Muzaffer Ozak

Muzaffer Ozak (formally: Sheikh Muzaffer Özak Âșkî al-Jerrahi) (1916 – 12 February 1985) was a Turkish Muslim spiritual author, imam, and the 19th Grand Sheikh of the Halveti-Jerrahi Order of Dervishes, a traditional Ottoman Sufi order based in Istanbul, Turkey. He served the position from 1966 to 1985, becoming revered in Western countries because of his visits through Europe and the United States of America, where he celebrated public zikr ceremonies with his dervishes. He is also well known in Turkey for his ilahis, Sufi religious hymns. Ozak also ran a small shop in the historic book bazaar, Sahaflar Çarşısı, that still serves the community today.

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Sheikh Muzaffer Ozak's most prominent disciples and successors in North America were Tosun Bayrak, Lex Hixon, and Philippa de Menil. Following Ozak's death, the tariqa was split into the Nur Ashki Jerrahi Sufi Order and the Jerrahi Order of America, with the former reflecting a more "universalistic" orientation, and the latter a more "traditional" one. Sheikh Muzaffer consciously fostered different interpretations of his teachings while also showing it was not his intention to have the Halveti-Jerrahi Order separated. Moreover, he grew to embrace the more adaptive interpretations of his message over the more conservative, yet still legitimate perspective of traditionalists.[1]

Sheikh Muzaffer’s greatest dream was to share with humanity the secrets within the invocation of Divine Unity. He died in Istanbul on 12 February 1985, his head bowed in prayer, his lips and heart humming the invocation of Unity, Lailahailla’Llah, one final time.[2]

Ozak's immediate predecessor as Grand Sheikh was Ibrahim Fahreddin (1885–1966), who was the 18th Grand Sheikh of the Order from 1914 to 1966. His immediate successor as Grand Sheikh was Sefer Dal (1926–1999), who was the 20th Grand Sheikh of the Order from 1985 to 1999. Ozak's most prominent disciple and successor in Turkey is Sheikh Ömer Tuğrul İnançer (1946–2022), who has been the 21st Grand Sheikh of the Halveti-Jerrahi Order since 1999 where he oversees activities of the community from their three hundred year old tekke in Fatih, Istanbul.