An investigation of the Kesnizanî order in terms of sociology of religion

Religion, which expresses the connection with the sacred, manifests itself not only in individual but also social life. Scientific studies in the sociology of religion show that there is also a religious group dimension that expresses the social aspect in addition to the belief and worship dimensions in every religion. Some religious groups may have economic and political functions that exceed their socio-religious characteristics. In this study, the Kesnizanî order, which spread over a wide geography including Iraq, Iran, and Turkey by carrying out various religious, social, cultural, economic, and political activities, was discussed in terms of sociology of religion. In order to address the Kesni-zani order in this study, sociologist Joachim Wach's typologies of 'creed, ritual, commu-nity' that give the structure of a religious group and Max Weber's typologies of 'religion that rejects the world' and 'religion that accepts the world', which give the character of a religious group, are examined by combining them. In Weber's qualitative types, 'color shift' between typologies are also considered. Within the framework of the questions prepared in the light of these typologies, in-depth interviews were conducted with a total of 78 people in Istanbul, Ankara provinces of Turkey and Erbil, Sulaymaniyah provinces of Iraq and Zakho district of Dahok provinces and there was a period of time left for participant observation in the order's tekyehs. As a result of the methods and theories summarized, the following findings about the Kesnizanî order were reached: The Kesnizan order, which has a rejectionist view and attitude towards the world in mythic, mystical and secret-based, creed, symbols, creed and ritual systems has not been able to maintain the same point of view and attitude in the structure of the community due to certain obligations and relations of interest. In its historical process, the sect has experienced considerable color shifts by showing some convergence to politics and economy, which are among the institutions of the secular world, and thus exhibited a world-accepting perspective and attitude in the structure of the community, contrary to the creed and ritual systems. Keywords: Alevî, Kâdirî, Kesnizanî Order, Structural Religious Group Typolo-gies, Qualitative Religious Group Typologies.