The Popularity of Sufism

In the mid-seventh/thirteenth century, the Andalusian historian, geographer and literary anthologist Ibn Saʿīd al-Maghribī (d. 685/1286) spent several years in Egypt. In his description of Cairo Ibn Saʿīd observes that he found the city ‘particularly welcoming for the poor’ (al-faqīr), a term that clearly includes Sufis:

These phenomena, especially dancing, wandering, audition sessions (samāʿāt), eating hashish and gazing at beardless youths (murdān), were all typically associated with Sufis in Mamluk Egypt and were viewed with derision and disdain among certain sectors of society. While one suspects that Ibn Saʿīd exaggerates in order to compare Cairo negatively to his native Maghrib (he also claims that wine, musical instruments and naked women are ubiquitous in the city), his description is nevertheless illustrative of the increasing prominence and visibility of Sufis in early Mamluk Cairo. Arabic sources from this period attest to the growing popularity of Sufism across the socio-economic spectrum in Egypt and to the increasingly visible roles Sufi played in a variety of social and political contexts.

Ayyubid and Mamluk amīrs and their households competed with each other to patronise, subsidise and curry favour with Sufis. The sultans themselves consulted with prominent Sufi masters on a regular basis. Baybars al-Jāshnakīr (r. 708–9/1309–10) and al-Nāsir Muaammad (r. 693–4, 698–708, 709–41/1293–4, 1299–1309, 1310–41) seem to have had a personal rivalry to outdo each other in founding and funding well-apportioned hospices for Sufis. The people of Cairo and Fustat used to come to the central bayn al-qa‚ rayn district in Cairo every week to watch Sufis parade for Friday prayers.