Musahiplik: The Alevi Spiritual Kinship – Origin and How to Become a Musahip

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What Is Musahiplik and Where Does It Come From?

Anatolian Alevism is the path of the Ehl-i Beyt (the family of the Prophet). This path is the path of our Prophet Muhammad Mustafa and of Ali-yel Murteza. The Way (yol) is the path within Islam that leads to God through the heart. In today’s understanding, this path is the domain of tasavvuf, the mystical thought of Islam. To explain it briefly, it is an interpretation of Islam that differs from the Sunni sharia.

In Anatolian Alevism it is the Cem rite (cem erkânı) that preserves the unity of the social order. Every Alevi community living on Anatolian soil arranges it according to its own structure and regional culture, but the sanctity of Allah, Muhammad and Ali and the love of the Ehl-i Beyt are the reference points of the faith. Serving the people is regarded as serving God. The rules of being master of one’s hand, one’s tongue and one’s loins (eline, diline, beline sahip olmak) are our shared conviction. Although there are minor differences, the essence of worship and belief has continued in the same way.

Anatolian Alevism is a path of morality, character, respect, love, freedom and happiness. The place to enter this path, to mature, to be educated and to be purified is the Cem rite. The Cem is held under the guidance of the pir, the mürşid (spiritual guide) and the rehber (guide on the path). It is the pirs who establish and guide, govern and protect peace, unity, love and friendship.

In Anatolian Alevism, the mürşid, pir, rehber, dede and baba form the community of the pirs. It is like the bees of a honeycomb making honey together. In Alevi belief, maturity and perfection (kemâlet) are important. To attain this maturity, one must take a musahip, make one’s ikrar in decorum and according to the rites (edep erkân), and receive guidance (irşat) from a mürşid, from a pir.

To enter the Way and the rites (yol ve erkân) and receive guidance, one must first take a musahip. When two married couples make their ikrar before the pir and become siblings on the Way, this is called “musahiplik”. Couples who become musahips should know each other well. Even if their economic strength is not on the same level, it is to a great degree necessary that they be on the same level in faith, thought, knowledge and culture, and that they love and respect each other. The villages or towns where they live should be close, and they should always be able to rush to each other’s aid. Each should always share the other’s troubles, sorrows and joys before anyone else. In short, this means being “each other’s insurance in material and spiritual help”.

Musahiplik, as is also stated in the Quran, is a sacred value made obligatory. During the Prophet Muhammad’s hijra from Mecca to Medina, the emigrants (Muhajirun) who came with him had no material possessions at all. The natives of Medina (the Ansar) had sworn that they would gladly give their property and their lives for the Prophet Muhammad. The Ansar kept the word and the oaths they had given to the Prophet Muhammad in full. But it did not remain only with the emigrants who came with the Prophet Muhammad. The Muslims left behind in Mecca and in other villages and towns, as they suffered oppression and persecution at the hands of the idolatrous polytheists, fled from there and came to Medina in droves.

Within two years, the migration to Medina had reached several times the native population. The arrival of these emigrants had created two different societies in Medina: one wealthy, with house and home; the other a poor society that did not even have a place to sleep, could not make the slightest contribution to production, and only consumed.

After his hijra to Medina, the Prophet Muhammad, on the one hand, invited the people to Islam and, on the other, was occupied with building the Prophet’s Mosque (Masjid an-Nabawi). Historians write that he himself worked physically to complete the mosque. At the same time, his daughter Fatima had come of marriageable age, and he was occupied with those who sought her hand. As if that were not enough, Abu Sufyan marched on Medina with an army of 30,000 men (the Battle of Badr). One of the reasons why the first two years in Medina were rather difficult and hard was the Battle of Badr. In the end, he married Fatima to Imam Ali. He completed the building of the Prophet’s Mosque. With 3,000 civilians he won the Battle of Badr against Abu Sufyan’s army of 30,000. Most importantly, he had brought many of the people of Medina and its surroundings to accept Islam. He had won the love, trust and confidence of the people.

During this time, however, great poverty had broken out in Medina. As the Prophet Muhammad was thinking deeply about how to remedy this poverty, at exactly that moment the following verses began to be revealed.

Sura at-Tawba, verse 100: “God is pleased with the Muhajirun and the Ansar who were foremost in goodness, and they are pleased with God. God will reward them.”

Sura al-Hujurat, verse 10: “The believers are indeed brothers. So make peace between your estranged brothers and help one another. Fear God, so that you may receive mercy.”

However much spiritual strength these verses gave, the real poverty was increasing day by day.

The second half of the second year of the hijra had been reached, and Medina was full to overflowing with poor Muslims. The Ansar were trying to fulfil their promise to the Prophet Muhammad more than fully. But the consumers had become several times more numerous than the producers. The food produced was not enough for the consumers. Material hardship was increasing more and more. What was to be done with this large mass of emigrants who were purely consumers, so as to make them producers too? This hardship grew greater day by day; it had almost reached the point where unrest and divisions were about to break out among the Muslims.

The Prophet Muhammad was thinking deeply and waiting patiently for a divine command. At exactly that time, the following command came with verses 72, 73, 74 and 75 of Sura al-Anfal: “Those who emigrated in the way of God with their wealth and their lives, and those who gave shelter to the emigrants and helped them – they are of you. According to the Book of God they are closer to one another than the relatives who inherit from each other. Make them brothers to one another. If you do not, there will be turmoil, strife and corruption on earth.”

These verses became a way of salvation for the Prophet Muhammad. By fulfilling this sacred obligation that God had sent him, the Prophet Muhammad turned this great, consuming mass of emigrants into a productive force, and thus also removed the economic hardship. According to the sources available to us, on the first day he made 90 pairs of Ansar and Muhajirun brothers. From the sources that have come down to us today, we can give the names of 38 people who became musahip (brothers) with one another in the event of “musahiplik” that took place in the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina. Unfortunately we cannot find the names of the others who became musahip brothers.

• The Prophet Muhammad with Imam Ali
• Hamza with Zeyd bin Haris
• Selmani Faris with Ebu Derda
• Ebu Bekir bin Kuafe with Harice bin Zeyd
• Ömer ibni Hattab with Gasan ibni Malik
• Osman ibni Afgan with Evs ibni Sabit
• Abu Übeyde bin Cerrahi with Saad ibni Muaz
• Zübeyir ibni Avam with Seleme ibni Seleme
• Talha ibni Abdullah with Kâab ibni Malik
• Abdurahman ibni Avf with Saad ibni Rabi
• Musab ibni Ümeyr with Eba Eyyübul Ensari
• Ebu Hüzeyfe ibni Utbe with Ubad ibni Sabit
• Ammar ibni Yasar with Sabit ibni Kays
• Abdurrahman ibni Cahi with Asım ibni Sabit
• Erkan ibni Erkam with Abu Talha
• Osman ibni Mezun with Ebul Hüyeşim ibni Tilkan
• Abuzer Gaffari with Münzir ibni Amr
• Hatib ibni Ebu Belta with Üveym ibni Saide
• Bilal Habeş with Ebu Rüveyha ibni Abdullah

According to some sources, the following information is given on the basis of the hadith reported by Malik bin Enes.

Verse 46 of Sura Saba, revealed in Mecca, says: “Say: I exhort you to one thing only: stand up for God one by one, then come before me two by two, believe and make your ikrar. Reflect, and you will see that there is no madness in your companion. He is only a prophet warning you before a severe punishment.”

Sura Saba, verse 47: “Say: I ask no wage of you – let it be yours; my reward rests with God alone. He is witness over all things.”

It is said that, in line with these verses, even before the Prophet’s Mosque was completed, in the seventh month of the first year of the hijra, this making of the ikrar, the “event of musahiplik”, took place in the house of Malik bin Enes himself. Furthermore, it is explained “with hadith no. 1560 in volume 10 of the Tecrid-i Sarih translation of Sahih al-Bukhari” that musahiplik first began and was performed in Mecca, when verse 46 of Sura Saba was revealed. According to the statement of Ibn Abd al-Barr, the Companions who had accepted Islam in Mecca before the hijra, most of whom were slaves, would come to the Prophet Muhammad and make this ikrar.

For us, it is of no great importance at what time it took place, or whether it began in Mecca or Medina. What is important is that fourteen centuries ago an age was opened that the people of today’s civilised world want to begin and have not yet been able to begin. The foundation of an order that brings about equality among people, of social help and solidarity, of democracy, peace and living together as brothers in friendship, of producing together and consuming together, was laid and put into practice in those days by the Prophet Muhammad and Imam Ali through the system of musahiplik.

By presenting to humanity the revelations that God had made known to him, the Prophet Muhammad created a unity and solidarity among people unparalleled in world history. After the natives of Medina (the Ansar) accepted Islam and pledged allegiance to Muhammad, they took those who came to Medina into their homes as guests and shared with them even if they had only a slice of bread. Indeed, in case of urgent need they rushed to the aid of the emigrant before the native.

Historians explain the strength of unity that came with this musahiplik as follows: “That, already in the first year of the hijra, the Prophet Muhammad’s 3,000 civilians won the Battle of Badr against Abu Sufyan’s army of 30,000 is the secret of the unity and solidarity brought by the order of musahiplik.”

While the Prophet Muhammad was making people musahips with one another, many natives of Medina (the Ansar) were waiting for the day when they would attain the honour of becoming musahip with the Prophet Muhammad. For until that day, one Muhajir and one Ansar were becoming musahips together; that was also the command given. Some of them even applied personally to the Messenger and proposed that he become musahip with them. The Prophet Muhammad is said to have answered those who made these proposals: “No divine permission has yet come regarding with whom I shall become musahip.”

Sura al-Qasas, verse 68: “The choice and preference concerning my messengers belong to me.” If we pay attention to the message of the verse, it clearly proclaims that God will also choose their executors (vasi) and heirs (varis).

Sura an-Najm, verses 3–4: “Muhammad cannot say anything of his own accord. His speech is nothing but a revelation that is made known to him.”

According to the explanation of the verses, and the message they convey beyond any doubt, it is clear and plain that the musahiplik of the Prophet Muhammad and Imam Ali came about not by their own wish but by divine command.

That the Prophet Muhammad, after making all the Muhajirun and Ansar brothers to one another, made Imam Ali his own musahip was neither his own wish nor a coincidence. For he had repeatedly told the Ansar who offered him musahiplik that divine permission had not yet come.

The situation shows that the Prophet Muhammad’s refusal of everyone’s offer stemmed from his waiting for the divine command to come.

Of course, the person chosen as musahip for the Prophet Muhammad had to be someone who, by virtue of his spiritual excellence, ranked second in knowledge and virtue after the Prophet Muhammad.

That Imam Ali was chosen for this sacred duty means that, after the Prophet Muhammad, he is the second person in the sight of God as well.

Until all the Muhajirun and Ansar had been made musahips with one another, Imam Ali too was waiting, wondering with whom he would make him musahip. But when he never said, “Ya Ali, you shall be brother with so-and-so”, Ali could no longer bear it and asked: “O light of my eyes, you have found a brother for everyone and made the people musahips with one another. But who will be my brother?” Apart from the Quranic verses, let us also look at the hadiths of the Prophet Muhammad: at that moment the Prophet Muhammad must have received the divine command, for he said: “Ya Ali! As close as Aaron (Harun) was to Moses, so close are you to me. You know that no prophet will come after me. After me, you will carry on the order of this religion.”

The clear expression of this great message: Aaron was the brother of Moses (peace be upon him). He was also the executor and heir of the Prophet Moses. After Moses, his brother Aaron carried on the same religion.

Sura al-Maida, verse 55, states clearly: “Your guardian (veli) and leader is only God and His Messenger and the one who gives alms (zakat) while bowing (ruku) in prayer (in worship).” The one who gave the alms described here is Imam Ali alone.

We can also give as an example an event that proves that Imam Ali is the executor and heir of the Prophet Muhammad. One day the scholars of the Beni-Mercan (Najran) tribe entered into a learned dispute with the Prophet Muhammad, claiming that Jesus was the son of God. Then verse 61 of Sura Al Imran was revealed and commanded: “If anyone disputes with you about him after knowledge has come to you that Jesus is the servant and Messenger of God, say: Come, let us call our sons and your sons, our women and your women, ourselves and yourselves (our souls and your souls). Then let us all pray and implore, and say: may the curse of God be upon the liars.”

The Prophet Muhammad presented this revealed verse to the scholars of Beni-Mercan as a proposal. They accepted it. The Prophet Muhammad went to bring his own side, but the eldest of the Beni-Mercan scholars said: “Take care: if Muhammad brings some of his companions, take up the challenge with him. But if he brings only his own household, on no account take up the challenge with him. I have read a verse in the Quran about them. They are among the saints. Their prayers and their supplications are valid before God. Then we would perish.” And they all waited together.

A little later they saw the Prophet Muhammad coming, with Imam Ali and Fatima beside him, holding his grandsons Imam Hasan and Imam Hüseyin by the hand. When the Beni-Mercan scholars saw these five holy names (esma), they abandoned their claim and became Muslims.

Now let us analyse the message of the verse properly. The woman beside the Prophet Muhammad was his daughter Fatima. Those he called “sons” were his grandsons Hasan and Hüseyin. The word that must be dwelt on carefully here is, in Arabic, “Enfisüna Enfisüküm”. In English this means “ourselves (our souls) and yourselves (your souls)”. According to this verse revealed to the Prophet, who is this third person referred to as “ourselves”? What is the meaning of “nefs” (soul, self)? I shall give the answer to these questions, again, with a verse from the exalted Quran. When the Prophet Muhammad, on his return from his last pilgrimage, the Farewell Pilgrimage, came to the water source in the valley called Ghadir Khumm (Kadir-i Hum), verse 67 of Sura al-Maida was revealed and commanded: “O Muhammad! Proclaim what has been sent down to you from your Lord. If you do not, you will not have fulfilled the duty of prophethood entrusted to you. God protects you from the evil of the people. God does not guide the community sunk in unbelief.”

With the coming of this verse, the Prophet Muhammad had camel saddles piled one on top of another to prepare a raised place that everyone could see. Climbing up there, he addressed tens of thousands of Muslims as follows: “O believers! Am I not dearer and closer to you than ‘your own souls’ (nefisleriniz)?” All the honourable Companions (Ashab-ı Kiram) present confirmed: “Yes, O Messenger of God, you are.” “O people! Know that I too am a human being like you. I too shall depart from this world. I have been called by God; the days of my departure are near.”

“I leave among you two trusts (emanet) that will be your guides (rehber). The two are never to be separated from each other, and they will come to me together until the Day of Judgement. The first of these is the Quran, the second is my Ehl-i Beyt.” After repeating the words Ehl-i Beyt three times, he took Imam Ali by the hand, raised him up onto the high place where he stood, and continued as follows.

“O people! Know that God is my master (mevla). And I am the master of all believers. Of whomever I am master, Ali is also his master. Whoever loves God loves me too. And whoever loves me loves Ali. Ali’s blood is my blood. His body is my body. His soul is my soul. Whoever is an enemy of Ali is an enemy of mine. Whoever is an enemy of mine is an enemy of God. O Lord! Love those who love Ali. Help those who help Ali.

Be an enemy to those who are enemies of Ali. Your veli (guardian) who will lead you after me is Ali.” This sermon was delivered before tens of thousands of people.

The Musahiplik of the Prophet Muhammad and Imam Ali

When the earth was water and the sky was a deluge, the Prophet Muhammad and Imam Ali were one light in a lamp. This light passed from the Prophet Adam to the Prophet Seth (Şit), and after him through all the prophets until it reached Abu Muttalib. At Abu Muttalib it divided in two. One part is the light that went through Abdullah to the Prophet Muhammad; the other part went through Abu Talib to Imam Ali. Through Imam Ali and Fatima it was united in Imam Hasan and Imam Hüseyin. On this subject the following hadith of the Prophet Muhammad gives us a great message: “God Almighty created me and Ali from one light.” What could be more natural than the brotherhood (musahiplik) of these two exalted persons, created as one light?

When verse 80 of Sura al-Isra commanded the Prophet Muhammad to make the hijra from Mecca to Medina, he called Imam Ali and said: “The command of hijra has come to me; I am going to Medina. Let me hand over to you the trusts that are with me. You will return them to their owners in my place. You know that the polytheists do not want to give me the chance to go anywhere, so that they can kill me. That is why even the place where I sleep is watched by dozens. Will you wrap yourself in my green cloak (hırka) and sleep in my place? Then they will think I am in bed, and I will find the chance to leave Mecca safely. Keep your heart firm and strong; they will do you no harm. After a few days, take your mother Fatima and my daughter Fatima and come to Medina.”

Although he knew that he faced great danger, Imam Ali obeyed the Prophet’s command, wrapped himself that evening in his blessed cloak and slept in his bed. He also carried out his other instructions exactly. The translation of the History of al-Tabari explains this event as follows.

God the Most High said to Gabriel and Michael: “Ali has become brother to My Beloved. He has offered his life on his path. Now go, both of you, and protect Ali from the evil of his enemies.”

At that moment verse 207 of Sura al-Baqara was revealed concerning Imam Ali: “Among the people there are those who give their lives for His Messenger to win the pleasure of God. God is most compassionate towards those servants of His.”

Now consider: the bond between the Prophet Muhammad and Imam Ali goes far beyond the musahiplik we practise today, and is very different.

Is musahiplik not the inclination to live together in an environment of material and spiritual social solidarity and brotherhood? Did not Imam Ali, who grew up under the upbringing of the Prophet Muhammad, accept the deputyship of the Messenger of God when he was only 10 years old? Did he not sleep in Muhammad’s bed during the hijra, braving every danger? Can there be a better musahiplik than this? This is the meaning of “your souls” (nefisleriniz) in verse 61 of Sura Al Imran: those who, for one another’s sake, gladly give their lives and property without the slightest hesitation, and who are united in thought and united in heart. The words “your souls, our souls” in the verse revealed in response to the dispute with the scholars of the Beni-Mercan tribe were said of persons whose life is in the other’s life, whose blood is in the other’s blood, whose soul is in the other’s soul. In other words, it means: bring those of yours who are this close.

The Course of Musahiplik in History

Throughout the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad this musahiplik continued uninterrupted. After him, in the time of the three caliphs, it weakened completely. During the caliphate of Imam Ali it revived once more and became actively effective. But because this idea, which brought about the equality of poor and rich, ran completely counter to the beliefs of the Jahiliyya (the pre-Islamic “Age of Ignorance”) and to the state order of the Umayyads, it was abolished by Muawiya after the martyrdom of Imam Ali.

Unfortunately, after the government of the Muslims passed into the hands of the Umayyads, they neither heeded the obligatory verses of the Quran nor continued the Sunna of the Prophet Muhammad. They dressed the old Jahiliyya order of exploitation and slavery, in which the strong crushed the oppressed, in the garb of Islam and brought it back. If this were not so – if musahiplik came with a Quranic verse and is obligatory for us, and if what the Prophet Muhammad did is Sunna for us – why does it not exist in any Sunni school of law or Sufi order? That is why we say to those who call Muawiya “Hazrat”: “You are not following the religion of Islam brought by the Prophet Muhammad. You are following the sharia of the five idols that the Umayyads brought back in the garb of Islam.”

Ignorant people who call themselves “Alevi” but have nothing whatsoever to do with Alevism show disrespect towards the musahiplik of the Prophet Muhammad and Imam Ali. In their own minds, they try to plaster over the sun with mud. As the end of the twentieth century approached and Alevi belief came onto the agenda and gained topicality in public opinion, self-seeking talkers who found the market empty are trying to distance Alevi belief from Islam and are striving to make it resemble Umayyad Islam. When you look into these people, you find literate ignoramuses who are not Alevis or know nothing whatsoever about Alevi belief, who to this day have not taken a musahip, have not made an ikrar, have not surrendered and entered the rites (erkân), and do not know what the Four Gates and Forty Stations are. We see chameleon-like creatures who have never lived Alevi belief and culture in their lives, have not received nasip (spiritual share, initiation), and do not know or live what it means to be a talip.

Talkers who have no pir, no rehber, no mürşid and do not know their value, who learn only from books or from hearsay – these hypocrites who exploit the lack of knowledge in the Alevi community have become Alevi writers, leaders and researchers. They gather up every written source against Alevism they could find in history, attribute to it an invented Alevism of their own devising, and try to create an Alevism outside Islam, an Alevism without Ali. They even resort to a thousand and one intrigues to tear Imam Ali away from the Prophet Muhammad.

As if this Alevism had never been lived or passed on until today. They strive to turn upside down the faith that orders my daily life and present it to me in that form. Should our young people, who have not yet become acquainted with Alevi belief and do not live Alevism, believe these town criers who play apostles of democracy and are specialised and skilled in the literature of brainwashing? Or should they believe the people who live and keep Alevism alive within their families and are devoted to the path of the Ehl-i Beyt? Young people who do not know this are caught between two stools. Because they do not know whom to believe, some of the young make mistake after mistake against their own faith.

Unfortunately, those we have described above, who knowingly or unknowingly betray Alevi belief, attempt to deny the verses in the Quran concerning musahiplik. They try to portray the offices of mürşid, pir and rehber as a system of exploitation. More precisely, what the Şeyhülislam (chief religious authority) could not achieve with his policy of annihilation in Ottoman times, these enemies of Alevism are now trying to achieve, as if they were acting as the Şeyhülislam’s advocates.

My esteemed readers! While explaining musahiplik to you, I would not really have wanted to criticise anyone else. You know that for 25 years I have been someone who struggles with such people. When the associations and the federation we founded to serve Alevism came into being, these unbalanced and self-seeking people I am describing began to multiply. Everywhere they attacked the path of the Ehl-i Beyt and muddled the minds of many of our young people. That is why it falls to us, once again, to speak of these enemies of Alevism. If, knowing this, we do not expose them, you will later seize us or our children by the collar and say: “You knew – why did you not tell us?” These bitter criticisms of mine arise from the negative reactions against the faith of certain people of Alevi origin who, between the 1960s and the 2000s, became entangled in politics contrary to Alevi belief. That is why I considered it my responsibility and duty to tell of these things. The judgement is yours.

How Does One Become a Musahip?

First, if two married couples (two families), after getting to know each other well, decide to become musahips, they apply to their own dede, the one closest to them, or to a dede known in the area who is able to carry out the religious rules. If the dede considers it appropriate, they stand in the dâr (the posture of humility) before the dede and express once again, in that dâr, their wish to become musahips.

The dede explains to them, as the Buyruk (the Alevi book of teachings) explains musahiplik, that they will be responsible for one another in property and life, in good and in bad; that they will have nothing hidden or secret from one another; and that musahip brothers and sisters are obliged to trust one another materially and spiritually and to be loyal. Since musahiplik is a brotherhood for the hereafter, the musahip families share in each other’s troubles, problems and joys.

For the noble Quran, in Sura an-Nisa, verse 33, commands exactly as follows: “For the property left by parents and relatives, We have made you heirs. Give their share to those with whom you have made an ikrar and sworn an oath. God is witness over all things.”

I draw your attention to the message of this verse. The verse commands: you shall share the inheritance left to you by your father or your relatives with your musahip, just as you share it with your own brother or sister. This message of God establishes the sanctity of musahiplik beyond any dispute.

The dede will explain at length to these musahip candidates the sanctity and characteristics of musahiplik. Then he says: “My children! With this application of yours you are still only musahip candidates. I now give you a trial period of one year. I will give you a ‘menzil gülbank’ (prayer of blessing for the waystation). Weigh and test one another during this year. Try to get to know one another very well. If during this year you become angry with one another, are offended, or some resentment comes between you, it is not permissible for you to become musahips. If during this time your love and respect for one another grow even greater, or this goodness continues unchanged, come back to me after at least one year. Then we will examine and see whether you are talips worthy of this Way and these rites, and whether you possess the morals and character! Then we will conduct your musahiplik rite and receive your ikrar.” And he gives them the following menzil gülbank:

Menzil Gülbank

“Bismi Şah Allah, Allah! May the times be blessed, may the dâr and the divans (assemblies) be light! On the path by which you came and in the dâr where you stand, may God, Muhammad and Ali grant your wish! May they bring you to your desires and wishes! May exalted God, who created this universe, take out and cast away the greed, ego (nefs), rancour, envy and selfishness in your hearts, and give you the light of faith in their place! For the honour of the Prophet Muhammad Mustafa and Ali-yel Murteza, may He make the bond of love between you lasting and firm! For the honour of the erenler and saints, may He not let satanic thoughts come between you! May He increase your love and respect for one another manifold, so that you attain your desires and wishes! May exalted God grant you the wish of your tongue and the longing of your heart! May your efforts not be in vain; may He grant you soon to make your ikrar and become a talip on the path of Muhammad and Ali! The tongue from us, the breath from the pir, the help from God! Gerçeğe hüü mümine ya Ali!” (“Hu to the Truth, ya Ali to the believer!”)

The candidates in the dâr bow to the ground (niyaz) and withdraw to their places. After this, at least one year passes. If no resentment has come between them, they come to the dede after a year and make the request: “We wish to make our ikrar and become musahips.” The dede is then obliged to carry out the rules of the rite.

Source: Seyit Derviş Tur, Erkânname – Aleviliğin İslam Yorumu ve Alevi Erkânları (The Alevi Interpretation of Islam and the Alevi Rites), expanded 3rd edition (ISBN 975-6791-52-7).

Translated from the Turkish original by Seyit Derviş Tur.