The Influence of Ahmad Yassawi on Bektashi Order and Alevism and Its Traces in the Ottoman Religious Life

In order to conceive the Ottoman period religious life, we have to take the tariqat and mystic dimensions of the issue into consideration. From this point of view, we come across with a period of time tracing back to a time right after the conversions of Turks into Islam. During this period, different understandings of Islam and life styles having thrived in various corners of the Muslim world seem to have been presented to the Ottoman community as a heritage. Though not having been born in Ottoman territories, or not having lived in the Ottoman era, Ahmad Yassawi and his Yassawi Order are the remarkable examples of this effect. In this study, as a superb ‘transferor’ of the Central Asian Turkish-Islamic culture, Ahmad Yassawi, his Order and their impacts on Bektashi Order and Alevism, and also their traces in the religious life of Ottoman period have all been analysed. According to the data gathered, Yassawi Order managed to survive in the Ottoman territories in two ways, the first of which was the influential existence of the practices of the Yassawi Order’s way of thinking, rules of conduct and high-ranking figures on Naksibendies and Bektashism. The second one was the very existence of Yassawi order as indicated by certain archive documents.