Resources / Seniors of Islam

The Kırşehir region of Cappadocia was a region of special importance in terms of Turkish culture during the 13th-14th centuries. This district experienced its prime towards the end of the Anatolian Seljuk State up to the era of the Ilkhanid dynasty's rule and was the source of physical and spiritual power for the Ottoman conquests. However, after the formation of the empire when the population and cultural activities were shifted towards the more western regions, it failed to maintain its former dynamism.

While great poets and sufis such as Gülşehrî, author of the book written in verse, Mantıku’t-tayr tercümesi, the famous Âşık Paşa (1272-1333), author of the poems of Garipnâme are connected with the city of Kırşehir, so are other exceptional people such as Ahî Evran, the patron of artisans and craftsmen; Çağa Bey, the conqueror of Izmir; Shaykh Edebali, the father in law of Osman Gazi; Haji Bektash, the founder of the Bektashi order. At the same time, Kırşehir was the center of the Bektashi tariqa as well as the Ahi Brotherhood and Futuwwa organization which played a major role in the establishment of the Ottoman Empire.

In particular, the topics of the Bektashi tariqa and Haji Bektash are of great interest even today – in Turkey and abroad – since they are closely related to the political history of Turks, as well as many of their religious, social, military and cultural issues.

Unfortunately, we do not possess detailed information about the life of Haji Bektash. It is understood that he lived between the years of 606–669/1209–1270.¹

There is also a book written about his life called Velâyetnâme or Menâkıbnâme-i Hacı Bektâş-ı Horasânî. But we cannot fully rely on this work which contains certain expressions that cannot be associated with extraordinary cases, supernatural wonders (karāmāt) and historical facts. This is because it was written long after the death of Haji Bektash and after the tariqa lost its initial identity from when it was first established and underwent some significant changes due to a number of external influences. Also, because it was written not based on sound documents, but only by gathering oral narratives.²

This work mentions Haji Bektash mainly using the title “Hünkâr”³ and says that he was born in Nishapur, a city of Khorasan to İbrahim-i Sânî, a descendant of Ali (ra), and Hâtem Hatun. And although it claims that he was taught by a mutasawwif (one trained in tasawwuf) named Lokmân-ı Perende; that he met with the great sheikh of Turkistan Ahmad Yasawī, and came to Anatolia upon his command, then it is impossible to accept the last claim because Ahmad Yasawī passed away in 562/1167.

It is understood from various sources that he was a Turkmen sheikh from Khorasan; he was well trained in religion and tasawwuf, traveled to many cities, lived in the cities of Kayseri, Kırşehir, Sivas along with his brother Menteş after returning from Hajj, and his brother passed away in Sivas, and that he followedthe Babāī Sheikh, Baba Ilyas, who was also from Khorasan.⁴

Haji Bektash settled 40 km to the south-east of Kırşehir, in Suluca Karahöyük⁵ which consisted of seven houses at that time. It was a common social and religious tradition at that time to establish zawiyas and khanqahs on road routes so their surroundings became fertile and thriving lands ensuring the safety, requirements and rest place for travelers passing by. The fact that Karahöyük is located on a busy road that has been used since ancient times and that it is far from Kırşehir gives the impression that this is a place of settlement established in accordance with this tradition.⁶

Haji Bektash was successful in gathering many dervishes⁷ and sent many of his khalifas to various cities. Even though it mentions in the Menâkıbnâme that he met with many people such as Akçakoca, Sarı Saltık, Karaca Ahmed, Taptık Emre, Yunus Emre, Ahî Evran, Seyyid Mahmûd-ı Hayrânî, and even the young Osman Gazi, Alaeddin Keykubad and so on, for the moment we are deprived of the opportunity of verifying this.

Haji Bektash passed away at Suluca Karahöyük in 669/1270. Some documents also confirm that his death was on those dates.⁸ Today, there are many structures around his mausoleum that have been constructed throughout the years and that attract attention in terms of their appealing architectural styles.⁹ At this large dervish lodge that is also called “pirevi” (home of the pir, founder of an order) commemoration ceremonies are held in the presence of crowds of visitors every year on August 16-18.

The Makâlât consists of the following eight chapters:

Four groups of people, their characteristics and ways of worship

Stations of sharia

Stations of tariqa

Stations of ma‘rifa (gnosis)

Stations of haqiqa (reality)

The nature and states of the heart

The devil and bad habits that support him

The way mankind is created, mankind's value, etc.

Firstly, Haji Bektash divides Muslims into four groups:

1) Sharia driven ‘ābids (the worshippers)

2) Tariqa driven zāhids (the abstinent)

3) Ma‘rifa (gnosis) driven ‘ārifs (the gnostics)

4) Haqiqa (reality) driven muhibbs (the lovers)

He considers the first two of these groups as inexperienced and the last two as mature and kāmil (perfected). According to him:

Sharia is a great door because it informs of the rulings of everything, be it clean or impure, permissible or impermissible. These rulings must be learnt and whatever Allah the Almighty has commanded in the Quran to be done must be done, and those that He forbade must be avoided. However, attaining knowledge of the Sharia alone cannot cause one to mature.

Tariqa driven dervishes occupy themselves in the remembrance of Allah day and night; perform much worship, preparing for the hereafter... However the goal should not simply be some dull and passionless actions. Above all, there is no possibility of attaining perfection if the acts of worship carried out are overrated so that one falls prey to any form of pride.

As for ‘ārifs who have attained gnosis, they are like water; they are both pure and purifiers. They are loved by Allah because they sincerely aspire only for the Creator without consideration for worldly and eternal interests and especially because they strongly observe adab (prescribed Islamic etiquette).

As for haqiqa (reality) driven lovers, they are the most noble and mature of people. They have attained humility, ridha (contentment) and submission; they are absorbed in the presence of Allah by eliminating their own ego, they have attained the station of constant mushāhada (observance) and munājāt (appeal); they have become blessed people who love Allah.

On the path taken to rise up to this last station there are “four doors” that must be passed one after the other; namely sharia, tariqa, ma‘rifa (gnosis) and haqiqa (reality). Each one of them has ten stations, making “forty stations” in total. A servant can never reach Allah without passing these forty stations one by one – without skipping nor neglecting any one of them. For example, all of a person’s deeds go to waste if he says he believes yet he does not truly believe with his heart, or if he does not pay zakat fully, or he returns back home without completing the hajj he intended, or he considers one of God's commandments as false, or he does not believe in the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), or he does not believe in one of his companions (published by Sefer Aytekin, p. 58).

The god-inspired and demonic elements are constantly at war within us. The sultan of one side is the intellect, its regent is faith, its commanders are knowledge, generosity, modesty, patience, avoidance of sins, fear of Allah, propriety and similar positive characteristics – of whom each has hundreds of thousands of soldiers. The sultan of the opposite front is Satan, his regent is the nafs, his commanders are bad habits such as arrogance, envy, stinginess, miserliness, anger, gossip, mockery and loud laughter – each of which also has hundreds of thousands of soldiers.

It is not possible to succeed in combating the nafs without knowing yourself, your positive habits and negative habits. For this reason, Haji Bektash insists upon trying to know oneself through turning one's eyes to their own inner world. He points out that those who do not know themselves do not know Allah. Because the Creator is closer to man than his own jugular vein. As he gave great attention to the topic, a part of his book focuses on the human body. By pointing out the similarities between the body and the outer world/universe, he attempts to express that man is “a small universe.”

“If there is evil within you, cleaning your outer appearance will not be of benefit. Indeed, if you place filth in a container and tightly seal its lid, then clean its outside a thousand times a day for ten years, its inside will remain filthy. Shame on you then if you contain within you arrogance, envy, stinginess, miserliness, anger, gossip, loud laughter or mockery! Is it possible to be purified with water while all this evil is within you? If one has even one of these habits mentioned, then all of his obedience and worship will go to waste – So what will be of him if he has all eight of them?” (p. 33.)

Haji Bektash attaches great importance to loving Allah and worshipping Him with passion. This is why he considers the muhibb (lovers) as the highest level of Muslims. The city of Nishapur in Khorasan where he was born and raised, was the cradle of Malāmatiyya, which is known for having a tendency to strongly avoid pride and ostentation, being sincere, adopting the way of love and jazba (ecstasy) to reach Allah. The following poetic paragraph depicts Haji Bektash’i thoughts about the love of Allah:

“Whenever a walī (friend of Allah) says ‘O my Lord,’ God Most High responds, saying ‘Labbayk, ’ meaning ‘Go ahead.’ From this calling out and response, a light eminates and from this light a flash, through which hundreds of thousands of flowers bloom under the seventh heaven, the sixth heaven shines with the light of these flowers, while the fifth heaven is permeated by the fragrance of amber, the fourth with ‘abīr, the third with sweet basil, the second with musk, the first with the smell of roses; mercy spills over the world and universes become enlightened. Angels congratulate each other in the seven heavens, they pick some of those flowers and decorate the eight paradises. When the life of a servant loved by Allah comes to an end, the angels pick some of those flowers and have him smell their scent. Through this, he becomes enchanted, and in the meantime they take his life, so he does not suffer any fear of death nor pain. Hence, when the Egyptian women saw the beauty of the Prophet Yusuf, they cut their hands instead of apples out of admiration, yet they did not realize it.” (p. 37.)

Haji Bektash had boundless love and tolerance for people. A mature person, according to him, must be as modest as the soil upon which everyone walks; he must not despise nor shame anyone. He must treat all the people, animals and beings well in the world, and must not harm them.

Even though some contemporary researchers consider him to be a bātinī (one possessing esoteric knowledge) person, this claim is not compatible with his ideas outlined above. As for Eflâkî’s¹² statement – that despite being enlightened and possessing wisdom, he did not follow the Sharia nor pray – it is baseless in the face of the abovementioned clear and precise statements of Haji Bektash.

Claims that he accepted the twelve Imams, that he recommends ‘tawallā and tabarra', and that he was inclined to the Shia sect of Ithna Ashari are also groundless claims.¹³

The style of his work is significant in that often verses and hadith are quoted as evidence and that it is written in Arabic as was customary among the scholars of that era, despite the fact that it is addressed to Turks. This points to the fact that Haji Bektash is conservative.

Haji Bektash and Bektashism are also associated to the Futuwwa organization and its approach. “Futuwwa” is a tasawwuf related term that expresses the attainment of good habits such as bravery, generosity, considering others' good deeds to be better than yours, renunciation and sacrifice, remaining strong and dignified in the face of calamities, and forgiving others' faults. Previously, in Iran, Iraq, Syria and Egypt, a social organization that had adopted the aforementioned morals of courage was well established and fused with tasawwuf. We see that this organization was also actively present in Anatolia between the 13^th-14^th centuries. For example, Ibn Batuta, the famous traveler of that period, was always welcomed as a guest by this organization during his travels.

He gives interesting information about this organization in which its members are specially dressed and collected under the command of a sheikh called “ahī.” They display exceptional hospitality towards travelers and strangers alike, safeguard the order and security of their environment; are ruthless enemies of those who oppress, and at the same time are involved in business and trade as well as artisan groups. He fervently praises this Ahi Brotherhood. There is a deep and sincere connection between this Ahi Brotherhood and the first form of Bektashism. In fact, since the emergence of the Khorasan Malāmatiyya, of which Haji Bektash was a member, they coalesced with the people of this brotherhood and many well-known mutasawwif adopted both of these paths together.¹⁴ The Hacı Bektaş Velâyetnâmesi states that Ahî Evran (who is considered to be the patron of Anatolian artisans and craftsmen) and Haji Bektash were very close friends, insomuch that Ahî Evran said, “Whoever accepts me as his sheikh, then Haji Bektash is also his sheikh.” Indeed, most of the initial followers of Haji Bektash had also joined the Ahi Brotherhood, took part in the Ottoman conquests that spread to the west of Anatolia, – complying with the flow of Turkmen masses- and influenced the spread of Turkish culture in Rumelia and the Balkans by settling in those regions. The Bektashi initiation ceremony into the tariqa, namely kissing of the threshold, belt binding ceremony, drinking sherbet together from the same bowl, details regarding attire, and supplications recited during rituals were all adopted from the Ahi Brotherhood.¹⁵

Likewise, it appears that the narrations regarding Haji Bektash praying for the Janissaries and blessing their clothing (with supplications of protection), emerged due to the connection between those who participated in the first conquests and those who established the Janissary organization (such as Kara Rüstem, Seyyid Ali Sultan, Gazi Evrenos, Abdal Musa) and between the Ahi Brotherhood and Haji Bektash. Otherwise, Haji Bektash had passed away before the emergence of the Janissaries and even before the establishment of the Ottoman Beylik (principality).

The Janissaries regarded Haji Bektash as the sage of their profession. Some Ottoman sultans and commanders of the fighting forces in Rumelia built buildings and fountains, established foundations for the dervish lodge of Haji Bektash, the commander of veterans. There was always a deputy (wakīl) of Haji Bektash within the 94th battalion of the Janissaries, which was known as “Hacı Bektaş köçekleri” (Haji Bektash’s Janissaries who just entered the ocak (literally “hearth”, Janissary corps proper and its organization). Bektashi fathers were crowned in a ceremony by the Janissary Agha. These two organizations were also united in fate due to their close relationship and sympathy to one another. When Sultan Mahmud II abolished the Janissaries in 1826, he also ended the Bektashi tariqa. All these aspects are clear manifestations of the Janissary-Bektashi relationship.

Haji Bektash, Mawlana, Yunus Emre

Haji Bektash was a contemporary of the great mutasawwif Mawlana Jalaluddin Rumi (1207-1273), also known as “Molla Hünkâr.” As Rumi was also a member of the Khorasan Malāmatiyya, there are many similarities in their ideas. Both were broad-minded, tolerant, humanitarian people who looked favorably on all kinds of people. However, Rumi used the Persian language, which was a literary language and appealed to intellectuals and the higher strata, while Haji Bektash had influence over villagers and veterans.

Rumi's influence spread all over Cappadocia and reached as far as Kırşehir. His followers, Sheikh Süleymân-ı Türkmânî and Muhammed-i Aksarâyî established Mawlawi dervish lodges in this city.¹⁶ Emir Nureddin ibn Cece, who was the ruler of Kırşehir and had a mosque and madrasa built there in 672/1273, was also a follower of Rumi.

It is recorded by Eflâkî (v. 761/1260) that Haji Bektash sent his khalifa named Sheikh Ishak along with some of his dervishes to Rumi who was in Konya.¹⁷ The following anecdote recorded here portrays these two mutasawwif very well – one characterized as a balanced, solemn and modest teacher, the other an exuberant poet, an ecstatic lover:

Haji Bektash tells Rumi via the men he sent:

“What are you doing and what do you want? What is this commotion you are causing? If you have found what you are looking for, then it means your purpose has been fulfilled. Why don’t you calm down and keep quite. If you have not found what you are looking for, then is it not a pointless pretension that you make everyone look at you by kicking up a row and making so much noise?”

Haji Bektash is right in his objection and reasoning. However, Rumi also finds a suitable means of reason and responds with an elegant poem:

“If you do not have a beloved, then why do you not find one?”

“If you have found your beloved, then why do you not celebrate?

“You sit calmly and idly, saying, ‘What a strange matter!’

In reality, it is strange that you do not desire to set off on such a strange but enjoyable journey.”

Haji Bektashi’s ideas which we summarized above, can be found virtually identically in the poems of Yunus Emre (d. 1320), who is one of the greatest poets of Turkish Literature. Yunus also mentions the forty stations, four doors, constant munājāt (appeal to) and mushāhada (observation) of Allah, not to be disdainful of anyone, the constant struggle of the divine and evil forces within us, the sultan, commander and soldiers of both fronts, good and bad habits...¹⁹ Even if we were to admit that some of these were later introduced into the Yunus Divanı,²⁰ as the others are found as is in the er-Risâletü’n-Nushiyye, it certainly cannot be denied that there is a strong connection between Haji Bektash and Yunus Emre, either directly or indirectly.

Likewise, Said Emre, one of the 15^th century poets, mentions Haji Bektash in his poems with respect, and uses his ideas and terms. All these are proof that the Bektashi people had written Turkish poems in forms suitable to national appreciation since the early times, and played a major role in the development of Turkish language and literature.

Bektashism spread to conquered countries in a short span of time, especially because of the Janissaries. However, this spread lead to an intellectual disintegration as in the case of Mawlawism, due to the lack of a strong tariqa based literature, failing to clearly identify common beliefs and establishing a centralized organization in the early periods. In time, a vague, dark and cosmopolitan Bektashi tariqa emerged that harbored all types of people (from those who adhered to the Sharia to the mulhid who deviated) under the same roof. This was due to other groups that began to emerge such as Haydarī, Qalandarī, Hurūfī, Adhamī blending into this pure and popular tariqa, as well as contact with other religions and cultures at the borders, influences stemming from the devshirme, and strong Shia propaganda from Iran dating from the 16^th century.

Researchers point to this matter in particular and strongly highlight the major difference between the lively, constructive, pure and beneficial dervishes of the early periods, and these subsequent masses who strayed from their original function and their original goals and ideals.²¹

As a result, we can say that the murshid and moralist Haji Bektash is one of the great people who laid the spiritual foundations of the magnificent Ottoman Empire. While Rumi was a source of faydh (spiritual grace) for intellectuals, writers and craftsmen, he, on the one hand, guided, impassioned and excited veterans as a commander and the brave as a leader – conquering countries and continents. On the other hand, as we have also seen in Yunus's personality, he turned to the people – directly educating the people and indirectly serving the Turkish language and literature – and lived in the hearts of millions for centuries.

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* Akademik Makaleler, Istanbul: Server İletişim, 2017, p. 155, 165.

1. Previously, it was generally accepted that he lived between 646-738/1248–1337. Gölpınarlı, however, a contemporary researcher has succeeded in determining the dates given above from reliable manuscripts. See Gölpınarlı, Menâkıb-ı Hünkâr Hacı Bektâş-ı Velî “Vilâyetnâme”, p. 19-20.
2. The work was written in prose in 844/1440 by a Bektashi named Musa ibn Ali, known as Süflî Derviş. It was then written in verse at the end of the 15^th century by Firdevsî-i Tavîl of Bursa. Ali Nihâî b. el-Hâc Mehmed Tevfîk el-Yozgâdî thought the language of this copy written in verse to be old fashioned, so he wrote it in verse a second time (for a copy see Ankara İl Halk Kütüphanesi, Eski Eserler Bölümü, no. 1750). Vilâyetnâmehas also been translated to German. See Gross, Das Vilayatnâme des Haggi Bektasch, Leipzig 1927.
3. Hünkâr is a distortion from the word “hüdâvendigâr” and means “ruler, sultan, effendi.” Haji Bektashi’s real name is Muhammed.
4. See Âşıkpaşazâde, Tevârîh-i Âl-i Osmân, p. 204.
5. Current day Hacı Bektaş district of the Nevşehir province.
6. See Barkan, “İstilâ Devirlerinin Kolonizatör Türk Dervişleri ve Zâviyeler”, Vakıflar Dergisi, II, (Ankara 1942), p. 279-386.
7. It is certain that the Babāī, Ahī and Khorasanī have sympathy for him. We believe that what is mentioned in the Menakıbnâme expresses the truth, albeit exaggerated.
8. See Birge, The Bektashi Order of Dervishes, p. 40-41. The material in this very carefully prepared examination was reprinted in 1965, although it is now partially worn.
9. See Hamid Zübeyr, “Hacı Bektâş Tekkesi”, Türkiyat MecmuasıII, (1926), p. 365-382; Noyan, Hacı Bektâş’ta Pirevi ve Diğer Ziyaret Yerleri, Izmir 1964.
10. We could not find Haji Bektashi’s Fâtiha Sûresi Tefsîri that is said to be in Tire [Köprülü, “Les Origines du Bektachisme”, facsimile Paris 1926, translation: Türk Yurdu, II, (May 1341) no. 8]. It is stated that the Fevâid (of which a copy can be found in the Istanbul University Library, Persian manuscripts, registered as number 55; its Turkish translation: Hünkâr Hazreti Hacı Bektâş-ı Velî’nin Vasiyetnâmesi, Istanbul 1959) and Makâlât-ı Gaybiye ve Kelimât-ı Ayniye are fabricated works attributed to Haji Bektash (See Türk Ansiklopedisi, “Bektâş”). It is certain that some poems (see for example, Rieu, Catalogue of the Turkish Manuscripts in the British Museum, p. 261b) bearing the name of Haji Bektash belong to another person who lived in a later period. One of Haji Bektashi’s shathiyya was annotated and partially adorned with poems in 1091/1680 by Enverî, a work which was named Tuhfetü’s-sâlikîn. At one point it was also alleged that there was a Kırk Hadis Şerhi belonging to Haji Bektash (see Gölpınarlı, Yûnus Emre Hayatı, p. 302).
11. Although the original Arabic version of Makâlât has not yet been fully recovered, the section that mentions the forty stations is found in a manuscript in our personal library. This work was translated into Turkish at the beginning of the fourteenth or fifteenth century and many manuscripts of this prosaic translation can be found in libraries. It was printed twice in Istanbul using the Ottoman Turkish alphabet and published once using the Latin-based modern Turkish alphabet. (Sefer Aytekin, Hacı Bektâş-ı Velî Makâlât, Ankara 1954). Again, this prosaic translation was written in verse by a teacher named Taceddin Hatiboğlu in Iznik in 812/1409, and was presented to his famous grandfather Çandarlı II. Halil Bey who was an Ahī and perhaps a Bektashi (see Coşan, Hatiboğlu Muhammed ve Eserleri, p. 3-29).
12. Eflâkî Dede, Menâkıbü’l-Ârifîn, (written in 1318), text published by Tahsin Yazıcı in 497-499 ve 381-383, Turkish commentary I, 539-540 and I, 411-414.
13. Tawallā and tabarra' are two words that mean to love the friends and party of Ali (ra) and his family; to not love and to be against his enemies. This is one of the principles of the Shia sect. As for the Shia sect of Ithna Ashari, it means the branch of Shia who accept 12 Imams. These allegations regarding Haji Bektash were first put forward by the late Fuat Köprülü, based on some couplets found in the General Directorate of Security's copy of the Makâlât Tercümesi written in verse (“Anadolu’da İslâmiyet”, Darülfünun Edebiyat Fakültesi Mecmuası, no. 4, 5, 6, (Istanbul 1922), p. 87) and was later repeated by all researchers. However, these claims are deprived of support due to the fact that these couplets that were relied upon are not found in the old and full version of the work published by the Faculty of Literature of Istanbul University, but were added to the text by the scribe and more importantly, were not included in the Makâlât, but rather in the foreword added to the work by the translator and poet Hatiboğlu.
14. For example, the great mutasawwif Abū Abdurrahman as-Sulamī (d. 412/1021) has also written works on the subject.
15. See Gölpınarlı, “İslâm-Türk İllerinde Fütüvvet Teşkilâtı ve Kaynakları”, İstanbul Üniversitesi İktisat Fakültesi Mecmuası, XI, p. 6-354; Çağatay, “Fütüvvet-Ahî Müessesesinin Menşei Meselesi”, Ankara Üniversitesi İlahiyat Fakültesi Dergisi, no. 1, p. 59-68; no. 2, p. 61–84; Kafesoğlu, ”Selçuklular”, İslâm Ansiklopedisi, X, 408.
16. See Darkot, “Kırşehir”, İslâm Ansiklopedisi, VI, 765.
17. See Eflâkî, Menâkıbü’l-Ârifîn, I, 411-414.
18. See Gölpınarlı, Mevlânâ’dan Sonra Mevlevîlik, p. 115, 302 etc.
19. See Gölpınarlı, Yûnus Emre ve Tasavvuf, p. 121–126, 171 etc.
20. See Tekindağ, “Büyük Türk Mutasavvıfı Yûnus Emre Hakkında Araştırmalar”, TTK Belleten, XXX, no. 117 (January 1966), p. 59-90.
21. See Barkan, “İstilâ Devirlerinin Kolonizatör Türk Dervişleri ve Zaviyeler”, Vakıflar Dergisi, II (Ankara 1942) p. 279-386.