THE PHILOSOPHICAL VIEWS OF AHMAD YASAWI AND BABA NAKHCHIVANI

Abstract

This article provides a comparative analysis of the philosophical and spiritual worldviews of two prominent figures of Turkic-Islamic thought: Khoja Ahmad Yasawi (12th century), the founder of the Yasawiyya order, and Baba Nematullah Nakhchivani (15th–16th centuries), a renowned Sufi philosopher and Quranic commentator. The study examines Yasawi's core teachings as presented in the Divan-i Hikmet, focusing on divine love, inner sincerity, self-purification, and spiritual devotion. Concurrently, it analyzes Nakhchivani's metaphysical contributions through his fundamental Quranic commentary Al-Fawatih al-Ilahiyya, which develops complex philosophical arguments surrounding the doctrines of wahdat al-wujud (unity of being) and wahdat ash-shuhud (unity of witness). The author demonstrates how both thinkers shared fundamental Sufi ideals, with Yasawi conveying them through accessible poetic wisdom (hikmet) and Nakhchivani through systematic philosophical and exegesis discourse.