
Bülent Akın
İzmir Katip Çelebi Üniversitesi Türk Halk Bilimi Anabilim Dalı (Alevilik-Bektaşilik Araştırmaları)
less
Related Authors
Erdem Akın
Nevsehir Haci Bektas Veli University
Senem Demirelöz
Katip Çelebi University
Mehmet Ersal
Izmir Katip Celebi
Yalçın ÇAKMAK
Munzur University
Tuncay BÜLBÜL
Dumlupınar Üniversitesi
Talip Tuğrul
Muş Alparslan Üniversitesi
Betül Ekimci
Istanbul Technical University
InterestsView All (19)
Uploads
Papers by Bülent Akın
descendants” or “descendants of the Prophet, sayyids” in the historical process made the
most of the researchers believed that this word was not used to name the communities
called Kalenderi, Haydari, Cavlaki, Işık, Torlak, Abdal, Rafizi, Kızılbaş or Bektashi before
the 19th century. Alevi communities’ devotion to Ali and Ehl-i Beyt, their love for the
Twelvers, and their sensitivity to the Karbala caused that they have been evaluated in
the Shia belief system. However, as can be seen in the determinations in this article,
it is clearly seen in historical sources that the word “Alevi” is an umbrella concept and
nomenclature that covers all of these namings, just like the naming of “Kızılbaş”. The
afore-mentioned sources show that, contrary to the opinions up to now, the use of the
word “Alevi” in its current sense is not a usage of the last few centuries and the history
of this naming can be traced back to 15th century. In addition, there is a lot of evidence
pointing out that Alevism has existed with different characteristics from Shia throughout
history. In this context, in the article, the question of “How long the word ‘Alevi’ has
been used as an umbrella concept for the Kızılbaş communities, defined by researchers as
heterodox Islam, in the historical process?” has been discussed by using written sources
belonging to both believers and non-believers. In addition, findings that Alevism has an
independent existence from Shia belief in terms of both its formation in the historical
process and its theology and doctrine are discussed. We believe that these findings
will contribute to the review of the conceptual framework of the word “Alevi” in the
historical process and to understand the historic structure of the social and faith-based
organizations, especially the Ocak system, of the communities belonging to this belief.
In this context, the sources used in the article, the methods followed and the
conclusions reached can be summarized as follows:
Until recently, the term “guruh-ı alevi” in the Hatt-ı Hümayun (dated September 2,
1826) regarding the closure of the Rumeli Bektashi lodges during the reign of Mahmud
II, was accepted as the first used with the same meaning as today’s Alevi/Kızılbaş term in
written sources. However it has been determined that the word “Alevi” is used to describe
both the Alevi belief, which has a Ocak-centered structure, in its current meaning and
Kızılbaş in the land registry records belonging to the Ordu province dated to 1455, 1485,
1553 and 1579, and Celalzâde Salih Çelebi’s work named Tarih-i Sultan Süleyman which
was written in 1528, and the couplets in Divans of 16th century poets Aşkî and Hayalî
Bey and included in the work of Âşık Çelebi named Meşâ‘irü’ş-Şu‘arâ.
Additionally, in the article, there are some new findings and opinions contrary to the
recent studies on the relationship of Alevism and Shiism. These findings and opinions
can be listed as follows:
included in the land registry records clearly show that the basic terminology of Alevism
was formed and used proficiently before the 16th century.
Since the 15th century, the term Alevi has been included in the written sources in a
way that includes the Ocaks and Kızılbaş with its current meaning, and the person names
in the land registry records of these centuries coincide with the basic belief and ritual
world of the Alevi faith.
Poets who define themselves as “Kalenderi, Haydari, Işık, Torlak, Abdal, Kızılbaş”,
used the term Alevi as a meta-name covering these names in their poems, and the sources
mentioning these poets also used the same nomenclature.
All these findings, together with the determinations on the religious structure of the
Safavids, show that Alevism is a belief system that emerged and survived independently
of Shia.
In the article, it has been also questioned and discussed whether the word “Kızılbaş” was used
and became widespread earlier than the term “Alevi”. The fact that Ordu, where the Çepnis settled,
was registered as “Bölük-i Niyabet-i Ordu bi-ismi Alevî” in the cadastral registers written in 1455
and it was named as “Bölük-i Niyabet-i Ordu nam-ı diğer Alevi” in the cadastral registers written
in 1485 shows that the term “Alevi” was used earlier than the word “Kızılbaş” which was started
to be used as a political and military term by Şeyh Haydar (b. 1459-60 - d. 1488), son of Şeyh
Cüneyd, and became widespread enough to be recorded in official documents. As a matter of fact,
it will be clearly seen that the word “Alevi” is more likely to be older than the word “Kızılbaş” in
describing these communities, considering that the land registry records in which the word Alevi is
used in today’s sense of Alevism, were first written in 1455, that is 5 years before the birth of Şeyh
Haydar. It shows that Alevism, which has a sufistic structure in terms of theology and doctrine,
started to become politicized after the Safavid sheiks Şeyh Cüneyd and his son Şeyh Haydar, and
that the word “Kızılbaş” was preferred by Şeyh Haydar within this context. Likewise, the political
and military steps taken by the the above-mentioned Safavid sheiks and later Şah Ismail, confirm
this thesis. Additionally, in the texts of the 16th century included in the article, the use of the term
Alevi together with the “semâ/semah” ritual, contrary to the word Kızılbaş, is another remarkable
issue that confirms our thesis.
Rafizi, Abdal, Ishik and Torlak, were used in order to define Turkmen dervishes who
came with migrations to Anatolia between the 11th and 13th centuries, in the context of
their Sufi conception and belief-centred ritual identities. Most of these names are given
as a result of the attempts from the outside to define the communities because they were
not involved in the religious and political concept of that time and they also had esoteric
religious rituals. Researches defined these communities under the term “heterodox”
because the communities were excluded from the Sunni and Shia concepts in the context
of sharia (religious law) in scholarly studies too. However, the question whether these
names, used for the communities mentioned above, define various religious orders or
groups or not has brought a new debate. In the available literature, mostly within archival
documents, historical sources, “menakibname” and “tezkire”, evaluations are made in
the context of the names and definitions given in the works and documents, which were
written by persons who were not members of the communities in question, and the
approaches of the members or persons close to the community were ignored. Based on
these detections, our study gives a comparative analysis of the naming of the heterodox
communities mentioned above, especially taking into consideration the works of the
community members. In this respect, we used an emic and etic approach that does not
ignore the esoteric structure of the communities. As a result, we noticed that a significant
majority of these communities does not consider themselves different from each other
in the context of religious identity, Sufi doctrine, ritual universe and naming, and that the
considerable majority of the differences in the above-mentioned naming are the result of
the attempts to “define from the outside”.
Turkmen Sufi school in 13th and 14th century Anatolia with a very concise
expression and very clear and understandable language in his poems
compared to his contemporaries. His conception of Sufism is built on an
understanding based on the doctrines of "four doors and forty maqams", the
first examples of which we saw in Hodja Ahmed Yesevî. Wahdat-i Wujud
philosophy, theory of revolution, understanding of melamet, the tradition of
shathiye, sainthood-prophethood approach, and many other Sufi thoughts are
shaped in his poems in the context of the doctrines of this school. In the
following periods, the reflection of this doctrine, which continues to live in the
Alevi-Bektashi faith and Sufi understanding, especially the basic theology and
doctrine of the Alevi-Bektashi faith, such as the narrative of "Miraj (Miraç) and
Forties Assembly (Kırklar Meclisi)", has escaped the attention of the work in
the academy. Based on this finding, the traces of the thought system of the
Horasan Turkmen Sufi school on which the understanding of the “Forties
Assembly”, “Ninety thousand kalam” and "sema/semah" are rooted in the
Miraj narratives of the Alevi-Bektashi tradition, which has a very different
fiction from the Miraj narratives we encountered in the Sunni and Shiite
traditions, were examined and the elements of the miraj narrative were
examined comparatively. In this context, it was tried to reveal that the
narrative of the "Miraj and Forties Assembly” which belongs to Alevi-Bektashi
tradition which offers an understanding based on the redemption of the
sainthood and prophethood authorities in the Sufism, was processed in a
multifaceted way in Yunus Emre's poems with a secret language and rhetoric.
Considering current situation, this paper, written in the scope of Turkish folklore, has been prepared based on the view and thesis that it is important and necessary for researcher to incline to an interdisciplinary study, in its researches on musical folklore outputs, by obtaining musical knowledge or benefiting from it. In this context, the paper starts from the importance of music in the solution of the genre, form and maqam in the ashik poetry tradition. Then, it tries to explain with examples the determinative and distinctive features of music in the process of creation and transfer within the master-apprentice learning pattern in the context of ashik and Turkish epic narrative traditions; in the development and performance of religious or non-religious rituals and ritual-centred folklore outputs; in the performance of folk dances; in the process of creation and transfer of verse genres and forms of anonymous folk literature. The paper evaluates in which functions can be used musical items, such as rhythm (method), tune pattern (maqam/style), tempo, passages, strong pitch, increasing melodic interval size etc., within the processes of defining, collecting, researching, classification and analysing folklore outputs that have musical features. After these evaluations, the paper discusses the necessity and importance of including musical features in studies in the period from finding and collecting to the analysing folklore outputs within the scope of the text-centred and context-centred folklore theories. In this context, the paper puts forward the contributions which will occur as a result of the functional use of music in folklore studies.
Key Words: Folklore, music, folklore and music, interdisciplinarity.
arşivlerinde bulunan h. 1206/1207 (m. 1791-1792), h. 20 Rebîülâhir
1207 (5 Aralık 1792), h. 24 Cemâziyelâhir 1232 (m. 11 Mayıs 1817), h.
20 Rebîülevvel 1258 (m. 1 Mayıs 1842) ve h. Rebîülâhir 1302 (m. Ocak/
Şubat 1885) tarihli şecerenâme ve icâzetnâme türündeki beş ayrı belge
bağlamında bir ocak kültü oluşumunun tarihî seyrini ele aldığımız ilk
makalemizin devamı niteliğinde olan bu çalışmamızda, söz konusu
ocak hakkında sözlü gelenekten saha çalışmaları merkezli elde ettiğimiz
tespitlerin kapsamlı bir inceleme ve değerlendirmesine yer verilmiştir. Bu
çerçevede, öncelikle ocak dede ve talipleriyle yapılan mülakatlar aracılığıyla Şeyh Ahmed Dede Ocağı’nın bir devamı ve kolu niteliğindeki Teslim Abdal Ocağı’nın, bir Alevi şairi ve inanç önderi vasıflarına sahip Teslim Abdal’ın şahsiyeti merkezli müstakil bir ocak kültü oluşturma süreci irdelenmiştir. Söz konusu mülakatlar; 2014 ile 2020 yılları arasını kapsayan farklı zaman dilimlerinde Malatya, Elazığ, Antalya ve İzmir illerine bağlı çeşitli yerleşim birimlerinde ikamet etmekte olan, Elazığ’ın Baskil ilçesinin Şıh Hasan (bugünkü adıyla Tabanbükü)
köylü dede ve talipler ile yapılmıştır. Gerek dede ve talip topluluklarıyla yapılan mülakatlar gerekse Şıh Hasan köyünde gerçekleştirilen derlemeler aracılığıyla elde edilen bilgilerin ocak dedelerinin şahsî arşivlerinde bulunan belgelerle karşılaştırılması neticesinde, Teslim
Abdal Ocağı’nın müstakil bir ocak olarak yapılanma süreci, ocak hiyerarşisi, dede ve talip topluluklarının yayıldığı coğrafî alan ortaya konulmaya çalışılmış ve ocağın güncel durumu ile ritüel merkezli devamlılığı hakkında tespit ve değerlendirmelere yer verilmiştir.
interested both European and Turkish and Iranian researchers. These researches have
set forth various findings and views on this subject. It is surely that there is no consensus
within these views; while some researchers qualify the beliefs of Karakoyunlus as “Shia”
or “Ghali Shia”, some of them have brought forward the view that this state belonged to
the Sunni denomination. This situation has led to contradictory ideas on the question of
the belief or denomination of the State of Karakoyunlu.
This paper, based on various findings and views on the denominational tendencies of
the State of Karakoyunlu which have figured in the literature to date, discusses findings
and ideas set forth by historians from Europe, Turkey and Iran. After assessing these
findings and ideas, the paper presents to reader findings which figure in the works of
historians who lived concurrently with the State of Karakoyunlu. The researches, done
both in the era of Karakoyunlus and in later periods, were assessed within the scope
of history and folklore from a critical point of view. In addition to these findings and
assessments, new findings and ideas, that need to be addressed, are set forth on the
basis of the content of nine ghazals which we found in the “conk” of an Alevi “dede”
during our fieldwork and which are likely to belong to Cihan Shah Hakiki, the ruler of
Karakoyunlu. As a result of these new findings, that we made, and the critical analysis of
the existing literature, it is aimed to eliminate the confusion about the belief system of
the Karakoyunlu State, and ambiguity and uncertainty arising from it.
Keywords: Karakoyunlu State, Alevism, Qizilbash, Hakiki, Shah Cihan.
Bu makalemizde, sözünü ettiğimiz eksiklikler göz önünde bulundurularak Dede Korkut Kitabı, Alevi inanç sisteminin sosyal, kültürel, hiyerarşik ve ritüelik yapısı bağlamında analiz edilmiştir. Türkiye, İran ve Balkanlardaki Alevi dede ve talip toplulukları üzerine yaptığımız saha çalışmalarında, Dede Korkut Kitabı’ndaki hayat tarzı, inanç sistemi, ritüeller, toplumsal kabuller, motifler, kalıp ifadeler ve sosyal hiyerarşi gibi birçok unsurun Alevi topluluklarca yaşatıldığı tespit edilmiştir. Gerek Aleviliğin yazılı geleneğinde gerekse sözlü gelenekte yaptığımız tespitler, saha çalışmalarımızda topladığımız görsel verilerle desteklenerek Dede Korkut Kitabı mukayeseli olarak Alevilik penceresinden okunmaya çalışılmıştır.
The Book of Dede Korkut is a highly important work which incorporates Turkish culture, beliefs and traditions. Therefore, this book became the subject of academic studies from different scientific disciplines. Although some of these studies touched upon certain aspects of Alevism in the Book of Dede Korkut, there is not any academic research which directly analyses the Book of Dede Korkut within the context of social life, rituals, hierarchical structure, social recognition, traditional and cultural elements of the Alevi belief system.
Taking into consideration mentioned inadequacies, this paper analyses the Book of Dede Korkut, within the context of social, cultural, hierarchical and ritual structure of the Alevi belief system. During our fieldwork done on Alevi “dede” and aspirant communities in Turkey, Iran and Balkans, we ascertained that many elements in the Book of Dede Korkut such as lifestyle, rituals, social recognition, motifs, idioms and social hierarchy, have been kept alive by Alevi communities. Also, we detected that there are many similarities between texts of “velayetname”, “menakıbname”, poems and “gülbenk”, used as a support to the theological background of the Alevi belief system, and the Book of Dede Korkut’s preface and narrations. This paper tries to read the Book of Dede Korkut through the perspective of Alevism by undergirding it with our findings on both written and oral tradition of Alevism and visual data collected on our fieldwork.
Concepts and elements, such as lifestyle, belief system, rituals, social recognitions, titles, motifs, idioms and social hierarchy, from the Book of Dede Korkut are comparatively analysed within the context of the Alevi belief system under two main headings by taking into consideration the book’s preface and narrations. The similarities between aspects sustained within the Alevi belief system, and those in the Book of Dede Korkut are revealed with detailed examples in the comparative analysis. Thus, we determined that the reflections of the religious belief of Turks in the period when the Dresden copy of the Book of Dede Korkut was written, and the Alevi belief system share a host of similarities. Also, we observed that many aspects from both preface and narrations in the book continue to live among communities connected with the Alevi belief. In this sense, the meaning attached to the word “dede”, the common ground between Dede Korkut and “dede” of Alevi “ocak”, beliefs and practices sustained within Alevi rituals, similarities between pray forms and “gülbenk” expressions, the sacred similarity between “kopuz” and “saz”, the position of women in society, attitude towards alcohol, religious motifs in the narrations, formal expressions and numbers in poetical texts are all comparatively analysed under following subheadings: “Elements Determined in the Context of Social and Religious Hierarchy”, “Concepts and Rituals Belonging to the Alevi Theological Background”, “Social Recognition Among Alevi Communities and Turks from the Period when the Book of Dede Korkut Was Written” and “Motifs, Formal Expressions and Other Elements”.
This comparative analysis shows that the religious attitude of the person who has written down the Book of Dede Korkut, and the belief nature in the narratives reveal a belief structure which we can call non-Sunni or heterodox Turkish Folk Islam considering the conditions of that period. This indicates that both scribe’s belief and Oghuz Turks’ life-style, which is the subject of the narratives, have much more similarities with communities that belong to the belief called Qizilbash in that period, or Alevi, as it’s called nowadays. Indeed, as it’s found that the elements and concepts of Sunni Islamic Sharia are in great minority, it occurs that drinking wine and attributing sacredness to it, which is unallowable and forbidden by Sunni Islamic Sharia, attributing sacredness to “kopuz”, clairvoyance and many more aspects are included in the book and that they reflect a way of life of the society.
k-ish culture, holds an authentic meaning and conceptual framework within the Alevi belief system. It is seen that Alevi belief is established within historical pro-
cess on the structure and organization named “ocak system” and that “dede” and aspirant communities, as members of the belief system, are socially, cultur-ally, religiously, legally and economically organized on the basis of the system.The opinions, mostly based upon written sources, on the formation and devel-
opment throughout history of the “ocak” system, which is emphasized as the
basic structural from of Alevism by researchers whenever possible, are insuffi-cient and this situation has caused problematic approaches toward formationof the conceptual framework of the subject. This paper includes a several new
findings and views about how long the term “ocak” is in use with its conceptual
meaning gained within the Alevi belief system and, about its first occurrencethroughout history as a belief-based foundation and organization form. The pa- per tries to clarify the historical background and conceptual framework of the
concept of “ocak” in Alevism using findings from personal and official
archivesalong with the available literature about the subject.
Keywords: Alevism, “ocak”, the concept of “ocak”, “ocak” system.
ÖZET
Türk kültüründe bir kült olarak geniş ve önemli bir yer tutan ocak kavramı, Alevi inanç sistemi içerisinde özgün bir anlam ve kavramsal çerçeveye sahiptir. Alevi inancının tarihî süreç içerisinde " ocak sistemi " adı verilen yapılanma ve teşkilatlanma üzerine kurulduğu ve inanç mensubu olan dede ve talip topluluklarının sosyal, kültürel, dinî, hukukî ve ekonomik bakımdan bu sistem çerçevesinde organize oldukları görülmektedir. Hemen her fırsatta konuyla ilgili araştırmacıların Aleviliğin temel yapılanma biçimi olduğunu vurguladıkları ocak sisteminin tarihî süreç içerisindeki oluşum ve gelişimi hakkındaki bilhassa yazılı kaynaklara dayalı tespitler yetersiz kalmış, bu durum da konuyla ilgili kavramsal çerçevenin oluşturulmasında problemli yaklaşımların ortaya çıkmasına yol açmıştır. Bu makalede, ocak teriminin Alevi inanç sistemi içerisinde kazandığı kavramsal anlamıyla ne zamandan beri kullanıldığı ve inanç merkezli bir yapılanma ve teşkilatlanma biçimi olarak tarihî süreç içerisindeki ilk oluşumuna yönelik birtakım yeni tespitlere ve görüşlere yer verilmiştir. Konuyla ilgili mevcut literatürün yanında şahsî ve resmî arşivler üzerinden yapılan tespitler ve bunlar üzerinden yapılan analizlerle Alevilikte ocak kavramının tarihî arka planı ve kavramsal çerçevesi aydınlatılmaya çalışılmıştır.
Anahtar Kelimeler: Alevilik, Ocak, Ocak Kavramı, Ocak Sistemi.
Elazığ’nın Baskil ilçesine bağlı Şıh/Şeyh Hasan (bugünkü adıyla Tabanbükü) köyünde yerleşik bulunan Teslim Abdal Ocağı’na mensup dede ve talip toplulukları arasında gerçekleştirdiğimiz saha çalışmalarımızın bir ürünü olan bu makalede, Teslim Abdal Ocağı’nın tarihî yapılanmasına yönelik tespit, değerlendirme ve incelemelerimize yer verilmiştir. Bu çerçevede, saha çalışmalarımız sırasında Teslim Abdal Ocağı’na mensup dede ailelerinin şahsî arşivlerinden elde ettiğimiz h. 1206/1207 (m. 1791-1792), h. 20 Rebîülâhir 1207 (5 Aralık 1792), h. 24 Cemâziyelâhir 1232 (m. 11 Mayıs 1817), h. 20 Rebîülevvel 1258 (m. 1 Mayıs 1842) ve h. Rebîülâhir 1302 (m. Ocak/Şubat 1885) tarihli üç adet şecerenâme ve iki adet icâzetnâme türündeki belge ışığında Teslim Abdal Ocağı’nın tarihî yapılanması aydınlatılmaya çalışılmıştır.
Anahtar Kelimeler: Teslim Abdal Ocağı, Teslim Abdal, Şeyh Hasan, Şeyh Ahmed Dede, Alevi Ocakları.
Anahtar Kelimeler Ehl-i Hak, Kelâmhân, Kelâmhân Defterleri, Cönk, Erkân Defteri.
ABSTRACT
The eternity of the sacred word believed to be alive within Alevi belief system, as it doesn't correspond with the idea that the word when written down will be frozen or will disappear, shapes on a belief that the writing will carry again the sacred word to its owner. Within the belief system this situation is explained by the Alevi view and interpretation of the " cycle theory " which is called " Don-Ba-Don " by Ahl-e Haqq. With this aspect Ahl-e Haqq belief, just as in other Alevi communities, ascribes an exclusive and esoteric meaning to Kalam-khans and Kalam-khan records as guardian and carrier of the sacred word. Kalam-khans having qualifications of guardians and carriers of the sacred word in the " cem " ceremonies of Ahl-e Haqq one of the Alevi communities in Iran, preserved kalams of 24 sacred " zakirs " known as " 24 guyende " in " conks " and " mecmuas " called " Defter ". Right along with the functions of training kalam-khan and transmitting kalams to next generations, Kalam records (" defter ") contribute directly to keeping alive kalams in oral tradition and belief-centered rituals. It occurs that kalams are quite rich in mythic and ritual elements specific to Ahl-e Haqq belief and that Ahl-e Haqq “cems”
are rituals performed in the context of cosmogonic and escatologic myths and, on that sense, directly
tied in with kalams. Kalam-khan records have quite a significant place among Ahl-e Haqqs in the
conservation and transmission to future generations of kalams which play an important role in the
mutual continuity of myths and rituals. In this study, it is given information about basic concepts and
terms related to Kalam-khan tradition which hasn’t been examined in detail up to the present. On
the basis of the interviews made in our field researches on the various locations in Iran where Ahl-e
Haqq Turks live and the Kalam-khan records that we located, it is done an analysis about the roles of
Kalam-khan records in conservation, transmitting and keeping alive belief and tradition.
Key Words: Ahl-e Haqq, Kalam-khan, Kalam-khan records, “conk”, “erkân” records.
Bu çalışmamızda, Alevi yazma geleneği ve cönkleri ile ilgili ritüelik hususlar
19. yüzyılın ikinci yarısında yaşamış olan Ağuiçen Ocağı’nın Diyarbakır koluna
mensup Seyyid Derviş Ali’ye ait bir cönk örnekleminde ele alınmıştır. Diyarbakır
yöresi Alevi ocaklarına mensup toplulukların geçmiş yıllarda cemlerinde icra edilen
deyiş, düvaz imam, nutuk, tevhit, mersiye ve miraçlama türlerinden örnekler içeren
bu cönk, ritüellere ait manzum icraları aydınlatması bakımından oldukça önemlidir.
Yörede gerçekleştirdiğimiz saha çalışmalarında bugün hafızalardan silinmek üzere
olan cem ritüellerine ait birçok manzum metnin bu cönkte yer alması, cönkün
sözlü gelenekle mukayeseli olarak ritüelik ve edebî açıdan incelenmesinin önemini
arttırmıştır. Kaldı ki Alevi yazma geleneğinde bilhassa dedelere ait erkân defterleri ve
cönklerin çoğu zaman ritüelik yapıya göre tanzim ve tasnif edildiği düşünüldüğünde
bu tür bir karşılaştırma ve incelemenin önemi daha da iyi anlaşılacaktır. Bu çerçevede,
çalışmamıza konu olan cönkteki manzum metinlerin ritüelik yapı içerisindeki yeri ve
şiir türlerine göre ritüel içerisinde sahip oldukları işlevsel özellikleri sözlü gelenek
ve diğer yazılı kaynaklar ile mukayeseli olarak analiz edilmiştir. İkinci aşamada ise
cönkte yer alan şiirlerin şekil ve içerik olarak edebî açıdan incelenmesi sonucunda
elde edilen bulgulara yer verilmiştir.
Anahtar Kelimeler: Cem, Cönk, Ağuiçen Ocağı, Diyarbakır Alevileri, Alevi
Cönkleri.
descendants” or “descendants of the Prophet, sayyids” in the historical process made the
most of the researchers believed that this word was not used to name the communities
called Kalenderi, Haydari, Cavlaki, Işık, Torlak, Abdal, Rafizi, Kızılbaş or Bektashi before
the 19th century. Alevi communities’ devotion to Ali and Ehl-i Beyt, their love for the
Twelvers, and their sensitivity to the Karbala caused that they have been evaluated in
the Shia belief system. However, as can be seen in the determinations in this article,
it is clearly seen in historical sources that the word “Alevi” is an umbrella concept and
nomenclature that covers all of these namings, just like the naming of “Kızılbaş”. The
afore-mentioned sources show that, contrary to the opinions up to now, the use of the
word “Alevi” in its current sense is not a usage of the last few centuries and the history
of this naming can be traced back to 15th century. In addition, there is a lot of evidence
pointing out that Alevism has existed with different characteristics from Shia throughout
history. In this context, in the article, the question of “How long the word ‘Alevi’ has
been used as an umbrella concept for the Kızılbaş communities, defined by researchers as
heterodox Islam, in the historical process?” has been discussed by using written sources
belonging to both believers and non-believers. In addition, findings that Alevism has an
independent existence from Shia belief in terms of both its formation in the historical
process and its theology and doctrine are discussed. We believe that these findings
will contribute to the review of the conceptual framework of the word “Alevi” in the
historical process and to understand the historic structure of the social and faith-based
organizations, especially the Ocak system, of the communities belonging to this belief.
In this context, the sources used in the article, the methods followed and the
conclusions reached can be summarized as follows:
Until recently, the term “guruh-ı alevi” in the Hatt-ı Hümayun (dated September 2,
1826) regarding the closure of the Rumeli Bektashi lodges during the reign of Mahmud
II, was accepted as the first used with the same meaning as today’s Alevi/Kızılbaş term in
written sources. However it has been determined that the word “Alevi” is used to describe
both the Alevi belief, which has a Ocak-centered structure, in its current meaning and
Kızılbaş in the land registry records belonging to the Ordu province dated to 1455, 1485,
1553 and 1579, and Celalzâde Salih Çelebi’s work named Tarih-i Sultan Süleyman which
was written in 1528, and the couplets in Divans of 16th century poets Aşkî and Hayalî
Bey and included in the work of Âşık Çelebi named Meşâ‘irü’ş-Şu‘arâ.
Additionally, in the article, there are some new findings and opinions contrary to the
recent studies on the relationship of Alevism and Shiism. These findings and opinions
can be listed as follows:
included in the land registry records clearly show that the basic terminology of Alevism
was formed and used proficiently before the 16th century.
Since the 15th century, the term Alevi has been included in the written sources in a
way that includes the Ocaks and Kızılbaş with its current meaning, and the person names
in the land registry records of these centuries coincide with the basic belief and ritual
world of the Alevi faith.
Poets who define themselves as “Kalenderi, Haydari, Işık, Torlak, Abdal, Kızılbaş”,
used the term Alevi as a meta-name covering these names in their poems, and the sources
mentioning these poets also used the same nomenclature.
All these findings, together with the determinations on the religious structure of the
Safavids, show that Alevism is a belief system that emerged and survived independently
of Shia.
In the article, it has been also questioned and discussed whether the word “Kızılbaş” was used
and became widespread earlier than the term “Alevi”. The fact that Ordu, where the Çepnis settled,
was registered as “Bölük-i Niyabet-i Ordu bi-ismi Alevî” in the cadastral registers written in 1455
and it was named as “Bölük-i Niyabet-i Ordu nam-ı diğer Alevi” in the cadastral registers written
in 1485 shows that the term “Alevi” was used earlier than the word “Kızılbaş” which was started
to be used as a political and military term by Şeyh Haydar (b. 1459-60 - d. 1488), son of Şeyh
Cüneyd, and became widespread enough to be recorded in official documents. As a matter of fact,
it will be clearly seen that the word “Alevi” is more likely to be older than the word “Kızılbaş” in
describing these communities, considering that the land registry records in which the word Alevi is
used in today’s sense of Alevism, were first written in 1455, that is 5 years before the birth of Şeyh
Haydar. It shows that Alevism, which has a sufistic structure in terms of theology and doctrine,
started to become politicized after the Safavid sheiks Şeyh Cüneyd and his son Şeyh Haydar, and
that the word “Kızılbaş” was preferred by Şeyh Haydar within this context. Likewise, the political
and military steps taken by the the above-mentioned Safavid sheiks and later Şah Ismail, confirm
this thesis. Additionally, in the texts of the 16th century included in the article, the use of the term
Alevi together with the “semâ/semah” ritual, contrary to the word Kızılbaş, is another remarkable
issue that confirms our thesis.
Rafizi, Abdal, Ishik and Torlak, were used in order to define Turkmen dervishes who
came with migrations to Anatolia between the 11th and 13th centuries, in the context of
their Sufi conception and belief-centred ritual identities. Most of these names are given
as a result of the attempts from the outside to define the communities because they were
not involved in the religious and political concept of that time and they also had esoteric
religious rituals. Researches defined these communities under the term “heterodox”
because the communities were excluded from the Sunni and Shia concepts in the context
of sharia (religious law) in scholarly studies too. However, the question whether these
names, used for the communities mentioned above, define various religious orders or
groups or not has brought a new debate. In the available literature, mostly within archival
documents, historical sources, “menakibname” and “tezkire”, evaluations are made in
the context of the names and definitions given in the works and documents, which were
written by persons who were not members of the communities in question, and the
approaches of the members or persons close to the community were ignored. Based on
these detections, our study gives a comparative analysis of the naming of the heterodox
communities mentioned above, especially taking into consideration the works of the
community members. In this respect, we used an emic and etic approach that does not
ignore the esoteric structure of the communities. As a result, we noticed that a significant
majority of these communities does not consider themselves different from each other
in the context of religious identity, Sufi doctrine, ritual universe and naming, and that the
considerable majority of the differences in the above-mentioned naming are the result of
the attempts to “define from the outside”.
Turkmen Sufi school in 13th and 14th century Anatolia with a very concise
expression and very clear and understandable language in his poems
compared to his contemporaries. His conception of Sufism is built on an
understanding based on the doctrines of "four doors and forty maqams", the
first examples of which we saw in Hodja Ahmed Yesevî. Wahdat-i Wujud
philosophy, theory of revolution, understanding of melamet, the tradition of
shathiye, sainthood-prophethood approach, and many other Sufi thoughts are
shaped in his poems in the context of the doctrines of this school. In the
following periods, the reflection of this doctrine, which continues to live in the
Alevi-Bektashi faith and Sufi understanding, especially the basic theology and
doctrine of the Alevi-Bektashi faith, such as the narrative of "Miraj (Miraç) and
Forties Assembly (Kırklar Meclisi)", has escaped the attention of the work in
the academy. Based on this finding, the traces of the thought system of the
Horasan Turkmen Sufi school on which the understanding of the “Forties
Assembly”, “Ninety thousand kalam” and "sema/semah" are rooted in the
Miraj narratives of the Alevi-Bektashi tradition, which has a very different
fiction from the Miraj narratives we encountered in the Sunni and Shiite
traditions, were examined and the elements of the miraj narrative were
examined comparatively. In this context, it was tried to reveal that the
narrative of the "Miraj and Forties Assembly” which belongs to Alevi-Bektashi
tradition which offers an understanding based on the redemption of the
sainthood and prophethood authorities in the Sufism, was processed in a
multifaceted way in Yunus Emre's poems with a secret language and rhetoric.
Considering current situation, this paper, written in the scope of Turkish folklore, has been prepared based on the view and thesis that it is important and necessary for researcher to incline to an interdisciplinary study, in its researches on musical folklore outputs, by obtaining musical knowledge or benefiting from it. In this context, the paper starts from the importance of music in the solution of the genre, form and maqam in the ashik poetry tradition. Then, it tries to explain with examples the determinative and distinctive features of music in the process of creation and transfer within the master-apprentice learning pattern in the context of ashik and Turkish epic narrative traditions; in the development and performance of religious or non-religious rituals and ritual-centred folklore outputs; in the performance of folk dances; in the process of creation and transfer of verse genres and forms of anonymous folk literature. The paper evaluates in which functions can be used musical items, such as rhythm (method), tune pattern (maqam/style), tempo, passages, strong pitch, increasing melodic interval size etc., within the processes of defining, collecting, researching, classification and analysing folklore outputs that have musical features. After these evaluations, the paper discusses the necessity and importance of including musical features in studies in the period from finding and collecting to the analysing folklore outputs within the scope of the text-centred and context-centred folklore theories. In this context, the paper puts forward the contributions which will occur as a result of the functional use of music in folklore studies.
Key Words: Folklore, music, folklore and music, interdisciplinarity.
arşivlerinde bulunan h. 1206/1207 (m. 1791-1792), h. 20 Rebîülâhir
1207 (5 Aralık 1792), h. 24 Cemâziyelâhir 1232 (m. 11 Mayıs 1817), h.
20 Rebîülevvel 1258 (m. 1 Mayıs 1842) ve h. Rebîülâhir 1302 (m. Ocak/
Şubat 1885) tarihli şecerenâme ve icâzetnâme türündeki beş ayrı belge
bağlamında bir ocak kültü oluşumunun tarihî seyrini ele aldığımız ilk
makalemizin devamı niteliğinde olan bu çalışmamızda, söz konusu
ocak hakkında sözlü gelenekten saha çalışmaları merkezli elde ettiğimiz
tespitlerin kapsamlı bir inceleme ve değerlendirmesine yer verilmiştir. Bu
çerçevede, öncelikle ocak dede ve talipleriyle yapılan mülakatlar aracılığıyla Şeyh Ahmed Dede Ocağı’nın bir devamı ve kolu niteliğindeki Teslim Abdal Ocağı’nın, bir Alevi şairi ve inanç önderi vasıflarına sahip Teslim Abdal’ın şahsiyeti merkezli müstakil bir ocak kültü oluşturma süreci irdelenmiştir. Söz konusu mülakatlar; 2014 ile 2020 yılları arasını kapsayan farklı zaman dilimlerinde Malatya, Elazığ, Antalya ve İzmir illerine bağlı çeşitli yerleşim birimlerinde ikamet etmekte olan, Elazığ’ın Baskil ilçesinin Şıh Hasan (bugünkü adıyla Tabanbükü)
köylü dede ve talipler ile yapılmıştır. Gerek dede ve talip topluluklarıyla yapılan mülakatlar gerekse Şıh Hasan köyünde gerçekleştirilen derlemeler aracılığıyla elde edilen bilgilerin ocak dedelerinin şahsî arşivlerinde bulunan belgelerle karşılaştırılması neticesinde, Teslim
Abdal Ocağı’nın müstakil bir ocak olarak yapılanma süreci, ocak hiyerarşisi, dede ve talip topluluklarının yayıldığı coğrafî alan ortaya konulmaya çalışılmış ve ocağın güncel durumu ile ritüel merkezli devamlılığı hakkında tespit ve değerlendirmelere yer verilmiştir.
interested both European and Turkish and Iranian researchers. These researches have
set forth various findings and views on this subject. It is surely that there is no consensus
within these views; while some researchers qualify the beliefs of Karakoyunlus as “Shia”
or “Ghali Shia”, some of them have brought forward the view that this state belonged to
the Sunni denomination. This situation has led to contradictory ideas on the question of
the belief or denomination of the State of Karakoyunlu.
This paper, based on various findings and views on the denominational tendencies of
the State of Karakoyunlu which have figured in the literature to date, discusses findings
and ideas set forth by historians from Europe, Turkey and Iran. After assessing these
findings and ideas, the paper presents to reader findings which figure in the works of
historians who lived concurrently with the State of Karakoyunlu. The researches, done
both in the era of Karakoyunlus and in later periods, were assessed within the scope
of history and folklore from a critical point of view. In addition to these findings and
assessments, new findings and ideas, that need to be addressed, are set forth on the
basis of the content of nine ghazals which we found in the “conk” of an Alevi “dede”
during our fieldwork and which are likely to belong to Cihan Shah Hakiki, the ruler of
Karakoyunlu. As a result of these new findings, that we made, and the critical analysis of
the existing literature, it is aimed to eliminate the confusion about the belief system of
the Karakoyunlu State, and ambiguity and uncertainty arising from it.
Keywords: Karakoyunlu State, Alevism, Qizilbash, Hakiki, Shah Cihan.
Bu makalemizde, sözünü ettiğimiz eksiklikler göz önünde bulundurularak Dede Korkut Kitabı, Alevi inanç sisteminin sosyal, kültürel, hiyerarşik ve ritüelik yapısı bağlamında analiz edilmiştir. Türkiye, İran ve Balkanlardaki Alevi dede ve talip toplulukları üzerine yaptığımız saha çalışmalarında, Dede Korkut Kitabı’ndaki hayat tarzı, inanç sistemi, ritüeller, toplumsal kabuller, motifler, kalıp ifadeler ve sosyal hiyerarşi gibi birçok unsurun Alevi topluluklarca yaşatıldığı tespit edilmiştir. Gerek Aleviliğin yazılı geleneğinde gerekse sözlü gelenekte yaptığımız tespitler, saha çalışmalarımızda topladığımız görsel verilerle desteklenerek Dede Korkut Kitabı mukayeseli olarak Alevilik penceresinden okunmaya çalışılmıştır.
The Book of Dede Korkut is a highly important work which incorporates Turkish culture, beliefs and traditions. Therefore, this book became the subject of academic studies from different scientific disciplines. Although some of these studies touched upon certain aspects of Alevism in the Book of Dede Korkut, there is not any academic research which directly analyses the Book of Dede Korkut within the context of social life, rituals, hierarchical structure, social recognition, traditional and cultural elements of the Alevi belief system.
Taking into consideration mentioned inadequacies, this paper analyses the Book of Dede Korkut, within the context of social, cultural, hierarchical and ritual structure of the Alevi belief system. During our fieldwork done on Alevi “dede” and aspirant communities in Turkey, Iran and Balkans, we ascertained that many elements in the Book of Dede Korkut such as lifestyle, rituals, social recognition, motifs, idioms and social hierarchy, have been kept alive by Alevi communities. Also, we detected that there are many similarities between texts of “velayetname”, “menakıbname”, poems and “gülbenk”, used as a support to the theological background of the Alevi belief system, and the Book of Dede Korkut’s preface and narrations. This paper tries to read the Book of Dede Korkut through the perspective of Alevism by undergirding it with our findings on both written and oral tradition of Alevism and visual data collected on our fieldwork.
Concepts and elements, such as lifestyle, belief system, rituals, social recognitions, titles, motifs, idioms and social hierarchy, from the Book of Dede Korkut are comparatively analysed within the context of the Alevi belief system under two main headings by taking into consideration the book’s preface and narrations. The similarities between aspects sustained within the Alevi belief system, and those in the Book of Dede Korkut are revealed with detailed examples in the comparative analysis. Thus, we determined that the reflections of the religious belief of Turks in the period when the Dresden copy of the Book of Dede Korkut was written, and the Alevi belief system share a host of similarities. Also, we observed that many aspects from both preface and narrations in the book continue to live among communities connected with the Alevi belief. In this sense, the meaning attached to the word “dede”, the common ground between Dede Korkut and “dede” of Alevi “ocak”, beliefs and practices sustained within Alevi rituals, similarities between pray forms and “gülbenk” expressions, the sacred similarity between “kopuz” and “saz”, the position of women in society, attitude towards alcohol, religious motifs in the narrations, formal expressions and numbers in poetical texts are all comparatively analysed under following subheadings: “Elements Determined in the Context of Social and Religious Hierarchy”, “Concepts and Rituals Belonging to the Alevi Theological Background”, “Social Recognition Among Alevi Communities and Turks from the Period when the Book of Dede Korkut Was Written” and “Motifs, Formal Expressions and Other Elements”.
This comparative analysis shows that the religious attitude of the person who has written down the Book of Dede Korkut, and the belief nature in the narratives reveal a belief structure which we can call non-Sunni or heterodox Turkish Folk Islam considering the conditions of that period. This indicates that both scribe’s belief and Oghuz Turks’ life-style, which is the subject of the narratives, have much more similarities with communities that belong to the belief called Qizilbash in that period, or Alevi, as it’s called nowadays. Indeed, as it’s found that the elements and concepts of Sunni Islamic Sharia are in great minority, it occurs that drinking wine and attributing sacredness to it, which is unallowable and forbidden by Sunni Islamic Sharia, attributing sacredness to “kopuz”, clairvoyance and many more aspects are included in the book and that they reflect a way of life of the society.
k-ish culture, holds an authentic meaning and conceptual framework within the Alevi belief system. It is seen that Alevi belief is established within historical pro-
cess on the structure and organization named “ocak system” and that “dede” and aspirant communities, as members of the belief system, are socially, cultur-ally, religiously, legally and economically organized on the basis of the system.The opinions, mostly based upon written sources, on the formation and devel-
opment throughout history of the “ocak” system, which is emphasized as the
basic structural from of Alevism by researchers whenever possible, are insuffi-cient and this situation has caused problematic approaches toward formationof the conceptual framework of the subject. This paper includes a several new
findings and views about how long the term “ocak” is in use with its conceptual
meaning gained within the Alevi belief system and, about its first occurrencethroughout history as a belief-based foundation and organization form. The pa- per tries to clarify the historical background and conceptual framework of the
concept of “ocak” in Alevism using findings from personal and official
archivesalong with the available literature about the subject.
Keywords: Alevism, “ocak”, the concept of “ocak”, “ocak” system.
ÖZET
Türk kültüründe bir kült olarak geniş ve önemli bir yer tutan ocak kavramı, Alevi inanç sistemi içerisinde özgün bir anlam ve kavramsal çerçeveye sahiptir. Alevi inancının tarihî süreç içerisinde " ocak sistemi " adı verilen yapılanma ve teşkilatlanma üzerine kurulduğu ve inanç mensubu olan dede ve talip topluluklarının sosyal, kültürel, dinî, hukukî ve ekonomik bakımdan bu sistem çerçevesinde organize oldukları görülmektedir. Hemen her fırsatta konuyla ilgili araştırmacıların Aleviliğin temel yapılanma biçimi olduğunu vurguladıkları ocak sisteminin tarihî süreç içerisindeki oluşum ve gelişimi hakkındaki bilhassa yazılı kaynaklara dayalı tespitler yetersiz kalmış, bu durum da konuyla ilgili kavramsal çerçevenin oluşturulmasında problemli yaklaşımların ortaya çıkmasına yol açmıştır. Bu makalede, ocak teriminin Alevi inanç sistemi içerisinde kazandığı kavramsal anlamıyla ne zamandan beri kullanıldığı ve inanç merkezli bir yapılanma ve teşkilatlanma biçimi olarak tarihî süreç içerisindeki ilk oluşumuna yönelik birtakım yeni tespitlere ve görüşlere yer verilmiştir. Konuyla ilgili mevcut literatürün yanında şahsî ve resmî arşivler üzerinden yapılan tespitler ve bunlar üzerinden yapılan analizlerle Alevilikte ocak kavramının tarihî arka planı ve kavramsal çerçevesi aydınlatılmaya çalışılmıştır.
Anahtar Kelimeler: Alevilik, Ocak, Ocak Kavramı, Ocak Sistemi.
Elazığ’nın Baskil ilçesine bağlı Şıh/Şeyh Hasan (bugünkü adıyla Tabanbükü) köyünde yerleşik bulunan Teslim Abdal Ocağı’na mensup dede ve talip toplulukları arasında gerçekleştirdiğimiz saha çalışmalarımızın bir ürünü olan bu makalede, Teslim Abdal Ocağı’nın tarihî yapılanmasına yönelik tespit, değerlendirme ve incelemelerimize yer verilmiştir. Bu çerçevede, saha çalışmalarımız sırasında Teslim Abdal Ocağı’na mensup dede ailelerinin şahsî arşivlerinden elde ettiğimiz h. 1206/1207 (m. 1791-1792), h. 20 Rebîülâhir 1207 (5 Aralık 1792), h. 24 Cemâziyelâhir 1232 (m. 11 Mayıs 1817), h. 20 Rebîülevvel 1258 (m. 1 Mayıs 1842) ve h. Rebîülâhir 1302 (m. Ocak/Şubat 1885) tarihli üç adet şecerenâme ve iki adet icâzetnâme türündeki belge ışığında Teslim Abdal Ocağı’nın tarihî yapılanması aydınlatılmaya çalışılmıştır.
Anahtar Kelimeler: Teslim Abdal Ocağı, Teslim Abdal, Şeyh Hasan, Şeyh Ahmed Dede, Alevi Ocakları.
Anahtar Kelimeler Ehl-i Hak, Kelâmhân, Kelâmhân Defterleri, Cönk, Erkân Defteri.
ABSTRACT
The eternity of the sacred word believed to be alive within Alevi belief system, as it doesn't correspond with the idea that the word when written down will be frozen or will disappear, shapes on a belief that the writing will carry again the sacred word to its owner. Within the belief system this situation is explained by the Alevi view and interpretation of the " cycle theory " which is called " Don-Ba-Don " by Ahl-e Haqq. With this aspect Ahl-e Haqq belief, just as in other Alevi communities, ascribes an exclusive and esoteric meaning to Kalam-khans and Kalam-khan records as guardian and carrier of the sacred word. Kalam-khans having qualifications of guardians and carriers of the sacred word in the " cem " ceremonies of Ahl-e Haqq one of the Alevi communities in Iran, preserved kalams of 24 sacred " zakirs " known as " 24 guyende " in " conks " and " mecmuas " called " Defter ". Right along with the functions of training kalam-khan and transmitting kalams to next generations, Kalam records (" defter ") contribute directly to keeping alive kalams in oral tradition and belief-centered rituals. It occurs that kalams are quite rich in mythic and ritual elements specific to Ahl-e Haqq belief and that Ahl-e Haqq “cems”
are rituals performed in the context of cosmogonic and escatologic myths and, on that sense, directly
tied in with kalams. Kalam-khan records have quite a significant place among Ahl-e Haqqs in the
conservation and transmission to future generations of kalams which play an important role in the
mutual continuity of myths and rituals. In this study, it is given information about basic concepts and
terms related to Kalam-khan tradition which hasn’t been examined in detail up to the present. On
the basis of the interviews made in our field researches on the various locations in Iran where Ahl-e
Haqq Turks live and the Kalam-khan records that we located, it is done an analysis about the roles of
Kalam-khan records in conservation, transmitting and keeping alive belief and tradition.
Key Words: Ahl-e Haqq, Kalam-khan, Kalam-khan records, “conk”, “erkân” records.
Bu çalışmamızda, Alevi yazma geleneği ve cönkleri ile ilgili ritüelik hususlar
19. yüzyılın ikinci yarısında yaşamış olan Ağuiçen Ocağı’nın Diyarbakır koluna
mensup Seyyid Derviş Ali’ye ait bir cönk örnekleminde ele alınmıştır. Diyarbakır
yöresi Alevi ocaklarına mensup toplulukların geçmiş yıllarda cemlerinde icra edilen
deyiş, düvaz imam, nutuk, tevhit, mersiye ve miraçlama türlerinden örnekler içeren
bu cönk, ritüellere ait manzum icraları aydınlatması bakımından oldukça önemlidir.
Yörede gerçekleştirdiğimiz saha çalışmalarında bugün hafızalardan silinmek üzere
olan cem ritüellerine ait birçok manzum metnin bu cönkte yer alması, cönkün
sözlü gelenekle mukayeseli olarak ritüelik ve edebî açıdan incelenmesinin önemini
arttırmıştır. Kaldı ki Alevi yazma geleneğinde bilhassa dedelere ait erkân defterleri ve
cönklerin çoğu zaman ritüelik yapıya göre tanzim ve tasnif edildiği düşünüldüğünde
bu tür bir karşılaştırma ve incelemenin önemi daha da iyi anlaşılacaktır. Bu çerçevede,
çalışmamıza konu olan cönkteki manzum metinlerin ritüelik yapı içerisindeki yeri ve
şiir türlerine göre ritüel içerisinde sahip oldukları işlevsel özellikleri sözlü gelenek
ve diğer yazılı kaynaklar ile mukayeseli olarak analiz edilmiştir. İkinci aşamada ise
cönkte yer alan şiirlerin şekil ve içerik olarak edebî açıdan incelenmesi sonucunda
elde edilen bulgulara yer verilmiştir.
Anahtar Kelimeler: Cem, Cönk, Ağuiçen Ocağı, Diyarbakır Alevileri, Alevi
Cönkleri.
Elinizdeki bu kitap, Kırklar kültünün Alevilikteki yerini ve önemini mit-tasavvuf ilişkisi çerçevesinde halk biliminin bütüncül bakış açısıyla detaylı olarak ele almayı amaçlamıştır. Aleviliğin yazılı ve sözlü kaynakları çerçevesinde, Kırklar kültünün ritüel merkezli analizleri; performans teori, mit-ritüel ilişkisi merkezli yaklaşımlar ve tasavvufî çözümlemeler aracılığıyla gerçekleştirilmiş ve bu analizler vesilesiyle Alevi ritüellerinin ve bu ritüellere ait metinlerin giderek unutulmaya yüz tutan anlam dünyalarının kapıları yeniden aralanmaya çalışılmıştır.
Geleneksel Alevi ocak erkânı ile ilgili olarak çeşitli Alevi sivil toplum kuruluşları tarafından
uzunca bir süredir güncelleme denemeleri yapılmaktadır. Günümüz kentli yaşam tarzının
getirdiği koşullar, Aleviliği bir anlamda buna zorlamaktadır. Bu güncelleme çalışmaları yapılırken
geleneksel olana sadık kalarak ya da geleneksel olanı referans alarak içerisinde bulunan zamana,
mekâna ve sosyo-ekonomik koşullara uyum sağlamaya yönelik değişimlerin hangi ölçüde yapılabildiği
ve bu değişimlerin inanç zümresince benimsenip benimsenmediği tartışmalı bir hale gelmiştir.
Bu bildiride, Alevi inanç sisteminin tarihi süreç içerisinde geçirdiği erkân güncelleme
örneklerinden yola çıkarak geleneksel erkânın referanslarının neler olduğu hakkında temel bilgiler
verilmiş ve bu doğrultuda son yıllarda yapılan güncelleme denemelerinin analizi yapılmıştır. Söz
konusu güncelleme denemeleri geleneksel erkâna uygunluk ve topluluğun tamamına hitap etme
kapasitesi açısından değerlendirilmiş ve bu denemelerin ritüelik olarak ocakların tamamında uygulanabilirliği
ve sürdürülebilirliği saha çalışmalarımızdaki tespitler üzerinden sorgulanmıştır.
Gerçekleştirilen bu analiz ve değerlendirmeleri takiben, erkân güncelleme denemelerinin geleneksel
erkân üzerinde yaptığı tahribat örneklerle izah edilmiş ve sorunun çözümüne yönelik önerilerle
geleneksel referanslarına uygun gerçekleştirilecek bir erkân güncellemesine kapı aralanmaya çalışılmıştır.
Anahtar Kelimeler: Erkân, Alevi Erkânı, Gelenek, Geleneğin Güncellenmesi.