The Alevi and questions of identity, including violence and insider/outsider perspectives

Alevilik is the second largest religious movement in Turkey after Sunnite Islam. The Alevi worship Ali and the twelve Imams of his family. Ali is more or less deified and therefore Alevis are considered as being ghulat (‘exaggerated’, ‘extremist’) and heterodox. The elevated Ali personifies an aspiration to justice and righteousness. He fought on the side of the weak and oppressed against those with power in society. Theologically, Ali is assumed to be blessed by the divine light and is therefore able to see into the mysterious spirituality of Islam. Many Alevis today however totally dissociate themselves from Shi’ism. Still, the degrading­ abel kızılbaş (‘red-head’) is associated with Ali and thus is something alleged to be anti-Osman, since Isma’il fought against the Osman Empire. The colour red represents the blood of Mohammed: he was wounded in battle and Ali saw the prophet’s blood flowing. As Ali grew older, he wanted to remind people of Mohammed’s struggle and therefore started wearing red headgear. Red thus became the colour of the Shi’ites and over time a symbol of Shi’ite martyrdom. Later red also gained political significance for the Alevis. The religious and the political are closely intertwined, but despite this, neither the Left nor Shi’ism does simply stand on one side and the Right/Sunni on the other – there are no such simple dichotomies in reality

Aesthetics · Art · Identity (music · Islam · Mysticism · Political science · Politics · Spirituality · Symbol (formal · Theology · Worship · Islamic Studies and History · Islamic Thought and Society Studies · Law · Medicine · Philosophy · Religious studies · Turkey's Politics and Society · Religious Studies

• Violence and civilization

  Jonathan Fletcher•Violence and civilization•1997

  Añadir item

• The politics and poetics of transgression

  Allon White, Peter Stallybrass•The politics and poetics of…•1986

  Añadir item

• The Sufi Orders in Islam

  J Spencer Trimingham•The Sufi orders in Islam•1998

  Añadir item

• Ritual, politics, and power

  David I Kertzer•Ritual, politics, and power•1988

  Añadir item

• The role of the media in the revival of Alevi identity in Turkey

  O ̈mer C ̧aha, O¨mer C¸aha•Social Identities•2004

  Añadir item

• Formations of Violence

  Allen Feldman•Formations of violence•1991

  Añadir item

• Culture

  Adam Kuper•Culture•1999

  Añadir item