In this work, the representation of tasawwuf and tariqa elements in Tanzimat novels is examined. The early Tanzimat novels appeared a short time after the Ottoman regulations aimed at controlling the tariqa. Despite this, there is almost no mention of tariqa in Tanzimat novels. Moreover, Tanzimat novelists grew up in a society which was deeply blended with tasawwuf and their minds were surely inuenced by the tasawwuf thought. In addition to this, some of them had close involvement with tasavvuf at some point in their lives. Yet the novelists did not place tasawwuf at the forefront in their novels; but, the existence of tasawwuf took place in some novels indirectly. Tasawwuf and tariqa are almost never mentioned in other writings, with the exception of Ahmet Mithat, Şemsettin Sami and Mizancı Murat. In novels and some other writings which dealt with the theme of Islamic union, no role was given to tariqa in achieving this union. There appears to be two basic reasons for the authors' avoidance of tasawwuf and tariqa elements in their writings: First, the ideal of an active individual that they wanted to promote in society is contrary to the su ideal of an individual, which is predominantly passive. Second, they experimented with novels as a new literary style and generally embraced realism. For this reason they steered away from marvellous/fantastic elements associated with the old literary styles.