Quest for a Phantom Investigating Abu l-Huda al-Sayyadi

Eich, T. (2001)

Article / Letter to editor

Abu l-Huda was born in a small village on the margins of the northern Syrian desert in 1850 into a family of humble origins. In his early childhood, he was initiated into the Rifaciyya order, which is still widely spread today in the rural areas of Syria and Iraq. He was quick to develop substantial contacts with Rifaci sheiks in Aleppo, who dominated certain important posts in the city. In 1874, he became the naqib ala shraf (scion of the descendants of the prophets) there at a strikingly young age. In the following years, he managed to overcome several severe setbacks to his career and finally established himself in the entourage of the new Sultan AbdŸlhamid II, whose accession to the throne marked the end of the tanzimat, a period of wide-ranging administrative reforms in Ottoman history.

• Middle East

• All authors: Eich, T.
• Date: 2001
• Journal: ISIM Newsletter
• Volume: 7
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 24 - 24
• Publisher: ISIM, Leiden