Ali Illahism (
Persian: علیاللّهی) is a
syncretic religion which has been practiced in parts of
Luristan region in Iran which combines elements of
Shia Islam with older religions. It centers on the belief that there have been successive
incarnations of the
Deity throughout history, and Ali Illahis reserve particular reverence for
Ali,[1] the son-in-law of the Islamic prophet
Muhammad, who is considered one such incarnation.[2] Various
rites have been attributed as Ali Illahian, similarly to the
Yezidis,
Ansaris, and all sects whose doctrine is unknown to the surrounding
Muslim and
Christian population. Observers have described it as an
agglomeration of the customs and rites of several earlier religions, including
Zoroastrianism, historically because travelogues were "evident that there is no definite code which can be described as Ali Illahism."[3]
The
Karapapakhs are primarily adherents of Ali-Illahism.[6]
In Dabestan-e Mazaheb
The Dabestan-e Mazaheb "School of Religions", a 17th-century Persian book about
South Asian religions, presents the Ali Illahians as a sect that respected
Muhammad and
Ali and discarded the
Quran, as it had been compiled under
Umar. Its members were said to avoid killing animals and to believe that the rules allowing the killing of some animals had been created by
Abu Bakr, Umar,
Uthman ibn Affan and their followers.[7]
^Olson, James Stuart; Pappas, Lee Brigance; Pappas, Nicholas Charles, eds. (1994). An Ethnohistorical Dictionary of the Russian and Soviet Empires. Greenwoon Press. p. 346.