Syria Mewlewi

At last he [Moses] overtook and beheld him; the giver of glad news said, "Permission has come (from God). Do not seek any rules or method (of worship); say whatsoever your distressful heart desires. Your blasphemy is (the true) religion, and your religion is the light of the spirit: you are saved, and through you a (whole) world is in salvation. O you who are made secure by 'God doeth whatso He willeth', go, loose your tongue without regard (for what you say) . . . This acceptance (by God) of your praise is from (His) mercy: it is an indulgence (which He grants)."
- Rumi, The Mathnawi of Jalalu'Ddin Rumi, trans. Reynold A. Nicholson

The Mevleviye, one of the most well known of the Sufi orders, was founded in 1273 by Rumi's followers after his death, particularly by his successor Hüsamettin Çelebi who decided to build a mausoleum for Mevlâna, and then Mevlâna's son, Sultan Veled Celebi (or Çelebi, Chelebi, meaning "fully initiated"). He was an accomplished Sufi mystic with great organizing talents. His personal efforts were continued by his successor Ulu Arif Çelebi.

The Mevlevi, or "The Whirling Dervishes", believe in performing their dhikr in the form of a "dance" and music ceremony called the sema (sima).

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.

The sema was practised in the semahane (ritual hall) according to a precisely prescribed symbolic ritual with the dervishes whirling in a circle around their sheikh, who is the only one circling around his axis. The dervishes wear a white gown (symbol of death), a wide black cloak (hirka) (symbol of the grave) and a high brown cap (kûlah), symbol of the tombstone.

The Mevlevi Order was outlawed in Turkey at the dawn of the secular revolution and the dervish lodge was converted to Mevlana Museum in Konya by Kemal Atatürk. In the 1950s, the Turkish government legalized the Mevlevi order as an association and began allowing the Whirling Dervishes, who are chosen among the members of this authentic Mevlevi sect, to perform annually in Konya on the Urs of Mevlana, December 17, the anniversary of Rumi's death. 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 2007 the order initiated another tour of the U.S. where they performed to sold-out crowds, in places such as Denver and San Francisco.

The order is still active in Turkey, currently led by the 20th great-grandson (22nd generation descendant) of Rumî, Faruk Hemdem Çelebi.

www.galian-rodiles.net

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Mewlewi
• Mevlevi
• Mawlana
• Rumi
• Jalal
• Jalaluddin
• Syria
• Syrian
• Jalāl ad-Dīn
• Celaleddin
• whirling dervishes
• sufism
• Konya
• Rum
• Mehmet Shemseddin Tebrizi
• Shems
• Shams
• rubai
• ghazal
• Tebriz
• Tabriz
• Mevleviye

[Lfostafunk]

Reminds me of the mushroom dance in the Disney movie Fantasia! Excellent singing and preforming!!

[tawhida]

this has such an awesome perfection to it. mashallah