DİNÎ VE FELSEFÎ METİNLER YİRMİBİRİNCİ YÜZYILDA YENİDEN OKUMA, ANLAMA VE ALGILAMA RELIGIOUS AND PHILOSOPHICAL TEXTS: RE-READING, UNDERSTANDING AND COMPREHENDING THEM IN THE 21st CENTURY CİLT - 1 DİNÎ VE FELSEFÎ METİNLER YİRMİBİRİNCİ YÜZYILDA YENİDEN OKUMA, ANLAMA VE ALGILAMA SEMPOZYUMU Bildiri Kitabı, Cilt: 1 Sultanbeyli Belediyesi Kültür ve Sosyal İşler Müdürlüğü Kültür Yayın No: 8 ADRES: Abdurrahmangazi Mahallesi Belediye Caddesi No:4 Tel: 0 216 564 13 00 Fax: 0 216 564 13 71 Mail: [email protected] www.sultanbeyli.bel.tr GENEL YAYIN YÖNETMENİ MEHMET MAZAK EDİTÖR: PROF. DR. BAYRAM ALİ ÇETİNKAYA BÖLÜM EDİTÖRLERİ: YRD. DOÇ. DR. AHMET HAMDİ FURAT YRD. DOÇ. DR. İSMAİL DEMİREZEN YRD. DOÇ. DR. AHMET ERHAN ŞEKERCİ YRD. DOÇ. DR. ÜMİT HOROZCU ARŞ. GÖR. MEHMET FATİH ARSLAN ARŞ. GÖR. BİRSEN BANU OKUTAN ARŞ. GÖR. ADEM İRMAK ARŞ. GÖR. EMİNE GÖREN ARŞ. GÖR. MUHAMMED VEYSEL BİLİCİ SAYFA DÜZENİ İBRAHİM AKDAĞ ISBN: 978-605-89744-4-9 BASKI Ege Basım Esatpaşa Mh. Ziyapaşa Cd. No:4 Ege Plaza Ataşehir/İSTANBUL Tel: 0216 472 84 01 www.egebasim.com.tr Nisan 2012 Copyright Sultanbeyli Belediyesi The Mystical Bektâshî Order: The Founder, Growth and Core of its Teachings Fatmir SHEHU* Abstract The mystical order is a universal phenomenon that has existed in all world re- ligions. But not every mystical order has been faithful to the core teachings of these religions. However, the Muslims have constructed for themselves diěerent mystical orders from the beginning of Islamic Civilization. Most of these mystical orders have gone very far from the core teachings of Islam. The Bektâshi Order, one among these Muslim mystical orders, has through its decrees and teachings aěected the hearts and minds of many common Muslims in general and Muslim intellectuals in particular. Although, this order has not rejected the essential elements of the Islamic Worldview: Taw hid (The Oneness of Allah), Nubuwah (The Prophethood), and al-Akhirah (The Day of Resurrection); yet it does not reĚect these elements in its teachings. This paper aĴempts to explore through an analytical and philosophical study the Order’s causes of emergence, growth as well as the most important teachings. The study of the Bektâshi Order is conducted to reconstruct the concept of al-Tasawwuf al-Bektâshi and its under- standing as well as to give a clear picture about the mission carried out by this Order. It is signięcant to study the Muslim mystical order because: (1) The Bektâshi Order has been an inĚuential and large Suę Order; (2) The thoughts and beliefs of the Bektâshi Order have reĚected an extravagant intellectual discourse in the Suęmovement in gen- eral, especially during the OĴoman Caliphate; and (3) The development of the Bektâshi Order and its interaction with society within diěerent groups of people may help to un- derstand how social environment might have inĚuenced the development of thought and vice versa. In other words, this study illustrates how beliefs, rituals and practices of such mystical order have contributed to the reconstruction of the Muslim Ummah of the twenty-ęrst century, on the one hand, and its destruction, on the other. Introduction The emergence of mystical sects is a universal phenomenon shared by the fol- lowers of all religions, revealed and unrevealed. These mystical orders have come * Dr. Fatmir Shehu, Doctorate in Usul al-Din and Comparative Religion, and currently he is an Assistant Professor at theDepartment of General Studies, International Islamic University Malaysia. 431 Dinî ve Felsefî Metinler into existence since the beginning of life in this world. It is evident that throughout the history of humankind, Allah (s.w.t.) has sent to men Guidance in order to follow a Straight Path and not to worship others save Him1. Consequently, Messengers and Prophets have been chosen to preach and make men understand the Divine Truth or return to their Fitrah (natural disposition). However, men have followed diěerent beliefs, some worshiping Allah (s.w.t.) and some others worshiping what they have associated with God, such as man-made idols, which arerepresented in the form of symbols, such as, forces of nature, animals, stones, sun, moon, ęre, saints, and so on. The Muslim mystical sects2 that emerged from the very beginning of the Islamic civilisation related themselves to spiritual discourse known as al-Tasawwuf3 (mysticism) 1 “Not a Messenger did We send before thee without this inspiration sent by Us to him: that there is no god but I; therefore, worship and serve Me.” See A. Yusuf Ali, The Holy Qur’an: Translation and Commentary, (Maryland: Amana Corporation, 1989), Sürah al-Anbiyâ’: 25. 2 Imâm Abü Dawud (Rahimahullah) has quoted the well known Hadith concerning the divi- sion of the Muslim Ummah into seventy-three sects or orders in his Sunan (vol. 3, No.:4580, English edition): [Abu Amir al-Hawdhani said: “Mu’awiyah ibn Abi Sufyan (may Allah be pleased with him) stood among us and said, ‘Beware! The Apostle of Allah (p.b.u.h.) stood among us and said’: ‘Beware! The People of the Book before (you) were split up into 72 sects, and this community will be split up into 73, seventy-two of them will go to Hell and one of them will go to Paradise, and it is the majority group (Jama’ah)”]. Shaykh al-Islam Ahmad al-Sirhindi (d. 1034/1624; Rahimahullah) who is regarded by many people in the Indian sub- continent as a great renovator (Mujaddid) of the Tenth Islamic Century wrote in his Maktübât (Vol. 3, LeĴer 38): “It was declared in a Hadith that this Ummah would part into 73 groups, 72 of which would go to Hell. This Hadith informs us that the 72 groups will be tormented in the Fire of Hell. It does not inform us that they will remain in torment eternally. Remaining in the torment of Hell Fire eternally is for those who do not have Imân. That is, it is for dis- believers. The 72 groups, on account of their corrupt beliefs, will go to Hell and will burn as much as the corruptness of their beliefs. One group, the 73rd, will be saved from Hell Fire because their belief is not corrupt. If among the members of this one group there are those who commiĴed evil deeds and if these evil deeds of theirs have not been forgiven through repentance or intercession, it is possible that these, too, will burn in Hell as much as their sins. All of those who are in the 72 groups will go to Hell. But none of them will remain in Hell eternally. Not all of those who are in this one group will go to Hell. Of these only those who have commiĴed evil deeds will go to Hell. The 72 reported groups of bid’ah, which will go to Hell, should not be called disbelievers, because they are Ahlal-Qibla(people of the Qibla in prayer). But, of these, the ones who disbelieve those facts in the Din that are indispensably required to be believed, as well as those who deny the rules of the Shari’ah which every Mus- lim has heard and knows, become disbelievers.” Hadith Evidence, accessed February 25, 2011. hĴp://www.masud.co.uk/ISLAM/misc/ahlsunna.htm 3 According to Isma’îl R. al-Fârûqî, Al-Tasawwuf is “the name given to a movement that do- minated the minds and the hearts of Muslims for a millennium, and is still strong in many circles of the Muslim world. It nourished their souls, purięed their hearts and fulęlled their yearning for piety, for virtue and righteousness, and for closeness to God. It grew and 432 Yirmibirinci YüzyÍlda Yeniden Okuma, Anlama ve AlgÍlama or Suę (mystical) Order, which had been a key issue in the studies of early develop- ment of Muslim Thought, and played an important role in the construction of Muslim Culture. Al-Tasawwuf 4has been a signięcant movement of both great good and great evil in the history of Islamic civilization5. Besides, this movement has contributed to the development of two important dimensions: ęrst, the intellectual dimension that deals with the content of Suę teachings; and second, the organizational dimension, which deals with the Tariqah “path.” Therefore, Suę teachings came to be manifested through associations with great signięcance within Muslim societies6. However, the focus of this study will be on the prominent Tariqah known as the Bektâshî Order in order to examine the importance of al-Tasawwuf or Suę Order as practiced by its followers. The Bektâshî Order is a mixture of diěerent ideas and beliefs taken from the pre-Islamic religious communities of Anatolia, that were superstitious, as well as Persian beliefs and beliefs derived from Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity and Islam, especially the Shî’ah teach- ings. Moreover, Bektâshîsm means to Bektâshîs diěerent things according to their capac- ity to understand the given facts. The apprehension of truth in the individual Bektâshî will, therefore, depend on his own ability to see spiritual truth as well as on the quality of life and thinking of the one who has been his Mürshit. The study of the Bektâshî Order is conducted with the eěort that it may help us to understanding reconstruct the concept of al-Tasawwuf al-Bektâshî and to give a clearer picture about the mission of this Order. A study on this mystical order is signięcant for the following reasons: 1) The Bektâshî Order is an inĚuential and large Suę Order. 2) The thoughts and beliefs of the Bektâshî Order reĚect an extravagant intel- lectual discourse in the Suę movement in general, especially during the OĴoman Caliphate. rapidly moved to every corner of the Muslim world….” Isma’îl R.