___________________________________________________________________________ Journal of Religious Culture Journal für Religionskultur Ed. by / Hrsg. von Edmund Weber in Association with / in Zusammenarbeit mit Matthias Benad Institute for Irenics / Institut für Wissenschaftliche Irenik Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main ISSN 1434-5935- © E.Weber – E-mail: irenik@em.uni-frankfurt.de ___________________________________________________________________________ No. 69 (2004) Alawi Syncretism Beliefs and Traditions in the Shrine of Hüseyin Gazi By Hüseyin Türk Numerous regional and descriptive studies have been made on beliefs and traditions related to shrines. The present study is a scientific outcome of a visit to the shrine of Hüseyin Gazi with a group of Alawi visitors from Divriği. Although the visitors knew very little about Hüseyin Gazi’s historical personality, they carefully practiced all traditions and customs in the shrine. These beliefs and practices descending from their ancient forms of beliefs will provide direct data on development and the origins of their religion. Hence, in this study, on the beliefs and practices held in the Shrine of Hüseyin Gazi visited by Alawi disciples, we expect to reach certain clues to denote that Alawism is a syncretic belief. Introduction Religious Anthropology studies the origins, evolution and functions of religions. The discipline researching religious beliefs and rituals comparatively with cross-cultural perspectives tries to enlighten the belief world of the mankind. Religion, as a term, can be defined as “believing as well as worshipping to the supernatural powers and/or beings by the individual who are emotionally or consciously devoted to them” (Örnek 1988: 127). There have been a number of theories so far which try to bring an explanation to the origins and the evolution of religion. In these theories, Fetishism, cults of nature, animism, Totemism, dynamism, Manism, magic, polytheism, monotheism as well as certain physiological phenomena have been particularized as evolutionary stages and forms of belief (Evans- Pritchard 1998: 124). All of these theories have the perspective of so called “progressive” and / or “unilinear” that maintain a religion which has reached ongoing stages and that communities which have developed from primitiveness to civilization. They argue that there