By the admission of the Turkish historian, “Inalcik”
“Mysticism” is a common denominator
of the Sufi Order
The profound sacerdotalism state in Anatolia represented a widely open door for interpretation in Ottoman culture, which enabled philosophical ideas – which are in conflict with the Sunni doctrine – to spread with their most extreme visions and distant from it, with interpretations that have pagan, Magus, Greek, Indian, Christian, Sabian perspectives; and atheistic ideas, all of which worked to entice the commoner of the Turks in order to limit the religious interpretations to the Sufi clerics, considering that the inside of the frequent Qur’an meanings is full of secrets that only the infallible imams can see, and they are the only ones who are able to interpret them. This what made Sufism in the Ottoman Empire immersed in the mystical ideas.
There is no doubt that the Multiplicity of Sufism accesses, and not being restricted to one doctrine. It greatly contributed to its spread, especially in Anatolia; since it is able to harmonize with any thought, regardless of its grounds, as it is a spiritual doctrine that the common people have adopted in its apparent form as a behavior of worship and to be alone with Allah through spiritual exercises that elevate their owner to a standing place of Irfan, reveal unseen facts and obtain Karamat. This created a fertile environment for “Mysticism” to spread its beliefs among the Sunni Sufis.
They were preoccupied with a standing place of Irfan, revealing unseen facts and obtaining Karamat.
Sufi orders in Anatolia multiplied and varied during the era of the Ottoman Empire, and they overlapped in a way that made it difficult for the researcher of the Sufi orders to grasp the details of each method and to deconstruct the data and foundations of each sect, and many deviant Sufi paths appeared, perhaps the most prominent of which was the Mystical ways that represented the most dangerous aspect in the history of the Ottoman Empire. As it wore the robe of Sunni Sufism with an extremist Mystical thought, and it was associated with explicitly Mystic doctrines.
The mystical Sufism constituted the most dangerous method among them due to the ambiguity surrounding it and embracing it, and its reliance as well on spreading its dervishes among the Turks, adopting the sectarian struggle way as their approach and they are keen to pass it on to the popular classes, and their attempts to explain the supernatural powers of Ali bin Abi Talib (may God be pleased with him) with Shiite Sufi logic Followed by his descendants who specialize in the divine light, according to their claim, and thus delude them that they are the most capable of interpreting the inner meanings of the Holy Qur’an. Thus, mystical Sufism emerged as a religious system and a dominant force in the Islamic community carrying beliefs, ideas and rituals far from the Qur’an and Sunnah, and by the recognition of the Turkish Khalil Inalçık These mystical beliefs were common to a large extent among the Sufi orders in the Ottoman Empire, some of which are extremist, and some of them are less extreme and intense in these beliefs. Among the most important mystical methods: Hurufism and the Bektashi.
The Multiplicity and diversity of “Order” found a fertile environment in Anatolia.
1) Khaled Al-Qatt, “The Esoteric Interpretation and Its Impact on the Beliefs of the Esoteric Sects,” Taibah University Journal of Arts and Human Sciences, Second Year, Fourth Issue (2014 AD).
2) Khalil Inalcik, History of the Ottoman Empire, 1st Edition (Beirut: Dar Al-Madar Al-Islami, 2002).
3) Saad Rostom, The Sects and the Islamic Schools, 3rd Edition (Damascus: The First for Publishing and Distribution, 2005).
4) Abdul Qader Al-Hamad, Contemporary Religions, Sects and Sects, 4th Edition (Riyadh: D.N, 2011 AD).