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About the Whirling Dervishes
The origin and roots of Sufism lie in
the life and practices of the Prophet of
Islam and the Qur’an. Sufism is an
interpretation of Islam, focusing on love,
tolerance, worship of God, community
development, and personal development
through self-discipline and responsibility.
A Sufi’s way of life is to love and be of
service to people, deserting the ego or
false self and all illusion so that one can
reach maturity and perfection and finally,
God. The Sufis are known for their poverty
and austerity.
The Mevlevi, known to us as the
Whirling Dervishes, are one of the
best-known of the Sufi orders. The order was
founded during the Seljuk period in Konya by
Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi’s
(or Mevlana’s) followers including his son,
Sultan Veled Celebi, after his death in
1273. During the following period the
members of this order lived in “tekkes”
similar to monasteries in in Europe. The
first of these “tekkes” was named for
Mevlana. One important person who help the
early spread of the order was Divani Mehmet
Celebi. The Celebis or “gentle ones” who
went out to make converts saw themselves as
disciples of Mevlana, and many “tekkes” were
founded during Divani Mehmet Celebi's
lifetime, not only in Anatolia but in
Aleppo, Egypt and Algeria, the islands of
Chios and Lesvos. The Mevlevi Order is also
linked to other Dervish orders such as the
Qadiri (founded in 1165), the Rifa'i
(founded in 1182), and the Kalenderis.
The Galata Mevlevihane in Istanbul is
an excellent example of one of these
complexes in late Ottoman style, having a
large chamber for the ceremony of the
Whirling Dervish dance (Sema), a well from
which water was distributed to the public, a
time keeper's room, cells for the dervishes,
separate quarters for the Master, a section
for women, a chamber of silence, a large
ornate fountain for ablutions, and a laundry
room.
The Whirling Dervishes played a vitally
important part in the evolution of Ottoman
culture. From the 14th to the 20th century.
Many Ottoman Sultans, including Mehmet the
Conqueror, were influenced by Mevlevi
ideals. Sultan Selim III was virtually a
member. Suleyman the Magnificent, held the
dervishes in high regard and constructed a
whirling hall for them as his gift. This
hall stands next to Rumi's mausoleum in
Konya. Their influence on classical poetry,
calligraphy, and the visual arts was
profound, but music was perhaps their
greatest achievement. Since orthodox Islam
opposed music as being harmful to the
listener and detrimental to religious life,
no sacred music or mosque music evolved
except for the Mevlud, a poem in praise of
the Prophet Muhammed, chanted on high
occasions or as a requiem.
Rumi and his followers wove music into their
rituals as an article of faith. In his
verses, Rumi emphasized that music uplifts
our spirit to realms above, and we hear the
music of the Gates of Paradise. The meeting
places of the dervishes, consequently,
became academies of art, music, and dance.
The Whirling Dervishes, believe in
performing their “dhikr” (remembrance of
Allah) in the form of a dance and music
ceremony called the “Sema”. The Sema
represents a mystical journey of man's
spiritual ascent by turning towards the
truth. The follower grows through love,
deserts his ego, finds the truth and arrives
to the "Perfect." He then returns from this
spiritual journey as a man who has reached
maturity and a greater perfection, so as to
love and to be of service to all. The
Mevlevis also symbolize this journey with
the movements and their attire. The ceremony
of the Whirling Dervishes includes twelve
musicians (on traditional Turkish
instruments) and 12 dancers. There is also a
master of ceremony. A performance is broken
into two parts with the introduction
conducted by the master followed by 3 or 4
pieces of music. This is followed by a
4-part whirling ceremony
The rituals of the Rumi's followers
(Whirling Dervishes) are among the most
exquisite ceremonies of spirituality. The
ritual whirling of the dervishes is an act
of love and a drama of faith. It has a
highly structured form within which the
gentle turns become increasingly dynamic as
the dervishes strive to achieve a state of
trans. The music that accompanies the
whirling from beginning to end ranges from
somber to rhapsodical; its effect is
intended to be mesmerizing. Chanting of
poetry, rhythmic rotation, and incessant
music create a synthesis which, according to
the faithful, induces a feeling of soaring,
of ecstasy, of mystical flight.
Although the Mevlevi Order was temporarily
outlawed in Turkey by Kemal Atatürk in 1923,
by the 1950’s the Turkish government again
allowed the Whirling Dervishes to perform
the “Sema” in Konya at the festival to
commemorate the anniversary of the passing
of Mevlana, which is on December 17th. It is
still possible to visit these festivities
during Mevlana week in Konya and you may
also see Whirling Dervishes in Cappadocia.
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