Sufism had a sustained presence in Jerusalem before the establishment of the Mamluks, undergoing periods of decline and growth. With the recapture of Jerusalem from the Crusaders by Saladin, the legitimizing functions of Jerusalem for the Ayyubids and Mamluks led to increased attention towards this city. A significant part of this legitimization was provided by the Sufi institution, where Sufis, their khanqahs (Sufi lodges), and murshids (spiritual guides) provided legitimacy for the states of Syria and Egypt. The Ottoman Empire gained control of Jerusalem in the tenth century AH (sixteenth century CE), but despite the continuation of Sufi institutions in Jerusalem, Sufism no longer held the same political importance as it did during the Mamluk period. This was largely due to the origins of Sufism in these two governments and the difference in their dependence on Jerusalem. The main question of this research is: what impact did the different types of Sufism in the Mamluk and Ottoman Sultanates have on their approach to Jerusalem? To answer this question, a comparative method has been used in the areas of Sufism, Sufi orders (tariqahs), and the focal points of these orders in the two sultanates, based on the historical process. The research findings indicate that the fundamental difference between the Khorasani Sufism of the Ottomans and the Levantine Sufism of the Mamluks caused the Mamluks to emphasize Jerusalem, while the Sufism of the Ottomans did not require the centrality of Jerusalem.