Adervish,darvesh, ordarwīsh (fromPersian:درویش,romanized: Darvīsh)[1] is aMuslim who seeks salvation through ascetic practises and meditations.[2][3][4] It can refer to an individual or to a member of aSufiorder (tariqah).[5][6][3] Their focus is on the universal values of love and service, deserting the illusions of ego (nafs) to reachGod. 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.[7] In most Sufi orders, a dervish is known to practicedhikr through physical exertions or religious practices to attain the ecstatic trance to reach God.[6] Their most popular practice isSama, which is associated with the 13th-century mysticRumi.
For centuries, this was an individual practice, but in the 12th century, it began to be mostly practiced infraternities.[2] The oldest historical fraternity is theQadiriyya order, founded byAbdul Qadir Gilani.[2] According to Islamic beliefs, each order derives their history from theProphetMuhammad and are authorized byGod (Allah) and taught by theangelGabriel.[2] The theology of such fraternities is always based onSufism and can vary fromquietism toanti-nomianism.[2] Those adhering to law are calledba-shar and those who do not follow law are calledbi-shar.[2] Infolklore, dervishes are often credited with the ability to performmiracles and ascribedsupernatural powers.[8]
The actual etymology of the term is unknown.[3] ThePersian worddarvīsh (درویش) may derive from the Middle Persiandaryōs̲h̲, meaningpoor orneedy.[4] The term has also been constructed from the composition ofdar (door) andawiz (hanging), referring to someone who "hangs around doors" i.e., begs at the doors.[3] However, the Middle Persiandaryōs̲h̲ contradicts this.[3]
These proposed meanings belong to folk-etymologies, meaning that the meaning of the term was ascribed after the term has been established.[9] Furthermore, there is no essential connection between begging and a dervish, and it is also said that a "true dervish" would abstain from begging.[10]
Given the obscure etymologies given in Persian dictionaries, it has been suggested that the term may be of Turco-Buddhist origin and derive fromdarni (Sanskrit) andarvis (Old-Turkish), referring to a "specialist in magic" as they are credited with magical abilities (i.e., healing, performance of miracles, protection spells, etc).[11] 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.[11]
Dervishes try to approach God by virtues and individual experience, rather than by religious scholarship.[12]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.
A study on dervishes amongBedouins 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.[13] This happens by receivingbarakah, which happens during a dream or a conscious encounter with an angel.[13] Barakah is usually received after an encounter with evil forces, supposedly manifesting in a preceding process of mental suffering.[13] After receiving divine blessing, the gift might be forfeited if the dervish betrays God.[13]
Dervishes also work asexorcists and healers.[13] They are believed to be able to detect the presence of evil spirits, such asjinn anddevils, by means of divine gifts.[13] The exorcism can include negotiations or confrontations with the spirit in a spiritual world.[13]
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 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.[16][17][18]
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.[19]
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.[20][21] Similar works on the subject have been found in other books such asMemoirs of a Dervish: Sufis, Mystics and the Sixties by Robert Erwin.[22] Majdeddin Ali Bagher Ne'matollahi has said that Sufism is a core of being and bridge between religion and science.[citation needed]Winston Churchill uses the term in his autobiographicalMy Early Life.
Dervishes and their Sufis practices are accepted by traditional Sunni Muslims but different groups such asDeobandis andSalafis regard various practices of Dervishes as un-Islamic.[23]
^abcdefMacDonald, 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
^abDervish, Encyclopædia Britannica,Dervish, Arabic darwīsh, any member of a Ṣūfī (Muslim mystic) fraternity, or tariqa.
^Laut, Jens Peter. "Vielfalt türkischer Religionen." (1996). Spirita pp. 31-32
^Frederick WilliamHasluck Christianity and Islam Under the Sultans, Band 1 Clarendon Press 1929 p. 281
^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
^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
^abLaut, 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
^Jens Peter LautVielfalt türkischer Religionen 1996 p. 29 (German)
^abcdefgAl-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.
^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.
^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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