<Special Feature 2 "Inquiry into Coexistence Based on the Idea of‛Asian Islam'">Understanding the Relations between Christians and Bektashis: Interconfessionalism and Supraconfessionalism

Abstract

This paper aimed to investigate the relationship between the Christian population in Turkey as well as the Balkans and the members of the Bektashi Sufi order, from the end of the 19th century until present. Many Christians and Bektashis have actually put behind all the religious divisions and moved forward together so as to share sanctuaries (mausoleums, chapels, convents), rituals, and even legends and myths today. Furthermore, the particular relation between these two faiths has encouraged Christians to be initiated into Bektashism without any obligation to renounce their religion. This phenomenon is epitomized in some cases in Istanbul at the beginning of the twentieth century and even nowadays. Finally, this paper analyzed the doctrinal dimension upon which the particular openness of the Bektashis toward the Christians is based: It is inspired by a traditional way of thinking cultivated in Anatolian mysticism, which may be defined as interconfessionalism and supraconfessionalism.