BismillahirRahmanirRahim
As-Selam Aleykum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatahu
Ramazan Mubarak! May Allah grant all of us closeness to Him and His Beloveds in this month. For the sake of His most Beloved One in Divine Presence.
Ameen.
——— Welcome to you! ———-
BismillahirRahmanir Rahim
Peace and Blessings on the Holy Prophet, his Family and Companions
“Follow those who ask you no fee and who are rightly guided”
– [Sura Yasin: 21]
Holy Prophet (s) said “When you pass by the Gardens of Paradise sit in them”.
A companion asked, “What is a Garden from Paradise, O Messenger of Allah?”
The Holy Prophet answered, “The circles of zikir”.
– [Tirmidhi, Ahmad]
Sheykh Abdul Kerim al-Kibrisi of the Osmanli Nakshibendi Dergah will be holding a sohbet and leading zikir in the Washington DC and Maryland area Saturday September 16th and Sunday September 17th.
Come sit with us in a Garden from Paradise
All are invited to attend any or all of the following events
Saturday, September 16th
5:00pm – Sohbet & Zikir for the “Prayer Vigil for the Earth”
8:00pm – Sohbet & Zikir at the house of brother Tahir Ozer
9100 Ridings Way, Laurel, Maryland
Sunday, September 17th
10:00am – Sohbet & Zikir for the “Prayer Vigil for the Earth”
3:00pm – Sohbet & Zikir at the house of brother Tahir Ozer
9100 Ridings Way, Laurel, Maryland
All are welcome. These events are held for the pleasure of Allah and they are free of charge. Please dress warmly for the ‘Prayer Vigil’ events. For information call: (240) 398-0954
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BismillahirRahmanirRahim
Encountered this – a snapshot of embroidery in the Ottoman Empire :
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Turkish textiles & embroideries were immensely influential not only in those regions that were a part of the Ottoman empire, but further afield as well. The range of embroidery was considerable, and worked not just by professionals but domestically ; that is by women at home. Large numbers of men were employed as Professionals and there seem to have been a few workshops , in Istanbul at least , composed only of women . In addition there was a considerable cottage industry of domestic embroidery which was very much in demand throughout the Ottoman empire.
This domestic work was sold in the market by travelling salesmen and carried for sale all over the country and further afield to the Balkans, Hungary and Transylvania. The ‘Professionals ‘who were mainly men , were organised, like every other profession into very strictly – run craft Guilds . These Guilds regulated such aspects as quality control, training , prices and so on . It was Professionals , for example , who made and embroidered the georgeous but heavy velvet dresses (Photo No.1)
illustrated on the screen. This ‘Kaftan’- like costume probably originating from the Ottoman court, was worn as a bridal dress in various towns of Turkey . Similar ‘Kaftan’s’ were worn by wealthy brides in Aleppo and Damascus in Syria, as well as in Palestinian towns of Jerusalem and Jaffa , and even as far away as urban Morocco and Algeria. Court costume in the Balkans and southern Russia developed from this style and and similar embroidery can be found as far afield as northern Nigeria and Mauretania .
In the Turkish kaftan style the floral embroidery is known as BINDALLI , meaning , “a thousand branches” and garments embroidered in this manner are called Bindalli . The connection would appear to have have reached as far as Malaysia and recently, while in Penang I watched such embroidery being worked on a Kaftan style material for a dress at a cultural exhibition .
The Kaftan with this type of embroidery seems to have been a development of ‘Khil’at’ or Robes of Honour’ that the Sultan presented to ‘worthy’ citizens , Ambassadors and important foreign visitors at Eid celebrations . The custom of leaders distributing costumes as gifts was an old pre-Islamic one in the Arab world and seems to have been common in Central Asia as well . There are records of the Khans of Bohara, Khiva, Turkestan , giving such robes to guests and visitors on important occasions. The value of these robes depended on the status of the person.
In Ottoman Turkey fine domestic embroidery was produced by women in wealthy houses as well as from homes in towns and villages . The women embroidered wall-hangings, cushion and bolster covers , turban covers, scarfs and sashes, trouser cuffs, their bedding and pillowcases and of course towels and napkins. They were executed for use for themselves ,and although they were in demand for the market were not made specifically for sale.
The most common of all domestic embroidered cloths are those known as towels or napkins – which is one translation of the Turkish ‘Peskir’ , and they were amongst the most constantly used articles in any home, both formally and in a domestic sense.
The traveller , Charles White in his three volume book ‘THREE YEARS IN CONTANTINOPLE, or Domestic Manners of the Turks’ published in l844 , writes that great use is made of textiles in the home and specifically mentions napkins .
(Photo No.2) (last quarter 19th century) He writes:
“Muslin and cotton handkerchiefs are employed less, perhaps, for the purposes to which such articles are applied in Europe, than for that of folding up money, linen and other things. In the houses of the great men, there is always a ‘Makramaci bashi’ , whose principal duty is to take care of these and other similar articles. No object great or small , is conveyed from one person to another, no present is made – even fees to a medical man – unless folded in a handkerchief, embroidered cloth or piece of gauze . The richer the envelope , the higher the compliment to the receiver.”
Charles White also noted that the Sultan honoured individuals by bestowing on them gifts, which were always given wrapped in an embroidered cloth , in the same manner as when letters or fees went to the medical man. This presentation of gifts most likely descended , at least partially from the regal traditions of the Byzantine empire . One of the earliest references to such’ Hankerchiefs’ is a letter written in 1560 by the Hapsburgh Emperor Ferdinand I’s ambassador to Constantinople , Ogier Busbeq . He mentions the Archery competitions held , probably in the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul , and states that the winner was presented by the Sultan with an embroidered cloth ” such as we use to wipe our faces” . Provincial governors and other high offiicials also received presents of embroidered scarfs or handkerchiefs in much the same way that Elizabeth I of England gave embroidered gloves to deserving courtiers.
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Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim
Our Sheykh Effendi is giving the importance to the value of workdogs. (Sheykh Effendi has a family of Kangals, who are a proud breed which are fiercely loyal, and devoted servants to their master) – This is posted up on our Dergah wall upstate:
I picked this up on my travels as well – Here is an excerpt:
Using the medium of Ottoman historical records and the observations of early Western travelers in Asia Minor, principally in the nineteenth century, we are able to trace the presence and use of dogs in Ottoman Turkey. These observations clearly establish that the Ottomans recognized several breeds of dogs, protected their purity, and long ago established the precedent for the multiple breed classification of the modern dogs of Turkey.
Evliya Efendi (1614-1682) or, as he is also named, Evliya «elebi, regarded as a usually reliable source by modern Turkish scholars (Shaw, 1976), recorded in his monumental Seyahatname (Book of Travels) that the seventeenth century Ottomans recognized two distinct breeds of agricultural guard dogs (Evliya, 1834).
One guard dog breed was named the Samsun dog. They reputedly originated in the vicinity of Kastamonu, a Turkish city not far from the Black Sea port of Samsun. Evliya described them as, “…large dogs, like lions…”. Their keepers among the Janissaries, the elite infantry units of the Ottomans, occupied special barracks and were called samsunji’s.
The second guard dog breed, which was reputed to originate from the shores of Africa, then a part of the Ottoman Empire, was described as “…large dogs, the size of asses, and fierce as lions.”
On festival days, these great dogs were led in procession by two or three men holding them by chains. On such occasions, the dogs were decked out in satin cloth covers and wore silver collars with iron points.
In peace time, these two breeds were used primarily by the Court and the Janissaries as livestock guarding dogs on the mandras or sheepwalks. We may infer, however, that they also doubled as combat dogs in time of war as some of them wore armor in parades and, as Evliya notes, they could “…on command pull a man down from his horse, however stout he may be…”.
BismillahirRahmanirRahim,
Selam Aleykum,
I’ve added a new section called – “Biz Osmanliyiz” or “We are Ottomans” which again you can access from the top menu. The new page features an introduction to who the Ottomans were, taken from a sohbet given by our Sheykh Effendi, and the high manner in which we must regard them. Included there as well, is an art gallery from the Ottoman ages.*
* Check back for more updates, Insh’Allah Rahman, as I will be adding to it and tweaking it further.
Allah emanat ol
Biz Osmanliyiz! Pek Sanliyiz!
Osmanli Traveller 
