"Come unto me, even with blood on your hands, but without making rules or laws."
Mawlana Jalal-ad-Din Muhammad Rumi(1207-1273)
Rumi was born in Balkh, Afghanistan. His poetry is in Persian and his works are widely read in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and in translation especially in Turkey, Azerbaijan, the US, and South Asia. Rumi's importance is considered to transcend national and ethnic borders. After Rumi's death, his followers founded the Mevlevi (Sufi) Order, better known as the "Whirling Dervishes," who believe in performing their worship in the form of dance and music ceremony called the sema.
Sufi Muslims, who have Orders in many countries, have always departed from orthodox Islam's stern script. Placing an emphasis on spirituality over religious protocol, the men who came to be called dervishes developed a pantheon of saints, challenging Islam's strict monotheism. Since 1993, the Mevlevi dervish lodge in Istanbul has permitted women and men to perform the sacred dances together.
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Comments: 9
Different Sufi Orders were created since the 7th century, and exist throughout the world. Many monastaries - some became communities of more than 100,000 with the monastary as the center - were founded by them from the 9th-11th centuries in the Middle East, Africa, Asia and S E Asia. Islam as a faith spread from Arabia throughout the world (as in Turkey) by the ministry of non-Arabs and many of these teachers were Sufis. The Sufi Orders supported the welfare of the people and were feared by the rulers. They were banned in Egypt in the 19th century by the dictatorship installed by the British. In Turkey, they were banned in the 1920's by the nationalist dictator Ataturk who wanted to secularize Turkey. Orders have persisted however, even in Turkey. They are enjoying a revival in Iran. There are Mevlevi branches in the US.
Blessings and best wishes - S.
I wonder if Rumi is quoting from the Bible when he says "Come unto me,..."?