Khoja Baha’uddin Naqshband al-Bukhari, known also as Shah-i Naqshband, was born in 1318 in Bukhara, one of the important centers of the Central Asia in the 14th century. He revived the principles of the Khajagan Sufi order that had been founded by Abdulkhaliq al-Gujduwani in the 12th century. Khoja Baha’uddin established his school of wisdom on the basis of this historical and spiritual background and his school came to be known after him by the name Naqshbandiyya order. The Naqshbandiyya became widespread over many parts of the Islamic lands. Khoja Baha’uddin died in 1389 in his hometown in Bukhara.

The tomb of Khoja Baha’uddin in Bukhara is currently a very popular visiting place (in Uzbekistan). The Naqshbandiyya Sufi order have members from many corners of the world: from India to Balkans and from Yemen to Caucasus. It has become a center of wisdom that has been illuminating Anatolia (Turkey) after the reign of Sultan Mehmed II. One of the most important achievements of Khoja Baha’uddin was his delicate balance between exoteric and esoteric religious disciplines. He rejected to separate Sufism from other religious sciences that explained external aspects of religion and showed a great respect to the scholars of these sciences. In this way, he brought the Sufis very close to traditional scholars and dervish lodge to madrasa. Imam Rabbani Ahmad al-Sirhindi (d. 1624) and Mavlana Khalid al-Baghdadi (d. 1827) are among the pioneering personalities who served greatly to Islam and contributed immensely to the development and popularity of the Naqshbandiyya order in all parts of the Muslim world.

The Aziz Mahmud Hüdayi foundation (Istanbul, Turkey) has decided to organize this international symposium in order to examine and promote this Sufi path in a scholarly fashion based on primary sources and secondary studies in the field..

1. Baha’uddin Naqshband
2. Naqshbandiyya in the Central Asia
3. Naqshbandiyya in Anatolia and Balkans
4. Naqshbandiyya in the Middle east
5. Naqshbandiyya in the Indian Subcontinent
6. Naqshbandiyya in Istanbul
7. Spiritual training and the Sufi thought in the Naqshbandiyya path
8. Naqshbandiyya’s influence on social life

This symposium is organized by the Istanbul Center for Sufi Studies under the Aziz Mahmud Hudayi Foundaiton and Marmara University Faculty of Theology.