THE INITIATION CEREMONY OF THE BEKTASHIS

BY

HELMER RINGGREN Abo

The aim of this paper is not to offer any new and startling solutions of the problems of Bektashi initiation, nor to unveil any of the secrets of this order of dervishes, but only to provide the study conference with some concrete material for the discussion of some of the general questions connected with the rites of initiation. Being a real order with closed membership, the Bektashis naturally had a very elaborate initiation ceremony. The ritual of this ceremony is found in the so-called erkan-name's, or ritual-books, which exist in a great number of handwritten copies. John BIRGE, who wrote the most comprehensive book on the Bektashis The of Dervishes, London 1937), had in his collection four such books of varying size and completeness. Recent Turkish books on the Bektashis seern to have used other, partly different copies. The account of the initiation ceremony given by Tevfik 0YTAN in his Bekta1iligin iouzii (Istanbul, 1948-9) and by Kemal SAMANCIGIL in his Bektafilik tarihi (Istanbul, 1945) differ to some extent both in the order of the items and in the wording of the songs and prayers from the one given by BIRGE. Another account, naturally not quite as exact, is given in Yakup KADRr's novel Nur (of which there is an excellent German translation by A.-M. SCHIMMEL, Falter und Flamme). It is hard to tell whether or not this difference depends on local or individual variations in the ritual, for since the Turkish writers do not specify their sources we know neither the provenance nor the exactitude of their data. BIRGE's account of the initiation, or qynicem (the derivation of the word is not clear), seems to be complete and is based on his four erkannames, which are now kept in the library of the Hartford Seminary Foundation, Hartford, Conn. But it is almost exclusively descriptive and makes no real attempt at a historical or functional analysis, and some interpretative details of the ritual are merely recorded. The ceremony takes place in the main room, or sacred hall, of the INITIATION CEREMONY OF THE BEKTASHIS 203

monastery, the meydan evi, In this room, opposite the entrance door with its threshold (which is very important!), is a throne, the tahti Muhammet, consisting of three steps and holding twelve or more candles (therefore often called also rzragltk, or place of candles). The twelve candles seem to symbolize ; a special, tall candle called "the candle of the law" (kanun (lragz) has three wicks symbolizing God, , and . To the left, in front of the throne, there is a sheepskin, or post, for the baba (leader of the monas• tery) or miir[it. Around the room there are other sheepskins, four or twelve, named for various leaders of Bektashism, and in addition one for the rehber, or guide. "The position in the exact centre of the meydan is always called Dar-i Mansur or simply Dar, the 'gallows of Mansur al-Hallaj'. Standing in this place is therefore symbolic of life for principle in memory of the death of the one who said enelhak, 'I am reality'". (BIRGE, op. cit. p. 180). The symbolism of all this is important. The threshold marks the borderline between the profane and the sacred (ELIADE): the meydan is the sacred place, and the candidate to be initiated enters the realm of the sacred. In this holy place the holy ones of the past are present: the imams and the great figures of Bektashi history. In view of the importance ascribed to the tradition or succession of teachers in Muslim mysticism, this is highly significant. The candidate is brought into the presence of the whole Bektashi tradition, to share the fellow• ship of the erenler (initiated) and saints of the past. The ceremony takes place in the evening, or night. Earlier that same day he has brought a ram to the tekke (monastery) for sacrifice. Theoretically, the tigbent, or rope belt, to be used in the initiation should be made from the wool of this ram. In the evening, while the members are gathering in the meydan, the candidate, called talip, i.e. seeker, is being prepared for the initiation in an adjoining room by the rehber, or guide. He takes off his shoes and takes the ablution (abdest); during the ablution the rehber recites a number of tercemans, or prayers, in which the meaning of the purification is expounded: he washes his hands in order to be freed from all the prohibited things to which he has stretched his hands before; he rinses his mouth in order to cleanse it from all falsehood and fault that may have issued from it; he rinses his nose to cleanse it from whatever forbidden things he has smelt; he washes his face in order to be absolved from every shameful thing; his feet in order to be cleansed from every instance of having walked in rebellious and