Painting Coal Gold: the Use and Misuse of the Bektashi Name in the West

Painting Coal Gold

An Essay on the misuse of the Bektashi name in the West
























































Muhammed A. al-Ahari










Published by the Magribine Press
5333 W. Rosedale Ave.
Chicago, IL 60646-6539
© 2006 Magribine Press




































First Edition
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or
in part in any form.
Copyright © 2006 by Magribine Press
Cover design & book layout: J.L. Abiba


This work is based on a paper presented at:
The 1ST International Symposium on Alevism & Bektashism
28-30 September 2005 / İsparta – Turkey
Süleyman Demirel University Faculty of Theology

To all those
who gave their lives for
the well-trod Path
of Haji Bektashi
in communist Albania

In the West there continues to be an enduring inclination to regard
membership in secret societies a means by which to gain social ascent and
self-aggrandizement. The more secretive and exotic the ritual and history
of any given secret group, the longer the line to join will inevitably be.
The most primitive of these secret societies includes Instructive Masonry,
a movement that supposedly traces its origins back to ancient Greece and
Egypt. The libraries of these orders, as well as their rituals, are quite
ludicrously maintained to have derived from clandestine Moroccan (in the
case of the Rosicrucians), Persian (for the Grotto), as well as Arabian and
Egyptian (for the Shriners) mystic orders.
The 19th century discoveries of Tibet (and the ensuing legends about
the mythical kingdom of Shambala and all its secreted esoteric knowledge),
the lost tribes of the Caucasus, the Order of the Peacock, and "science" of
Theosophy presented Westerners with a profusion of material to aid in the
enlargement of arcane and occult daydreams. "Truth explorers" were
purportedly able to find hidden-away spiritual guides and guarded texts
claiming to reveal the mysteries of the universe. This era also brought out
a proliferation of occult texts of dubious origin, such as those by the
famed Madame Blavatsky (1831-1891 CE) who gave us the Stanzas of Dzyan,
Richard Burton (1821-1890 CE) the The Kasidah of Haji Abdu El-Yezdi, as
well as the ritual books of the Grotto and the Shriners. None of these
works have any verifiable authenticity and lack any ancient manuscript,
leading one to presuppose - with almost complete certainty - their spurious
nature.
My motivations for writing this short exposé are several, the foremost
being a wish to distance the noble Bektashi Order of Sufis (the Tariqat ul-
Baktashiyya) from individuals and groups who have indefensibly 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 19th century a number of individuals who have
sought out the genuine path of the 13th century Islamic mystic Haji Bektash
have been led to things that are incontestably not Bektashi Sufism and,
despite claims to the contrary, have no origin in Bektashism at all.
Historically, these first purported links to Islamic mysticism (out of
which came Bektashism) came from Freemasonry and its root source, the
Knights Templar.


The Knights Templar:
The Origins of Freemasonry
The Knights Templar were a military order founded at the height of the
Crusades in Palestine by a group of nine warriors who had sought out
spiritual glory and worldly fortune. The King of Jerusalem - Baldwin II
(r. 1118-31 CE) - gave these warriors quarters in his palace, a place
purportedly founded on the site of Solomon's Temple (hence the name
"Templar").
Members of The Knights Templar took vows of poverty, chastity, as well
as obedience to no other save the Grand Master of the Order (the first
being Hugh du Paynes). The men were divided into four ranks: knights,
chaplains, squires, and servants. The knights wore a white mantle
emblazoned with a large red cross, while the lower grades wore a black or
brown mantle. What is exceptional about The Knights Templar is that it
grew rapidly (from 9 to 30,000) in a relatively short time, allowing it to
become exceedingly wealthy.
Other militant Christian orders throughout Europe and Palestine grew
covetous of wealth and prestige of The Knights Templar. A number of these
orders, such as the Hospitallers, gained the ear of the French king as well
as the Pope. When the city of Acre fell to the Mamluks in 1291 CE and the
various Christian orders withdrew to Cyprus, The Knights Templar were
accused of being associates of the unorthodox Ismācīlī sect of Islam and of
espousing the heresy of Unitarianism (that is absolute monotheism). In
1307 CE, King Philip IV of France began to confiscate their properties with
the consent of the Pope, who issued a papal bull dissolving the order in
1312 CE.
The last Grand Master of The Knights Templar, Jacques de Molay, was
burned at the stake in 1314 CE along with several of his closest followers
in the courtyard of Notre Dame Cathedral. Modern researchers obviously see
the persecution of The Knights Templar as a horrific and fanatical
distortion of justice. Outside of France, The Knights Templar were
generally cleared of the charges of blasphemy and were given time to go
underground. Such was the case of community in the British Isles.
Sixty years after their suppression, The Knights Templar resurfaced in
a supposed peasant revolt against the English Crown. This eight day revolt
was lead by Walter the Tyler (interestingly "tyler" is a Masonic
appellation) and the sources of leadership of that brief revolt were not
traced to The Knights Templar at that time [Robinson, xii]. In Masonry, a
"tyler" guards the door of the lodge against intruders and is a post that
is found in Bektashism: the "Gözcü" or "Watchman". Surely, a suppressed
and secretive religio-military order would be in great need of such a
person to guard the entrances to its meeting halls.
While there is no explicit documentation proving that The Knight
Templar framed its hierarchical structure on the one formed by the
Ismācīlīs of Alamut, there is evidence that at times they and the Ismācīlīs
allied in common cause. For a period, the King of Jerusalem came under the
intrigues of both The Knights Templar and the Ismâcîlis. The Ismācīlīs had
been paying tribute to The Knights Templar and sent a message to the King
of Jerusalem that they would convert en masse to Christianity if the
tribute were lifted. Instead, The Knights Templar ambushed the King of
Jerusalem's envoy to the Ismācīlīs and brutally murdered him. The
relationship between The Knights Templar's Grand Master and the Ismācīlīs
was close enough that he likely knew of the whole affair. [Waite, 50]
After their long association with the Middle East, The Knights Templar
had naturally become tinted by its lore, theosophy, and exotic rituality.
These were actually the base of the charges brought against them when they
were under direction of De Moley. These included accusations of heresy,
urinating on crosses, homoerotic unions, and devil worship, all
forthcoming. [MacKinzie, 125-143] Nevertheless, the foremost sacrilege The
Knights Templar were accused of committing was their denial of the Trinity.
Further charges of witchcraft and the worship of an idol called "Baphomat"
were added to make their persecution seem rational.
These suspected heretics escaped their gloomy fate whenever the chance
arose. Yet they had an organization prepared to operate under these trying
circumstances. Except in France (where they were victims of a
thoroughgoing inquisition), The Knights Templar 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)
and escape the inquisitor's holy flame. The decades of association with the
workings of Byzantine politics, the esoteric teachings of the Ismâcîlis
sect of Islam, as well as the intrigues within Muslim courts, prepared them
for a life of duplicity and furtiveness. The church, with it blood-
spattered denunciation of protest and social change, provided The Knights
Templar with many willing sympathizers.
The secrecy much needed in those days remains a part of Masonic
ritual. A candidate for the brotherhood must be able to keep secrets, be of
sound body, and devoid of senility or mentally deficiency. The candidate
must be recommended by an already enrolled member, interviewed and put
through a ritual that ensures that he is genuine in his quest for self-
improvement, and community service. The candidate strips to his trousers
and undershirt, removes all coins from his clothes, bares his left arm and
breast, and rolls one pant leg to the knee. He then is "cable-towed" and
"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
Knights Templar during their persecution.
When the "Worshipful Master" has questioned the candidate and heard
the correct answers, the hood is removed as a result of the candidate's
answering the question, "What are you searching for?" with the word,
"Light." Upon 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 the Sufa (wool) of Sufism? It is important to note
here for the sake of our initial objective to mention that these initiatory
devices can be found in the Bektashi Sufi Order.
After being made an "Entered Apprentice" for a short period, the
candidate can rise in the Masonic ranks to become a "Fellowcraft" or
"Journeyman". Originally, this was the highest rank and a Master was
selected from them.
Only later did the 3rd degree of "Master Mason" develop [Mackenzie,
211]. The ritual for this is similar to that of the "Entered Apprentice",
but the lectures involved differ. Candidates at this level are lead to a
"Middle Chamber" and given a lecture on the heavenly and earthly geometry
(knowledge attributed to Solomon, but likely through Arab 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 numerology of which the number seven is stressed (7
liberal arts, 7 heavens, 7 years to build Solomon's Temple, 7 wonders of
the world, etc.). This number '7' is most important in Ismācīlī cosmology
and the Masons (formerly The Knights Templar) perhaps garnered its
significance from them [Mackenzie, 214].
About the lodge itself, more should be said. The lodge refers not to
a meeting place, but a safe house for a member of the order. The floor of
the lodge, a black and white mosaic, is the final key. It is a repetition
of a black block above a white block below. The black symbolizes the black
world left behind by those joining the order, the white the world of
knightly purity now entered. The gloves worn by initiates are from The
Knights Templar 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 Templar went to fight in the Crusades. As The
Knights Templar prayed in round churches so no one was able to be in a
position of higher rank, a compass has been retained and became part of the
Masonic legend of their being an ancient order of freethinkers and
mathematicians. The 'G' for 'Geometry' comes from Masons being responsible
for rebuilding London after the Great Fire of 1666. Other communities and
proofs that the Masons are the direct descendants of The Knights Templar
could be given but the interest reader should go to Robinson's Born in
Blood and other such as: Stephen Knight's The Brotherhood and The Secret
Diary of Jack the Ripper for more proofs. "More than six hundred years
have passed since the suppression of The Knights Templar, but their
heritage lives on in the largest fraternal organization ever known
[Freemasons]." [Robinson, xix] The direct descendants of The Knights
Templar are:
1) The Pirates of Mahadiah
2) Irish Freemasons
3) Scottish Freemasons
4) York Rite Masons.
In America the first Scottish Rite Lodge was founded in Charleston
S.C. by Stephen Morin in 1801. Scottish Rite Masonry was first publicly
promulgated in 1758. Stephen Morin was granted patents to increase the
number of degrees on August 27, 1761. The Grand Lodge of Perfection was
first operated under Isaac De Costa - the Inspector General of South
Carolina in 1783. This lodge has not survived. In 1801, the lodge was
reestablished with a Grand Council under Fredrick Dalcho, John Mitchell,
Stephen Morin and others. The Shriners evolved out of the 33rd degree
system of Scottish Rite Masonry.


Freemasonry
The Masonry we know today is called "Speculative" Masonry. It only
replaced "Constructive" (building or guild) Masonry over a long period. The
year 1717 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 membership is of three degrees: Apprentice, Fellowcraft and
Master. All other degrees were added later and can be seen as spurious. An
individual must progress in Masonry by learning the catechisms, listening
to charges and through study. At each degree, one learns certain handgrips,
passwords as well as a series of questions and answers. Masonry, in effect,
is all theory at present. The craft ritual was destroyed in 1717 and
replaced by new rituals such as those put down in Anderson's manual.
Negro Freemasonry was started by a West Indian named Prince Hall (d.
1807). His lodges are regular, but those with distaste for Black membership
had put claims of heresy and clandestine activities on them. Prince Hall's
rituals are nearly identical to those of European Freemasonry. His first
lodge was Boston's Africa Lodge Number 459. (see Islam, Christianity and
Free Masonry).


The Shriners
For a number of reasons many Muslims living in the United States are
often under the impression that members of the Shriners are fellow members
of the Islamic faith. In fact, the Encyclopedia of Freemasonry has a ten-
page article dealing with the 'Assassins' that would lead one to believe in
a credible and verifiable Islamic-Shriner connection.
The best source for students of the Shriners is the popular history
written by Fred Van Deventer entitled Parade to Glory: The Story of the
Shriners and the Hospitals for Crippled 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 in Aleppo, Arabia and issued by Louis
Marracci, the great Latin translator of Mohammed's Al-Koran. The
mysterious Order continued to thrive in Arabia from that date to the
present. It was revised and instituted in Cairo, Egypt, in 5598,
equivalent to 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 criminals whom the tardy
laws did not reach to measure their crimes. Being designed to embrace
the entire pale of the law and composed of sterling and determined men
who would upon a valid accusation fearlessly try, judging and if
convicted, executing the criminal within the hour-leaving no trace of
their acts behind...." [Van Deventer, 35-36].
The text goes on to describe a mythical bond between their group and
famous Sufis of the past. These connections with the great sages of Islam
are thoroughly ridiculous, and the claim to be related to the Bektashi
Order of Dervishes is absolutely groundless. Nevertheless, we have the
first attempt by Westerns to fraudulently employ the name 'Bektashi' to
lend credence to their claims:
"The most prominent and powerful of those orders is the Bektashy
[sic!], or Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. Its offshoots and satellites
are the Darkawy, Khowan, Abdel Kader El Baghdadi, and the Issawiye,
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
meaning beneath the exposed superficial exterior, as promulgated to
the profane." [Van Deventer, 36].
The Shriner's claim that they have a view of changing Islam to fit
American circumstances is also a Shriner view as we see in the following
passage,
"The Bektashy [sic!], or Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, as it is
known in America, is of necessity divested of its inconsistent Islamic
dogmas and its ritual 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 that Haji Bektash was an Arab (he was not an
Arab, but rather a Persian) and they further tell of his blessing the famed
Janissary Corp, which may have some historical validity. The Shriners
believe the order was called "Janissaries" because this means, "they were
freed captives who were adopted into the faith and the army." Actually, the
word "janissary" comes from the Turkish term Yeniçeri, literally "New
Troops." In addition, Shriners believe that the Sacred Mosque in Mecca
(the Harām al-Sharīf) is nothing other than the Temple of cAlī ibn Abī
Tālib and is under control of the chief officer of "Alee Temple of Nobles".
This, of course, is absolute fantasy.
A member of the Mecca Temple of New York and the U.S. consul to Malta
raised quite a furor by sending letters from the years 1882 to 1892, giving
alleged translations of ritual from Algiers, Tripoli, Cairo and other
temples. The Arabic originals, conveniently, do not exist and his pass or
passport to various "Islamic" shrines counterfeit. Yet for his forgeries,
he received $500 a year from the Mecca Temple.
In truth, is the Shriners were founded by a British stage actor named
William J. Florence and Dr. Fleming of New York in 1870. They were thirty-
second or thirty-third degree Scottish Rite Masons. As shown above, they
concocted legends claiming initiation from persons as dissimilar as the
"Grand Sheikh of Mecca", Sultan Selim III, the Illuminati in addition to
the Bektashi Sufi Order. These claims are spurious and improvable. Yet
this did not thwart the late Mr. Duro Çini, an Albanian Shriner from
Canada, from divulging to me the supposed 'secret' Bektashi-Shriner
connection. While it can be said that many 19th century Turkish Freemasons
were of Bektashi upbringing, the influence was going in the wrong
direction: it was the Masons who influenced many later Bektashis, not vice
versa.
Although started in 1876 CE, the Shriners were not a working group
until nearly a full decade afterwards. Furthermore, Frederick von Deventer
printed a letter in which Fleming's son said all the Shriner legend
originated in his father's head. His son did not disclose the errors in
the legend, but I will do so here. First off, the Bektashis were never in
"control" of the city of Mecca; there were never Shrines in the Middle East
who could, via a silsilah, trace their origin to Imam cAlī; the Bektashis
were primarily Turkish or Albanian in membership, not Arab; the terminology
of the Shriners shows more of a borrowing from Hebrew rather than Arabic
(like the reference to the Hebrew year etc.); I could go on and on.
Many who analyze Shriner ritual fail to realize what they are looking
at. The language used in most cases is Hebrew. The rituals are based more
on the ritual of other Masonic orders and the cult of the number 13. There
is nothing Bektashi or even Islamic at all about them, other than certain
cosmetic appearances and nomenclatures. Yet whatever else may be said about
them, the Shriners provided a new form of heresy as a conduit of cultural
transfer.
An Afro-American form of the Shriners was started by a handful of 32nd
Degree Prince Hall Masons at the World's Fair in 1893. The organization of
the order was a self-styled "Arab" named Rofelt Pasha. To this day his true
origins are unknown and even more masked in obscurity than later Black
leaders like Drew Ali and Fard Muhammad. With a Scandinavian name like
"Rofelt" hardly being Arabic, this individual was nothing more than one
more charlatan in Oriental garb. (see African American Freemasons: Why they
should accept Islam by Mustafa El-Amin for details.)


The Grotto
An organization similar in nature to the Shriners was the "Persian
Order", started by seventeen members of Hamilton Lodge, No. 120, in
Hamilton, New York, in the summer of 1889 under the direction of ex-
Postmaster General, Thomas L. James. Beyond its "Persian ritual", which
tells the story of an unnamed, leprosy-covered Persian prophet who wears a
veil, they have a component group called the "Knights of Khorrosan [sic!]"
(Khorasan being the birthplace of Hajji Bektash Veli). This is the Blue
Lodge's playground, much like the Shrine is for the 32nd and 33rd degree
Masons. The chief moving spirit in the founding of this organization was
LeRoy Fairchild. At their meeting on September 10, 1889, they decided to
honor the founder by calling it Fairchild Deviltry Committee.
When the new order grew too large for one locality, the Fairchild
Deviltry Committee duly established the "Supreme Council, Mystic Order of
Veiled Prophets of the Enchanted Realm" on July 13, 1890. It is mystic in
its lessons and method of teaching. It is veiled because all secrets are
known but are hidden in the impure heart and are unveiled as the heart is
cleansed. The order is an enchanted realm as it is separate from the world
and is full of joy as "sorrow burdens any unenchanted realm."
The handbook of the Grotto is named Grotto Creed and Prophets'
Compact. It tells us the Grotto was made to encourage Masonic fraternity
free of discrimination based on status in life. True fraternity 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
cures for cerebral palsy and dental work for the poor.


The Thule Society
Immediately after the end of World War One, numerous secret and semi-
secret occult societies began to appear throughout Germany. Some of these
groups were founded as a means to recreate the defeated German Reich, while
others sought to become a healing spring for the nation's many ills caused
by both internal and external parasites. One of the strongest (and one
closely associated to the Nazi Party) was the Thule Society, which held
that secret, occult wisdom was held in a mythical arctic land known as the
"Ultima Thule".
The Thule Society was founded by Baron Rudolf von Sebottendorff (1875-
1945). He claimed that he "discovered" an ancient wisdom that had been long
been perverted through Freemasonic teachings. Sebottendorff was born 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 placed him
among the ranks of other such spiritual adventures as Christian
Rozencrantz, Rofelt Pasha, and even founders of several Black Muslim and
Holiness Churches in the United States like Daddy Grace, Fard Muhammad,
Prof. Ezzaldeen Muhammad, and Noble Drew Ali.
While in Turkey Sebottendorff was allegedly exposed to a group that he
called the "Ancient Turkish Freemasons", although they were probably little
more than a local Masonic lodge. In the advertisement of English
translation of his work The Practice of the Ancient Turkish Freemasons: The
Key to Understanding of Alchemy – A presentation of the Ritual, Doctrine
and Signs of Recognition among the Oriental Freemasons, a modern publisher,
Runa-Raven, presents the book as containing,
"The secret spiritual practices of the Bektashi order as taught in the
early part of the 20th century. These practices make use of signs and
vocal formulas, which, if performed exactly and to their conclusion,
transform the individual into the object of the magnum opus of the
medieval alchemists."
A closer reading of the text finds less than a half dozen brief quotes
from Sufi saints, none of whom are Bektashi writers, sheikhs, or poets. The
rituals presented in the text include use of mirrors and candles for
meditation and which are aimed to elevate the level of mental
concentration. All of these rituals can be found in basic mail-order
Rosicrucian texts and are definitely not part of any known Sufi practice.
Quotes from a Latin Rosicrucian manuscript and from miscellaneous Hindu and
Egyptian ritual texts containing similar concepts prove that there is no
connection whatsoever between the text and Islam or the Bektashi Order. For
example the first line in the book is a quote from Latin: "Libelli habeant
sua fata," – "Books should have their own destiny." Sebottendorff then
quotes a saying of the Prophet Muhammad: "tether your ass and trust in God"
(although the original is "tether your camel") on the second page without
reference and calls it an Arab proverb.
Sebottendorff's knowledge of Islamic history is proven by the text to
be superficial and he repeats the slanderous charges leveled against it by
Jewish and Christian writers:
"Not far from Mecca lived an aged hermit, Ben Chesi [?], who was
teaching the Prophet [Muhammad]. When the lessons were over, he gave
him a metallic plate (upon which were engraved formulas), the meaning
of which the then 30-year old Prophet had just learned. Soon
thereafter, the hermit died, but Muhammad kept on teaching the secret
of these formulas in the most intimate circles. Abu Bekr, the first
Calif, inherited the plate and the knowledge which only spread within
a small circle after the death of the Prophet: this is the secret
knowledge of the Oriental Freemasons" (Sebettondorff, page 6)
Sebottendorff goes on to explain that the keys to these plates are
hidden within the Qur'ān in the hurūf al-muqata'āt, the cryptic abbreviated
letters that precede some chapters. This connection between the 'metallic
plates' and the hurūf al-muqata'āt are not found in any traditional
Islamic, Bektashi, or Sufi text. Some scholars do give mystical
explanations to these letters, but none mention metallic plates or a hermit
named Ben Chasi. Sebottendorff goes on to explain the length of various
consciousness raising practices based on the numeric values of these
letters. Supposedly, the source for this was a Turkish 'Kabbalist' named
Hussein Pasha who used an untraced manuscript Ilm ul-Miftah (Knowledge of
the Key). He describes this work as, "the preparation of the Philosophers'
Stone, the magnum opus, the mystery of the Rosicrucians and alchemists"
(Sebottendorff, page 19).The source for the title of the text above is his
novel Der Talsiman Rosenkreuzers.
Sebottendorff did live in Turkey and had ties through the Turkish Red
Crescent Society and individual Freemasons and, perhaps, to Sufis there,
but he seems to have had no clear connection with an established Sufi Order
beyond knowing a few brief quotes, quotes that could have been easily
culled from any European library. Another source that Sebottendorff
mentions in his text is Sheikh Jachya Charam [?] el-din. Most other texts
mentioned are German and Latin Rosicrucian texts. However, he does quote
from Mahmud Shabistari's Gulshan-i Raz at length where the Zodiac is
described as a 'sign of Allah.'
Sebottendorff fought in the Balkan Wars of 1912-1913, became a
director of the Red Crescent Society and became Grand Master of the Turkish
branch of the Rosicrucian Society. He learned to speak Turkish, and when he
returned to Germany he had the garb of a Grand Master. Few could, at the
time, contest his claims and really had no reason to since they presented a
path to the rebuilding of the Reich. Ties to the Rosicrucian society are
also seen in the title of his autobiographical novel Der Talsiman
Rosenkreuzers.
The Rosicrucians were a German secret society founded by Christian
Rosencrantz, an alchemist who claimed to have gained his spiritual
knowledge from unnamed Sufi shaykhs in Morocco. His teachings were
transmitted in such texts as the Fama and the Chemical Wedding. They dealt
such occult practices as crystal gazing, self hypnotism, and Astrology.
These practices and works do not suggest any Islamic or Bektashi base for
the Thule Society or their claims to the teachings of Ancient Turkish
Freemasonry. A brief search of the Internet will show the modern version
of this Germanic Order called the AMORC and its attempts to trace its
teachings to ancient Egypt and Tibet. Such details can be found in the text
Unto Thee I Grant. This work was purportedly written by Amenhotep and then
later placed in a Tibetan Lamas Monastery.
In 1913 Sebottendorff returned to Germany with two treasures – wealth
he inherited from his adoptive father and a vast knowledge of the East. On
his return 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 "Münchener Beobachter." The later journal was eventually purchased by
the Nazi Party and renamed "Völkisher Beobachter."
Sebottendorff oversaw the founding of the Thule Society on August 17,
1918 and it became in many ways the cradle of the National Socialist
Movement. After the German defeat in the First World War, the society
became a focal point for the anti-communist struggle. Hitler never joined
the Thule Society itself, but joined its political wing, which later became
the Nazi 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 mystical land of Thule. However it
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 returned to Turkey and published his The Practice of the
Ancient Turkish Freemasons. While there he joined the "Imperial Constantine
Order" and fought against Judeo-Bolshevik ideology. His works were later
suppressed by the Nazis and he died under mysterious circumstances in 1945.
With his death, Sebottendorff's work has been relegated to the pens of
historians of the Nazi Movement and bookshelves of White supremacist
groups. Like the Thule, the next group I shall discuss - that of the
Dawoodi-Bektashis - likewise claim Turkish origins for its concocted
teachings.


The Bizarre Case of the Dawoodi Order
My reasons for writing this short essay have been several, the
foremost being a wish to distance the noble Bektashi Order of Sufis from
those individuals and groups who have untenably and dishonestly adopted the
name "Bektashi" without any clear rationalization. In recent years quite a
number of individuals seeking out the genuine path of Haji Bektash have
been led to something that is unquestionably not Bektashism and, despite
its claims to the contrary, has no origin in Bektashism at all. This is a
group calling itself the "Dawoodi-Bektashis,"[1] a cult that purports to be
a bona fide branch of Bektashism. The head of this group is an American-
born professor named Thomas McElwain (known as "Ali Haydar" to his
followers).
McElwain's allegations regarding the origin of his self-fabricated
Sufi order have been persistently conflicting and contradictory. His most
important assertion is that his Dawoodi-Bektashi Order is the genuine
embodiment of what was taught by the 13th century Anatolian saint Haji
Bektashi and that it has existed, in one form or another, for centuries,
both around the world, and, in particular, in Appalachia. McElwain
professes to have inherited this spiritual path from his West Virginian
forefathers and has in the last several years decided to go public with
it…to an extent.
In the Fall of 2004 a number of individuals inquired by way of
internet postings and emails as to the nature of the relationship between
the Bektashis and the Dawoodis, all of which received very circuitous
explanations by representatives of the later-mentioned group. Such direct
questioning of Dawoodi origins led to a fair amount of argumentative
feelings being exhibited by McElwain's indecorous and pretentious khalifah,
Kemal Argon (aka "Norsu Nazruddin") who in one discussion with members of
the Bektashi Order accused "non-Dawoodi" Bektashis of going "beyond the
pale of God's laws," and of being "spiritually retarded ignoramuses" as
well as a people who are "such a waste of time for believing Muslims to
talk to."[2] Mr. Argon railed against all who questioned the authenticity
of this New Age construct he and his shaykh tried to pass off as authentic
Sufism.
Having for several years kept his peculiar claims to himself and an
intimate band of followers, Prof. McElwain ventured into the realm of
academia in 2004 with a number of his speculations and claims in an article
entitled, "Sufism Bridging East & West: the case of the Bektashis" found in
Sufism in Europe and North America (2004, edited by David Westerlund), a
work that should have been of interest for any historian of American-Muslim
History. In this article, McElwain told of a previously secreted and
unknown Sufi order in Appalachia that had been preserved through family
transmission and which dated from the 1500s.
The only problem with this amazing claim is verifying its reality.
While rumors of Muslim wayfarers from the 1500s can be found in a range of
historical documents, as far it is known to date none of these early
Muslims were known to have passed Islamic religious traditions beyond a few
generations. Even where slavery and assimilation had not hindered the
transmission of Islam as a faith, most Muslims living in North America
prior to the 20th century had a great difficulty training their children in
the faith for several reasons: lack of Islamic education on the part of
parents, interfaith marriages, and interest on the part of children.
Before progressing further, I wish to mention one disconcerting smudge
on McElwain's above-mentioned "academic" article (especially when
juxtaposed against his claims made in internet postings) which is that it
is so full of confusing theories and vague conjectures - with every
assertion being started with countless "maybe's" and "if's" - that it makes
the entire work appear amateurish at best and incompetent at worst. It also
gives rise to one very serious question: What is McElwain's motivation for
all of this hypothesizing? Maybe that claims to represent an Appalachian
"Bektashi" tradition cannot stand even the slightest academic scrutiny.
One obvious failure that will certainly alert careful researchers is
McElwain's abstention from mentioning anywhere in the article whatsoever
the name of his much-touted Dawoodi-Bektashi "tradition"! Any reader would
think given the purported antiquity of the "order" that an entire study
could be made solely on it.
As I read the article in question, I found many factual gaffes in
McElwain's depiction of both early American Islam and, more distressingly,
of Bektashism. I will not discuss these gaffes in detail, given that
Stephen Schwartz and Huseyin Abiva (see appendix) have already presented
comprehensive critiques of the work. What I will mention though is a
particular passage where McElwain purports a Bektashi presence in North
America from the 16th century, along with my comments.
McElwain 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 southern Appalachians." For
those who may be unfamiliar with the name, the Melungeons are a mixed-race
Appalachian group that was made-up of bits and pieces of the "Lost Colony"
of Roanoke Island, runaway slaves, and several Native American tribal
groups. There are over 200 similar groups in America such as the Ben
Ishmael Tribe, the Sumter Turks, the Seminoles, the Dismal Swamp Maroons,
and the West Virginian Guineas. Providentially for us scholarly works on
the Melungeons and their folklore are starting to make a modest appearance,
with such as Wayne Walker's Walking towards the Sunset, and Elizabeth
Hirschman's Melungeons: The Last Lost Tribe in America. Certainly, the
whole question of Melungeon origins will be revealed through modern DNA
testing.
McElwain had written previously about the Melungeons and their
folklore, but in this study of his he failed to mention of any Islamic
connection to this group until Brent Kennedy's The Melungeons: A Forgotten
Folk came out in the early 1990s. Kennedy offered the theory of a potential
Turkish (hence Muslim) bloodline for certain Melungeon families. After its
appearance, McElwain made much use of this theorized link to bolster his
own claims of the existence of a Dawoodi "tradition," although he
continually failed to offer any evidence other than the most circumstantial
kind.
In actuality, McElwain went out of his way to place enough disclaimers
into his assertions that it seriously undermined what little credibility
could have been given to any such Dawoodi-Bektashi tradition. For instance:
"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 turn up," as well as, "Another 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? McElwain
clearly claimed in other places that Bektashism (and his Dawoodi "branch")
indeed existed among this Appalachian group although, "Documentation is
generally lacking, and family traditions are plagued with
falsifications."[3] But then in the same post he goes on to claim an
unbroken chain of transmission to himself: "Dawoodism has been a continual
factor among certain Appalachian Melungeon families through whom the
tradition has come down in an unbroken line to the present bearers."[4] Who
are these present bearers? Himself? Where are these other bearers? He
doesn't say.
It is known that Sir Walter Raleigh forcibly 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 return 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". Among
the over 500 members of the "Lost Colony" there included small numbers of
slaves taken from Portuguese Brazil (who may have had Muslims among them),
Croats and Dalmatians, and possibly a Turk or two.
Now what a Turk or Moor was defined as in those days is still under
debate, and it can be assumed that a handful of the 500 could have been
Muslim. There might have even been Sufis among them, but certainly not
Bektashi Sufis, given that this particular order was not widespread in the
Balkans during this time. In fact, it was not until the late 18th century
that Bektashism gained it predominant presence in Albania, Greece and
western Macedonia. So even if there were Muslims with Raleigh, what is the
possibility that any of these from the Balkans or even Anatolia would have
been Bektashi? So slight that it would not even be worth speculating.[5]
An additional feature of McElwain's article (as well as his internet
postings) is that he tries to find Bektashis (and by extension his own
Dawoodi creation) 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."[6] How
convenient!
One of his striking errors in this regard is his attributing
Bektashism to the shaykh of the Rifa'i-Karabaşi Sufi order of Skopje,
Ibrahim Erol (d. 2005), and claiming that (conveniently through an alleged
second hand source) that his Sufi lodge (tekke) is "rife with the fakir
trickery." While the difference between the Rifa'i's and Bektashis may not
be clearly perceptible to a novice student of Sufism, could it be to
someone claiming to be a "shaykh," like McElwain? An academic? The idea of
the use of "trickery" and of physical proofs of faith (such as handling
"red-hot spikes") should have signaled to McElwain that Shaykh Ibrahim and
his tekke were definitely not Bektashi, and that he should have further
investigated what his "second-hand" source was telling him. Bektashis have
never been known to engage in mortification of the flesh. In fact, given
the Bektashi reverence for the human body, many would see harming it in any
way a sin!
Elsewhere in the article McElwain imagines that Bektashi lodges
continue to exist in Hungary and other parts of Western Europe. As far as I
know, only the türbe (mausoleum) of Gül Baba in Budapest still exists in
Hungary, seeing that Islam and Bektashism ceased to have a presence in that
land when the Hapsburg armies conquered it in 1686.
McElwain is correct about Alevis being in modern Germany and France,
but he makes a simple failure to make a distinction between Alevis and
Bektashis. While the two traditions share much in common in regards to
origins, ritual and spiritual outlook, they are nonetheless distinct
religious traditions.
McElwain then makes an exciting claim of how, in some way, the
Anabaptists of Silesia (perhaps he meant Transylvania and perhaps he meant
Unitarians) were related to the Bektashis. He actually opens "Sufism
Bridging East & West: the case of the Bektashis" 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 late."
Can McElwain give us a reference for this alleged connection to the
Bektashis? What does he imply by "Bektashi brothers"? Brothers in a human
sense? Brothers theologically? Or were the Anabaptists Bektashis
themselves? Given his constant reference to Protestantism in a number of
his online posts, perhaps McElwain sees connections that I miss.
In the above-mentioned work and in his online material McElwain makes
much of the curious figure of Edward Elwall (1676-1744), an Englishman who
was a member of the Presbyterian Church who was later prosecuted for
blasphemy in 1726 for his outspoken criticism of the Trinity.[7] Elwall
seems had done business in the Ottoman Empire 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" and to have donned turbans and robes.[8] What is in
question here is McElwain's shifting assertions of Elwall being a Bektashi.

In his A Path in Time online essay, McElwain 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."[9] This position is also
maintained on the website that presents his writings: "This did not prevent
his [McElwain's] representing the Seventh Day Baptist Missionary Society in
northern Europe until the end of 1990, referring to the precedent of the
foremost English writer of that tradition, Edward Elwall, who was also a
member of the Bektashi order."[10] Yet I am puzzled as to why he would
write in one of his posts on 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 connexion [sic!] with some Sufi order, and
his teachings are most consonant with Dawoodi principles."[11] Why didn't
he openly say "Bektashi" instead of now using "some 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 there even be need to constantly mention him in the context
of Bektashis at all?
The Eckerlin brothers mentioned above are another connection McElwain
attempts to use to make his case for an early Bektashi presence in America.
The Ekerlins were involved with the Dunkard community of Ephrata,
Pennsylvania and were said to have had an "Ishmaelite" 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.
McElwain notes in his A Path in Time that, "Evidence of their [the
Eckerlins] contact with Bektashis is not strong since most of the direct
documentation was destroyed, but they certainly have a spiritual practice
closely resembling the musahiblik." In post #1797 of the Sufi-Dhikr
discussion group Prof. McElwain adds the following lengthy information
about the Eckerlin brothers:
"Dawoodis have had a presence on the American continent
apparently for many centuries. Stories of transmission include
references 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. The Eckerlins may have had correspondence, directly or
indirectly, with Edward Elwall. However, neither the Eckerlins nor
Edward Elwall can be noted with certainty to have been members of the
order."
Again, why mention any of these figures at all given that their
connection to Bektashism can in no way be verified? 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 fill
out volumes!
Deplorably, it is only halfway through "Sufism Bridging East & West:
the case of the Bektashis" that McElwain mentions a confirmable and
verifiable presence of a Bektashi in America, that of Baba Rexheb Ferdi
(1900-1995) and the center he established in Michigan in 1954. Baba Rexheb,
nonetheless, receives only one miniscule 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 homeland for 50 years and a
man who was single-handedly responsible for safeguarding the Bektashi
tradition during the darkest hours of communist rule over Albania.
Additionally Baba Rexheb wrote a length study in Albanian on Islamic
Mysticism and Bektashism entitled Misticimza Islame dhe Bektashizme, which
was later partially translated to English. It is astonishing that McElwain
does not even discuss this work and only says that Bektashism failed to
become more widely spread in North America because of "Baba Rexheb's
integrity in not compromising the spiritual tradition for other agendas." I
can only ask, can anyone name a real spiritual guide who has done
otherwise? Unfortunately, McElwain fails to mention what these "other
agendas" are.
The next subject I would like to draw attention to is McElwain's
statement that the Dawoodi "branch" represents "the tradition that most
closely adheres to the teachings of Hajji Bektash."[12] To begin with, has
history ever witnessed a tariqat that posts a legal disclaimer about
potential misuse of a novice manual? For "Dawoodi-Bektashis" this manual is
entitled How to Form a Sufi Lodge: The Dawoodi-Bektashi Order of Dervishes
Guide for Establishing and Maintaining a Sufi Lodge,[13] and its presents
the reader with a general view of the religious currents driving group as
formulated by McElwain and his khalifah, Kemal Argon. Reading through it
one is hard pressed to find anything remarkably Bektashi in it at all. The
entire manuscript appears to maintain an adherence to normative Sunni Islam
(albeit with orthodox Twelver Shi'ite leanings) and typical Sufi practice,
coupled with a heavy dose of quotations from the Old Testament.
In reality, the actual source of McElwain's claims to be a pure
representation of Haji Bektashi does not come from any genuine Bektashi
tradition but rather can be found in his own writings and posts. We are
told in one communication that the Dawoodi Order was founded by none other
than Haji Bektash himself (Sufi-Dhikr message #4409), and then we read in a
later post (#5383) that there was no order known as the "Dawoodi-Bektashi"
until McElwain formulated the designation himself. In the very same post,
he divulges that, "because of the lack of historical documentation, I have
felt it best to suppress the chain of transmission altogether, and rely
merely on the twelve imams." However, why would this need to be done? Why
would there be a need to conceal ones religious affiliation, especially
since he now resides in secular Scandinavia and his followers are found
primarily in North America? Are there currently squads of fanatic mullahs
running around the mountains West Virginia with the sultan's troops in tow
hounding out closeted Bektashi heretics?
Thus we find that in the Dawoodi movement McElwain created a Sufi
brotherhood containing commonplace Sufi ritual, and which recites both the
Qur'ān and Bible verses in their sama'. The description of the dhikr
ceremony as provided in How to Form a Sufi Lodge has nothing Bektashi about
except a mention of the 12 Imams and Haji Bektash Veli. Moreover, it should
be added that Bektashis do not make group dhikr with repetitive chanting,
as described in McElwain's manual. It should also be noted that Bektashis
(or any other Sufi order to my knowledge) have never used the Bible as an
authoritative religious scripture as McElwain does. In his section on
beliefs and practices, McElwain repeatedly emphasizes a Bektashi use of the
Qur'ān and the Bible. I personally have read many Bektashi texts as well as
sung many a Bektashi nefes and I have never encountered any examples of
Bektashis using the Bible to prop up religious doctrine. Bektashis honor
the Four Scriptures, as do all Muslims, but they do not teach from them.
 As a Muslim, teaching from the Zabur or Psalms can be problematical in any
event since an authoritative Islamic translation and commentary on them has
never existed.
What McElwain does constantly assert is the very Bektashi concept of
the "Four Gates", except that his elucidation of them is cursory at best.
He even makes an oblique jab at the Bektashi hierarchical pathway of
Shari'ah, Tariqah, Ma'rifah and Haqiqah by stating, "All four gates must be
active. It is an old Bektashi principle, lost by the hierarchical orders,
that the adherent must engage in all of the mystical states, not just one
of them."[14] A good reading of J.K. Birge's noteworthy The Bektashi Order
of Dervishes presents a much more focused view, as would a cursory reading
of Bektashi nefes. However, I must presume that McElwain has no access to
the overabundance of material on Bektashism in Turkish and a few lines from
his semi-autobiographic Hello I am God: A Bektashi Rosary 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 I said. He eyed me
curiously. Finally, he said to the host in a loud whisper, 'Is your
friend mentally deficient?' 'Why no,' said my friend. 'Then why does
he speak Turkish so poorly?'"
There are many concepts in authentic Bektashism (and Alevism) that
McElwain stridently rejects, such as the concept of "Allah-Muhammad-Ali"
joined in a Reality. He posts: "In this we contrast with those Bektashis,
influenced I believe by Western scholarship, who maintain a trinity of
deities in Allah-Muhammad-Ali, or who are outright pantheists."[15] I
surmise that the reason he also ferociously opposes this so-called Bektashi
"trinity" is that he possesses a Muhammad and 'Ali who haven't yet made
union with Reality. Yet he would rather assert godhood for himself (read
through his Hello, I'm God and see what I mean) and claim that is the
legendary "Bektashi Secret" while ranting against Bektashi tradition.[16]
As I have stated, most of what can be passed for as "Bektashi" in
McElwain's How to Form a Sufi Lodge can easily be retrieved from Birge's
book as well as from the extremely flawed work Extremist Shi'ites by Matti
Mousa. Those Dawoodi "traditions" that can be found in Birge's book are
listed as "village Alevi" practices that may or may not correspond to
Bektashi customs. This inventory is by no means original and is not
expanded upon by McElwain. Rather it reads like a laundry list of already
known facts rather than a systematic interpretation of faith and practice.
One interesting point in this regard is McElwain's claim of the
Bektashi trait of 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-Dhikr discussion group makes one wonder if such
principles are really stressed at all. I will give the following lengthy
example of one of Kemal Argon's tirades leveled against genuine Bektashis:
"I was going on the assumption that there are different kinds 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 retarded
ignoramuses. Those ignoramuses are such a waste of time to talk to. In
fact, when I have met one of those for certain, I felt a need to
dissociate myself from him or her because I don't want to see and hear
how they have taken a magnificent religious tradition that was
entrusted to them and neglected it completely, allowing it to turn
into some pseudo-religious cultural phenomenon which is a mockery of
its former achievement. I have met some of those and it was good to be
able to say that I don't need them. Usually it is enough to say that I
don't speak Turkish and my Dawoodi-Bektashism is not dependent on
speaking Turkish or Albanian and I also don't care to spend too much
time learning those languages (and if I did I would not tell them.)
This conveniently ditches all that irrelevant Turkish and Albanian
irreligious cultural baggage. These people are such a waste of time
for believing Muslims to talk to. It 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, I
am going to be looking for evidence of commitment to Islamic faith and
practice. If that is not present, they will be dismissed before they
waste any more of my time."[17]
Sounds like a real broadminded Sufi here!


How to Form a Sufi Lodge bases itself around an extended commentary on
the Ten Commandments more so than anything Islamic or Sufic. These biblical
commands form the real basis of the Dawoodi practices. But why would an
Islamic Sufi order use Christian or Jewish sacred texts as a criterion to
judge Islamic sources? I can comprehend studying Jewish or Christian works
using the Qur'ān as a criterion, but the inverse? Such a thing is unheard
of in Islamic history and certainly there is nothing in Bektashism would
lend itself to such a practice. The manual ends with a description of time
keeping for the Dawoodi 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 being made must have destroyed many a porch post
over the past five centuries.
To justify the basis for his creating a Bektashi "group" McElwain
claims in his A Path in Time to have discovered that Bektashis "can be
divided into three groups. One group follows a hereditary leader, another
non-hereditary, and the final one, hardly to be called a group at all, has
no visible leadership."[18] Let met state explicitly: There have never been
"branches" of Bektashis. McElwain is correct in noting that there are the
two parallel currents of Babagan and Çelebi. Yet if he would have had
access to the works of Turkish scholars of Bektashism he would have found
that the Çelebis, though claiming paternal decent from Haji Bektash, never
claimed to be a Bektashi "Order". The "Babagan" or Tariq-i Nazanin (the
Delicate Way) 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, McElwain implicitly degrades the Babagan through his claim
that it does not represent Haji Bektash's teachings in its genuineness. He
states that, "Especially in the 1500s reforms came into prominent branches
of the order with changes and additions, but the Dawoodi-Bektashi branch
was unaffected by that."[19] Balım Sultan (d. 1520) systematized ritual and
organized the Bektashi Order and is venerated as its Pîr-i Thânî (Second
Patron Saint). However, McElwain is wrong to assume that Balım Sultan
somehow made "additions and changes." Reverence for the 12 Imams and
leanings towards antinomianism were already present in the Qalandar roots
of the order starting with Haji Bektash Veli's grand-shaykh Ahmad Yesevi.
Balım Sultan (whom McElwain erroneously refers in the article to as "Pir
Sultan") may have standardized the order and formalized ritual, but the
doctrines and beliefs of the Bektashis after Balım Sultan were certainly
not invented by him. In addition the image of a "Sunni" Shari'ah-stressing
Haji Bektash (to which McElwain appears to prop up) is a nothing more than
a rehashing of the 20th century rewriting of Bektashi history by certain
individuals in Turkey holding sectarian agendas.
The story given at the end of McElwain's "Sufism Bridging East & West:
the case of the Bektashis" narrating his supposed meeting with a descendant
of Yunus Emre while in Turkey seems to imply that this event is the origin
of his Bektashi "connection", but once again it is a very disingenuous
allusion. This Bektashi individual (so McElwain claims) was not a member of
any tekke and he affirmed his Sufi doctrine with the words: "Allah is my
pir" as well as "Allah is my musahip." McElwain discloses that the man's
silsilah consisted only of the Twelve Shi'i Imams (identical to our Shaykh
Ali Haydar's!) and no mention of Haji Bektash is made at all. From this man
McElwain claims to have learned the repetition of some names of Allah as a
form of "lone dervish" dhikr. He also alleges that he was exposed to a
Khidr-like teaching experience while visiting Konya. There, an inebriated
Bektashi version of the Mevlevi whirling was a way to tell McElwain about
the idea of the Abdal, but Shaykh Ali Haydar hasn't seem to have made the
connection; a real Bektashi would have. This leads to McElwain's final
contention that only a "Bektashi of the wandering dervish sort" could able
to follow the path of Haqiqat without a shaykh or spiritual guide. I do
believe it was Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jilani who stated that, "The shaykh of a
one without a shaykh is none other that Shaytan."
Despite all of his claims and assertions to historical legitimacy, in
one revealing internet post we have McElwain saying he suppressed his
order's 400 year-old silsilah, shortened the introduction of the liturgy,
and to have added both the names "Dawoodi" and "Bektashi" himself to what
he was teaching. He himself named his order the "Dawoodiyya" in order not
to confuse it with the Isma'ili Dawoodi-Bohras of India and out of
reference "to the prevalent practice (not necessarily always followed) of
reciting the Zabur or Psalms of David as a central part of dhikr." He
further claimed direct Anatolian and Kurdish origins to his group when he
noted that, "The only extensive reference in a scholarly work that I know
of is the one in the book Extremist Shi'ites: The Ghulat Sects, by Matti
Moosa, Syracuse University Press, 1988."
There are numerous messages posted on the Yahoo Sufi-Dhikr group where
McElwain accentuates a connection between his group and those Dawudis
mentioned by Mousa (who are in fact an obscure branch of the Ahli Haqq of
western Iran and have nothing to do with the Bektashis), leading uniformed
readers to believe that the two groups are one and the same. Yet all of
this contention is completely wrecked with McElwain's final revelation that
the "tradition" he espoused was obtained from very surprising sources which
will be discussed below.
Let me address the aforementioned points here. Only the most
elementary students of Islamic mysticism could possibly confuse the
Anatolian/Balkan Bektashis and Indian Ismai'ilis, and just because you may
have inserted the name of Haji Bektashi into your prayer does not make you
Bektashi. Acceptance of a legally ordained and competent Bektashi murshid,
as well as having a community, along with a study of its teachings, does.
The "lone dervish model" invented by McElwain can only be seen as an excuse
for his lack of legitimate authority, as such a model does none of this.
There was nothing stopping him from traveling to Turkey and studying under
a Bektashi baba and then, if he was deemed competent, he could have been
given a license ('ijazat) to teach Bektashi spirituality. And this lack of
genuine spiritual legitimacy is illustrated quite well in the rude and
boorish behavior of many of his disciples.
In his collection of writings and in his numerous internet postings
McElwain neglects to show even the slightest knowledge of Haji Bektash's
writings, be they in Turkish, Persian, Arabic or any other language. His
grasp of these seems nothing more than a very jumbled and ambiguous
understanding of authentic Bektashi (or Alevi for that matter) beliefs,
rituals, customs and social attitudes. Although he continually makes
reference to the group's validation to claim Bektashism being their
supposed use of Haji Bektash's Maqalat, it is a work that has only recently
been translated into English by Prof Tahir Uluç of Selcük University. Of
course, McElwain has now exploited this work for his own ends, although it
raises other questions as to why he was never able to quote or teach from
the book before. Unfortunately, one can only surmise how he will use this
to further justify his claims. He made the following comments after the
publication of Prof. Uluç's work:
"I find it gratifying that the basic views expressed here are the very
ones that we have been emphasizing and that were transmitted to us.
Some of them are issues that other Bektashis criticized us for: such
as our inclusion of shari'a within the Sufi experience and our regard
for the four books, and our expansion of the ten Sufi stages to
reflect a broader foundation. It goes without saying that the four
gates and the four basic mystical experiences, which we have always
maintained as the core of our teaching, is primary in this document.
It is just final proof that we have transmitted the true teaching of
Hajji Bektash and are not off on a tangent as some of our critics have
implied or even stated."
Transmitted "to us" by whom? Where did McElwain get this "spiritual"
tradition from? Where? Well on the 21st of October, 2004, he finally
disclosed the "Bektashi" origins of his Dawoodi group. In a post made on
Yahoo Sufi Dhikr group that day, he stated that his teacher was none other
than his late grandmother, Evalyn Mullins McElwain (1900-1984). She
received the Dawoodi teaching, McElwain maintains, from her father, John
Mullins, a farmer whose parents were originally from Kentucky and who were
farmers.
What Evalyn McElwain purportedly taught was a silsilah containing the
names of the 12 Imams, the concept of the four gates, the four books,
veneration of the Decalogue (the Ten Commandments), a recitation of Psalms
on Friday night and the prohibition of alcohol. Except for the acceptance
of the 12 Imams and 4 gates and books there is nothing a devout rural
Southern Baptist would not accept. For that reason, if we can believe this
claim that there was a tradition in existence before McElwain's birth
(which given his track record of fabrications is very dubious), it
certainly would not have stood out. More revealing to us is that McElwain
admits in the very same post that this spiritual "tradition" cannot be
traced back before 1850 (although John Mullins was born in 1868) and he
mentions the possibility that his great-grandfather made the whole thing
up, although I am inclined to suspect that it is he who made the whole
thing up.
McElwain shockingly states in this post that, "There is no
documentation for the order beyond 1850 that we know of, and no
documentation of a historical Turkish connexion [sic!]. There is the
possibility that John Mullins invented the whole thing." What then are we
to make of all the "potential" connections we have been feed by McElawin in
regards to the Silesian Baptists, Bektashis, Elwall, and the Melungeons
over the last few years? What are we to do with his earlier assertions of a
Dawoodi tradition originating with Haji Bektash and then how it survived
for 400 years in the mountains of West Virginia? Where exists, then, the
connection between Thomas McElwain and Haji Bektash Veli? Can any of his
claims to be a spiritual guide now be taken seriously?
In closing, I would very much like to ask McElwain to show us another
"Dawoodi-Bektashi" from his particular lineage that is not an immediate
family member and who is a Melungeon. Can any information be provided
beyond his constant fabrication, speculation and highly improbable
theories? Bektashi history is there for all to read. It is a tradition that
has been clearly recorded and that has a foundation in historical fact. Can
the same be said for this self-styled "branch" of Bektashism? If he can,
I'll eat a rabbit.
Afterthought
Following the initial presentation of this exposé in November of 2004,
McElwain and his followers publicly recanted their claim to Bektashism and
admitted that they had no legitimate connection to the order whatsoever.
References to Bektashism were deleted from their Lodge Guide (at least to
the one presented to me) and membership to their Yahoo group Sufi-Dhikr
restricted in an attempt to dissuade further investigation and questioning
of their spurious claims. Unfortunately, the Dawoodi group continues to
maintain that they are Bektashis and as of May 2006 McElwain asserted that:
"Dawoodiyya is, I believe, the tradition that most closely adheres to
the teachings of Hajji Bektash. Yet, not having a clear tradition of
using the term Bektashi [funny he didn't have a problem using it prior
to 2004], when faced with the situation where that terms represents in
many minds the contrary of what we teach and live, we are wise to
avoid it, at least in any public documents. Yet we remain Bektashi in
the sense that we follow his teachings, refer to his name and
writings, and are similar in some ways to other groups who also do so.
Yet we avoid misunderstanding by not including the term on such
documents as the lodgeguide."
He also scornfully dismisses any criticism of his self-initiated Sufi
order by stating, "Every time someone makes a claim [on the internet], no
matter how modest, there are six or eight dogs who come yapping about it."



Appendix


Reviews of "Sufism Bridging East & West: the case of the Bektashis" by
historian Huseyin Abiva and well-known journalist Stephen Schwartz.


Huseyin Abiva writes:
I have received the book "Sufism in Europe and North America"
(Routledge/Curzon; ed. David Westerlund) that contains the essay "Sufism
bridging East and West: The case of the Bektashis" by Thomas McElwain.
Mention of it was brought up here [Yahoo Bektashi group] a few weeks back
so I decided to have a look at the work. I am posting my comments here
because others may also have read the work since its initial mention. First
off, I would like to thank Professor McElwain for his effort in bringing
further discussion and interest to the Bektashi Order. However, there are
more than a few factual errors and obscure statements in his work that
could lead to serious misinterpretations of what Bektashism is and what it
is not:
1) It is stated that Bektashi mysticism "must have enhanced the
cruelty of action for which [the Janissaries were] sometimes known." Does
Bektashi spiritualism encourage cruelty in any way? Can this be elucidated
further?
2) "The Albanian development is rather special, since it was attached
to the court of the king himself." By king, I assume you mean King Zog
(1895-1961), who ruled as sovereign over Albania during the 1920's and
1930's. While he certainly did not hinder the Bektashis in his country, he
was not intimately connected with the order and was, officially, a Sunni
Later in his life, during his exile in Cairo, his family did develop warm
relations with Ahmet Sirri Dede of the city's Kaygusuz Tekke.
3) "The Hurufi doctrine, emphasizing the mystical meaning of numbers…"
I know it may sound hypercritical, but Fazulullah Astarabadi emphasized the
"Huruf", i.e. letters, not numerology. Indeed the Hurufi connection to the
Bektashis is more complex than commonly perceived notions have led many to
believe. One can read Shahzad Bashir's extensive biography of
Fazulullah Astarabadi for more on the Hurufi-Bektashi connection.
4) "The reforms of Pir Sultan at the beginning of the sixteenth
century." Do you mean Balim Sultan (d.1520) here? Pir Sultan (Abdal) is
actually an altogether different figure more commonly associated with the
Anatolian Alevis and Kızılbaş than with the Bektashis.
5) "After this golden age, Bektashism appears to have been more static
and less willing to adopt new beliefs and practices. Indeed, it had become
so eclectic by this time that different strands of
Bektashis have had trouble recognizing each other as bearers of the same
tradition." Can this be clarified? Most Alevis and Bektashi today would
have no problem in recognizing shared origins for their spiritual systems.
Yet there seems to be a rather loose interchange of the terms "Alevi" and
"Bektashi" in the text. The two, while having connections on several
points, are not the same. I understand what you are trying to get at, that
"Bektashi" is a blanket term for all groups claiming Haji Bektashi. For
most readers however, "Bektashi" certainly would mean those who have
followed the order as it appeared during the Ottoman Empire. In this
regard, there may be serious confusion between "Alevi" and "Bektashi" in
the modern sense. For instance, there is mention of Bektashi "dance groups"
regularly performing in modern Turkey. These are actually Alevi groups, not
Bektashi. As Bektashism is still officially outlawed in secular Turkey,
there are no public displays as such. There are no such restrictions on the
Alevis, who are seen as an ethnic group not a Sufi order.
7) "The lodge in Skopje under the direction of Halife Ibrahim is very
popular." There are no Bektashi lodges in modern-day Skopje. Halife Ibrahim
(Shaykh Ibrahim Myrteza, a man I know personally) is actually a Rifa'i-
Karabaşi shaykh, not a Bektashi. There are, however, other functioning
Bektashi tekkes in Macedonia today: one each in Tetovo, Kičevo, and
Kanatlar.
8) Your speculations on the Melungeons are captivating. However, the
section suffers from a serious lack footnotes (as does the entire book in
fact!).
9) The mention of a "Bektashi revival" in Bulgaria is once again
misleading in that Alevis are once again confused with Bektashis. The
Bektashi presence in Bulgaria disappeared with the departure of the
Ottomans. There are, however, large segments of the Turkish population that
describes itself as Kızılbaş, meaning Alevi, not Bektashi.
10) "The canon of accepted Scriptures is open and diverse, but always
seems to include the four books, that is the Bible (the Torah, Psalms and
Gospels) and the Quran." While this may be true
for some Alevi groups, to state that this acceptance is "almost universal
among Bektashis" is not true.
11) "In my experience, most of the Bektashis I met in Turkey did use
alcohol, and on one occasion I even found drunkenness a part of the
ritual." While I agree with the first part, Bektashis have never encouraged
drunkenness as part of ritual, especially as part of ritual. There is even
a person assigned during the muhabbet whose duty is to see to it that there
is no overindulgence of the dem. Perhaps this was an anomaly you ran into
and not representative of Bektashi tradition.
12) "A final Bektashi practice is that of laying a spoon with the bowl
of it down instead of up." Actually, Bektashis place the spoon face up. The
notion of it being placed face down after a meal is a long held inaccuracy.
13) There is a second mention made by you of a Bektashi lodge in
Skopje and of its members being "very strict in their adherence to Islamic
law." As I stated above, there are NO functioning Bektashi lodges in Skopje
and given my longstanding affiliation with the Albanian and Macedonian
Bektashi community, I have never come across any that could be described as
"very strict in their adherence to Islamic law" at any stretch of the
imagination (as proven in your statement about the use of alcohol above).
In addition, Bektashis have never performed the darb/burhan (which is
described by you as "fakir trickery"). It is simply not part of Bektashi
ritual or tradition. This is a Rifa'i, Sa'di and (to a lesser extent)
Qadiri devotion in Macedonia and Kosovo. I had the opportunity to take part
in this ritual piercing in the Hazinadar Baba Rifa'i tekke of Skopje, as
rest assured the metal going through my cheek was no trick.
Once again, I do not mean these concerns as a challenge to anyone,
rather in as a move to seek clarification, discussion and further
instruction.


With Love,
Ashik Huso




From international journalist Stephen Schwartz:
I have now had a chance to read Thomas McElwain's essay, "Sufism
Bridging East and West, The case of the Bektashis" and I must say that, if
anything, my criticism of it would be much harsher than that of Brother
Huseyin Abiva. To begin with, I believe that publications on these topics
must be as careful, factual, and detailed as possible. I am not an
academic, but in all my books and articles have sought to work to an
academic standard. In the past, this stance was motivated by the fact that
my efforts concentrated on criticism of the history of the pro-Soviet left,
and I knew that if my writings were not "bulletproof" they would be torn to
shreds, and I would be discredited. At present, I face a similar situation
because my work is so critical of Wahhabism – the enemy lies in wait and
hopes to use any mistake or ambiguity to undermine my arguments.
In my own view, scholarly standards are even more important when we
present our knowledge of Sufism to the uninitiated public, because of the
pitfalls of the New Age approach and similar distortions of Islam prevalent
in Western society. Nevertheless, I have already stated and restated that
point and will not belabor it unnecessarily here.
I am disturbed by the following formulations in Prof. McElwain's
essay:


1. "the militant mysticism of Ahmed Yassavi in Central Asia." I do
not understand what this is intended to convey, and am sorry to see it
presented without elucidation. I recently visited the massive türbe
complex of Hojja Yasawi in Kazakhstan, and nothing I heard from people
there indicated that his legacy is seen as "militant." An easily-accessed
website includes this citation: "If you meet the unfaithful, do not offend
him. God averts from the cruel-hearted men, from souls of offenders."
2. "It thus became in some sense the competitor of the famous whirling
dervishes, founded by Jalal al-Din Rumi at about the same time." I don't
favor this kind of extreme simplification of the history of Sufism.
3. "Circle prayer with the recitation of the Qur'ān and perhaps Bible
portions." I do not approve of the introduction of the Bible here,
especially with nothing more than the qualifier "perhaps" to ameliorate the
absence of a source for this comment. This is a highly controversial issue
and if it is to be discussed it must be done so thoroughly.
4. "It formed the rallying point for the elite Janissaries, and with
its fostering of mystical devotion must have enhanced the cruelty of action
for which that body is sometimes known." I have already made clear my very
serious objection to this comment. Aside from its accommodation to
Islamophobia, it is both logically and grammatically incoherent.
 Bektashism was not a "rallying point" for the Yeniceri. The concept that
mystical devotion enhances cruelty cannot be considered anything but a
serious attack on the whole character of Sufism. I think Prof. McElwain
has confused the Yeniceri with the başibozuks, who represented an entirely
different phenomenon.
5. "Bektashi sympathizers today are among the most faithful admirers
of Atatürk." A statement like this, especially following mention of the
suppression of Sufism by Mustafa Kemal, cannot stand without elaboration.
No Sufi should ever refer to the secularizing, militarist dictator of the
Turkish republic by the name used by the regime to confer on him
"fatherhood of the Turks," without at least a qualifier – but that is only
my opinion.
6. "There are still organized lodges in Macedonia, Bulgaria and
Kosovo, and perhaps even in Hungary. The Albanian development is rather
special, since it was attached to the court of the king himself. With the
new independence of Albania the order has reappeared strongly, especially
in the southern part of the country. However, the Communist regime was
fairly successful in exterminating the earlier spirituality, and it is
difficult in reconstruction to get beyond mere identity and forms." For
reasons I noted in an earlier communication, this entire paragraph is
deeply offensive. The Albanian Bektashi order was never "attached to the
court of the king." In reality, the Communist regime was unsuccessful in
extirpating the religiosity and spirituality of the Albanian nation. If
one is going to discuss the special nature of Albanian Bektashism, it
cannot be elided in this fashion.
7. There then emerges the first of the indications that this paper
deliberately ignores the difference between Alevis in Turkey and Bektashis.
 This is an extremely serious and irritating error. Alevis are not the same
as Bektashis. They can only be considered a subset of Bektashis in the
most general way, in the same manner that both can be considered subsets of
Muslims. Obscuring these differences will not help any scholar or
spiritual seeker. It will only put obstacles in their way, which is not
our mission.
8. The inclusion of the discussion of Edward Elwall seems to me
completely gratuitous, adding nothing to the understanding of Bektashism,
while also being excessively speculative.
9. I have already expressed myself on this entire Melungeon discussion
but will only add that I am of Appalachian origin on my mother's side, and
as a young man, then studying anthropology, read a good deal on the
Melungeons, because for a while I believed my great-grandmother was a
Melungeon (she was not; she was a Tsalagi (Cherokee) from North Carolina).
 I am also now aware of efforts to claim all sorts of Arabic and Islamic
presences in the Americas before recent times, including the argument
advanced by an otherwise-reputable scholar that Arabic was the fourth most
common spoken language in Charleston, South Carolina, in the 18th century.
 I am suspicious of all of these speculative claims unless they can be
supported by solid sources. But I have already said that.
10. "a re-establishment of Albanian Bektashism is likely to take
place." It has already taken place, more than a decade ago, and to suggest
otherwise, especially in print, is not only erroneous, but extremely
offensive. I suggest Prof. McElwain sit down with someone who reads
Albanian and go through references to Bektashism in that language via
Google.
11. "The success of this will probably depend on the action of
Albanian American Bektashis." This is also erroneous and offensive, but I
can add nothing about this to what I wrote in point. The rest of this
article is so vague, sloppy, and superficial that it really can do serious
harm to the image of Bektashism
among scholars.
12. However, I must say I am deeply, deeply offended by the statement
"Like the Mevlevis, the Bektashis are known for their tolerance of Judaism
and Christianity as well as Islam." The Naqshbandis are not known for
this? The Halvetis? The Chishtis? The Rifa'is? How many more orders do
I have to name? To limit a discussion of this elementary aspect of Sufism
to the Mevlevis and Bektashis is to create a completely new genre of
"tourist Sufism."
13. I am equally offended, as a Sufi and as an author and scholar, by
the ridiculous statement, "More than the Mevlevis, they are considered to
have taken on beliefs and practices from outside the Islamic tradition."
 Is this something that is unique to the Mevlevis and Bektashis? Hardly.
 Anybody with the slightest real knowledge of Sufism should know this.
14. Then we have this almost unbelievable paragraph, so laden with
misapprehensions and errors as to require a whole separate discussion:
"So far as I know, no researchers have remarked on the similarities
between Bektashis and Jews, although the historical contact with the
Dönme or Muslim convert followers of the seventeenth-century 'false'
Messiah Sabbetai Zwi is well known. Considering the various
possibilities of contact with several Jewish communities of different
kinds, that failure seems surprising. There are a number of features
that might well have Jewish origins. The diet is more like Jewish
kashrut than Sunni halal, differing only in the lack of regard to
mixing milk and meat. Although there is nothing like the Sabbath
observance of Judaism, certain actions are widely avoided on
Saturdays, especially entertainment and commerce. Nails are pared
early on Friday, full ablutions are made, and marriages and funerals
avoided on that day. Although this is certainly not limited to
Judaism, the Star of David or Solomon's seal is a prominent decoration
in Haci Bektash Koyu. It is found above all of the ancient wells in
the area, and even on the big dipper in the large kettle in the
kitchen, a utensil that is almost considered sacred. All in all,
Bektashism is particularly adapted to attracting people of either
Christian or Jewish background."
First, numerous Jewish researchers have remarked on the similarities
between Bektashis and Kabbalistic Jews; it is something of a cliché in
Jewish studies. Second, there is no verifiable basis to claim a historical
contact between Sabbatai Zvi or the Dönmeh and the Bektashis, which is
another cliché. The fact that the Bektashi diet more resembles kashrut
than Sunni halal standards is something anyone who knows anything serious
about Islam should be aware of, i.e. that the Shi'i dietary laws are the
same as the Jewish dietary laws except for the milk/meat issue and the fact
that Shi'is are allowed to eat shrimp or prawns if caught fresh.
 Otherwise, Shi'is do not eat shellfish or fish without scales or catfish,
and any book of Shi'i fiqh includes this. Sistani's volume of fiqh for
Shi'is living in the West includes photographs of halal fish. The real
howler here, however, is the reference to the Star of David, because it has
become infamous among superficial commentators. The six-pointed star was
not considered a Jewish symbol until the end of the 18th and beginning of
the 19th centuries, when the idea of a Jewish national consciousness
emerged in Europe. The traditional Jewish symbol seen on graves and other
monuments was the menorah. I was once told by a Wahhabi idiot in
Prishtina, Kosovo that the oldest mosque in Kosovo was built by Jews,
because its walls included six-pointed star motifs. These motifs are
extremely common in Islamic art and architecture.
15. Then we have this pearl: "Albanian Bektashism still tends to be
rather nationalistic in character. Despite its poverty, with its new
governmental support, it may in time provide a community of interest to
visitors." What is going on here? Has Prof. McElwain concluded that
because Albanians are little known and speak an obscure language they are
free targets for abusive, speculative comments? Since when does poverty
afflict the Bektashi order? Since when does the government of Albania
provide support to Bektashism? What form does this alleged support take?
 Prime Minister Fatos Nano is a former Communist from an Orthodox
background. What business would he have supporting Bektashism? And what
stands in the way of Albanian Bektashism presently being of interest to
visitors?
16. "Hu" as a reference to Allah is derived from "Hu" as the breath of
God, or at least that is what I was taught. It is not derived from YHVH,
the Hebrew divine name. It is the same as "hu" in Aramaic, as it appears
in the Jewish Kaddish, "berich hu." In both Arabic and Aramaic it is
typically translated as "He," of which it is a synonym.
I apologize if these comments seem needlessly reproachful. They are
motivated only by a desire for inscription of truth on paper and in books
as well as on hearts.

--Stephen Schwartz





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-----------------------
[1] In November of 2004, the leader of this group, Thomas McElwain,
ordered his followers to stop openly identifying themselves as Dawoodi-
Bektashis and call themselves simply "Dawoodis", even though he continues
to claim a Bektashi connection to his sect.
[2] Yahoo group "Sufi-Dhikr" post #6019
[3] Yahoo Sufi-Dhikr group, post #1797
[4] ibid.
[5] More information on the Balkan element of the Lost Colony can be
found in the work Croatia and the Croatians of the Lost Colony by Adam S.
Eterovich.
[6] Yahoo Sufi-Dhikr group, post #1794


[7] McElwain has posted a number of Elwall's writings online at
(http://www.rosanna.com/mcelwain/elwall/index.htm).
[8] Champion, 1992, page 177
[9] http://rosanna.com/mcelwain/pathintime/path1.htm
[10] http://rosanna.com/mcelwain/
[11] Yahoo Sufi-Dhikr group, post #1732


[12] Yahoo Dervish group, post #932
[13] The word 'Bektashi' has been dropped from recent editions of this
manual.
[14] Yahoo Dervish group, post #823
[15] Yahoo Dervish group, post #803
[16] For the full text of this work see
http://rosanna.com/mcelwain/hello/index.htm
[17] Yahoo Sufi-Dhikr group, post #6019
[18] http://rosanna.com/mcelwain/pathintime/path1.htm
[19] Yahoo Sufi-Dhikr group, post #4409