SDÜ

iLAHiYAT FAKÜLTESi

ULUSLAR ARASI BEKTAŞiLiK VE

ALEViLiK SEMPOZYUMU 1

BiLDiRiLER VE MÜZAKERELER

THE 18T INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM on

BEKTASHISM and ALEVISM

28-30 EYLÜUSEPTEMBER 2005

ISPARTA
r
1 SDÜ iLAHiYAT FAKÜLTESi YAYlNLARI NO: 20
BiLiMSEL TOPLANTlLAR SERiSi: 7

Yayına Hazırlayan

Sempozyum Düzenleme Kurulu

Çözümleme
Sadettin Özdemir- YusufAçıkel-Ramazan Uçar- Nevin Karabela- Ha!uk Songür- Nuri Tuğlu
Aynur Erginekin- M.Sadık Akdemir- Nejdet Durak- Sevim Özdemir-Adem Efe-
Ali Bulut- H.Tevfik Marulcu-Kamile Ünlüsoy-Hülya Altunya-
Ünal Yerlikaya-Mustafa ilboğa- B.Bengü Tortuk- Kevser Çelik- Hatice Mesci

ingilizce ve Amavutça Çeviri

i.Hakkı Göksoy-Adnan Koşum-Bilal Gökkır-Bilal Sambur-i.Latif Hacınebioğlu- Kamile Ünlüsoy-
Rudina Diko-Adnan Matkaya

Haritalar
Kadir Ternurçin

Kapak
Nejdet Durak

ISBN 975-7929-87-5

Birinci Baskı .
Kasım 2005 iSPARTA
Yazılann sorumluluğu yazarianna aittir; kaynak gösterilmek şartıyla iktibas ve atıf şeklinde kullanılabilir
isteme Adresi: SDÜ ilahiyat Fakültesi ISPARTA
Tei:02462113881 Faks:02462371058

Baskı: Fakülte Kitabevi Baskı Merkezi

Fakülte Kitabevi Yayın Dağıtım Pazarlama Ltd.Şti.
Kutlubey Mah.1004 Sokak Nu:15 1B ISPARTA
Tel: o 246 233 ·o3 74&75 Faks: o 246 233 03 76
e- mail : fakultekitabevi@yahoo.com.tr
 THE USE AND MiSUSE OF THE BEKTASHi NAME
iN WESTERN CONTEXT: The Case of the Thule Society, the Shriners, &
the Dawoodi~Bektashis

Mohammed A Al-Aha ri"

Introduction
In the West, there has been a long-lasting tendeney to view belonging to a seeret society
as a means for social climbing. The more secretive and strange the ritual and history of a given
'secret' order, the langer the line to join will become. The earliest of these orders included
lnstructive Masonry which purportedly traced its oıigins to ancient Greece and Egypt. The
libraries of these orders and their ıituals were daimed to have deıived from seeret Moroccan (in
the case of the Rosicrucians), Persian {for the Grotto), andArabian or Egyptian (for the Shriners)
mystic orders.
In the 19ıtı century we had the European discovery of Tıbet and the subsequent legends
of Shambala with all its hidden esateric knowledge, the secrets of the tribes of the Caucasus
Mountains, the Order of the Peacock, and science of Theosophy. Truth explorers were allegedly
able to fınd concealed guides and guarded texts which purportedly reveal the realities of the
universe. The famed Madame Blavatsky gave us the Stanzas of Dzyan, Richard Burton the
Qasidas ofAbu Yazid, as well as the ritual books of the Grotto and the Shriners seeret societies.
Yet none of these texts have any ancient manuscript in existence leading one to assume their
forgery.
My reasons for writing this short expose are several, the faremost being a wish to
distance the noble Bektashi Order of Sufıs from individuals and groups who have indefensibly
and fraudulently utilized the name Bektashi in their organizations without any solid
rationalization, an occurrence that has caused a significant amount of confusion among
inquisitive minds. Since the 19ıtı century a number of individuals who have sought out the
genuine path of Haji Bektash and that of the Baktashis have been led to things that are
unquestionably not Bektashism and, despite such claims, have no origin in Bektashism at all.
Historically these fırst purported links to ls!amic mysticism (from which Bektashism arose) came
from Freemasonry and its root order of the KnightTemp!ar.
Knight Templar: The Roots of Freemasonry
The Knights Templar were a military order founded in Palestine in 1119 CE at the height
of the Crusades by a group of nine warıiors who had sought out glory and fortune in Holy Land.
The King of Jerusalem- King Baldwin ll (reign 1118~31)- gave them quarters in his palace on
the site of Solomon's Temple (thus their name).
They took vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience to no ne save the Grand Master of the
Order (the first was Hugh du Paynes) as well as the Pope. The knights were divided into tour
classes: knights, chaplains, squires, and servants. The knights wore a white mantle with a red
cross, white the lower grades wore a black or brown mantle. They grew rapidly (from 9 to
30,000) and wea!th.

University of Phoenix, /USA

575
 Other orders grew jealous of their weatth and prestige. Some such as the Hospftallers
gained the ear of the French king and the Pope. When the city of Acre fell in 1291 CE and the
vaıious orders retreated to Cyprus, the Templars were charged wfth being assodates of the
lsma'ilis (Assassins) and with the heresy of Unitarianism. In 1307 CE, Philip IV of France began
to confıscate their properties with the approval of the Pope who issued a bu ll which dissolved the
orderin 1312 CE.
The last Grand Master, Jacques de Molay, was bumed to deathin 1314 CE with several
of his closest followers in the courtyard of Notre Dame Cathedral. Contemporary scholars see
the persecution of the Templars asa monstrous, fanatical and homophobic perversion of justice.
Outside of France the Templars were generalty deared of the charges of heresy or were given
time to go underground. Such is the case of the British !sles.
Sixty years after their suppression, The Knights Temptar rose in a so-called peasant
revalt against the English Crown. The eight day revalt was lead by Walter the Tyler (a Masonic
title) and the sources of teadership of that brief revalt were not traced to the Templars at that time
[Robinson, xiij. In Masonry, a "Tyler" guards the door of the lodge against intruders. Surely a
suppresSed mimary order could be in need of such a person. In many Sufı and seeret orders
there is a guard at the door to question anyone who comes to meetings. In the Bektashi Path
this function is called the Rehber. More similarities between Bektashism and Freemasonry will
come later in this pa per.
While there is no clear documentation that the Knight Templars framed their hierarchical
structure upon the one developed by the Assassins, there is evidence that the Templars and
Assassins at times joined in common ca use. The Templars wished to have the city of Tyre and
· would have traded Damascus for it. At one time the King of Jerusalem ca me under the intrigues
of both the Templars and the Assassins. The Assassins had been paying tribute to the Templars
and sent a message to the King of Jerusalem that they would convert en masseta Christianiiy if
the tribute were lifted.
lt wasn't. lnstead the Ternplars ambushed the King of Jerusalem's envoy to the
Assassins and brutally murdered him. The lsma'ili Rite wasn't the only Assassin at work in the
Occident it would seem. The relationship between the Templars' Grand Master and the
Assassins was close enough that he likety knew of the whole affair I_Waite, 50].
After their long assodation in the Middle East, the Templars had became tinted by its
lore, theosophy, and hidden rituals. These were the charges brought against them when they
were under directian of De Moley. Charges of heresy, urinating on crosses, homoeretic unions,
and devil worship were all forthcoming [MacKinzie, 125-143]. Nevertheless, the main heresy the
Templars were accused of was Unitarianism. Further charges of witchcraft and worship of an
idol called Baphomat were added to make their persecution seem fair.
These so-called heretics escaped whenever the chance arose. They had an organization
prepared to operate under these circumstances. Except in France, where they were victims of
an all out inquisition, the Templars were able to go underground and become mercenaries,
shopkeepers, clergymen, and members of trade guilds. They carried with them the ability to
survive if given chance for escape the inquisitor's flame. The years of their assodation with the
workings of Byzantine politics, the seeret rituals of the Assassins, and the intrigues of the Muslim
courts which they observed on the baWefield and at conference tables prepared them for a life of
duplicity and secretiveness. The church with it bloody rejection of protest and social change
provided the Templars with many willing sympathizers to aid them or join their ranks.

576
 The secrecy much needed in those times is stili part of the Masonic ritual today. A
candidate must be able to keep secrets, be with alllimbs, and not senlle or mentally deficient. A
suppressed military order would have to keep such rules in order to survive underground and
not suffer more persecution.
To enter the Masons the candidate must be interviewed, recomrnended, and go through
a ritual that ansures he is searching for knowledge, self-improvement, and community service.
The candidate stıips to the trousers and undershirt, removes all coins from his clothes, bares his
left arm and breast, and rolls his pant legs to the knee. He then is cable-towedand hood-winked.
After being lead past the "Tyler," the "Worshipful Master" reminds the candidate of the
punishments in store for anyone revealing the secrets of the lodge. The punishments were the
same handed out to the Knight Templars during their persecution.
When the "Worshipful Master" has questioned the candidate and heard correct answers,
the hood is removed due to the candidates answering the question 'What are you searching
fot1" with the word, "Ught." Upan uttering this, the candidate is taught the passwords and signs
of his degree and is invested with a white woolen apron - a connection, perhaps, to Sufa [wool]
and Sufısm?
After being an "Entered Apprentice" for a short time, the candidate can rise in the
Masonic ranks to be a "Fellowcraft" or"Joumeyman". Originally this was the highest rank and a
Master was selected from them. (This is also true of the Bektashi Sufı Order.) Only later did the
3m degree of "Master Mason" develop [MacKinzie, 211 ].
The ritual is similar to that of the "Entered Apprentice," but the lecture differs. Candidates
at this level are lead to a Middle Chamber and given a lecture on the heavenly and earthly
geometry (knowledge attributed to Salomon, but likely through Arabic sources). There he is told
the three degrees are symbolic of life: youth (Entered Apprentice), maturation (Fellowcraft), and
old age (Master Mason). The lecture then discusses nurnarology of which the number seven is
stressed (7 liberal arts, 7 heavens, 7 years to build Solomon's Temple, 7 wonders of the world,
ete.). This number is most important in the lsma'ili worldview and the Masons (forrnerly the
Knight Templars) perhaps gained its air of importance from them [MacKinzie, 214].
The "Master Mason" homily deals with the murder of Solomon's architect Hiram Abiff by
the three Juwes (Jubelo, Jubela, Jubelum). These names are only the masculine, teminine and
neuter for of the noun Jubes- "He who is punished." Hira m's body is discarded by the murdarers
when the failed to get him to teli them the Master Password. This word is called the lost key to
Masonry. A substitute word Mahabone is given instead. This word also shows were some
Templars hid. In French "Bon Mahania" is the name of the port from which the Barbary pirates
sailed when they attacked merchant ships in the Mediterranean.
In the ritual the candidate plays Hiram Abiff. Hiram Abiff is the Anglicized version of
"Hiram a Biffe"- Hiram who was e/iminated The candidate is unwrapped and raised to the level
of brotherhood (foot to foot, knee to knee, breast to breast, hand to back, mouth to ear) by a
Masonic grip called the lion's paw. This only occurs after he has heard that the three Juwes
were being put to death in the manner that they deseribed in oaths were they admitted their
wrongs. Again, these oaths are reminiscent of the punishments dealt to the Knight Templars
during their persecution. The complete ritual is found in manyworks on Freemasonry.
About the lodge itself more should be said. The lodge reters not to a meeting place, but a
safe house for a member of the order. The floor of the lodge, a black and mosaie, is the fina ı key.
lt is a repetition of a black black above a white black below. The black symbolizes the black
world left behind by the order, the white the world of knightly purity they entered. The gloves are

577
from the Templars also due to their wearing of gloves to keep their hands pure to receive
communion. The travel to the East is but a remembrance of the path the Knights went to fıght in
the Crusades. As the Templars prayed in raund churches so no one was able to be in a position
of higher ran k, a compass was retained and became part of the Masonic legend of their being
an ancient order of freethinkars and mathematicians. The "G" for Geometry comes from Masons
being responsible for rebuilding London after the Great Fire of 1666 CE. Other communities and
proofs that the Masons are the direct descendants ofthe Knight Templars could be given but the
interest reader should go to Robinson's Bom in Bloodand other such as: Stephen Knight's The
Brotherhoodand The Seeret Diary ofJack the Ripperfor more proofs.
"More than six hundred years have passed since the suppression of the Knight Templars,
but their hemage lives on in the largest fraternal organization ever known [Freemasonsr
[Robinson, xix] The direct descendants of the Knight Templars are: 1) the Pirates of Mahadiah;
2) lrish Freemasons; 3) Scottish Freemasons; and, 4) York Rite Masons.
In American the first Scottish Rite Lodge was founded in Charleston S.C. by Stephen
Morinin 1801 CE. Scottish Rite Masonry was first publicly promulgated in 1758 CE. Stephen
Morin Was granted patents to increase the number of degrees on August 27, 1761 CE. The
Grand Lodge of Perfection was fırst operated under lsaac De Costa - the lnspector General of
South Carolina in 1783 CE. This lodge did not survive. In 1801 CE the lodge was reestablished
with a Grand Council under Fredrick Dalcho, John Mitchell, Stephen Morin and others. The
Shriners evolved out of the 33rıı degree system of Scottish Rite Masonry.
Freemasamy
The Masonry .we know taday is called "Speculative" Masonry. lt only replaced
"Constructive" (building or guild) Masonry very gradually. The year 1717 CE is usually marked
as the start of Speculative Masonry. In 1723 CE the first book of rituals, catechisms and
constitutions were issued by Anderson.
Masonry is of three degrees: Apprentice, Feliowcraft and Master Mason. All other
degrees are added and spurious. They did not exist at the start. One must progress in Masonry
by leaming the catechisms, listening to charges and study. At each degree one leams certain
grips, passwords anda series of questions and answers. Masonry is all theory now. The Craft
ıitual were destroyed in 1717 CE and replaced by new rituals such as Anderson's.
Negro Freemasonry was started by a West lndian named Prince Hall. His lodges are
regular but racists put false claims of heresy and dandesüne activities on them. His rituals are
nearly identical to White Freemasonry. His first lodge was Boston's Africa Lodge Number 459.
(see Isiani Christianity and Free Masonrj).
The Shriners
Many Muslims living in Ameıica are under the mistaken impression that members of the
Shriners are fellow members of the Faith. The Encyc/opedia of Freemasonryhas aten page
article dealing with the Assassins that would lead one to believe in an lslamic-Shriner
connection.
The best source for students of the Shriners is the popular history wrttten by Fred Van
Deventer entitled Parade to Glory: The Story of the Shriners and the Hospitals for Gripp/ed
Children. The history of this Masonic order as given by the Shriners is that it was,
"... established in Mecca, Arabia and became an acknowledged power in the year 5459,
equivalent to the year of our Lord 1698. The Ritual was compiled and arranged iri Aleppo,
Arabia and issued by Louis Marracci, the great Latin translator of Mohammed's AI-Koran. The

578
mysteıious Order continued to thrive in Arabia from that date to the present. lt was revised and
institutedin Cairo, Egypt, in 5598, equivalentto June 14, 1837.
The Order was primarily instituted for the purpose of promoting the organization and
perfection of Arabic and Egyptian inquisitions, to dispense justice and execute punishment of
eriminals whom the tardy laws did not reach to measure their cıimes. Being designed to
embrace the entire pale of the law and composed of sterling and determined men who would
upon a valid accusation feartessly try, judge and if convicted, execute the eliminal within the
hour-leaving no trace oftheir acts behind ...." [Van Deventer, 35-36].
The text goes on to deseribe a mythical bond betv.teen their group and famous Sufıs of
the past These connections with the great sages of Islam is purely farcical, and even their daim
to be re!ated to the Bektashi Order of Dervishes has to be taken with a grain of salt.
The most prominent and powerful of those orders is the Bektashy, or Nobles of
the Mystic Shrine. !ts offshoots and satellites çıre the Darkawy, Khowan, AbDel
Kader El Baghdadi, and the lssawiye, similar in obligation and purpose. These are
not altogether politico-religious societies as generally supposed by the outside
world. Although ostensibly appearing as such there is a deep and hidden maaning
beneath the exposed superfıcial exterior, as promulgated to the profane. [Van
Deventer, 36].
The Shriner's claim that they have a view of changing Islam to fit the American
circumstances is also a Shriner view as we see in the fallawing passage,
The Bektashy, or Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, as it is known in America, is of
necessity divested of its inconsistent lslamic dogmas and its rltual adapted to the
consistencies of Christian institutions and American laws, and is destined to
become a powerful order here in America. [Van Deventer, 36]
The Shriners go on to say Haji Bektash was anArab (he was a Persian) and tells of the
initiation of blessing the Janissary Corp. The Shriners alsa believe the order is called Janissaries
because this means "they were freed captives who were adopted into the faith and the army."
Unguistically this is not true even if this is where most of the members of the corps came from. In
addition they believe that the Mosque at Mecca is the Temple of 'Ali and is under control of the
chief officer of Alee Temple of Nobles. This was never true.
A member of the Mecca Temple of New York and the U.S. consul to Malta raised quite a
furor by sending Jetters from 1882 to 1892 CE, giving the translations of ritual from Algiers,
Tripoli, Cairo and other temples. The Arabic originals, of course, do not exist and his pass or
passportto various shrines isa fraud. Forthis he received $500 a year.
The truth is the order was started by a British stage actor named William J. Florence and
Dr. Fleming of New York in 1870 CE. They were thirty~second or thirty~third degree Scottish Rite
Masons. As show above they concocted legends daiming initiation from persons as diverse as
the Grand Sheikh of Mecca (like Noble Drew Ali?), Sultan Selim lll, the llluminati and the
Bektashi Sufı Order. These claims are, of course, spurious. This did not prevent the Iate Mr.
Duro Çini, an Albanian Shriner and Bektashi from Canada, from divulging to me the 'secref
Bektashi-Shriner connection.
Although started in 1876 CE, this order was not an operating order for nearly a decade
afterwards. Furthermore, Friedreich von Deventer pıints a letter in which Fleming's son said all
the Shriner legend was only in his father's head. His son did not disclose the errors in the
legend, but 1 will do so. The Bektashis were never in control of Mecca. There were never
Shıines in the Middle East who traced their origin to Imam Ali. The Bektashis were primarily
Turkish or Albanian, not Arab. The terminology of the Shriners shows more of a borrowing from
Hebrew ratherthan Arabic.l could go on and on.

579
 Many who analyze the Shriner ritual fail to realize what they are looking at. The rituals are
based more on the ritual of other Masonic orders and the cu!t of the number thirteen than any
thing else. Whatever else may be said, the Shriners provided a new form of heresy as a conduit
of cultural transfer.
AA Afro-American form of the Shıiners was started by a handful of 32 Degree Prince
00

Hall Masons at the Woı1d's Fair in 1893 CE. The organization of the order was an allegedly an
Arab named Rofelt Pasha. His origins are unknown and even more shrouded in mystery than
Black Muslim teaders Drew Ali and Fard Muhammad. But a name !ike "Rofelt" is hardly Arab
and the man was probably one more charlatan in Oriental garb. (see Afn"can American
Freemasons: Why they should accept Islam by Mustafa El-Amin for details.)
The Grotto: The Mystic üreler of the Veiled Prophets of the Enchanted Realm
An order similar in nature to the Shriners is the Persian Order, started by seventeen
members of the Harnilton Lodge No. 120 in Hamilton, New York, in the summer of 1889 CE
under the direction of ex-Postmaster General, Thomas L. James. This is the Blue Lodge's
playground (for Master Masons and higher ups), much like the Shrine is for the 3~ and 33rd
degree Masons. The chief moving spirit in the founding of this organization was LeRoy Fairchild.
At their meeting on September 10, 1889 CE, they decided to honor the founder by callingit
Fairchüd DeviltJy Committee.
When· the new order grew too large for one locality, the Fairchild Deviltry Committee duly
established the Supreme Coundi, Mystic Order of Veiled Prophets of the Enchanted Realm on
July 13, 1890 CE. lt is mystic in its lessons and method of teaching. lt is veiled because all
. secrets are known but are hidden in the impure heart and are unveiled as the heart is deansed.
The order is an enchanted realm as it is separate from the woı1d and is full of joy as "sorrow
burdens any unenchanted realm."
One of the units within the Grotto is called the "Knights of Khorasan". Given the orders
Persian nature, and Khorasan being the birthplace of Hajji Bektash Veli, this is a matter that
could use SOffi? future research. The details of the ritual and the orders history are found in their
ritual guide or handbook.
The handbook of the Grotto is named Grotto Creed and Prophets' Compacllt tells us the
Grotto was made to encourage Masonic fratemity free of discrimination based on status in life.
True fratemity should be based on lodge membership and such membership not be used for
advancement of material interest. Like Shriners, they have a charitable side - study of cu res for
cerebral palsy and dental work for the poor.
The Rosicrucians -- Mail üreler Masamy
This mavement insists that it is not a religion at all. They insist that their thought is based
on the wıitings of the mysterious Christian Rosenthal and ultimately the wıitings of Amenhotep.
The modem organization that spreads Rosicrucian thought is AMORC. The AMORC (Andent
Mystical Order of Rosa Cruces) isa mason-likemail order organization started by H. Spencer
Lewis in 1915 CE. He was an advertising executive from New York, belonged to the French
Masonic LOdge and was an outstanding organizer. The headquarters of this mavement is in San
Jose, California and it includes a university, a press an art gallery, a science museum, a
planetarium, an "ori~ntal" Egyptian museum andaresearch library.
No langer is Rosicrucianism or the AMORC a seeret cult. The early incamations of the
order was found in tomes calling for searcher for truth but giving no directions to find the writers
were too closed minded and selective in membership for the modem age.

580
 This new order has alleged Atiantean literature, ancient Egyptian psalms and a book
supposedly composed by the pharaoh Amenhotep that was secreted in ancient days to Tıbel
The later is a revision of De Lawrence Pub. Company's lnfinite Wisdom and is called Unto Thee
1 Grant The fırst printing of this book was in 1925. This group is most likely the real source for
the teachings of the notorious Thule Society. (see Seeret Sodeties ed. Narman Mac Kenzie,
pp.130-151.)
The Thule Soclety
lmmediately after the end of Wortd War One, numerous seeret societies began to ıise in
Germany. Same of these seeret societies started asa means to rebuild the German Empire,
while others as a healing spring for the nation's ilis. One of the strongest and most closely tied to
the Nazi party was the Thule Sodety. They held that secret, occult wisdom was heldata far
northern land called Thule.
This order was founded by Baran Rudolf von Sebottendorff. He taught that his teachings
held the wisdom perverted through Freemason teachings. Later the Nazi would close
Freemason lodges and other similar groups. Sebottendorff was bom in Silesia in November,
1875. Early in life, he became a merchant seaman and traveled to the Middle East. This travel in
search of knowledge put him in the same company as Parsival of the Grail Quest, Christian
Rozenkratz, Rofelt Pasha Bey of the Shriners, and even founders of several Black Muslim and
Holiness Churches in the United States such as Daddy Grace, Fard Muhammad, Professor
Ezzaldeen Muhammad, and Noble Drew Ali. In Turkey he was exposed to a group that he
called the Andent Turkish Freemasons.
In the advertisement of English translation of his work The Practice of the Ancient Turkish
Freemasons: The Key to Understanding ofAlchemy- A presentation of the Ritua/, Doctrine and
Signs ofRecognition among the Oriental Freemasons, the publisher, Runa~Raven, presents the
book as containing,
"The seeret spiritual practices of the Bektashi order as taught in the early part of the 20th
centuıy. These practices make use of signs and vocal formulas, which, if performed exactly and
to their condusion, transform the individual into the object of the magnum opus of the medieval
alchemists."
A eleser reading of the text found less than a dozen brief quotes from Sufi saints, none of
these were from any Bektashi writers, sheikhs, or poets. The rituals included use of mirrors and
candles for meditation and vaıious rituals whose aims were elevation of leveıs of depths of
mental concentration. All of these can be found in basic mail order Rosicrucian texts. Quotes
from Latin Rosicrucian texts and from miscellaneous Hindu and Egyptian ritual texts with similar
concepts show no connection with the Noble Bektashi Order.
Sebottendorff fought in the Balkan Wars of 1912-1913, became a director of the Red
Grescent Society and became Grand Master of the Turkish branch of the Rosicrucian Society.
Heleamed to speak Turkish well, so when he retumed to Germany he had the garb of a Grand
Master. Few could cantest his claims and really had no reason to since they presented a path to
the rebuilding of the German Empire. This tie to the Rosicrucian sodety is also seen in the title of
his autobiographical novel DerTalsiman Rosenkreuze/5.
In 1913 CE Sebottendorff returned to Germany with two treasure chests- wealth from his
adoptive father and a vast knowledge of eastem wisdom. He began to make contact with the
leaders of various German occult and mystical groups. He came to the attention of Rudolph
Hess and Herman Pohl of the Germanen Order and helped to found the journal "Runen" and

581
 "Munchener Beobachter." The later journal was eventually purchased by the Nazi Party and
renamed "Volkisher Beobachter."
The Baron himself saw the founding of his Thule Society on August 17, 1918 CE as the
cradie of the National Sodalist Movement. After the German defeat, the society began a focal
point of anti-Bolshevik and Nationalisı struggle. Hitler never joined the Thule Society itself, but
joined its political wing that became the Nationalist Sodalist Party. Sebottendorff even wrote
about this in his work Bevor Hitler Kam
The society eventually devoted itself to study of German History and customs and began
to search for the mystica! !and of Thule. The Thule Society eventually ruptured into two groups -
one whose focus was totally mystical and the other that was a blend of the occult, mystical, and
political. Sebottendorff retumed to turkey and published his The Practice of the Andent Turkish
Freemasons.
In Turkey Sebottendorff joined the lmperial Constantine Order and fought against
Bolshevik ideology. His works were later suppressed by the Nazis and he died under mysteıious
circumstances in 1945 CE. With his death, his work was relegated to the pens of historians of
the Nazi Mavement and bookshelves of White Supremist groups. Like the Thule, the next group
1shall discuss, the Dawoodi-Bektashis, daim Turkish origins for its teachings as well.
Connections between Bektashi & Masonic Orders reviewed
Above it was mentioned that the Bektashi lodge has the position of the door keeper
(rehbet) !ike a freemasonic lodge has a doorkeeper orTyler. In the Bektashi there is an initiation
ceremony lead by a Babawhile in the lodge there is one lead by a grandmaster. In the Bektashi
· Orderthere is a pledge of secrecy given during the initiation like in the Masonic lodge.
The degree in the lodge Apprentice, Journeyman, and Master Mason can be seen as
analogous to the terms Ashiq, Dervish, and Baba in the Bektashi hierarchy. Both have origins in
the craft guilds (futuwaltj and squire system of European knighthood. There are catechisms in
both orders written in a question and response manner to be studied and learned by heart by the
aspirants of.the orders. In both there is the idea of man being an unfinished jewel that is polished
and set in place through the work of the order.
Members of the Masonic lodge are called brothers. In the Bektashi Order, however, there
are also women members called sisters. The ideology of both is toward changing the society to
be more egalitarian. Of course, when Freemasonry arose in Turkey and the Middle East with the
French Lodge of the Orient and the Free and Accepted Ancient Freemasons the similarities
became more prevalent and the differences were lessened (at least there). Now ı shalllook at
an "order" that, unlike the Freemasons, openly alleges origin in the esteemed Bektashi tradition,
but which cannot even present rudimentary similarities such as those enumerated above.
The Dawoodi-Bektashi Order
The Grotto, Shriners, Thule Society, and the Rosicrucians all purport to be a repository of
ancient mystical wisdom. His history is likewise shrouded in mystery and its founder brought
seeret hidQen wisdom to the world stage. While these earlier groups never openly daimed to be
Bektashi, a modem group calling itself the "Dawoodj..Bektashis" does. The head of this group is
American-bom Professor Thomas McEiwain (known as Ali Haydar to his followers). His daims
to the origin of his self-fabricated Sufi order are continually conflicting and contradictory, but his
chief assertian is that his Dawoodi-Bektashi Order is the true embodiment of what was taught by
the 13ı.tı century Anatolian saint Haji Bektashi and that it has existed in one form or anather for
centuries around the wor1d and in, of all places, Appalachia.

582
 Professor McEiwain professes to have inherited the Dawoodi-Bektashi spiritual path from
his forefathers and has hence gone public with it, to a limited extent. 1 wish to be clear that my
intention here is to show that the continued assertions of Ali Haydar that this concocted tradition
is somehow a representative form of Bektashism is completely counterfeit and ostensibly of his
own construction.
Prof. McEiwain recently went into the realm of academia with some of his speculations
and claims in his article, "Sufısm Bridging East & West: the case of the Bektashis" in Sutism in
Europe and North America (edited by David Westerlund), a work that should have been of
interest for any historian of American Muslim History. In this artide he told of a previously
secreted and unknown Sufi order in Appalachia that had been preserved through family
transmission dating from the 1500s CE.
Rumors of Muslim wayfarers from that era are found in various pieces of literature but as
far it is known to date, none of these individuals were known to have been able to pass lslamic
religious traditions beyond a few generations. Even where s!avery and assimilation had not
hindered the transmission of Islamasa faith, most Muslims living in North America had difficult
training their children in the faith for several reasons: lack of lslamic education on the part of
parents, lack of curriculum materials, free time, inter-faith marriages, and interest on the part of
children. This extraordinary transmission of Islam (and Sufism) related by McEiwain was so
astounding and fantastic that a novel can be written about it!
Before prograssing further, 1 wish to mention one disconcerting mark of this article,
especially when juxtaposed with the claims made in other posts and material. is so full of
questionable theories and conjectures, with every other assertian being started with so many
"maybes", "ifs", that it makes the entire piece seem amateurish at best and incompetent at worst
and it gives rise to a very serious question: What is the ratianale for all of this hypothesizing?
Could it be that claims to represent an Appalachian "Bektashi" tradition cannot stand even the
slightest academic scrutiny? One obvious disappointment that wil! certainly alert careful
researchers is Prof. McEiwain's abstention from mentioning whatsoever this much-touted
Dawoodi-Bektashi "tradition" in the article at all! One would think given the purported antiquity of
the "tradition" an entire study could be made solely on that.
As 1read the article in question, 1found many taetual blunders in McEiwain's depiction of
both early American Islam and, more distressingly, of Bektashism. 1will not go into these gaffes
in detail here, but what ı will mention here is a passage where McEiwain purports a Bektashi
presence in North America from the 16th century along with my comments. He writes, "In
America there may be [emphasis mine, as is all further instances] an early Bektashi influence.
Brent Kennedy postulates a survival of Turkish and Moorish prisoners set ashore in the early
1500s and having descendants among the Melungeons of the southem Appalachians." For
those who may be unfamiliar with the name, the Melungeons were a mixed-race Appalachian
group that was made-up of bits and pieces of the "Lost Colony" of Roanoke lsland, runaway
slaves, and several Native American tribal groups. There are over 200 similar groups such as
the Ben lshmael Tribe, the Sumter Turks, the Seminoles, the Dismal Swamp Maroons, and the
West Virginian Guineas. Scholaı1y works on the Melungeons and their folklore are fortunately
starting to make a modest appearance, with such as Wayne Winkler's Walking towards the
Sunset, and Elizabeth Hirschman's Melungeons: The Last Lost Tribe in America. Certainly the
whole question of Melungeon origins will certainly be revealed through modem DNA testing.
McEiwain had written eaı1ier about the Melungeons and their folklore, but he had not
mentioned any lslamic connection until Brent Kennedy's The Melungeons: A Forgotten Fo/k
came out in the early 1990s. In that work Kennedy offers the theory of a possible Turkish (hence

583
 Muslim) bloodline for certain Melungeon families. McEiwain makes much use of this theorized
link to boister his own claims of the existence of a Dawoodi "tradition" although he continually
fails to offer any evidence other than the most circumstantial sort. In actual fact he goes out of
his way to place enough disdaimers into his assertions that it seriously undermines what little
credibility can be given to a Dawoodi-Bektashi tradilion: ''There are Melungeons who retain
some personal practices, but there is no organizational presence within living memory, nor any
record of it. Melungeons have been covering their tracks for several centuries, so it is unlikely
that real evidence will tum up," as well as, "An other problem lies in the fact that such a
population, if it actually existed, was separated from the centre of Bektashi development before it
crystallized into its more stable form in the sixteenth century." Are there traces of Bektashism
among the Melungeons or not? McEiwain has clearly dalmed in other p!aces that Bektashism
(and his .Oawoodi "branch") did indeed exist among this Appalachian group: "Melungeons and
consequently Dawoodis have sprung. Documentation is generally lacking, and family traditions
are plagued with falsifıcations." (Yahoo Group, Sufi-Dhikr, post #1797) as well as "Dawoodism
has beeo a continual factor among certain Appalachian Melungeon families through whom the
tradition has come down in an unbroken line to the present bearers." {Sufi-Dhikr, #1797).
lt is known that Sir Watter Raleigh seized nearly 500 people from the Mediterranean
basin and from Brazil to replace the members of his first colony, but after leaving the new
colonists, he failed to retum for over three years and when he did found a tree on which was
carved the word "Croatan" as the only trace of the fate of his second "Lost Colony". In the over
500 members of the "Lost Colony" there induded smail numbers of slaves taken from
Portuguese Brazil (who may have had Muslims among them), Croatians and Dalmatians, and
· posslbly a Turkor two. Now what a Turkor Moor was defined as in thosedaysis stili under
debate, and it can be surmised that a handful of the 500 could have been Muslim. They might
have even been Sufis, but certainly not Bektashi given that this particular order was not
widespread in the Balkans at this time. In fact it was not untii the Iate 18th century that
Bektashism gained a predominant presence in Albania, Greece and westem Macedonia. Even
if there were Mus~ms with Raleigh, what is the possibility that any from the Balkans or even
Anatolla would have been Bektashi? So slight that it wouldn't even be worth speculating. 1
An additicnal feature of McEiwain's article (as well as his online posts) is that he tries to
fınd Baktashis (and by extension his own Dawoodi-Bektashis) everywhere, even in places
where they had never been. He states in one of his posts that, "Dawoodis have spread to many
areas of the world almost invisibly, leaving traces that are hard to document [how convenient!]."
(Sufi-Dhikr #1794) One of his notable errors in this regard (that can be verifıed by taking a trip to
present-day Macedonia) is his attributing Bektashism to the Rifa'i-Karabashi shaykh of Skopje,
lbrahim Erol, and daiming that his tekke is "rife with the fakir trickeıy." The difference between
the Rifa'i's and Baktashis may not be noliceable to a novice student of Sufısm, but to a "shaykh"
and an academic? The idea of use of "trickery" and of physical proofs of faith (such as handling
"red-hot spikes") should have signaled to McEiwain that Shaykh lbrahim and his tekke were
definitely not Bektashi, and that he should have further investigated what his "second-hand"
source was teliing him. Bektashis have never been known to engage in such mortifıcation of the
flesh, in fact many would see harming the body at all as being a sin!
Elsewhere P.rof. McEiwain surmises that Bektashi lodges continue to exist in Hungary
and other parts of Westem Europe. As far as ı know only the türbe (mausoleum) of Gül Baba in
Budapest stili exists in Hungary as Islam and Bektashism ceased to have a presence in that

More information on the Balkan element of the Lost Colony can be found in the work Croatia and the
Croatians ofthe Lost Colonyby Adam S. Eterovich.

584
 land when the Hapsburg armies conquered in 1686 CE. He is correct about Alevis being in
modern Germany and France, but here is a simple failure to make a distinction between Alevi
and Bektashi. While the two traditions share much in comman in origins, structure and spiritual
outlook they are nonetheless separate religious traditions and very distinct
In anather part of the article Prof. McEiwain makes an exciting daim that in same way the
Anabaptists of Silesia (perhaps he meant Transylvania and perhaps he meant Unitarians) were
somehow related to the Bektashis. He actually opens his article with, ''The Silesian Anabaptists,
who in the sixteenth century frantically appealed to the Sultan for help in the face of the Lutheran
threat, never met their Bektashi brothers attached to the Ottoman army, for it never got past
Vienna and came too Iate." Can he give us the reterence to this alleged connection to the
Bektashis? What does he imply here by "Bektashi brothers~? Brothers in a human sense,
brothers theologically or were the Anabaptists Bektashis themselves? Given his constant
reterence to Protestantism in a number of his online posts perhaps McEiwain sees connections
that 1miss.
In the article and his online matarial Prof. McEiwain makes much of the peculiar fıgure of
Edward Elwall (1676-1744 CE), an Englishman who was a memberofthe Presbyterian Church
who was later prosecuted for blasphemy in 1726 for his outspoken criticism of the Trinity.
McEiwain has graciously posted a number of Elwall's writings online for all to see
(http://www.rosanna.com/mcelwain/elwaiVindex.htm). Elwall seems had done business in
Turkey and had at some point become a Unitarian. There is no explicit evidence that he became
a Muslim, even though his sympathies with Islam were quite apparent. He was even noted to
have taken to the "Turkish Habit out of respect to the Unitarian faith of the Mahometans"
[Champion, 1992, page 177] and to have donned turbans and robes. What is in question is
McEiwain 's shifting assertions of Elwall be ing a Bektashi. In his A Path in Time (paragraph 7)
McEiwain openly states that Elwall was a Bektashi: "There is no evidence that Edward Elwall,
probably the most eminent and visible of English Bektashis, ever succeeded in establishing a
partnership with a single one of his countrymen." This position is also maintained on the website
that presents his writings: "This did not prevent his [McEiwain's] representing the Seventh Day
Baptist Missionary Society innorthem Europe until the end of 1990, referring to the precedent of
the faremost English writer of that tradition, Edward Elwall, who was also a member of the
Bektashi order." Yet 1am puzzled as to why he would write in one of hispostson the history of
his tradition that, "Dawoodis have long been found in Europe as well. Edward Elwall's early 18th
century writings reveal him to have had connection with some Sufi order, and his teachings are
most cansonant with Dawoodi principles." Why didn't he openly say "Bektashi" instead of now
"same Sufi order"? Further down in the same post he surprisingly states that, "neither the
Eckerlins nor Edward Elwall can be noted with certainty to have been members of the order."
One day Elwall is a Bektashi the next not? If the later is the case, why would ttıere even be need
'to constantly mention him in the cantext of Baktashis at all?
The Eckerlin brothers in question are anather connection Prof. McE!wain uses to make a
case for an early Bektashi presence in Ameıica. The Ekerlins were involved with the Dunkard
community of Ephrata, Pennsylvania and were said to have had an "lshmaelite" faith {perhaps
Unitarian is meant, although the Dunkards certainly weren't Unitarians) and were exiled to what
is now Preston County, West Virginia in the 1750's. McEiwain notesin his A Path in Time that,
"Evidence of their [the Eckerlins] contact with Beldashis is not strong since most of the direct
documentation was destroyed, but they certainly have a spiritual practice dosely resembling the
musahiblik." In post #1797 of the Sufi-Dhikr discussion group Prof. McEiwain adds the following
lengthy information about the Eckerlin brothers, "Dawoodis have had a presence on the

585
 American continent apparently for many centuries. Stories of transmission include referances to
the Friday evening sema', of the decalogue and the Psalms among certain Melungeon families.
There is a strong possibility of contact between the Eckerlin brothers and Dawoodis between
1752 and 1756 CE. The Eckerlins may have had correspondence, directly or indirectly, with
Edward Elwall. However, neither the Eckeıiins nor Edward Elwall can be noted with certainty to
have been members of the order." Again why mention any of these figures at aU given that their
connection to Bektashism can in no way be verifıed? If one would note all the individuals
throughout history who held beliefs and practices containing the slightest similarities with
Bektashism you'd be able to fıll out volumesi
Lamentably it is only halfway through "Sufism Bridging East & West the case of the
Bektashis" that Prof. McEiwain mentions the sole confırmable and verifiable presence of
Bektashis in America, that of Baba Rexheb (1901-1995 CE) and the centre he established in
1954. Baba Rexheb nonetheless receives only a minisrule paragraph, despite his being a man
who devoted his entire life to the way of Haji Bektash, a man who gave up a family life, a man
who lived in exile from his hometand for 50 years and a man who was singJe..handedly
responsible for safeguarding the Bektashi Way during the darkest hours of communist rule over
Albania. Additional!y Baba Rexheb wrote a length study in Albanian on lslamic Mystidsm and
Bektashism entitled Misticimza /s/ame dhe Bektashizme, which was later partially translated to
English. lt is astonishing that Prof. McEiwain doesn't even discuss this work and only says that
Bektashism failed to become more wldely spread in North America because of "Baba Rexheb's
integrity in not compromising the spiritual tradition for other agendas." 1 can only ask, can
. anyone name a real spiritual guide who has done otherwise? Unfortunately he also fails to
mention what these other agendas are.
One is puzzled as what to make of Prof. McEiwain's statements that the Dawoodi
"branch" of the Bektashi Order represents "the order founded by Haji Bektash in its purity and
simplicity"? To begin with, 1have to ask has history ever witnessed a tariqat that posts a legal
disclaimer about potential misuse of a novice's manual? For Dawoodi·Bektashis this manual is
entitled How io Fonn a Su/i Lodge: The Dawoodf..Bektashi Order of Dervishes: Guide for
Establishing and Maintaining a Su/i Lodge, and its presents the reader with a general view of the
religious currents driving group as formulated by Prof. McEiwain and his khalifah, Mr. Kemal
Argon (Noursu Nazruddin). Reading through it one is hard pressed to find anything remarkably
Bektashi in it at all. The entire text appears to maintain an adherence to normative Islam and
standard S~ practice, coupled with a heavy dose of referances to the Old Testament.
In reality the actual source of Prof. McEiwain's daims do not come from Bektashi tradition
but can rather be found in his own writings and posts. We are told in one communication by that
the Dawoodi-Bektashi Order was founded by none other than Haji Bektash himself (Sufı-Dhikr,
#4409), and yet we read in a later post (#5383) that there was no order known as the "Dawoodi-
Bektashi" until Prof. McEiwain affixed the designation himself. In the very same post he laudably
divulges that, "because of the lack of histoncal documentation, ı have felt it best to suppress the
chain of transmission altogether, and rely merely on the twelve imams.· But why would this need
to be done? Are there currently teams of hojas running around the mountains West Virginia with
the Sultan's troops in tow hounding out secreted Bektashis?
In the Dawoodi-Bektashi movement Prof. McEiwain presents a Sufi brotherhood contains
commonplace Sufi ritual, and which recites botlı the Qur'an and Bible verses intheir sama: The
deseliption of the dhikr ceremony as provided in How to Form a Sufı Lodge has nothing
particularly Bektashi about except a listing the 121mams and Haji Bektash Veli. And it should be
added that Baktashis do not make group dhikr with repetitive chanting as deseribed in the

586
manuaı. lt should also be noted that Baktashis (or any other Sufi order to my knowledge) have
never used the Bible as an authoritative religious scıipture. In his seetion on beliefs and
practices, Prof. McEiwain repeatedly emphasizes an allaged Bektashi use of the Qur'an and the
Bible. 1 personally have read many Sufi texts as well as Bektashi nefes and have not
encountered any examples of Baktashis using the Bible to prop up religious doctrine. AA
acquaintance of mine has informed me of Baktashis in the Balkans hanaring the four scıiptures
but that they nevertheless do not teach from them. Teaching from the Zabur or Psalms is
problematicai in any event since an authoritative lslamic translation from and rommentary on
them has never existed.
Prof. McEiwain does constantly assert the very Bektashi concept of the Four Gates,
except that his analysis of them can be seen as superficial at best. A good reading of J.K.
Birge's noteworthy The Bektashi Order ofDervishes would present a much more focused view,
as would a cursory reading of Bektashi nefes. But 1must presume that Prof. McEiwain can not
do this and a few !ines from his semi-autobiographic Hel/o 1am God: A Bektashi Rosal}'should
explain why:
Many of the villagers did me the honor of coming to pay their respects. There was
a line of visitors almost every day it seemed. One gentleman listened carefully to
everything 1 said. He eyed me curiously. Finally he said to the host in a loud
whisper, 'ls your friend mentally deficient?' 'Why no,' said my friend. 'Then why
does he speak Turkish so poorly?'
In his rolleetion of writings and numerous posts Prof. McEiwain neglects to show even
the slightest knowledge of Haji Bektash's writings, be they in Turkish, Persian, Arabic or
anything other than a very jumbled and ambiguous understanding of authentic Bektashi (or Alevi
for that matter) beliefs, ıituals, customs and social attitudes. Although he continually makes
reterence to the group's validation to claim Bektashism being their supposed use of Haji
Bektash's Maqa/at, his disciples constantly post messages on the Sufi-Dhikr discussion group
damaring for English translations, which, 1might add, are never provided. How can you claim to
follow a book you have no access to? Most of what is passed as "Bektashi» in How to Fonn a
Sufi Lodge can easily be retrieved from Birge's book as well as the extremely problematic work
Extremist Shi'ites by Matti Mousa. One begins to devetop a sense that Prof. McEiwain no
interest (or ability) access to the dearth of material on Bektashism that is currently available in
modern Turkish, through which a more concise representation of Bektashism could be given.
As mentioned above, Prof. McEiwain's inventory of Dawoodi-Bektashi traditions can be
found in Birge's book although here they are listed as "village Alevi" practices that may or may
not correspond to Bektashi customs. This inventory is not original and is not expanded upon.
Rather it reads like a laundry list of already known fads rather than a systematic interpretation of
faith and practice. One interesting point is Prof. McEiwain's daim of one Bektashi tmitfound in
the Dawoodis: tolerance and goodwill to people of all faiths. Certainly Bektashis have long been
known for tolerance and liberality, but the complex nature of Bektashi theology· did not
necessarily make it easier for converts to be accepted easily into the fold. And given the amount
of contempt and disdain related in many of the posts of the group's official representatives in the
Sufi-Dhikrdiscussion group makes one wonder if such principles are really stressed at all. 2

To give the reader a taste of such attitudes ı will give here one ofthe postings given by khalifah
Kemal Argon: "1 was going on the assumption that there are different l<inds of Bektashis. There are
those who are good practicing Muslims and there are others who place themselves beyond the pale
of God's laws and have no shortage of convenient little rationalizations for why they are indifferent to
Right Guidance, misguided, and are spiritually retardeel ignoramuses. Those ignoramuses are such
a waste of time to talk to. In fact, when ı have met one of those for certain, 1felt a need to dissociate

587
 Ho w to Form a Suti Lodge bases itself araund an extended comrnentary on the Ten
Commandments. These form the basis of the Dawoodi-Bektashi practices. Yet again why would
an lslamic Sufı order use Christian or Jewish scared texts as a cıiterion to judge lslamic
sources? 1can comprehend studying Jewish or Christian works using the Qur'an asa cıiterion,
but the inverse? Suchattıing is unheard of in lslamic history and certainly ttıere is nothing in
Bektashism would lend itself to such a practice. The manual ends with a description of time
keeping for the Dawoodi-Bektashi in the Appalachians. The notching of a wooden post each
evening at sunset is interesting. An evening dhikr being held when each seventh notch was
1
being made must have destroyed many a porch post over the past five centuries.
In his A Path in Time Prof. McEiwain claims to have discovered that Baktashis "can be
divided into three groups. One group follows a hereditary leader, anather non-hereditary, and
the final one, hardly to be called a group at all, has no visible leadership." Let met state explicitly:
There have never been "brnnches" of Bektashis. Prof. McEiwain is correct in noting the two
similar currents of Babagan and Che/ebi Yet if he wou!d have had access to the works of
Turkish sçholars of Bektashism he would have found that the Che/ebis, though daiming patemai
decent from Haji Bektash, never daimed to be a Bektashi "Order". The Babagan or "Tarik-i-
Nazenin" as it has been called is what even the most mediocre student of Sufism or Ottoman
history knows to be Bektashi. There have never been any hyphenated Bektashi branches, ever!
Moreover Prof. McEiwain implicitly degrndes the Babagan through his daim that it does
not represent Haji Bektash's teachings in their authenticity. He states that, "Especially in the
1500s retorms ca me into prominent branches of the order with changes and additions, but the
Dawoodi-Bektashi branch was unaffected by that" (Sufi-Dhikr, #4409) Balim Sultan {d. 1520)
·systeinatized and organized the Bektashi Order and is even listed as its Pir-i-Thani (Second
Patran Saint). However, he is incorrect to assume that Salim Sultan had somehow made
"additions and changes." Hurufi attitudes, reverence for the 12 lmams and ideas of liberality
were already present in the Qalandar roots starting with Haji Bektash Veli's grand-shaykh
Ahmad Yesevi. Balim Sultan (whom McEiwain mistakenly reters in the article to as "Pir Sultan")
may have standardized the order and formalized rules of initiation and degrees, but the
doctrines and beliefs of the Baktashis after Balim Sultan were certainly not invented by him. In
addition the image of a "Sunni" Shari'ah-stressing Haji Bektash (to which the Dawoodis appear
to promote) is a 20ııı century rewriting of the history by certain individuals in Turkey holding
seetarian agendas.
In addition to all of the above claims and counterclaims, on the 21st of October, 2004,
Prof. McEiwain finally disclosed a picture of the "Bektashi" oıigins of the Dawoodi-Bektashis that
may have been closer to the truth. In this post he states that his teacher was none other than his
grandmother Evalyn Mullins McEiwain. She received the Dawoodi teaching, Prof. McEiwain
maintains, from her father, John Mullins. What she purportedly taught was a silsilah containing

myself from him or her because 1 don't want to see and hear how they have taken a magnifıcent
religious tradition that was entrusted to them and neg!ected it completely, allowing it to tum into
some pseudo-re!igious cu!tural phenomenon which is a mockeıy of its fonner achievemenl 1 have
met some of those and it was good to be able to say that 1don't need them. Usua!ly it is enough to
say that ı don't speak Turkish and my Dawoodi-Bektashism is not dependent on speaking Turkish or
Albanian and 1also don't care to spend too much time leaming those languages (and if 1did 1would
not teli them.) Th1s convenientty ditches all that irrelevant Turkish and Albanian irre!igious cultural
baggage. These people are such a waste of time for believing Muslims to talk to. lt is also not my job
to waste time educating them for free when they are obviously not the best candidates for instruction
in our path. If any of them come to me, ı am going to be locking for evidence of commitment to
lslamic faith and practice. If that is not present, they wil! be dismissed before they waste any more of
my time." (Sufi-Dhikr, post#6019)

588
 the names of the 12 lmams, the concept of the tour gates, the four books, veneration of the
Decalogue (Ten Commandments), a recitation of Psalms on Friday night, and the prohibition of
alcohol. Except for the acceptance of the 12 lmams and 4 gates and books there is nothing a
rural Southem Baptist wouldn't accept. For that reason, if we are to believe that this tradition did
exist before Prof. McEiwain's time, it certainly would not have stood out. More revealing he
admits in the post that this spiıitual "tradition" cannot be traced before 1850 and mentions the
possibility that John Mullins could have made the whole thing up. He shockingly states, "There is
no documentation for the order beyand 1850 that we know of, and no documentation of a
histerical Turkish connection. There is the possibility that John Mullins invented the whole thing."
What are we to make of all the "potential" connections we have been given between Silasian
Baptists, Bektashis, Donmehs, Elwaıı, and the Melungeons? What are we to do with the eariier
assertions of a Dawoodi tradition originating with Haji Bektash and then surviving for 400 years
in the Appalachians? Where exists then the connection between Thomas McEiwain and Haji
Bektash Veli? Can any of this now be taken seriously?
In this revealing post Prof. McEiwain also states to have suppressed the stlsilah,
shortened the introduction of the liturgy, and to have added both the names "Dawoodr' and
"Bektashi" himself to what he was teaching. He called his order as Dawoodiyya in order not to
confuse it with the lsma'ili Dawoodi-Bohras of lndia and out of reterence "to the prevalent
practlce (not necessarily always followed) of reciting the Zabur or Psalms of David as a central
part of dhikr" and further claims Anatolian and Kurdish origins when he writes, "The only
extensive reterence in a scholariy work that ı know of is the one in the book Extremist Shi'ite:
The Ghulat Sects, by Matti Moosa, Syracuse University Press, 1988.•
In the absence of an lslamic text of the Zabur one must wonder in what language these
recitations are taking place. There are many messages posted on Sufi-Dhikr where Prof.
McElwain accentuates a connection between his group and the Dawudis mentioned by Mousa
{who are in fact an obscure branch of the Ahl-i-Haqq of westem Iran) leading one to believe that
the two groups are one and the same. Yet all of cantention is completely wrecked with the
revelation that the "tradition" was obtained from his forefather John Mullins by way of his son
William Mullins and granddaughter Evalyn Mullins McEiwain.
McEiwain's story given at the end of "Sufism Bridging East & West the case of the
Bektashis" narrating his Kmeeting" with a descendant of Yunus Emre while in Turkey seems like
his meeting of his shaykh. This "Bektashi" was not a member of any lodge and said "Allah is my
pir" as well as "Allah is my musahip." McEiwain says that the man's silsilah was just the twelve
lmams. Wow, just Ilke Shaykh Ali Haydar's? From him he leamed repetition of some names of
Allah as a form of "!one" dervish dhikr and was exposed to a Khidr-like teaching experience
while visiting Konya. The drunken Bektashi version of the Mavlevi whirling was a way to teli
about the idea of the Abdal, but Shaykh Ali Haydar didn't make the connection; a Bektashi
would have. This leads to his fınal cantention that only a "Bektashi ofthe wandering dervish sort"
could able to follow the path of Haqiqat. What about his Shari'ah-driven Hadith. 1believe it was
Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jilani who stated that, "The shaykh of a one without a shaykh is none other
that Shaytan."
ı would very much like to ask Prof. McEiwain to show us anather Dawoodi-Bektashi from
his particular lineage that is not an immediata family member and who is a Melungeon. Can any
information be provided beyand speculation and highly improbable theories? Bektashi history is
there for all to read. lt is a tradition that has been cleaıiy recorded and that has a base in
histarical fact Can the same be said for this self-styled "branch" of Bektashism? l'llleave it to my
honored llsteners to decide.

589
 Sufısm and other instructive paths need not be made-up, !ike the rituals of purportedly
seeret orders. There are real manuals of instruction and authentic spiritual traditions traceable
through legitimate si/silas. They provide guidance that has stood the test of time. They have
been able to remain reliable and consistent compasses through the turbulent seas and soaring
mountains of both the physical and spiritual realms of existence.
The law of the "Golden Rule" flows through the teachings of all Sufı Orders-do not harm
or do into others as you would have them do unto you. We see this in the dietum of Haji Bektashi
Veli, "Respect all 73 sects.n This idea of universal appreciation and respect for the thoughts and
opinions of others, if taken from this room, would certainly make the world a better place, and
spread the goodwill to the world beyand this centerence hall.
May Allah bless this gathering! Ya Ali Madad
seıect Bibliography
Amin, Mustafa el-, (1990). Afnean American Freemasons: Why they should accept Islam Jersey City,
New Mind Productions.
~-Al-ls/am, Christian/Iy and Freemasonry, (1990. Jersey City, New Mind Productions.
_ _ Freemasonry, Ancient Egypt and the /s/amic Destiny, (1990). Jersey City, New Mind
Productions.
The Anelenf Arabic Order, Nobfes of the Mystic Shrine for North American Recognition Test. (n.d.).
Chicago, Ezra A. Cook Pub. Ine.
Baba Rexhebi, (1970). The Mysticism ofIslam and Bektashism, N.Y., Watdon Press.
Barrett, M.J., (1968). Noble's Quiz Book. Ezra Cook Publications, Ine.
· Birge, J. K.• (1938). The Bektashi OrderofDervishes. London, Luzac.
Burr, Nelson, (1961 ). A Critica! Bibliogmphy ofReligion in America, Princeton U.P.
Champion, J.AI., (1992) The Pillars of Priestcraft shaken: The Church of England and it's Enemies.
Cambridge University Press.
Chocrane, Harry Hayman, (1934). The Shriner's Book.· Following the Fez
Davis, Harry E:, (1946). A History of Freemasonry among Negroes in America. United Supreme
Council Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite Northem Jurisdiction, Ine.
Duncan 's Masonic Ritual and Monitor, (1980, rev. ed.). Chicago, Ezra A. Cook Pub. Ine.
Ellwood, Robert S. and Harry B. Partin, (1988). Religious and Spiritual Groupsin Modem America.
Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Eterovich, Adam S., (2003). Croatia and the Croatians of the Lost Co/ony San Carlos, Ragusan
Press.
Goodrick-Ciarke, Nicholas, (1992). The Occult Roots of Nazism: Seeret Aryan Cu/ts and their
inffuence on Nazi ideology, N.Y., N.Y. U.P.
Hirsdıman, Elizabeth, (2004). Melungeons.· The Last Lost Tribe in America. Mercer U.P
Kennedy, Brent. (1997, ;!d ed.). The Melungeons: A Forgolten Fo/k
McEiwain, Dr. Thomas, A Path in Time (online ebook}.
- - (1998). Hel/o, /'m God· a Bektashi Rosary. Mineıva Press.
Moosa, Maati {1998). Extremist Shi'ite: The Ghulat Sects, Syracuse U. P.
Muraskin, William Alien, (1975). Middle Class 8/acks ina White Society: Prince Hall Freemasonry in
America. Bert<eley, University of Califomia.
The Mystic Shn"ne: An 11/ustrated Ritua/ of the Andent Arab/c Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine,
(1975, rev. ed.). Chicago, Ezra Cook Pub., Ine.
Norsu AbdurNur, Shaykh Karnal & Shaykh 'Ali, (2005, revised ed.). How to Form a Sufi Lodge: The
Dawoodi-Bektashi OrderofDetvishes: Guide for Estab!ishing and Maintaining a Sufi Lodge

590
Rashad, Adi b, (1991). History ofIslam and Black Nationalism in America. Beltsville, M.D., Wıiters' Ine.
Sebottendorf, Baron Rudolf von, (2000). The Practice ofthe Andent Turkish Freemasons: The Key to
Unde/Standing ofAlchemy- A Presentation of the Ritua!, Docbine and Signs of Recognition
among the Oriental Freemasons. Smithville, Texas, Runa-Raven Press, {translated by
Stephen E. Flowers).
Seeret Societies 11/ustrated, (n.d.). Chicago, Ezra Cook Pub., Ine.
MacKinzie, Norman, ed. (1967). Seeret Societies. Chicago, Holy, Reinhartand Wilson.
Southern, R.W., (1962). Western Viewsof/slamintheMiddleAges. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard U.P.
Tsou, Dr.Cao (1923, trans.), lnfinite Wisdom. Chicago: Delawrence Co.
Van Deventer, Fred, (1959). Parade to Glory: The St01y of the Shn'ners and Their Hospitals for
Gripp/ed Children. N.Y., William Morrow and Co.
Waite, Arthur Edward, (1970). New Encydopedia ofFreemasonry. N.Y., Weathervane Books.
Westertund, David, ed., Sufism in Europe and North America(Routledge-Curzon, 2003)
Whalen, William, (1966). Handbook of Seeret Organizations. Milwaukee, The Bruce Publishing
Company.
Wılmore, Gayrand, (1973). Black Religion and Black Radicalism. Garden City, N.Y., Anehor Press,
Doubleday.
Wilson, Peter Lamboum, (1988). Scandal: Essays in lslamic Heresy. Brooklyn, Autonomedia.
_ _, (1993). Sacred Drift Essays on the Margins ofIslam. San Francisco, City Ughts.
Wınkler. Wayne, (2004). Watking TowardtheSunset Mercer U.P.

Bildirinin Türkçe özeti

Bizi bu çalışmayı yapmaya iten en önemli etken herhangi somut bir dayanaklan
olmaksızın Bektaşi ismini kendi grup ve akımlan için kullanan kişi ve gruplann asil Bektaşi
silsilesinden ne kadar uzak olduklannı göstermektir. Zira onlann bu tür Bektaşilik iddialan
zihinlerde önemli karışıkilkiara sebep olmaktadır. Tarihsel olarak incelendiğinde bunların Bektaşi
hareketiyle bir ilgilerinin olmadığı, aksine bunların temellerinin Freemasonluğa ve onunda kökü
olan Knight Templar hareketine dayandığı göıiilecektir.
Sözkonusu Knight Templars hareketi ise Kudüs Kralı Baldwin'in desteğinde 1119 yılında
Filistinde militan bir grup olarak kuruldu. Gizemli ve sırlı bir grup olarak yıllarca faaliyet gösterdi.
1291 yılında Acre kenti Memlüklüler tarafından alınınca Hıristiyan gruplar Kıbnsa çekildiler.
Knight Templars hareketi bu dönemde ismaililerle bağlantılı olmakla suçlandı.
Knight Templar'ın Alamut ismailileri tarafından geliştirilen bir yapı üzerinde şekiilendiğ ine
dair açık bir delil olmamakla beraber her ikisinin de ortak nedenler1e bir araya geldiği
muhakkaktır.

Bunlar uzun süreli Ortadoğu bağlantılan sonunda, ciddi suçlamalar ile karşılaştılar. Haç
üzerine işemek, erotik gruplar kurmak ve şeytana ibadet bunların başında gelmekteydi. Bu
nedenle bu grubun mensuplan her zaman gizli bir hareket olmaya dönük çabalar içinde kaldılar.
Freemason hareketi ve Shrinerslar da aynı şekilde bu hareketin devamıdırlar ve gizlilik
noktasında benzerlik göstermektedirler. Gizlilik pek tabii olarak baskıların olduğu o dönemde
oldukça önemliydi ama bugün de devam ettirilmektedir. Gruba girmeye aday olan birinin sır
saklayan, sağlam vücut ve zihne sahip olmasına dikkat edilir, bunak veya zihinsel özürlü
olmaması önemsenir. Daha fazla baskı görmeden yeralbnda gizlilik içinde hayat sürebilmek için
askeri sistem benzeri bir yapıda hareket edilmek zorundadır. Bu nedenle Masonlukta adayın
öncelikle tavsiye üzerine alınıp mülakata tabi tutulması ve bu mülakat esnasında da bilgi verip

591
 gelişme ve toplum hizmeti için orada olduğunu ispatlayabileceği bir takım ritüellerden geçmesi
gerekmektedir.
Shrinerlar konusunda pek çok Müslüman onların islam inanana yakın olan bir grup
olduğu zehabındadırlar. Eldeki literatür de bu yanlış anlayışı destekler türden ifadelere sahiptir.
Bu eserlerde Shriner hareketinin Mekke'de 1698 yılında kurulduğu ibadet tomılannın ise Halep'te
Louis Marraci tarafından oluşturulduğu iddia edilmektedir.
Ancak aslına bakılırsa Shriner' lar 1870 yılında ingiliz aktör William J. Florence ve New
Yorklu Dr. Fleming tarafından kurulmuştur. Bunlar 32 veya 33. dereceden iskoç
masonlarındandır. Bektaşilikle bir ilgileri olmamıştır. Her şeyden önce Bektaşiler Mekke'yi kontrol
etmemişlerdir. ikinci olarak Bektaşiler Arap değil genelde Türk ve Arnavutlardan oluşmaktadırlar.
Öte yandan Shriner'lar temıinolojilerini Arapçadan değil ibranice den ödünç almışlarıdır. Dış
makyaj ~ariç Shriner hareketinde islami yada Bektaşi olan hiç bir şey görülemez.
Shrinerlara yapısal benzerlik arzeden Grotto hareketi de 1889 da Thomas L. James
tarafından New Yark'ta kurulmuştur. Farisi karakter göstermektedir.
B.unlara ek olarak hemen ikinci Dünya savaşından sonra da Almanya' da muhtelif gizli
topluluklar ortaya çıkmaya başlamıştır. Bunların en güçlüsü Nazi Partisiyle de bağlantılı olan
Thule Grubudur. Kurucusu Baran Rudolf von Sebottendorff tır. {1875-1945). Sebottendorff
Türkiye 'de kendi ifadesiyle 'eski Türk freemason'lanyla karşılaşmış ve bunun üzerine bunların
ritüel pratiklerini kaleme aldığını belirttiği eserini yazmıştır: The Practice of the Ancient Turkish
Freemasons (ingilizce versiyonu). Eserin yayıncısı Runa-Raven eserin takdiminde Bektaşilikten
bahsetmekle beraber, metni yakından okuduğumuzda Bektaşi yazar, şair ve şeyhlere hiçbir atıf
yapılmamaktadır. Hattş islam tarihine ve peygambere yapılan atıflar ve verilen bilgiler bile
· oldukça yüzeysel kalmakta ve sıradan Yahudi Hnstiyan kaynaklardan alındığı açıkça
görülmektedir.
Ancak Amerikan toplumunda kanştınldığı şekliyle Grotto ve Thule grublannın Bektaşi
hareketiyle bir ilgisi bulunmamaktadır. Zaten bunlann hiçbiri de kendini açıkça Bektaşi olarak ilan
etmemişlerdir.

592