Dede (religious figure)

Part of a series on the Alevis Alevism
Beliefs Allah Haqq–Muhammad–Ali Prophet Muḥammad ibn `Abd Allāh Muhammad-Ali Zahir Batin Shariat Tariqat Marifat Haqiqat Wahdat al-wujud Wahdat al-mawjud Baqaa Fana Hal Kashf Keramat Al-Insān al-Kāmil Lataif Four Doors Manzil Nûr Sulook
Practices Zakat Zeyārat Taqiyya Ashura Hıdırellez Nowruz Saya Mawlid Music Düşkünlük Meydanı Fasting Müsahiplik Buyruks
The Twelve Imams Ali Hasan Husayn al-Abidin al-Baqir al-Sadiq al-Kazim ar-Rida al-Taqi al-Naqi al-Askari al-Mahdi
Leadership Nabi Dede Murshid Pir Rehber Baba Jem Cemevi
Important figures Ahi Evren Haji Bektash Veli Sari Saltik Demir Baba Arabati Baba Pir Sultan Abdal Kul Nesîmî Sheikh Bedreddin Börklüce Mustafa Torlak Kemal Baba Ishak Seyid Riza
History Babak Khorramdin Maziar Babai revolt Celali rebellions Ottoman persecution of Alevis Baba Zünnun Rebellion Kalender Çelebi rebellion Nur Ali Halife rebellion Şahkulu Rebellion Battle of Chaldiran Abaza rebellion Koçgiri Rebellion Dersim Rebellion Maraş Massacre Çorum Massacre Sivas Massacre Gazi Quarter riots
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A dede (also called dedebaba) 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:

1. Murshid
2. Pir
3. 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 ocakzâdes, have distributed these duties among themselves.^{[citation needed]}

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.