Fotowat, the Social Face of Sufism in Azerbaijan (From the Fifth Century (AH) until the End of the Seventh Century (AH))

The land of Azerbaijan, with its unique geography and history, has been the cultural center of Iran for many years. Before Islam, there was a mysterious intellectual background in this land; the effects and remnants of which appeared in the Islamic period in the form of mysticism and Sufism and continued until the Ilkhanid period and even increased. This study deems worthwhile due to the political and social conditions of Azerbaijan from the fifth to the seventh centuries (AH), in which the tendency towards Sufism was more prominent. As the findings revealed, the short period of the government, the political turmoil, lack of organizing the affairs by the court officials and the oppression of the Mongol rulers in this period resulted in the formation of popular movements and Sufism, characterized by fotowat (generosity), to confront with the political and social crises. They were organized in Akhian and Baba groups. In the second half of the seventh century (AH), the main body of Sufism in Azerbaijan was sharia-based and anti-oppression Sufism, which propagated Suhrawardiyya and Kabruyeh within itself and this feature was not seen in the Sufism of any other regions of Iran. The present article implemented a descriptive-analytical method to analyze the examples of the Fotowat movement in Azerbaijan until the end of the seventh century (AH).