DÖNMEH. The followers of the Ottoman Jewish messiah Shabbetai Tsevi (or Shabtai Zvi; 1626–1676), subsequent to his conversion to Islam, are known as the Dönmeh. Despite hostility originating from the belief that they had converted to Islam deceitfully, though perhaps with a salvific intent, the Dönmeh adhered to Tsevi and his successors. They maintained a certain degree of unity even after their removal in 1924 from Salonika, which had become their capital early on, to Turkey (where they are still present). Tsevi's conversion is understood to have been the model for their own, undertaken in imitation of his and intended to assist him in his attempt to defeat demonic forces associated with Islam by descending among them. There were, however, several different theologies and theologians of the Shabbatean sects, including some that did not convert to Islam or counsel conversion until...