Hurufism

Hurufism

Hurufism ( _ar. حروفية "hurufiyya", adjective form "hurufi") was a mystical kabbalistic [cite book |title=Secrecy in Religions |last=Bolle |first=Kees W. |authorlink= |coauthors= |year=1987 |publisher=Brill Archive |location= |isbn=9004083421 |pages=89 |url= ] Sufi doctrine, which spread in areas of western Persia, Anatolia and Azerbaijan in later 14th - early 15th century. The Arabic word "hurūf" literally means "letters (of the alphabet)".

Foundation

The creator and spiritual head of the Hurufi movement was Fazlallah Astarabadi also called Naimi (1340-1394). Born in Astrabad, Iran, he was strongly drawn to Sufism and the teachings of Al-Hallaj and Rumi at an early age. In mid 1370s young Naimi started to propagate his teachings all over Persia and Azerbaijan. While living in Tabriz Fadlullah gained elite following in 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 Alinjak castle in Nakhichevan by the ruler's son Miranshah. 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.

Key Elements of Hurufism

According to Fadlullah, the key to open seventh sealed book, the Qur'an, 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 Fadlullah a manifestation of God's force after Adam, Moses and Muhammad. God is also embodied in words and 28 letters of Arabic alphabet and 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 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" [cite book |title=The Cambridge History of Iran |last=Frye |first=Richard |authorlink= |coauthors=Fisher, William Bayne |year=1968 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location= |isbn=0521200946 |pages=624 |url= ] , Hurufism was an expression of Ismailism in its mystical identification of human figure, but differed in recognition Haqiqa in the substance of letters rather than in the person of the Imam.

Impact of Hurufism

After his death Naimi's ideas were developed and propagated by Nasimi and Ali-ul A'la in Azerbaijan and Seyid Ishag in Turkey. Poet Imadeddin Nasimi (?-1417) and other Hurufis, make kabbalistic tendencies subordinate to mystic concepts of Sufism, and specifically those of Hallaj, who was another great influence on Nasimi.

Through Nasimi's poetry, Hurufi ideas influenced, in different degrees, people like Niyaz-i Misri, Fuzuli, Habibi, Khatai (Ismail I), and Rushani. Bektashi sect in Turkey and Ahl-e Haqq in Iran owe a lot of their theological vocabulary to Hurufism.

The Bektashi order in 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 "The Key to the Unseen ".

Contemporary Infuences

* The scenes of Fadlullah's execution and of Nasimi's brutal flailing in Aleppo appear in the Azeri language movie "Nasimi" (1973)

* Hurufism plays a role in Turkish author Orhan Pamuk's novel "The Black Book".

* Current Hurfism research based on Torah http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-208619888961779202

References

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, "Misâlî'nin Miftâhu’l Gayb'ı Metin ve Açıklama", Turkish Studies, International Periodical for the Languages, Litterature 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.

ee also

*Sufism
*Ideas of reference
*Nuqtavi


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Fazlallah Astarabadi (Naimi) — Fażlu l Lāh Astar Ābādī (Naimi) (PerB|فضل‌الله استرآبادی), also known as Fażlullāh Tabrīzī AstarābādīIrène Mélikoff. Hadji Bektach: un mythe et ses avatars : genèse et évolution du soufisme populaire en Turquie , BRILL, 1998, Chapter IV, p. 116,… …   Wikipedia

  • Imadaddin Nasimi — Nesimi redirects here. For places in Azerbaijan, see Nəsimi (disambiguation). This article is about the 14th century Sufi poet. For the 17th century Alevi Shi a poet, see Kul Nesimi. Nasimi statue in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan ‘Alī ‘Imādu d… …   Wikipedia

  • Насими — азерб. İmadəddin Nəsimi перс. عمادالدین نسیمی‎ …   Википедия

  • 1394 — Year 1394 was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Julian calendar.Events of 1394* September 17 King Charles VI of France orders the expulsion of all Jews from France. * September 28 Pope Benedict XIII… …   Wikipedia

  • Gorgan — For the administrative subdivision, see Gorgan County. For the village in Azerbaijan, see Gürgan. For the village in Alba County, Romania, see Cenade. Gorgan گرگان …   Wikipedia

  • Ahl-e Haqq — For the related religio cultural community in Turkey, see Alevi. For the Turcoman Shī‘ah militant groups who helped found the Safavid dynasty of Iran, see Qizilbash. For the esoteric Ṣūfī sect, see Hurufism. Kurdish Yarsani men in Suleimaniyah,… …   Wikipedia

  • Giritli Ali Aziz Efendi — Giritli Ali Aziz Efendi …   Wikipedia

  • Nuqtavi — This article is part of the series …   Wikipedia

  • Gorgan — Coordenadas: 36°50′N 54°29′E / 36.833, 54.483 …   Wikipedia Español

  • Nesimi, Seyid İmadeddin — ▪ Turkish poet died c. 1418, , Aleppo, Syria       one of the greatest Turkish mystical poets of the late 14th and early 15th centuries.       Very little about his early life is known. He became acquainted with the founder of an extremist… …   Universalium

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”