Anadolu Derviş Sofrasında Ahmed Yesevî’nin İzleri: Derviş Lokmasının Menkıbevi Referansları
Traces of Khwāja Aḥmad al-Yasawī in the Anatolian Lodge Cuisine Legendary Sources of Dervish Lodge

Summary/Abstract: Sufis have participated in migrations to Anatolia from different regions. They have established their lodges including places that are not suitable for residence. These buildings have provided food and safe beds for those traveling to this area. For this reason, the lodge cuisine is an important material culture that provides life for the people. At the same time, the lodge cuisine has an important place in the formation spirituality of the dervishes. In many subjects, Anatolian lodge cuisine carries the traces of Yasawī culture. Especially in the sects like Mawlawiyya and Bektāshiyya, the kitchen is like an education quarry about the dressage of the dervishes. Accordingly, it is seen that some of the dishes and foods in the lodge cuisine have created a system of values in the minds of the dervishes. In this framework, it is seen that these foods and goods have a connection to explain the structure of the Yasawī tradition. An important aspect that supports this idea is the fact that some dervish dowries which found in some legends have some items associated with the tableware.Summary: The lodge cuisine is an important material culture that provides a continuation of life in the Anatolian lodges. At the same time, the lodge cuisine has an important position in the development spirituality of sūfīs. The Anatolian lodge cuisine carries traces of Yasawī cultures in many respects. It is accepted as an education centre for the development of the dervishes especially in some orders such as Mawlawīs and Bektāshiyya. Special attention has been paid to the kitchens in these lodges. So every part of meal is decorated with various ceremonies in these lodges.Table culture and consume halal food is also seen as important in the socialization of the person. In the lodges sheik helps dervishes to control their eating habits. Rituals related to the food and their consumption in lodges are explaining the infrastructure of the order. In this context, it is also important that certain items related to tableware in some orders be regarded as signs of caliphate. For instance, a cap, a cardigan and a banner which deserves the caliphate position are presented in Bektāshiyya. It is also important to present a sūfī, which is associated with direct food such as tableware and candlesticks.In Aḥmad al-Yasawī’s education system, customs and practices related to kitchen, tableware and food are important. Aḥmad al-Yasawī’s book Dīwān al-Ḥikma functions as a founding text of the mystic manners. In some Anatolian lodges, which are a continuation of Yasawī tradition, table meals and catering are considered as one of the most important parts of dervish rhetoric. According to this, a meal that is cooked as halal and clean is a very precious blessing sent by God. In this direction, sūfī is careful not to miss this measure at every step of his life, in his dwelling interior, retreats and ceremonies. According to Yasawī tradition, overeating is not right. It is important not to be excessive in this regard. When the dervish is in khalwat, he should be careful to feed. There is a ritual of khalwat in Yasawī tradition. They prepare their souls with fasting and dhikr for this challenging journey. The dervish who is still in Bektāshiyya has to pay attention to his feeding. He should only eat enough to perform his worship and dhikr. There is only one bowl of soup per day and barley bread in the first days in the Qādiriyya. Many of the practices and rituals associated with feeding in the lodges of Anatolia are similar to the practices of Aḥmad al-Yasawī. The dervish is fed as a soul and as a wisdom in the lodge table. So that his heart is a little closer to spiritual food.Similarly, in akhī tradition to prepare meals and to eat meals has been considered as a part of hospitality in Anatolia. In this context, books related to futuwwa which is the guide of the akhī, contains many of the menus related to the food. Not only in the lodges or the akhī zawiyas but also in the Janissary corps, the table is regarded as remembrance of Salmān al-Fārisī in Anatolia.In the Anatolian tekke structure, tableware is seen as a love affair and brotherhood parade bringing people together. Collective memory becomes evident in the kitchen centre. Thus a common space and a symbolic world of meaning are formed. In this way dervishes continue to live with their cultural accumulation ritually. Cauldron is a sign of charity and generosity in the Islamic tradition in the context of the symbolism of Khalīl Ibrāhīm’s sofa and the value of hospitality. In the same way, the boiler is a legendary figure of deep and complex expressions with different symbolic meanings extending to the ancient Turkish culture. The date is a symbolic and precious fruit in Anatolian lodges. From the other side date is an important food for human body. Date is mostly symbolizing of divine knowledge in epics and narrations. The divine knowledge is carried from one sūfī to another by date. The spiritual knowledge of the Prophet Muḥammad is symbolized by the date.It is accepted that bread and wheat are also given to people with a divine grace from heaven. Salt and bread are seen as an important food by the Anatolian people. On the other hand, salt and bread are perceived as holy foods that humanity are endowed with as a divine grace. It is understood that these foods find themselves in complete coherence with complement each other in lodge literature and on the other hand it is the indispensable element of tables.

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