Originally one of many Sufi approaches within Sunni Islam, by the 16th century the order adopted some tenets of Shia Islam, including the following of ʿAlī and the Twelve Imams, as well as a variety of syncretic beliefs. The Alevis acquired political importance in the 15th century, when the order dominated the Janissaries.[16]
The term “Alevi-Bektashi” is currently a widely and frequently used expression in the religious discourse of Turkey as an umbrella term for the two religious groups of Alevism and Bektashism.[17] Adherents of Alevism are found primarily in Turkey and estimates of the percentage of Turkey's population that are Alevi include between 4% and 25%.[10][18][19]
^Mete, Levent (2019). "Buyruk und al Jafr Das Esoterische Wissen Alis" [Buyruk and al Jafr The esoteric knowledge of Ali]. Alevilik-Bektaşilik Araştırmaları Dergisi: Forschungszeitschrift über das Alevitentum und das Bektaschitentum [Alevilik-Bektaşilik Araştırmaları Dergisi: Research journal on Alevism and Bektashism] (in German). 19: 313–350. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
^Karakaya-Stump, Ayfer (2019). "5 Mysticism and Imperial Politics: The Safavids and the Making of the Kizilbash Milieu". The Kizilbash-Alevis in Ottoman Anatolia: Sufism, Politics and Community. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. pp. 220–255. doi:10.1515/9781474432702-012. ISBN9781474432702.
^Karolewski, Janina (2021). "Adaptation of Buyruk Manuscripts to Impart Alevi Teachings: Mehmet Yaman Dede and the Arapgir-Çimen Buyruğu". Education Materialised. pp. 465–496. doi:10.1515/9783110741124-023. ISBN9783110741124. S2CID237904256.
^Karakaya-Stump, Ayfer (2010). "Documents and "Buyruk" Manuscripts in the Private Archives of Alevi Dede Families: An Overview". British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies. 37 (3): 273–286. doi:10.1080/13530194.2010.524437. JSTOR23077031. S2CID161466774.