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{{Short description|Islamic scholar and mystic (1209–1271)}}
{{Redirect|Bektash}}{{Infobox religious biography
| era                = [[Medieval]]
| name               = Bektash
| native_name        = بکتاش
| native_name_lang   = fa
| image              = Баха Валад - Маариф (Миниатюра).jpg
| caption            = 15th century painting depicting Haji Bektash, located in Hajibektash complex
| honorific-prefix   = [[Sayyid]]<br />[[Hajji|Haji]]
| honorific-suffix   = [[Wali]]
| religion           = [[Islam]]
| birth_date         = {{Circa|1209}}
| birth_place        = [[Fushenjan]], [[Nishapur]], [[Khwarazmian Empire]]
| death_date         = {{Circa|1271}}
| death_place        = [[Hacıbektaş|Sulucakarahöyük]], [[Sultanate of Rum]]
| resting_place      = [[Haji Bektash Veli Complex]], [[Nevşehir Province]], Turkey
| resting_place_coordinates = {{coord|38|56|N|34|33|E|display=inline,title}}
| father             = Sayyid Ibrahim
| period             = 13th century
| known_for          = [[Sufi]] mysticism
| works              = 
| influences         = [[Ahmad Yasawi]]
| influenced         = [[Imadaddin Nasimi]], [[Yunus Emre]], [[Pir Sultan Abdal]], [[Sarı Saltık]]
}}
{{Bektashi|all}}
[[File:Turkey-1683 (2215851579).jpg|thumb|262px|Sculpture of Haji Bektash Veli in [[Turkey]]]]
'''Haji Bektash Veli''' ({{langx|fa|حاجی بکتاش ولی|Ḥājī Baktāš Valī}}; {{langx|tr|Hacı Bektaş Veli}}; {{langx|sq|Haxhi Veli Bektashi}}; {{Circa|1209–1271}}) was an [[Islamic scholar]], [[Mysticism|mystic]], [[Wali|saint]], [[sayyid]], and philosopher from [[Greater Khorasan|Khorasan]] who lived and taught in [[Anatolia]].<ref name="Celibacy and Religious Traditions2">C. Olsen: Celibacy and Religious Traditions. Oxford University Press. 1st Ed. 2007. [{{Google books |plainurl=yes |id=apq1G-o2OzoC |page=143 }} Pg. 143–144]</ref> His original name was Sayyid Muhammad ibn Sayyid Ibrāhim Ātā. He is also referred to as the "Sultan of Hearts"<ref>{{cite web |title=Haci Bektaş Veli's Commentary of Fatiha &#124; the First Bektashi Teqe in America |url=http://teqeamerica.com/articles/article1/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140408214035/http://teqeamerica.com/articles/article1/ |archive-date=2014-04-08 |access-date=2014-04-08}}</ref> and the "Dervish of the Dervishes".<ref name="bektashiorder.com2">{{cite web |title=The Bektashi Order of Dervishes |url=http://bektashiorder.com/from-the-vilayetname |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110812082926/http://bektashiorder.com/from-the-vilayetname |archive-date=2011-08-12 |website=bektashiorder.com}}</ref> 

He is revered among [[Alevism|Alevis]] for an [[Islam|Islamic]] understanding that is [[Islamic Mysticism|esoteric]], [[Rationalism|rational]] and [[Humanism|humanistic]]. Alevi and [[Bektashi Order|Bektashi]] Muslims believe the path of Bektash is the path of [[Haqq-Muhammad-Ali]] since they were the source of Bektash's teachings. He was one of the many figures who flourished in the [[Sultanate of Rum]] and had an important influence on the culture of Turkic nomads of Asia Minor.<ref>Alexēs G. K. Savvidēs, ''Byzantium in the Near East: Its Relations with the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum in Asia Minor, The Armenians of Cilicia and The Mongols, A.D. c. 1192-1237'', Kentron Vyzantinōn Ereunōn, 1981, [{{Google books |plainurl=yes |id=LFZoAAAAMAAJ |page=116 }} p. 116.]</ref>

== Identity ==
Bektash is generally believed to be of [[Persians|Persian]] or Turkic origin.{{Sfn|Algar|1989}}{{Sfn|Bashir|2008|p=143}}<ref>M. Kia: Daily Life in the Ottoman Empire. Greenwood Pub Group Inc. 2011. Pg. 169: ''"The Bektashis traced the origins of their order to the Persian Sufi master Hadji Baktāsh Wālī [...]"''</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Jestice |first=Phyllis |url={{Google books |plainurl=yes |id=H5cQH17-HnMC |page=113 }} |title=Holy people of the world: a cross-cultural encyclopedia, Volume 1 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2004 |isbn=978-1-57607-355-1 |page=113}}</ref> Bektash belonged to a group of Khorasani migrants in Anatolia who had left their homeland during the [[Mongol conquests]].{{Sfn|Algar|1989}} According to the ''Vilâyet-Nâme'', Bektash was the son of Sayyed Muhammad ibn Musa, a great-grandson of [[Musa al-Kazim]]; this is impossible, given the fact that Bektash lived in the 7th/13th century. Genealogies encountered in later sources and designed to fill the obvious gap in time are all questionable and may well have been inspired by a wish—analogous to that of the fabricators of the Safavid genealogy—to give Bektash, as the eponym of a nominally Shia order, [[Twelve Imams|Imami]] descent.{{Sfn|Algar|1989|p=116–118}}

According to "The history of Aşıkpaşazade" ''(''{{transliteration|ota|Aşıkpaşazade Tarihi}}''),'' written by one of the grandsons of "Aşık Pasha" who was the son of "Muhlis Paşa" ''(Muhlees Pāshā)'' who was the son of renowned [[Baba Ilyas|Baba Ilyas al-Khorasani]], "Sayyeed Muhammad ibn Sayyeed Ebrāheem Ātā" had come to [[Sivas]], [[Anatolia]] from [[Greater Khorasan|Khorasan]] with his brother "Menteş" ''(Mantash)'' to become affiliated with the [[tariqat]] of [[Babai Revolt#Bābā Eliyās al-Khorāsānī|Bābā Eliyās al-Khorāsānī]]. On the other hand, the famous reference book of [[Bektashi Order|Bektaşi order]], ''Valāyat-Nāma-i Hādjī Baktāsh-ī Wālī,'' claims that "Bektash" was the [[murshid]] of Bābā ''(Bābā Eliyās al-Khorāsānī)''.<ref>Balcıoğlu, Tahir Harimi, ''Mezhep cereyanları - [[Madh'hab]] movements,'' p. 184, Ahmed Said tab’ı, Hilmi Ziya neşriyâtı, 1940.</ref>

The name attributed to him by his followers can be translated as "The [[Hajji|Pilgrim]] [[Wali|Saint]] Bektash." The ''Haji'' title implies that he had made the pilgrimage to [[Mecca]] and [[Medina]] to perform [[Hajj]]. He is the [[eponym]] of the [[Bektashi Order|Bektashi]] [[Sufism|Sufi]] order and is considered one of the principal teachers of [[Alevism]]. According to the [[Encyclopaedia of Islam]], the "center and source of his teachings" was [[Ali|ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib]], whom Alevis believe to be the righteous successor of [[Prophet Muhammad|Muhammad]] while also "acknowledging the twelve [[Shia Imams]]" and "holding [[Jafar as-Sadiq]] in high esteem".<ref name="EI3">{{EI2|volume=1|page=1162|title=Bektāshiyya}}</ref> Despite his Shia belief and his unorthodox teachings, he is considered a renowned figure in the history and culture of both the [[Ottoman Empire]] and the modern nation-state of [[Turkey]]. On the other hand, [[Ibn Khallikan]] reports that [[Shī'ite]] tendencies belonged not to him but rather to his [[Murid|murids]], who took refuge in his [[Khanqah|tekke]] at ''Suluca Kara Oyuk'' in [[Kırşehir]] after the [[Babai Revolt]].<ref>[[Ibn Khallikan]], ''Shakāyik.''</ref>

=== Origins ===
{{main|Ahmad Yasawi|Qutb ad-Dīn Haydar|Baba Ishak|Babai Revolt|Bektashism}}
Born in [[Nishapur]]. Legends state that Bektash was a ''[[khalifa]]'' of [[Ahmad Yasawi]], the eponymous founder of the Yasawi order that had a wide following among [[Turkic peoples|Turkic nomads]] in [[Central Asia]]. Though chronogically impossible, supposedly Yasawi sent him to Anatolia to propagate his order there.<ref name="Iranica1">H. Algar, ''"Khorāsanian Sufī Hāji Bektāŝ"'', [[Encyclopædia Iranica]], v, p. 117, Online Edition 2006, ([http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/bektas-haji-d LINK])</ref> Not much is known about him, his origins are shrouded in mystery and much of his biography is based on legends.<ref name="EI2">{{EI2|volume=1|page=1162|title=Bektāshiyya}}</ref>

==== Silsila connecting to Hoja Ahmad Yasawi ====
[[File:Hajji Bektash Wali.jpeg|thumb|260px|Haji Baktash Veli, a [[murid]] of the [[Malamatiyya|Malāmatī]]-[[Qalandariyya|Qalāndārī]] [[Sheikh]] [[Qutb ad-Dīn Haydar]], introduced [[Ahmad Yasawi]]'s [[doctrine]] of "[[Four Doors|Four Doors and Forty Standing]]" into his order.]]
The sisilah of ''Hadji Baktāsh Wālī'' reaches to the Yasawi Order through another but a similar [[tariqah]], which is well known as the Wafā'īyyah Order of Abu’l Wafā al-Khwarazmī, who was a [[murid]] of [[Ahmad Yasawi]] and the [[murshid]] of [[Dedes|Dede]] Ğarkhen, who was in turn the murshid of [[Babai revolt#Bābā Eliyās al-Khorāsānī|Bābā Eliyās al-Khorāsānī]] († 1240), an influential mystic from Eastern Persia. Modern research connects him to another important religious movement of that time: to the [[Qalandariyya]] and to Bābā Eliyās al-Khorāsānī, who was the [[murshid]] of Aybak Bābā, who was in turn the murshid of one of the leading actors of the [[Babai revolt]], [[Baba Ishak]], as well. Eventually, Bābā Eliyās Khorāsānī was held responsible for the Babai revolt organized by Baba Ishak, and consequently executed by Mubāriz’ud-Dīn-i Armāğān-Shāh,<ref>[[Ibn Bibi]], ''Al-Avāmer’ûl-‘ālā’īyyah,'' pages 498-499.</ref> the supreme commander-in-chief of the armies of the [[Sultanate of Rum]].

The original Bektashi teachings in many ways resemble the teachings of the [[Greater Khorasan|Khorasanian]] [[Qalandariyya]] and that of Bābā Eliyās.<ref name="Iranica">{{cite web |last=Algar |first=Hamid |author-link=Hamid Algar |title=BEKTĀŠ, ḤĀJĪ |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/bektas-haji-d |access-date=24 October 2011 |publisher=Encyclopedia Iranica}}</ref><ref>[[Mehmet Fuat Köprülü]], citing [[ibn Bibi]] in his book ''"Anadolu'da İslamiyet" ([[Islam]] in [[Anatolia]])'' (1922), identifies Bābā with [[Baba Ishak]] who led [[Kaykhusraw II#The Baba Ishak Rebellion|The Bābā Ishāq Rebellion]]; this is contradicted by other scholars, such as David Cook in his book ''Martyrdom in Islam'' (2007; p. 84), citing historical references, such as the ''Manākib ul-Qudsiyya'' (14th century)</ref> Haji Baktash Veli was the murid of Lokhmānn Bābā (Lokhmānn [[Sarakhs]]ī), who was one of the four most famous murids of Bābā Eliyās al-Khorāsānī as well. Lokhmānn Bābā, on the other hand, was also a murid of the renowned Qalandari [[Qutb ad-Dīn Haydar]], who was the murid of Ahmad Yasawi. For these reasons, his silsila gets connected to Ahmad Yasawi through two different channels, one by means of the Wafā’i and the other through Qutb ad-Dīn Haydar. He was highly respected by the [[Sultanate of Rum]] due to his amicable attitude during the Babai revolt, and his [[khanqah]] in Suluca Kara Oyuk was permitted to remain open during and after it, thereby saving most of the lives of the Alevi survivors.

==== From the Vilayetname ====
From the Vilayetname (or: ''The Saintly Exploits of Hacı Bektaş Veli''):<ref name="bektashiorder.com">{{cite web |title=The Bektashi Order of Dervishes |url=http://bektashiorder.com/from-the-vilayetname |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110812082926/http://bektashiorder.com/from-the-vilayetname |archive-date=2011-08-12 |website=bektashiorder.com}}</ref>

After Lokman Perende had returned from the hajj, the ''erenler'' (saints) of Khorasan came to offer him their respects. When they saw a spring flowing from the middle of the mekteb, they said, "We have been here before many times and had never seen such spring." Lokman Perende replied, "This is by the blessings of Hunkar Haji Bektash." The erenler asked, "Who is this Hunkar Haji Bektash?" Lokman Perende said, "Haji Bektash Hunkar is this beloved one," and he then pointed to the young Bektash. The erenler said, "That one is still a child. How on earth could he become a haji?" Lokman Perende then described to the gathering all of the miracles of Haji Bektash one by one and then said, "While I was performing my prayer at the Kaabah, Bektash was always there praying next to me. When we completed our prayer, he would vanished." The erenler said, "Where could this boy have found this extraordinary capability?" Then Hunkar Haji Bektash opened his blessed mouth and said, "I am the secret of the exalted Imam Ali, who is the dispenser of the River Kawthar and who is the Lion of Allah, the Emperor of Sainthood and the Commander of the Faithful. My origin and family line is from him. These many miracles are my inheritance which is granted by Allah. It should not be surprising to anyone that miracles like these appear from me, for this is the Power of God."

The ''erenler'' of Khorasan said, "If, in reality, you are the secret of the Shah, he has marks. Show these marks to us and we shall believe." Now the sign of Hazreti Ali was this; in the middle of his blessed hand he had a beautiful mole of emerald tone. So Hazreti Hunkar Haji Bektash Veli opened his sanctified hand and showed his palm. They all saw that there, in the middle his palm, was a beautiful emerald mole. The erenler said, "The Commander of the Faithful also had a beautiful emerald mole on his blessed forehead." Hunkar Haji Bektash Veli removed the skull cap from his blessed head and all saw a divinely illuminated mole of emerald tint between his brow. All of the erenler begged for forgiveness, saying, "O Dervish of the Dervishes, we have been sorely mistaken." They surrendered to him asserting, "These are indeed miracles."

==== Spread of the Bektashi order ====
{{Alevism}}
[[Bektashi]]sm spread from [[Anatolia]] through the [[Ottoman Turks]] primarily into the [[Balkans]], where its leaders (known as ''[[Dede (religious figure)|dede]]s'' or ''babas'') helped convert many to [[Islam]]. The Bektashi Sufi order became the official order of the elite [[Janissary]] corps after their establishment. The Bektashi Order remained very popular among Albanians, and Bektashi ''[[Khanqah|tekkes]]'' can be found throughout [[Albania]], [[Kosovo]] and the [[Republic of Macedonia]] to this day. During the [[Ottoman empire|Ottoman period]] Bektashi ''tekkes'' were set up in [[Egypt]] and [[Iraq]], but the order did not take root in these countries. There is also a Bektashi tekke in Michigan, founded by [[Baba Rexheb]], who was a Bektashi baba and a writer in Islamic mysticism and Bektashism.

==== Nineteenth century and later ====
When the Janissary corps were abolished in 1826 by [[Sultan Mahmud II]] the Bektashis suffered the same fate.  The ''babas'' of the ''tekkes'' and their [[dervish]]es were banished to staunchly Sunni villages and towns, and their tekkes were closed or handed over to Sunni Sufi orders (mostly [[Naqshbandi]]; for example, the Goztepe Tekke in [[Istanbul]] was given to the Naqshbandis during this period).

Although the Bektashi order regained many of its lost ''tekkes'' during the [[Tanzimat]] period, they, along with all other Sufi orders, were banned in Turkey in 1925 as a result of the country's secularization policies and all Bektashi ''tekkes'' were closed once more along with all others.

The main Bektashi ''tekke'' is in the town of [[Hacıbektaş]] in Central Anatolia, known as Hajibektash complex. It is currently open as a museum and his resting place is still visited by both Sunni and Alevi Muslims.  Large festivals are held there every August.  Also the Göztepe and [[Shahkulu]] ''tekkes'' in Istanbul are now used as meeting places for Alevis. The biggest Bektashi tekke is said to be in Albania.  There is also a Bektashi tekke in [[Taylor, Michigan|Taylor]], Michigan, US, founded by [[Baba Rexheb]], who was a famous Bektashi writer on Islamic mysticism and Bektashism.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Bektashi Order of Dervishes |url=http://bektashiorder.com/excerpts-from-babas-book |website=bektashiorder.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110818163119/http://bektashiorder.com/excerpts-from-babas-book |archive-date=2011-08-18}}</ref>

==== The Four Poles of Anatolia ====
Haji Bektash Veli is considered one of the four poles (''[[qutub|aqtab]]'') of [[Anatolia]] by all [[tariqa]] circles, the others being [[Mawlana Rumi]], [[Shaban-i Veli]], and [[Haji Bayram-i Veli]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=ŞÂBÂN-ı VELÎ - TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi |url=https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/saban-i-veli |access-date=2022-04-28 |website=TDV İslam Ansiklopedisi |language=tr}}</ref>

==== In popular culture ====
* In the Turkish TV series ''[[Yunus Emre: Aşkın Yolculuğu]]'' (2015), he was portrayed by [[Ahmet Mekin]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.beyazperde.com/filmler/film-224116/oyuncular/|title = Yunus Emre Aşkın Sesi filminin kadrosu ve yönetmeni}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Al-Hallaj]]
* [[Rumi]]

== References ==
{{reflist|30em}}

== Sources ==
* {{Cite encyclopedia |title=BEKTĀŠ, ḤĀJĪ |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Iranica. Vol. IV, Fasc. 2 |url=https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/bektas-haji-d |last=Algar |first=Hamid |date=1989 |pages=116–118}}
* {{Cite book |last=Bashir |first=Shahzad |title=Celibacy and Religious Traditions |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-19-530632-3 |editor-last=Olson |editor-first=Carl}}

* J. Birge, The Bektashi Order of Dervishes, London, 1937, chapter VI. (p.&nbsp;22)
* Sayyed Hossein Nasr, Sufi Essays, SUNY Press, (1972). p.&nbsp;117.
* Brian Glyn Williams: Mystics, Nomads and Heretics: A History of the Diffusion of Muslim Syncretism from Central Asia to the Thirteenth-Century Turco-Byzantine Dobruca - International journal of Turkish studies, 2001 - University of Wisconsin (p.&nbsp;7)
* R. Khanam, Encyclopaedic ethnography of Middle-East and Central Asia, Global Vision Publishing Ho, 2005 (p.&nbsp;142)
* The Harvard Theological Review, Cambridge University Press, Vol. 2, No. 3, July 1909, (p.&nbsp;343)
* Richard Robert Madden, ''The Turkish Empire: In its relations with Christianity and civilization.'', Vol.1, 335.
* Indries Shah, ''The Way of the Sufi'', 294.
* Mark Soileau, ''Humanist Mystics:Nationalism and the commemoration of saints in Turkey'', 375.
* {{cite book |last1=Olsson |first1=Tord |last2=Ozdalga |first2=Elisabeth |last3=Raudvere |first3=Catharina |title=Alevi Identity: Cultural, Religious and Social Perspectives |date=1998 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=9780203985878 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r7tU0ue5r1EC |language=en}}

== External links ==
* [http://turkishtravelblog.com/haci-bektas-cappadocia/ Photos of Hacı Bektaş Town]
* [http://bektashiorder.com/ The Bektashi Order of Dervishes]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20140408214035/http://teqeamerica.com/articles/article1/ The lost Quran commentary of Haji Bektash]
* [http://www.techofheart.co/2011/04/bektashi-tariqa-catechism.html The technology of the Heart in Bektashism]

{{Islamic philosophy}}
{{People of Khorasan}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2019}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Haji Bektash}}
[[Category:1209 births]]
[[Category:1271 deaths]]
[[Category:Sufis from Nishapur]]
[[Category:Alevism]]
[[Category:Scholars from the Sultanate of Rum]]
[[Category:Hashemite people]]
[[Category:13th-century Muslim scholars of Islam]]
[[Category:Sufi religious leaders]]
[[Category:Sufi saints]]
[[Category:Miracle workers]]
[[Category:Bektashi Order]]