Dervish

Dervish (Turkish, from Persian darvēsh,”beggar”), one of a class of Sufi Muslim devotees similar in some ways to Christian monks (See also Sufism; Islam; Monasticism). Brotherhoods of dervishes are numerous, and each has its own rule, mode of dress, rites, and methods of receiving novices and of initiating them. Not all orders conform strictly to the Muslim ceremonial and ritual law, and the occupations required by the different brotherhoods vary. Some dervishes are wanderers, depending on alms for sustenance. Some are settled in monasteries, called tekkes or khanagahs, where they observe special rites or devote themselves to meditation and penance. Other dervishes are ordinary tradesmen and laborers, performing the ceremonies of their order only on specific occasions. Still others form a class of religious entertainers who are hired to chant their dirge, or zikr, at public and private festivals. Frequently the devotees work themselves into a frenzy, becoming capable of remarkable acts of strength, then falling into a state of convulsion.

Although Muhammad, during the 7th century, was an advocate of poverty, the dervish orders did not develop until sometime during the 8th century ad, when Islamic thought came into contact with other religions, such as Hinduism and those of Persia.

Among the most widely known and perhaps the earliest of the dervishes are the Kadiris, whose order was founded in 1165 and who are known in Europe as the howling dervishes because of their peculiar chant. Also celebrated are the Rifais, founded in 1182, famous for their feats of eating glass and hot coals and of swallowing swords; the order of Mawlawiyah (in Arabic), or Mevlevi (in Turkish), the whirling, or dancing, dervishes, founded in 1273 by followers of the Persian mystic and poet Jalal al-Din Rumi; and the Kalenderis, the calenders of the Arabian Nights, who must vow to travel perpetually.