Adam

Adam in the Raa Haqi Creation Narrative ^[1]

In the oral tradition of Raa Haqi, the creation of Adam forms part of a broader cosmogonic narrative that explains the origins of the universe, angels, sacred beings, and humanity. The creation story collected from Nesimi Kılagöz of the Derviş Gewr Ocak is one of the most detailed recorded versions of this tradition (Gezik 2022, 363-88). Kılagöz’s account differs from the more widespread creation narratives found among other Alevi communities in Anatolia, particularly in the central role it assigns to Gabriel and Melekî Tawûs. In this narrative, Gabriel is not merely the angel of revelation or an intermediary between God and humanity; he is also a cosmological actor directly connected to reason, guidance, ikrar, musahiblik, and the creation of humankind.

According to the narrative, at the beginning of existence Haq assigns Gabriel the task of constructing a perfect building. Gabriel summons Michael, Israfil, and Azrael, and together they complete its construction. Once the building is finished, however, doubt arises within Gabriel. This doubt ultimately leads him to recognise his own incompleteness and to begin searching for his “second.” In Kılagöz’s account, the search for one’s counterpart is presented as one of the fundamental principles of creation. Beings attain completion only through their counterparts, partners, or musahibs.

Within this framework, the creation of Adam is linked to Gabriel’s need not to remain alone and to find his own musahib. While Muhammad and Ali become each other’s brothers and musahibs, Gabriel remains without a counterpart. As a result, “Şah,” namely Adam, is given to him as a brother. Adam thus becomes not only the first human being but also Gabriel’s musahib and the founding figure of the principle of musahiblik at the human level. In Kılagöz’s narrative, other pairings such as “heaven and earth,” “sun and moon,” “day and night,” and “cloud and thunder” are likewise presented as parts of the same cosmological order. The creation of Adam represents the human manifestation of this dual structure of existence on earth (Gezik 2022, 363-88; Gezik and Çakmak 2010).

Earth, Body, and the Debt of Death

In the Raa Haqi creation narrative, Adam’s body is created from earth. Yet earth is not merely the material substance from which the human body is formed; it is also the basis of humanity’s existential debt. According to the narrative, a portion of earth must first be taken in order to create Adam. When Gabriel, Michael, and Israfil approach the earth, it weeps and refuses to surrender any part of itself. Finally, Azrael goes to the earth and assures it that whatever is taken from it will one day be returned. Knowing that the part it temporarily gives will ultimately come back to it, the earth consents. Death, therefore, is understood not simply as the end of biological life but as the return of the human body to the place from which it was taken-that is, to the earth itself (Gezik 2022, 363-88; Gezik and Çakmak 2010).

This motif establishes the relationship between humanity and the earth through the principles of reciprocity, debt, and return. The human body is a trust temporarily granted by the earth. Life is the visible manifestation of this trust in the form of body and soul. Death is the earth reclaiming what it has given. In this sense, the creation of Adam also defines the limits of human existence within Raa Haqi cosmology: humans come from the earth, live through the earth, and ultimately return to it.

Adam’s creation involves not only earth but also the four primordial elements. According to the narrative, earth, water, fire, and wind come together to form mud. This mud remains in that state for thirty-nine days; on the fortieth day, a body, form, and corpse emerge. Yet this body is initially unable to stand and collapses back into mud. Thereupon, blood from Muhammad, Ali, and Gabriel is infused into the body, bringing Adam to life. The narrative thus suggests that Adam is composed not only of material elements but also of the light, blood, and cosmological essence of sacred beings (Gezik 2022, 363-88; Gezik and Çakmak 2010).

In this account, body, soul, and sacredness are not conceived as separate domains. Adam’s body is formed from earth, yet his ability to rise as a human being becomes possible only through sacred blood and soul. Adam is therefore both a being of the earthly realm and one connected to the sacred order. Through his person, humanity is understood as a mode of existence situated between earth and divine light, body and soul, zahir and batin.

Gabriel, Musahiblik, and the Principle of Duality

One of the most distinctive aspects of the creation narrative transmitted by Nesimi Kılagöz is that Adam is created as Gabriel’s musahib (Gezik 2022, 363-88). This makes Adam significant not only as the “first human being” but also as the cosmological point of origin of the institution of musahiblik in the Raa Haqi tradition. According to Kılagöz, all beings seek their “second,” and only through this duality do they become complete. Creation is therefore not described as the independent emergence of isolated beings but as an order established through reciprocal relationships, pairings, and mutual witnessing.

Within this dual order, Muhammad and Ali, heaven and earth, sun and moon, day and night, and cloud and thunder are presented as complementary pairs. Gabriel alone remains without a counterpart. Adam is therefore given to him as a brother, companion, and musahib. Adam’s creation completes Gabriel’s missing counterpart and initiates the principle of musahiblik at the level of humanity (Gezik 2022, 363-88; Gezik and Çakmak 2010).

In the Raa Haqi tradition, musahiblik is not merely a social bond of brotherhood established between two individuals. It also constitutes an order of the hereafter, the yol, ikrar, witnessing, and responsibility. Those who become musahibs bear witness to one another’s lives, moral conduct, and commitment to the path. The relationship between Adam and Gabriel therefore demonstrates that human beings are not simply created entities but beings called to the yol, to ikrar, and to responsibility (Gezik and Çakmak 2010).

Gabriel’s role in this narrative is equally multi-layered. On the one hand, he is the angel who witnesses Adam’s creation and becomes his musahib; on the other, he is a cosmological guide who enables human beings to know themselves, recognise their path, and orient themselves toward truth. Kılagöz’s association of Gabriel with reason and guidance is particularly significant in this regard. Adam’s creation thus signifies not only the acquisition of bodily existence but also entry into an order structured by reason, the yol, witnessing, and musahiblik.

Within this framework, Adam is more than the ancestor of humanity in Raa Haqi cosmology. He is a figure through whom the human position on the yol is explained. Through Adam, humanity is simultaneously connected to the earth and opened to the sacred order; mortal yet endowed with soul; individual yet in need of completion through the bond of musahiblik.

Melekî Tawûs and the Narrative of Prostration

One of the most important elements of the Adam narrative is the figure of Melekî Tawûs. In Kılagöz’s account, Melekî Tawûs initially appears as the chief of the angels (Gezik 2022, 363-88). However, he first loses his position because of an error committed in the celestial realm and is later granted a second opportunity following the creation of Adam. While all the angels prostrate themselves before Adam, Melekî Tawûs refuses to do so. Claiming that he was created from fire whereas Adam was created from earth, he declines to bow before him. This attitude is explained by his inability to perceive the divine light present within Adam.

From this point onward, although Melekî Tawûs recognises his mistake, he becomes a being who “does not know himself” and is subsequently referred to as Satan. In the Raa Haqi narrative, however, this figure is not directly identified with the Satan of classical Islamic tradition. Rather, he appears as a symbol of a being who fails to recognise himself, the divine light in others, and ultimate truth. His refusal to prostrate before Adam is associated with an inability to perceive the sacred essence concealed behind the earthly form of the human being.

Adam, Eve, and the Forbidden Wheat

In the continuation of the creation narrative, Eve is created from Adam’s left rib. After living on earth for a period of time, Adam and Eve are taken to paradise by Gabriel. There, everything is permitted to them except wheat. The prohibition of wheat is associated with human mortality, embodiment, and the return to the earthly world (Gezik and Çakmak 2010).

According to the most widespread version of the narrative, Melekî Tawûs enters paradise and persuades Eve to eat the forbidden wheat. After eating it, Eve becomes aware of her nakedness, and Adam subsequently eats the wheat as well. As a result, Adam and Eve are expelled from paradise. Adam is sent to Mount Cudi, while Eve is sent to the vicinity of the Indian Sea. The narrative relates that they remain separated for a long period and weep in sorrow. They are eventually reunited through the mediation of Gabriel (Gezik and Çakmak 2010).

Another variant of this narrative is also found in the oral tradition. In this version, Adam asks Gabriel why wheat has been forbidden. Gabriel replies that Muhammad and Ali will be born from the lineage of those who eat it. Adam then eats the wheat and returns to the world. Here, eating the wheat is interpreted not simply as a violation of a divine prohibition but as a conscious act that makes possible the appearance of the light of Muhammad and Ali and the emergence of the sacred lineage.

The Seventy-Two Nations, Naciye, and Güruhu Naci

The children of Adam and Eve constitute an important motif in Raa Haqi narratives explaining the origins of human communities. According to the narrative, Adam and Eve have seventy-two children, who become the seventy-two nations of the world. The Raa Haq community, however, does not identify itself as one of these seventy-two nations but rather as a distinct seventy-third nation (Gezik 2022, 363-88; Gezik and Çakmak 2010).

According to this account, after a disagreement arises between Adam and Eve, Haq sends an angel named Naciye from paradise to Adam. Because of a promise he has made to Eve, Adam does not wish to marry Naciye directly. Instead, Adam and Eve each breathe into a separate jar. Eve opens her jar on the thirty-ninth day and finds creatures that crawl upon the earth. In Adam’s jar, however, there is a child made of divine light. When Eve shakes the jar in anger, the child becomes disabled. On the fortieth day, when the jar is opened again, the child is still alive. He is named Naci, meaning “the saved one.” When Naci grows up, he is married to Naciye, and both the Kırklar and Güruhu Naci are said to descend from this lineage (Gezik 2022, 363-88; Gezik and Çakmak 2010).

A different variant of the story relates that Adam and Naciye become spouses directly, and that Naciye gives birth to forty children in a single birth. One of these children is brought home and becomes known as Şit, while the remaining thirty-nine children are said to remain in the cave of Xar. These children are subsequently identified as Güruhu Naciye. Taken together, these variants reveal that the oral tradition of Raa Haqi establishes a strong sacred genealogy linking Adam, Eve, Naciye, Naci/Şit, and the Kırklar (Gezik 2022, 363-88; Gezik and Çakmak 2010).

Conclusion

Adam is not merely the first human being and the ancestor of humanity in Raa Haqi creation narratives. He stands at the centre of a broad cosmological order that connects earth and body, soul and sacredness, death and return, Gabriel and musahiblik, Eve and human descent, and Naciye and the idea of a sacred lineage. The creation of Adam demonstrates that the human being is both a mortal creature formed from earth and a being of the yol animated by sacred light.

Within this narrative, the Raa Haq community is positioned not among the seventy-two nations descended from Adam and Eve but as the “seventy-third nation,” or Güruhu Naci, tracing its origins through the lineage of Naciye, Naci, and Şit. The Adam narrative is therefore not merely a cosmological account of beginnings within the Raa Haqi tradition; it is also one of the foundational narratives through which the community explains its origins, lineage, yol, and sacred distinctiveness.