Alevism

THE'alevism (Alevilik in Turkish, Elewi in zazaki, Elewi in Kurmanji, al 'alawīyyah in Arabic) brings together so-called heterodox members of Islam and claims within it the universal and original tradition of Islam and more broadly of all monotheistic religions. Alevism is linked to Twelver Shiism through the sixth imam (Dja'far al-sadiq) and to Haci Bektaş Veli, founder of the Bektashi order whose mythical genealogy also dates back to the sixth imam.

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Alevism

It belongs to Sufi traditions and its beliefs are comparable to panentheism. Although it has a very old tradition, some see in Alevism a philosophy and a belief specific to itself outside of Islam, and others a “liberal” or “progressive” current in Islam including the dogmas differ from those of Sunnism and Shiism known as Jafarism.

Haci Bektaş Veli, mystic philosopher of Alevism, is the eponymous founder of the Bektachis brotherhood which played a primordial role in the Islamization of Anatolia and the Balkans. The Alevi Bektashi cult, with the contributions of Haci Bektas Veli, conveys ideas which are presented as coinciding eight centuries later with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948). The semah, a religious ceremony of the Bektachi Alevis, is classified as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity by UNESCO.

The Alevi belief is based on faith in Allah, Muhammad (Prophecy) and Ali (Holiness), the Prophecy being closed, Holiness remains present in time. They are called " Üçler " (the three). Thus, Haqq-Muhammad-Ali is the “trinity” of Alevism which includes:

  • Haqq: "divine Truth" referring to Allah,
  • Mohammed,
  • Ali. He is considered the successor of the prophet and his descendants constitute the imamate

In Alevism-Bektashism, Muhammad is the last prophet and Ali is his successor and the “friend of Allah” or spiritual guide (Veli or Wali).

In its meaning, the trinity attests that there is only one God (the Divinity), Muhammad is his prophet (the prophecy), Ali is his saint, the friend of God, the commander of the believers (mumin ) (the imamate).

The other celestial hierarchies are:

  • Besler (the Five or the household, the mantle of the prophet), Muhammad, Ali, Fatima, Hasan and Hussein also say khamsa al-i aba Where pence al-i aba
  • Yediler (the Seven), Muhammad, Ali, Khadija bint Khuwaylid, Hasan, Fatima, Hussein and Salman the Persian
  • Onikiler » (the Twelve), The Twelve Imams (Ali and his successors) that is to say the descendants of the prophet hunted down and murdered by the Umayyads.
  • On Dört Masum-u Paklar », the fourteen pure innocents: they are the fourteen children of the imams or the grandchildren of the prophet, killed at an early age by the Umayyads
  • On Yedi Kemerbestler », the seventeen saints cited in the Gülbeng (prayers): they are those close to the prophet (like Salman the Persian) or Ali. They must carry out a mission given to them by the prophet or his son-in-law. The prophet's relatives were also hunted down and murdered by the Umayyads.
  • KIrklar »: the assembly of the Forty (the people of the ghayb mystery). The Forty live between heaven and earth and they rule over everything here below, helping those who are in difficulty, through the manifestations of Hizir-Ilyas (Al-Khidr the “green one” of the Koran).