Bektashi Order
The Bektashi Order (; ), short for Shī‘ah Imāmī Alevī-Bektāshī Ṭarīqah, is an unorthodox Sufi dervish order ("tariqat") named after the 13th century Alevi Wali "(saint)" Haji Bektash Veli from Khorasan, but founded by Balım Sultan. The order, whose headquarters are in Tirana, Albania, is mainly found throughout Anatolia and the Balkans, and was particularly strong in Albania, Bulgaria, and among Ottoman era Greek Muslims from the regions of Epirus, Crete and Macedonia. However, the Bektashi order does not seem to have attracted quite as many adherents from among Bosnian Muslims, who tended to favor more mainstream Sunni orders such as the Naqshbandiyya and Qadiriyya. The order represents the official ideology of Bektashism ().