Dervish

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A dervish, darvesh, or darwīsh (from Template:Langx)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> is a Muslim who seeks salvation through ascetic practises and meditations.<ref name=":2">MacDonald, D.B. (2012). Darwīs̲h̲. In P. Bearman (ed.), Encyclopaedia of Islam New Edition Online (EI-2 English). Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/1573-3912_islam_SIM_1731</ref><ref name="EI2" /><ref name="iranica">Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> It can refer to an individual or to a member of a Sufi order (tariqah).<ref name="Ebrahim-Hirtenstein 2017">Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref><ref name=":0">Template:Citation</ref><ref name=EI2>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> Their focus is on the universal values of love and service, deserting the illusions of ego (nafs) to reach God. This is usually done by performing a lifestyle which decreases bodily function to a minimum in order to attain what would be called "esoteric knowledge" in Western terminology.<ref>Laut, Jens Peter. "Vielfalt türkischer Religionen." (1996). Spirita pp. 31-32</ref> In most Sufi orders, a dervish is known to practice dhikr through physical exertions or religious practices to attain the ecstatic trance to reach God.<ref name=":0" /> Their most popular practice is Sama, which is associated with the 13th-century mystic Rumi.

For centuries, this was an individual practice, but in the 12th century, it began to be mostly practiced in fraternities.<ref name=":2" /> The oldest historical fraternity is the Qadiriyya order, founded by Abdul Qadir Gilani.<ref name=":2" /> According to Islamic beliefs, each order derives their history from the Prophet Muhammad and are authorized by God (Allah) and taught by the angel Gabriel.<ref name=":2" /> The theology of such fraternities is always based on Sufism and can vary from quietism to anti-nomianism.<ref name=":2" /> Those adhering to law are called ba-shar and those who do not follow law are called bi-shar.<ref name=":2" /> In folklore, dervishes are often credited with the ability to perform miracles and ascribed supernatural powers.<ref>Frederick William Hasluck Christianity and Islam Under the Sultans, Band 1 Clarendon Press 1929 p. 281</ref>

Etymology

The actual etymology of the term is unknown.<ref name="EI2" /> The Persian word darvīsh (Template:Lang) may derive from the Middle Persian daryōs̲h̲, meaning poor or needy.<ref name=iranica/> The term has also been constructed from the composition of dar (door) and awiz (hanging), referring to someone who "hangs around doors" i.e., begs at the doors.<ref name="EI2" /> However, the Middle Persian daryōs̲h̲ contradicts this.<ref name="EI2" />

These proposed meanings belong to folk-etymologies, meaning that the meaning of the term was ascribed after the term has been established.<ref>Laut, J. P. (2003). Zur Sicht des Islam in der Türkischen Republik bis zum Tode Atatürks. in "Von Zentralasien bis Anatolien Philologische und religionswissenschaftliche Perspektiven auf die türkische Welt Kleine Schriften von Jens Peter Laut Herausgegeben von Gökhan Shilfeler und Hans Nugteren Harrassowitz Verlag pp. 401-405</ref> Furthermore, there is no essential connection between begging and a dervish, and it is also said that a "true dervish" would abstain from begging.<ref>Laut, J. P. (2003). Zur Sicht des Islam in der Türkischen Republik bis zum Tode Atatürks. in "Von Zentralasien bis Anatolien Philologische und religionswissenschaftliche Perspektiven auf die türkische Welt Kleine Schriften von Jens Peter Laut Herausgegeben von Gökhan Shilfeler und Hans Nugteren Harrassowitz Verlag pp. 401-405</ref>

Given the obscure etymologies given in Persian dictionaries, it has been suggested that the term may be of Turco-Buddhist origin and derive from darni (Sanskrit) and arvis (Old-Turkish), referring to a "specialist in magic" as they are credited with magical abilities (i.e., healing, performance of miracles, protection spells, etc).<ref name=":1">Laut, J. P. (2003). Zur Sicht des Islam in der Türkischen Republik bis zum Tode Atatürks. in "Von Zentralasien bis Anatolien Philologische und religionswissenschaftliche Perspektiven auf die türkische Welt Kleine Schriften von Jens Peter Laut Herausgegeben von Gökhan Shilfeler und Hans Nugteren Harrassowitz Verlag pp. 401-405</ref> Given that the term is mostly used in Central Asian, Turkish, and Persian culture, the meaning of a dervish may root in Turco-Buddhist beliefs, then transferred to Islam, where the meaning of the term was lost.<ref name=":1" />

Religious practice

Dervishes try to approach God by virtues and individual experience, rather than by religious scholarship.<ref>Jens Peter Laut Vielfalt türkischer Religionen 1996 p. 29 (German)</ref> Many dervishes are mendicant ascetics who have taken a vow of poverty, unlike mullahs. The main reason they beg is to learn humility, but dervishes are prohibited to beg for their own good. They have to give the collected money to other poor people. Others work in common professions; Egyptian Qadiriyya – known in Turkey as Kadiri – are fishermen, for example.

A study on dervishes among Bedouins reveals the process of initiation. It is believed that one does not choose to become a dervish, but is chosen to be one by God.<ref name=":3">Al-Krenawi, Alean, John R. Graham, and Benjamin Maoz. "The healing significance of the Negev's Bedouin Dervish." Social Science & Medicine 43.1 (1996): 13-21.</ref> This happens by receiving barakah, which happens during a dream or a conscious encounter with an angel.<ref name=":3" /> Barakah is usually received after an encounter with evil forces, supposedly manifesting in a preceding process of mental suffering.<ref name=":3" /> After receiving divine blessing, the gift might be forfeited if the dervish betrays God.<ref name=":3" />

Dervishes also work as exorcists and healers.<ref name=":3" /> They are believed to be able to detect the presence of evil spirits, such as jinn and devils, by means of divine gifts.<ref name=":3" /> The exorcism can include negotiations or confrontations with the spirit in a spiritual world.<ref name=":3" />

Some classical writers indicate that the poverty of the dervish is not economic. Saadi, for instance, who himself travelled widely as a dervish,l and wrote extensively about them, says in his Gulistan: Template:Quotation

Rumi writes in Book 1 of his Masnavi:<ref>The Masnavi: Book One, translated by Jawid Mojaddedi, Oxford World's Classics Series, Oxford University Press, 2004. Template:ISBN, p. 63.</ref> Template:Quotation

Whirling dervishes

Template:Main The whirling dance or Sufi whirling that is proverbially associated with dervishes is best known in the West by the practices (performances) of the Mevlevi order in Turkey, and is part of a formal ceremony known as the Sama. It is, however, also practiced by other orders. The Sama is only one of the many Sufi ceremonies performed to try to reach religious ecstasy (majdhb, fana). The name Mevlevi comes from the Persian poet Rumi, who was a dervish himself. This practice, though not intended as entertainment, has become a tourist attraction in Turkey.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>B. Ghafurov, "Todjikon", 2 vols., Dushanbe 1983-5</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Orders

There are various orders of dervishes, almost all of which trace their origins from various Muslim saints and teachers, especially Imam Ali. Various orders and suborders have appeared and disappeared over the centuries. Dervishes spread into North Africa, the Horn of Africa, Turkey, Anatolia, the Balkans, the Caucasus, Central Asia, Iran, Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan.

Other dervish groups include the Bektashis, who are connected to the janissaries, and the Senussi, who are rather orthodox in their beliefs. Other fraternities and subgroups chant verses of the Qur'an, play drums or whirl in groups, all according to their specific traditions. They practice meditation, as is the case with most of the Sufi orders in South Asia, many of whom owe allegiance to, or were influenced by, the Chishti order. Each fraternity uses its own garb and methods of acceptance and initiation, some of which may be rather severe. The form of Sufi dervishism practised during the 17th century was centered upon esotericism, patience and pacifism.<ref>Erdoan, Nezih. "Star director as symptom: reflections on the reception of Fatih Akn in the Turkish media." New Cinemas: Journal of Contemporary Film 7.1 (2009): 27–38.</ref>

In literature

Various books discussing the lives of Dervishes can be found in Turkish literature. Death and the Dervish by Meša Selimović and The Dervish by Frances Kazan extensively discussed the life of a Dervish.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Similar works on the subject have been found in other books such as Memoirs of a Dervish: Sufis, Mystics and the Sixties by Robert Erwin.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Majdeddin Ali Bagher Ne'matollahi has said that Sufism is a core of being and bridge between religion and science.Template:Cn Winston Churchill uses the term in his autobiographical My Early Life.

Views on Dervishes

Dervishes and their Sufis practices are accepted by traditional Sunni Muslims but different groups such as Deobandis and Salafis regard various practices of Dervishes as un-Islamic.<ref>Syed, Jawad; Pio, Edwina; Kamran, Tahir; Zaidi, Abbas (2016-11-09). Faith-Based Violence and Deobandi Militancy in Pakistan. Springer. Template:ISBN.

"They also criticises various practices including sama, qawwali, whirling etc. Whereas Sufis/Barelvi consider their beliefs and practices as mystical practices."</ref>

Gallery

Dervish Azerbaijani rug, XIX c. Tabriz school, State Museum of Azerbaijan Carpet and Applied Art
Ottoman Dervishes portrayed by Amedeo Preziosi in Istanbul, 1857
A Qajar-era Persian dervish, seen here from an 1873 depiction of Tehran's Grand Bazaar

A Qajar-era Persian dervish, seen here from an 1873 depiction of Tehran's Grand Bazaar
An Ottoman Dervish in Istanbul, 1878
Dervishes photographed by William H. Rau near Damascus, Template:Circa
A Palestinian Dervish in 1913
Muhammad Ahmad al-Mahdi, leader of the Sudanese Dervishes
Sufi kashkuls were often made from a coco de mer which ordinary beggars would have difficulty to find
Kashkul, or Beggar's Bowl, with Portrait of Dervishes and a Mounted Falconer, A.H. 1280. Brooklyn Museum
A Gathering of Dervishes in the Mughal Empire
A family of Dervishes, possibly by Antoin Sevruguin (between 1876 and 1925)
The dance of the dervishes, Athens
Sufi dervishes in Omdurman, Sudan
Sayyid Mohammed Abdullah Hassan, head of Darawiish
A Sheikh of the Rifa'i Sufi Order