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Alevism

العلوية الأناضولية

Alevism is an Anatolian religious-cultural current centred on devotion to Ali and the ahl al-bayt; scholars distinguish its modern formation as a category from its roots in the ghulat and Nusayri currents treated by the classical heresiographies 1 2.

Depth

At a glance

Era
The Gunpowder Empires · The Modern Era
Region
Anatolia
Identifiers
Wikidata
Review
Draft Completeness 2/5 · Help complete it

Contested: This record includes matters on which scholars differ. The speaker's views are labelled as his, and other views are marked where no cited source yet exists.

Minorities within IslamSects and schools

Overview

Alevism is an Anatolian religious-cultural current centred on devotion to Ali and the ahl al-bayt, ocak saint-lineages and the cem assembly 1.

Perspectives

  • Sunni classification: the currents linked to extremism concerning Ali — the Nusayriyya among them — are classed among the ghulat in Shahrastani's heresiography 2.
  • Academic: 'Alevism' is a category consolidated in the late-Ottoman and Turkish republican context over Qizilbash loyalty and saint-lineage layers 1.
  • Self-description: the path of Ali — devotion to the ahl al-bayt through hereditary ocak lineages and the cem, not the mosque 1.

Opinions on the question

First opinion · Sunni tradition (the museum's frame)Main reference

An extremist sect classed in the heresiographies alongside the Nusayri-related currents

Shahrastani's heresiography treats the currents linked to extremism concerning Ali — the Nusayriyya among them — among the ghulat sects {cite:milal-nihal-shahrastani}; Sunni classifications locate modern Alevism against that classical grid while noting the historical distance.
More opinions (2)

Academic viewSecondary opinion

A modern identity category forged in late-Ottoman and Turkish nation-making, over older Qizilbash and saint-lineage layers

Scholarship describes 'Alevism' as a category consolidated in the late Ottoman and republican Turkish context, layered over older Qizilbash loyalty and ocak saint-lineages rather than a timeless sect {cite:dressler-writing-religion-2013}.

Other viewOther opinion

The path of Ali: devotion to the ahl al-bayt through saintly ocak lineages and cem gatherings

Practitioners describe Alevism as the path of loyalty to Ali and the ahl al-bayt transmitted through hereditary ocak saint-lineages, centred on the cem assembly rather than the mosque {cite:dressler-writing-religion-2013}.

People and things also explored

Ibadiyya· The Ismaili Da'wa· The Ja'fari school· Kaysaniyya· Zaydiyya· Al-Kadhimiya Mosque (Kazimayn shrine)· Imam Husayn Shrine, Karbala· Ahl al-Ahwa (the people of deviant opinions in Islam, and the rules on their testimony, narration and prayer behind them)

Sources

  1. Dressler, Writing Religion (2013)
  2. Al-Milal wa'l-Nihal — al-Shahrastani
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Alevism”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/group/alevism/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-22.

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Wing

People

Prophets, companions, scholars, rulers, scientists, poets, travelers: women and men who shaped the story. Related

Ibadiyya

The Ibadiyya — followers of Abdallah ibn Ibad, the one Khariji branch to survive, in North Africa, Oman, Hadramawt and Zanzibar, with a kalam touched by the Mu'tazila and a fiqh of its own.