What Does Kızılbaş Mean? Who Is Called an Alevi?

Türkçe · Deutsch · English

What does being Kızılbaş mean?

Being Kızılbaş: “A Kızılbaş is the person or persons who, for the sake of God and His Messenger, have dedicated their life and their property and who proclaim their oath – ‘on this path there is death, but no turning back’ – with the red turban they have wound around their head.” Look at how the Holy Qur’an describes the Kızılbaş in Surat al-Hujurat (Hücurât), verse 15: “The true believers are those who have believed in God and His Prophet, have never fallen into doubt, and have striven (cihat) with their wealth and their lives in the way of God. It is they who are the truthful.”

Among themselves, Alevis call believers who have faith in this way “true Kızılbaş” (Hakiki Kızılbaş). Take a look around you: if you find such a Kızılbaş, let me know too, so that I may offer him my respects (niyaz). For I am of the opinion that in this age it is very hard to find a believer with such complete faith. To be Kızılbaş you must believe in God without any doubt. On the path of Hazrat Muhammad Mustafa and his Ehl-i Beyt you must, when necessary, give your life and your property without hesitation and never go back on your ikrar (vow) – only then can you be Kızılbaş. Otherwise one does not become Kızılbaş so easily.

People who are to become Kızılbaş must possess the qualities written below:

To devote oneself to God (Hak). To remain loyal to the Ehl-i Beyt
To believe in the prophets and the saints (evliya)
To fight against the devil called the nefis (the ego, the lower self) and against selfishness
To be steadfast and faithful in one’s heart, one’s word and one’s love
To be honest and trustworthy in one’s work and one’s life
To be master of one’s hand, one’s tongue and one’s loins
To be soft-hearted and humble
To excuse others, to consider oneself at fault and to look for shortcomings in oneself
To guard oneself against rancour, enmity, hatred and egotism
To carry the qualities of loyalty without fear and generosity without seeking praise
To be bound to one’s pir, one’s rehber, one’s mürşid and one’s ikrar
Whoever does not lie, even in jest or fun, becomes a Kızılbaş.

Who is called an Alevi?

I have written this before: Alevism is not a lineage, a race or a nation. It is a religious mysticism, the faith of Islamic Sufism (tasavvuf). Alevism cannot be reduced to lineage or race. Those who wish to do so, knowingly or unknowingly, commit a betrayal of Islam and therefore of Alevism. Within the community that carries the Alevi faith there is only one lineage, whose family trees go back to the Twelve Imams, the descendants of Hazrat Muhammad. They are called “Evladı Resul, Seyyid’i Sadet” (descendants of the Messenger, the honoured seyyids). Those among them who lead and serve the community, such as Hacı Bektaş Veli, are called mürşid (spiritual master); those who serve one rank below him are called pir, and those who, before them, give the first service to the talip (disciple) are called rehber (guide). The number of those descended from the Evladı Resul lineage is extremely small among the Alevis. The real duty of these mürşids, pirs and rehbers is to study Islamic Sufism, to lead the community with their knowledge and their spiritual maturity (kemâlet), to hold people back from evil and to create a pure society.

On this subject, however, I would like to draw the public’s attention to the following: do not give credence to everyone who says, “I too am of seyyid lineage.” In this age everyone says, “I am a dede.” A person who is a seyyid or a dede must first of all believe, with the passion of faith, in God, in His Prophet Hazrat Muhammad, in the Qur’an and in the Ehl-i Beyt. Then he must have a pir, a rehber, a mürşid and a musahip (spiritual companion). He must have given his ikrar to the straight path (tarik-i müstakim) that Hazrat Muhammad and Imam Ali left to us as a legacy, have bound himself to a pir and have proven himself clean within the community in which he lives. He must possess knowledge and wisdom (ilim ve irfan). He must have the qualities of a teacher and educator. If a person lacks these qualities, he cannot serve as a dede or a pir. He may be of seyyid lineage; such people are called seyyid. Pir or dede, however, is the name given to those who impart the teaching of Alevism to the community.

After the Alevis began founding associations, federations and foundations and introducing their philosophy and their beliefs to world public opinion, dedes with all sorts of unknown names began to multiply. Some people see that dedes are held in esteem among the Alevis. In order to inject their own political and atheist views into our young people, they claim to be dedes although they are not. There are even those who join our ranks saying “I too am an Alevi” although they are not Alevis. We must be very careful about them.

For until today, in keeping with the religious upbringing imparted by the path of the Ehl-i Beyt, the Alevis have always stood behind what is right. They have accepted secularism, democracy and the rule of law and have been the guardians of the principles of the Republic. They never want the country to be divided and broken up. In accordance with their faith, the Alevis stand for unity, brotherhood, friendship and peace. We must not give way to those who wish to corrupt us.

In Alevism, apart from the seyyid lineage, Alevis of other lineages and ethnic origins are Alevi children by virtue of being born to an Alevi mother and an Alevi father. But if they do not believe, they cannot be Alevis. To be able to say “I am an Alevi”, one must first of all be able to say: “I am a servant of God, I belong to the community (ümmet) of the Prophet, I am a devoted servant (bende) of the Ehl-i Beyt.” This means: “I believe in the oneness of God, in the prophethood of Hazrat Muhammad, in the glorious Qur’an and in the Ehl-i Beyt.”

In accordance with the Alevi faith, one must have a pir, a mürşid and a rehber, and anyone who has no musahip should take a musahip. One must not offend the standing (nüfus) of the pir, must make one’s heart as dust (türap), that is, be humble, and must be able to place one’s innermost self before the dar (accountability before the community). People who possess this faith, this devotion and this heart are called “Alevis”.

Of the Anatolian Alevis, 2% are seyyids (Evladı Resul), about 65% are of Turkish and Turkmen origin, about 15% of Kurdish origin, and the remaining part is made up of Arabs, Albanians, Laz and various other ethnic groups. One can see, then, that whatever your lineage may be: if you believe in the faith of Islamic Sufism described above, if you live the principles and rules prescribed by the Alevi faith with conviction, if you live truthfulness and honesty – the ethics and character of the Alevi faith – in your home, then you are an Alevi.

Otherwise – as some ignorant people say: “Alevism is not a religion, Alevism is not a denomination (mezhep), Alevism is not a faith, Alevism has nothing to do with Islam. Alevism is only a way of life” – to these ignorant people I say: what is it that gives order to these pure rules of life of the Alevis? Is it not the principles prescribed by their faith? If you know nothing about Alevism, come to the Alevi Cems (worship ceremonies) and see for yourself. Are blessings, greetings of peace (salât ve selam) and prayers offered there to anyone other than God, Muhammad, Ali and the Ehl-i Beyt? Watch those Cems a few times and speak only after that. If you have no faith of your own, have you not learned to respect people who believe? You say, after all, “We are democrats!” You say, “We are fighting for people’s welfare!” You say, “We want to bring happiness and peace to people!” Then why do you speak ill of the faith of people who are happy through believing, and make them unhappy and uneasy? Does the education you have received and the culture you have learned consist of disturbing and troubling those who do not believe as you do and do not think as you do? No – a person who is truly human should not do this.

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

Translated from the Turkish original by Seyit Derviş Tur.