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commonality has its roots in the ancient ethical legacy of the prop-
hets over centuries, both in the East and the West.

Futuwwah is the altruistic morality that characterized youth for cen-
turies. This altruistic moral understanding started to diminish gradu-
ally in societies in the process of extreme individualism, hedonism,
and secularization with concerted global attempts to undermine,
marginalize and trivialize it. Yet, the attempts to erase futuwwah, chi-
valry, Tao, or Bushido ethics from our collective memory culminated
in the moral crisis into which our world has fallen today.

The Islamic ethical culture during the time of Prophet Muhammad

ﷺ, the Umayyad and Abbasid periods, but particularly during the
Seljuk and Ottoman periods, testifies to the powerful role of futuwwah
in building noble character. The way of futuwwah is the way of Mus-
lim elders over centuries, including such prominent examples as Abū
ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ʿAbd Allāh al-Sulamī (d. 692), Junayd al-Baghdādī
(830-910), ʿAbd al-Karīm al-Qushayrī (d. 1072), Ahī Evran (1169–
1261), Ertuğrul Gāzi (d. 1280), Sheikh Edebāli (1206-1326), Osman

Gāzi (1258-1324), Hacı Bektaş-ı Veli (1209-1271), Mawlānā Jalāl al-
Dīn Rūmī (1207-1273), Yunus Emre (1238-1320), Somuncu Baba
(1331–1412), Hacı Bayram-ı Veli (1352–1430), Eşrefoğlu Rūmī (d.
1469), Fatih Sultan Mehmed (1432-1481), and Aziz Mahmud Hü-
dāyi (1541–1628).

The elders and leaders of futuwwah exist in all regions and cultures
but are too numerous to list here. Muslims worldwide have succee-
ded in establishing a virtuous society extending from India to Persia,

Arabia, Africa, Anatolia, and the Balkans by sowing the seeds of

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