Jem (Alevism)

The central Alevi communal worship service is called a cem (Turkish: "Cem" or "Âyîn-i Cem", meaning amass, gather-together, congregation or assembly meeting), which is performed in special houses called as "Cem Evi". Alevi Muslims believe that the Jem has its roots in an original worship and teaching meeting of forty spiritual individuals "Kirklar Majlisi" (Turkish: "Kırklar Meclisi") led by Ali. It takes place in a "Cem Evi"
Âyîn-i Cem "(cem ceremony)".
The ceremony's supposed prototype is the Prophet Muhammad's nocturnal ascent into heaven, where he beheld a gathering of forty saints ("Kırklar Meclisi"), and the Divine Reality made manifest in their leader, Ali.
The Semah "(Samāh)".
A family of ritual dances reminiscent of the Sama ceremony of the whirling dervishes characterized by turning and swirling, is an inseparable part of any "Cem". "" is performed by men and women together, to the accompaniment of the bağlama. The dances symbolize (for example) the revolution of the planets around the Sun "(by man and woman turning in circles)," and the putting off of one’s self and uniting with Allah.
The Görgü Cem.
The Rite of Integration "(görgü cemi)" is a complex ritual occasion in which a variety of tasks are allotted to incumbents bound together by extrafamilial brotherhood "(Müsahiplik)," who undertake a dramatization of unity and integration under the direction of the spiritual leader "(dede)."
Twelve services.
There are twelve services () performed by attendees of the Cem:
According to the self-taught Turkish Kurd historian Gürdal Aksoy, most Islamic beliefs and practices whether Sunni , Usuli Shi'ah or the Alevi ones , originally come from Zoroastrianism , according to Aksoy some servants of the cem ceremony share some Zoroastrian counterparts like the Pir and "Zaotar" priest , "Atrevakhsh", "Aberet", "Sraoshavarez" and "Fraberetar". However according to Alevis , the cem ceremony originally comes from Prophet Muhammad's nocturnal ascent into heaven .