The Imam Ali assembly in Baku: Popular piety, folklore, and meddah tradition

Abstract

This study examines the tradition of the Imam Ali Assembly (Hz. Ali Sofrası) as a religious and folkloric practice, focusing specifically on Baku and its surrounding towns. The significance of the research lies in the fact that this tradition has never been systematically examined in academic scholarship. The Imam Ali Assembly represents one of the most vivid manifestations of popular devotion to Imam Ali and the Ahl al-Bayt. Even nearly seventy years of Soviet repression could not erase this practice. The aim of the study is to uncover the historical origins, ceremonial structure, symbolic meanings, social functions, and contemporary transformations of these gatherings. Field observations, participant observation, interviews, and text-video analyses were conducted; direct conversations with key informants were held, and the researchers actively participated in the assemblies. The Imam Ali Assemblies are usually organized as male religious gatherings; under the guidance of a spiritual leader, Qur’anic verses, hadiths, qasidas, and rawzas are recited in the presence of dervishes and meddahs. The meat of the sacrificial animal is prepared as pilaf and distributed among participants. This practice embodies both aspects of nezir (vow) and ihsan (charitable offering), symbolizing the fulfillment of individual intentions alongside communal sharing. The repertoire of Ali meddahs is shaped by the qasidas of poets such as Nesimi, Hatayi, Fuzuli, Gumri, and Raci, which glorify devotion to the Ahl al-Bayt. The findings demonstrate that the Imam Ali Assembly constitutes a living and dynamic element of Ahl al-Bayt-centered popular religiosity, specific to the Baku-Absheron region.