Alians

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Beliefs Allah Quran Haqq–Muhammad–Ali Prophet Muḥammad ibn `Abd Allāh Muhammad-Ali Islamic prophet Zahir Batin Buyruks Tariqat Haqiqa Marifat Wahdat al-wujud Wahdat al-mawjud Baqaa Fana Hal Ihsan Kashf Nafs Keramat Al-Insān al-Kāmil Lataif Four Doors Manzil Nûr Sulook Yaqeen Poetry Cosmology Philosophy Psychology
Practices Zakat Zeyārat Taqiyya Ashura Hıdırellez Nowruz Saya Mawlid Music Düşkünlük Meydanı Fasting Müsahiplik
The Twelve Imams Ali Hasan Husayn al-Abidin al-Baqir al-Sadiq al-Kazim ar-Rida al-Taqi al-Naqi al-Askari al-Mahdi
Leadership Dede Murshid Pir Rehber Babas Dergah Jem Cemevi
Crucial figures and influences Khadija bint Khuwaylid Fatimah Khidr Salman the Persian Uwais al-Qarani Jābir ibn Hayyān Dhul-Nun al-Misri Bayazid Bastami Ibn al-Rawandi Mansur Al-Hallaj Nasir Khusraw Abu al-Hassan al-Kharaqani Yusuf Hamdani Khoja Akhmet Yassawi Abdul-Qadir Gilani Ahmed ar-Rifa'i Ibn Arabi Qutb ad-Dīn Haydar Ahi Evren Haji Bektash Veli Rumi Sadr al-Din al-Qunawi Zahed Gilani Sari Saltik Yunus Emre Safi-ad-din Ardabili Nāimī Sadr al-Dīn Mūsā Imadaddin Nasimi Shah Nimatullah Wali Shaykh Junayd Shaykh Haydar Ali Mirza Safavi Ismail I Nur-Ali Khalifa Kaygusuz Abdal Otman Baba Balım Sultan Gül Baba Fuzûlî Alians Demir Baba Teke Arabati Baba Teḱe Pir Sultan Abdal Kul Nesîmî Sheikh Bedreddin Börklüce Mustafa Torlak Kemal
Alevi history Safavid conversion of Iran to Shia Islam Shia in Persia before Safavids Shiism in Persia after Safavids Umayyad Caliphate Abu Muslim Sunpadh Al-Muqanna Ishaq al-Turk Abbasid Caliphate Babak Khorramdin Maziar Kaykhusraw II Babai revolt Baba Ishak Celali rebellions Bayezid II Persecution of Alevis Baba Zünnun Rebellion Kalender Çelebi rebellion Nur Ali Halife rebellion Şahkulu Rebellion Şahkulu Battle of Chaldiran Selim I Abaza rebellion Kuyucu Murad Pasha Auspicious Incident Mahmud II Koçgiri Rebellion Dersim Rebellion Seyid Riza Maraş Massacre Çorum Massacre Sivas Massacre Gazi Quarter riots
Related Muslim Ṭarīqah Malamatiyya Qalandariyya Qadiriyya Akbari Sufis Rifa'i Uwaisi Naqshbandi Mevlevi Order Zahediyeh Safaviyya Qizilbash Khalwati order Bayramiye Jelveti Babai Revolt Hurufism Nuqtavi Chepni people Jelali revolts Ni'matullāhī Arabati Baba Teḱe Javad Nurbakhsh Galibi Order
Other influential groups Isma'ilism Nizari Alawites Druze Khurramites Bábism Baháʼí Faith Yazdanī Yarsanism Yazidi Yazidis in Armenia Sabians Ishikism Gnosticism Nabataeans Zoroaster Zoroastrianism Mazdak Zurvanism Mandaeism Manichaeism Shamanism Tengrism Panentheism
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Part of a series on Islam Sufism
Tomb of Abdul Qadir Gilani, Baghdad, Iraq
Ideas Abdal Al-Insān al-Kāmil Baqaa Dervish Dhawq Fakir Fana Hal Haqiqa Ihsan Irfan Ishq Karamat Kashf Lataif Manzil Ma'rifa Maqam Murid Murshid Nafs Nūr Qalandar Qutb Silsila Sufi cosmology Sufi metaphysics Sufi philosophy Sufi poetry Sufi psychology Salik Tazkiah Wali Yaqeen
Practices Anasheed Dhikr Haḍra Muraqabah Qawwali Sama Whirling Ziyarat
Sufi orders Alians Ba 'Alawi Bektashi Qadiri Chishti Naqshbandi Shadhili Suhrawardi Rifa`i Khalwati Rahmani Badawi Desuqi Tijani Darqawi Idrisi Senusi Bayrami Jelveti Maizbhandari Malamati Mouridi Sülaymaniyya Salihiyya Azeemia Kubrawi Mevlevi Shattari Uwaisi Hurufi Ni'matullāhī Nuqtavi Qalandari Safavi Zahabiya Akbari Galibi Haqqani Anjuman Inayati Issawiyya Jerrahi Madari Mahdavi Noorbakshi Zahedi Zikri
List of sufis Notable early Notable modern Singers
Topics in Sufism Tawhid Sharia Tariqa Haqiqa Ma'rifa Art History Sufi music Persecution Ziyarat
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Twelver Shi'ism
The Fourteen Infallibles Muhammad Fatimah The Twelve Imams Ali Hasan Husayn al-Sajjad al-Baqir al-Sadiq al-Kazim ar-Rida al-Taqi al-Naqi al-Askari al-Mahdi
Principles Monotheism Justice Prophethood Imamate Judgement Day
Other beliefs Imamate of the Family Angels Mourning of Muharram Intercession Occultation Wilayat al-Faqih Usul al-fiqh Ijtihad Taqlid Irfan
Practices Salat Sawm Hajj Zakat Khums Jihad Amr bi-l maʿrūf Nahy ani l-Munkar Tawalli Tabarri
Other practices Mourning of Muharram Arba'een Pilgrimage Intercession
Holy cities Mecca Medina Najaf Karbala Mashhad Jerusalem Samarra Kadhimiya Qom
Groups Ja'fari Usuli Akhbari Alevi Shaykhi
Other related sects and groups Alawites Sufism and Alevism Qizilbash Safaviyya Bektashism and folk religion Malamatiyya Qalandariyya Hurufism Bektashism Rifa`i Galibi Ni'matullāhī
Scholarship Law Marja' (list) Hawza Ayatollah (list) Allamah Seghatoleslam Hojatoleslam Ijtihad
Hadith collections The Four Books Kitab al-Kafi Man La Yahduruhu al-Faqih Tahdhib al-Ahkam Al-Istibsar Other hadith collections Book of Sulaym ibn Qays Bihar al-Anwar Wasā'il al-Shīʿa Reality of Certainty Nahj al-Balagha Mafatih al-Jinan Al-Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya Al-Amali
Sources of ijtihad and jurisprudence Qur'an Hadiths of The Infallibles Consensus Reason
Related topics List of Twelver Shia books Criticism of Twelver Shi'ism
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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.

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 balls 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.

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 spectoraly 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.

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.^[3]

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.

References

Notes