Reasons why western Muslims and students of Islam find Turkey appealing

The Zeytinburnu neighborhood of Istanbul is home to a number of religious sites of significant historical significance, including cemeteries, Sufi lodges, and mosques.

There are tombstones here inscribed in Ottoman Turkish that discreetly honor commoners and illustrious Islamic intellectuals and Sufi sheikhs.

The Yenikapi Mevlevihanesi, a former lodge for the Mevlevi Sufi order, was built within this ancient fabric by devotees of the great Sufi poet Rumi.

From its founding in 1597 until its closure in 1925, the institution was instrumental in fostering the academic and spiritual development of Sufi believers in Ottoman Istanbul.

Fearing a Sufi uprising against the new secular order, the Ataturk administration banned Sufi religious organisations and closed their lodges as the Republican period began.