Aşure Day, Muharrem and Gadir-i Hum Customs in Çorum

The book 2006 Yılında Çorum’da Yaşayan Geleneksel Kutlamalar (Traditional Celebrations Living in Çorum in 2006), published by the Turkish Folklore Society of Hitit University, holds five records tied to the Islamic (Hijri) calendar: three records of Aşure Day (Ashura, the tenth day of the month of Muharrem) from Merkez (the city centre), Dodurga and Kargı; one record of an Ehl-i Beyt mourning rite (Ehl-i Beyt: the family of the Prophet Muhammad) collected in Çorum; and one record of Gadir-i Hum (Ghadir Khumm) from Çorum city. The book places the Aşure records under “Celebrations held by the lunar calendar” with the heading “Celebrations held in Muharrem”, the mourning rite under “Commemoration ceremonies”, and Gadir-i Hum under “Celebrations held in winter”. The records come from interviews that students carried out with informants in the spring term of the 2005-2006 academic year. What follows is each informant’s account; practices differ from place to place.

Aşure Day

All three records give Aşure Day as the tenth day of Muharrem each year. All three mention fasting, visiting relatives and greeting many people that day; alms (Merkez, Kargı), the full ritual ablution called gusül (Merkez, Dodurga), and buying small things for the home to bring plenty (Dodurga, Kargı) each appear in two records.

Merkez

The record was collected in Çorum on 21 April 2006. According to the informant, people fast on Aşure Day; but since fasting on that day alone is regarded as mekruh (discouraged), the fast is kept together with the day before or the day after. Relatives are visited and their hearts won with gifts or other help (sıla-i rahim, keeping ties of kinship). Religious knowledge is studied: that night, in the informant’s words, an ilmihal (catechism of religious duties) “in line with the Ahl al-Sunna” and the Qur’an are read, and those with missed prayers make them up. Alms are given, sürme (kohl) is applied to the eyes as a remedy, many greetings are exchanged, everyone makes their children happy, and the gusül ablution is taken. The informant grounds most of these practices in a hadith; the texts of these hadiths are also given in the record (Geleneksel Kutlamalar, p. 56).

Dodurga

According to the informant, people fast on Aşure Day following a hadith that a year’s sins will be forgiven. Relatives are visited and aşure, the sweet grain pudding of the day, is taken along; the record also expresses the importance of the visit with a hadith. Many greetings are exchanged that day. It is said that if small household items are bought on Aşure Day, the home will enjoy plenty and blessing for a year. The gusül ablution is taken and prayers are recited at home; the ritual prayer is also performed that day. According to the informant, an important point about aşure is that it is made “of at least seven kinds”; the photographs section of the book includes a picture of ingredients used to make aşure in Dodurga (Geleneksel Kutlamalar, pp. 57, 72).

Kargı

According to the record, on Aşure Day in Kargı women cook aşure and hand it out to neighbours from early in the morning. In addition, bowls of aşure prepared in advance are distributed to the public at the central mosque, led by local people, or by the municipality at a busy spot in the town that can be called its square. According to the informant, people fast that day, visit relatives, buy gifts, win hearts with various kinds of help, give alms to those in need, make children happy, exchange many greetings, buy small provisions for the home so that the year’s stores are blessed, recite prayers and perform the ritual prayers particular to Aşure Day (Geleneksel Kutlamalar, p. 58).

The Ehl-i Beyt mourning rite of On Muharrem

The record, in the book’s “Commemoration ceremonies” section, was collected in Çorum on 8 May 2006. According to it, every year in Çorum Ehl-i Beyt mourning ceremonies are held at the time of the Hijri calendar called “On Muharrem” (literally “ten Muharrem”); mourning is kept for Hüseyin (Husayn) and the members of the Prophet’s family killed at Karbala. The Qur’an is recited, mersiye (elegies) are sung, people fast, aşure is cooked, contests are held for Imam Hüseyin, and people beat their chests to represent the suffering of Hüseyin; as it is a day of mourning, people do not go to work. According to the record, all the reward earned from these acts is dedicated to the souls of the Prophet Muhammad, Hüseyin and the 72 martyrs, and people ask God for mercy, blessing and forgiveness for the sake of the month of Muharrem (Geleneksel Kutlamalar, p. 60).

Gadir-i Hum

The only record in the book’s “Celebrations held in winter” section was collected in Çorum city. According to it, every year in Çorum the 18th day of the Hijri month of Zilhicce (Dhu al-Hijja) is celebrated as Gadir-i Hum day. In the informant’s words the day is celebrated by all Muslims in the world, and especially by “Ehl-i Beyt Alevis”; the informant explains this by saying that on this day Ali was chosen by the Prophet as his vasi (legatee) and imam to succeed him.

According to the record, the celebrations are usually held in the mosque, and people fast that day. The programme opens with Qur’an recitation, followed by the ritual prayer and poems read by speakers; at the end, volunteers from the congregation offer sweets, Turkish delight and fruit. On the night of Gadir-i Hum people do not sleep and spend the whole night in worship. On that day good deeds are done, people compete in charity, the poor are helped, new and clean clothes are worn, and the day is celebrated like a religious holiday (Geleneksel Kutlamalar, p. 10).

Notes

The book gives the records in the informants’ words; it does not discuss the religious basis or the origin of the practices. References to hadiths are the informants’ own, and the hadith texts are not reproduced on this page. Because Aşure Day and Gadir-i Hum follow the Hijri calendar, their dates in the Gregorian calendar change every year.

For other records in the same book see Hıdırellez Traditions in Çorum, Rain Prayer (İstiska) Traditions in Çorum, Koç Katımı and At Kesme Ceremonies in Çorum, Koyun Baba Commemoration and Pilaf Day in Osmancık and Tepreş Festivities in Sungurlu.

Sources

• M. Öcal Oğuz and Tuğçe Işıkhan (eds.), 2006 Yılında Çorum’da Yaşayan Geleneksel Kutlamalar, Hitit Üniversitesi Fen Edebiyat Fakültesi Türk Halkbilimi Topluluğu Yayınları: 6, Ankara 2006, pp. 10 (Gadir-i Hum), 56-58 (Aşure Day recordings), 60 (Ehl-i Beyt mourning rite), 72 (photograph). https://hacibayram.edu.tr/api/files/1/Hac%C4%B1bayram%20AHBV/thbmer(tr-TR)/GELENEKSEL%20KUTLAMALAR.pdf