Hurufism
Encyclopedia
Hurufism was a mystical
kabbalistic Sufi doctrine, which spread in areas of western Persia, Anatolia
and Azerbaijan
in later 14th - early 15th century.
, he was strongly drawn to Sufism
and the teachings of Mansur Al-Hallaj
and Rumi at an early age. In the mid-1370s Nâimî started to propagate his teachings all over Persia and Azerbaijan
. While living in Tabriz
, Fazlallah gained an elite following in the Jalayirid court, where the writing of his main work, Jawidan-Al-Kabir, allegedly took place. At that time he was still in the mainstream of Sufi tradition. Later, he did move towards more esoteric spirituality
, and, failing to convert Timur
, was executed in 1394 near Alinja castle in Nakhchivan by the ruler's son Miran Shah
. The uprising of Hurufis, who had gathered a large following, was crushed in Azerbaijan
, but the popular movement survived for another decade or so in different guises.
, is a kabbalistic system of letters that is expounded by later Hurufis in the Hidayat-nama, Jawidan and in the Mahram-Nama. The Universe
is eternal and moves by rotation. God's visage is imperishable and is manifest in Man, the best of forms — zuhur kibriya. God is incarnated in every atom
. Hurufis considered Fażlu l-Lāh, a manifestation of God's force after Adam, Moses
and Muhammad
. God is also embodied in words and the 28 letters of the Arabic alphabet
and the 32 letters of Persian one are the basis for love and beauty in the world. Seven is a key number corresponding to noble parts of the face, the verses of Al-Fatiha
and verbal confession of faith. Man is a supreme copy of the divine and the key to haqiqa
.
According to R. N. Frye's "Cambridge History of Iran", Hurufism was an expression of Ismailism in its mystical identification of human figure, but differed in its recognition of haqiqa in the substance of letters rather than in the person of the Imam
.
in Azerbaijan and Seyid Ishag in Turkey. Poet Nasīmī (?-1417) and other Hurufis make kabbalistic tendencies subordinate to mystic concepts of Sufism
, and specifically those of Mansur Al-Hallaj
, who was another great influence on Nasīmī.
Through Nasīmī's poetry Hurufi ideas influenced, in different degrees, people like Niyaz-i Misri, Fuzuli
, Habibi
, Khatai (Ismail I
), and Rushani. The Bektashi
sect in Turkey and Ahl-e Haqq
in Iran owe a lot of their theological vocabulary to Hurufism.
The Bektashi order in the Balkans (Albania
) have preserved the legacy of Fadlullah's teachings the longest and still continue to this day. Gül Baba
provided an extensive compendium of Hurufi ideas in The Key to the Unseen.
The Shattari
tariqah
is a contemporary repository of Hurf-e-Muqattiyat (secrets of the alphabets).
Mysticism
Mysticism is the knowledge of, and especially the personal experience of, states of consciousness, i.e. levels of being, beyond normal human perception, including experience and even communion with a supreme being.-Classical origins:...
kabbalistic Sufi doctrine, which spread in areas of western Persia, Anatolia
Anatolia
Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
and Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
in later 14th - early 15th century.
Foundation
The founder and spiritual head of the Hurufi movement was Fażlu l-Lāh Astar-Ābādī, also called Nāimī (1340–1394). Born in Astrabad, IranIran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, he was strongly drawn to Sufism
Sufism
Sufism or ' is defined by its adherents as the inner, mystical dimension of Islam. A practitioner of this tradition is generally known as a '...
and the teachings of Mansur Al-Hallaj
Mansur Al-Hallaj
Mansur al-Hallaj was a Persian mystic, revolutionary writer and pious teacher of Sufism most famous for his poetry, accusation of heresy and for his execution at the orders of the Abbasid Caliph Al-Muqtadir after a long, drawn-out investigation.-Early life:Al-Hallaj was born around 858 in Fars...
and Rumi at an early age. In the mid-1370s Nâimî started to propagate his teachings all over Persia and Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
. While living in Tabriz
Tabriz
Tabriz is the fourth largest city and one of the historical capitals of Iran and the capital of East Azerbaijan Province. Situated at an altitude of 1,350 meters at the junction of the Quri River and Aji River, it was the second largest city in Iran until the late 1960s, one of its former...
, Fazlallah gained an elite following in the Jalayirid court, where the writing of his main work, Jawidan-Al-Kabir, allegedly took place. At that time he was still in the mainstream of Sufi tradition. Later, he did move towards more esoteric spirituality
Spirituality
Spirituality can refer to an ultimate or an alleged immaterial reality; an inner path enabling a person to discover the essence of his/her being; or the “deepest values and meanings by which people live.” Spiritual practices, including meditation, prayer and contemplation, are intended to develop...
, and, failing to convert Timur
Timur
Timur , historically known as Tamerlane in English , was a 14th-century conqueror of West, South and Central Asia, and the founder of the Timurid dynasty in Central Asia, and great-great-grandfather of Babur, the founder of the Mughal Dynasty, which survived as the Mughal Empire in India until...
, was executed in 1394 near Alinja castle in Nakhchivan by the ruler's son Miran Shah
Miran Shah
Miran Shah was a son of Timur, and a Timurid governor during his father's lifetime.Miran Shah's first charge was a vast region centered around Qandahar, which he was granted in 1383. That same year, he destroyed a rebellion against Timurid authority by the Kartids, then vassals of Timur in...
. The uprising of Hurufis, who had gathered a large following, was crushed in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
, but the popular movement survived for another decade or so in different guises.
Key elements
According to Fazlallah, the key to open seventh sealed book, the Qur'anQur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...
, is a kabbalistic system of letters that is expounded by later Hurufis in the Hidayat-nama, Jawidan and in the Mahram-Nama. The Universe
Universe
The Universe is commonly defined as the totality of everything that exists, including all matter and energy, the planets, stars, galaxies, and the contents of intergalactic space. Definitions and usage vary and similar terms include the cosmos, the world and nature...
is eternal and moves by rotation. God's visage is imperishable and is manifest in Man, the best of forms — zuhur kibriya. God is incarnated in every atom
Panentheism
Panentheism is a belief system which posits that God exists, interpenetrates every part of nature and timelessly extends beyond it...
. Hurufis considered Fażlu l-Lāh, a manifestation of God's force after Adam, Moses
Moses
Moses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
and Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
. God is also embodied in words and the 28 letters of the Arabic alphabet
Arabic alphabet
The Arabic alphabet or Arabic abjad is the Arabic script as it is codified for writing the Arabic language. It is written from right to left, in a cursive style, and includes 28 letters. Because letters usually stand for consonants, it is classified as an abjad.-Consonants:The Arabic alphabet has...
and the 32 letters of Persian one are the basis for love and beauty in the world. Seven is a key number corresponding to noble parts of the face, the verses of Al-Fatiha
Al-Fatiha
Sura Al-Fatiha , is the first chapter of the Qur'an. Its seven verses are a prayer for Allah's guidance, and stress His Lordship and Mercy...
and verbal confession of faith. Man is a supreme copy of the divine and the key to haqiqa
Haqiqa
Haqiqa is a stage in Sufism, a mystical branch of Islam. Sufis strive to perfect themselves and come into the presence of God while still living. They recognize four stages in their pursuit of this: shari’a, tariqa, haqiqa and marifa....
.
According to R. N. Frye's "Cambridge History of Iran", Hurufism was an expression of Ismailism in its mystical identification of human figure, but differed in its recognition of haqiqa in the substance of letters rather than in the person of the Imam
Imam
An imam is an Islamic leadership position, often the worship leader of a mosque and the Muslim community. Similar to spiritual leaders, the imam is the one who leads Islamic worship services. More often, the community turns to the mosque imam if they have a religious question...
.
Impact
After his death Nāimī's ideas were developed and propagated by ‘Alī ‘Imādu d-Dīn Nasīmī and Ali-ul A'laCertain accursed ones of no significance
Certain accursed ones of no significance is the term used by Taş Köprü Zade in the Şakaiki Numaniye to describe some Hurufis who became intimate with the Sultan Mehmed II to the extent of initiating him as a follower....
in Azerbaijan and Seyid Ishag in Turkey. Poet Nasīmī (?-1417) and other Hurufis make kabbalistic tendencies subordinate to mystic concepts of Sufism
Sufism
Sufism or ' is defined by its adherents as the inner, mystical dimension of Islam. A practitioner of this tradition is generally known as a '...
, and specifically those of Mansur Al-Hallaj
Mansur Al-Hallaj
Mansur al-Hallaj was a Persian mystic, revolutionary writer and pious teacher of Sufism most famous for his poetry, accusation of heresy and for his execution at the orders of the Abbasid Caliph Al-Muqtadir after a long, drawn-out investigation.-Early life:Al-Hallaj was born around 858 in Fars...
, who was another great influence on Nasīmī.
Through Nasīmī's poetry Hurufi ideas influenced, in different degrees, people like Niyaz-i Misri, Fuzuli
Fuzûlî
Fużūlī was the pen name of the Azerbaijani or the Bayat branch of Oghuz Turkish and Ottoman poet, writer and thinker Muhammad bin Suleyman...
, Habibi
Habibi
Habibi is an Arabic word whose literal meaning is my beloved and that originates from the adjective habib...
, Khatai (Ismail I
Ismail I
Ismail I , known in Persian as Shāh Ismāʿil , was a Shah of Iran and the founder of the Safavid dynasty which survived until 1736. Isma'il started his campaign in Azerbaijan in 1500 as the leader of the Safaviyya, an extremist heterodox Twelver Shi'i militant religious order and unified all of Iran...
), and Rushani. The Bektashi
Bektashi
Bektashi Order or Bektashism is an Islamic Sufi order founded in the 13th century by the Persian saint Haji Bektash Veli. In addition to the spiritual teachings of Haji Bektash Veli the order was significantly influenced during its formative period by both the Hurufis as well as the...
sect in Turkey and Ahl-e Haqq
Ahl-e Haqq
The Ahl-e Haqq or Yârsân , are members of a religion founded by Sultan Sahak in the late 14th century in western Iran. The total number of members is estimated at around 1,000,000, primarily found in western Iran and Iraq, mostly ethnic Kurds and Laks, though there are also smaller groups of Luri,...
in Iran owe a lot of their theological vocabulary to Hurufism.
The Bektashi order in the Balkans (Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
) have preserved the legacy of Fadlullah's teachings the longest and still continue to this day. Gül Baba
Gül Baba (poet)
Gül Baba , also known as Cafer, was an Ottoman Bektashi dervish poet and companion of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent who took part in a number of campaigns in Europe from the reign of Mehmed II onwards....
provided an extensive compendium of Hurufi ideas in The Key to the Unseen.
The Shattari
Shattari
The Shattariyya are members of a Sufi mystical order that originated in Persia in the fifteenth century C.E. and formally developed, completed and codified in India. Later secondary branches were taken to Hejaz and Indonesia...
tariqah
Tariqah
A tariqa is an Islamic religious order. In Sufism one starts with Islamic law, the exoteric or mundane practice of Islam and then is initiated onto the mystical path of a tariqa. Through spiritual practices and guidance of a tariqa the aspirant seeks ḥaqīqah - ultimate truth.-Meaning:A tariqa is a...
is a contemporary repository of Hurf-e-Muqattiyat (secrets of the alphabets).
Contemporary influences
- The scenes of Fadlullah's execution and of Nasimi's brutal flailing in Aleppo appear in the Azeri language movie "Nasimi" (1973)Nesimi (film)Nesimi is a full-length Azerbaijani film shot in Baku, Absheron, Gobustan, Nakhichevan, Shamakhi , Bukhara, Samarkand , Halab, Damascus in 1973. Screenplay was written by Isa Huseynov. Directed by Hasan Seyibbeyli, this film is in history drama genre depicting the life of a prominent Azerbaijani...
. - Hurufism plays a role in Turkish author Orhan PamukOrhan PamukFerit Orhan Pamuk , generally known simply as Orhan Pamuk, is a Turkish novelist. He is also the Robert Yik-Fong Tam Professor in the Humanities at Columbia University, where he teaches comparative literature and writing....
's novel The Black Book.
Further reading
- H.T. Norris "The Hurufi Legacy of Fadlullah of Astarabad", in Heritage of Sufism, 2003. Oxford, One World
- Shahzad Bashir Fazlallah Astarabadi and the Hurufis, Oneworld Publications (May 25, 2005)
- Fatih Usluer, "Le Houroufisme. La doctrine et son influence dans la littérature persane et ottomane", EPHE-Paris, Phd Thesis, 2007.
- Fatih Usluer, "Hurufilik", Kabalcı Yayınevi, 2009
- Fatih Usluer, "Misâlî'nin Miftâhu’l Gayb'ı Metin ve Açıklama", Turkish Studies, International Periodical for the Languages, Literature and History of Turkish or Turkic, Volume 2/2, Spring, S. 2, www.turkishstudies.net, (Ed. Prof. Dr. Gurer GULSEVİN- Dr. Mehmet Dursun ERDEM), pp. 697–722.
- Fatih Usluer, "Hurûfî Metinleri ile İlgili Bazı Notlar", Ege Üniversitesi Türk Dili ve Edebiyatı Araştırmaları Dergisi, S. 13, Ocak/Jan 2007.
- Fatih Usluer, "Nesîmî Şiirlerinin Şerhlerinde Yapılan Yanlışlıklar," Turkish Studies, International Periodical for the Languages, Literature and History of Turkish or Turkic, Volume 4/2,Winter, 2009, http://www.turkishstudies.net/sayilar/sayi15/44usluerfatih.pdf, ss. 1072-1091.
- Beyaz Arif Akbaş, "A Special Album of Davetname" (Firdevsi-i Rumi'nin Davetname'si için özel bir albüm) Sanat Yazıları, Edirne 2002.
- Fatih Usluer, Hurufilik, Istanbul, Kabalcı Editions, 2009.
- Fatih Usluer, "Mir Fâzılî?nin Taksîm-i Salât u Evkât?ının Şerhi", Hacı Bektaş Veli Dergisi, Volume 50, 2009, ss. 145-222.