Abstract
THE CONCEPT OF “NIYAZ” AND THE “NIYAZ”-CENTRED RITUALS IN ALEVISM
The term “niyaz”, which means “wish”, “orison” and “prayer” in Turkish folk beliefs, appears in Turkish Sufism as a Sufi stage or aspect and a practice of visiting and greeting, done in this aspect. At first glance, it seems that the concept of “niyaz” has similar uses within the Alevi belief system, too. However, our findings and researches, based on our fieldwork done among communities connected with the hearths in Iran, Turkey and the Balkans, along with information in existing literature on the topic, have shown that this concept has a very broad meaning and use within the Alevi belief system. In this scope, our paper discusses the semantic world of the concept of “niyaz” in Alevi belief and the rituals performed in this context. This discussion is based on written sources, such as “buyruk” (decree) accepted as sacred, “conk” (collected works), book of rules, and on information obtained from the oral tradition, mostly during our fieldwork, together with poetry texts of the Alevi poets and ashiks. In accordance with the evaluations made via the information obtained, the paper includes evaluations and analysis about the conceptual framework and meaning of the concept of “niyaz” within the esoteric structure of the Alevi belief system, its transformation into ritual-centred performance, its new meaning in the ritual and its functional dimension arose in this context.
Keywords
“Niyaz”, Alevi, Bektashi, Ocak, ritual.
