The Fourteen Pure Innocents (On Dört Masum-u Pak) and the Seventeen Kemerbest

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Who are the Fourteen Pure Innocents?

There have been various rumours and writings about the 14 Masum-u Pak. Some Sunni authors wrote that the term covers 14 persons, adding the Prophet Muhammad and Fatima to the Twelve Imams. God, of course, knows what those authors had in mind. In our view, however, these authors are trying to cover up why the Umayyads killed six-month-old children of the Ehl-i Beyt. It is a political game designed to conceal the Umayyads’ grudge and hostility towards the lineage of the Prophet Muhammad. The truth is that these are the names of innocent children of the Ehl-i Beyt and of the lineage of the Twelve Imams, aged between 40 days and seven years, who were martyred by the Umayyads and the Abbasids. The Fourteen Pure Innocents are symbols of purity, innocence and sinlessness. Within the Alevi community they represent spotless innocence. They are the children of the Ehl-i Beyt and of the Twelve Imams.

The names of the Fourteen Pure Innocents

1. Hadi’i Ekber, also called “Muhsin”, is the son of Imam Ali. When he was only forty days old, he was martyred by Ömer ibni Hattab (Umar ibn al-Khattab), who carried out a raid to force Imam Ali to pledge allegiance to Ebu Bekir (Abu Bakr). Because of the noise in front of the door, Fatima wanted to leave the scene with her child in her arms, and the door pushed by Umar fell on top of her. Mother and child were trapped under the door, and the child, crushed by the scuffling of Umar’s supporters on top of them, was martyred in his mother’s arms. Some historians, in order to clear Umar, write the following: the door was not pushed by Umar but by one of his followers named Tahir. Even the crows would laugh at such a fabrication. One has to consider: it was Umar who organised the raid on Imam Ali’s house. The commander of the people brought there was also Umar. The one who used force and exerted pressure was also Umar. In these circumstances I leave the verdict on who the killer is to the conscience of my readers.
2. Abdullah: son of Hasan. As a seven-year-old child he was martyred by Talha bin Amir, one of Muawiya’s men. His father buried him in the Baqi (Bakiy) cemetery of Medina.
3. Abdullah: son of Husayn. When he was only two years old, he was martyred at Karbala by Abdullah ibni Erzak Dımışki.
4. Kasım: son of Husayn. When he was only three years old, he was martyred at Karbala by Hazime Kahl.
5. Ali Asgar: son of Husayn. When he was only one year old, his father Husayn showed him to Yazid’s army at Karbala and asked them to give the child water. On the orders of Arm ibni Sad (Umar ibn Saad), he was martyred by an accursed archer named Harmele (Hurmala).
6. Kasım: his other name is “Hüseyin”. Son of Imam Zayn al-Abidin. At the age of three he was martyred by Bekir ibni Urve. His grave is in the city of Basra.
7. Ali Eftar: son of Imam Muhammad al-Baqir. As a six-year-old child he was martyred by Ahmet ibni Mansur. His grave is in Safa.
8. Abdullah: son of Imam Jafar al-Sadiq. As a three-year-old child he was martyred by Ibni Mercan. His grave is in Bestam (Bastam).
9. Yahya El Hadi: son of Imam Jafar al-Sadiq. As a four-year-old child he was martyred by Abdullah ibni Mahmut Kûfi in the presence of the Abbasid ruler. His grave is in Baghdad.
10. Salih: son of Imam Musa al-Kazim. As a four-year-old child he was martyred by Osman ibni Abdullah. His grave is in Shiraz.
11. Tayyib: son of Imam Musa al-Kazim. At the age of seven he was martyred by Yusuf ibni İbrahim. His grave is in the city of Rey (Rayy).
12. Cafer: son of Imam Muhammad al-Taqi. As a child of only four he was martyred by Yusuf ibni İbrahim. His grave is in the Iranian city of Qom (Kum).
13. Cafer: son of Imam Ali’yül el Naki (Ali al-Naqi). As a child of only three he was martyred by Yusuf ibni İbrahim Dımışki. His grave is in Cezire (Jazira).
14. Kasım: son of Imam Ali’yül el Naki (Ali al-Naqi). As a baby of only one year he was martyred by Muhammed Nasır Dımışki. His grave is in the Iranian city of Rey.

It is thus clear that killing these children of the Prophet Muhammad’s lineage whom we call the 14 Masum-u Pak, the eldest of whom was seven years old, is the unquenchable greed of grudge and hostility towards the Prophet Muhammad. It is the clearest proof of a grudge and hostility towards the lineage of the Prophet Muhammad and Imam Ali that went as far as killing small children. Those of the Ehl-i Beyt lineage who survived went among the Kurds and the Turks out of fear of being killed, and so saved their lives. If you pay attention, you will see that the dedes of seyyid descent among the Alevis have none of the customs, traditions or belief system of the Arabs.

For just as they fled from among the Arabs who were hostile to their own lineage, they did not take on, nor give any credence to, their customs, their traditions and the invented Umayyad Islam. Just as they took into our worship the saz that the Turks called Topuz, they took the good religious values from the old religion of Shamanism in which the Turks believed and from the Zoroastrian religion of the Kurds, blended them with the religion of Islam brought by the Prophet Muhammad and Imam Ali, and so brought forth today’s Anatolian Alevi belief system.

Even though the Anatolian Alevi faith has been influenced by other faiths, it has taken the belief system of the Ehl-i Beyt as its core and has followed the Path and erkân (rites) of Karmatilik (the Qarmatian movement) founded by Imam Jafar al-Sadiq. It has never departed from the path of the Ehl-i Beyt.

The Seventeen Kemerbest

They are seventeen companions (sahabe) whose ikrar (vow) was received by Imam Ali and around whose waists he tied the belts of “Tevella and Teberra” (love for the friends of the Ehl-i Beyt and turning away from its enemies); they are known for their devotion to the Prophet Muhammad, Imam Ali and the Ehl-i Beyt and belonged to the congregation of the Assembly of the Forty. Apart from them – together with the Prophet Muhammad, Imam Ali, Imam Hasan, Imam Husayn, Muhammed Hanifi, Hamza and the companions whose names are known – 23 men and 17 women were present in the Assembly of the Forty. However, we cannot find the names of the women anywhere.

1. Selmani Faris
2. Muhammed bin Ebu Bekir
3. Ammar bin Yaser
4. Malik Ejter bin Haris
5. Abdurrahman bin Ebu Bekir
6. Abuzer Gaffarı
7. Harim bin Haris
8. Abdullah bin yedil
9. Abdullah bin Adiel
10. Abu El Hişam
11. Haris Şeybani
12. Haşim bin Utbe
13. Muhammed bin Abu Hâzikâ
14. Kamber (Qanbar)
15. Mürtefi bin Vezza
16. Said bin Kays
17. Abdullah bin Abbas

Some authors also count Veysel Karani (Uwais al-Qarani) among them. According to the historical sources, outwardly Veysel Karani came to Medina only once and did not find the Prophet at home. In Iranian sources, however, we find that in the inner (batini) world he was the Prophet’s musahip (spiritual companion).

Source: Seyit Derviş Tur, Erkânname – Aleviliğin İslam Yorumu ve Alevi Erkânları (The Alevi Interpretation of Islam and the Alevi Rites), expanded 3rd edition (ISBN 975-6791-52-7).

Translated from the Turkish original by Seyit Derviş Tur.