Work

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

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: 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.

Source: OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying

DOI: 10.1177/00302228251391027

Author: Hicran Karataş

Institution: Bartin University

Language: English

Topic: Organ Donation and Transplantation

Subfield: Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,650