Softa

noun

1. A religious student, especially in Turkey

   "1896: The softas, concerning whose exploits we have heard so much of late, are the theological students who wish to become ulemas, or, literally, learned men. — Eliakim Littell and Robert S. Littell (1896), Living Age, volume 208, p. 330."

2. (by extension) A fanatic adherent, blind follower