HISTORY OF ALEVISM

The origin of Alevism is generally Hz. It is based on the events that took place after the death of Muhammad. However, when dealing with Anatolian Alevism, many different pre-Islamic and post-Islamic religious and cultural elements should not be overlooked. First, let’s see the developments that led to the birth of Alevism:

Hz. The problem of who will be the caliph, which emerged after the death of Muhammad, sowed the first seeds of the Alawite-Sunni issue. Hz. Muhammad was still alive many times. He emphasized that he would be Ali’s successor. Hz. The lineage of Muhammad, his daughter Hz. He gave Fatima as his wife. He continued from Ali. When Muhammad migrated to Mecca, he went to the Prophet to look after his family and business. He left Ali in his place. Moreover, the Prophet He appointed Ali as the commander in almost all the wars he participated in.

As it is known, Mr. On his return from the Farewell Pilgrimage, Muhammad (632) stayed in Gadiru Hum with his fellow Muslims and made a speech, and after him, his uncle, son and son-in-law, Hz. He stated that Ali was appointed as the leader of the Muslims, that is, the caliph. Muslims there, including the Second Caliph Umar, therefore, Hz. They congratulated Ali.

Before he died, Mr. Muhammad: “Bring me a pen and paper and I will write a will for you so that you will not be in conflict after me.” but this request was not fulfilled and the Prophet died before he could write his will. Afterwards, While Ali and other family members were dealing with the burial of the Prophet, the notables of the Ansar and Muhajir, including Abu Bakr and Omar, had already started a struggle for power. This power struggle resulted in Abu Bakr becoming the caliph, and then Omar and Osman respectively. As a result, the caliphate of these three people, so to speak, took place despite the Ahl al-Bayt of the Prophet, so it has been discussed for centuries. Hz. Ali and Hz. While Fatima did not approve of these caliphs, they also avoided creating tension for the sake of power, and saw fit to swallow this injustice.

The first emergence of the Alawite-Sunni issue is based on this caliphate issue, which we have tried to summarize. What happened to the Ahl al-Bayt, and most importantly, the Karbala Incident, caused Alevism to mature politically and intellectually and to spread among other nations other than Arabs. Let’s see these developments now:

Osman’s caliphate period (644-656) was a period when the divisions and problems that had been planted before came to the surface. The extreme closeness he showed to his relatives, namely the Umayyad family, and the appointment of them to governorships and other abuses under the rule of Caliph Osman caused intense discontent with him in Iraq, Egypt, Hejaz and Surite. Although their governors treated the people badly, they took a protective attitude towards them, and as a result, groups from Egypt, Basra and Kufa besieged the house of Caliph Osman and killed him.(656)

After the murder of the third Caliph Osman, Hz. Ali accepted the caliphate upon the insistence of the Companions. Hz. Ali accepted the post of caliphate in a period of intense internal turmoil and in order to end these turmoils. Hz. Aisha, Talha and Zubayr, the wives of the Prophet Muhammad. After Ali became the caliph, they blamed him for Osman’s death and led to the war of Cemel. The Battle of Jamel It ended with Ali’s victory. Hz. After this incident, Ali attempted to solve the problem of the Governor of Damascus, Muawiya, who was ruling in Damascus and refused to pledge allegiance to him. Muawiyah, Mr. He blamed Ali for Osman’s death and was making propaganda for this in Damascus. Hz. When Ali’s warnings were inconclusive, Hz. The Battle of Siffin (657) between the Armies of Ali and Muawiya started. Hz. When Ali’s army was about to win the war, Muawiya’s close man Amr Ibn-ul As had the pages of the Qur’an tied to the ends of the soldiers’ spears and said, “May the book of Allah be the judge between you and us.” As a result of his shouting, Hz. Ali’s army stopped the attack. In this way, Amr’s trick worked and arbitrators were selected from both sides, and no result could be reached. Here Hz. A group that left Ali’s army took the name Kharijites. Thus, the Muslims They were divided into three as supporters of Ali, supporters of Muawiya and Kharijites. Hz. Before his death, Ali organized a military operation against the Kharijites and destroyed a significant part of them. On January 24, 661, Hz. Ali was martyred as a result of an attack by an outsider named Ibn Muljam.

In this way, the Umayyad ruler Muawiya tried to achieve his political goals for power at any cost, and in Siffin, Hz. When he realized that he would be defeated by Ali, he resorted to cheating and Hz. With the death of Ali, he reached the goal of establishing the Umayyad sultanate. Hz. After Ali’s death, all the provinces except Damascus and Egypt were in the hands of Hz. They paid allegiance to Hasan. Muawiyah, whom he considered dangerous for his own power, was Hz. He did not hesitate to poison Hasan. I. Muawiya, Ahl al-Bayte and Hz. Ali made his followers do all kinds of torture, and Hz. He had Ali cursed and tried to make his son Yazid the caliph after him. Hz. As the biggest obstacle in front of Yazid with the poisoning of Hasan, Hz. Hussein was present.

Yazid first wrote a letter to the Governor of Medina and his relative Walid, especially Hz. He ordered that Hussein must be made to obey him, and if he refused, he should be killed. Naturally, Mr. It was not possible for Husayn to obey a tyrant like Yazid. Hz. On the night of May 4, 680, Husayn, with the advice of Muhammad Hanafi, went to Mecca, taking all his family members with him. Also, St. The people of Kufe learned that Husayn did not pay allegiance to Yazid and went to Mecca. They sent envoys to Hussein and announced that they would recognize him as the caliph with an invitation to Kufa. Thereupon, Hz. Although Uncle Hüseyin sent Muslim to Kufa to provide a suitable environment, Muslim was caught by Yazid’s men and executed. Hz. Muslim was killed while Husayn was on his way from Mecca to Kufa.

Hz. When Husayn and his entourage arrived in Karbala, they were both dehydrated and surrounded by an army of thousands. Yazid’s governor of Kufa, Ubeydullah, Hz. He did not accept any of Hussein’s requests to return, meet Yazid, or go to one of the borders of Islam. In fact, his duty is to fulfill Yazid’s order, that is, to fulfill the order of Hz. to kill Hussein. Because he knew that Hz. As long as Husayn lived, his master, Yazid, was not at ease. A huge army of so-called Muslims was determined to murder the grandson and family of the Prophet, who founded their own religion for the sake of power.

Finally, on 10 October 680 (Hijri 10 Muharram 61), Hz. Although Husayn made his final preparations and wanted to approach Yazid’s army, this meaningful speech did not affect Yazid’s army much. In the war that started in a very unbalanced way, Hz. Hussein’s fighters, consisting of 23 cavalry and 40 infantrymen, were dwindling by the afternoon. Hz. Hussein was also fighting on foot with these few people. Finally, by the order of Şimr, they were attacked from all sides and Hz. Hussein was martyred. Then the tents were plundered, and Imam Zeynel Abidin, who was sick, was also prevented, although he wanted to be killed. The youngest victim of this ugly war is Hz. Hussein’s son was Ali Asgar. Hz. Those who were martyred on Hussein’s side were seventy-two people.

The Karbala event is a historical event that has left its mark on centuries. This event affected the people of the Muslim countries at that time so much that the Umayyad sultanate was shaken to its roots. When the Karbala Incident was heard in Iran and the Hejaz, a great grudge against the Umayyads arose among the people and rebellion movements began. Yazid’s attack on Mecca and Medina was the last straw. In summary, in mosques, Hz. Making Ali curse, first Hazrat Hasan and then Hazrat Ali. The brutal murder of Husayn and his family, descended from the Prophet, sparked a movement with an oppositional intellectual and political basis against the Umayyad Dynasty. It is possible to call this movement the support of Hazrat Ali or Alevism.