Editing Islam in Turkey (section)

=== Ottoman Caliphate ===
{{main|Ottoman Empire|Ottoman Caliphate}}
[[File:20101213_Suleymaniye_Mosque_Istanbul_inside_vertical_Panorama.jpg|left|thumb|212px|[[Süleymaniye Mosque]], [[Istanbul]].]]
Beginning in the 12th century, new waves of Turkic migrants arrived, many of whom belonging to [[Sufi]] orders. Some of these migrants later went on to incorporate [[Heterodoxy|heterodox]] beliefs. One Sufi order that appealed to Turks in [[Anatolia]] was the [[Safaviyya]], an order that was originally Sunni and non-political, but later became both [[Shia Islam|Shi'a]] and politically based in northwest [[Iran]]. During the 14th and 15th centuries, the [[Safavid order|Safavid]] and similar orders such as the [[Bektaşi]] became rivals of the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottomans]]—who were [[Orthodoxy|orthodox]] Sunni Muslims—for political control of eastern Anatolia. Although the Bektaşi order became accepted as a [[sect]] of orthodox Sunni Muslims, they did not abandon their heterodox beliefs. In contrast, the Safavids eventually conquered Iran, spread their beliefs, and became proponents of orthodox [[Twelver Shi'ism|Twelver Shi'a Islam]].

The conquest of the Byzantine capital of [[Constantinople]] (modern day [[Istanbul]]) in 1453 enabled the Ottomans to consolidate their empire in Anatolia and [[Thrace]]. The Ottomans later revived the title of [[Caliphate|caliph]] during the reign of [[Selim I]]. Despite the absence of a formal institutional structure, Sunni religious functionaries continued to play an important political role. In theory, the codified system of [[sharia]] regulated all aspects of everyday life, at least for Muslim subjects of the empire. The head of the [[judiciary]] ranked directly below the sultan, and was second in power only to the grand [[vizier]]. Early in the Ottoman period, the office of grand [[mufti]] of Istanbul evolved into that of ''[[Şeyhülislam]]'' (shaykh, or "leader of Islam"), which had ultimate jurisdiction over all the courts in the empire and consequently exercised authority over the interpretation and application of sharia. Legal opinions pronounced by the Şeyhülislam were considered definitive interpretations.