Socio-political role of Sufism in Egypt before and after the Ottoman conquest of 1517

Abstract

The article presents a comparative analysis of Sufism as one of the most important sides of the Muslim religion in the Mamluk and Ottoman periods of Egyptian history. The aim of the study is to trace the changes in various aspects of the mystical-ascetic movement and determine its role in the social, political, religious and cultural spheres of life of the Egyptians. Both epochs are significant for the formation of a systematized, ideologically shaped Sufism and for its popular, non-systemic stream, and its useful to note that the its greatest flowering occurs during the period of Ottoman rule.