Es-Seyyid Es-Shaykh Taner Vargonen Tarsusi el Ansari er Rifai el Qadiri (known as Shaykh Taner; 1941–2023) was born and raised in Tarsus, Türkiye, in a devout Muslim family of seyyids, descendants of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). He became the founder and spiritual guide (Pir and Murshid) of the Ansari Qadiri Rifai Tariqa (AQRT).
Shaykh Taner earned a Bachelor’s degree in English Language Teaching from Gazi University in Ankara, Türkiye, and later completed a Bachelor’s degree in Linguistics at Western Michigan University in the United States. During his years in Michigan, he helped establish and served in leadership for the Muslim Students Association of the United States and Canada.
In Türkiye, Shaykh Taner was among the early founders of the School/Faculty of Foreign Languages at the university in Tarsus, which later became affiliated with Çukurova University in Adana. As a professor, he designed programs and taught educational sciences, teacher training, and English as a Second Language (ESL/ELT) methodology. Over the course of his academic career, he trained more than one thousand English teachers before retiring.
Shaykh Taner was initiated into the Qadiri Rifai Tariqa in Istanbul by his shaykh, Es-Seyyid Es-Shaykh Muhyiddin Ansari, from whom he later received ijaza, the license to teach and guide in Sufism. His spiritual lineage also includes connections to the Naqshbandi, Mevlevi, and Bektashi Sufi orders.
In 1986, Shaykh Taner and Es-Seyyida Es-Shaykha Muzeyyen Vargonen Tarsusi el Ansari er Rifai el Qadiri (Shaykha Muzeyyen) were sent to the United States with the responsibility of establishing the Ansari branch of the Qadiri Rifai Tariqa as a new Sufi order. Together, they founded AQRT centers and communities in the United States, the United Kingdom, Tanzania, South Africa, Mexico, Mauritius, Germany, Canada, and Australia, traveling widely to teach and speak on Sufism, Islam, alternative healing, and sustainable living. They offered weekly live online talks to an international community of students. Throughout his life, Shaykh Taner guided seekers in person, online, and through his books.
For many years, Shaykh Taner spoke at the annual Sufi Symposium in California and participated in interfaith and educational events internationally. He gave talks and interviews at institutions including Harvard, Humboldt State, Boston University, Oxford university, and Napa Valley College, as well as at churches, synagogues, conferences, and interfaith gatherings.
Shaykh Taner was also known as a healer. Together with Shaykha Muzeyyen, he founded the Ansari Holistic Healing Institute (AHHI), offering complementary medicine and Sufi healing workshops for health professionals and spiritual seekers across the world.
Shaykh Taner passed away on August 27, 2023. Shaykha Muzeyyen Vargonen Ansari continues their work and serves as Pir and Murshid of the order. Shaykh Taner’s life of teaching, healing, and guiding seekers of the path remains a lasting legacy.
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Selected Works
Translation projects • The Quran: Daily Reading for All Humanity (Chronological Edition) — a modern English translation from a Sufi perspective, initiated with a smaller publication of Sura Ya Sin
In-depth Analysis of the Quran - a profound commentary...(to write more here about this)
• Grand Masters of Sufism (including translations of Abdul Qadir Geylani’s Secret of Secrets and Ahmed er Rifai’s Guidance to Mysticism)
Other Books • Alternative Healing: The Sufi Way • Aqim Al Salat: Connections to the Divine • Between the Loved and the Beloved: Sufi Poems and Sayings • Dua: The Way of Supplication • Surviving 2012 & Beyond: A Must-Have Survival Book • The Sun Will Rise in the West: The Holy Trail • What About My Wood! 101 Sufi Stories
He also published numerous articles on spiritual topics, with additional works to be released posthumously.