Traces of traditional Turkish religion in Islamic sufi culture

The main theme that our thesis examines is what the Turkish religion was before Islam and whether this belief is reflected in our day. It is important for our research how the traditional Turkish religion affects the lives, customs, and attitudes of the Turks. Since this belief affects the religion of Islam in many ways, we have limited our research to Islamic Sufism. The Sufi groups that we have examined in this regard are structures that have emerged and spread mostly among the Turks. The question that the research generally asks is the way in which the belief accepted by a society in the past is included in the new religion adopted later and whether this situation will occur in terms of the belief history of the Turks. In particular, the tolerant and permissive aspect of Sufism and its mystical side enabled the old belief to come under the veil of Sufism. In the research, the comparison method was used and the similarities between traditional Turkish religion and Sufism were compared, and their common aspects were determined. In addition, the similar lives and attitudes of "Shaman" and "Saint" are explained. By giving place to the mythological elements in the traditional Turkish religion, it is exemplified how these elements hidden in epics and tales turn into Sufi elements. The traces of the old Turkish belief, which influenced some of the rituals and beliefs of the sects, on Muslim Turks were tried to be determined. At the same time, we have expressed by classifying which sect was under what kind of influence. We have stated that the meaning that traditional Turkish religion attributes to some numbers has a place in folk beliefs and in the practices of the people that derive their source from Sufism. In addition, it has been mentioned that the cults encountered in every stage of the lives of the Turks in the traditional Turkish religion and that they preserved the cults in question after meeting with Islam. Key words: History of Religions, Traditional Turkish Religion, Shaman, Cult, Sufism