THE CHARACTERISTICS AND DISTINCTIVE FEATURES OF THE QALANDARIYYA ORDER

Abstract

Although scholars are in agreement concerning the emergence and 
development of the Qalandariyya order, many problems remain regarding the origin of 
the term “qalandar,” the question of whether the Qalandariyya was a community (taifa) 
or a tariqah, and its ritual procedures. Although the Qalandariyya, which arose in the 
early Middle Ages, was in origin an order that did not deviate from a pure faith, it later 
departed from its original nature and underwent changes across time and place. The 
acceptance by some Qalandars of Shia-tinged elements such as “wahdat al-wujud,” 
“hulul” and “tanasukh” (metempsychosis) provoked a negative attitude and criticism 
toward them. It is therefore important to study the Qalandariyya correctly and on a 
scholarly basis, relying on historical, literary and mystical sources. The Central Asian 
Qalandars differed from those of Iran and Turkey in practice and appearance, and 
local manuscripts and archival documents help us to reach fuller information and to 
understand the orderʼs essential aim and its hidden truth.