Death and Organ Donation Between Four Gates and Forty Posts: Insights From Alevi Faith

Alevi-Bektashi adherents constitute a significant population both in Türkiye and in the diaspora. Within the framework of the erkân (Alevi-Bektashi social norms), cadaveric organ donation is strongly encouraged as a pathway to the donor's eternal salvation, whereas living organ donations are subject to specific regulations. This study, based on in-depth face-to-face and online interviews with 21 ocakzade Alevi religious leaders (dede), investigates how organ donation-both cadaveric and living-is framed, regulated, and endowed with socio-cultural meanings within the sacred context of the Alevi faith. For the first time in the literature, this research demonstrates that Alevi canlar (those who have undergone the ikrar ritual and officially declared themselves Alevi) represent one of the few faith communities worldwide that adopt a markedly positive stance toward cadaveric organ donation, thereby offering significant potential in this field. The qualitative findings reveal key cultural and religious themes, including trust in science; the precedence of musahiplik (ritual brotherhood); the exclusion of düşkün (banished individuals) and the unjust from benefiting; and the understanding that while the ten (body) perishes, the can (soul) remains eternal.