Post by iris89 on Jul 26, 2008 15:49:56 GMT -5
The Paradox of Monotheism vs. Polytheism in Islam:
INTRODUCTION:
Most members of Islam claim to be monotheist, and say members of Islam that may not be strict monotheist are not Muslims. But is this really true?
Let's consider the case of the Alevis a distinct flavor of Islam differing greatly from Sunni Islam. As one writer, Dorian Jones, said in September 2006, <<<" At Alevi religious ceremonies, women and men pray side by side, using music and dance to worship. The ceremony is held in a Cemevi. Alevi don't worship in mosques because the founder of their faith Ali was murdered in one. But for all the differences between their faith and mainstream Islam, Alevis are ephmatic they are Muslims. One Alevi follower stressed there was no difference between Islam and Alevi.
"It is a sect of Islam. We are all Muslims that's what we know and what we learned. Some people interpret it differently, but that doesn't make them any less Muslim. There is a lot of ignorance and lies said about Alevis in Turkey. But I am proud to be an Alevi."'[source - . [source - Network Europe, networkeurope.radio.cz/feature/alevi-muslims-celebrate-ramadan-with-a-difference on 7/26/2008] >>>.
Many other Muslims of different flavors of Islam claim that the Alevis are polytheist and monotheist and that could well be the case as evidence tends to indicate they may be polytheists, but nevertheless they had their origins within Islam as shown thur, <<<"Alevis trace their origins back to the early days of Islam. After the death of Muhammad his followers were divided over who should lead the Muslim community. The modern day Sunni majority elected Abu Bakr, while the modern day Shia maintained that Ali, the son-in-law of Muhammad, was his legitimate successor. This rift was widened when Hüseyin, grandson of Mohammed, was killed in the Battle of Karbala, an event which is memorized intensively by Alevis and Shias alike. The Alevis also recognize twelve Imams similar to the Twelver community." [source - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]>>>, so obviously they are Muslim.
In fact, the Alevis, like the Shias recognize the twelve Imams as shown by an encyclopedia, <<<"The Twelve Imams are the spiritual and political successors to Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam, in the Twelver or Ithna Ashariya branch of Shi'a Islam.[1] According to the theology of Twelvers, the successor of Muhammad is an infallible human individual who not only rules over the community with justice, but also is able to keep and interpret the Divine Law and its esoteric meaning. The Prophet and Imams' words and deeds are a guide and model for the community to follow; as a result, they must be free from error and sin, and must be chosen by divine decree, or nass, through the Prophet.[2][3]
It is believed in Twelver and Ismaili Shi'a Islam that Aql, a divine wisdom, was the source of the souls of the Prophets and Imams and gave them esoteric knowledge, called Hikmah, and that their sufferings were a means of divine grace to their devotees.[4][5][1] Although the Imam was not the recipient of a divine revelation, he had a close relationship with God, through which God guides him, and the Imam in turn guides the people. Imamate, or belief in the divine guide is a fundamental belief in the Twelver and Ismaili branches of Shi'a Islam and is based on the concept that God would not leave humanity without access to divine guidance.[6]
According to Twelvers, there is always an Imam of the Age, who is the divinely appointed authority on all matters of faith and law in the Muslim community. Ali was the first Imam of this line, and in the Twelvers' view, the rightful successor to the Prophet of Islam, followed by male descendants of Muhammad through his daughter Fatimah Zahra. Each Imam was the son of the previous Imam, with the exception of Husayn ibn Ali, who was the brother of Hasan ibn Ali.[1] The twelfth and final Imam is Muhammad al-Mahdi, who is believed by the Twelvers to be currently alive, and hidden till he returns to bring justice to the world.[6]" [source - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve_Imams on 7/26/2008]>>>. Thus if the Shias are Muslim, then the Alevis must be also as they recognize the same Imams.
This divide in Islam is similar to the divide in what is commonly called Christendom, but Islam still applies to one uniform group; to wit, the genuine followers of Muhammad regardless of their different flavors; whereas, the divide in what is called Christendom is quite unique and different as will be shown next.
THE TERM 'CHRISTEN' APPLIES TO TWO VERY DIFFERENT AND UNLIKE ENTITIES:
To wit, the two entities are:
(Group 1 ) - the genuine (true) followers of Jesus (Yeshua) Christ do NOT involve themselves with war and violence or meddle in politics, and try to follow to the 'letter' the words and commandments of Christ. Also, they have NO creedal doctrines and/or traditions; AND ARE STRICT MONOTHEIST.
(Group 2) - the false claimants of being followers of Jesus (Yeshua) Christ involve themselves with war and violence and meddle in politics while falsely claiming to be followers of Christ, the Prince of Peace. The give 'lip' service with respect following to the 'letter' the words and commandments of Christ - the term Sunday Christian aptly fits them. They have their creedal doctrines and/or traditions and assign more importance to these than the Inspired Word of Almighty God (YHWH), the Bible. For the most part, they are POLYTHEIST who believe in a three-in-one god or trinity - a false doctrine.
Now of course this is NOT my taxonomy but one of reality that sets the two groups clearly apart as separate classifications. Also, it is not my opinion that sets the two separate groups that are called "Christians" apart, but clearly the diametrically opposed actions of the two groups, as shown by the definitions of the two groups above.
In fact, the Inspired Word of Almighty God (YHWH), the Bible, clearly demonstrates how difficult it really is not to be mislead by the Devil and the religious leaders of evil false religions under control of the god of this system of things. This was clearly shown by Almighty God's (YHWH's) Son, Jesus (Yeshua), in answering a question asked of him at Luke 13:23-30, "And one said unto him, Lord, are they few that are saved? And he said unto them, 24 Strive to enter in by the narrow door: for many, I say unto you, shall seek to enter in, and shall not be able. 25 When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, open to us; and he shall answer and say to you, I know you not whence ye are; 26 then shall ye begin to say, We did eat and drink in thy presence, and thou didst teach in our streets; 27 and he shall say, I tell you, I know not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity. 28 There shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and yourselves cast forth without. 29 And they shall come from the east and west, and from the north and south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God. 30 And behold, there are last who shall be first, and there are first who shall be last." (American Standard Version; ASV).
Also, Jesus (Yeshua) clearly showed his genuine (true) followers would be few in number compared to the total number of mankind. Let's consider both Luke 13:24 and Matthew 7:13-14, it is in both of these that the road followed by true believers would be narrow and cramped, Luke 13:24, "Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able." (Authorized King James Bible: AV); And Matthew 7:13-14, "Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, abroad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: 14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." (AV); thereby, clearly showing few would be entering the narrow gate "which leadeth unto life." In reality, it will be difficult for even true Christians to enter as testified to at 1 Peter 4:18, "And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear." (AV). In order to enter, we must have the right sort of guide, Luke 1:79, "To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace." (AV). Now, if one picks the wrong group, just because it is popular or the so called 'one to belong to in a community' and not because of Bible Truths, there is an important warning given at Matthew 15:14, "Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch." (AV). In fact, being with the wrong group can mean you are NOT having fellowship with the Son of God, Jesus (Yeshua) as testified to at 1 John 1:6, "If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not [have] the truth." (AV). This danger is made abundantly clear at Luke 12:32 when Jesus (Yeshua) spoke of his true followers as a little flock and not a large one, "Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." (AV). Simply stated, his true followers will be relatively few in number which should cause all sincere individuals to question whether mainstream religion with its vast membership is heading for the narrow gate!
Now being this is the case, it behooves all genuine (true) followers of Jesus (Yeshua) to show neighbor love and warn their neighbors of the need to seek genuine salvation and to get OUT OF EVIL FALSE RELIGION regardless of what it is called or how long their families and friends have been members of it. This would be required by what Jesus (Yeshua) said at Matthew 22:37-40, "And he said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second like unto it is this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. 40 On these two commandments the whole law hangeth, and the prophets." (ASV).
We will consider how this love of neighbor requires all genuine (true) followers to warn their neighbors of evil false religion by exposing it for what it is.
WHAT IS NEEDED IN THE WORLD REGARDLESS OF THE FLAVOR OF YOUR BELIEF:
Now all need to be showing love to their neighbors including Jews and telling them of the first step toward salvation given at John 14:6, "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." (AV). Messages of hate assist no one in learning the truth per John 8:32, "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (Authorized King James Bible; AV).
Take my articles, for example, they have a worthy objective; to wit, exposing false doctrine so individuals can correct their wrong path. My articles are NOT ones of hate, as are many of others, but ones that expose false doctrine and wrong practice. All should read them instead of posting false accusations, as you will find not one word of hate or bashing in my articles, only truth. They are posted to assist all in knowing the truth, per John 8:32, and to assist all in making a change in their lives by getting out of groups and/or religions that practice false doctrine and wrong practices.
All need to learn about love and that includes warning others with respect false doctrine and wrong practices instead of thinking of hate and being bigots as many are. As 1 Corinthians 13:1-8 shows, "If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am become sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 And if I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profiteth me nothing. 4 Love suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth not; love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, 5 doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not its own, is not provoked, taketh not account of evil; 6 rejoiceth not in unrighteousness, but rejoiceth with the truth; 7 beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. 8 Love never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall be done away; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall be done away." (American Standard Version: ASV).
Love is the power of faith as shown in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 as quoted above. Faith actually needs love to function because perfect faith results in faithfulness and faithfulness is the outcome of love; therefore faith and love go hand in hand because faith wants to believe, just as love trust, faith will see its possessors through the darkness and weathers of the storms of life, just as love endures all things, and faith seeks to put Almighty God (YHWH) first just as love always give.
Our faith is not just knowledge about Almighty God (YHWH), but a personal relationship with Him as our Lord, and any relationship requires love to succeed, to endure trials and to grow, including our relationships with one another because we are called to be family in the Lord and to love one another.
The perfect example of faith powered by love is seen in the life of Jesus Christ, who manifests Gods love to perfection. As Leviticus 6:27 states,
"Whatsoever shall touch the flesh thereof, shall be sanctified. I***arment be sprinkled with the blood thereof, it shall be washed in a holy place." (Douay-Rheims Catholic Bible; DRCB). Thus, whatever touches what is holy shall become holy. And love is of Almighty God's (YHWH's) Holy Spirit, his active force and/or power. In fact, the Hebrew word here rendered Holy Ghost, Holy Spirit, or Spirit which is translated from 'ru'ach' meaning "breath; wind; spirit." "The Catholic Encyclopedia:" states, "Nowhere in the Old Testament do we find any clear indication of a Third Person." And Catholic theologian Fortman states, "The Jews never regarded the spirit as a person; nor is there any solid evidence that any Old Testament writer held this view. . . . The Holy Spirit is usually presented in the Synoptics [Gospels] and in Acts as a divine force or power." Whereas, "The New Catholic Encyclopedia" states, "The O[ld] T[estament] clearly does not envisage God's spirit as a person . . . God's spirit is simply God's power. If it is sometimes represented as being distinct from God, it is because the breath of Yahweh acts exteriorly." It also states, "The majority of N[ew] T[estament] texts reveal God's spirit as something, not someone; this is especially seen in the parallelism between the spirit and the power of God." And "A Catholic Dictionary," states, "On the whole, the New Testament, like the Old, speaks of the spirit as a divine energy or power."
By faith we draw near to God through sincere prayer, entering into His presence, because when Jesus died on the cross, the temple curtain separating God and man was torn in two from top to bottom, per Matthew 27:51, "And behold, the veil of the temple was rent in two from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake; and the rocks were rent;" (ASV). At James 4:8, "Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye doubleminded." (ASV), clearly showing that Almighty God (YHWH) will draw near to us if we draw near to him. This point is also emphasized at Galatians 5:22-26, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 meekness, self-control; against such there is no law. 24 And they that are of Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with the passions and the lusts thereof. 25 If we live by the Spirit, by the Spirit let us also walk. Let us not become vainglorious, provoking one another, envying one another." (ASV). Remember that Almighty God (YHWH) is the source of our love.
When we submit to the love of God we have combined faith with love and have the power to fulfill the royal law, which is to love the Lord with all our heart, mind and soul per Matthew 22:37-40, "And he said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second like unto it is this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. 40 On these two commandments the whole law hangeth, and the prophets." (ASV); and James 2:22, "Thou seest that faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect;" (ASV). If we love Almighty God (YHWH), we will seek to please Him and keep the royal law because the royal law embraces Gods will and all of His commandments. Without love we can't fulfill the royal law because we can't love the Lord unless we have love. To manifest the love of God is to overcome sin, whereas to not manifest the love of God is to sin. For the royal law is not to know about the Almighty God (YHWH) , but to love the Almighty God (YHWH), and to love one another as ourselves. We can't do one without the other, because we can't truly love God whom we can't see if we don't love mankind who is made in the image of God. When we love one another we are manifesting our love for God whom we can't see by loving His image. John 14:21 clearly shows "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself unto him." (ASV); therefore, If we love one another then we also love God because we can't love the reflection without loving its source. And if we love God we will love Jesus Christ and allow Him to reign in our hearts, keepings all of His commandments, and we do this by subduing the will and power of the flesh through the power of the Holy Spirit, so that faith working through love does the will of God by turning the thought into reality which pleases Him and fulfills the royal law.
Faith without love is incomplete, residing only in the mind as knowledge, and knowledge of Almighty God (YHWH) alone can not perfect us by saving us from sin. This can only be accomplished by allowing Jesus Christ to reign supreme in our hearts. If knowledge of Almighty God's (YHWH's) will alone could save us then salvation would have been through the law of Moses, and there would not have been any need for Christ to die for our sins per Galatians 2:21, previously quoted. If Jesus reigns in our hearts then the love of Christ also reigns because He is the manifestation of Almighty God's (YHWH's)love. As Romand 8:9 so amply shows, "But ye are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you. But if any man hath not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." (ASV) ; therefore, The heart without the love of God does not have Jesus Christ and the soul without the Spirit of Christ is not born again. As the Apostle Paul so clearly stated at Romans 15:16, "that I should be a minister of Christ Jesus unto the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be made acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Spirit." (ASV). Last, as shown at 1 John 4:8-13, "He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. 9 Herein was the love of God manifested in us, that God hath sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No man hath beheld God at any time: if we love one another, God abideth in us, and his love is perfected in us: 13 hereby we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit." (ASV).
MORE ON THE ALEVIS:
Here are some factual information on the Alevis:
<<<”Turkey's Alevis fight back against Sunni religion lessons.
Turkey's ruling AK Party, which has its roots in political Islam, has preached a message of religious freedom as a way to expand liberties for believers in the officially secular country. It has assured the European Union it would respect freedoms for religious minorities. There has been some progress for minorities, but it is halting. The government's focus seems to be more on assuring religious rights for pious Sunni Muslims, as in ending of the university headscarf ban. Religious minorities still face an uphill struggle to practice as they see fit.
Turkey's Alevis, some 15-25 million whose faith is rooted in Islam but mixed with other traditions including ....shamanism, form the country's leargest religious minority but they have never been recognised as a formal religion. This means they can be lumped together with Sunni Muslims, as a recent court case about the mandatory religion classes in state schools showed. The classes, taught in all primary schools, serve as an instruction guide to being Muslim, with topics ranging from how to pray in a mosque to fasting during the holy month of Ramadan.
Alevi Hatice Kose took the education ministry to court to win permission to pull her son out of the classes and change the curriculum to include information about Alevis. She won the case, but the government has said it has no power to change the classes, which it says are protected in Turkey's constitution.[source - blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2008/0...ligion-lessons/ on 7/25/2008]>>>.
And,
<<<”Being Muslim at the Margins: Alevis and the AKP by Kerem Öktem
Kerem Öktem is a fellow at the European Studies Centre of St. Antony's College at the University of Oxford.
On January 6, 2008, newspapers in the province of Tunceli in eastern Turkey appeared festooned with the holiday wishes, "May your Gaghand be merry."[1] Celebrated on the same day as Armenian Christmas and bearing the same name, Gaghand is an important, if almost forgotten event in the religious calendar of Tunceli, or Dersim, to use the area's historical appellation. In the villages of Dersim, bearded men calling themselves Gaghand Baba (Father Christmas) pay visits to children and the elderly, offering them presents of sweets and pistachios. Historical accounts from the early twentieth century also mention a ritual administered by religious leaders the very same day and highly reminiscent of Holy Communion.[2]
The people of Dersim are not Christians, but Alevis, a catch-all term for a variety of ethno-religious minorities in Turkey whose core religious heritage is Islamic but whose beliefs and practices are highly varied and syncretistic.[3] In Dersim, Christian and other influences infuse a heterodox Islam of distant Shi'i origin whose adherents do not normally pray in mosques, fast in Ramadan, accept the Qur'an as a source of jurisprudence or make the pilgrimage to Mecca. Like many Alevis, they do commemorate the martyrdom of Imam Hussein on the plains of Karbala' in the month of Muharram, a reminder of the Shi'i component of their tradition.
As the state does not disclose census and other data regarding religious orientation and ethnic origin, estimates of the overall size of the Alevi population vary widely, ranging between 10 and 25 percent of the population of Turkey. The large majority of Alevis speak Turkish and live in the big cities.
By contrast, the Dersimli Alevis speak an Indo-European language called Kurmancki or Zazaki that is related to Kurdish and Persian.[4] Protected by the Munzur mountain range, the Dersim tribes resisted attempts at state centralization until the late 1930s, when the republican government mounted a devastating air campaign, destroying a third of the villages in the province.[5] The survivors were forcibly evacuated to western Turkey. A special law for the region aimed at eradicating Dersimli Alevi identity by repopulating the area with Turkish settlers. Despite these extreme policies, however, many Dersimlis returned in the 1940s, only to be driven out again in the following decades as labor migrants or political refugees. Tunceli today is a thinly populated province with slightly less than 100,000 inhabitants and high levels of out-migration, while more than a million Dersimlis have created a noteworthy diaspora in western Turkey and Europe.
Tunceli remains Turkey's only province with an almost exclusively Alevi population. Recently built mosques cater only to government officials, alcohol is on sale in every corner shop and the use of public space is not sex-segregated as in the nearby provinces of Elazig or Erzincan. The Munzur valley, only a few minutes walk from the town center, teems with cafés and bars frequented by couples and groups of young men and women. The mayor, Songül Erol Abdil, was elected on the strength of a coalition of socialist parties and the Kurdish Democratic Society Party. She is one of the few female mayors of a provincial capital, even if the center of Tunceli is home to only 25,000 inhabitants, guarded by several thousand members of the army and the security services.
In places like Tunceli, the war that crippled the Kurdish provinces after the military coup of 1980 continues at lower intensity. More than half of 2007's casualties in the conflict between Kurdish guerrilla organizations and the army occurred in Tunceli. And here the war's intrusive security controls upon the civilian population, long abolished elsewhere, are still enforced, albeit with a lighter hand. In order to enter or leave the province, one has to pass through checkpoints. Soldiers collect identity cards and check them against a new electronic database indicating terrorist suspects. Officers are proper in their demeanor, yet leave no doubt that one is entering a danger zone.
Yet not even the checkpoint can prepare the visitor for the dramatic spectacle of the Munzur valley, with its raging rivers and alpine landscapes. The valley is home to a myriad of sacred places, shrines, revered stones and cemeteries that are markers of Dersimli Alevi identity. Generations of state-employed engineers and technocrats have planned dams and hydroelectric power plants that would destroy the Elysian beauty of the place and turn the ferocious river into a lake. Virtually everybody in Tunceli is against the present dam project, at Konaktepe; posters indicating opposition are displayed in every other shop window in town.
Suffocated by the omnipresent security apparatus, closed-circuit TV cameras in the city center and the observation posts in the surrounding mountains, the few citizens of historical Dersim might well hope for a more comfortable relationship with the state.
A Timid Coming to Terms
A recent initiative by Reha Çamuroglu, a member of Parliament from the governing Justice and Development Party (or AKP, the acronym of the party's name in Turkish), could have been a first step. One of the party's few Alevi members, Çamuroglu authored a plan for a government-hosted iftar to break the Muharram fast on January 11. Yet the initiative met with little support from the rank and file of Alevi civil society. Alevi organizations, with very few exceptions, are staunchly secular, left-leaning and anti-Islamist, and they declared the ruling party's iftar a misguided attempt at appeasing the European Union in its demands for more inclusive policies toward the country's sizable minorities. Others insisted that this was yet another plot to destroy Alevi identity through assimilation into the Sunni mainstream. A few religious leaders went so far as to threaten Alevis attending the iftar with excommunication.[6]
With its ideological roots in Turkey's version of Sunni political Islam, its proximity to Sufi orders and its professed orientation as conservative-democratic, the AKP indeed seems an unlikely candidate for the job of embracing Turkey's syncretistic Alevi communities. The party's ideology and policy are largely irreconcilable with Alevi notions of ethics and justice: From its tacit promotion of "Islamic dress" to its inherent social conservatism, from its gendered policies to its anti-alcohol stance, AKP policies appear to most Alevis as socially regressive and threatening to their identity and lifestyle.
Prominent party members are on record belittling the Alevi rite as a "subculture within Islam" or scorning their shrines of worship (cem evleri) as places for carousing, hinting at the chanting in the ceremony of ayin-i cem, the semah dance that includes both men and women, and the use of wine during services.[7] Finally, some AKP members have downplayed and even defended the massacre of Sivas in 1993, when 37 Alevi intellectuals died in a fire set by Islamists under the noses of security services and allowed to burn by firefighters.[8]
In spite of the dismissive position taken by Alevi organizations, voices from Brussels positively acknowledged the government's attempts. Some commentators in Turkey wondered whether the government's timid steps would lead to a long-awaited "Alevi opening." Was this a break with the history of discrimination and oppression? Even a coming to terms with the country's religious diversity, which has survived waves of ethnic and religious cleansing during the last decades of the Ottoman Empire and throughout much of the Turkish Republic? Could it be that a party with Islamist roots can overcome its own demons and find a modus vivendi with what are generally agreed to be the most heterodox interpretations of Islam, without subjecting them to assimilation?
From Suspects to Guardians of Secularism
Turkey's Alevis were treated as a fifth column of the Safavid state in Iran in the early Ottoman Empire, as unruly villagers by the secular republic and as unclean unbelievers by the Sunni establishment. Due to this experience of exclusion, and deepened by a strong proto-socialist thread in Alevi tradition, many developed an affinity for anti-capitalist and communitarian left-wing movements. Throughout the 1970s, Alevis were attacked by changing coalitions of nationalist, fascist and Islamist groups, as well parts of the security apparatus, culminating in a number of anti-Alevi pogroms in central and eastern Anatolia.[9] State agencies, with their deep-seated suspicion of all ethnic and religious minority groups, treated the Alevis as potential enemies. In the 1980s, when the leaders of the military coup introduced the "Turkish-Islamic synthesis" as semi-official state doctrine to contain the revolutionary left, Alevis were further alienated from the state and its institutions. Yet even during this period, discriminatory policies were differentiated:
...
Even though the exclusively Sunni Directorate of Religious Affairs continued to build undesired mosques in Alevi villages, other state agencies offered funds for the construction of cem evleri, while civil society organizations were allowed to operate more freely. The post-intervention years then created the conditions for a limited cooptation into the political mainstream. Even though severely oppressed under the republican regime, many Alevis nevertheless agreed to an implicit deal: Their renewed allegiance to the state would grant them basic rights and protect them against Sunni discrimination and Islamist encroachment.
Ready for the Sunni Embrace?
The AKP's Alevi initiative comes at a time of widespread confusion within the community. Despite a series of setbacks that cost the lives of many hunger-striking prisoners of the far left, the Alevis have emerged from the oblivion of state denial and self-imposed invisibility. The softening of state policies, together with EU-induced reforms and an increasingly well-organized, albeit fragmented transnational Alevi civil society network, have created a lively public sphere with numerous radio and TV stations, journals, online portals and ever more visible cem evleri. Alevi community organizations represent a wide variety of political orientations, ranging from social democrats to deep ecologists and different groupings of the revolutionary left. Many now wonder whether their role as guardians of the secular system was a sensible one. While many of the demonstrators at the anti-AKP rallies in the summer of 2007 were of Alevi origin, there is a growing sense that their secular stance was exploited by nationalist forces, which are otherwise fiercely opposed to Alevi identity.
In this period of disillusionment and soul searching, the AKP's initiative came with a good promise of success. Hundreds of Alevi citizens attended the fast breaking, and so did most members of the cabinet and the prime minister. Some AKP ministers were overcome with tears for the martyrs of Karbala', or so they claimed afterwards. Wine had been removed from the menu, though, in order not to offend the sensibilities of the official Sunni guests. Despite the overflowing emotions, however, the Alevi Bektashi Federation and all other Alevi organizations of some standing boycotted the event, leaving the ground to obscure groups with small constituencies.[11] The AKP's Alevi opening, hence, took place without the community's legitimate representatives and civil society.
Scolding Alevi leaders for the boycott, Çamuroglu vowed nevertheless to achieve the goals of his initiative-a state ministry for Alevi affairs, state-funded cem evleri and government-paid religious officials-and to celebrate his achievements with a prayer of thanksgiving in the Suleymaniye mosque in Istanbul. With this gesture, however, he "outed" himself as largely assimilated: Most Alevis would not enter a mosque to pray, unless to allay the suspicions of Sunni peers. These seem to be the limits of the AKP's Alevi opening: Given that disagreements over doctrine and practice are practically insurmountable, such heterodox understandings of Islam being impermissible to a pious Sunni Muslim mindset, the AKP can reach out only to those Alevis who are already assimilated and to those who are willing to integrate themselves into the fold of Sunni Islam for one reason or another. Çamuroglu's plan provides for a state-funded Alevi religious council operating and financed like the Sunni Directorate of Religious Affairs, while it takes no position on compulsory religious education in state schools. These courses are not only geared toward students of Sunni Muslim faith, but also include derogatory depictions of Alevi identity and practice. Neither does the plan refer to the recent past of massacres and pogroms, whose pain is deeply engraved into Alevi identity. Finally, it fails to call for an end to the practice of state-funded mosque-building programs in Alevi villages, enforced since the 1980s.
Yet even Çamuroglu's modest overture does not seem to be an urgent priority for the government. After promises of more engagement following the iftar and much talk in the media, the debate simply ebbed away. By the time attention turned to February's easing of the headscarf ban at universities, the AKP's Alevi opening had slipped from the agenda.
No Golden Age
The Alevis of Anatolia have a long memory of discrimination and suffering, reflected in their music, ritual and narrative. There is no golden age in which Alevi culture and faith flourished under the auspices of an enlightened Ottoman leader, only the resilient resistance to what has mostly been a less than benign sovereign. Nor has the republican regime redeemed its promise of secularism and religious freedom. Ironically, however, Alevis in Turkey have never been as visible, vocal and present in the public realm as they are now. If the AKP leadership managed to overcome its assimilationist reflexes and evolved toward a policy of recognition of difference, it would contribute significantly to Turkey's secularization. It would also be an encouraging sign that a party with Sunni Islamist roots can accommodate a creed that has very little in common with its own interpretation of Islam and whose lifestyle is diametrically opposed to it. If the AKP failed to do so, Turkey's Alevis would be exploited once again for the political expediency of others. This time, they would be showcased as best practice for AKP reforms in response to European demands for minority and religious rights.
As leaders of the Alevi community suggest,[12] the AKP's Alevi opening has ignored both long-standing requests and grievances from the community as well as its organized civil society. The AKP's new Alevi policy is not based on an affirmative recognition of difference and a readiness to acknowledge past mistakes, but appears to follow the clientelist model of incorporation and assimilation that the party has so far successfully employed for the incorporation of Kurdish voters.
In Tunceli, in the meantime, construction work on the Konaktepe dam-the first of a projected eight-is about to begin, despite fierce local and international resistance. Once the dam is completed, the waters will inundate not only some of the most impressive scenery in this part of the world, but also the sacred places that are repositories of so much Dersimli Alevi belief and memory. For some in Dersim, this would be a loss that cannot be compensated for by a half-hearted government initiative.
Endnotes:
[1] In Kurmancki/Zazaki, Gaghane sima bimbarek bo! The Armenian transliteration is Gaghand.
[2] L. Molyneux-Seel, "A Journey in Dersim," The Geographical Journal 44/1 (1914).
[3] For a comprehensive overview of Alevi identity in Turkey, see Paul White and Joost Jongerden, Turkey's Alevi Enigma (Leiden: Brill, 2003). A very good synopsis of the latest debates can be found in Cafer Solgun's series of articles in the newspaper Taraf, January 8-13, 2008.
[4] See Krisztina Kehl-Bodrogi, "Turks, Kurds or a People in Their Own Right? Competing Collective Identities Among the Zazas," The Muslim World 89/3-4 (1999). Martin van Bruinessen focuses on the Kurdish content of Dersimli identity in "Aslini inkar eden haramzadedir!," in Kehl-Bodrogi et al, Syncretistic Religious Communities in the Near East (Leiden: Brill, 1997). For a fascinating analysis, see Leyla Neyzi, "Embodied Elders: Space and Subjectivity in the Music of Metin-Kemal Kahraman," Middle Eastern Studies 38/1 (2002).
[5] Robert Olson, "The Kurdish Rebellions of Sheikh Said (1925), Mt. Ararat (1930) and Dersim (1937-8): Their Impact in the Development of the Turkish Air Force and on Kurdish and Turkish Nationalism," Die Welt des Islam 40/1 (2000).
[6] Radikal, January 11, 2008.
[7] The derisive statement "Cem evi, cümbüs evi (The house of Cem is a house of carousing)" is attributed to a former vice director of the state's Directorate of Religious Affairs and has often been reproduced.
[8] See Martin van Bruinessen, "Turks, Kurds and the Alevi Revival in Turkey," Middle East Report 200 (July-September 1996).
[9] Seyla Benhabib, "Right-Wing Groups Behind Political Violence in Turkey," Middle East Report 77 (May 1979).
[10] Aliza Marcus, "Should I Shoot You? An Eyewitness Account of an Alevi Uprising in Gazi," Middle East Report 199 (April-June 1996).
[11] Milliyet, January 11, 2008.
[12] See, for instance, the declaration of the Alevi Bektashi Federation, online at http://www.alevifederasyonu.com.[source - Middle East Report - www.merip.org/mer/mer246/oktem.html ]>>>.
And,
<<<” Pre-Islamic Turkish traditions have great influences on Alevism. Turkish tribes, which had been spread across a wide geographical area, had come into contact with and been influenced over the centuries by Shamanism, Manichaeism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity and even Buddhism prior to emergence of Islam. Large-scale Turkish conversion to Islam can be dated to the 8th century. Most of these Turks did not respect the traditional Muslim sheikhs (leaders) and clergy, whose spread various restrictive religious. Rather they attached themselves to, and came under the influence of, "fathers", who filled a role similar to pre-Islamic religious leaders such as shamans. Traces of this influence can be traced in Alevism. This form of Islam which the Turks who moved into Anatolia beginning in the eleventh century brought with them, mixed with local people and Persian cultures.[[They obviously accepted some polytheist ideas from their neighbors, but remained basically Muslim]].
An important influence to the Alevi tradition has been Sufism. The Sufi philosopher Haji Bektash Wali, who spent most his life as a missioner from an Iranian based Sufi sect among Turkish tribes in Central Asia and Anatolia during the 13th century, is highly revered and generally seen as the founder of the Alevilik faith. Most of his followers belonged to the Türkmen tribes. The tribes, who tried to keep their traditional customs, often stood in opposition to the Seljuk and later the Ottoman Empire. In the late 15th century, a militant Shia order, the Kýzýlbash, fought with the Safavids against the Ottomans. After they lost their power, they were assumed to have merged into the Anatolian Alevis. Kurdish Alevis are sometimes still called Kýzýlbash. Even as far East as Pakistan, many Shias have "Qizilbash" as their family names, with most still having red hair in their gene pools. [1]
In the early 20th century, many Alevis supported the Turkish revolutionaries and the creation of the Turkish republic. Atatürk was seen by some as a new Haji Bektash, and his secularist principles as a liberation from Sunni dominance. [2]. Their hopes were dashed when the Presidency of Religious Affairs was founded as an exclusively Sunni institution, and the Bektashi orders were banned in 1925.
Recent history
In the 20th century, many Alevis became involved in secular left-wing politics in Turkey, both in the establishment Republican People's Party and parties further to the left, some to the point of left-wing extremism. In the 1970s, Alevi-inhabited regions were a setting for violent conflicts between left-wing groups (often with an Alevi base) and MHP militants (supported by Sunni population).
In 1978, confrontation between Sunni residents and Alevi immigrants (mostly Alevi Kurds, particularly from Pazarcýk) in Kahramanmaraþ eventually led to a massacre by the ultra-nationalist Grey Wolves of the city's Alevi population, leaving over 100 dead. The incident was of key importance in the Turkish government's decision to declare martial law, and the eventual military coup in 1980.[1]. Alevis bore the brunt of the anti-leftwing backlash after Kenan Evren's coup in 1980, and of Islamic fundamentalist violence.
The oppression reached its dénouement in Sivas on 2 July 1993, when thirty six people Alevis, intellectuals, and a Dutch anthropologist) attending a cultural conference were burned to death in a hotel by Sunni locals. Attending the conference was a left-wing Turkish intellectual Aziz Nesin who was vastly hated amongst the Sunni Turkish community as it was he who attempted to publish Salman Rushdie's controversial novel Satanic Verses, in Turkey.
The Sunni locals in Sivas, after attending Friday prayers in a near by mosque, marched to the hotel in which the conference was taking place and set the building on fire. The Turkish government sees this incident as being aimed at Aziz Nesin only, yet most agree that the target was the Alevis since many of the Alevi victims in the fire were very important artists and musicians. One musician, Hasret Gültekin, the most important and influential baðlama saz player in modern time was also killed in this fire. Gültekin is still considered a great loss for Turkish and Kurdish culture by Alevis and otherwise.
The response from the security forces at the time and afterwards was weak. The assault took eight hours without a single intervention by the police and military. Alevis and most intellectuals in Turkey argue that the incident was triggered by the local government as flyers and leaflets were published and given out for days before the incident. The Turkish government refers to the Sivas Madýmak Hotel incident as an attack towards the intellectuals but refuses to see it as an incident directed towards Alevis.
Alevism is now recognized in Turkish Law as an "indigenous" Anatolian religion, and the government now sponsors certain Alevi festivals.[source - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia] >>>.
CONCLUSION:
The Alevis are Muslims and accept the twelve (12) Imams as do the Shias, but not the Sunnis; although they may have been contaminated with some polytheism. This is quite different from that which is commonly called Christian, but consist of two entirely separate taxonomies or classifications that are diametrically opposed. One consisting of the genuine (true) followers of Jesus (Yeshua) Christ, and the other consisting of the counterfeit followers of Jesus (Yeshua) Christ as previously detailed as follows:
To wit, the two entities are:
(Group 1 ) - the genuine (true) followers of Jesus (Yeshua) Christ do NOT involve themselves with war and violence or meddle in politics, and try to follow to the 'letter' the words and commandments of Christ. Also, they have NO creedal doctrines and/or traditions; AND ARE STRICT MONOTHEIST.
(Group 2) - the false claimants of being followers of Jesus (Yeshua) Christ involve themselves with war and violence and meddle in politics while falsely claiming to be followers of Christ, the Prince of Peace. The give 'lip' service with respect following to the 'letter' the words and commandments of Christ - the term Sunday Christian aptly fits them. They have their creedal doctrines and/or traditions and assign more importance to these than the Inspired Word of Almighty God (YHWH), the Bible. For the most part, they are POLYTHEIST who believe in a three-in-one god or trinity - a false doctrine.
Your Friend in Christ Iris89
INTRODUCTION:
Most members of Islam claim to be monotheist, and say members of Islam that may not be strict monotheist are not Muslims. But is this really true?
Let's consider the case of the Alevis a distinct flavor of Islam differing greatly from Sunni Islam. As one writer, Dorian Jones, said in September 2006, <<<" At Alevi religious ceremonies, women and men pray side by side, using music and dance to worship. The ceremony is held in a Cemevi. Alevi don't worship in mosques because the founder of their faith Ali was murdered in one. But for all the differences between their faith and mainstream Islam, Alevis are ephmatic they are Muslims. One Alevi follower stressed there was no difference between Islam and Alevi.
"It is a sect of Islam. We are all Muslims that's what we know and what we learned. Some people interpret it differently, but that doesn't make them any less Muslim. There is a lot of ignorance and lies said about Alevis in Turkey. But I am proud to be an Alevi."'[source - . [source - Network Europe, networkeurope.radio.cz/feature/alevi-muslims-celebrate-ramadan-with-a-difference on 7/26/2008] >>>.
Many other Muslims of different flavors of Islam claim that the Alevis are polytheist and monotheist and that could well be the case as evidence tends to indicate they may be polytheists, but nevertheless they had their origins within Islam as shown thur, <<<"Alevis trace their origins back to the early days of Islam. After the death of Muhammad his followers were divided over who should lead the Muslim community. The modern day Sunni majority elected Abu Bakr, while the modern day Shia maintained that Ali, the son-in-law of Muhammad, was his legitimate successor. This rift was widened when Hüseyin, grandson of Mohammed, was killed in the Battle of Karbala, an event which is memorized intensively by Alevis and Shias alike. The Alevis also recognize twelve Imams similar to the Twelver community." [source - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]>>>, so obviously they are Muslim.
In fact, the Alevis, like the Shias recognize the twelve Imams as shown by an encyclopedia, <<<"The Twelve Imams are the spiritual and political successors to Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam, in the Twelver or Ithna Ashariya branch of Shi'a Islam.[1] According to the theology of Twelvers, the successor of Muhammad is an infallible human individual who not only rules over the community with justice, but also is able to keep and interpret the Divine Law and its esoteric meaning. The Prophet and Imams' words and deeds are a guide and model for the community to follow; as a result, they must be free from error and sin, and must be chosen by divine decree, or nass, through the Prophet.[2][3]
It is believed in Twelver and Ismaili Shi'a Islam that Aql, a divine wisdom, was the source of the souls of the Prophets and Imams and gave them esoteric knowledge, called Hikmah, and that their sufferings were a means of divine grace to their devotees.[4][5][1] Although the Imam was not the recipient of a divine revelation, he had a close relationship with God, through which God guides him, and the Imam in turn guides the people. Imamate, or belief in the divine guide is a fundamental belief in the Twelver and Ismaili branches of Shi'a Islam and is based on the concept that God would not leave humanity without access to divine guidance.[6]
According to Twelvers, there is always an Imam of the Age, who is the divinely appointed authority on all matters of faith and law in the Muslim community. Ali was the first Imam of this line, and in the Twelvers' view, the rightful successor to the Prophet of Islam, followed by male descendants of Muhammad through his daughter Fatimah Zahra. Each Imam was the son of the previous Imam, with the exception of Husayn ibn Ali, who was the brother of Hasan ibn Ali.[1] The twelfth and final Imam is Muhammad al-Mahdi, who is believed by the Twelvers to be currently alive, and hidden till he returns to bring justice to the world.[6]" [source - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve_Imams on 7/26/2008]>>>. Thus if the Shias are Muslim, then the Alevis must be also as they recognize the same Imams.
This divide in Islam is similar to the divide in what is commonly called Christendom, but Islam still applies to one uniform group; to wit, the genuine followers of Muhammad regardless of their different flavors; whereas, the divide in what is called Christendom is quite unique and different as will be shown next.
THE TERM 'CHRISTEN' APPLIES TO TWO VERY DIFFERENT AND UNLIKE ENTITIES:
To wit, the two entities are:
(Group 1 ) - the genuine (true) followers of Jesus (Yeshua) Christ do NOT involve themselves with war and violence or meddle in politics, and try to follow to the 'letter' the words and commandments of Christ. Also, they have NO creedal doctrines and/or traditions; AND ARE STRICT MONOTHEIST.
(Group 2) - the false claimants of being followers of Jesus (Yeshua) Christ involve themselves with war and violence and meddle in politics while falsely claiming to be followers of Christ, the Prince of Peace. The give 'lip' service with respect following to the 'letter' the words and commandments of Christ - the term Sunday Christian aptly fits them. They have their creedal doctrines and/or traditions and assign more importance to these than the Inspired Word of Almighty God (YHWH), the Bible. For the most part, they are POLYTHEIST who believe in a three-in-one god or trinity - a false doctrine.
Now of course this is NOT my taxonomy but one of reality that sets the two groups clearly apart as separate classifications. Also, it is not my opinion that sets the two separate groups that are called "Christians" apart, but clearly the diametrically opposed actions of the two groups, as shown by the definitions of the two groups above.
In fact, the Inspired Word of Almighty God (YHWH), the Bible, clearly demonstrates how difficult it really is not to be mislead by the Devil and the religious leaders of evil false religions under control of the god of this system of things. This was clearly shown by Almighty God's (YHWH's) Son, Jesus (Yeshua), in answering a question asked of him at Luke 13:23-30, "And one said unto him, Lord, are they few that are saved? And he said unto them, 24 Strive to enter in by the narrow door: for many, I say unto you, shall seek to enter in, and shall not be able. 25 When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, open to us; and he shall answer and say to you, I know you not whence ye are; 26 then shall ye begin to say, We did eat and drink in thy presence, and thou didst teach in our streets; 27 and he shall say, I tell you, I know not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity. 28 There shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and yourselves cast forth without. 29 And they shall come from the east and west, and from the north and south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God. 30 And behold, there are last who shall be first, and there are first who shall be last." (American Standard Version; ASV).
Also, Jesus (Yeshua) clearly showed his genuine (true) followers would be few in number compared to the total number of mankind. Let's consider both Luke 13:24 and Matthew 7:13-14, it is in both of these that the road followed by true believers would be narrow and cramped, Luke 13:24, "Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able." (Authorized King James Bible: AV); And Matthew 7:13-14, "Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, abroad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: 14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." (AV); thereby, clearly showing few would be entering the narrow gate "which leadeth unto life." In reality, it will be difficult for even true Christians to enter as testified to at 1 Peter 4:18, "And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear." (AV). In order to enter, we must have the right sort of guide, Luke 1:79, "To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace." (AV). Now, if one picks the wrong group, just because it is popular or the so called 'one to belong to in a community' and not because of Bible Truths, there is an important warning given at Matthew 15:14, "Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch." (AV). In fact, being with the wrong group can mean you are NOT having fellowship with the Son of God, Jesus (Yeshua) as testified to at 1 John 1:6, "If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not [have] the truth." (AV). This danger is made abundantly clear at Luke 12:32 when Jesus (Yeshua) spoke of his true followers as a little flock and not a large one, "Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." (AV). Simply stated, his true followers will be relatively few in number which should cause all sincere individuals to question whether mainstream religion with its vast membership is heading for the narrow gate!
Now being this is the case, it behooves all genuine (true) followers of Jesus (Yeshua) to show neighbor love and warn their neighbors of the need to seek genuine salvation and to get OUT OF EVIL FALSE RELIGION regardless of what it is called or how long their families and friends have been members of it. This would be required by what Jesus (Yeshua) said at Matthew 22:37-40, "And he said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second like unto it is this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. 40 On these two commandments the whole law hangeth, and the prophets." (ASV).
We will consider how this love of neighbor requires all genuine (true) followers to warn their neighbors of evil false religion by exposing it for what it is.
WHAT IS NEEDED IN THE WORLD REGARDLESS OF THE FLAVOR OF YOUR BELIEF:
Now all need to be showing love to their neighbors including Jews and telling them of the first step toward salvation given at John 14:6, "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." (AV). Messages of hate assist no one in learning the truth per John 8:32, "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (Authorized King James Bible; AV).
Take my articles, for example, they have a worthy objective; to wit, exposing false doctrine so individuals can correct their wrong path. My articles are NOT ones of hate, as are many of others, but ones that expose false doctrine and wrong practice. All should read them instead of posting false accusations, as you will find not one word of hate or bashing in my articles, only truth. They are posted to assist all in knowing the truth, per John 8:32, and to assist all in making a change in their lives by getting out of groups and/or religions that practice false doctrine and wrong practices.
All need to learn about love and that includes warning others with respect false doctrine and wrong practices instead of thinking of hate and being bigots as many are. As 1 Corinthians 13:1-8 shows, "If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am become sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 And if I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profiteth me nothing. 4 Love suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth not; love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, 5 doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not its own, is not provoked, taketh not account of evil; 6 rejoiceth not in unrighteousness, but rejoiceth with the truth; 7 beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. 8 Love never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall be done away; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall be done away." (American Standard Version: ASV).
Love is the power of faith as shown in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 as quoted above. Faith actually needs love to function because perfect faith results in faithfulness and faithfulness is the outcome of love; therefore faith and love go hand in hand because faith wants to believe, just as love trust, faith will see its possessors through the darkness and weathers of the storms of life, just as love endures all things, and faith seeks to put Almighty God (YHWH) first just as love always give.
Our faith is not just knowledge about Almighty God (YHWH), but a personal relationship with Him as our Lord, and any relationship requires love to succeed, to endure trials and to grow, including our relationships with one another because we are called to be family in the Lord and to love one another.
The perfect example of faith powered by love is seen in the life of Jesus Christ, who manifests Gods love to perfection. As Leviticus 6:27 states,
"Whatsoever shall touch the flesh thereof, shall be sanctified. I***arment be sprinkled with the blood thereof, it shall be washed in a holy place." (Douay-Rheims Catholic Bible; DRCB). Thus, whatever touches what is holy shall become holy. And love is of Almighty God's (YHWH's) Holy Spirit, his active force and/or power. In fact, the Hebrew word here rendered Holy Ghost, Holy Spirit, or Spirit which is translated from 'ru'ach' meaning "breath; wind; spirit." "The Catholic Encyclopedia:" states, "Nowhere in the Old Testament do we find any clear indication of a Third Person." And Catholic theologian Fortman states, "The Jews never regarded the spirit as a person; nor is there any solid evidence that any Old Testament writer held this view. . . . The Holy Spirit is usually presented in the Synoptics [Gospels] and in Acts as a divine force or power." Whereas, "The New Catholic Encyclopedia" states, "The O[ld] T[estament] clearly does not envisage God's spirit as a person . . . God's spirit is simply God's power. If it is sometimes represented as being distinct from God, it is because the breath of Yahweh acts exteriorly." It also states, "The majority of N[ew] T[estament] texts reveal God's spirit as something, not someone; this is especially seen in the parallelism between the spirit and the power of God." And "A Catholic Dictionary," states, "On the whole, the New Testament, like the Old, speaks of the spirit as a divine energy or power."
By faith we draw near to God through sincere prayer, entering into His presence, because when Jesus died on the cross, the temple curtain separating God and man was torn in two from top to bottom, per Matthew 27:51, "And behold, the veil of the temple was rent in two from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake; and the rocks were rent;" (ASV). At James 4:8, "Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye doubleminded." (ASV), clearly showing that Almighty God (YHWH) will draw near to us if we draw near to him. This point is also emphasized at Galatians 5:22-26, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 meekness, self-control; against such there is no law. 24 And they that are of Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with the passions and the lusts thereof. 25 If we live by the Spirit, by the Spirit let us also walk. Let us not become vainglorious, provoking one another, envying one another." (ASV). Remember that Almighty God (YHWH) is the source of our love.
When we submit to the love of God we have combined faith with love and have the power to fulfill the royal law, which is to love the Lord with all our heart, mind and soul per Matthew 22:37-40, "And he said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second like unto it is this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. 40 On these two commandments the whole law hangeth, and the prophets." (ASV); and James 2:22, "Thou seest that faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect;" (ASV). If we love Almighty God (YHWH), we will seek to please Him and keep the royal law because the royal law embraces Gods will and all of His commandments. Without love we can't fulfill the royal law because we can't love the Lord unless we have love. To manifest the love of God is to overcome sin, whereas to not manifest the love of God is to sin. For the royal law is not to know about the Almighty God (YHWH) , but to love the Almighty God (YHWH), and to love one another as ourselves. We can't do one without the other, because we can't truly love God whom we can't see if we don't love mankind who is made in the image of God. When we love one another we are manifesting our love for God whom we can't see by loving His image. John 14:21 clearly shows "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself unto him." (ASV); therefore, If we love one another then we also love God because we can't love the reflection without loving its source. And if we love God we will love Jesus Christ and allow Him to reign in our hearts, keepings all of His commandments, and we do this by subduing the will and power of the flesh through the power of the Holy Spirit, so that faith working through love does the will of God by turning the thought into reality which pleases Him and fulfills the royal law.
Faith without love is incomplete, residing only in the mind as knowledge, and knowledge of Almighty God (YHWH) alone can not perfect us by saving us from sin. This can only be accomplished by allowing Jesus Christ to reign supreme in our hearts. If knowledge of Almighty God's (YHWH's) will alone could save us then salvation would have been through the law of Moses, and there would not have been any need for Christ to die for our sins per Galatians 2:21, previously quoted. If Jesus reigns in our hearts then the love of Christ also reigns because He is the manifestation of Almighty God's (YHWH's)love. As Romand 8:9 so amply shows, "But ye are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you. But if any man hath not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." (ASV) ; therefore, The heart without the love of God does not have Jesus Christ and the soul without the Spirit of Christ is not born again. As the Apostle Paul so clearly stated at Romans 15:16, "that I should be a minister of Christ Jesus unto the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be made acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Spirit." (ASV). Last, as shown at 1 John 4:8-13, "He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. 9 Herein was the love of God manifested in us, that God hath sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No man hath beheld God at any time: if we love one another, God abideth in us, and his love is perfected in us: 13 hereby we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit." (ASV).
MORE ON THE ALEVIS:
Here are some factual information on the Alevis:
<<<”Turkey's Alevis fight back against Sunni religion lessons.
Turkey's ruling AK Party, which has its roots in political Islam, has preached a message of religious freedom as a way to expand liberties for believers in the officially secular country. It has assured the European Union it would respect freedoms for religious minorities. There has been some progress for minorities, but it is halting. The government's focus seems to be more on assuring religious rights for pious Sunni Muslims, as in ending of the university headscarf ban. Religious minorities still face an uphill struggle to practice as they see fit.
Turkey's Alevis, some 15-25 million whose faith is rooted in Islam but mixed with other traditions including ....shamanism, form the country's leargest religious minority but they have never been recognised as a formal religion. This means they can be lumped together with Sunni Muslims, as a recent court case about the mandatory religion classes in state schools showed. The classes, taught in all primary schools, serve as an instruction guide to being Muslim, with topics ranging from how to pray in a mosque to fasting during the holy month of Ramadan.
Alevi Hatice Kose took the education ministry to court to win permission to pull her son out of the classes and change the curriculum to include information about Alevis. She won the case, but the government has said it has no power to change the classes, which it says are protected in Turkey's constitution.[source - blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2008/0...ligion-lessons/ on 7/25/2008]>>>.
And,
<<<”Being Muslim at the Margins: Alevis and the AKP by Kerem Öktem
Kerem Öktem is a fellow at the European Studies Centre of St. Antony's College at the University of Oxford.
On January 6, 2008, newspapers in the province of Tunceli in eastern Turkey appeared festooned with the holiday wishes, "May your Gaghand be merry."[1] Celebrated on the same day as Armenian Christmas and bearing the same name, Gaghand is an important, if almost forgotten event in the religious calendar of Tunceli, or Dersim, to use the area's historical appellation. In the villages of Dersim, bearded men calling themselves Gaghand Baba (Father Christmas) pay visits to children and the elderly, offering them presents of sweets and pistachios. Historical accounts from the early twentieth century also mention a ritual administered by religious leaders the very same day and highly reminiscent of Holy Communion.[2]
The people of Dersim are not Christians, but Alevis, a catch-all term for a variety of ethno-religious minorities in Turkey whose core religious heritage is Islamic but whose beliefs and practices are highly varied and syncretistic.[3] In Dersim, Christian and other influences infuse a heterodox Islam of distant Shi'i origin whose adherents do not normally pray in mosques, fast in Ramadan, accept the Qur'an as a source of jurisprudence or make the pilgrimage to Mecca. Like many Alevis, they do commemorate the martyrdom of Imam Hussein on the plains of Karbala' in the month of Muharram, a reminder of the Shi'i component of their tradition.
As the state does not disclose census and other data regarding religious orientation and ethnic origin, estimates of the overall size of the Alevi population vary widely, ranging between 10 and 25 percent of the population of Turkey. The large majority of Alevis speak Turkish and live in the big cities.
By contrast, the Dersimli Alevis speak an Indo-European language called Kurmancki or Zazaki that is related to Kurdish and Persian.[4] Protected by the Munzur mountain range, the Dersim tribes resisted attempts at state centralization until the late 1930s, when the republican government mounted a devastating air campaign, destroying a third of the villages in the province.[5] The survivors were forcibly evacuated to western Turkey. A special law for the region aimed at eradicating Dersimli Alevi identity by repopulating the area with Turkish settlers. Despite these extreme policies, however, many Dersimlis returned in the 1940s, only to be driven out again in the following decades as labor migrants or political refugees. Tunceli today is a thinly populated province with slightly less than 100,000 inhabitants and high levels of out-migration, while more than a million Dersimlis have created a noteworthy diaspora in western Turkey and Europe.
Tunceli remains Turkey's only province with an almost exclusively Alevi population. Recently built mosques cater only to government officials, alcohol is on sale in every corner shop and the use of public space is not sex-segregated as in the nearby provinces of Elazig or Erzincan. The Munzur valley, only a few minutes walk from the town center, teems with cafés and bars frequented by couples and groups of young men and women. The mayor, Songül Erol Abdil, was elected on the strength of a coalition of socialist parties and the Kurdish Democratic Society Party. She is one of the few female mayors of a provincial capital, even if the center of Tunceli is home to only 25,000 inhabitants, guarded by several thousand members of the army and the security services.
In places like Tunceli, the war that crippled the Kurdish provinces after the military coup of 1980 continues at lower intensity. More than half of 2007's casualties in the conflict between Kurdish guerrilla organizations and the army occurred in Tunceli. And here the war's intrusive security controls upon the civilian population, long abolished elsewhere, are still enforced, albeit with a lighter hand. In order to enter or leave the province, one has to pass through checkpoints. Soldiers collect identity cards and check them against a new electronic database indicating terrorist suspects. Officers are proper in their demeanor, yet leave no doubt that one is entering a danger zone.
Yet not even the checkpoint can prepare the visitor for the dramatic spectacle of the Munzur valley, with its raging rivers and alpine landscapes. The valley is home to a myriad of sacred places, shrines, revered stones and cemeteries that are markers of Dersimli Alevi identity. Generations of state-employed engineers and technocrats have planned dams and hydroelectric power plants that would destroy the Elysian beauty of the place and turn the ferocious river into a lake. Virtually everybody in Tunceli is against the present dam project, at Konaktepe; posters indicating opposition are displayed in every other shop window in town.
Suffocated by the omnipresent security apparatus, closed-circuit TV cameras in the city center and the observation posts in the surrounding mountains, the few citizens of historical Dersim might well hope for a more comfortable relationship with the state.
A Timid Coming to Terms
A recent initiative by Reha Çamuroglu, a member of Parliament from the governing Justice and Development Party (or AKP, the acronym of the party's name in Turkish), could have been a first step. One of the party's few Alevi members, Çamuroglu authored a plan for a government-hosted iftar to break the Muharram fast on January 11. Yet the initiative met with little support from the rank and file of Alevi civil society. Alevi organizations, with very few exceptions, are staunchly secular, left-leaning and anti-Islamist, and they declared the ruling party's iftar a misguided attempt at appeasing the European Union in its demands for more inclusive policies toward the country's sizable minorities. Others insisted that this was yet another plot to destroy Alevi identity through assimilation into the Sunni mainstream. A few religious leaders went so far as to threaten Alevis attending the iftar with excommunication.[6]
With its ideological roots in Turkey's version of Sunni political Islam, its proximity to Sufi orders and its professed orientation as conservative-democratic, the AKP indeed seems an unlikely candidate for the job of embracing Turkey's syncretistic Alevi communities. The party's ideology and policy are largely irreconcilable with Alevi notions of ethics and justice: From its tacit promotion of "Islamic dress" to its inherent social conservatism, from its gendered policies to its anti-alcohol stance, AKP policies appear to most Alevis as socially regressive and threatening to their identity and lifestyle.
Prominent party members are on record belittling the Alevi rite as a "subculture within Islam" or scorning their shrines of worship (cem evleri) as places for carousing, hinting at the chanting in the ceremony of ayin-i cem, the semah dance that includes both men and women, and the use of wine during services.[7] Finally, some AKP members have downplayed and even defended the massacre of Sivas in 1993, when 37 Alevi intellectuals died in a fire set by Islamists under the noses of security services and allowed to burn by firefighters.[8]
In spite of the dismissive position taken by Alevi organizations, voices from Brussels positively acknowledged the government's attempts. Some commentators in Turkey wondered whether the government's timid steps would lead to a long-awaited "Alevi opening." Was this a break with the history of discrimination and oppression? Even a coming to terms with the country's religious diversity, which has survived waves of ethnic and religious cleansing during the last decades of the Ottoman Empire and throughout much of the Turkish Republic? Could it be that a party with Islamist roots can overcome its own demons and find a modus vivendi with what are generally agreed to be the most heterodox interpretations of Islam, without subjecting them to assimilation?
From Suspects to Guardians of Secularism
Turkey's Alevis were treated as a fifth column of the Safavid state in Iran in the early Ottoman Empire, as unruly villagers by the secular republic and as unclean unbelievers by the Sunni establishment. Due to this experience of exclusion, and deepened by a strong proto-socialist thread in Alevi tradition, many developed an affinity for anti-capitalist and communitarian left-wing movements. Throughout the 1970s, Alevis were attacked by changing coalitions of nationalist, fascist and Islamist groups, as well parts of the security apparatus, culminating in a number of anti-Alevi pogroms in central and eastern Anatolia.[9] State agencies, with their deep-seated suspicion of all ethnic and religious minority groups, treated the Alevis as potential enemies. In the 1980s, when the leaders of the military coup introduced the "Turkish-Islamic synthesis" as semi-official state doctrine to contain the revolutionary left, Alevis were further alienated from the state and its institutions. Yet even during this period, discriminatory policies were differentiated:
...
Even though the exclusively Sunni Directorate of Religious Affairs continued to build undesired mosques in Alevi villages, other state agencies offered funds for the construction of cem evleri, while civil society organizations were allowed to operate more freely. The post-intervention years then created the conditions for a limited cooptation into the political mainstream. Even though severely oppressed under the republican regime, many Alevis nevertheless agreed to an implicit deal: Their renewed allegiance to the state would grant them basic rights and protect them against Sunni discrimination and Islamist encroachment.
Ready for the Sunni Embrace?
The AKP's Alevi initiative comes at a time of widespread confusion within the community. Despite a series of setbacks that cost the lives of many hunger-striking prisoners of the far left, the Alevis have emerged from the oblivion of state denial and self-imposed invisibility. The softening of state policies, together with EU-induced reforms and an increasingly well-organized, albeit fragmented transnational Alevi civil society network, have created a lively public sphere with numerous radio and TV stations, journals, online portals and ever more visible cem evleri. Alevi community organizations represent a wide variety of political orientations, ranging from social democrats to deep ecologists and different groupings of the revolutionary left. Many now wonder whether their role as guardians of the secular system was a sensible one. While many of the demonstrators at the anti-AKP rallies in the summer of 2007 were of Alevi origin, there is a growing sense that their secular stance was exploited by nationalist forces, which are otherwise fiercely opposed to Alevi identity.
In this period of disillusionment and soul searching, the AKP's initiative came with a good promise of success. Hundreds of Alevi citizens attended the fast breaking, and so did most members of the cabinet and the prime minister. Some AKP ministers were overcome with tears for the martyrs of Karbala', or so they claimed afterwards. Wine had been removed from the menu, though, in order not to offend the sensibilities of the official Sunni guests. Despite the overflowing emotions, however, the Alevi Bektashi Federation and all other Alevi organizations of some standing boycotted the event, leaving the ground to obscure groups with small constituencies.[11] The AKP's Alevi opening, hence, took place without the community's legitimate representatives and civil society.
Scolding Alevi leaders for the boycott, Çamuroglu vowed nevertheless to achieve the goals of his initiative-a state ministry for Alevi affairs, state-funded cem evleri and government-paid religious officials-and to celebrate his achievements with a prayer of thanksgiving in the Suleymaniye mosque in Istanbul. With this gesture, however, he "outed" himself as largely assimilated: Most Alevis would not enter a mosque to pray, unless to allay the suspicions of Sunni peers. These seem to be the limits of the AKP's Alevi opening: Given that disagreements over doctrine and practice are practically insurmountable, such heterodox understandings of Islam being impermissible to a pious Sunni Muslim mindset, the AKP can reach out only to those Alevis who are already assimilated and to those who are willing to integrate themselves into the fold of Sunni Islam for one reason or another. Çamuroglu's plan provides for a state-funded Alevi religious council operating and financed like the Sunni Directorate of Religious Affairs, while it takes no position on compulsory religious education in state schools. These courses are not only geared toward students of Sunni Muslim faith, but also include derogatory depictions of Alevi identity and practice. Neither does the plan refer to the recent past of massacres and pogroms, whose pain is deeply engraved into Alevi identity. Finally, it fails to call for an end to the practice of state-funded mosque-building programs in Alevi villages, enforced since the 1980s.
Yet even Çamuroglu's modest overture does not seem to be an urgent priority for the government. After promises of more engagement following the iftar and much talk in the media, the debate simply ebbed away. By the time attention turned to February's easing of the headscarf ban at universities, the AKP's Alevi opening had slipped from the agenda.
No Golden Age
The Alevis of Anatolia have a long memory of discrimination and suffering, reflected in their music, ritual and narrative. There is no golden age in which Alevi culture and faith flourished under the auspices of an enlightened Ottoman leader, only the resilient resistance to what has mostly been a less than benign sovereign. Nor has the republican regime redeemed its promise of secularism and religious freedom. Ironically, however, Alevis in Turkey have never been as visible, vocal and present in the public realm as they are now. If the AKP leadership managed to overcome its assimilationist reflexes and evolved toward a policy of recognition of difference, it would contribute significantly to Turkey's secularization. It would also be an encouraging sign that a party with Sunni Islamist roots can accommodate a creed that has very little in common with its own interpretation of Islam and whose lifestyle is diametrically opposed to it. If the AKP failed to do so, Turkey's Alevis would be exploited once again for the political expediency of others. This time, they would be showcased as best practice for AKP reforms in response to European demands for minority and religious rights.
As leaders of the Alevi community suggest,[12] the AKP's Alevi opening has ignored both long-standing requests and grievances from the community as well as its organized civil society. The AKP's new Alevi policy is not based on an affirmative recognition of difference and a readiness to acknowledge past mistakes, but appears to follow the clientelist model of incorporation and assimilation that the party has so far successfully employed for the incorporation of Kurdish voters.
In Tunceli, in the meantime, construction work on the Konaktepe dam-the first of a projected eight-is about to begin, despite fierce local and international resistance. Once the dam is completed, the waters will inundate not only some of the most impressive scenery in this part of the world, but also the sacred places that are repositories of so much Dersimli Alevi belief and memory. For some in Dersim, this would be a loss that cannot be compensated for by a half-hearted government initiative.
Endnotes:
[1] In Kurmancki/Zazaki, Gaghane sima bimbarek bo! The Armenian transliteration is Gaghand.
[2] L. Molyneux-Seel, "A Journey in Dersim," The Geographical Journal 44/1 (1914).
[3] For a comprehensive overview of Alevi identity in Turkey, see Paul White and Joost Jongerden, Turkey's Alevi Enigma (Leiden: Brill, 2003). A very good synopsis of the latest debates can be found in Cafer Solgun's series of articles in the newspaper Taraf, January 8-13, 2008.
[4] See Krisztina Kehl-Bodrogi, "Turks, Kurds or a People in Their Own Right? Competing Collective Identities Among the Zazas," The Muslim World 89/3-4 (1999). Martin van Bruinessen focuses on the Kurdish content of Dersimli identity in "Aslini inkar eden haramzadedir!," in Kehl-Bodrogi et al, Syncretistic Religious Communities in the Near East (Leiden: Brill, 1997). For a fascinating analysis, see Leyla Neyzi, "Embodied Elders: Space and Subjectivity in the Music of Metin-Kemal Kahraman," Middle Eastern Studies 38/1 (2002).
[5] Robert Olson, "The Kurdish Rebellions of Sheikh Said (1925), Mt. Ararat (1930) and Dersim (1937-8): Their Impact in the Development of the Turkish Air Force and on Kurdish and Turkish Nationalism," Die Welt des Islam 40/1 (2000).
[6] Radikal, January 11, 2008.
[7] The derisive statement "Cem evi, cümbüs evi (The house of Cem is a house of carousing)" is attributed to a former vice director of the state's Directorate of Religious Affairs and has often been reproduced.
[8] See Martin van Bruinessen, "Turks, Kurds and the Alevi Revival in Turkey," Middle East Report 200 (July-September 1996).
[9] Seyla Benhabib, "Right-Wing Groups Behind Political Violence in Turkey," Middle East Report 77 (May 1979).
[10] Aliza Marcus, "Should I Shoot You? An Eyewitness Account of an Alevi Uprising in Gazi," Middle East Report 199 (April-June 1996).
[11] Milliyet, January 11, 2008.
[12] See, for instance, the declaration of the Alevi Bektashi Federation, online at http://www.alevifederasyonu.com.[source - Middle East Report - www.merip.org/mer/mer246/oktem.html ]>>>.
And,
<<<” Pre-Islamic Turkish traditions have great influences on Alevism. Turkish tribes, which had been spread across a wide geographical area, had come into contact with and been influenced over the centuries by Shamanism, Manichaeism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity and even Buddhism prior to emergence of Islam. Large-scale Turkish conversion to Islam can be dated to the 8th century. Most of these Turks did not respect the traditional Muslim sheikhs (leaders) and clergy, whose spread various restrictive religious. Rather they attached themselves to, and came under the influence of, "fathers", who filled a role similar to pre-Islamic religious leaders such as shamans. Traces of this influence can be traced in Alevism. This form of Islam which the Turks who moved into Anatolia beginning in the eleventh century brought with them, mixed with local people and Persian cultures.[[They obviously accepted some polytheist ideas from their neighbors, but remained basically Muslim]].
An important influence to the Alevi tradition has been Sufism. The Sufi philosopher Haji Bektash Wali, who spent most his life as a missioner from an Iranian based Sufi sect among Turkish tribes in Central Asia and Anatolia during the 13th century, is highly revered and generally seen as the founder of the Alevilik faith. Most of his followers belonged to the Türkmen tribes. The tribes, who tried to keep their traditional customs, often stood in opposition to the Seljuk and later the Ottoman Empire. In the late 15th century, a militant Shia order, the Kýzýlbash, fought with the Safavids against the Ottomans. After they lost their power, they were assumed to have merged into the Anatolian Alevis. Kurdish Alevis are sometimes still called Kýzýlbash. Even as far East as Pakistan, many Shias have "Qizilbash" as their family names, with most still having red hair in their gene pools. [1]
In the early 20th century, many Alevis supported the Turkish revolutionaries and the creation of the Turkish republic. Atatürk was seen by some as a new Haji Bektash, and his secularist principles as a liberation from Sunni dominance. [2]. Their hopes were dashed when the Presidency of Religious Affairs was founded as an exclusively Sunni institution, and the Bektashi orders were banned in 1925.
Recent history
In the 20th century, many Alevis became involved in secular left-wing politics in Turkey, both in the establishment Republican People's Party and parties further to the left, some to the point of left-wing extremism. In the 1970s, Alevi-inhabited regions were a setting for violent conflicts between left-wing groups (often with an Alevi base) and MHP militants (supported by Sunni population).
In 1978, confrontation between Sunni residents and Alevi immigrants (mostly Alevi Kurds, particularly from Pazarcýk) in Kahramanmaraþ eventually led to a massacre by the ultra-nationalist Grey Wolves of the city's Alevi population, leaving over 100 dead. The incident was of key importance in the Turkish government's decision to declare martial law, and the eventual military coup in 1980.[1]. Alevis bore the brunt of the anti-leftwing backlash after Kenan Evren's coup in 1980, and of Islamic fundamentalist violence.
The oppression reached its dénouement in Sivas on 2 July 1993, when thirty six people Alevis, intellectuals, and a Dutch anthropologist) attending a cultural conference were burned to death in a hotel by Sunni locals. Attending the conference was a left-wing Turkish intellectual Aziz Nesin who was vastly hated amongst the Sunni Turkish community as it was he who attempted to publish Salman Rushdie's controversial novel Satanic Verses, in Turkey.
The Sunni locals in Sivas, after attending Friday prayers in a near by mosque, marched to the hotel in which the conference was taking place and set the building on fire. The Turkish government sees this incident as being aimed at Aziz Nesin only, yet most agree that the target was the Alevis since many of the Alevi victims in the fire were very important artists and musicians. One musician, Hasret Gültekin, the most important and influential baðlama saz player in modern time was also killed in this fire. Gültekin is still considered a great loss for Turkish and Kurdish culture by Alevis and otherwise.
The response from the security forces at the time and afterwards was weak. The assault took eight hours without a single intervention by the police and military. Alevis and most intellectuals in Turkey argue that the incident was triggered by the local government as flyers and leaflets were published and given out for days before the incident. The Turkish government refers to the Sivas Madýmak Hotel incident as an attack towards the intellectuals but refuses to see it as an incident directed towards Alevis.
Alevism is now recognized in Turkish Law as an "indigenous" Anatolian religion, and the government now sponsors certain Alevi festivals.[source - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia] >>>.
CONCLUSION:
The Alevis are Muslims and accept the twelve (12) Imams as do the Shias, but not the Sunnis; although they may have been contaminated with some polytheism. This is quite different from that which is commonly called Christian, but consist of two entirely separate taxonomies or classifications that are diametrically opposed. One consisting of the genuine (true) followers of Jesus (Yeshua) Christ, and the other consisting of the counterfeit followers of Jesus (Yeshua) Christ as previously detailed as follows:
To wit, the two entities are:
(Group 1 ) - the genuine (true) followers of Jesus (Yeshua) Christ do NOT involve themselves with war and violence or meddle in politics, and try to follow to the 'letter' the words and commandments of Christ. Also, they have NO creedal doctrines and/or traditions; AND ARE STRICT MONOTHEIST.
(Group 2) - the false claimants of being followers of Jesus (Yeshua) Christ involve themselves with war and violence and meddle in politics while falsely claiming to be followers of Christ, the Prince of Peace. The give 'lip' service with respect following to the 'letter' the words and commandments of Christ - the term Sunday Christian aptly fits them. They have their creedal doctrines and/or traditions and assign more importance to these than the Inspired Word of Almighty God (YHWH), the Bible. For the most part, they are POLYTHEIST who believe in a three-in-one god or trinity - a false doctrine.
Your Friend in Christ Iris89
? ??