Dede (religious figure)

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A dede (also called dedebaba) (means grandfather in Turkish) is a socio-religious leader in the Islamic Alevi and non-Islamic Ishiki community. It is one of the 12 ranks of Imam in Alevism. The institution of dede is the most important of all the institutions integral to the social and religious organization of the Anatolian Alevis. Although much weakened as a result of the socio-economic transformation experienced in Anatolia towards the end of the nineteenth century, and particularly due to accelerated migration from the rural to the urban areas after the foundation of the Republic of Turkey, it played a primary role in the survival of Alevism until today. A descendant of a Dede is called a Hearth. The institution of dedes is based on a three tiered hierarchy: Murshid Pir Rehber In some regions this hierarchy is modified in such a way that the Pir and Murshid change places. This is exclusively a functional hierarchy, as all involved come from a dede family. They fulfill functions that are complementary in nature, and would be meaningless in isolation from each other. The dede families, all of them called ocakzades, have distributed these duties among themselves. An Alevi dede focuses on the mystical Islamic teachings of the Twelve Imams, the Buyruks (mainly the Imam Câfer-i Sadık Buyruğu) and Haji Bektash Veli.