Bektashism (Albanian: Bektashi, Turkish: Bektaşîlik) is a mystic order of Sufi Islamic origin, that evolved in 13th-century Anatolia and became widespread in the Ottoman Empire.

By the 16th century, the order had adopted some tenets of Twelver Shia Islam—including veneration of Ali (the son-in-law of Prophet Muhammad) and the Twelve Imams—as well as a variety of syncretic beliefs.

[10] In addition to the spiritual teachings of Haji Bektash Veli, the Bektashi order was later significantly influenced during its formative period by the Hurufis (in the early 15th century), the Qalandariyya stream of Sufism, figures like Ahmad Yasawi, Yunus Emre, Shah Ismail, Shaykh Haydar, Nesimi, Pir Sultan Abdal, Gül Baba, Sarı Saltık and to varying degrees more broadly the Shia belief system circulating in Anatolia during the 14th to 16th centuries.

[17] The doctrines and rituals of the Bektashiyya were codified by the mystic Balim Sultan, who is considered the pīr-i thānī ('the Second Elder') by Bektashians.

[21][failed verification] In 1826, the Bektashian order was banned throughout the Ottoman Empire by Sultan Mahmud II for having close ties with the Janissary corps.

By the 18th century Bektashism began to gain a considerable hold over the population of southern Albania and northwestern Greece (Epirus and western Greek Macedonia).

Following the ban on Sufi orders in the Republic of Turkey, the Bektashian community's headquarters was moved from Hacıbektaş in central Anatolia, to Tirana, Albania.

The most recent head of the order in Albania was Hajji Reshat Bardhi Dedebaba (1935–2011) and the main tekke has been reopened in Tirana.

Today sympathy for the order is generally widespread in Albania where approximately 20% of Muslims identify themselves as having some connection to Bektashism.

A splinter branch of the order has recently sprung up in the town of Kičevo which has ties to the Turkish Bektashian community under Haydar Ercan Dede rather than Tirana.

A smaller Bektashian tekke, the Dikmen Baba Tekkesi, is in operation in the Turkish-speaking town of Kanatlarci, North Macedonia that also has stronger ties with Turkey's Bektashis.

This tekke is found in the Detroit suburb of Taylor and the tomb (türbe) of Baba Rexheb continues to draw pilgrims of all faiths.

In 2002, a group of armed members of the Islamic Religious Community of Macedonia (ICM), a Sunni group that is the legally recognized organisation which claims to represent all Muslims in North Macedonia, invaded the Bektashian Order's Arabati Baba Teḱe in an attempt to reclaim this tekke as a mosque although the facility has never functioned as such.

[33] Bektashism places much emphasis on the concept of Wahdat al-Wujud (Arabic: وحدة الوجود, romanized: Unity of Being) that was formulated by Ibn Arabi.

The Bektashian Order is a Sufi order and shares much in common with other Islamic mystical movements, such as the need for an experienced spiritual guide—called a baba in Bektashian parlance — as well as the doctrine of "the four gates that must be traversed": the "Sharia" (religious law), "Tariqah" (the spiritual path), "Marifa" (true knowledge), "Haqiqa" (truth).

There are many other practices and ceremonies that share similarities with other faiths, such as a ritual meal (muhabbet) and yearly confession of sins to a baba (magfirat-i zunub مغفرة الذنوب).

Bektashis generally revere Sufi mystics outside of their own order, such as ibn Arabi, al-Ghazali and Rumi, who are close in spirit to them despite many of being from more mainstream Islamic backgrounds.

Like many Sufis, the Bektashis were quite lax in observing daily Muslim laws, and women as well as men took part in ritual wine drinking and dancing during devotional ceremonies.

[42] A poem from Bektashi poet Balım Sultan (died c. 1517/1519): Like most other Sufi orders, Bektashism is initiatic, and members must traverse various levels or ranks as they progress along the spiritual path to the Reality.

In Albania, the World Headquarters of the Bektashi (Albanian: Kryegjyshata) divides the country into 6 different administrative districts (similar to Christian parishes and patriarchates), each of which is called a gjyshata.

[44] During the 1930s, the six gjyshata of Albania set up by Sali Njazi were:[44] National headquarters in other countries are located in:[45] There is also a Bektashian office in Brussels, Belgium.