Muslim Fascination with Freemasonry: Historic and Ritualistic Perspectives1. English and Scottish Lodges in the Ottoman Empire The Lodge « La Turquie », Unified Grand Lodges of Scotland, 1908 Jewel of the Chapter of the Lodge « Oriental », nr 687 (1856-1936), UGLE (Private archives, Istanbul) District Grand Lodge of Turkey, UGLE, 1870 2. French and Italian Lodges in the Ottoman Empire The Lodge « Italia Risorta ». Grand Orient of Italia The Lodge « L’Etoile du Bosphore ». Grand Orient of France . 3. Turkish Carbonari. end of 19th. imitated from the Carbonaro ceremonial (beginning of the 20th). Ritual of reception of the political and revolutionary society of the Young Turks.beginning of 20th c. . 4 The Algerian commander. Abdalqader The Iranian reformer. Jamaleddin al-Afghani . officer at the Supreme Council for Turkey and its dependencies. 1909.5 Joseph Sakakini. 1922 . at Damascus Grand Orient of France. Ottoman Grand Orient a member of the lodge « Syrie ». Grand Master of the Egyptian masonry .6 Muhammad Pasha Tevfik. with Christian and Muslim clerics among its members .7 First masonic congress in Syria. Damascus. 1923. years 1930 .8 A meeting of the Grand Loge of Syria. 10. meditation. and withdrawal in Sufism . Repetitive prayers. 11. Sufi dances and music . 12. Sufi Symbols . beginning of 20th c. .13. A Bektashi lodge. Bektashi ceremonial The ritual of salutation to the Four Gateways Picture of the ritual Belt (Tigh-bend) Initiation ritual by hand-shaking .14. 15. Bektashi lodge at Istanbul The hall for the ceremonials with a central pillar . 16. . The Muslim Guilds A ritual belt (shadd) used in the reception in the guilds A rally of the Ottoman guilds at Istanbul. 16th c. in 16th c. Ottoman Stone Masons. document 201. Supreme Council for Turkey and its dependencies (Istanbul. January 19th 1923.16 bis Certificate of Rosicrucian degree delivered to the brother Bedri Ziya by the Chapter ‘La Concorde’ of Constantinople. Archives of the Grand Lodge of Turkey.02/1323) İskoçya Tarikat-i Kadime ve Makbule Free and Accepted Scottish “Tarikat” . major symbol of the Bektashis .17. The « Stone of Surrender » (Teslim Tash). shaykh of the Mevlevi Sufi order (whirling dervish) Mehmed Ataullah (1842.18. with his disciples . Mehmed Ataullah. in front of the entrance of the dervish lodge of Galata. Istanbul.1910) sitting in the center. at Istanbul. The Mevlevi lodge of Galata. in the district of Pera .19. Istanbul Drawing. London? 1802 A Sufi performance at the lodge directed by Ataullah. both bektashi and freemason. entrance drawing of a meeting of the Virtuous Order . The Virtuous Order / Tarilat-i Salahiye Qibla. dignitary of the Virtuous Order senior warden / master in the mystical path outer gard Door.20. direction of Mecca shaykh / worshipful master table / altar secreraty guide in Charge of the ceremonies orator and treasurer column of the virtuous state column of the full virtue column of the virtuous soul master of the hall junior warden Tevfik Topal Baba. Egypt . Riza Tevfik (1868-1949) Riza Tevfik (d.21. a Bektashi Sufi and a philosopher. with the head of the Bektashi lodge of Cairo. Grand Master of the Ottoman Grand Orient. formerly initiated in England Riza Tevfik dressed as a Bektashi Sufi. 1949).