A survey on İslahiye folk beliefs and practices in the perspective of history of religions

Beliefs and practices hold a significant place in human life, and their primary sources are customs, traditions, conventions, and most importantly, religion. It is possible to determine which of these beliefs and practices are rooted in religion from the perspec-tives of both divine and human-made religions. The aim of this study is to identify the folk beliefs and practices in the İslahiye district and to register them for future genera-tions. This study include the İslahiye district of Gaziantep province and its affiliated neigh-borhoods. The documented folk beliefs and practices have been evaluated within the framework of the History of Religions discipline. Within the scope of the research, a literature review was firstly conducted, followed by face-to-face interviews with individuals residing in the region. In this study, qualitative research methods specifically literature review and fieldwork were employed. No judgments were made regarding whether the beliefs and practices shared by inter-viewers whether logical or illogical, right or wrong; instead, they were presented objec-tively, with a focus on their origins. Based on the data obtained, it is understood that some of the beliefs and practices in İslahiye reflect traces of ancient Turkic beliefs, while others have continued to exist by adopting Islamic characteristics.