İsmailağa

İsmailağa Jamia or İsmail Ağa Jamia (Turkish: İsmailağa Cemaati) is a branch of the Dergâh of Nakşibendi-Khālidī Ṭarīqah (Sufi Order) in Turkey.

It takes its name from the İsmailağa Mosque in Fatih, Istanbul. It is aligned with the Naqshbandi spiritual order of Sunni Islam Sufism in the silsilah of Khalidiyya and is led by Mahmut Ustaosmanoğlu, imam of the İsmailağa Mosque from 1954 to 1996. It has significant influence over daily life in few streets of Fatih, the capital district of Istanbul. However, once in 2006 a politician had described the whole district of Fatih as an "İsmailağa republic". There are communities in a number of other cities in Turkey, including Erzincan.

According to Ahmet Hakan Coşkun, the jamia requires strict Islamic-clothing, with members wearing beards, Kaftans, and shalwar trousers, and turbans of white muslin when praying. Women wear a face-covering Çarşaf (chador). A number of leading Turkish politicians are associated with the wider Naqshbandi order; Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is said to have links with the stricter İsmailağa branch. This might explain how the wire-tapping ordered by public prosecutor İlhan Cihaner in 2007 to 2009 in relation to İsmailağa included Erdoğan.

...
Wikipedia