Alevis venerate Ali, cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet, with exceptional devotion, and a strong current of Alevi and Bektashi thought regards him as a manifestation of divine light, sometimes expressed through the triad of Allah, Muhammad, and Ali. Alevism is a heterodox tradition rooted in Anatolia, shaped by Twelver Shia loyalty to the Twelve Imams, by Sufism, and by older regional currents. Its worship centres not on the mosque and the five daily prayers but on the communal cem ceremony, with its music, poetry, and the ritual dance of the semah.
Estimates of the Alevi population in Turkey vary widely, commonly cited in the range of ten to twenty million, since Turkish census data does not record sect and the community has often kept a low public profile after historical persecution. Alevi worship centres on the cemevi (cem house) rather than the mosque, led by a dede, a hereditary spiritual guide descended, tradition holds, from the family of the Prophet through Ali.
The closely related Bektashi Sufi order, historically tied to the Ottoman Janissary corps, was banned by Sultan Mahmud II in 1826 when he abolished the Janissaries, and though Bektashi lodges were suppressed in Ottoman territory, the order's teaching continued to shape Alevi devotional life and remains active openly in Albania and the Balkans today.