The Alawite Rituals: Bismil Case

The subject of the study comprise the rituals of Alawites living in the Bismil town and villages of Diyarbakir province. The purpose was to find how effective the rituals are in the protection of cultural life, and to determine their effects in the construction of identity by taking Alawites’ faith, prayer, civil society and social relationships into consideration. How the rituals affect identity construction was examined, rather than a mere conceptual identity. Bismil has always been a place where Sunni/Shafi lived and the Alawites, who have been living in the area for a long time, have always been the minority. Accordingly, the focus was to find what provides the pertinacity for protecting their identity and the dynamics that provides continuity in maintaining their identity