The BalkansThe presence of Sufi orders in the Balkans is
closely linked to Ottoman rule over this ethnically
mixed peninsula between the fourteenth and early
twentieth centuries. The diversity and number of
Sufi orders indicate that most of the peninsula pro-
vided receptive grounds for the dissemination of
Sufi ideas and practices. Indeed, it would be impos-
sible to imagine the high conversion rate to Islam in
many areas without an active Sufi presence. Balkan
Islam, then, has been neither fully defined by Sufi
ideas or practices, nor has it been influenced by a
single Sufi way. While a number of orders that set
foot in the region subsequently lost their initial
importance and membership, others endured in
one or several Balkan regions until the present.
Among the most important orders are the Halvetì,
Naqshbandì, and Bektàshì, while less prevalent
ones include the Qàdirì, Rifà≠ì, Mevlevì, Bayràmì,
Melàmi, and Bedevì. Overall, Sufi orders infused
Balkan Islam with new vigor in both belief and
practice. While some were highly syncrectic and
therefore enjoyed popular appeal (for example, the
Bektàshì), others were more attractive to intellec-
tual and literate circles (for example, the Halvetì).
As regards Muslim women, their access to and
participation in Sufi life is difficult to assess due to
the lack of adequate and consistent sources. How-
ever, the Sufi inclinations of many Muslim women
were recorded sporadically. For example, the pres-
ence of the “Sisters of Rum” (Bacıyân-i Rûm), a
mystical organization of women with roots in Asia
Minor, is mentioned in fragmentary references
across Bosnia and Greece. Thus, a nineteenth-cen-
tury English travelogue mentions one DerviçHanım
in Thessaloniki, and another woman who replaced
her dead husband as the shaykh of the Sisters of
Rum’s lodge in Kavala, Greece. In Bosnia, they
were locally known as Bad∆ijanije, and anecdotes
about their lives in hagiographical literature date to
the seventeenth century. Bad∆ijanije are spoken of
as spiritual masters, educators, influential ladies,
even eccentrics. As late as the mid-twentieth cen-
tury, a prayer to “Seven Sisters” who were part of
this movement was included in the mourning cere-
mony in some parts of Bosnia. Among these “Seven
Sisters” was the wife of the QàdirìShaykh Hasan
Kaimi in Sarajevo of the seventeenth century. She
Sufi Orders and Movements
worked as the shaykh of Kaimi’s auxiliary lodge
which was later instituted as specifically women’s.
Other women left their own works testifying to
Sufi links and experiences. Worthy of mention is
the seventeenth-century Asiye Hatun of Skopje,
Macedonia, who left a log of her dreams which
she had recorded and discussed with her Halvetì
shaykh. Both the dreams and the shaykh’s com-
mentary reflect the richness of Asiye Hatun’s Sufi
knowledge. Likewise, the nineteenth-century Bos-
nian Habiba StoƒeviƒRizvanbegoviƒwrote love
poetry, in Ottoman Turkish, which reveals typical
Mevlevìmotifs. Her biography mentions that she
left Bosnia for Konya to join the Mevlevìorder, to
which she dedicated the rest of her life. But while
their membership in most Sufi orders continues
today, women’s experiences are by and large rele-
gated to private space as they are commonly not
allowed to participate in dhikrceremonies or en-
gage in other rituals and practices side by side with
men. If they do come to dhikron special occasions,
they are usually placed in a separate room. Perhaps
the most notable exception to such segregation at
rituals is the Bektàshìorder.
Long associated with the Ottoman military
establishment, Bektàshìactivity spread throughout
the Balkans, as evidenced by the remains of their
tekkes (lodges) and türbes (tombs) in Greece, Mace-
donia, Bosnia, Bulgaria, and Albania. Shì≠ìin ori-
entation and organized around a shaykh referred to
as baba, the Bektàshìs intertwine Islamic teachings
with local customs and folklore, making the order
popular especially in rural areas. The most endur-
ing presence of the Bektàshìis to be found in Alba-
nia. Despite heavy persecution by Enver Hoxha’s
atheist regime in the 1970s and 1980s, the Alba-
nian Bektàshìmanaged to regroup once the state
relaxed its religious policies, instituting themselves
in 1993 as a community separate from Sunnì
Muslims. This has enabled the Bektàshìs to aug-
ment their membership and restore some of the
tekkesand türbesthat had been confiscated or de-
stroyed. As regards gender relations, the Bektàshìs
proudly maintain that women are granted equal
opportunities in all matters of belief and practice.
Indeed, Bektàshìwomen undergo the same initia-
tion ceremony, participate side by side with men
in all rituals, and are equally involved in the tradi-
tion of composing sacred songs, as evidenced by a