Sufism in Jordan

Jordan is considered by many Sufis to be "a spiritual center and a fertile environment for Sufism," [2] at least in part due to the fact that many of the narratives from the Qur’an take place within its modern borders.

"[3] Sufism in modern-day Jordan remained prominent through the mid-20th century.Up until the era of independence, Sufi orders and popular forms of Sufi religiosity dominated the religious scene, with other Islamic movements and groups beginning to emerge only later as branches of other groups already established outside the boundaries of the Hashemite Kingdom.Sufism has played a very important role in the expansion of Islam throughout the world.

"More activity has been seen after 1940, among the earliest, the establishment of a (prominent) meeting place zawya... near Irbid and an increasing number of others, supported by refugees of Palestinian origin.

ṭuruq: Qadiri, Naqshbandi, Rifa'i, Shadhili, Khalwati, and Tijani They came to Jordan in myriad different ways and broke into many sub-orders a number of which have Silsilas extending to prominent sheikhs today.

In the early 1900s Sharif Muhammad al-Amin Bin Zein al-Qalqami, one of the men credited with bringing this particular order of Sufism to Jordan, established a zawya near Amman which was home to the Shadhili-Ghudhu-Qadiri sub-order.

[2] Sheikh Kheir al-Din ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Sharif introduced the Khalwati order to Jordan, specifically the city of Kerak, in the late 1910s/ early 1920's after being exiled from Hebron by the British authority.

In 1958, after his death, his son, Sheikh Hassan al- Sharif, traveled to Jordan and established a zawya continuing the practice his father had introduced.[2]...

Sheikh Muhammad Hashim al-Baghdadi a prominent Qadiri Sufi of the time in Palestine had a number of students come to Jordan in the 1930s/ 1940's and establish zawyas in the cities of Amman, Zarqa, Irbid and Russeifeh.

[2] Sheikh Ahmad al-Dadisi, a teacher from the al-Aqsa mosque in jerusalem, frequently visited Jordan semi regularly building a following of Jordanian Sufis.

The vast majority of Amman's tariqas respect the generally agreed boundaries of the Sunna, maintaining sexual segregation and avoiding the use of musical instruments or dancing during the hadra itself.