Haji Bektash Veli

Haji Bektash Veli or Ḥājī Baktāsh Walī (Persian: حاجی بکتاش ولی‎‎ Ḥājī Baktāš Walī; Turkish: Hacı Bektaş Veli) was an Alevi Muslim mystic, saint, Sayyid, humanist and philosopher, who lived from 1209 to 1271. He lived and taught from approximately 1209 to 1271 in Anatolia. He is revered among Alevis for an Islamic understanding that is esoteric (spiritual), rational, progressive and humanistic. Alevi and Bektashi Muslims believe the path of Haji Bektash is the path of ʿAli ibn Abu Talib, since Ali was the source of Bektash's teachings. His original name was "Sayyid Muhammad ibn Sayyid Ibrāhim Ātā", was one of the figures who flourished in the Sultanate of Rum and had an important influence on the Turkish nomads of Asia Minor. He is also referred to as the Sultan of Hearts and the Derwish of the Derwishes. Haji Bektash Veli was a descendant of the 7th Shi'a Imam Musa Kazim.

Not much is known about him, his origins are shrouded in mystery and much of his biography is based on legends. It is assumed that he was of Turkish or Persian descent, and belonged to a group of Iranian migrants in Anatolia who had left their homeland during the Mongol conquests. According to "The history of Āshikpāshāzādah" (Aşıkpaşazade Tarihi), written by one of the grandsons of "Āshik Pāshā" who was the son of "Muhlis Paşa" (Muhlees Pāshā) who was the son of renowned Bābā Eliyās al-Khorāsānī, "Sayyeed Muhammad ibn Sayyeed Ebrāheem Ātā" had come to Sivas, Anatolia from Khorasan with his brother “Menteş” (Mantash) to become affiliated with the tariqat of Bābā Eliyās al-Khorāsānī. On the other hand, the famous reference book of Bāktāsh’īyyah tariqat, Valāyat-Nāma-i Hādjī Baktāsh-ī Wālī, claims that "Hajji Bāktāsh" was the murshid of Bābā Rāss’ūl-Allāh (Bābā Eliyās al-Khorāsānī).

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