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The Importance of the Ahl-Bayt According to Giritli Ali Baba

The Importance of the Ahl-Bayt According to Giritli Ali Baba
by A. Yilmaz Soyyer

T he fir st step one must take on the path of Tasawwuf , accor ding to the Uyn al-Hidyat, is to become initiated as a murid or talib. In addition the murid must develop a deep and pr ofound love for the Ahl al-Bayt . If a murid who is not decent of Muhammad-Ali ( sayyid ) enter s into the Bektashi Or der , he will be same deg r ee to Kamber and Salman who not decent too. If a per son loves to Ahl al-Bayt he (or she) will bear a r esemblance to the two histor ical fig ur es Kamber and Salman. If an individual is devoid of love for the Ahl al-Bayt they ar e no better than the Umayyad r uler s Yazid and Mar wan, whose opposition to the Pr ophets family is well-known. T hose who openly ar e fond of Yazid, the mur der er of Imam Husayn, ar e no better than unbeliever s, fasid (vicious mischief-maker ). T aking the Ahl al-Bayt as ones patr ons ( tawalla ) and disassociating with their enemies ( tabarra ) is consider ed by Ali Baba to be a necessar y r elig ious r equir ement ( wajib). If one fails to make tabarra to Yazid one has spir itually attained the r ank of hypocr ite ( munafiq), unbeliever ( mushrik ), oppr essor ( zalim) and mur der er ( qatil). Ali Baba disappr oved the pr actice of other Sufi tar iqats instr ucting the neophyte to r ecite the kalimat ut-tawhid (i.e. La ilaha il Allah) instead of making use of tabarra and tawalla at time of initiation. Gir itli wr ites that any mother can teach a child to r ecite the kalimat ut-tawhid , but that a murshid must instr uct tabarra and tawalla to the murid at time of bayat (initiation). Gir itli Ali Resmi Baba based his on position on being a mrid on the actions of the Sahabah who took bayat to Pr ophet Muhammad. In his wr iting he br ing s for war d an ayat (ver se) of the Qur an in or der to validate this: Lo!
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those who swear alleg iance unto thee ( Muhammad), swear alleg iance only unto Allah. T he Hand of Allah is above their hands. So whosoever br eaketh his oath, br eaketh it only to his soul's hur t; while whosoever keepeth his covenant with Allah, on him will He bestow immense r ewar d. Gir itli calls attention to another ayat in or der to str eng then the impor tance of bayat : Allah was well pleased with the believer s when they swor e alleg iance unto thee beneath the tr ee, and He knew what was in their hear ts, and He sent down peace of r eassur ance on them, and hath r ewar ded them with a near victor y. Gir itli states that the tr ee mentioned in this ayat is none other than the one r efer r ed to in the Qur an as being a blessed tr ee, an olive neither of the East nor of the West. Accor ding to Gir itli the tr ee in this ayat sig nifies the Shajarat ul-Insaniyyah , the T r ee of Humanity.

T he bayat that was g ive to either the Pr ophet or a murshid is the fir st step in r eaching the level of Insan- Kmil . Gir itli wr ites that the murid must g ive himself to the mur shid unconditionally. He dr aws attention to one ayat to indicate impor tance of speech of the murshid , Nor doth he speak fr om (his own) desir e. Gir itli says that the murshid doesnt say of his own desir e, as was with the Pr ophet.

In this spir itual appr oach the r ole of the murshid is of the utmost mag nitude. Having the r ig ht master , the tr ue murshid , is mor e imper ative than r ig ht of ones natur al par ents. Ali Baba wr ites that if a per son only follows the customs of their par ents he or she r emains as if locked in an eg g . If the per son wants to be hatched fr om this eg g to become a bir d, he or she is in need of a new par ent. T he new par ent will tr ain and educate the novice and he will abandon the custom of his bir th par ents. Gir itli inter esting ly quotes a passag e fr om the Gospels wher e Jesus exclaims, T r uly, tr uly, I say to you, unless one is bor n ag ain he cannot see the king dom of God. T he Bektashi initiation cer emony ( ikrar-i cem) symbolizes this new bir th.

Accor ding to Gir itli the Pr ophet Muhammad is wellspr ing of the Bektashi silsilah (initatic chain). He points out the Hadith-i Qudsi wher e Allah states, O Muhammad! If it wer e not for you I would have not cr eated. He wr ites that Pr ophet Muhammad was Gods Beloved ( Mahbb- Khud ). Accor ding to Gir itli Ali Baba, Allah exalted the Pr ophet in the two ayats, And We sent thee not save as a mer cy to all as well as, When thou thr ew, it was not thy act, but Gods.

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Cur iously Gir itli incor por ates (per haps r eluctantly, in or der to appease the dominant Sunni sensibilities of Ottoman society) the thr ee Caliphs ( Khulafa ar-Rashidah ) into the spir itual system. He wr ites that, T he Pr ophet Muhammad has four dear ly loved ones. T hey ar e the elements of pr ophethood ( ansir- nubwwat ) similar to the four natur al elements ( ansir- arbaca ). Abu Bakr is as water , Umar is as fir e, Uthman is as air , and Ali is as soil. T hey ar e equally compar able to the four pr ophets. Abu Bakr is like Noah, Umar is like Musa,Uthman is like Jesus and Ali is like Adam and Muhammad is their soul. It is impor tant to note that Ali her e symbolizes ear th as well as Adam (i.e. humanity). Muhammad symbolizes soul of humanity.

Natur ally the Pr ophets cousin, Ali ibn Abi T alib, holds a place of par ticular impor tance for Gir itli Ali Baba. It was Allah, wr ites Gir itli, who pr oclaimed Ali to be the Lion of God and who sent the ayat , Hath ther e come Upon man ( ever ) any per iod of time in which he was a thing unr emember ed? to. Additionally he affir ms the pr aises of the Pr ophet Muhammad for Ali which can be found in numer ous Ahadith such as, L fata ila Ali! L sayfa ila Dhl-fiq r !, I am the city of Knowledg e and Ali is the Gate., O Ali! Your soul is of my soul, your flesh is of my flesh, and your blood is of my blood. Gir itli Ali Baba points out that Allah lifted up the Ahl al-Bayt (i.e. Ali, Fatima, Hasan, Husayn) in the ayat , Allahs wish is but to r emove uncleanness far fr om you, O People of the Household, and cleanse you with a thor oug h cleansing . T o pr ove the claims of the T welve Imams, he notes a Hadith of the Pr ophet Muhammad wher e he said, I am the chief of the Pr ophets and Ali ibn Abi T alib is the chief of successor s, and after me my successor s shall be twelve, the fir st of them being Ali ibn Abi T alib and the last of them being al-Mahdi.

Ap p ro ac h to Sufis m [1 ] The Imp o rtanc e o f the Ahl-Bayt Ac c o rd ing to G iritli Ali Bab a G iritli Ali Bab a' s O utlo o k o n Mankind [4 ] G iritli Ali Bab a' s Ap p ro ac h to Be ing [5 ] G iritli Ali Bab a' s O utlo o k o n Is tid at [6 ] G iritli Ali Bab a' s Ap p ro ac h to the Co nc e p t o f Dawriyyah (Cyc lic al Exis te nc e ) [7]
[2 ] [3]

G iritli Ali Re s mi Bab a' s O utlo o k o n the Co nc e p t o f Wahd at al-Wujud

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Source URL (ret rieved on 09/15/2012 - 5:13pm ): http://bektashiorder.com/importance- of- alh- bayt Links: [1] http://bektashiorder.com/approach- to- sufism [2] http://bektashiorder.com/importance- of- ahl- bayt [3] http://bektashiorder.com/wahdat- al- wujud [4] http://bektashiorder.com/outlook- on- mankind [5] http://bektashiorder.com/approach- to- being [6] http://bektashiorder.com/outlook- on- istidat [7] http://bektashiorder.com/concept- of- dawriyyah

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