The Sufi Centre Rabbaniyya (formerly Sufi Centre Berlin) by the Sufi-Master Sheikh Eşref Efendi is a group of the Naqshbandi Sufi Order in Germany. History The Sufi Centre Rabbaniyya and the head of the centre, Sheikh Eşref Efendi, belong to the Naqshbandi Sufi Order. The title of the Naqshbandi Sufi Order has changed throughout the centuries. According to the handed-down tradition of Sufi masters, the lineage of the Sufi order can be traced back to the Prophet Mohammed himself. The knowledge and the secrets of the Prophet Mohammed have been passed down throughout the centuries in an unbroken chain of 40 grandsheikhs (silsila) up until today. The wisdom and knowledge is embodied today by Grandsheikh Nazim al Rabbani. Grandsheikh Nazim Al Rabbani gave his student, Eşref Goekcimen, the duty to give seekers in Germany, Bosnia and Turkey spiritual advice and to guide them in the Naqshbandi tradition. In 1994 a small group of people met up with Sheikh Esref Efendi in the Bellermanstrasse in Wedding to become the nucleus of the community. In 1998 after the Bosnian War Efendi and some of his students went to Bosnia to offer humanitarian aid and assistance to people there. Subsequently, the group, which had grown to have approximately 40 members, travelled to Cyprus in 1999, to live there among the community of their Grandmaster, Maulana Sheikh Nazim el Rabbani. They stayed there for about six months until 2000. As they returned to Berlin the meetings initially took place in private residences, until the Sufi Centre Berlin opened its doors in the Reuterstrasse in Neukoelln in 2003. In 2008 the centre moved to the Wissmannstrasse 20, also in Neukoelln. In October 2010 Grandsheikh Nazim declared the global solution, all believers shall unite as "servants of God", which is expressed in Arabic with the word "Rabbaniyya". As a response to this declaration the Sufi Centre Berlin changed its name to Sufi Centre Rabbaniyya. After Nazim al Rabbani died in 2014, the group restructured in November 2014, closed the center in berlin, opened a new one in Cologne and moved to "sufiland" in Eigeltingen-Reute (Lake Constance), which was newly opened too. Prevalence The community of the Sufi Centre Berlin comprises approximately 500 women, men and children, who meet on a regular basis for (spiritual speeches/addresses) and dhikrs (spiritual chanting) or watch live broadcasts of such. The majority of the members of the community practice their practices