Jenseits religiöser Eindeutigkeit: Ambige Glaubensvorstellungen in historischen Überlieferungen des Alevitentums

This paper addresses the question of ambiguous ideas in historically transmitted texts of Alevi provenance. The study focuses on the production of ambiguities and attempts to explore the motives and, in particular, the intentionality of ambiguities. For this purpose, the study draws on writings of the so-called Buyruk tradition and the poetry of the Safavid Shah Ismail I (1487-1524) - two sources that are considered constitutive for Alevis historically and today. As a case study, the paper discusses ideas on the central Alevi saint Imam Ali (600-661). In both types of sources, at least three clearly distinguishable and even conflicting perceptions of Ali emerge. In addition to differentiating the individual levels of how Ali is perceived, the study offers various approaches to explain the ambiguous beliefs. The focus is on the question of the intentionality of ambiguities - whether and what intentions the authors might have in implementing them. Among various approaches, the idea that the authors intended to address different recipients with different concepts is discussed in more detail.