Whirling dervish

The Mawlawi Order, or the Mevlevilik or Mevleviye (Persian: مولويه - Mowlawīya) are a Sufi order founded in Konya (in present-day Turkey) by the followers of Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Balkhi-Rumi, a 13th century Persian poet, Islamic jurist, and theologian. They are also known as the Whirling Dervishes due to their famous practice of whirling as a form of dhikr (remembrance of God). Dervish is a common term for an initiate of the Sufi path; the whirling is part of the formal Sema ceremony and the participants are properly known as semazens.

Origin

The origin of Sema is credited to Rumi, Sufi master and creator of the Mawlawi's. The story of the creation of this unique form of dhikr is that Rumi was walking through the town marketplace one day when he heard the rhythmic hammering of the goldbeaters. It is believed that Rumi heard the dhikr, "la elaha ella'llah" or in English, "no god, but God" in the apprentices beating of the gold and so entranced in happiness he stretched out both of his arms and started spinning in a circle. With that the practice of Sema and the dervishes of the Mevlevi order were born.[1]