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Alians

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Demir Baba teke, Alian sacred place
Demir Baba teke, Alian sacred place

The Alian Kızılbaşī community (in Bulgarian: алиани, in Turkish: Alevi), are a Shi`a order, similar to the Sufi Mevlevi, who live in several regions of Bulgaria. Alians revere the name "Ali" carried by their circle of 12 Imams (awliya'), which they consider an emanation of God.[1] They follow the mystical rituals of the wandering dervishes.

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Mevlevi Order

Mevlevi Order

The Mevlevi Order or Mawlawiyya is a Sufi order that originated in Konya and which was founded by the followers of Jalaluddin Muhammad Balkhi Rumi, a 13th-century Persian poet, Sufi mystic, and Islamic theologian. The Mevlevis are also known as the "whirling dervishes" due to their famous practice of whirling while performing dhikr. Dervish is a common term for an initiate of the Sufi path; whirling is part of the formal sema ceremony and the participants are properly known as semazens.

Bulgaria

Bulgaria

Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, and the Black Sea to the east. Bulgaria covers a territory of 110,994 square kilometres (42,855 sq mi), and is the sixteenth-largest country in Europe. Sofia is the nation's capital and largest city; other major cities are Plovdiv, Varna and Burgas.

Ali (name)

Ali (name)

Ali is a common unisex name.

Emanationism

Emanationism

Emanationism is an idea in the cosmology or cosmogony of certain religious or philosophical systems. Emanation, from the Latin emanare meaning "to flow from" or "to pour forth or out of", is the mode by which all things are derived from the first reality, or principle. All things are derived from the first reality or perfect God by steps of degradation to lesser degrees of the first reality or God, and at every step the emanating beings are less pure, less perfect, less divine. Emanationism is a transcendent principle from which everything is derived, and is opposed to both creationism and materialism.

Allah

Allah

Allah is the common Arabic word for God. In the English language, the word generally refers to God in Islam. The word is thought to be derived by contraction from al-ilāh, which means "the god", and is linguistically related to the Aramaic words Elah and Syriac ܐܲܠܵܗܵܐ (ʼAlāhā) and the Hebrew word El (Elohim) for God.

Dervish

Dervish

Dervish, Darvesh, or Darwīsh in Islam can refer broadly to members of a Sufi fraternity (tariqah), or more narrowly to a religious mendicant, who chose or accepted material poverty. The latter usage is found particularly in Persian and Turkish (derviş) as well as in Amazigh (Aderwish), corresponding to the Arabic term faqīr. Their focus is on the universal values of love and service, deserting the illusions of ego (nafs) to reach God. In most Sufi orders, a dervish is known to practice dhikr through physical exertions or religious practices to attain the ecstatic trance to reach God. Their most popular practice is Sama, which is associated with the 13th-century mystic Rumi. In folklore and with adherents of Sufism, dervishes are often credited with the ability to perform miracles and ascribed supernatural powers. Historically, the term Dervish has also been used more loosely, as the designation of various Islamic political movements or military entities.

Origin theories

Their exact origin is not certain, since few relevant historical records have been preserved, but according to the prevailing theory they fled to Bulgaria from Central Anatolia after the 1512 victory by the Ottoman Sultan Selim I, a Sunni, over the first, part-Turcoman Safavid shah of the Persians, Ismail I.

Alians appear to be descendants of a Sufi-dervish-like group of priests but they themselves believe about 10% are the descendants of the earliest Christians of Asia Minor who fled the Sunni invasion of Anatolia. They believe the Sunni Muhammad is a false Muhammad. Ali for them is not one single historical person but the ineffable name kept by God's Ministers (Avlioh).

It has also been suggested that they perhaps first came to the Balkans during the 15th century, in order to keep up the morale of Ottoman soldiers and to help integrate the newly conquered peoples into the empire. However, it is not likely since the Ottomans were Sunnis while the Alians are viewed as ghulat by other Muslims for their heterodox views concerning Muhammad and Ali. However, the reverse accusation is returned that their attackers are Munafiqun for abandoning the articles of Imaan especially that concerning belief in the 4 books which Alians believe and for adopting ibn Hazm's doctrine of Tahrif instead which Alians reject.

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Ottoman Empire

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman Empire, historically and colloquially the Turkish Empire, was an empire that controlled much of Southeast Europe, Western Asia, and Northern Africa between the 14th and early 20th centuries. It was founded at the end of the 13th century in northwestern Anatolia in the town of Söğüt by the Turkoman tribal leader Osman I. After 1354, the Ottomans crossed into Europe and, with the conquest of the Balkans, the Ottoman beylik was transformed into a transcontinental empire. The Ottomans ended the Byzantine Empire with the conquest of Constantinople in 1453 by Mehmed the Conqueror.

Sultan

Sultan

Sultan is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun سلطة sulṭah, meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be used as the title of certain rulers who claimed almost full sovereignty without claiming the overall caliphate, or to refer to a powerful governor of a province within the caliphate. The adjectival form of the word is "sultanic", and the state and territories ruled by a sultan, as well as his office, are referred to as a sultanate.

Selim I

Selim I

Selim I, known as Selim the Grim or Selim the Resolute, was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1512 to 1520. Despite lasting only eight years, his reign is notable for the enormous expansion of the Empire, particularly his conquest between 1516 and 1517 of the entire Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt, which included all of the Levant, Hejaz, Tihamah and Egypt itself. On the eve of his death in 1520, the Ottoman Empire spanned about 3.4 million km2 (1.3 million sq mi), having grown by seventy percent during Selim's reign.

Shah

Shah

Shah is a royal title that was historically used by the leading figures of Iranian monarchies. It was also used by a variety of Persianate societies, such as the Ottoman Empire, the Kazakh Khanate, the Khanate of Bukhara, the Emirate of Bukhara, the Mughal Empire, the Bengal Sultanate, historical Afghan dynasties, and among Gurkhas. Rather than regarding himself as simply a king of the concurrent dynasty, each Iranian ruler regarded himself as the Shahanshah or Padishah in the sense of a continuation of the original Persian Empire.

Ismail I

Ismail I

Ismail I, also known as Shah Ismail, was the founder of the Safavid dynasty of Iran, ruling as its King of Kings (Shahanshah) from 1501 to 1524. His reign is often considered the beginning of modern Iranian history, as well as one of the gunpowder empires.

Balkans

Balkans

The Balkans, also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the whole of Bulgaria. The Balkan Peninsula is bordered by the Adriatic Sea in the northwest, the Ionian Sea in the southwest, the Aegean Sea in the south, the Turkish straits in the east, and the Black Sea in the northeast. The northern border of the peninsula is variously defined. The highest point of the Balkans is Musala, 2,925 metres (9,596 ft), in the Rila mountain range, Bulgaria.

Ghulat

Ghulat

The ghulāt were a branch of early Shi'i Muslims. The term mainly refers to a wide variety of now extinct Shi'i sects who were active in 8th/9th-century Kufa, and who despite their sometimes significant differences shared a number of common ideas. These common ideas included the attribution of a divine nature to the Imams, the belief that souls can migrate between different human and non-human bodies, a particular creation myth involving pre-existent 'shadows' whose fall from grace produced the material world, and an emphasis on secrecy and dissociation from outsiders. They were named ghulāt by other Shi'i and Sunni Muslims for their purportedly "exaggerated" veneration of the prophet Muhammad and his family, most notably Ali ibn Abi Talib and his descendants, the Shi'i Imams.

Muhammad-Ali

Muhammad-Ali

In Alevism, Muhammad-Ali refers to the individuals Muhammad and Ali who exist as a single entity, or light of Aql.

Ibn Hazm

Ibn Hazm

Abū Muḥammad ʿAlī ibn Aḥmad ibn Saʿīd ibn Ḥazm was an Arab Andalusian Muslim polymath, historian, muhaddith, jurist, philosopher, and theologian, born in the Caliphate of Córdoba, present-day Spain. Described as one of the strictest hadith interpreters, Ibn Hazm was a leading proponent and codifier of the Zahiri school of Islamic thought and produced a reported 400 works, of which only 40 still survive. In all, his written works amounted to some 80 000 pages. Described as one of the fathers of comparative religion, the Encyclopaedia of Islam refers to him as having been one of the leading thinkers of the Muslim world.

Observances and beliefs

The Alians have very similar beliefs and practices to the Alevis and along with Alevis are surviving examples of pre-Sunni Islam because the Alians are believed to be descendants of a member of the Banu Eli tribe who was called Abbas ibn Ali and Umm ul-Banin so their 12 imams (referring to 12 ministerial roles during the Alian Mass) has nothing to do with Twelver Shiism. They believe the Quran was compiled by an Alian ex-convert to Monophysitism from Zoroastrianism called Salman al-Farsi whom they hold in high esteem. Their tafsir of the Quran based on syncretic harmony between the 4 books (Quran, the Old Testament, the New Testament and Psalter) places them firmly within the Judeo-Christian tradition.

They are a closed society and zealously hide their rituals. Circumcision, reserved for the priests, is done when the boy is one week old. At the age of 13 years his pubic hair may be trimmed in a special ceremony where only male Elders are present. They are monogamous and should only marry other Alians. Marriages may be arranged years in advance by the families but the couple are only married together as young men and women because child marriages are abhorred by Alians. It is known that Alians are mysticists and believe in personal communication with God through a near-trance state during Zikr. They do not use the Sunni Islamic rituals, but the Persian calendar, an Old Rite-style breviary and use candles and wine during their Mass which they call Dzhem on Thursday nights to achieve the Haqq–Muhammad–Ali communion. They celebrate Christmas (Gaxand) and Easter (Sultan Nowruz) while revering Christian saints especially Saint Nicholas as well as Sufi saints using icons and crosses alongside tasbih. Along with other Alevis. They historically placed a great role among themselves for converting Christians in Bulgaria.[2]

A tradition is performed among Alians and other Alevis after the 3rd week of December until the first week of January where St Nicholas (Grandfather Gaxan also known more recently as Baba Noel) and his bride Fadike and a character normally known as the Arab will visit the homes in the community to perform a play and collect gifts then go on to distribute them to others in the community especially Zeyi (young women who can not afford dowries) and distribute nuts, sweets, chocolates and dried fruits to children.

Alian shrines are visited by Balkan Christians and do themselves also sometimes attend Christian Churches and frequent Balkan Christian Shrines. However, Alians have always refused to visit madrassahs in the Ottoman Empire, because orthodox Sunni Islam was taught there. As a consequence, they educated their children only within the bounds of their society, and that has led to a decline among them. The situation, along with the reticence of their esoteric culture, and the urbanization, doomed them to gradual assimilation into Orthodox Christianity or secularism. By the Second World War and the following communism in Bulgaria, many Alians fled in the European part of Turkey. In recent decades, the Muslim Brotherhood has pushed an agenda to assimilate them into Sunni Islam but have failed miserably. In fact, Alians have successfully converted thousands of Sunnis to their form of Islam since World War 2.[3]

Demir Baba teke is a sacred place to Alians and other Islamic sects because Demir Baba, a famous dervish who lived during the 16th century, is buried there in the lands of northeastern Bulgaria. The tekke of Otman Baba, located in the Haskovo-region village of Teketo, is another Alian holy site.[4]

The historical emergence of the Shī'ah Imāmī Alian Ṭarīqah and other related Muslim sects
Alians and Shia Islam
Alians and Shia Islam

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Abbas ibn Ali

Abbas ibn Ali

Al-Abbas ibn Ali ibn Abi Talib, also known as Abu al-Fadl, was son of Ali ibn Abi Talib, the Muslim caliph and the first Shia imam. His mother was Fatima bint Hizam, commonly known as Umm al-Banin.

Circumcision

Circumcision

Circumcision is a procedure that removes the foreskin from the human penis. In the most common form of the operation, the foreskin is extended with forceps, then a circumcision device may be placed, after which the foreskin is excised. Topical or locally injected anesthesia is generally used to reduce pain and physiologic stress. Circumcision is generally electively performed, most commonly done as a form of preventive healthcare, as a religious obligation, or as a cultural practice. It is also an option for cases of phimosis, other pathologies that do not resolve with other treatments, and chronic urinary tract infections (UTIs). The procedure is contraindicated in cases of certain genital structure abnormalities or poor general health.

Pubic hair

Pubic hair

Pubic hair is terminal body hair that is found in the genital area of adolescent and adult humans. The hair is located on and around the sex organs and sometimes at the top of the inside of the thighs. In the pubic region around the pubis bone, it is known as a pubic patch. Pubic hair is also found on the scrotum in the male and on the vulva in the female.

Lipovans

Lipovans

The Lipovans or Lippovans are ethnic Russian Old Believers living in Romania, Ukraine, Moldova and Bulgaria who settled in the Principality of Moldavia, in the east of the Principality of Wallachia (Muntenia), and in the regions of Dobruja and Budjak during the 17th and 18th centuries. According to the 2011 Romanian census, there are a total of 23,487 Lipovans in Romania, mostly living in Northern Dobruja, in the Tulcea County but also in the Constanța County, and in the cities of Iași, Brăila and Bucharest. In Bulgaria, they inhabit two villages: Kazashko and Tataritsa.

Breviary

Breviary

A breviary is a liturgical book used in Christianity for praying the canonical hours, usually recited at seven fixed prayer times.

Jem (Alevism)

Jem (Alevism)

The central Alevi communal worship service is called a Jem, which is performed in special houses called as Cem Evi. Alevi Muslims believe that the Jem has its roots in an original worship and teaching meeting of forty spiritual individuals Kirklar Majlisi led by Ali. It takes place in a Cem Evi

Haqq–Muhammad–Ali

Haqq–Muhammad–Ali

Haqq–Muhammad–Ali refers to a mystical communion in Alevism that involves Haqq, Muhammad and Ali.

Aleviler

Aleviler

Aleviler is an idiom, being used synonymously in Turkish language with Shi'ites, to characterize the Zaydids of Tabaristan, Daylam and Gilan; the Bātinī-Ismāʿīlīs of Pamir Mountains in Turkestan and the Non-Ja'fari Twelver-Shi'ites in Turkey.

Muslim Brotherhood

Muslim Brotherhood

The Society of the Muslim Brothers, better known as the Muslim Brotherhood, is a transnational Sunni Islamist organization founded in Egypt by Islamic scholar and schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna in 1928. Al-Banna's teachings spread far beyond Egypt, influencing today various Islamist movements from charitable organizations to political parties.

Demir Baba Teke

Demir Baba Teke

Demir Baba Teke is a 16th-century Alevi mausoleum (türbe) near the village of Sveshtari, Isperih municipality, Razgrad Province in northeastern Bulgaria. As part of the Sboryanovo historical and archaeological reserve, Demir Baba Teke is one of the 100 Tourist Sites of Bulgaria.

Otman Baba

Otman Baba

Otman Baba was a 15th-century dervish who traveled throughout the Ottoman Empire, acquiring a following among Muslims in Bulgaria after 1445 that has developed into his veneration as a saint. After Otman Baba's death, a pilgrimage complex grew around his grave in the present-day Bulgarian village of Teketo, which was made a museum during communism. The hagiography of Otman Baba, written by his disciple Küçük Abdal and regarded by his followers as a canonical text, maintains that Otman Baba performed miracles that proved his superiority to other dervishes and Ottoman authorities, particularly Sultan Mehmed II. Straying from orthodox Islamic tenets, Otman Baba asserted his unity with God and his mastery of divine secrets—as the embodiment of monotheistic religious figures such as Muhammad, Jesus, and Moses.

Haskovo

Haskovo

Haskovo is a city in the region of Northern Thrace in southern Bulgaria and the administrative centre of the Haskovo Province, not far from the borders with Greece and Turkey. According to Operative Program Regional Development of Bulgaria, the urban area of Haskovo is the seventh largest in Bulgaria and has a population of 184,731 inhabitants. The number of inhabitants of Town of Haskovo is 67,086 people, according to the 2021 census.

Location

In Bulgaria, Alians inhabit predominantly the villages of Yablanovo and Malko Selo in Sliven Province; Sevar, Ostrovo, Madrevo, Sveshtari, Bisertsi, and Lavino in Razgrad Province; Preslavci, Chernik, and Bradvari in Silistra Province; and Mogilets and Bayachevo in Targovishte Province.

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Source: "Alians", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2022, November 2nd), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alians.

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References
  1. ^ Based on Ayats 2:107, 3:105, 5:55, 6:14, 33:17 and 9:116 etc..
  2. ^ Tareekh e Alian – Shaikh Zakaria pages – 92–113
  3. ^ Tareekh e Alian – Shaikh Zakaria pages – 56–63
  4. ^ Bosakov, p. 282.
Notes
  • Житието на Демир Баба и създаването на ръкописи от мюсюлманите от хетеродоксните течения на исляма в Североизточна България (in Bulgarian).: Demir Baba's life and the creation of manuscripts by heterodox Muslims in northeastern Bulgaria
  • Георгиева, И. (1997). Българските алиани. Сборник етнографски материали (in Bulgarian). Sofia. Bulgarian Alians. A collection of ethnographic materials.

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