Cami and cemevi

Mümtazer Türköne

In fact, both cami and cemevi have the same meaning. Both are of Arabic origin. Cami (mosque) means place of union and cemevi (an Alevi place of worship) means house of union.

Because the differences between Sunnism and Alevism are in the nuances, it is difficult to follow the current debates that surround them.

Take, for instance, a project launched on Sunday in Mamak, Ankara. Within the scope of this project, a cami and cemevi, along with their associated social facilities, will be housed in the same complex. Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, who is a Sunni, is the mastermind behind and a supporter of this pretty strong, meaningful project of social peace and cohesion. İzzettin Doğan, chairman of the Cem Foundation and an Alevi opinion leader in Turkey, is the representative of the other side.

Many leading Alevi figures, including chairs of Alevi foundations and associations, as well as Cabinet members attended a gathering held on Sunday for the launch of the project. The project has clearly attracted wide social support, as evidenced by the huge crowd at the gathering. It is a rare occasion that members of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) and ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) come together at a gathering with religious purpose. However, opponents of the project were also busy staging protests. Police had to interfere with the group as it attempted to sabotage the gathering. Despite this, it is evident that Turkey has made huge progress toward solving the Alevi issue.

The Sunni majority views Alevism as Islamic heresy. Attitudes towards heretics are pretty strong and harsh in every religion. Tolerance of other religions shifts to strong bigotry when it comes to heretics. In respect to Alevism, the views of the Religious Affairs Directorate, the representative of Sunni Islam, have been regarded as having the utmost authority in Turkey. As such, discussion of the issue has been along the lines that Alevis should adopt the “righteous path” once again. Alevis, on the other hand, have always opposed to approaches such as this that view them as having strayed from Islam.

The Religious Affairs Directorate recently abandoned this approach. It declared that Alevis have the power and discretion to define Alevism and determine what type of faith it is. This attitude is fairly new and will have revolutionary impacts. The critical threshold that needed to be overcome with respect to solving the Alevi issue has been crossed. Through this revolutionary approach by the Religious Affairs Directorate, Alevism is now considered a faith that is independent of Sunni Islam rather than a deviation from it.

The cami-cemevi project is a complementary step. As an independent faith, Alevism has become an equal of the Sunni faith. It is obvious that the cami-cemevi project is one of rapprochement between the Sunni and Alevi faiths.

Fethullah Gülen is one of the strongest representatives of the Sunni faith. He interprets Islam as a religion of peace and has worldwide influence; in this project, there is a strategic vision of Gülen that complements the step the Religious Affairs Directorate has taken. In this sense, the vision goes beyond a peaceful, reconciliatory approach. Through this project, for the first time, Alevism enters the religious arena as an equal faith because a cemevi will stand next to a cami in the same complex. This will serve to address claims that there are attempts to convert Alevis to the Sunni faith.

The protests staged at the event were done so by those who have been using the Alevi faith as a tool to promote their marginal views. The Alevi people have been seen as the natural allies and supporters of these marginal groups. The protests were held because these groups realized that they can no longer exploit the Alevis and their faith. The cami-cemevi project offers a solution to the Alevi issue for the first time.

Published on Today's Zaman, 09 September 2013, Monday