A Dervish or Darvesh is someone treading a Sufi Muslim ascetic path or "Tariqah", known
for their extreme poverty and austerity.
In this respect, Dervishes are most similar to mendicant friars in Christianity or HinduJain
sadhus.
Etymology
The Persian word darvīsh is of ancient origin and descends from a Proto-Iranian word that
appears in Avestan as drigu-, "needy, mendicant", via Middle Persian driyosh The Iranian word
is probably a cognate with the Vedic Sanskrit word adhrigu-, an epithet of uncertain meaning
applied to several deities.
The Vedic word is probably to be analysed as a-dhrigu-, that is "not dhrigu-," perhaps
"not poor", i.e. "rich."
The existence of this Vedic cognate suggests that the institution of the holy mendicant
was as prominent among the ancient Indo-Iranian people as it has been historically in later
Iran in the form of dervish brotherhoods and also in India in the form of the various schools
of sannyasis.
However, because the etymology of the word is not apparent from the point of view of
the modern Persian language, there have been attempts to make the parts of the word interpretable
in terms of contemporary words and with reference to Sufic mystical concepts.
Dar in Persian means "a door"; "dervish" has been interpreted as "one who goes from door
to door".
The Persian word also gives terms for "ascetic" in some languages, as in the Urdu phrase darveshaneh
tabi'at, "an unflappable or ascetic temperament".
Religious practice
Many Dervishes are mendicant ascetics who have taken a vow of poverty, unlike mullahs.
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; Egyptian Qadiriyya – 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 his Gulistan:
Of what avail is frock, or rosary, Or clouted garment?
Keep thyself but freeFrom evil deeds, it will not need for theeTo wear the cap of felt:
a darwesh beIn heart, and wear the cap of Tartary.
Rumi writes in Book 1 of his Masnavi:
Water that's poured inside will sink the boat While water underneath keeps it afloat.Driving
wealth from his heart to keep it pureKing Solomon preferred the title 'Poor':That sealed
jar in the stormy sea out thereFloats on the waves because it's full of air,When you've
the air of dervishood insideYou'll float above the world and there abide...
Whirling dervishes
The whirling dance or Sufi whirling that is proverbially associated with dervishes is
best known in the West by the practices of the Mevlevi order in Turkey, and is part of
a formal ceremony known as the Sema.
It is, however, also practiced by other orders.
The Sema is only one of the many Sufi ceremonies performed to try to reach religious ecstasy.
The name Mevlevi comes from the Persian poet, Rumi, who was a dervish himself.
This practice, though not intended as entertainment, has become a tourist attraction in Turkey.
Orders
There are various orders of Dervishes, almost all of which trace their origins from various
Muslim saints and teachers, especially Imam Ali.
Various orders and suborders have appeared and disappeared over the centuries.
Dervishes spread into North Africa, Turkey, the Balkans, the Caucasus, Iran, Pakistan,
India, Afghanistan and Tajikistan.
Other groups include the Bektashis, who are connected to the janissaries, and the Senussi,
who are rather orthodox in their beliefs.
Other fraternities and subgroups chant verses of the Qur'an, play drums or whirl in groups,
all according to their specific traditions.
They practice meditation, as is the case with most of the Sufi orders in South Asia, many
of whom owe allegiance to, or were influenced by, the Chishti order.
Each fraternity uses its own garb and methods of acceptance and initiation, some of which
may be rather severe.
Dervish State
The Dervish State was an early 20th-century Somali Sunni Islamic state that was established
by Muhammad Abdullah Hassan, a religious leader who gathered Somali soldiers from across the
Horn of Africa and united them into a loyal army known as the Dervishes.
This Dervish army enabled Hassan to carve out a powerful state through conquest of lands
claimed by the Somali Sultans, the Ethiopians and the European powers.
The Dervish State acquired renown in the Islamic and Western worlds due to its resistance against
Britain and Italy.
The Dervish State successfully repulsed British forces four times and forced them to retreat
to the coastal region.
The polity also maintained relations with other authorities, receiving support from
the Ottoman and German empires.
The Turks also named Hassan Emir of the Somali nation, and the Germans promised to officially
recognize any territories the Dervishes were to acquire.
Other historical uses Mahdists
Various western historical writers have sometimes used the term dervish rather loosely, linking
it to, among other things, the Mahdist uprising in Sudan and other rebellions against colonial
powers.
In such cases, the term "Dervishes" may have been used as a generic 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.
For example, a contemporary British drawing of the fighting in Sudan was entitled "The
defeat of the Dervishes at Toski"#British response).
Gallery
See also
Derviş, a variant of the spelling Fakir
The Journey of the Sufi / The Dervish Qalandar
Warsangeli Daraawiish The Tale of the Four Dervishes Qissa Chahar
Dervish References
External links Bektashi Order of Dervishes
Rifai Dervish Order Rifai Dervishes A photo essay on the Sufis and Sufi dervishes
of Pakistan Videos of Dervish music and dances of Rumi