BEKTASHISM IN EGYPT, IRAQ AND TURKEY

Abstract

This article provides general information about the founder, Haji Bektash Veli and history of Bektashism, which is one of the oldest branches and tariqas of Sufism (Sufism, also known as Tasawwuf) within the Islamic religion, which was formed in the city of Mecca on the Arabian Peninsula in the 7th century and began to form in the 8th-9th centuries and has adopted the spiritual growth and development of a person as its goal, which originated in the 13th century and whose current centers are Tirana, the capital of Albania and the Hajibektash region of the Nevshehir province in Turkey. The wide geography and ethnic groups are considered, where the tariqa, which appeared on the territory of Anatolia, spread and formed in one or another period. As the main topic of the article, the stages of the formation of the Bektashism in Egypt, Iraq and Turkey (mostly in the Ottoman Empire) were studied, and the path of development of this movement in these countries was also considered. The functions of the bektashism, its relations with the state and the army, the attitude of the heads of state, especially the Ottoman sultans, towards this movement during their rule, connection with the ongoing social and political events, ethnic communities and small nationalities that the tariqa gathered its supporters in different periods, famous personalities who were part of the tariqah, as well as distribution, systematization, certain causes of the tariqa, as well as stages such as disintegration as a result of prohibitions as a whole has been investigated. This article provides general information about Bektashism communities established in the mentioned countries, as well as Bektashi khaniqah that existed in and around the city of Cairo, Egypt, Karbala, Najaf, Baghdad, Samərra, Kadhimiya and other cities of Iraq, in various provinces of Turkey, their main activities, founders (sheikhs) and members (dervishes).