Bulgarian journalist, researcher and historian Georgi Kulov presented at the media center of the Bulgarian National Radio his new book entitled People of Truth. The book is about the Aliani community living in the Rhodope Mountains. The book shows how little Bulgarians know about the history, the culture and traditions existing on those lands.

Aliani, Alevis, or Kazilbashi mean one and the same thing - a community, which has been covered in secrecy for many centuries. It remained in the shadow of the country's public life, yet it managed to preserve its customs and traditions. The Alevis honor Ali ibn Abi Talib and his family. They are similar to the Shiites and their beliefs differ completely from the ones of the Sunnis. The Aliani do not go to mosques or madrasas. They rather prefer to visit vaults of Aliani saints. They regard women as equal to men and allow them to participate at all types of rituals. The Aliani are led by several principles such as love, respect and tolerance towards other people, regardless of their religious or ethnical belonging. Moreover, they respect labor as well. During their fairs (also known as Maeta) the Aliani invite at their sacred table people of different ethnic groups and religion.

Those people believe that modesty and poverty are supreme virtues and stay far from temptations such as alcohol, power and adultery. On the contrary, human virtues such as freedom and equality have gone deeply into their beliefs. Georgi Kulov calls them People of Truth, because this is how Alevis describe themselves. The author reveals their historical roots, their cultural traditions and tells us about the life of the people from the Alevi branch of Islam in Bulgaria, who practise soft Islam.

Georgi Kulov told Radio Bulgaria more about the People of Truth:

“The issue about the ethnic groups in the Rhodopes, about the relations between those groups and the relations towards the Bulgarian majority has always been very topical. I have been impressed for many years by the Alevi community in the Rhodopes, which has always been united.  I wanted to know how Bulgarian Mohammedans profess Alevism in Islam, which in most centuries opposed to the Ottoman power. That is why I started to study that community. Many friends helped me a lot, too. Unfortunately, one of them passed away. His name was Sadullah Hairullah. I wrote my books thanks to that person. Alevism is a mystical branch of Shia Islam. Currently, this issue is topical due to the conflicts in the Middle East, mainly in Syria, wherePresident Bashar Assad represents one of the Alevi branches in Islam, which emerged a little earlier than the one existing in Bulgaria.”

"The book is free from prejudices towards the Alevi community. The Bulgarian society should pay bigger attention to the Aliani community. They integrated extremely well into the society. Some of them occupy serious and influential positions, although those people do not like to become popular. They are subject to scientific researches, rather than to media presentations. I wrote that book, in order to acquaint as many readers as possible with the Bulgarian Alevi living in the Eastern Rhodopes. Readers can learn how those people throw a bridge between love in God and love in their neighbor.”

In times of growing negativism towards Islam due to the terrorist attacks and the refugee flow towards Europe the People of Truth book identifies the fundamental differences with arguments and does not allow any comparison between the Bulgarian Alevi and the radical ideology and practice. The book also answers other interesting questions such as how two religious communities (the Aliani and the Sunnis), which are in conflict in other countries, manage to live in harmony in the Rhodopes, why Christians and Muslims celebrate together, what is soft Islam, etc.

Georgi Kulov admits that he would not have been able to write the book without the help of the deceased Alevi leader Sadullah Hairullah-Baba. The author of the book calls Sadullah the Unfaltering Man of Truth and dedicated his research to him. Unlike most researches about Aliani in Bulgaria, the People of Truth book is directed to the broad audience.

Ambassadors of several countries, representatives of Alevi communities in Bulgaria, researches, academicians, public figures and journalistsattended the official presentation of the book.

English version:Kostadin Atanasov