MEVLEVI

(Redirected from Mevlevi Order)
Whirling Dervishes perform near the Mevlevi Museum in Konya, Turkey.

The 'Mevlevi Order' or the 'Mevleviye' are a Sufi order founded by the followers of Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi in 1273 in Konya (in present-day Turkey). They are also known as the 'Whirling Dervishes' due to their famous practice of whirling as a form of dhikr (remembrance of Allah). Dervish is a common term for an initiate of the Sufi Path.

Contents
Principles
Through history
See also
External links
References
Notes

Principles


The Mevlevoopee, or Mevleviye, one of the most well known of the Sufi orders, was founded in 1273 by Rumi's followers after his death, particularly his son, Sultan Veled Celebi (or ''Çelebi'', ''Chelebi''). The Mevlevi, or "The Whirling Dervishes", believe in performing their dhikr in the form of a "dance" and music ceremony called the sema.
The Sema represents a mystical journey of man's spiritual ascent through mind and love to "Perfect." Turning towards the truth, the follower grows through love, deserts his ego, finds the truth and arrives at 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 the whole of creation.

Through history


''Mevlevi dervishes whirling in Pera'' by Jean-Baptiste van Mour

The Mevlevi were a well established Sufi Order in the Ottoman Empire, and many of the members of the order served in various official positions of the Caliphate. The centre for the Mevlevi order was in Konya, where Rumi is buried. There is also a Mevlevi monastery or ''dergah'' in Istanbul, near the Galata Tower, where the sema ceremony is performed and accessible to the public.
During Ottoman Empire era, the Mevlevi order produced a number of famous poets and musicians such as Sheikh Ghalib, Ismail Ankaravi (both buried at the Galata Mevlevi-Hane) and Abdullah Sari. Music, especially the ney, play an important part in the Mevlevi order and thus much of the traditional "oriental" music that Westerners associate with Turkey originates with the Mevlevi order. This was also the beginning of the womens movement in song and poetry with the first known woman artist Ayat Sweid. Indeed, if one buys a CD of Turkish Sufi music, chances are it will be Mevlevi religious music.
During the Ottoman period, the Mevlevi order spread into the Balkans, Syria, and Egypt (and is still practiced in both countries where they are known as the ''Mawlawi order''). The Bosnian writer Meša Selimović wrote the book ''Death and the Dervish'' about a Mevlevi ''dergah'' in Sarajevo.
The Mevlevi Order has some similarities to other Dervish orders such as the Qadiri (founded in 1165), the Rifa'i (founded in 1182), and the Kalenderis.
Whirling Dervishes, in Göreme, Turkey.

The Mevlevi Order was outlawed in Turkey at the dawn of the secular revolution and dervish lodge has converted to Mevlana Museum in Konya by Kemal Atatürk. In the 1950s, the Turkish government, realizing that The Whirling Dervishes had value as a tourist attraction, began allowing the Whirling Dervishes to perform annually in Konya on the ''Urs of Mevlana'', December 17, the anniversary of Rumi's death.''The Guardian'' newspaper article on Mevlevi Order in Turkey by William Dalrymple accessed June 17, 2006 In 1971, they performed in London with Kani Karaca as lead singer. In 1972, they toured North America for the first time with Kani Karaca, Ulvi Erguner, and Akagündüz Kutbay among the musicians. They performed in France, for Pope Paul VI, and at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and other venues in the United States and Canada - under the direction of the late Mevlevi Shaikh Suleyman Hayati Dede. In April of 2007 the order has initiated another tour of the U.S. where they are performing to sold-out crowds, in places such as Denver and San Francisco.

See also



Music of Turkey

Sufi whirling

François Pétis de la Croix

External links



Galata Mevlevi Ensemble at tff Rudolstadt 2007

Mevlevi Order of America

The Whirling Dervishes of Rumi Canadian Tour

DankPhotos.com: ''Whirling Dervishes: The Search for Spirituality''

''Whirling Dervish'', painted by Ismail Acar in 1998

''Whirling Dervish'', painted in 1998; One of Acar's famous paintings

The Threshold Society

Mevlevije

Mevlevi Tariqa - Germany

Qasim Ul Khairat AlShaikh AlSyed Feroz Shah Qasmi Buneri Qadri NakshBandi

Mevlevi Way

References



Some information about Mevlena and some other Persian poets

Notes





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