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9 Şubat 2020 Pazar

Turkish interpretation of Islam


Turkish interpretation of Islam, KHORASAN School and Ahmet Yesevi
                                                                                                                        27.11.2016
Şaban Recai Öztürk
sabanreco@gmail.com

I had tried to study the Protestantism and some of the sects, congregations and organizations born from it. This time, I will discuss Turkish Islam and Yesevism, which have an important place in Islam. I am taking a small step to look at the important partners among us, the Moderate Islamist Sects and the Liberals, as well as the CIA, the British MI6, the German Intelligence Agents and also the Deep World State and the Global Looting Elite Coalition.
         As you may remember, in the book "The Clash of Civilizations and The Remaking of World Order" published in 1996, Huntington said that the 21st century will be determined by a clash of civilizations with religion; he defined in his own way, the Western civilization, mostly Catholic and Protestant Christians, the Orthodox Christian civilization, the Chinese civilization, the Islamic civilization, the Hindu civilization and the Japanese civilization. According to him, Islamic and Confucian civilizations were partly on the rise and the Western civilization was relatively declining; and the conflict would take place between China and the Islamic civilization and the West. ‘Divided countries’ used by Huntington described the countries under the influence of multiple civilizations; and Turkey was a country divided between Islamic and Western civilizations...
         First, a brief look at Turkish history in ancient times...
         Turkish-speaking nomadic tribes from the Altai mountains and Central Asian steppes moved west between 200-300 years. They expelled or assimilated the Indo-Iranians, invading Turkestan. Between 300-700, Turkish nomads settled in permanent villages, towns, cities and established many states in Khorasan, Western Iran, Anatolia, the Balkans (Avars, Kuman, Pechenegs, Bulgarians) and Volga basin. These people accepted many religions before Islam. Among them, Shamanism has a priority, however, Buddhism, Judaism and Christianity were also accepted by some Turkish communities.
An important point should be highlighted here…
The new religion accepted by the absolutist rulers cannot completely eliminate the old beliefs of the societies, old beliefs continue to live under the guise of new faith and society's own interpretation of religion develops.
So, I can think that Shamanism continued somehow in Buddhist, Jewish, Christian and Muslim Turks.
Shamanism was the common belief system of Turks and many Asian people. However, our ancestors' conception of 'One God' or 'Sky God' who creates and directs the Earth, the sky and the human, namely all the beings is also remarkable. Oğuz Han was apparently a propagator of an understanding based on the 'Uniqueness of God'. Therefore, it is possible to think that Shamanism has some traces of human prehistory.
In his book 'Turkish Tradition' Ziya Gökalp studied the life and religious beliefs of Turks during their relationship with Far Eastern civilization, before they met Islam. Tsin Turks, who have four-belief (Green Khan, Yellow Khan, Scarlet Khan, White Khan) also affected the Chinese and the Chinese turned it into a five-belief. According to the direction, season, ground-water, element and animal classifications, four-belief in Tsin Turks developed new forms over time. Turkish logic was shaped according to this quartet on many issues. Then Tsin religion was called Shamanism.
Wood, water, iron and fire, the four main elements of the religion of Tsin (Shamanism), are both on the same level and oppose to each other. This complicated situation forms the main philosophy of Shamanism. Ancient Turkish beliefs based on numbers are also the remnants of many traditions and customs in today's Turks. In addition, Ziya Gökalp enlightens about the Turkish Creation Epic, the Nine Oğuz Epic, the Oğuzhan Epic, the Sane Epic, the Ergenekon Epic, the Göktürk Epic, and other Turkish epics, which we call Turkish Mythology.
Now I can switch to the Turkish interpretation of Islam, to Turkish Islam...
Central Asian Turkish tribes founded the first major state under the name of Göktürk in 536 as the confederation of nomadic tribes. The old Turkish era started when Göktürks took to the stage of history. The political organization that used the Turkish word for the first time was the Göktürk Empire.
751 is a turning point in Turkish history. In the Talas (Kyrgyzstan) War, Arabs supported by Karluk Turks defeated the Chinese, the effort to Sinicize Central Asia was prevented and Turks began to accept Islam.
However, in 762 Uyghurs accepted the Mani religion, a synthesis of Zoroastrianism and Christianity. This belief, which had become widespread for a while, was liquidated in a bloody way by the harsh measures of Iran and Rome.
It was also an important turning point that the people of the Karakhanid state, who overthrew the Uighurs in 840, accepted Islam as the official state religion in 950, during the reign of Saltuk Buğra Kara Khan. Thus, the Turks who adopted Islam started to develop a new culture based on Turkish - Islamic synthesis; this culture reshaped the social order, the conception of the state and the conception of the world and reshaped even the whole world. However, the state religion did not become easily the religion of the Turkish people.
Now the KHORASAN SCHOOL...
Two important views emerged after the death of Prophet Muhammad...
The one prioritized Arab nationalism, the other accepted Islam as a universal religion. Those who adopted universality escaped from Arab nationalism, and those who settled in Khorasan where the Turks lived constituted the Khorasan School.
The ideas of Islam as a universal religion spread in Khorasan. One of the most important ideas of Islam was based on ‘not partnering with God’. Islamic belief and thought began to blend with Turkish customs and traditions. Apart from the Arab influence, including the old beliefs and culture of the peoples of the region, universal understanding of Islam, the Khorasan School emerged.
It is necessary to touch on Ahmet Yesevi, the most influential person of Khorasan School. Because Ahmet Yesevi one of the great Turkish Sufis before Yunus Emre and one of the great parents educated in Turkistan deserves special attention.
1000 years...
Middle East, the axis of the world... Those who did not speak Arabic were considered outdated... Islamic dynasties represented political, military and economic power... Creative explosion of thought was experienced in Islamic theology, philosophy, science and technology...
Andalusian Umayyad in Spain saved the basic works of Antiquity by translating them into Arabic; evaluating and developing those works they laid the foundations of the Renaissance and the Reform in Europe. It can be called the first form of globalization...
Europe was living the 700-year DARK AGE between 800-1500. In 1054, the Catholic and Orthodox churches were separated and excommunicated each other due to their great differences of opinion. Crusades between 1095-1270. There were 30 million inhabitants in the Middle East and Europe each, the number of cities with a population of more than 50 thousand in the Middle East is 13, and in Europe only Rome.
I look at the Great Seljuk period, which ruled between 1040-1157. In the strongest period, the Seljuk dominated Khorezm, Khorasan, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Arabian Peninsula and Eastern Anatolia, the territory of the sovereignty was 10 million square kilometers.
During the period of the Karakhanid and Great Seljuks, Yesevi was born in Yesi (today Turkestan) or Sayram city of today's Kazakhstan. Year of birth is unknown. He died in 1156, 1165 or 1166. According to the common view he was 73 years old when he died in 1166, it is estimated that he was born in 1093.
I remember that Mevlana - Rumi - was born in Khorasan in 1207, and Yunus Emre in 1238 in Anatolia...
It is said that Yesevi's father Hace İbrahim bears the lineage of Muhammet bin Hanefi, the son of Hazrat Ali. When his father died at an early age, he was influenced by a Sufi teacher named Arslan Baba in the city of Yesi (today Turkestan). Yesevi, who went to Bukhara after the first stage of his education, was engaged with one of the leading religious scholars Yusuf Hamedani and completed his education in 1140. For a while after Hamedani's death, he became the Mürşit - the Mentor - in Bukhara, then he left his office to Abdülhalik Gücdüvani and returned to Yesi and established the Yeseviye Lodge. He lived there until his death.
Gücdüvani educated Mohammed Baha Uddin Naqshbandi. The leader of the Naqshbandi Tariqa established in Bukhara then spread to Afghanistan, India, Iraq and Anatolia, one of the two large tariqas except the Yeseviye Lodge... This tariqa is important. It affects Turkish politics and economy...
A little Sufism and tariqas without digressing too much…
Sufism implies the practicing to escape from 'excessive enrichment' and 'world blessings' caused by Islamic conquests after Muhammad's death. Initially, the worship and dhikr rituals were performed at Sufi's will, then rule-based system was accepted and spiritual authorities named as sheikh, mürşit, guide appeared. Sufis had to enter a tariqa and be tied in the mürşit; individuality, free will came to an end, slave order, corruption and deviation began. Tariqas became one of the corrupt forms of Sufism. The abuse of religion for personal interests took place in Islam, as in every religion...
Yesevi founded his teaching on the love of ‘Ahl al-Bayt’, holy family of the Prophet Muhammad, particularly his daughter Fatimah, her husband ʿAli (Muhammad’s cousin), and their descendants and his understanding of Sufism. This first great Turkish doctrine or the lodge established by a Turkish Sufi was effective first in Ma Wara an-Nahr, Transoxiana, around Tashkent and West Turkistan. Then, Yesevism spreading among Turks in Khorasan, Iran and Azerbaijan reached with the immigration in Anatolia and from there to the Balkans in 13th century.
According to some, although Yesevism is considered a tariqa it is actually considered a lodge. Because, they have not completed the characteristics that require the formation of the tariqa such as kisve, tekke, erkname, dhikr, riyazat, semah, later it gave birth to some tariqas, but could not maintain his own position.
Yesevi introduced the true face of this religion based on warm, sincere, tolerant, love of man and love of God to the Turks who became new Muslims and try to reconcile the remains of old belief with Islam. He evaluated well the structure of the Turkish society, semi-nomadic, keeping its traditions and customs alive. He perceived that it would be the basis of success to present these people with a sincere and unshakable understanding of faith, religious and moral rules, in their own language and at their level, instead of a mixed Islam, stifled by Arab - Persian cultural influences, within the rules of Islamic fiqh. He taught Turkish tribes about friendship, solidarity, love of God and love of man through folk literature.
Yesevi's understanding of Islam did not require that the existing belief system be completely abandoned. Therefore, shamanic traditions still exist in most Turkish communities living in Turkistan territory. These practices were carried also to Anatolia and to the Balkans by Ahmet Yesevi's followers.
Ahmet Yesevi built his teaching on the principles of Sharia, Tariqa, Ingenuity and Truth known as the Four Gates. The Four Gates come from the beliefs of the Turkish Shamanism prior to Islam. East, West, North and South directions, four elements considered sacred. The directions are symbolized by four colors and four sacred beings: Blue, White, Black and Red. Wood, Iron, Water and Fire. According to the shaman belief, these are the essence of the universe and man: Justice, Strength, Reason and Harmony.
The principle of the four doors also served as the basis for the teaching of Haji Bektash Veli. Haji Bektash Veli added ten positions to each door and put forward all of the principles called ‘Four Doors, Forty Positions.’
In Islamic Sufism, human is the essence of the universe. Everything is for human. One should try to be ‘Al-Insan al-Kamil – the perfect man-’, try to reach the perfection of morality, to love the creatures and not to hurt. Humble people are sincere in every respect. They see the world and all things as the work of divine love, they love everything from the heart. He knows that God can be reached only with this love. Without love, he does not see it possible to understand God. He says "Divine Love" is God and predicts that those who fall for this Love cannot think of small benefits such as selfishness, showing off, hypocrisy, self-interest.
The Yesevi doctrine, which combines the values of Islam with the values of Turkish culture, made it easier for the Turkish tribes in the steppes to adopt Islam. For these societies that do not lose their values, rather than the prescriptive Islam offered by urban scribes, an understanding of Islam offered by dervishes, who approached religion in a flexible manner and which does not deny old beliefs, came closer. Thus, some of the ‘shaman’ traditions had the opportunity to survive with some changes.
Now, the Turkish language a little…
Seljuks occupied a long period of our history, Seljuk Beg, who gave this great state its name, and his companions had Turkish names, but last rulers had Persian names such as Keykavus and Keykubat! It is even more interesting that the official language of the state was Persian, not Turkish… Alpaslan's vizier, Nizam al Mulk was a Persian and Nizamiye Madrasahs he founded in his name gave Persian education. In other words, in the Seljuk Empire, Turkish was the language of the common people and Persian was the language of the intellectuals and scholars.
Among these negativities, a conscious Turk, Yesevi, although knows Arabic and Persian very well chose Turkish. The reason his teaching was so effective is that he chose Turkish instead of Arabic or Persian. He quickly spread his teaching with the poems he wrote with syllable meter. The poems of Yesevi, called ‘Hikmet - Wisdom’, which were orally lived for centuries, were written in the 15th century and gathered under the name of ‘Divan-ı Hikmet’ and travel from hand to hand like a holy book.
Yesevi founded a madrasah based on Islamic Sufism, which attaches importance to science, literature and art. The language of this madrasa was Turkish. Thousands of people who educated here spread all over the Turkish World, they performed the Turkish poems and wisdoms of Yesevi everywhere. A new Turkish literature was born. Even those who use Persian, the literary language of the time, criticized Yesevi for writing Turkish…
Yesevi is one of the important figures raised by the Turkish world and one of the symbol names of Turkishness. Our great poet Yahya Kemal Beyatlı said “Investigate Ahmet Yesevi, you will find our nationality in Him.” ...
Thousands of students-disciples conveyed the belief, knowledge and awareness they received from Yesevi dervish lodge to Khorasan, Northern Turkic regions called ‘Deşti Kıpçak’, Anatolia and European Turkishness. They have a large share in the rooting of the Turkish presence in Anatolia and Rumelia. The followers of Sheikh Edebali, Haji Bektash Veli, Geyikli Father, Ahmet Yesevi, the spiritual founders of the Ottoman Empire, are also known as “Colonizer Turkish Dervishes”, namely, the pioneers of the 'Protestant Missionaries' we complained about in the last periods of the Ottoman State...
Yesevi lodge provided shelter for the poor, orphans and helpless people, prepared the ground for the development of Anatolian Turkish literature, and became a channel for the raising of great poets. His successors; such as Mansur Ata, Abdülmelik Ata, Süleyman Hakim Ata, Muhammed Danişmend, Muhammed Buhari (Sarı Saltuk), Zengi Ata, Taç Ata and Ahi Evran, Haji Bektash, Mevlana Rumi, Yunus Emre, Taptuk Emre trained by them transferred Turkish language, literature, culture and Islam to future generations in Anatolia. Haji Bektash Veli was the spiritual teacher of the Janissary, the backbone of the Ottoman army. Sarı Saltuk, sent by Yesevi to Hacı Bektaş, was the person who rooted Islam in the Balkans. Like Geyikli Baba who prepared the conquest of Bursa.
Yesevi dervishes, during the Turkification of Anatolia in the 12th, 13th and 14th centuries, when necessary, they were called warrior dervishes ‘Alperen’, as they fought, they became the spirit of war. When necessary, they were named 'Ahi', moral fighters who brought morality and discipline to the trade. They tried to enlighten the women and became ‘Bacıyan’, the Sisters, the first Turkish-Muslim women’s union in Anatolia. They undertook to revitalize and cultivate the empty lands, and secured the roads. They became the belief in the hearts, the illuminator shining the minds. The Ghazis, the Ahis, the Sisters and the Abdals - wandering dervishes - laid the foundations of the Ottoman Empire and revealed one of the great achievements of human history, carrying out the 'Pax Ottomana' which lasted for centuries.
One of the reasons for the decline of the Ottoman Empire could be attributed to digressing from this spirit, namely 'Islamic Sufism based on morality, science, art, literature, true nationalism, warm, sincere, tolerant, love of man and God.'...
In the understanding of those who absorb Islam correctly, men and women were together at work, in production, in the mosque, in the council and in the lodge and the woman was not pushed out of life. One of the ten foundations of religion was science. The members of other religions and all people were treated with compassion and tolerance. Ottoman Sultan II. Beyazıt was a follower and practitioner of this understanding, who sent ships and brought the Spanish Jews subjected to torture and death because of their religion to Istanbul in 1492, it is even said II. Beyazıt was a Yesevi dervish.
Three services and seven principles:
First of Yesevi's three services was, at a time when our intellectuals wrote in Arabic and Persian, he wrote his poems in Turkish. He started Turkish Islamic poetry tradition and a great literary tradition was born. We owe him the vitality and prevalence of Turkish today. Secondly, he sent his educated students to the Turkish World as instructors, spread Islam among the Turks. Third, he revealed the Turkish interpretation of Islam.
He expresses this Turkish interpretation with seven principles. The first is the orientation towards Allah with love. 'The one without love has neither religion nor faith.' Secondly, ihlas, pure and clean love, sincerely Muslim. Islam only for Allah, away from showing off, away from 'riya' - hypocrisy. Third, human love. Man is the most blessed of being, the essence, the summary of being. To be troubled by man, to serve man, is Islam itself. Fourth, tolerance. People are not humiliated because of religion, language, color, gender; and differences are not the subject of fight. Fifth; gender equality. The sixth is the holiness of labor and work. Seventh, science; one of the ten pillars of religion, the way of reaching God and knowing the Creator by knowing the being.
Mausoleum of Ahmed Yesevi is in the city of Turkestan, South Kazakhstan, built by Tamerlane between 1389 and 1405. In 2002; the Mausoleum was recognized by UNESCO as a world cultural heritage, the tomb was restored by the Republic of Turkey...
As Naqshbandistes, Süleymanistes, Nuristes, Fethullahists and others have been shaping people in every corner of life, domestic and foreign politics, economy, education and social life, by exceeding the quality of faith community and taking advantage of the means of democracy; Atatürkists, Nationalists, Crazy Turks need to know our religion, culture and history better to win our people and to save Islam from the hands of fanatics and self-seekers.
The possibilities of awakening that will raise our spirit of unity and solidarity and reduce differentiation are available in our history we wrote ourselves and in our culture world. It is not difficult to get rid of all kinds of pressure and hegemony of the West, to turn towards our unity of mind-faith and culture, and to return to our true national and spiritual values...
Eastern conscience, culture and civilization wounded by the attacks of colonialism but could be revived with their traditions and morals, can be synthesized with the positive values of the West. Atatürk's Turkey, representative in the history of this great synthesis, can regard today's ‘Fetret - interregnum - period' as temporary and can avoid to imitate the West's materialistic, natural resources destroyer, greedy, passionate, money-addicted modern life and focus on the future with physical and moral forces at hand. By adding feelings of morals and sense of honor as well as freedom, innocence and compassion to the weak people's search for security and widespread welfare, Atatürk's Turkey can be an example again being a nation that thinks, feels; that is humble as well as that is hero.
It should also touch on the Naqshbandi tariqa regarded as a branch of Yesevism, appearing in Northern Iraq but distancing from its noble and sacred goals, being accused of hostility to the Republic of Turkey. Because, Nurism that it gave birth and Fethullahism fragmented from Nurism has become the toy of the West; they are poor and do not know where they are dragged.
Eastern Question or Orient Question is not over...




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