Dancing Dervishes

Banjaara:
Wow! What a description! I felt I was almost there partaking the blissful union of the dervishes with the Almighty. And I am surprised that these performances have not been commercialised.
BTW is the separation of women in purdah practiced in Turkish mosques as well?

Banjara

Thanks. I needed to know it. Dance, devotion, spirituality is fine.

Is the place open to people from every religion? Do the Sufis also believe in purdah and segregation of women? Please clarify these confusions in me.

I think the Sufi saints of the South Asia were freely open to all faiths and gender.

I have been told, and now by you, there is nothing like witnessing a ceremony like this.

Banjaara

...wonderfully evocative description that transported me there...

dost

...check out Barakah...it is hard to find and has no conventional story line or dialogues, actors etc...it has an excellent segment on whirling dervishes...

...if you cannot find it in ottawa you can look forward to the labour day;)...have a hunch Banjaara might want to see it tonight...

...t

#3 by nazarhayatkhan:

I think the Sufi saints of the South Asia were freely open to all faiths and gender.

---

If that is so, then the Islamic world has got a great utility to take over the hearts of many non-Islamic Sufi aspirants. A great way to promote the Islamic cause... and furthermore it would purify the image of Islam that has been so distorted nowadays. I remember reading somewhere that Sufism looked cool to the westerners, and they adopted it as a fashion.

It seems the true Love does win afterall. Down with all the baseless sectarian violence, terrorism in the name of Jihad and all that. It is only in the power of Love for God and humanity that the true meaning of a better, safer and peaceful world can be found.

By the way, Banjaara jee, it would have been nice if you named the article the Whirling Dervishes, since that sounds more appropriate and is a more commonly used term. It felt really good reading it though, and I wish I was a part of this beautiful ceremony.

temporal:
``...have a hunch Banjaara might want to see it tonight...``

Is it part of the mega concert with Rolling Stones tonight?

dostji

...nahiN ....the stones concert (underway now) is expected to draw upwards of 450,000 and is being billed as the largest paid concert...in aid of SARS...

...the hunch referred to a small (impromptu) meeting at the baithak this evening in honour of a visiting chowkie...have invited a couple of TO chowkies...if you were in town you would have been part of the gathering too...

...t

Azure # 5

``If that is so, then the Islamic world has got a great utility to take over the hearts of many non-Islamic Sufi aspirants. A great way to promote the Islamic cause... ``

you are absolutely right. Mian Mir and Moeen Uddin Chishti had christians, hindues and sikhs as their followers. These saints preached love and goodness towards the mankind - the eternal message of all religions.

Banjara:

..wondefully evocative description......[not plaigiarizing t but borrowing half of his words]

Azure:

[If that is so, then the Islamic world has got a great utility to take over the hearts of many non-Islamic Sufi aspirants. A great way to promote the Islamic cause...]

Have you run out of causes to promote? Which one would you rather promote: peace, humanism, compassion or love/ union with divine? I would prefer to promote liberation of mind.

Bahais, moonies, rastafarians....all talk of love and union with the divine.....

subhan Allah! Zikr ceremonies are at the heart of all Sufi tariqas; each has their own style.
The Mevlevis with their whirling sama` are particularly famous. Zikr is the essence of Islam. The Rifai`s of Syria (and some Qadiris) also have their own sacred zikr called the hadra in which they too `dance` in a circle, arms interlocked with each other, rhythmically rocking back and forth, tamping their feet in unison to the cries of ``Allah Hu!`` and the beat of the daff (an Arabian drum), ``La ilaha il Allah`` etc. The other Tariqas (eg Chishti, Naqshbandi, most Qadiris, SAuharvardi etc.) do zikr by sitting on their knees in a semi circle round the Shaykh and chanting, ``Allah Hu``, and other Names of Allah and Qur`anic invocations. This zikr [remembrance] is in the Quran and the Hadith too and is the best means of polishing the heart. The Beloved Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam said, ``Everything has a polish and the polish of the heart is zikr``.

Allah says in the Qur`an Sharif that hearts mind peace in the remembrance (zikr) of Allah.

**

As for the current whirling dervishes, ever since Ataturk banned all forms of Sufi Tariqas and expressions of Islam--and the Sufi brotherhoods were at the forefront of opposition to that apostate--the Sufi ceremonies only survived by going underground for a long time until fairly recently as it was considered a crime in Turkey! But realising that tourists found the spectacle of the Whirling Dervishes zikr ceremony attractive (without understanding the philosophy and religious basis of it!) the Turkish government set up troupes of dancers who would dress up like the venerable dervishes and perform the dance. Thus they commercialised it. These groups even go on international tours--there was one at the Royal Albert Hall last year I think! These people are not real Sufis doing zikr but performers.
I am not, please note, criticising the REAL Mevlevi Sufis who do the real whirling zikr but only these commercial pretenders.

I read in a book by Anne Marie Schimmel once how she was taken to Konya to a secret meeting of the real dervishes to watch their sama`. I would like to ask Banjaara if he saw the commercial whirling dancers or the real Mevlevis lead by a Sufi Shaykh?

http://www.sunnah.org/tasawwuf/dhikr_tafsir_ibn_juzayy.htm

...banjaarasaab, thanks for the ride:)...sounds amazing...

Is liberation possible without slavery ?


Moulvi hargiz na Moul i Rume shud
Ta be ghulam i Shams Tabrezam na shud

Banjaara,
....``dastaan go`` like you will keep the the art of qissa khwani alive. thank you for taking us to the mehfil....

There is something wrong with the system. My interact is shown under khamkhwa`s name. Can it be checked and corrected please. This has happened once before.

dost-mittar,temporal, rozaiba,

I wish I had better penmanship to capture the ambience for the readers. The real thing is a lot more powerful, but thank you for your kind comments and himmat afzaii.

nazarhayatkhan,

Khan Saheb! The place is open to every one and there is no restriction on one’s religion.There is also no charge for admission. Only condition is proper dress and
respectful behaviour. Please note that this ceremony is performed in an old mosque which is over three hundred years old, and if you are aware with Turkish Mosque Architecture, you would know that each of those mosques, built during the Ottoman period always contained a reserved space for the ladies, usually last four lines in the prayer hall. The centre of this reserved place has a more elaborate arrangement for the VIP ladies of the period, hence, it is adorned with latticework and fine carvings, to maintain a semblance of seperation from the menfolk. The remaining ladies sit in the open without any curtain or purdah. I am not conversant with sufi philosophy, as such, am not in a position to comment if they believe in purdah or female segregation.

Azure,

As you said, Whirling Dervishes is commonly used for these sufis, I wanted to make a statement with Dancing Dervishes that would evoke a question/response in the mind of the reader and I think I succeeded in my efforts.Thank you for the appreciation.

sameerJB, khamkhwa,

Appreciate your comments but- mun aanum ke mun daanum.

Joieya,

No. Ta ghulam-e-Shams Tabrezum na shud.

Semipreciousme,

One of the two intelligent ladies, makes a rare mistake. Since when have people started calling faqirs as faqir sahab?? Glad you liked it.

Naqshbandi,

They were real sufis who performed the sema and zikr under the guidance of a Shaikh.

“without understanding the philosophy and religious basis of it”

I wouldn’t be too quick to pass this judgement on the western visitors. You have already mentioned Ann Mary Schimmel, who is an authority on the subject. The people with whom I attended the Sema were from the west, and a lot more knowledgeable about the Sufi Thoughts and Philosophy than an average Muslim like me.

Excellent Banjaara ji. An ideal banjaara is also ``nir-mohi`` in a way... free of ``attachment`` to most of the wordly possessions (maya) like a dervish... I remember a poem from my highschool days -

Hum banjaaron ji kyaa hasti hai
Hum aaj yahaN kal wahaN chale
Masti ka aalam saath chala
Hum dhool udate jahaN chale.