In the 19th century, the Ottoman Empire sought to align itself with Europe, with the understanding that this was where modernity was geographically located. This imaginary locus was formulated by the “Young Ottomans” as part of the Tanzimat. Until then, the Empire lacked a strong notion of nationalism, or the belief that the interests of the State were of primary importance. As “Ottomanism” took hold, the foundation was laid for a modern nation-state. In the 20th Century, the largest, most economically dominant ethnic group within the Empire following World War One began to consolidate their nationalist ideology in conjunction with the emergence of a new bourgeoisie class, comprised primarily of ethnic Turks. Leading the way was Mustapha Kemal, a westernist who envisioned the narrative of “the sick man of Europe” as a secular resuscitation which would reshape the politico-ideological geography of Europe to include Anatolia. At the forefront of these secular reforms was the dismemberment of Islam as a political authority. Mustapha Kemal argued that Islam was an Arab faith and a vehicle for Arab domination. He imagined a republic with borders drawn using the political boundaries of nationalism, not religion. The caliphate was abolished, Turkish khutbas and Qur’ans appeared, and the ezan was recited in Turkish; these among many reforms aimed at a Turkified vision of a modern nation-state. For a moment, it appeared that Turkey had severed ties with the ummah. In 1949, two Tijani Sufis were arrested for reciting the ezan in Arabic during a parliamentary session. In 1950, the Arabic ezan was reinstated. In 1951, statues of Atatürk were decapitated. Later that year, Kemal Pilavo?lu, along with several Tijani Sufis were arrested for “sacrilege against Atatürk.” The Turkish Tijaniyya’s activism against secular reforms is an example of an Islamist response to secular reforms in early republican Turkey. In this context, “Islamism” is a political category, whereas Sufism is a theological one. This case-study represents an example of when imagined geographies overlap to create a real geographical narrative of Turkish nationalism.