The emergence of Tabaqāt literature: Sulamī's Tabaqāt al-Sūfiyya

With the title of "The Emergence of Tabaqât Literature: Sulamī's Tabaqāt al-Sūfiyya" by Soner Eraslan, the case of tabaqat writing as a part of Sufism doctrine, which has an important place in the biography literature, was evaluated in the context of Sulamī's Tabaqāt al-Sūfiyya. Sulamī's Tabaqāt and other works of the type of tabaqāt that were written in the in the 4th and 5th centuries of Hijri, which is known as the golden age of tabaqāt printing in the history of Sufism and books that survived until today, were compared. In this context, it was pointed out that Sulamī acted as a bridge between the two generations by transferring the oral and written news sources before him to the Sufi writers after him. A monograph was created on Tabaqāt, which is the backbone of the study and consists of five layers and contains 105 Sufi biographies of the years 161-378 AH. This monograph was supported by tables containing various statistical information. So the work; It was analyzed in detail in terms of form, content and method. In addition, the traces of Tabaqāt were sought in the other tabaqats of Sulamī, his exegesis and thematic works. In this respect, the projection of the Sufi narrations, which he did not mention in Tabaqāt and left ambiguous even if he mentioned it, on other works was determined and a wider picture was drawn. The discourses of tasavvuf, Sufism, mohabbat and ādāb etc. by writing booklets on entrance to the path of Sufism and presenting the phases of progress in this way to the beginner, on the other hand, mentioning the they should stay away from such as tezellul, galāt, shahāhāt, and ibāhiye were evaluated from the perspective of Tabaqāt. As a result, it was revealed that the layers that contain Sufi discourses and teachings constitute the subject matter, ıssue, principles and purpose of the field of Sufism, especially the concepts.