Islam has its fair share of anarchists and dissenters. Dissent began with the death of the Prophet himself, and regularly thereafter. It’s human nature to rebel, or to fight in the name of Justice. And as in many times in human history, some of these dissenters were dealt with iron fist. However, many a time the dissent was dealt more leniently preserving human dignity.
Here is one living example:
Bektashi
Bektashi today are recognized mostly as Alevi people, a significant minority in Turkey and the Balkans. Of the many who accepted Islam, they took the longest time to accept the Shari’a (Salah/Sawm or Namaz/Roza) at a personal level. The process is still in progress.
The jokes referred to below reflect a part of their culture, faith in one God and dissent against authority – of any kind (kings, even scholars). For centuries, they have lived in the Ottoman Empire, and they see themselves as the persecuted.
In the early 20th century, after successive defeats of Othmania Sultanat, they gave in to Socialist idealism propagated by the Soviet Union. Modernity did propel them into power, with Ataturk by their side. However as the Berlin wall fell in 1989, the Bektashi found themselves on the wrong side of history, and began a new search for identity. Today, they are slowly warming up the ‘Rule of Law’, under the influence of Ithna-‘Ashari Shi’a.
During its 1400 years, Islam saw many such dissenters. They had failed because they could not develop a systemic approach to challenges in life; some would not abide by any rules.
Jokes, reflecting a simple culture and defiance of authority
The following are the jokes from http://bektashiorder.com/joke-1. These jokes have been taken out now; though Google stores them I believe.
Khawarij
An extant example:
Most of the Bektashi life had been a peaceful dissent. Not so with the Khawarij; they were born with blood around.
The silver lining of this dark Khawarij cloud was their belief in meritocracy: that the Khilaafat does not have to reside with the Quraysh tribe. Time has proven them right, despite tomes of condemnation from both Sunni and Shi’a.
Today, the peaceful version of them are called Ibadis – the many citizens of Oman. They are closer to Sunnis, they dampen the Salafi zeal and work as a neutral intermediary between the zealous Sunni-Shi’a opponents. Positive virtues outlive the negative behaviour in life, always.
