An Alawi brother of ours has written. “Master, there are many negative sentiments about Alawis. Could you answer them?” I have personally seen and known how religious, decent and honorable my own uncle is. His Alawi friends used to come and I have witnessed how religious and decent they were. My other uncle was also an Alawi. He was also a very reasonable, rational and religious man. In addition, I stayed at Hacibektas for three days at an Alawi village, an Alawi town, a Hacibektas town. I have had many Alawi friends. They were all very decent, very noble, out-going and trustworthy people.
It is wrong to say, “Alawis are called such and such but this is not so.” Those people who say these things are not as good as Alawis. Alawi means lover of Allah and lover of Hazrat Ali (as). Alawi means lover of Ahl Al-Bayt, someone full of love. They love people. They love children, the elderly, music, and say nice words and speak in an erudite way. They are people of peace and reason. He talks eruditely. For example, Yunus Emre is an Alawi. Yunus Emre has great sayings, doesn't he? Wisdom and beauty; Alawis are like light.
Alawis have a very strong love for Hazrat Ali (as). Alawis are very mature. If they ask me, “Would you go to a bigot’s house or an Alawi’s house?” I would prefer to go to an Alawi’s house. Bigots have no love. They don't have any compassion and friendship. Alawis are not like that. When they take the saz (a stringed musical instrument) into their hands, Allah gives them inspiration and they write great lyrics. Alawi sayings are amazing; they say great words full of love and compassion through inspiration.
I used to speak with the people in Hacı Bektas. They are very mature. They are mature in a way that I cannot describe. They are amazing people. I entered into a dervish house of Hacibektas and something happened there: I became more mature by Allah’s leave. Something happened. I am telling the truth. When I came back to Ankara, they told me, “You became more mature.” It has a small dervish house made of stone. Haci Bektas has a small window. For example, Haci Bektas always has lamb and deer. He is a great man of love. Also, sincere Sunni people are very decent. There are sick people among Alawis and Sunnis as well, right? But this is not a measurement. Alawi means love and compassion.
The hadiths about Hazrat Mahdi came down to us these days thanks to Alawis otherwise most of them would have been forgotten. To tell the truth, our Sunni brothers have not protected them very well. There are at most 100 hadiths in Sunni sources but in Alawi sources there are thousands. The hadiths about the Mahdi are in 100 volumes. They did not forget the love of Mahdi. They have preserved it. (Adnan Oktar, May 7th, 2013: A9 TV)
