Between Empire and Nation-State
should be no doubt that he was a pious man shown the right path by God
and everything said or written to the contrary was nonsense and lies ( 8 ).
Major Sadık cannot understand how “when a noble saint [evliya] is zeal-
ous in being compassionate to others and leading people to the right path,
he faces much antipathy from those around him, just like the thorns of a
rosebush.” In fact, all stems from a misunderstanding in 1666. If only the
people at the sultan’s court and the state religious scholars had been able
to understand the Sufi language Aziz Mehmet Efendi used in Istanbul, or
had had a council of Sufis look into his situation, they would have im-
mediately understood that he was a spiritual guide to the right path and
they would have shown him respect. Major Sadık compares Aziz Mehmet
Efendi to Ibn al-Arabi and Hallaj and other saints, who faced opposition
due to similar misinterpretation of their beliefs and aims.
Major Sadık thus places Shabbatai Tzevi in a long chain of Muslim
mystics, a good illustration of how Dönme religion was understood to
syncretize Sufism and Kabbalah ( 8 ). To Major Sadık, Aziz Mehmet Efendi
“was a perfect spiritual guide [mürşid-i kâmil]... such that because of
him, many people and their children and their children’s children and de-
scendants were honored by the glory of Islam and acted with the proper
Muslim manner and became endowed with the good moral qualities of
Islam.” Sultan Mehmet IV had understood that he had become a Muslim
and honored him with the name “Aziz,” which was restricted to distin-
guished sheikhs and spiritual guides, and in accordance with his wishes,
sent him to Salonika ( 9 ). His grave had subsequently become “a place of
pilgrimage distinguished by its spirituality, which is more evidence of his
high station.” This was enough to prove that Aziz Mehmet Efendi had
been a sincere believer and to cleanse his name of any bad imputations.
The proof, moreover, lay in the spirituality of his followers, for this group
produced many licensed religious scholars and others joined Sufi orders.
Major Sadık avoids discussing the racial or Jewish origins of the Dönme.
He points out a simple error the anonymous author has made, and then a
more fundamental one. How, he asks, could Copts be among the group’s
ancestors? ( 10 ). The Dönme’s racial origins are in fact unknown, and it
is inappropriate to research them. Although it is known that due to the
quarrels between the leaders of the group, they ceased intermarrying and
separated into three distinct groups, what is not clear is to which races they
belong. Their geographically specific nicknames do not provide a clue, ei-
ther. For if some are known by the name “Egyptian” (Mısırlı, a Karakaş