The name Mevlana
Jalaluddin Rumi stands for an ecstatic flight into the infinite love.
Birth
Mevlana Jalal al-Din
al-Rumi was born 6 Rabi'al-Awwal 604 (30 September 1207) in Balkh, a
city in the north of Afghanistan.
His father and mother
were well known for their comprehension (irfan) and scientific
knowledge. His mother was Mu'mine Khatun, the daughter of Rukn al-Din,
the Emir of Balkh. His lineage by his mother descended from Ali, the
third Caliph of Islam. His Father Baha al-Din Walad,was called the
Sultan of Scholars
Migration From Balkh
Baha al-Din Walad
decided to leave Balkh before the coming Mongol threat. Immediately
after their leaving, Balkh was destroyed by the troops of Jenghiz Khan.
The journey, which
started from Balkh while Mevlana was only five or six years of age,
lasted years, and extends via Baghdad and Mecca to Damascus, Malatya,
Erzincan, Akshehir and came to a halt in Larende (Karaman) in Turkey.Here
Mevlana's father continued his lectures in the madrasa of Karaman.
When Sultan Ala
al-Din Keyqubat I learned that Baha al-Din Walad was in Karaman, he
invited him to Konya, the capital of the Seljuks, Mevlana's father
died ther on February 24, 1231 Two years after his father's death
Mevlana and Sayyid Burhan al-Din left for Halab and Damascus for four
(or seven) year.
Back in Konya Mevlana
mets the man that opened his heart to divine secrets,Shams al-Din
Tabrizi. Mevlana died in the winter of 1273, on Sunday, 17 December
1273. while the sun was setting.
People from every
religion were joining in at Mevlana's funeral, Muslim and non-Muslim.
When a group of Muslims said to the non-Muslims: "What business do you
have with this funeral? Mevlana was the leader of our religion. " They
replied: "We realized the truth of Moses, Jesus and other prophets
from Mevlana's plain words and saw in him the actions and
personalities of the prophets as we have read in our own Holy Books.
Just as how you Muslims recognized him. Just as you loved him, we
loved him too, and became slaves for him far more than you did."
A Greek monk added:
"Mevlana was like bread. No body can keep himself away from needing
bread. Have you ever seen a hungry man who refused to eat bread?"
His tomb, which is
also known as the Green Dome (Qubba-i Hadra), was built by the efforts
of Sultan Walad and Ala al-Din Qaysar, and by the material support of
the Seljuk Emir, and his Georgian wife Gurju Khatun. Its architect was
Badr al-Din from Tabriz and was completed a year after Mevlana's death.
On the 1st of
November, 1922 Atatürk addressed the Turkish Parliament. In his
address, he touched on the subject of religion several times. Saying
that Islam was a tolerant and modern religion, which the Arabs had
understood and applied according to their own physical conditions. But
that over the centuries Islam was diverted from its original purity 'by
rulers and some religious leaders, who had gone along with those
rulers.'
According Atatürk, Mevlana was 'a mighty reformer, who had adapted
Islam to the Turkish soul.'
While visiting Konya
on the 20th of March 1923, 'The Sufi-Vatican' build around the shrine
of Mevlana, Atatürk is quoted as saying:
'Whenever I'm to come to this city I feel excitement inside. The
thoughts of Mevlana envelope me. He was a great genius, an innovator
for all ages.'
Ataturk visited the
convent and tomb of Mevlana. He stayed for over three hours.
He witnessed a performance of the whirling dervishes and was full of
praise. Ataturk stated that approaching God with music and movement
was the 'most natural statement of the Turkish mentality.'
Atatürk expressed even Mevlana-ideas in his sayings. Mevlana wrote:
Whatever there is in this world involving love, I'm there. Whatever
there is in involving war, I'm not there.
Atatürk simplified it to: "Peace at home, peace in the world."
2007 UNESCO
Mevlana Year
The UNESCO (United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) has market
2007 as the "Mevlana Year" to celebrate 800th anniversary of the birth
of Mevlana Celaleddin-i Belhi-Rumi. This decisions was made because
Rumi advocated tolerance, reason and access to knowledge through love.
His mystical relationship with Islam produced masterpieces that have
marked Islamic culture and religious beliefs beyond the borders of
Turkey. His work and thought remain universally relevant today in our
world. |
Whirling Dervishes
The "dance" of the Whirling Dervishes is called Sema. Sema is a part of
the inspiration of Mevlana as well as part of the Turkish custom,
history, beliefs and culture.
Sema represents a mystical journey of man's spiritual ascent through
mind and love to "Perfect." Turning towards the truth, his growth
through love, desert his ego, find the truth and arrive to the "Perfect,"
then he return from this spiritual journey as a man who reached
maturity and a greater perfection, so as to love and to be of service
to the whole of creation, to all creatures without discrimination of
believes, races, classes and nations
Sema is part of the inspiration of Mevlana Celaleddin-i Rumi (1207-
1273) as well as of Turkish custom, history, beliefs and culture.
From a scientific viewpoint we witness that contemporary science
definitely confirms that the fundamental condition of our existence is
to revolve. There is no object, no being which does not revolve and
the shared similarity among beings is the revolution of the electrons,
protons and neutrons in the atoms, which constitute the structure of
each of them. As a consequence of this similarity, everything revolves
and man carries on his live, his very existence by means of the
revolution in the atoms, structural stones of his body, by the
revolution of his blood, by his coming from the earth and return to
it, by his revolving with earth itself. However, all of these are
natural, unconscious revolutions. But man is the possessor of a mind
and intelligence which distinguishes him from and makes him superior
to other beings. Thus the "whirling dervish" or Semazen causes the
mind to participate in the shared similarity and revolution of all
other beings… Otherwise, the Sema ceremony represents a mystical
journey of man's spiritual ascent through mind and love to "Perfect."
Turning towards the truth, his growth through love, desert his ego,
find the truth and arrive to the "Perfect," then he return from this
spiritual journey as a man who reached maturity and a greater
perfection, so as to love and to be of service to the whole of
creation, to all creatures without discrimination of believes, races,
classes and nations.
Sema consists of seven parts.
The first part:
The dervish with his headdress (his ego's tombstone), his white skirt
(his ego's shroud) is by removing his black cloak spiritually born to
the truth, he journeys and advances there. At the onset and each stop
of the Sema, holding his arms crosswise he represent the number one,
and testifies to God's unity. While whirling his arms are open, his
right hand directed to the skies ready to receive God's beneficence,
looking to his left hand turned toward the earth, he turn from right
to left around the heart. This is his way of conveying God's spiritual
gift to the people upon whom he looks with the eyes of God. Revolving
around the heart, from right to left, he embraces all the mankind, all
the creation with affection and love… It starts with an eulogy "Nat-I
Serif" to the Prophet, who represents love, and all Prophets before
him. To praise them is praising God, who created all of them.
The second part is a drum voice,
symbolizing God order to the Creation: "Be."
The third part is an instrumental improvisation "taksim" with a reed
"ney." It represents the first breath which gives life to everything.
The Divine Breath.
The fourth part is the "dervishes" greetings to each other and their
thrice repeated circular walk "Devr-i Veled," with the accompaniment
of a music called "peshrev." It symbolize the salutation of soul to
soul concealed by shapes and bodies.
The fifth part is the Sema (whirling). It consists of four salutes or
"Selam"s. At the end of each as in the onset, the dervish testifies by
his appearance to God's unity.
• The first salute is man's birth to truth by feeling and mind. His
complete conception of the existence of God as Creator and his state
of creature.
• The second salute expresses the rapture of man witnessing the
splendor of creation, in front of God's greatness and omnipotence.
• The third salute is the transformation of rapture into love and
thereby the sacrifice of mind to love. It is a complete submission, it
is annihilation of self with in the loved one, it is unity. This state
of ecstasy is the highest grade in Buddhism, defined as "Nirvana" and
in Islam "Fenafillah." However, the highest rank in Islam is the rank
of the Prophet, he is called God's servant first and his messenger
afterwards. The aim of Sema is not unbroken ecstasy and loss of
conscious thought. At the termination of this salute, he approves
again by his appearance, arms crosswise the Unity of God, consciously
and feelingly.
• The forth salute Just as the Prophet ascends till the "Throne" and
then returns to his task on earth, the whirling dervish reaching the
state of "Fenafillah," return to his task in creation, to his state of
subservience following the termination of his spiritual journey and
his ascent. He is a servant of God, of his Books, of his Prophets and
all his creation.
At the sixth part Sema ends with a reading of the Quran and specially
of the verse from sura Bakara 2, verse 115, "Unto God belong the East
and the West, and whither over ye turn, you are faced with Him. He is
All-Embracing, All-Knowing."
The seventh part is a prayer for the repose of the souls of all
Prophets and all believers |
