seyyed abulhasan navvab

One of principles of Alawis beliefs is Imamah. Anatolia Alawiness rests on a belief system based on friendship with Ali (pbuh) and Ahl al-Bayt (the Imams). Bektāshī Alawis like Twelver Imāmiyya Shia have twelve infallible Imams. From the viewpoint of Bektāshīyah, Imam means someone who is free from any kind of mistake, failure, and sin. Imam is the inner meaning of Quran, the religious scholar, and the leader of society. According to beliefs of Bektāshīs, the Prophet (s) has introduced Ali (pbuh) as the successor, after himself; but after the decease of the Prophet (s), the succession of Ali (pbuh) was ignored and right of Ali (pbuh) was usurped by the triple caliphs. Alawis believe that Muslims were divided to 73 sects only one of which is right and the rest belong to fire. Followers of Ahl al-Bayt (pbut) and the twelve Imams (pbut) are the saved group and sect. It seems the concept of Imamah to Bektāshīyah has had an evolutionary movement and supposedly after the penetration of Hurufism thought in Bektāshīyah Ṭarīqah in the fifteenth century, which was influenced by Neoplatonic philosophy of Ismailism, Shīʿī teachings like Imamah, given the new interpretation influenced by the complicated mystical understandings of Hurufism, has gradually taken distance from Twelver Shia’s definitions; although there is not seen such change in the principle friendship with Ahl al-Bayt (pbut) and the twelve Imams (pbut) and belief in the principle Imamah, and this characteristic is stable in belief tradition of Alawis and Bektāshīs.

The Islamic culture and civilization in the Balkans (Southeastern Europe) has a long history of over one thousand years.  A review of the history of Islam and Islamic movements in the Balkans, recognition of ethnic groups and races, analysis of the status of Muslims in the region, assessment of the new developments in Islamic countries in the Balkan region, understanding and examining the socio-cultural and religious challenges in the Balkans; the opportunities and threats in scientific and cultural areas in the region and other issues are some important areas that need to be studied and scrutinized so that they can be used to expand Islamic culture and modernize Islamic civilization in the Balkan region. This article seeks to answer the question: What is the history of Islamic culture and civilization in the Balkans and what are the key factors that led to their expansion? The research findings were based on descriptive-analytical method relying on library resources and field research and surveys to illustrate the special position of Islamic culture and its role in the civilization of the region in the past and present.