The City of Riza in the Land of the Sun Ali Rıza Gelirli
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City of Consent in the Land of the Sun Ali Riza Gelirli I want to talk about the Alevis: Their goal was to establish the City of Reza. However, the rulers did not allow this. In order to protect their lives and beliefs, they first migrated to the mountains; those who made the mountains uncomfortable for them drove them to the cities. In the cities, their presence was found disturbing and they were pushed back even further. Think of Dersim, Maraş, Çorum, Sivas, Gazi and other places where massacres took place. They found themselves on the road to migration; this migration is politically and economically based. Each migration is unique and peculiar to itself. And here we are at the end of the first quarter of the 21st century. We were dreaming of establishing the City of Consent in Anatolia, but now we are scattered all over the world. Actually, this was a war, of course there were a thousand and one types of war and this was one of them. In the chaos of today's cities, let me take you a little away and take you to Reza City. For those who do not know, let me try to introduce the City of Reza, because this is my purpose in this text. Long before Thomas More's famous work "Utopia", Imam Jafar described his intellectual utopia, the City of Reza, in his book "The Order". In the difficult days of the post-modern era, when the conflict between man and man and nature (you can call it man's war with nature if you like) is not over, talking about the City of Reza may be interpreted as naivety. So be it; let us still say our word. At least let us introduce our utopia to those who do not know it and remind those who have forgotten it. Jafari Sadiq, who depicted a paradise on earth where there are no classes and exploitation, where common property is socialised and good morality is theorised, was unfortunately murdered like other members of the Ahl al-Bayt before he reached the fame and intellectual prestige that Thomas More achieved. In the City of Consent, the ontological proposition of "control your hand, waist and tongue!" is valid. Every moment of life is worship in this respect. This is an unwritten law. In that region, fasting is kept with hands, waist and tongue; men and women are equal in the public sphere. Aside from the killing of humans in social life, the rights of all living creatures in nature are respected and an egalitarian order is respected. The inhabitants of the City of Reza, who ask for the right to halalah even when drinking water from the fountain, approach all living and non-living beings at an equal distance. Fuzuli, one of the Seven Great Bards, reinforces the social philosophy of Reza City with the following lines: "In the village of mortality, the wise and the mad are one / At the bottom of the sea, the pearl and the stone are one / When good and evil disappear / The masjid and the tavern are one." In the City of Consent, God is not a deity to be feared and worshipped, but a mother, father, brother, sister, and even a dear friend. He comes not only by shining lights, but also by riding on his horse. He is also a secret. He is ready and available according to need. His other name is Hizir. The key to the path to be travelled to become Human Kamil is in the Four Doors, Forty Makams. The person who reaches the meaning of these four doors and forty maqams, which constitute the philosophical basis of the City of Reza, reaches the secret truth. Man has melted in God and God has melted in man. The person who has the knowledge of the four gates and forty stations is considered to have reached Enel Haq. After the inner and intellectual journey, he opens the gates of the City of Consent with the good morals he has acquired. The above text is not a story like Thomas More's "Utopia", it is not a fable at all. It is the practice and way of life of Alevis for thousands of years. That is why they were driven to the mountains and then settled in the varos of the cities. However, capitalist modernity has succeeded in destroying this way of life. This is a tragic situation from my point of view. (Anyway, let's not change the subject; if we go there we won't get out). Now, can it find a living space in the City of Consent in the Land of the Sun in an environment where man is at war with his nature? Because the City of Reza in the Land of the Sun is the city of people who are aware of injustice, who have been driven from their land, who have difficulty in meeting their necessary needs and who carry the pain of this. It is the nucleus of an ideal world design. It is a state design that he hopes to realise one day. There is a partnership of property. It also aims to blunt feelings of hatred and jealousy. Although this is the Alevi utopia, the rulers have tried and are trying to assimilate Alevis into Sunni Islam, just as they tried to assimilate Kurds into Turkishness. They could not and will not succeed. The City of Reza in the Land of the Sun remains an Alevi utopia. Especially the behaviour of Alevis in the diaspora has turned the migration routes into a kind of "ritual" place. Therefore, it is our moral obligation to greet them on behalf of the City of Reza. Because we, those who remain in the country, have drifted far away from the philosophy of the City of Reza. It does not seem possible to correct this real situation.
