Abdāl

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Abdāl ( Arabic أبدال, Plural of بدل, DMG badal , substitute, substitute ') is a term that occurs in Islam , more precisely in Sufism (“mystical” Islam) and is used for a man close to God or for a class of holy men.

properties

There are different views as to what properties an abdal has or should have. In many cases, special religious or believing persons were added or prefixed to their first names as an honor and recognition of the title Abdal .

The idea of ​​the Abdāl can be traced back to the early days of Islam. A report cited by the Transoxan scholar al-Ḫuttalī (d. 896) states that there are a total of sixty Abdāl through whom God directs the cause of the world and through which people ask for rain and receive help against the enemy could. Whenever one of them dies, God will put another man in his place. If He wants to destroy the world, He will let them all die.

That is why the Abdal are to control the events of the world in secret and in the name of God or by Allah's will and permission and only rarely become visible to "normal" people. They are called "substitute" because God should always keep their number constant and whenever one of them dies, he should replace him with another man.

The Abdāl are related to Chidr in various ways . Their appearance is very similar to the apparitions of Chidr. It is widely believed that Chidr as a whole is the head ( raʾīs ) of the Abdāl. Sometimes the prophet Elias joins him in this role . The Persian Sufi Rūzbihān Baqlī (d. 1209) saw both figures in a vision together with the Abdāl at a paradise river in which they washed their clothes.

According to another idea, the Abdāl are ruled by a "pole" ( quṭb ). There are very different views in Sufik about the relationship between this and the two figures Chidr and Elias.

In Anatolia and the Balkans, the term Abdāl later became an honorary title for wandering dervishes . They are mostly Alevis. Abdal also means "beggar". It is also used to refer to the Davul-and-Zurna musicians, who are often Roma.

Alevi tradition

In the Alevi tradition, dervishes are almost exclusively used with it. Since Alevi saints have no interest in the outward appearance, there is also no uniform dress code or identification. The Abdal tradition can be traced back constantly through Islamic history. It takes its origin from the shamanistic Turkmen-Alevi culture.

Some well-known Abdal were:

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See the Kitāb ad-Dībāǧ . Ed. Ibrāhīm Ḥālim. Damascus 1994. pp. 40f.
  2. ↑ Cf. Patrick Franke: Encounter with Khidr. Source studies on the imaginary in traditional Islam . Beirut-Stuttgart 2000. pp. 201-203.
  3. ↑ See H. Corbin En Islam iranien: aspects spirituels et philosophiques . 4 vols. Paris 1971-72. Vol. 3, p. 52.