conversion to piety 113Vani Mehmed Efendi expressed his Kadızadeli views of the danger of re-ligious innovations and of the necessity of religious obligations based on the
practice of Muhammad in two treatises written in Arabic, The Truth of Religious
Obligations and the Practices of Muhammad and Innovation in Some Practices
and The Abomination of Public Recitals of God’s Praises.^27 In these treatises, he
makes forceful arguments against the Sufi way and incites others to cease en-
gaging in Sufi practices.^28 He claims that although in his age many Muslims
believed such practices were religious obligations, public performance of recit-
ing God’s names is an abomination. Vani Mehmed Efendi was not opposed to
individual, private practice, as he promoted interiorization and rational Islam,
but he attacked ecstatic group performance of prayer accompanied by music.^29
He also argued that recitations performed on the nights of Muhammad’s con-
ception, the revelation of his mission, and revelation of the Qur’an, as well as
at funerals, are unacceptable innovations that are not part of the Sunna and
go against the Shariah. He claimed that in opposing these practices he was
combating evil.
Vani Mehmed Efendi also denounced sheikhs who lead people astray and
those who follow them. He claims that those sheikhs who engage in such acts
have left the fold of Hanefi Sunni Islam, as have the people who follow them
and who are in fact excessively devoted to their sheikhs. Moreover, from his
perspective, those who call themselves Sufi s are innovators of evil intention.
Concerning Sufi sheikhs, he argues that people follow ignorant sheikhs who
do not understand the religion out of an extreme devotion that exceeds even
their love for Muhammad. To illustrate this point he uses the metaphor of two
doctors. Imagine, he writes, two doctors: one, the skillful doctor, represents the
prophets and learned scholars. The second one, the unskilled doctor, repre-
sents Sufi sheikhs. Each treats a patient suffering from high fever: the skillful
doctor removes the blood, the unskillful doctor applies a salve that provides
temporary amelioration of symptoms. An intelligent patient will understand
the necessity of removing the bad blood, no matter how painful. The rest will
choose temporary comfort and will despise the skillful doctor. They will love
the unskillful doctor who they think is their friend who makes them feel better
and hate the skillful doctor who could really cure them.^30Vani Mehmed Efendi Inspires Attacks on Sufi s and Dissenters
The arguments of these treatises—that Muslims must live in accordance
with the model set by Muhammad and not be misled by the false claims of
Sufi sheikhs—were persuasive. As their arguments were disseminated by the