BEKTASHI

Turkish Bektasi any member of an order of Muslim mystics founded, according to their own traditions, by Hajji Bektash Wali of Khorasan, Iran. It acquired definitive form in the 16th century in Anatolia (Turkey) and spread to the Ottoman Balkans, particularly Albania. Originally one of many Sufi orders within orthodox Sunnite Islam, the Bektashi order in the 16th century adopted tenets of the Shi'ite sect, including a veneration of 'Ali, the fourth successor of the prophet Muhammad, as a member of a trinity with Allah and the Prophet himself. Like many Sufis, the Bektashi were quite lax in observing daily Muslim laws, and women as well as men took part in ritual wine drinking and dancing during devotional ceremonies. The Bektashi in the Balkans adapted such Christian practices as the ritual sharing of bread and the confession of sins. Bektashi mystical writings made a rich contribution to Sufi poetry. The Bektashi acquired political importance in the 15th century, when the order dominated the Janissaries, an elite Ottoman military corps recruited from Christian lands. Their influence waned after 1826, when the Janissaries were disbanded, but the order underwent a revival later in the century, with the rebuilding of the monasteries and a flowering of literary activity in Turkey and Albania. After 1925, when all Sufi orders were dissolved in Turkey, the Bektashi leadership shifted to Albania. With the banning of religion in Albania in 1967, Bektashi devotions were carried on by communities in Turkey, Albanian regions of the Balkans, and the United States.