Date:
Location:
The Center for Middle Eastern Studies presents
Eylül Yalçınkaya
Faculty member, Üsküdar University
This talk will be followed by a short musical presentation by Dr. Yalçınkaya and others.
This talk will analyse the everyday experiences of prominent Istanbulite Sufis, Ahmed Avni Konuk (d. 1938) and Kenan Rifai (d. 1950) during the early 20th century. By exploring their daily lives, insights will be gained into the Sufi way of life and how it manifested in the urban context of late Ottoman Istanbul. The spiritual practices, social interactions, and engagement with the broader society of these two Sufis will be examined to shed light on the complexities of Sufism as a dynamic and multifaceted aspect of Ottoman society. A deeper understanding of the vibrant cultural landscape of late Ottoman Istanbul will be gained by reflecting on the experiences of these two Sufis.
The talk will be followed by a short musical presentation featuring the works of two important Ottoman Sufi musicians, Kenan Rifai and Ahmed Avni Konuk. The mini concert will include a selection of their works, as well as some classic examples of Sufi and lodge music. The musical performance will feature the speaker as a soloist and instrumentalist, accompanied by a group of musicians playing traditional tekke music instruments such as the ney, oud, kemençe, and tanbur. The presentation will begin with Rifai's hymn "I was a dot," and will also include works in hüzzam and segah modes.
Arzu Eylül Yalçınkaya holds a Ph.D. in theology and Islamic studies and is an expert in Sufism. She is currently a visiting researcher at the CMES, Harvard, where she explores the way Sufi intellectuals reconciled traditional beliefs with modernity in early Republican Turkey. Yalçınkaya is also a faculty member at Uskudar University's Institute for Sufi Studies, the first of its kind in Turkey. Her recent publication delves into the "Key Concepts in Aḥmad al-Rifāʿi's Understanding of Ṣūfism".
Contact: Liz Flanagan