Turkey trip part III - Whirling Dervishes - Fahmi's FotoPage

Perhaps I should devote one entry for the whirling dervishes, or tarian sufi. It is a kind of ibadah, as Kudo said that the dervishes perform to get near to God. The whole experience, from the music and zikr, and the whirling motion of different colours was fascinating. I used a low shutter speed in order to capture the whirling motion so the shots were a bit blurry.

Quote:

Whirling is one of the tools used by Sufis (Islamic mystics) to come closer to Allah, but it's not the only one. Different orders of Sufis apply different practices, including whirling, zikr, and others. The vast majority of whirling dervishes in Turkey trace their spiritual roots to Celaleddin Mevlâna Rumi, who founded the Mevlevi Sufi order in the 13th century. "Mevlâna" means "guide", or "master". "Rumi" means "from the Sultanate of Rum".

The Dervish Clothing
On dervishes' heads are tall, conical felt hats signifying the tombstones of their egos. They wear long, white robes with full skirts which represent the shrouds of their egos. Over those are voluminous black cloaks representing their worldly tombs which they remove at the beginning of the ceremony to symbolize their deliverance from the cares and attachments of this world.

The Semâ (Whirling Ritual)
The semâ begins with a chanted prayer to The Prophet, who represents love, and all prophets before him. Next a kettledrum sounds as a symbol of the Divine order of the Creator, followed by haunting musical improvisation on the ney (reed flute) which symbolizes the Divine Breath which gives life to everything.

The master bows, then leads the dervishes in a circle around the hall. As they pass the master's ceremonial position at the head of the hall, they bow to each other. This portrays the salutation of soul to soul concealed by shapes and bodies.

After three circles, the dervishes drop their black cloaks. One by one, arms folded on their breasts, they approach the master, bow, kiss his hand, receive instructions, then spin out onto the floor. Through whirling, the dervishes relinquish the earthly life to be reborn in mystical union with God. Opening their folded arms, the dervishes hold their right hands palm-up to receive the blessings of heaven. They hold their left hands palm-down to transfer the blessings to earth.

Eventually, the semâ reaches a point where all dervishes are simultaneously whirling. After about 10 minutes, all stop and kneel. Then rising, they begin again. This combination of whirling followed by salute is performed a total of four times. Each of the four repetitions of kneeling is a salute, and they signify:

1. Humanity's birth to the truth of God as Creator and humanity's role as creature.
2. The rapture of man witnessing the splendor of creation.
3. Dissolution into the rapture of love and the sacrifice of mind to love, to complete submission to God.
4. Termination of the spiritual journey, including return to everyday life and subservience to God.

At the conclusion of the whirling, the hafiz reads the Koran, especially the verse from Sura Bakara 2, verse 115: "Unto God belong the East and the West, and wherever you turn, there is God's countenance. He is all-embracing, all-knowing."

The semâ closes with a prayer for the peace of the souls of all Prophets and all believers.

Dervish entering the hall