Sufi Whirling Dervishes of Istanbul

The Mevlevi Order or Mawlawiyya (Turkish: Mevlevilik or Mevleviyye; Persian: طریقت مولویه) is a Sufi order that originated in Konya (a city now in Turkey; formerly capital of the Anatolian Seljuk Sultanate) and which was founded by the followers of Jalaluddin Muhammad Balkhi Rumi, a 13th-century Persian poet, Sufi mystic, and Islamic theologian. The Mevlevis 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; whirling is part of the formal sema ceremony and the participants are properly known as semazens. In 2008, UNESCO confirmed "The Mevlevi Sema Ceremony" as amongst the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. Approximately 750 years old, the Mevlevi Order is a living tradition based on the teachings of Rumi, also known as Mevlana, who is perhaps Turkey&most celebrated poet and in Iran, second only to Hafiz. He is also venerated as a divine mystic within Sufi Islam. Rumi&friend and spiritual mentor, Shams of Tabriz, is also revered within the order and within Sufism more widely.[4] Rumi said, "As long as I have life, I am the slave of the Quran. I am dust at the door of Muhammad the Chosen", and the Mevlevi path is based firmly on Islamic principles. Kabir Helminski, a Mevlevi shaikh, writes &is a rigorous path of initiation and service continually adapting itself to changing circumstances and times.... Mevlevis have...