Ahmad al-Rifāʿī (d. Wāsiṭ, 578/1183)
Ahmad al-Rifāʿī, who was raised under the tutelage of his uncle Manṣūr Belaibī, is one of the Sufis whose works and ideas have reached the present day. The Sufi order (tariqa) attributed to his name is among the widely practiced Sufi schools in our country. Ahmad al-Rifāʿī, regarded as one of the four greatest spiritual guides (murshid) known as the "aqṭāb al-arbaʿa" (the four poles), was also closely engaged with Islamic sciences such as tafsir (Qur'anic exegesis) and hadith, and especially with the jurisprudence of the Shāfiʿī school to which he belonged.
In addition to works such as al-Burhān al-Muʾayyad, al-Majālis al-Saniyya, and Ḥālāt Ahl al-Ḥaqīqa, which were compiled from the discourses recorded by his companions, he also authored a treatise titled al-Ḥikam al-Rifāʿiyya that contains Sufi admonitions.
The dhikr (remembrance of God) of the order is performed aloud, standing, sitting, or swaying. Over time, in some dhikr gatherings, actions such as piercing the body with skewers or stepping on the sharp edge of a sword have also been observed—intended to convince those who harbored doubts.
As one of the oldest Sufi orders, Rifaiyya possesses a broad literature written both for its founder and for the etiquette (ādāb) and principles of the order. This literary activity began ten years after Rifāʿī's death with ʿAbd al-Karīm Qazwīnī and continued up to Kenan Rifāʿī (d. Istanbul, 1950). The latter is among the Sufis who continued their service during the Republican era.