Bektashi Order

The Bektashi Order or Bektashism is an Islamic Sufi mystic order originating in the 13th-century Ottoman Empire. It is named after the saint Haji Bektash Veli. The Bektashian community is currently led by Baba Mondi, their eighth Bektashi Dedebaba and headquartered in Tirana, Albania. Collectively, adherents of Bektashism, are called Bektashians or simply Bektashis.

Originally one of many Sufi orders within Sunni Islam, by the 16th century the order adopted some tenets of the Shia Islam, including a veneration of ʿAlī, the son-in-law of Muhammad, and the twelve imams; as well as a variety of syncretic beliefs. The Bektashis acquired political importance in the 15th century, when the order dominated the Janissaries. After the foundation of the Turkish Republic, Kemal Atatürk banned religious institutions that weren't part of the Directorate of Religious Affairs and the community's headquarters relocated to Albania. Salih Nijazi was the last Dede in Turkey whilst also being the first one in Albania. The order became involved in Albanian politics, and some of its members, including Ismail Kemal, were major leaders of the Albanian National Awakening.

Bektashis believe in the Ismah of the Prophets and messengers, the Twelve Imams, the Fourteen Infallibles and the current Dedebabas. In addition to the spiritual teachings of Haji Bektash Veli, the Bektashi order was later significantly influenced during its formative period by the Hurufis (in the early 15th century), the Qalandariyya stream of Sufism, figures like Ahmad Yasawi, Yunus Emre, Shah Ismail, Shaykh Haydar, Nesimi, Pir Sultan Abdal, Gül Baba, Sari Saltik and to varying degrees more broadly the Shia belief system circulating in Anatolia during the 14th to 16th centuries. The mystical practices and rituals of the Bektashi order were systematized and structured by Balım Sultan in the 16th century.

According to a 2005 estimate made by Reshat Bardhi, there are over seven million Bektashis worldwide, though more recent studies put the figure as high as 20 million. In Albania, they make up 20% of the Muslim population, and 2.5% of the country's population. An additional 12.5 million Bektashis live in Turkey. Bektashis are mainly found throughout Anatolia, the Balkans and among Ottoman-era Greek Muslim communities. The term “Alevi-Bektashi” is currently a widely and frequently used expression in the religious discourse of Turkey as an umbrella term for the two religious groups of Alevism and Bektashism.