Ṣafavīyeh

…of the Sufi order of Ṣafaviyyeh (Ṣafawiyyah). Although the early Ṣafavī order was originally Sunni, following the jurisprudence of the Shāfiʿī school, it gravitated toward Shiʿism over time, perhaps pulled along by the popular veneration of ʿAlī. By the time of the order’s fourth leader, Sheikh Junayd, it had become…

The Ṣafawīyah, organized by Ṣafī od-Dīn, at Ardabīl, Iran, gave rise to the Iranian Ṣafavid dynasty (1502–1736) and several Turkish branches active against the Ottomans early in the 16th century. The Algerian Raḥmānīyah grew out of the Khalwatīyah in the second half of the 18th century,…