Scenes From Turkey: Whirling Dervishes

The semâ closes with a prayer for the peace of the souls of all Prophets and all believers.

An Important Warning To Dancers

Many dancers have been fascinated by the beautiful, haunting music used by dervishes. Played on the ney (a type of flute) and drums, and accompanied by chanting, this music has the power to captivate even when the words of the chants are in a language you can't understand. Never, never use dervish music (or any other Sufi music) for belly dance performances!!!! The chants are prayers, and using such music for Oriental dance would be deeply insulting and offensive to Muslims. Please respect Islam, and don't profane Islamic holy music in this way.

If You Visit Turkey

The holy city of Konya hosts the museum/shrine containing the tombs of Rumi, his father, his son, and several great leaders of the Mevlevi dervish order. For Turkish Muslims, this is a very holy place, and some people make pilgrimages to it to seek Rumi's intercession.

If you visit the Mevlâna Müzesi, please approach it with the respect a religious shrine deserves. Even though you may be a tourist who does not follow Islam, remember that this shrine is holy to Muslims, and conduct yourself in a manner that will not interfere with their pilgrimage experience. Shorts and miniskirts would be disrespectful. Although not required, I would encourage women to wear a scarf on their head as a mark of cultural sensitivity.

Consult a guidebook for advice on where in Turkey you can see a semâ. Semâs are typically open to observers, even non-Muslims. Alternatively, you may be able to find a folk dance show which includes a portrayal of whirling dervishes in addition to village dance forms.

For More Scenes From Turkey

Would you like to see more scenes from Turkey? If so, don't miss these other pages that are also part of the Scenes From Turkey series of articles here on Suite101:

• Scenes From Turkey: Oriental Dance, Part 1. The first set of pictures depicting Oryantal Tansi dancers (belly dancers) as seen in Turkey in July, 2000.
• Scenes From Turkey: Oriental Dance, Part 2. The second set of pictures depicting Oryantal Tansi dancers (belly dancers) as seen in Turkey in July, 2000.
• Scenes From Turkey: Oriental Dance, Part 3. The third set of pictures depicting Oryantal Tansi dancers (belly dancers) as seen in Turkey in July, 2000.
• Scenes From Turkey: The Real Turkish
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