Malāuddin Naqshband (d. Bukhara 791/1389)
This tariqa (Sufi path/order) attributed to Muhammad Bahāʾuddin, who was born in Bukhara in 718/1318, is one of the Sufi schools closely known by the Turkish Islamic world.
Emir Kulāl, in whose service he spent many years, called Bahāʾuddin to his side while he was carrying stones for the construction of a mosque and told him that his sulūk (spiritual journey) was complete. Naqshband, who also benefited from Mawlānā ʿĀrif, Küsem Shaykh, and Khalīl Atā, was considered to have an "Uwaysī" disposition because he also drew spiritual benefit from the spirits of Ḥakīm Tirmidhī and ʿAbd al-Khāliq Ghujduwānī, who had lived many years before him.
The richness he brought to the world of Sufism is the silent (khafī) dhikr (remembrance of God). Even though his own murshids (spiritual guides) preferred vocal dhikr, he departed from this way out of fear of ostentation. Based on his lack of interest in samāʿ (spiritual audition) gatherings and the life of retreat, and his coldness towards the special attire of dervishes, it has been concluded that he was among the Sufis of the malāmī disposition. Indeed, his greatest successor, Muhammad Pārsā, said, "Understanding the Malāmīs is an important step for understanding the Naqshbandīs."
The close relationship between Khwāja Bahāʾuddin, who established good dialogue with the scholars of his time, and the people of Bukhara is also shown by this epithet: "Hājja-i balā-gardān (the hājja who repels calamities)."
The Naqshbandiyya, through its successors Pārsā, ʿAlāʾuddin ʿAṭṭār, Yaʿqūb Charkhī, and especially Charkhī's successor ʿUbaydullāh Aḥrār, took root and reached broad masses. The first great representative of the Naqshbandiyya in the Ottoman world was Simavlı Molla İlahi (d. Vardar Yenicesi 896/1491), a murīd (aspirant, disciple) of Aḥrār. From this date onwards, the Naqshbandiyya has continued to exist as one of the important tariqas in the Ottoman lands, and among the tariqas it is mentioned in the forefront in terms of "adherence to the sharia (the sacred law)."
The Khalidiyya branch, which was formed during the Tanzimat era, is currently the widespread branch in Turkey. One reason for the rapid spread of this branch is that, shortly before the Tanzimat, the lodges belonging to the Bektashiyya, which were closed together with the Janissaries, were transferred by the state to this tariqa.
During the Republican period, the Naqshbandiyya was the tariqa most subject to suspicion. Especially, political initiatives were taken against the members of this tariqa on the pretext of the Shaykh Said Rebellion and the Menemen Incident.
Nafahāt al-Uns, Rashahāt, and Ḥadāʾiq al-Wardiyya are among the foremost works providing information about the tariqa.