A major saint of Bektashism and a prominent member of the Abdālān-ı Rūm,
ابدالان روم, who probably played
a major role in the dissemination of Bektashi teachings. According to İsmā‘īl Belīg’s Gül-deste-i Riyāż-i ‘İrfān (كلدستهء رياض عرفان), Abdāl
Mūsā was one of the forty abdāls who migrated from Bukhara before the conquest of Bursa. Historians such as Ṭaşköprizāde , ‘Ālī and Ḫoca
Sa‘deddīn state that Abdāl Mūsā
participated in the conquest of Bursa and had close relations with Geyikli Baba. Abdāl Mūsā is portrayed as
Bektashi in ‘Āşıḳpaşazade, who describes him as a follower of Ḥacı Bektāş’s spiritual daughter
Ḫātun
Ana. This affiliation is supported by the fact that Abdāl Mūsā’s disciple Ḳayġusuz Abdāl is the first
dervish known to call himself Bektashi. ‘Āşıḳpaşazade also relates a tradition regarding Abdāl Mūsā’s role in the
Bektashisation of the Janissary corps. We know from Ḳayġusuz Abdāl’s poems that
Abdāl Mūsā carried a club and
addressed his dervishes as “abdāls”. His followers wore animal hides, carried
dervish bowls, and practiced blood-shedding during Muharram. The name of Şeyḫ Muṣṭafā Abdāl Mūsā appears on an
inscription dated 811 AH [1408 CE], probably
belonging to a rundown lodge, which figures on the right wall of a fountain at
Denizli. If we accept that
Abdāl Mūsā was alive on this
date, then it becomes impossible for him to have attended the conquest of Bursa (726 AH [1326 CE]). An official document concerning Teke-ili during the reign of Mehmed II affirms the presence of an Abdāl Mūsā lodge near Finike, founded in the middle of the
14th
century [1300-1399 CE]. This must be the lodge which became the lodge of Kāfī
Bābā at a later date. The lodge in Elmalı, known in our day as the Abdāl Mūsā lodge, was founded
during or after the 16th century [1500-1599 CE]. In time, the traditions relating to Abdāl Mūsā were transferred from
one lodge to the other. A record in Evliyā
Çelebi shows that this process was not yet complete in the 17th century [1600-1699 CE]. In
some Bektashi sources and in the inscription at the Kāfī Baba Tekkesi near Finike, Abdāl Mūsā
is designated as “pīr-i sānī” (the second great master). The lodge of Abdāl Mūsā is one of the four
Bektashi lodges holding the rank of khalifa. Abdāl
Mūsā and his disciple Ḳayġusuz
Abdāl are name holders of two of the twelve sheepskin ceremonial
seats (pūṣt) in the Bektāşī meydān (ceremonial room), linking them to the duties
of ayaḳçı (holder of domestic duties such as cleaning) and naḳīb (helper of the
mürşid) in the Bektashi ceremony (cem‘).
The only known manuscript of this text is dated 964 and located at the Suleymaniye Library, Galata Mevlevihanesi
Collection. The content of the work, which probably outlines the principles
of cem‘ ritual, as well as its relation to
Abdāl Mūsā require
investigation.
Poems attributed to Abdāl Mūsā
appear in a number of mecmū‘as. However,
most of these belong to the 19th century, thus making the attribution doubtful. No
studies have been conducted on the subject.
