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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