Sheikh Ragip Frager al-Jerrahi al-Halveti is the current Sheikh of the California branch of the Order, based in Redwood City.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He holds a PhD in Psychology from Harvard University, and is the Founder and President Emeritus of Sofia University (formerly known as the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology) in Palo Alto, CA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He has been practicing Aikido since the year 1964; lived in Japan for a number of years and holds the rank of 8th Dan, the highest rank now issued by the International Aikido Federation. He personally trained with the founder of Aikido, Morihei Ueshiba, while living in Tokyo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He is the author of several books in the field of Sufism and Islam; among them: \u201cLove is the Wine\u201d, \u201cEssential Sufism\u201d, \u201cWisdom of Islam\u201d, \u201cHeart, Self and Soul\u201d and the most recent one, published in 2012: \u201cSufi Talks\u201c.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ragip Baba (Baba=father) continues to guide his children with genuine love and understanding, participating in the day to day operations of the dergah, managing to do so while maintaining a busy professional life. He loves his spiritual children, and they love him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1\/21\/1926 – 2\/15\/2018<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI am trying to be an obedient dervish,\u201d says Tosun Bayrak, whom many people call Tosun Baba. He was a khalifa of the late Jerrahi shaykh, Muzaffer Ozak. After graduating from Robert College in Istanbul, Turkey, Tosun Bayrak attended the Academy of Fine Arts, and after a short while found himself at the University of California as an architecture student, where he also developed an interest in Indian culture. He went to Paris, Turkey, and then to London to complete his education in fine arts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After moving to Casablanca, where he spent ten years as a businessman, he returned to the United States, began to teach at Fairleigh Dickinson University, and established the Art department. He organized seminars for famous international artists for the next seven years. He met his wife-to-be, Jamilah Hanim, at one of these seminars. Although he adopted abstract expressionism, which was very popular in the 1950s, he also created his share of street theaters and happenings, and he started to sculpt with flesh, blood, and body parts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tosun Bayrak explains that some people interpreted this art (named Shock Art by critics) as a protest against the Vietnam war, and some interpreted it in terms of Sufism. He says that the artists\u2019 real aim was to convey the message: \u201cWe look beautiful from the outside, but inside we are made of blood, flesh, bones, etc. So let us see what we really are, and get rid of our pride.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tosun Bayrak had lived in the United States for many years when, during a visit to Turkey in 1968 with his wife, Munevver Ayasli told them about Muzaffer Ozak Efendi. The quest that had spanned more than forty years had thus ended. He established his own dergah in New York after he was given khilafet from Karagumruk. Tosun Bayrak, who ended his life as an artist, still lives in New York as a sufi whose heart and dergah are open to all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
8\/20\/1926 – 2\/21\/1999<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Safer Dal Efendi (r.a.) became the twentieth head sheikh of the Jerrahi Order after the passing of Muzaffer Ozak Efendi (r.a.) in 1985. His gentle yet strong character, his humility, his tireless and selfless service to the Path, and the love and care he showed to people\u00a0attracted\u00a0many to the Path from all walks of life. The number of dervishes increased manyfold\u00a0during his time.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He was one of the most influential people in\u00a0the preservation of Turkish Sufi music. From early on as a young dervish, he recorded every Sufi musical piece he could find. At times, he traveled great distances just to be able to record these musical pieces. Later, these recordings were put into notes, spread, and performed by his dervishes and other musicians. His love, and dedication towards his first Sheikh Fahreddin Efendi (r.a.), who was a prominent bridge of Sufi knowledge and wisdom from Ottoman times to the new, modern republic\u00a0of Turkey, has inspired many people and made them appreciative of Fahreddin Efendi (r.a.) even though they may have not met him.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1916 – 2\/13\/1985<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sheikh Muzaffer Ozak al-Jerrahi was born in Istanbul in 1916 (d 1985). He got educated by a succession of wise and learned teachers who\u00a0instructed him in\u00a0both traditional Islam & Sufism. He became Muezzin and eventually Imam to many of the mosques of Istanbul. He later retired from the office of Imam and preached the Friday prayers at the mosque near the famous Istanbul book market where he owned a shop specializing in rare and antique books. He was a prolific author in the\u00a0Turkish language. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For twenty years he was the sheikh of the Halveti-Jerrahi Order. Extensive travels took\u00a0him not only Pilgrimage to Mecca (eleven times) and throughout the Middle East, but also to the Balkan countries, Western Europe, and the United\u00a0States where he initiated so many dervishes into the Halveti-Jerrahi order.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sheikh Ragip Frager al-Jerrahi al-Halveti Sheikh Ragip Frager al-Jerrahi al-Halveti is the current Sheikh of the California branch of the Order, based in Redwood City. He holds a PhD in Psychology from Harvard University, and is the Founder and President Emeritus of Sofia University (formerly known as the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology) …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jerrahi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/73"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jerrahi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jerrahi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jerrahi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jerrahi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=73"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/jerrahi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/73\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":152,"href":"https:\/\/jerrahi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/73\/revisions\/152"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jerrahi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=73"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}