on seeing the injured people lying around him Sheikh Ahmed ar-Rifa'i went amongst them and healed them, since then the Rifa'i Tariqa has always had this gift to heal.

Sheikh Ahmed ar-Rifa'i also authored a number of works on Sufism which have survived to this day.

He died in 1181 in West in Iraq.

The order has a marked presence in Syria and Egypt and plays a noticable role in Kosovo and Albania. Current manifestations of the order in the United States include the tekkes (lodges) in Staten Island and Toronto that were uner the guidance of the late Shaykh Xhemali Shehu (d.2004) of Prizren, Kosovo, the Qadiri-Rifai (led by Shayk Taner Ensari) and the Rifa'i Marufi Order of America (led by Sherif Baba Catalkaya). Each of these orders is ultimately Turkish in origin. Rifa'i-Marufi is notable for its ammalgamation of Sunni, New Age, and Alevi/Bektashi teachings.

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