Mawlid in the daily religious life of women: Example of Malatya

This study focuses on the place and functions of Mawlid in the daily religious life of women. In this study, which was carried out in selected neighborhoods of Malatya province, 70 people were interviewed (interview) and as a participant, observations were made by participating in various seasonal ceremonies. The findings obtained from these were evaluated. The first part of this study, which consists of three parts, constitutes the conceptual framework. In this section, the definition and history of the mawlid are given in order to understand the place of the popular religious practice in the theoretical framework. At the same time, the feature of being a ritual of the mawlid was mentioned under the title of mawlid as a ritual. Due to the fact that it is a practice performed by the people, the mawlid was also studied under the popular religion title. Since our study is based on women, the issue of gender is also discussed in this section. In the second part, the methods and techniques of the research, data collection tools and the scope of the study are explained in detail. In this study, qualitative research method and interview and participant observation techniques were used in accordance with this method. In the third part, the findings we obtained with the interview and observation techniques we conducted in the region we have determined previously were evaluated in the context of the place and functions of the mawlid in the daily religious life of women. As a result, it has been determined that the effect of mawlid on the daily life of women varies according to the individual's membership of a religious group and the majority of women have less interest in the district. With the modern period, it has been observed that there is a difference in the content and appearance of the mawlid.