Dervish,Darvesh, orDarwīsh (fromPersian:درویش,romanized: Darvīsh)[1] inIslam can refer broadly to members of aSufifraternity (tariqah),[2][3][4] or more narrowly to a religiousmendicant, who chose or accepted material poverty.[2][4][5] The latter usage is found particularly in Persian andTurkish (derviş) as well as inTamazight (Aderwic), corresponding to the Arabic termfaqīr.[2][4] Their focus is on the universal values of love and service, deserting the illusions of ego (nafs) to reachGod. In most Sufi orders, a dervish is known to practicedhikr through physical exertions or religious practices to attain the ecstatic trance to reach God.[3] Their most popular practice isSama, which is associated with the 13th-century mysticRumi. Infolklore and with adherents of Sufism, dervishes are often credited with the ability to performmiracles and ascribedsupernatural powers.[6] Historically, the term Dervish has also been used more loosely, as the designation of various Islamic political movements or military entities.
ThePersian worddarvīsh (درویش) is of ancient origin and descends from aProto-Iranian word that appears inAvestan asdrigu-, "needy,mendicant", via Middle Persiandriyosh.[5] It has the same meaning as the Arabic wordfaqīr,[2][4] meaning people whose contingency and utter dependence upon God is manifest in everything they do and every breath they take.[7]
Dervishes try to approach God by virtues and individual experience, rather than by religious scholarship.[8]Many dervishes are mendicant ascetics who have taken a vow of poverty, unlikemullahs. 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; EgyptianQadiriyya – known in Turkey as Kadiri – are fishermen, for example.
Some classical writers indicate that the poverty of the dervish is not merely economic.Saadi, for instance, who himself travelled widely as a dervish, and wrote extensively about them, says in hisGulistan:
Of what avail is frock, or rosary,
Or clouted garment? Keep thyself but free From evil deeds, it will not need for thee To wear the cap of felt: a darwesh be
While water underneath keeps it afloat. Driving wealth from his heart to keep it pure King Solomon preferred the title 'Poor': That sealed jar in the stormy sea out there Floats on the waves because it's full of air, When you've the air of dervishood inside
The whirling dance orSufi whirling that is proverbially associated with dervishes is best known in the West by the practices (performances) of theMevlevi order in Turkey, and is part of a formal ceremony known as theSama. It is, however, also practiced by other orders. The Sama is only one of the many Sufi ceremonies performed to try to reachreligious ecstasy (majdhb,fana). The nameMevlevi comes from thePersian poetRumi, who was a dervish himself. This practice, though not intended as entertainment, has become a tourist attraction in Turkey.[11][12][13]
Other dervish groups include theBektashis, who are connected to thejanissaries, and theSenussi, who are rather orthodox in their beliefs. Other fraternities and subgroups chant verses of theQur'an, play drums orwhirl in groups, all according to their specific traditions. They practicemeditation, as is the case with most of the Sufi orders inSouth Asia, many of whom owe allegiance to, or were influenced by, theChishti order. Eachfraternity 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 andpacifism.[14]
Various western historical writers have sometimes used the termdervish rather loosely, linking it to, among other things, theMahdist War inSudan and other conflicts by Islamic military leaders. In such cases, the term "dervishes" may have been used as a generic (and often pejorative) term for the opposing Islamic entity and all members of its military, political and religious institutions, including persons who would not be considered "dervishes" in the strict sense.[citation needed]
During the Mahdist War,Muḥammad Aḥmad al-Mahdī decreed that all those who came to join him should be calledanṣār, after the Prophet's earliest followers. He forbade the use of the term 'dervish' to describe his followers. Despite this,British soldiers and colonial officials continued to use the term in relation to theanṣār. While some Britons used the term to denigrate the followers of the Mahdī, it was also used with a sense of admiration in accounts by British soldiers which describe the fearlessness and bravery of the lightly armed 'dervishes'.[15] Thus, the word has become closely associated with theanṣār and is often used inaccurately in relation to the Mahdi's followers, even today.
Various books discussing the lives of Dervishes can be found in Turkish literature.Death and the Dervish byMeša Selimović andThe Dervish by Frances Kazan extensively discussed the life of a Dervish.[16][17] Similar works on the subject have been found in other books such asMemoirs of a Dervish: Sufis, Mystics and the Sixties by Robert Erwin.[18] Majdeddin Ali Bagher Ne'matollahi has said that Sufism is a core of being and bridge between religion and science.[citation needed]
Dervishes and their Sufis practices are accepted by traditional Sunni Muslims but different groups such asDeobandis,Salafis disregard various practices of Dervishes as un-Islamic.[19]
^Frederick WilliamHasluck Christianity and Islam Under the Sultans, Band 1 Clarendon Press 1929 p. 281
^Ebrahim, Alireza (2018). "Faqr". In Madelung, Wilferd; Daftary, Farhad (eds.).Encyclopaedia Islamica. Translated by Gholami, Rahim.Leiden andBoston:Brill Publishers.doi:10.1163/1875-9831_isla_COM_036099.ISSN1875-9823.Faqr (literally, 'poverty') is a term denoting different modalities and stages of material, psychological and spiritual want and neediness which a wayfarer on the Sufi path may adopt as a means to progress in earning God's love and compassion and of acquiring purity and mystical knowledge. The termfaqr is derived from the Arabic rootf-q-r, literally meaning 'to hollow out', 'to perforate', 'to make/become poor', 'to be in need' or 'to be/become needy'. Hencefaqr carries a general sense of being in a state of penury or destitution.
^Jens Peter LautVielfalt türkischer Religionen 1996 p. 29 (German)
^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.
^Nusairi, Osman and Nicoll, FergusA note on the term ansar.Making African Connections. Retrieved December 19, 2020.
^Milivojević, Dragan; Selimović, Meša; Rakić, Bogdan; Dickey, Stephen M. (1997). "Death and the Dervish".World Literature Today.71 (2): 418.doi:10.2307/40153187.ISSN0196-3570.JSTOR40153187.
^Syed, Jawad; Pio, Edwina; Kamran, Tahir; Zaidi, Abbas (2016-11-09).Faith-Based Violence and Deobandi Militancy in Pakistan. Springer.ISBN978-1-349-94966-3. "They also criticises various practices including sama, qawwali, whirling etc. Whereas Sufis/Barelvi consider their beliefs and practices as mystical practices."
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